MLFIOH | Chapter 1

Episode 1

01. One Day, a Man Fell into My Home

Today was a day when absolutely nothing went right.

First, I missed the subway in the morning and was late for class. In the afternoon, a sudden shower soaked me, and to make matters worse, a truck passed by and splashed muddy water all over my clothes.

On the way back from my evening part-time job, I dropped my phone. So the phone I had bought just three months ago was smashed to pieces.

“…Are you freaking kidding me?”

How much have I spent this month? A hundred thousand won for repairs? That blows way past my planned budget.

But a phone is something you can’t go a single day without. It’s not called a modern-day necessity for nothing.

‘Should I ask my parents for help? Ever since I started living on my own, I’ve never borrowed money…’

It was at that moment.

Just as I stared blankly at my laptop screen as it darkened, a sudden crashing sound came from behind me.

Ah, that thing again.

The rod I’d recently installed in my closet must’ve been defective—it kept collapsing at the slightest provocation.

Thinking I might as well clean up my clothes and take my time sorting things out, I slowly got to my feet.

But the scene that unfolded as soon as I opened the closet door was something I couldn’t have imagined even in my wildest dreams.

Shining blond hair, an unrealistically handsome face like something out of a comic book, and deep eyes that seemed to carry a story.

“……”

“……”

I locked eyes with a foreign man who was sitting on the floor, buried under my clothes.

And at the same time, we both screamed.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh—!!”

“Aaaaaaaaahhh—!!”

‘Police!’

Yeorae blocked the door with a chair and rushed to grab her phone.

But no matter how many times she pressed the buttons, the screen wouldn’t turn on.

‘Ah, right. The phone’s broken!’

In the meantime, the man casually pushed open the door she had blocked and pulled the T-shirt off his head.

He met Yeorae’s eyes again as she stood awkwardly with her broken phone in hand. Reading the fear on her face, he raised both hands.

“I—I’ll stay right here. I promise.”

It was a tiny studio apartment, barely ten pyeong in size, with a small attached closet.

Having such a large man in such a cramped space made things feel even more threatening.

Yeorae, trying to recall where she’d left the kitchen knife, began to observe the man more closely.

His disheveled hair was like golden silk. His sharply sculpted jawline was both firm and refined, and his delicately arranged facial features looked as though they had been painted with a fine brush.

His eyes, framed by long golden lashes, shimmered with a mysterious hue of misty forest—an eerie mix of gray and green.

But more than his unrealistically good looks, what caught Yeorae’s attention was his outfit.

‘…What the heck is that?’

The man was wearing extravagant, flowing clothes that looked like they belonged in a movie. His outfit was covered in unfamiliar brooches, and he even had a cape.

What on earth is going on? Yeorae felt so confused her head began to spin.

Let’s think this through, Lee Yeorae.

When I got home and entered the closet, there was definitely no one there.

Besides, it’s not even big enough for someone to hide in. Especially not someone of his size.

‘So that means he just popped out of nowhere…?’

That makes no sense. But even if it’s irrational, there’s no other possible explanation.

“I was on my way to His Majesty the Emperor’s ceremonial address. It was a celebration of our long-fought victory over the barbarians. But suddenly the carriage shook, and I felt like I was falling somewhere, and when I opened my eyes—I was here.”

The man, still holding his hands up, cautiously began to speak.

Yeorae clutched her broken phone like it was a brick and took a deep breath.

“This is the Republic of Korea in the 21st century. There is no emperor, and while we’re in a ceasefire, we haven’t had any recent wars.”

“Re, Repu… what? Where?”

The man rolled his eyes and scanned the unfamiliar electronic devices around him.

From the shock on his rapidly paling face, it didn’t seem like he was acting.

Just in case, she pressed the phone button one last time, but as expected, it was still dead.

Yeorae sighed, set down the useless hunk of metal, and gestured to the man, who looked like he might collapse any second.

“J-Just come sit over here for now. I think we both need a moment to collect our thoughts. Right?”

The man nodded weakly.

Yeorae opened the refrigerator and set a vitamin drink she’d bought from the convenience store the day before on the table.

The man sat up straight and inspected the vitamin drink held before his eyes.

Meanwhile, Yeorae quietly sat across from him.

“……”

Where in the world did this man come from, and how?

She’d heard of unrealistic things like regression or possession in female-oriented fiction. But this was more like he’d just ‘plopped’ down from the sky.

Besides, she’d never been the type to enjoy romance in the first place—she’d always preferred documentaries.

‘My God. How could something like this happen to me…’

Even seeing it with her own eyes, it didn’t feel real. It felt like a midsummer night’s dream.

“Here. You twist it like this to open it.”

Click. The drink, placed back on the table, now had no cap.

The man furrowed his brows and stared at it closely as he muttered,

“At the very least, one thing is certain—I’ve come to another world.”

“I was thinking the same thing. As crazy as that sounds.”

Yeorae pushed the drink a little closer to him.

“Tell me your story. Maybe I can at least guess what kind of world you came from.”

“Just by hearing my story, you can figure that out? W-Wait, is this world some kind of place where you can travel to other worlds?!”

“No. Of course not… It’s just that the clothes you’re wearing remind me of old European period dramas. Who knows, maybe you came from the past.”

Now that she thought about it, the man had been speaking in a completely unfamiliar language. And yet, just like reading subtitles in a foreign movie, she could understand every word perfectly.

Unless he really came from another world, this phenomenon was something modern science on Earth could never explain.

The man straightened his posture and placed a hand on his chest, formally introducing himself.

“Forgive the late introduction. I am Leandros Julian Terrion Etsina. Second son and official heir to the House of Duke Etsina. I graduated from the Imperial Academy, was appointed as a knight at fourteen, and participated in two wars at sixteen and eighteen. I’m currently undergoing heir training… or rather, I was. Since I suddenly ended up here.”

“The House of Duke Etsina? Heir?”

No wonder his outfit looked so extraordinary—he’s from a noble family, huh?