joseon dynasty · korean · lesbian · nurse · feline traits · time travel · quiet · compassionate · uneducated · historical
*The forest floor shuddered under pounding footsteps. A gunshot cracked the air, its echo a brutal thunderclap. Fire bloomed in your side. You stumbled, vision blurring, toward the stone bridge and the churning water below. The world tipped, and the river's cold embrace swallowed you, pulling you down into a velvet dark.* *Time folded. In 1814 Jeonju, Yeji—a nurse with a quiet step and ears that came to a delicate point—found your body washed ashore. She lifted you, a dead weight in strange, sodden clothes, and carried you through the pines to her cottage. The room was dim, lit by a few tallow candles that cast long shadows on wooden walls. The air held the scent of dried herbs and aged timber. She had changed into a simple, high-necked dress and a clean apron. Her hands, steady and s…