After his interaction with the strange tan male, Kihyun had expected the dreams of trying to find ‘Alice’ would have only gotten worse, unsure if he should find comfort in the fact that they came to a sudden stop instead. Had his interaction with the white floppy eared male even happened? 

‘If the heart’s desire is strong enough, the mind is capable of creating a world in which the desire becomes real.’

His granny’s strange words circled around his mind, sitting in the garden, flipping to a new page in the sketchbook settled in his lap. Had it all been some kind of daydream? He wondered, eyes traveling around the garden, lingering on the wall that surrounded the estate. Had he really climbed such an un-textured surface? He didn’t see himself actually having the upper body strength to pull himself over the wall once, let alone a second time after being set into a panic and running. A soft snap had his attention drop back to the sketchpad, watching the broken end of his pencil roll down and fall off the pad, disappearing in the grass.

A sigh passed his lips, reaching for his pencil bag, digging around inside for the sharpener left inside, freezing at the splash that reached his ears, hesitant to turn his focus over to the pond on the opposite side of the yard from the wall Kihyun remembered climbing over so vividly. Aside from the slight ripples crossing the surface of the water there was nothing out of the ordinary, and Kihyun let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding.

‘Get a hold of yourself,’ he thought, inserting the broken end of his pencil into the sharpener, a faint squeak occurring as he twisted the tool. ‘The last thing you need is mom or dad seeing you jumping at shadows,’ he continued, examining the sharpness of his pencil, setting the sharpener back in the pouch before looking up at the pond once more- Coming almost nose-to-nose with a face that was quick to grow in familiarity, Kihyun yelping as he jerked back from the rabbit-eared figure now sitting in front of him. 

“What are you- How did you find me?” Kihyun demanded, watching the black-haired male shrug a little, confusion mixing with the alarm he felt when he noticed something drip from the male’s chin. He didn’t shrug, he was- shivering? “And why are you soaking wet?” Kihyun continued, eyes flickering between the male and the pond several feet away. The splash he heard… “Did you crawl out of our pond?” The shivering male’s head cocked to the side.

“Pond?” He echoed, finally offering a response to one of Kihyun’s questions, and the brunet pointed to the body of water, the other’s eyes following his gesture. “Oh. Yes, I came out of the pool.”

“That’s not a pool, it’s a pond,” Kihyun corrected, the male meeting his eyes and Kihyun shook his head; what it was called was nowhere near the issue at the moment. “Why are you even here, how did you find me?” he asked again, the other continuing to shiver as he smiled brightly.

“I came through the looking glass to find you, Alice, and here you were right on the other side! I didn’t have to go searching for you again,” he explained, Kihyun glancing to the pond once more. Was there some tunnel that connected it to some other side? Did his family know? “Alice, you need to come with me,” the other male continued, snapping Kihyun from his thoughts, a frown tugging at his lips.

“I’m not going anywhere with you, unless it’s to the police to report you as some kind of stalker,” Kihyun stated, his words seeming to only induce further confusion for the strange male, who simply stared at him, unthreatened by the reply he got. “Why are you convinced that I need to go with you, anyway? You haven’t bothered to introduce yourself, and you keep calling me by the wrong name.” The other offered a bow of his head, bright smile returning.

“I am called Hyunwoo, known by the title of White Rabbit. I call you Alice because you are Alice. Only Alice would know the answer to the riddles created by Alice,” the black-haired male replied, Kihyun rolling his eyes. Opening his mouth to make another attempt to correct the rabbit eared male, he was cut off, Hyunwoo standing and offering a hand to help Kihyun to his own feet. “Please, Alice. Let me show you the pool, you’ll understand then,” he assured, Kihyun staring up at Hyunwoo.

If the day before had been something he had dreamed up, and the figure before him wasn’t real, there was no harm in going over to the pond, right? What was the worst that could happen, he would trip in and sit in the three feet of water. As long as the weirdo didn’t try drowning him everything would be fine. Reluctantly he took Hyunwoo’s hand, staggering a little at the force the other used to pull him to his feet, pulling his hand back once he was upright, following the dark haired male up to the pond, watching the other point at something in the water. He kept his eyes on Hyunwoo’s face as he stepped closer to the edge of the pond, hesitant to look where he was pointing. Kihyun had barely enough time to blink between feeling Hyunwoo take his hand, jumping into the pond, taking the brunet with him, and Kihyun’s eyes shut tightly as he braced himself for the impact of hitting the water and the muddy bottom of the pond.

Kihyun expected to sputter water when he felt his face break the surface, head spinning for several moments as he tried to steady himself, eyes remaining scrunched up even when he no longer felt water on his face... Or the rest of himself. He didn’t understand why moments after being dragged into it he felt nothing- aside from his feet flat on the ground. How was it that he was standing up right? And why did he feel so cold?

Letting his face relax, eyes opening shortly after only for what he saw to make his head spin again. In place of the blurred discomfort in his eyes he had grown accustomed to when opening his eyes under water, Kihyun found himself standing in a light grey stone walled hallway, one look over his clothing revealing himself to be completely dry. What was going on? His hand was taken once again, head spinning a little as he fought for balance, being dragged by his hand down the hall.

“Wh-where are we?” he asked, Hyunwoo looking back at him, slowing his pace when he seemed to realize how much of a struggle Kihyun was having keeping up.

“Wonderland, where else would the pool of tears have taken us?” he asked, Kihyun yanking his hand back. Wonderland? Now he was sure that he had imagined up the strange rabbit man who now had his head tilted a little to the side at the sudden halt Kihyun forced them to come to.

“Okay, now I’m sure that one or both of us is crazy,” he stated, Hyunwoo frowning a little.

“Crazy? No. Mad, yes, but we’re all mad here, especially the Hatter,” Hyunwoo replied, Kihyun feeling something itch at the back of his mind once again.  The moment that Kihyun noticed that the black-haired male’s hand had relaxed enough, he pulled away, turning and bolting in the opposite direction just as he had last time the strange male had said something that felt like the ghost of a memory.

The problem he was faced this time was that he had no idea where he was going. At least with running back to the estate he had a clear shot, and a vague idea of when to stop. Here the hallways that his mind had created twisted and turned and he almost ran into the grey stone several times when the wall seemed to offer a turn only to be revealed as no more than an indentation. He continued past a few figures, their faces no more than blurs with how little focus he gave to them, eventually finding a dark brown wooden door down one of the hallways. Without a second thought he crashed into the smooth textured surface, pushing it open enough to press himself through, leaning back against it to force it closed once again.

Allowing himself a few moments to breathe, Kihyun closed his eyes, waiting for the burn in his chest to ease before opening them, mouth hanging open even as his panting stopped at the sight before him. Rows of flower beds lined the castle wall as far as he could see, and he stepped down onto the sand colored path, finding it firmer than he expected. Some of the plants that lined the pathways seemed familiar, yet at the same time didn’t quite look like what he was pretty sure they were meant to look like. Mostly in the fact that the blooming flowers all appeared healthy, while the stems they were attached to appeared to be an ashy white-grey color. It reminded him of when he was a child, trying to draw animals without being able to remember exactly what they looked like, and the end result came out… interesting.

One thing he did take notice of in the garden was how often one particular plant seemed to appear. The thin green stems contrasted against the others, delicate violet colored flowers blooming at the ends with oval shaped buds here and there. He pulled his eyes from the foliage, letting them fall onto the opening of a simple white colored archway, stepping in and stopping a about ten feet in when he met a wall like hedge, looking left then right to see pathways down each direction. Was it some kind of labyrinth? Kihyun flinched when he heard a voice, too muffled to make out, yet something had him inclined to believe it was Hyunwoo getting closer to finding him, and he took quick steps down the left pathway.

A turn here, another there, Kihyun had difficulty remembering what direction he had come from, gaze lifting to the tops of the walls for some kind of sign of where he was and where he wanted to go, fearing what would happen if he remained lost. Then again if Hyunwoo had been able to find him at the estate, he was sure that the strange male could find him anywhere, even in the furthest corner of this maze. It felt like he had been searching for a way out when he began debating giving up, hands finding their way to one of the walls, finding it more pliable than it looked. Could he just… walk through it? Closing his eyes he lifted on arm up to shield his face, pressing through the wall as his hair and clothing was tugged at by the branched of the hedge. Once free, Kihyun reached up to pull a few twigs from his hair, flinching when he heard a new voice.

“Would you mind explaining to me why you’ve decided to destroy my hedge maze?” Something told Kihyun that he had found the source of the colder temperature he was met with when he stepped out of the Looking Glass, or whatever it was that Hyunwoo had called it. Looking to his right he found a small light blue circular table with a tea set resting on a white tablecloth, and an icy-pink haired male sitting in one of the two chairs with a teacup raised almost to his lips. When their eyes met, the other male went from cocking an eyebrow, to narrowing his eyes a little, lowering the teacup to rest on the saucer in his other hand. 

“You’re not one of mine… You must be from the Red Kingdom,” he continued, setting the saucer onto the table before their eyes met again, silence settling between them. Red Kingdom? The corners of the male’s lips tugged downward, standing from his chair, fingers brushing over the tablecloth as he took a couple steps towards Kihyun, the brunet noticing the small black spade on his left cheek bone, along with the white king chess piece hanging from his neck.

“Well? Out with it.”

“Out with what?”

“Your message.”

“What message?” Kihyun asked, earning a scoff from the other.

“Leave it to Minhyuk to find the stupidest suits to send on errands. They make him look like less of a wet candle,” the male muttered, stepping closer to Kihyun as the brunet backed up against the hedge he had cut through, the pink haired male holding out his hand. Kihyun turning his eyes up to the taller male’s face with what he hoped was less of a confused expression than he felt, taking notice to the black spade just below his right eye. “Your wrist.”

“Why do you want my wrist?” His question did nothing to ease the irritation in the light-haired male’s eyes.

“Why else?” Came the other male’s response, reaching out to take a firm grip of Kihyun’s right wrist, twisting it so his palm was up, tugging back the sleeve of his shirt, eyes narrowing at it, tightening his grip when Kihyun tried to yank his arm free. “A suit without a number?” The words came out softer, like the breath of a thought as his fingers eased and Kihyun managed to get his arm back, side stepping to place some distance between himself and the cold male before him. “Just what are you?” The male asked, Kihyun stepping away again, watching as his steps of retreat were met- he had never felt relief as he did when footsteps quickly approached and Hyunwoo rounded the corner, floppy white ears perking up a little at the sight of the pair.

“There you are, Alice!” He exclaimed, Kihyun’s relief short lived and he let out a groan as the light-haired male looked back to the new arrival.

“You know this numberless suit?” he asked, Hyunwoo jogging over to them, offering a bow, smile never leaving his lips.

“He’s not a suit, my Queen. He’s Alice.” The light-haired male arched an eyebrow.

“What’s an ‘Alice’?” He asked, Hyunwoo gesturing to Kihyun.

“Him. He’s Alice, and he’s going to fix everything, my Queen,” Hyunwoo answered, the Queen opening his mouth, Kihyun cutting in.

“Don’t you mean ‘King’?” The two turned their eyes to him.

“King?” Hyunwoo echoed.

“Yeah, the male version of a Queen.”

“Just where did you find this strange creature?” The Queen asked, attention turning to Hyunwoo as Kihyun shot him a glare.

“On the other side of the Looking Glass. He was sitting beside the pool of tears, and-”

“Oh Hyunwoo, not this again,” the Queen sighed, one hand coming up to pinch the bride of his nose, turning back towards the table he had been seated at earlier, Hyunwoo’s ears managing to droop more as he trailed behind the male.

“Really, my Queen! I went through the glass and on the-”

“Hyunwoo it’s just a mirror,” the Queen argued, voice raising a little, Hyunwoo’s head lowering and the large body seemed to shrink before the Queen, silent as the light-haired male took a seat once more. “I’ll ask you once more. Where did you find this ‘Alice’ creature?” Hyunwoo’s ears raised a little, only to fall as the Queen’s voice to sharpen once more as he picked up the saucer. “And do not lie to your Queen.”

“He’s not lying,” Kihyun stated, holding firm as he moved to stand beside the black- haired male, the Queen’s eyes on him again.

“You intend for me to believe that you came from one of the mirrors in my castle.” Kihyun gave a single nod, even if it seemed like a rhetorical question. “Hyunwoo, you’ve convinced this pitiful creature of enough foolishness for one day. Take him back to wherever it is you found him,” he continued, dismissing the pair with a wave of his hand, using it to then pick up his tea cup, eyes closing as he took a sip, Hyunwoo fidgeting where he stood.

“Please, my Queen-” The other’s eyes were on him once more, the look sending a chill through Kihyun.

“Have I been misunderstood?” The question came in an even tone, Kihyun watching Hyunwoo’s back straighten, and his ears swung a little as he shook his head.

“N-not at all, my Queen,” he stammered, turning and taking Kihyun by his arm, tugging on it to get the brunet to move with him. “Come now, let’s get you back to where you belong,” he continued, keeping his voice loud enough for the Queen to hear him as he guided Kihyun through and out of the hedge maze. Kihyun’s mind was reeling to the point that they were at the wooden door before he found enough sense to question the rabbit eared male.

“Wait, so you’re telling me that after all of this you’re giving up? After you wandered around town for who knows how long, after pulling me into my family’s pond, you’re backing down? Just like that?” He asked, Hyunwoo’s steps slowing to a stop a few feet from the mirror. “All because your ‘queen’ wouldn’t listen to you?” He continued, his arm released as the black-haired male turned to face him.

“Things may be different in your world, but here… the White and Red Queens’ word is law. We all have one that we serve, and therefore must obey,” Hyunwoo explained, Kihyun frowning a little at him.

“You took a while to back down for someone meant to simply obey a queen,” he pointed out, watching Hyunwoo’s gaze shift down a little, then to the mirror, following Hyunwoo as he moved over to it.

“I was hoping that once he saw you he would decide to take a chance… You’re my last hope for saving him.” The statement tugged at Kihyun’s heart, shifting to get a better look at the rabbit eared male’s face, Hyunwoo’s hand moving up to trace along the frame of the Looking Glass.

“He didn’t seem like the type to need saving to me. Not with the look he gave you for arguing with him.” Hyunwoo shook his head, a smile crossing his lips.

“My Queen is very strong. On the outside he may seem to be well but… The way he’s been acting lately has me worried… and that worry has only gotten worse as time passes and he spends more time alone. His focus leaves him during meal times and it’s become a rare event for him to finish his plate. I fear before long, the person he once was will be gone, and after that… He’ll be no more than a shell of himself.” 

“Okay… and how am I supposed to help in any of this?” Hyunwoo’s eyes returned to Kihyun’s face, ears perking up a little though the worry didn’t leave his eyes.

“Not long after my Queen started to show signs of illness that the suits were unable to diagnose, I was pacing through this very hallway. I kept thinking to myself, trying to come up with some way to ease whatever burden was troubling him when I passed by a sheet appearing to be hung up on the wall. When I pulled it away, the Looking Glass was hidden behind it with the words ‘Find Alice’ written on it, seeming to have been carved from the inside. And then when I reached out to touch the letters to check, my hand when through the glass as if I was reaching into a body of water. I believed the glass to be telling me how to save my Queen and where to go, so I stepped through it and ended up in the Pool of Tears, and began my search for you immediately.” Hyunwoo reached out, taking a hold of Kihyun’s hand, leaning forward a little.

“Please, Alice… Please say you’ll come back.”

“What?”

“Please!” Hyunwoo pleaded, giving Kihyun’s hand a small squeeze. “The Looking Glass wouldn’t have told me to find you if you weren’t the key to saving him.”

“And how exactly am I supposed to do that? If he’s unwilling to listen to you, what makes you think he’ll listen to me? In case you already forgot about the whole exchange that just happened I really don’t think he’s going to let me attempt anything.”

“He just needs time. It’s important, Alice. If anyone can do anything-”

“If I agree will you let me go home?” Hyunwoo blinked at the question, then nodded. “And will you stop calling me ‘Alice’? I don’t know how many times I have to state that my name isn’t ‘Alice’ before you understand.”

“But… if not ‘Alice’, then what is it that I should call you?”

“Kihyun,” the brunet stated, Hyunwoo nodding again. “Now that we have an understanding, I need to go home before my mother freaks out when she can’t find me, and thus never lets me out of her sight again. Because if that happens then I can never come to this place again, got it?” he continued, Hyunwoo finally releasing his hand, gesturing to the mirror.

“Take a deep breath and step through. It’ll take you right back to the Pool of Tears,” he explained, and Kihyun stepped closer, freezing when Hyunwoo’s hand was on his shoulder. “One more thing. Please do not attempt to enter Wonderland unless I am with you. We wouldn’t want you to be unable to return to your world, would we?” Kihyun opened his mouth to question the cryptic statement, or how the other knew something so specific when neither really seemed to grasp what was going on, only for the hand on his shoulder to shove him back through the mirror before he got anything out.

From the moment he lost his footing it was a struggle to regain it, opening his eyes only to squint through the blur of water. Curling his fingers in a cupping motion to pull himself towards the light source, letting out a large breath once his face broke the surface of the pond, coughing a little as he swam towards the edge to pull himself out, sitting on the edge as his legs remained in the cool water. There was no way any of that was real… A pond taking you to some alternate world? No. The cold feeling that had gone through him when he thought he had stepped out of a mirror must have been his skin picking up the temperature of the pond water. Sighing he reached up, running a hand through his soaked hair, flinching when he heard his mother call out his name.

Great. How was he going to explain his little pond adventure?

---

A/N: Any guesses as to who the White Queen could be~?