When Hyunwoo didn’t show up the next day, on top of Kihyun having dreams he would consider normal as they didn’t consist of him looking for ‘Alice’, the brunet started to truly believe that he had been imagining everything. It made more sense that way at least, and he had returned to his studies the following morning. When night came again, however, he found his dreams filled with soft murmurs, unable to make out more than a few words of what they uttered to each other. When he tried, it only resulted in a dull throb in his chest, heart lodging itself into his throat. Whatever was going on in his dream, nothing good would come out of it, and he found himself waking constantly throughout the night, hesitant to settle and let himself drift off again as he was unable to shake the whispers and feeling of dread.

It was an honest miracle that he was able to offer attention to his studies, convinced that it was a type of self-preservation as he was flipping lazily through one of three books spread out on his bed – the current topic: crossbreeding plants. He hadn’t questioned his mother when she handed it to him, as she seemed more on edge than usual since she had found him swimming around in their pond.

There was a tap on his window, encouraging him to look up from where he laid on his bed, staring for a moment when he didn’t see anything from the angle he was at, returning to his book momentarily when nothing happened. He was turning the next page when the sound happened again, choosing to ignore it, continuing his reading as the tapping increased in frequency, closing his book with a soft huff when the noise was almost constant. Tossing his book to the side he sat up, turning to face the window, scowl turning to a wide-eyed stare at the black-haired figure on the other side of the clear glass.

“Hyunwoo?” he asked, reaching up to slide the window open, shifting out of the way when Hyunwoo started climbing over the windowsill, tumbling through and flopping onto the bed with a slight bounce. “What are you doing here?” he asked, lowering his voice as his eyes flickered to his bedroom door, hurrying to close it.

“Alice, please, we must hurry.”

“For the last time stop. Calling. Me. Alice,” Kihyun’s whisper turned into more of a hiss, leaning back against the door. “And keep your voice down, if my mother sees you, she’s going to lose her mind,” he added, Hyunwoo’s head tilting a little to the side, but he nodded, and his voice softened.

“Al-Kihyun, we must hurry. My Queen, he- he’s gotten worse. My fear for his health grows with each day that passes.”

“What do you mean he’s gotten worse? It’s been three days, what did he do, up and start starving himself?” The black-haired male appeared confused, falling silent as he stared at Kihyun’s face.

“Three days? You’re mistaken. Kihyun it’s been three and a half weeks since I sent you home from Wonderland.” The statement had Kihyun letting out a laugh until he saw the serious expression remained on Hyunwoo’s face.

“Okay…” Kihyun started, the dreams he had been having starting to bubble up from the back of his mind, somehow the muffled voices becoming clear enough that he could recall what had been said. “He’s been hiding away in his room, hasn’t he?” Kihyun asked, earning a single nod from Hyunwoo. “The suits are getting worried like you are… they’re all becoming aware of just how much he isn’t behaving like himself-”

“Kihyun is everything alright?” The brunet felt the color drain from his face, looking back at the door.

“Yeah mom, everything’s fine!” he called, eyes darting back to Hyunwoo. “Hide,” he whispered, Hyunwoo’s head cocking to the side.

“Hide? Why would I need to hide?” The handle to Kihyun’s door jiggled, him having to lean back against it to keep it closed.

“Kihyun, sweetie, what’s going on?” His mother called through the door, Kihyun pointing to the comforter on his bed. 

“If you want me to help you, you have to get under that and lay down. And don’t move or say a word!” he pleaded, Hyunwoo following the order in a hurry and Kihyun staggered away from the door as his mother pushed it open.

“Why were you holding the door closed?” she asked, giving Kihyun a full look over, her gaze shifting around the room after, returning to Kihyun’s face before long.

“I kicked my blanket off the bed, and it got caught on something. I was trying to move it from the door before things got worse,” he offered with the most convincing smile he could muster up, his mother staring at him for a long moment, eyes traveling to the bed and Kihyun silently cursed himself as she stepped towards it, reaching for the cover that was – honestly doing a poor job at – hiding the large rabbit eared male. She took a hold of one corner of it, inspecting it and eventually pulling it halfway off of Hyunwoo, and Kihyun opened his mouth to offer an explanation, voice catching when his mother paid no attention to the strange male. Instead she hummed a little, releasing the blanket, running a hand over it to smooth it out, turning to face Kihyun once again.

“You’re sure that everything’s alright? You’ve had me worried these last few days,” she said, reaching out to cup his cheek, Hyunwoo sitting up out of the corner of Kihyun’s eye.

“I’ve told you, I’m fine. There’s nothing that you need to worry about mom,” he assured her, earning a hesitant nod as she lowered her hand from his face, wandering back to the door. She turned back to scan over the room one last time, offering Kihyun a small smile as she stepped out, only closing the door a few inches. When he could no longer hear her footsteps, he hurried back to the door to close it, facing Hyunwoo.

“Who was that?”

“I think the better question is why couldn’t she see you!” Kihyun exclaimed as loudly as he dared.

“Because I did not choose for her to.” Kihyun groaned a little at the vague answer, sliding down to sit in front of the door, rubbing at his face.

“What is that supposed to mean? That you’re only choosing for me to see you?” Hyunwoo shook his head.

“As Alice you are able to see me when others can and cannot. It’s one of the signs that you’re Alice, along with your answer to the riddles.”

“Riddles? Like that weird question you asked when we first ran into each other?” Hyunwoo nodded, cheeks bunching up as he smiled.

“Exactly. If you were not Alice then you wouldn’t have known the answer, and you wouldn’t have seen me when I grew tired of making myself visible to the others of your world.” Kihyun started rubbing at his temples, biting back a groan. This was all getting so confusing, and the fact that his mother paid no attention to Hyunwoo only encouraged him to believe the other male to be a figment of his imagination again. The likelihood seemed to only be growing, and he pushed himself back to his feet, Hyunwoo scooting closer to him on the bed.

“You’ll come now, right?” He asked, a hint of desperation returning to his voice and Kihyun sighed.

“I guess if I tell you no then I’m basically lying to myself,” he mumbled, Hyunwoo’s head cocking to the side before Kihyun gestured to the open window. “We can’t go through the door, my mom’s going to freak out if she sees me trying to go outside again,” he continued, Hyunwoo nodding again. He stood carefully on the mattress, slipping out of the window much easier than he had fallen in, Kihyun not bothering to look back as he followed Hyunwoo, dropping to the grass with a soft grunt. “We don’t have to go through the pond again, do we?” Kihyun asked, looking over the black-haired male’s appearance. He wasn’t soaked from head-to-toe as he had been last time, something the Kihyun found a little odd, trailing behind him as he made way towards the pond.

“After bringing you to meet my Queen the last time, he ordered for the Looking Glass to be put on watch, which makes me inclined to believe that he knows you’re Alice. He’s being stubborn in now allowing you to help though, thus I had to find a new way to your world,” he explained, and Kihyun found himself frowning slightly as his hand was taken. 

“Can’t we go back the way you came then?” He asked, earning a shrug.

“The pool of tears is much faster,” the rabbit eared male concluded, pulling Kihyun into the pond with him once again. Kihyun took a gasp of air the moment he stumbled into the hallway again, wiping at his face as the wet feeling left him, Hyunwoo releasing hold of his hand as Kihyun regained his bearings, glancing at the suit who appeared shocked by their sudden appearance. When Kihyun looked up at the other male, Hyunwoo smiled brightly, tugging on the sleeve of Kihyun’s shirt to lead him in the opposite direction that the brunet remembered running off in the last time, Kihyun taking long strides to keep up with Hyunwoo’s excited pace.

“Are you sure that I’m even going to be able to get near him, let alone do anything to help him feel… better? You were there last time, first he thought I was some failure of a messenger and then he thought I was some random idiot playing along with your fantasy,” he pointed out, frowning a little once the words had left his mouth. “Wait… There’s no way he sent you to get me. He didn’t seem to know much about what an ‘Alice’ was, other than it being something that you believed in that he didn’t, so aren’t you going against his orders again?” he pointed out, Hyunwoo turning his head back to meet his eyes, not offering a response. “You still haven’t explained to me how I’m supposed to achieve anything that you think I’m capable of. I’m pretty sure I’ll just end up making things worse when it comes to your Queen- whom I don’t even know the name of yet. And I doubt that he wants me calling him ‘my Queen’ as you do since he knows that I don’t belong here.” Kihyun paused to breathe in the cooler air, Hyunwoo stopping his steps and facing the shorter male.

“Until he offers you his name it would be best to refer to him as ‘your Majesty’.” Kihyun rolled his eyes, looking down at the hand now on his arm. “If we’re going to get him to trust you, it’s imperative that you act like one of us,” Hyunwoo stressed, Kihyun’s shoulders drooping a little as he sighed, nodding.

“Fine, I’ll play his dumb little game if it gets me home before my parents start to freak out. Which apparently is longer than I think it should be if you’re convinced it’s been three weeks since I was dragged here for the first time.” The comment had Hyunwoo smiling, and thus Kihyun relaxed and returned the expression with one of his own.

“Time in your world is so strange,” Hyunwoo said, and Kihyun couldn’t help but laugh.

“Really? You’re going to bring up my world being strange? You have rabbit ears.” Hyunwoo’s eyebrows knit together, a slight pout crossing his lips as he reached out to touch one of the white floppy ears.

“They’re normal here.”

“None of the others here have them,” Kihyun pointed out, giggling after. “Imagine your queen trying to look all serious with big floppy rabbit ears dangling over his shoulders,” he continued, Hyunwoo biting back a smile as they were approached by someone in a black and white suit. The figure bowed his head as he faced Hyunwoo, pulling the black-haired male’s attention to him.

“The Queen requests your presence in the garden. He’s had several spades searching the castle for you.” Hyunwoo offered a nod, then a slight bow of his head, starting back in the direction they had come from, Kihyun keeping close as they passed the Looking Glass.

“Does he spend all of his time in the garden?” Kihyun asked, Hyunwoo pushing open the large wooden door with ease, closing it behind the brunet. The taller male didn’t have a chance to respond as the light-haired figure in question was only a few feet away from the door. His hand was outstretched, twisting the stem of a wilted bud between his fingers, his gaze shifting to the pair a moment later- eyes narrowing at the sight of, likely, Kihyun.

“How is it that you have managed to keep you head after failing to deliver your message?” Well, looked like the chance of him forgetting who Kihyun was and starting everything all over had gone out the window. Before he could reply though, Hyunwoo stepped closer, bright smile back in place.

“It’s good to see you out of your room, my Queen,” he stated, offering enough of a distraction and the light-haired male turned back to the plant his fingers were toying with, Kihyun leaning to the side to look around Hyunwoo, a somber expression on the queen’s face.

“The Clubs haven’t been taking care of my garden as they should be,” he replied, hand finally falling from the wilted flower, turning and making way to and through the archway of the hedge maze, the wilted bud fluttering to the ground. Hyunwoo’s shoulders drooped, and Kihyun watched him kneel down to pick up the fallen bud, examining it in his palm. The darker haired male turned to face the brunet a moment later, holding it out to him. Looking at the shriveled violet petals, Kihyun reached out and took the offering, rolling it around in his own palm, eyebrows knitting together a little.

“So- you have crappy gardeners. What do you want me to do about that? I’m not a botanist,” he stated, eyes meeting Hyunwoo’s again though the other was only confused by the term. “I’m not a plant doctor,” he simplified, examining the bud again. “But from the looks of it they’re just not getting enough water. That’s usually the biggest problem, over or under watering.”

“But they started wilting like this when my Queen started falling ill. The worse he gets, the more noticeable the wilting becomes.”

“Ever think that the clubs are focused more on him because he’s sick, and thus they’re falling short on their duties to manage the garden?” Hyunwoo paused, eyes scanning over the garden, though he didn’t really seem to be looking at the garden itself.

“A cycle causing a downfall,” he murmured, and it was Kihyun’s turn to be confused.

“Doesn’t that seem sort of… you know, extreme?” he asked, almost flinching at how immediate Hyunwoo’s eyes were on him. “Do you really think that the queen is getting sick because his garden isn’t perfect?”

“It may seem silly to you, but these flowers are one of the few things that bring my Queen happiness.”

“If they’re so important then why doesn’t he take care of them himself?” Hyunwoo opened his mouth to answer, Kihyun shaking his head, pushing aside the question for a new one. “Do you actually think that if I fix these flowers, it’ll fix the queen?” he asked, Hyunwoo nodding excitedly. “And you really think that he’s going to let me do anything to something that means so much to him that it makes him physically ill.” Hyunwoo’s nodding slowly stopped, lips forming a slight frown.

“That’s what I thought,” the brunet sighed, flinching a little at how suddenly his arm was taken hostage again, stumbling to keep his balance as the rabbit-eared male headed to and through the archway of the hedge maze. Kihyun couldn’t help but wonder just how many times the taller male had to have gone through it to have the path to the Queen’s tea table memorized, the table and light pink haired male coming into view without a single wrong turn. As they approached the table Kihyun watched the delicate hands of a black-haired girl sprinkling dried violet petals into the teapot beside the queen, resulting in a soft scoff from him.

“If you’re just turning them into tea then why does it matter if they get all dried out?” The queen’s unamused expression met Kihyun’s for a brief moment before he was focused on Hyunwoo.

“Where have you been disappearing to these last few weeks? You’re gone for hours at a time without warning… You know as well as I do how talk can travel along these halls,” the Queen said, Hyunwoo straightening his posture a little, only for Kihyun to cut back in.

“You know, some flowers wither when they’re not watered enough, while others drown incredibly easy.” Kihyun was fairly sure that the queen almost looked to him again, noticing the faint twitch of the light-haired male’s finger on the table. “There is also the chance of an invasive species, insect or plant, that’s attacking the roots, eating away at the plants themselves… if not taking away the needed nutrients from the soil. No one would be able to just see this looking at the appearance of the flowers, likely making them panic and water the plants more and more, loosening the soil around their roots and causing their foundations to crumble around-” There was a harsh clink as the queen set his tea cup down on to the matching saucer.

“Just what is it that makes a suit-less creature like yourself think you know more about my garden than myself or my Clubs?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at Kihyun as they were finally on the brunet’s face, remaining locked there even as Hyunwoo cleared his throat.

“I’ve been searching for someone to heal your garden, my Queen," he stated, a sarcastically amused look flashing through the Queen's eyes.

"And you somehow came to the decision that this thing was fit for the task?" Hyunwoo gave a single, definite nod, Kihyun glancing between the two and offering a shrug.

"If what I do helps then things will be fine, and your gardeners will learn a few things. If not- well, your garden is already dying, so it would put the plants out of their misery." The look Hyunwoo gave him had the vibe that the last part wasn't the smartest thing to say, but the queen kept insulting him. Was he expected to just take it and be fine with it?

"So you plan to fail."

"Of course not."

"What benefit does our Queen receive if you do?" the black-haired servant asked, Kihyun biting at the inside of his lip as he thought.

"If things get worse, he can punish me however he chooses." The Queen looked Kihyun up and down once again, jaw tight when he finally spoke.

"Fine. I advise you not fail," he said, Hyunwoo relaxing, offering a bright smile to the light-haired male.

"You'll surely not be disappointed, my Queen," he stated, though the other male appeared less than convinced, and the black-haired girl leaned closer to him.

"Shall I gather a group of Clubs to watch over him in your garden?" She asked, the Queen's eyes finally leaving Kihyun's face, falling to his teacup, raising it to his lips.

“Considering the state of which they’ve let my garden fall in to, I trust their competence as much as I trust this creature’s. I shall personally keep track of his task in my garden,” the Queen concluded, the black-haired girl nodding and stepping back from the male’s side. “You may begin tomorrow morning,” he continued, and Kihyun frowned slightly, causing him to arch an eyebrow. “Do you have a disagreement with my order?” He asked, and Kihyun looked to Hyunwoo for help. What was tomorrow morning in his own time? A couple of hours? He couldn’t just keep disappearing every couple of hours, even if it was only for a few minutes in his own time, his mother would decide to drain the pond if she continued to find him regularly soaking wet beside it.

“It is difficult to know how long his other tasks are, and when he is able to pull away from them to come and tend to the garden,” the dark haired male offered, earning an arched eyebrow from the Queen, looking far from amused by the reply.

“He will start tomorrow morning, or he shall be punished,” he stated simply and Kihyun rolled his eyes as Hyunwoo bowed his head.

“Yes, my Queen,” he agreed, leading Kihyun back through the maze. Once far enough, Kihyun turned his frown up to the taller male.

“Okay, if I’m going to have to come and go on his terms, then I’m not returning through the pond. Got it? I don’t care if it’s easier, you have to find a different way to get me home or I’m going to get caught and I’ll never be able to come back,” he stated firmly and Hyunwoo nodded, gesturing for the other to follow him out of the castle and into the woods.