Advice from a Caterpillar

Sunlight was dappling over her body, and with it came the inevitable crashing down as the drunken haze began to wear off and the pressures of reality reasserted themselves. Yulhee sat up abruptly, startling Kyungsoo, whom she was almost certain had been staring at her. Quickly, she wiped her face, feeling embarrassed that she had allowed herself to show such vulnerability and emotion. It was so unlike her – so unlike the person she had made herself become after everything.

It made her feel very fragile and breakable, and that was always something that she had despised. “I have to go now,” she said, rising unsteadily to her feet, “I need to get everything ready at the bakery.” 

“Let me help,” Kyungsoo offered immediately, standing up beside her.

“No, it’s fine –”

“I insist,” he said, “You’re still not completely sober, and that’s partially my fault. If you’re going to throw up, it’s best you have someone there watching over you, in case you do something stupid like choke. And, there’s no way you’ll be able to do it all by yourself, especially when you no doubt want to wash up a bit before you face customers. So let me.”

He spoke authoritatively and unfortunately made perfect sense. Yulhee knew it was unreasonable of her to feel slightly bitter towards Kyungsoo, particularly when he hadn’t actually really done anything to make her feel fragile. She was simply responding to his overtures, and that was her own doing. Perhaps she had just been so starved for understanding and kindness. She made an impatient gesture, and they tottered off towards Han Bakery.

Once they got there, Kyungsoo quickly disposed of the alcohol in the trash at the back, while Yulhee splashed water on her face in effort to try and make herself look a little more presentable. Her eye bags and rather haggard face looked back at her. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she found Kyungsoo had poured her a nice tall glass of water, and she guzzled it down greedily. “Hydrating will help with the hangover,” Kyungsoo said, eyeing her with a measure of amusement on his face.

“Thank you,” she murmured, pouring herself more, “Could you get that cabinet there open and take out the materials inside?”

He followed her orders, and once Yulhee had washed her hands, she set about kneading the dough swiftly. Kyungsoo observed for a moment, and then asked, “What would you like me to help with?”

“How good are you at baking?” she returned, pushing aside a stray lock of hair.

“Very good, actually.”

Pausing in her ministrations, Yulhee gave him an incredulous look. Not wanting to accidentally poison her customers, she gestured towards the dough. “Keep kneading this, then. I’ll work on the other parts.”

Kyungsoo scoffed, but he took over from her. From where she whisking the eggs, Yulhee had to admit he was doing a good job. When he presented his work to her with the exaggerated manner of a schoolboy, Yulhee rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright. You can graduate to mixing the chocolate.”

“I’m touched. Such high praise.”

Yulhee flicked some flour at him, but she didn’t feel that irritable. “Don’t try,” Kyungsoo said, holding up the bag of flour threateningly, “I have the high ground.”

“Eggs stick,” Yulhee responded sweetly, tapping her own bowl.

“I concede defeat this time,” Kyungsoo said amiably, “But not forever.”  

“You’re such a child,” Yulhee commented.

“I do recall you started that while I was minding my own business.”

“Because you…because you were sarcastic.”

“Ah. Of course.”

Kyungsoo looked at her very seriously, and Yulhee could not control the slight twitching of her face. “Get back to work!” she retorted, and Kyungsoo only chuckled to himself, returning to his task. She eyed his back for a moment. Soon, the cakes were baking nicely in the oven, and they were carefully making the lemon swirls and cinnamon buns. It was companionable working side-by-side, the silence peaceful and calming. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Kyungsoo’s brow furrow as he carefully went about glazing the buns. It was oddly hypnotizing, and without her knowledge, her hand motions stopped.

“You’re in space,” he commented dryly, not looking up.

Starting, she responded tartly, “I was just making sure you’re doing things right.”

“What a drill sergeant you are,” Kyungsoo said with a little grin, “I’ll just warn you, seeing me attempt push-ups is not something that you need this early in the morning.”

“I won’t tolerate such insubordination, private,” she quipped, feeling some of her stiffness melt away, “I expect those to be done when I look back.”

She ducked her head at his chuckle, hoping her hair would conceal the flush growing on her neck. It was so easy to get comfortable with Kyungsoo, so easy to forget that the conversation last night had ever happened, so easy to pretend that there were no problems. She was glad she was sensible enough not to do anything rash at this stage; she wasn’t about to jeopardize things over a very bad crush. There were moments where she could believe that she might be getting under Kyungsoo’s skin just as much, and she certainly thought that he seemed quite happy, all things considered, around her. But that was only speculation on her part, and Yulhee preferred to deal with hard facts.

She was not about to put herself in a position where she could feel profoundly betrayed, again.

There was a sudden scratching at the glass door that startled them both out of their daze. They both glanced up sharply to see a familiar figure with sharpened nails and a pin-striped clawing at the locked door in marked frustration. His pale hair was a mess, and he was breathing heavily. Something in his manner pushed Yulhee into crying, “Let him in!”

Swiftly, Kyungsoo marched over and unlocked the door, letting in the Cat. Chanyeol burst into the shop, the edges of his body flickering about like smoke. His gaze was slightly wild, and Yulhee could not understand what he was saying. “Thought everything was alright,” he mumbled, bursting in and out of existence around the bakery with frightening speed, “Not there…Not there anymore – He knows! Thought we’d be safe… Where’d they go? What he’d do? Off with our heads and then… Everything’s breaking apart, didn’t used to be like this…” 

“Chanyeol!” Yulhee barked, grabbing hold of his arm and stopping him from puffing out of existence once more. The Cat froze, looking down at her in confusion. Despite her unease around him, Yulhee felt suddenly pitiful towards him, like a lost kitten brought in because of the rain. “What’s happened? What’s wrong?”

He swallowed. “Hatter and the Hare,” he whispered, “I went to visit them this morning… Nothing’s there anymore. They’ve gone.”

“Gone?” Yulhee repeated, skin going cold.

“The King,” Chanyeol said, “The King knows they said something to someone – to you. He knows there are people out there who know about him – and might challenge that. He doesn’t like that, you know. He doesn’t like people telling him not to do something anymore.”

The two exchanged a glance. Yulhee could feel her skin crawling, imagining this King, this thing, whatever it was, making his own kind disappear for speaking out of turn. How much did he know about them? Their names and faces? Their addresses? Their families? Kyungsoo laid a reassuring hand on her upper arm, but it was shaking somewhat.   

“You must go to the Caterpillar,” Chanyeol continued, staring at them with pupils sharp as pin-points, “Yes. The Caterpillar. He knows. He’s my friend, but he doesn’t like other people very much. But he might speak to you, if I convince him!”

Yulhee was about to speak when she saw through the glass her sisters walking down the street, fast approaching the bakery. “I can’t come – I can’t make an excuse,” she murmured to Kyungsoo, “You go on.”

He nodded sharply. “Don’t let your guard down today.”

Then he disappeared out the door on Chanyeol’s heels. Several moments later, her sisters entered the bakery so suddenly that Yulhee nearly dropped the mixing bowl she was carrying. “Yulhee, what are you doing here?” Seungwan asked in shock.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Yulhee mumbled, dropping her head so that Seungwan couldn’t see her face. She hoped that the alcohol on her couldn’t be smelt. Seungwan shrugged and see