Sticky Shattered Glass Pieces

Chapter 32-The Portal

"Sir, this man knows about the portal that we found in the wood two days back," one of Yoongi's men said as he whispered into Yoongi's ears.

"Did he say anything about it?" Yoongi asked his men.

His men shook his head and Yoongi was livid at the man's cooperation with them. Yoongi bit his lips hard and tried to be civil with the man that kneeled in front of him. That man looked terrified, and he was bleeding from head to toe. Yoongi knew that his men might have been a little rough on this man since he didn't cooperate with them. Yoongi could be civilized, but his men were worse than him. If they sense any harm or threatened against Yoongi, their beloved boss, they would not hesitate to kill that person.

"If you want to kill me, just do it. I have suffered enough, My Lord," that man uttered through his pain.

"Did he just call me My Lord?" Yoongi thought to himself in shock.

His men were ready to shoot that man but Yoongi signaled them not to react to anything and to leave them alone for now. His men nodded their heads and headed out of Yoongi's office immediately. Yoongi noticed that the man looked tense and scared, so he decided to untie his ropes and free him.

"Why are you doing this, My Lord?" that man asked Yoongi as he saw Yoongi freeing his ropes.

"You have to stop calling me My Lord. I am not your Lord or anyone's," Yoongi coldly replied the man.

"But aren't you the kin-" the man froze his words as he saw Yoongi unpinned his gun and aimed at the man's head.

"Before I end you, any last words?" Yoongi asked the man coldly again.

"So-So-Sorry, My Lord. I didn't mean to offend you," the man stammered in nervousness looking at Yoongi's cold black eyes.

"Then spill the beans! Tell me about the portal," Yoongi was still aiming his gun at the man.

"Th-Th-The portal-My Lord. You should know better, My Lord. I am just a messenger," the man uttered in fear as he kneeled down in front of Yoongi.

"Stop the nonsense! I will kill you now if you don't tell me what you know about the portal!" Yoongi was losing his patience with that man.

"I am just a messenger, My Lord. I don't know anything about the portal. Please let me go. y family is waiting for me on the other side. I have to go, My Lord!" the man begged for his life to be spared.

Yoongi had enough with that man, so he almost shot the man when he heard his office door open suddenly. His men rushed to him and Yoongi had to lower his gun. Yoongi wondered why his men were looking upset and were frantically rushing towards him.

"Sir, the portal is closing!" one of his men uttered in panic.

"My Lord, I need to leave! Please let me go now. I won't be able to see my wife and kids if the portal door closes now. I have to wait till the next full moon which will happen only next month," the man said frantically as he tried to get up.

"The door re-opens on the next full moon?" Yoongi asked in confusion.

"Yes, My Lord. Let me go now, and I will never return," the man said as he begged Yoongi.

"Well, I do not want to see your face again! I will end you if I see you trying to approach me again. Do you understand?!" Yoongi aimed back his gun at the man's head.

The man nodded his head frantically and cried for his life. Yoongi asked his men to bring him back into the woods and shove him back into the portal hole. As his men were bringing that man out of his office, the man dropped something from his pocket. It was a royal bracelet from ancient times. Yoongi picked it up and looked at it in surprise. He thought maybe this man knows something about the portal, but he was just afraid he would be in trouble for telling him about it.

"Why was he so afraid to tell me about the portal? Who is he afraid of? What is behind the portal?"

All kinds of questions ran through Yoongi's mind as his men dragged out the man from his office. As Yoongi held on to the royal bracelet which he had no clue about, he sensed that he wanted to know about the portal in the woods, but he cannot leave his to-wife-soon behind. He was torn between telling her the truth and wanting to go to the woods by himself and traveling through the portal himself.

Yoongi knew that if he lets go of this only chance to go through that portal, he would have to wait for another month for the portal to re-open. He quickly shoved the bracelet into his pocket and rushed out of his office. He stopped his men and told them that he would take the man to the wood himself. Yoongi grabbed the man's arms and dragged him out of his office building.

"You are going to tell me everything once we travel through the portal. Do you get me?!" Yoongi whispered into the man's ear angrily.

"But My Lord-" the man couldn't finish his sentences as Yoongi pushed him into his car.

Yoongi managed to leave a message for his soon-to-be-wife at home that he would be coming back late that day. Little did he realize that there was a time difference between the world Yoongi was in and the world that he was about to step foot in. The man behind Yoongi in the car was frantically wanting to get out of the car as he saw the portal closing in the woods from the slip road that they took that led to the woods.

Yoongi stopped the car and got down from his car. He dragged the man out and let him go as he followed the man from the back. Yoongi had to catch up with the man in front of him who was rushing towards the portal. Yoongi yelled at the man to wait for him as Yoongi was trying to catch his breath.

"Man, he is fast!" Yoongi mumbled under his breath as he panted.

The man stopped and turned back at Yoongi who was approaching him. Yoongi ran as the man just jumped into the portal and froze his steps. He hesitated a while before jumping into the portal and a hand pulled him through and made sure Yoongi came through the portal safely without getting hurt.

As soon as Yoongi landed on the hard ground, his head started to pound. He held his head in pain and tried to get up. The man helped Yoongi to stand on his feet and removed all dirt and mud on Yoongi's shirt. Yoongi looked up and looked around the new world he came into. He was much surprised to see so many people gathered around him and whispering to one another. He squinted his eyes and grabbed the man's hand quickly before he could escape.

"Tell me where am I?" Yoongi asked the man curiously.

"Your kingdom, My Lord!" the man replied Yoongi as he smiled at him hugely.

"My kingdom? What you are saying? Look, I don't have time for this anymore. I need to get back," Yoongi turned back and saw the portal had varnished.

The man took this opportunity to escape from Yoongi and the crowd. Yoongi looked around and people there looked weird in their clothing and the way they spoke with each other. He noticed a paper stand in one of the stalls and took a newspaper to check what year it was as he wasn't convinced that it was the year 2022 or the 21st century. Yoongi widened his eyes when he saw the year was 1980 written on the paper.

"Why are you selling old newspapers? This is a 1980s paper. Where is the 2022 paper?" Yoongi asked the man who sold the newspaper.

"My Lord, please forgive me. These are the latest papers I have got so far. I don't know what you are talking about, My Lord," the man at the stall said in fear.

"What?! So, you are telling me that we are in the '80s?" Yoongi said as he glared at the man.

"Yes-Yes, My Lord. Please forgive me, My Lord! Please spare my life!" the man uttered in fear again.

"Why is everyone so-" Yoongi couldn't finish his sentences as he saw one of the royal guards walking towards him.

"My Lord, the queen is waiting for you in her chambers. She would love to see you immediately, My Lord,"

"Who are you? Why is the queen waiting to see me? Do you really know who I am? I am the maf-" Yoongi got cut off when one of the royal guards pulled his arm and dragged him back to the castle.

Everyone whispered at each other as they saw Yoongi being dragged by the royal guards. They hailed "Long live the prince" as Yoongi was dragged in the midst of the people there.

"No, no, wait! I am not who you think I am! Just listen to me!" Yoongi tried to explain to the guards, but they ignored him till they reached the castle gates.

The guards brought Yoongi to the queen's chamber and alerted the queen about Yoongi's arrival. The queen rushed towards Yoongi and hugged him tightly. Yoongi backed up a little seeing how she was glad to see him.

"Where have you been? We searched the entire place for you. You missed your crowning as the next King," the queen said as she brought him inside the chamber.

"I am not your-look here lady, I came from a different world, and now I need to get back home," Yoongi replied the queen in an informal way.

"Language, Prince Yoon! Have some respect for your mother here! Now, go and change your-your weird-looking clothes and come see me again," the queen raised her voice in annoyance.

"Prince Yoon?" Yoongi mumbled again under his breath in shock.

Yoongi couldn't believe that no one in the castle nor the outside believed him that he was not the prince or the to be king. He was guided to his chamber and was shocked to see so many chambermaids along the way.

Yoongi thought the castle was built of sandstone or limestone, but the whole castle was not made of stone because it might be expensive and unwieldy. Costs would have been cut by using wooden roofs, partitions, and supports, he thought. He noticed that each chamber was larger, and better protected from the rain, and from the cold. He then again wondered if the castle provided an excellent viewpoint for archers defending the castle. Yoongi looked around and noticed that apart from the fearsome size of the stones used, the sheer thickness of the stone walls served as a defense against missiles and weapons pelted at the castle.

He froze his steps suddenly and pondered looking in a daze. The guards also stopped with him but did not dare speak up. They waited for Yoongi to come back to his senses and continue his journey back to his chambers. Yoongi wondered how he would know so much about the castle because he knew that he had never read anything on ancient histories or their castles before. Not even during his high school years!

"This is your chamber, My Lord. The clothes are already on your bed," one of the guards that escorted him said as he bowed his head.

Yoongi was still perplexed at how people were treating him. He was confused at how he could be their to be soon king when he had never met these people in his lifetime. He thought he didn't want to waste any time more in that place. He wanted to go back home and see his pretzy again and be with her. Then, he remembered the man telling him that the portal re-opens only during a full moon which would happen again only next month. He sighed hard and lay on his bed helplessly. He regretted his actions of going through the portal without thinking.