Morning at the Kang residence was peaceful—That is, until Han Eun-bi's scream broke the calm.
"AAAAAAHH! I'm late again!"She ran out of the servants' quarters, shoes half-on, hair sticking out like a startled chicken.
Seo Mi-sun stood at the door with hands on her hips. "Do you think this is a race? This is Joseon, not a morning marathon in Seoul!"
"I'm only two minutes late!" Eun-bi protested.
"Two minutes in Joseon can destroy your reputation, Miss Time Traveler," Mi-sun scolded, handing her a basket. "You're helping Jo-an at the market today. Don't say weird things, don't stare at weird people, and don't—" she paused, "—do anything weird."
"Relax, I'm great at pretending to be normal," said Eun-bi confidently.
"That's exactly what worries me," Mi-sun muttered.
The marketplace was alive with chaos. Merchants shouted, children chased each other, chickens ran freely like influencers without followers, and Eun-bi's eyes sparkled in awe.
"Wow… it's like a living museum—but everyone's yelling!"
Jo-an sighed. "You're so strange, no one ever talks like that."
"Wait until you see my world," she grinned. "Everything's instant there—instant food, instant love, instant burnout."
Jo-an tilted his head. "Your world sounds… interesting."
Eun-bi smiled faintly. "Interesting, sure. But boring too. Everyone's chasing big things and forgetting the small ones."She looked around at the noisy, lively market. "Here… everything feels more real."
Jo-an chuckled. "Is that a compliment for Joseon?""Yeah. Don't tell the King."
Then they noticed a crowd near the old well."What's going on there?" asked Jo-an.
"They say a shaman from the northern temple has come," someone whispered.
Eun-bi's eyes lit up. "A shaman? Oh, I love this part! Let's go!"
"Eun-bi, don't—"
Too late. She was already halfway through the crowd.At the well sat an elderly woman, calm and still, eyes closed. Her voice was soft but carried clearly through the noise.
"The water does not only reflect your face," she said, "but your fate as well. Look, and you may glimpse your future."
Eun-bi shot up her hand. "Me! I volunteer as tribute!"
People stared. The shaman only smiled faintly."You… carry a strange light within you," she said slowly.
Eun-bi straightened proudly. "Finally! Someone notices! It's the herbal soap I use—"
"Not that kind of light," said the shaman, eyes narrowing slightly. "You come from a time yet to arrive. You are rewriting something that was already finished."
Eun-bi blinked. "Rewriting? You mean… my manuscript?"
The shaman turned toward the well. "Look."
Eun-bi leaned over, and the surface of the water rippled.Her reflection shimmered—then another appeared beside it: a man in dark hanbok, sharp eyes, calm presence.
Eun-bi nearly fell back. "Wha—why is there a visual effect?! This isn't a movie!"
The shaman smiled knowingly. "Writers seldom realize when their stories begin rewriting them."
Eun-bi stared at the calm water, heart pounding.
"I'm… rewriting myself?" she whispered. "Then if I rewrite the ending… does this world change too?"
Before she could ask more, Jo-an's voice called from afar. "Eun-bi! Hurry, we have to deliver the spices for Master Kang!"
"Oh great. The fate of the universe will have to wait until after grocery delivery," she muttered, running off.
That afternoon, rain drizzled lightly as she returned home, basket in hand, her mind still spinning.What did that old woman mean? "Something that was already finished"?
The moment she stepped into the courtyard, a calm, stern voice greeted her.
"You're two hours late."
Eun-bi nearly jumped. "M-Master Kang?! I was just—""—out finding new trouble?" Jun-yeol said evenly.
"No! I was… uh… visiting a well for spiritual enlightenment!"
He raised an eyebrow. "That's the most suspicious sentence I've ever heard."
"I actually learned something important!" she said quickly.
"Oh?""The shaman said the water reflects the future. So, Master, you'd better be careful."
"Why?""Because if you keep frowning like that, your reflection might get depressed."
Jun-yeol closed his eyes and took a long breath. "I still don't know how you haven't been fired yet."
"Because I bring happiness and mild chaos in perfect balance," Eun-bi said proudly.
He shook his head, though the corner of his mouth twitched slightly."Go before I change my mind," he murmured.
Eun-bi bowed dramatically and turned to leave—but not before whispering under her breath,"If I really am rewriting this story… please, don't let me write a bad ending."
That night, in her small room, Eun-bi stared at an old scroll she had found tucked between the Kang family's ledgers—its pages blank except for one faint line of ink at the corner:
"The story isn't finished, because the writer hasn't discovered who she truly is."
She froze."Oh no… don't tell me this world can actually write back to me…"
Her eyes drifted to the wooden brush on her desk. She picked it up slowly and whispered,"If I rewrite the story… maybe I can go home. But… where exactly is home now?"