Chapter 13

Do you remember the time we spent together?

Are you excited? Once it was everything

The time we had comes to my mind sometimes

Can we turn back the time?

I can't believe our long past story

Thankfully, Alice had the help of the ever clever Mad Hatter.

She'd been having weird dreams lately, they were more frequent during her bouts of listless depression. She dreamt up characters that came from storybooks or Disney.

A red devil that could travel through mirrors and use rune magic and enter dreamscapes.

A Pinocchio puppet whose nose didn't grow when she lied and she could control other puppets.

The little mermaid who could walk with two legs when she gave up her speech and tail, using a dry-erase board and markers to speak.

The white rabbit from Wonderland, who she carried around in a small backpack she wore on her chest.

A Jack Sparrowesque pirate captain who had a graceful elegance to her, yet was as cute as a penguin.

An orange-haired Tinkerbell who didn't speak with bell tinkling and loved to play tag in the clouds.

A supergirl reminiscent of Superman, adorably clumsy and scared by loud storms and lightning.

A yuki-onna that looked like Elsa, whose body temperature ran too cold and loved to eat ice cream.

A tall, purple-haired vampire who had a cold mask of indifference, yet hid a warm, awkward heart behind it.

She always felt a strange sadness, emptiness whenever she awoke from the dreams.

It felt like she was parting from precious friends, and that always made her eyes tear up.

Ah, what's wrong with me? They're just dreams... really nice dreams...

She didn't understand why the dreams felt too much like memories.

On a day I'm particularly tired there is no one by my side

I want to cry, on someone's shoulder

The time when we were not afraid of anything holding hands

The days when I needed nothing if you were standing next to me

"Morning Dr. Park."

"I like the hair, Hyunsook-ssi. Why blue?"

"That color was on my mind." Sookie replied with a shrug, playing with a few locks of her blue hair. She remembered that night where she forgot why she was standing outside in the first place, and for some reason, sapphire blue was prominent on her mind.

"I see. It looks good on you." Sookie sent him a small grin in response. "Are you still having those dreams?"

"Mmhmm. I know they're just dreams, but I just feel so sad whenever I wake up from them." Sookie made herself comfortable on the therapy couch.

"From what you've told me, those dreams of yours sound like fantastical fun. It's a normal reaction to be disappointed when you wake up to boring reality."

She shook her head.

"It's not even about the cool stuff I do in the dreams, it's the characters I leave behind."

"Ah, those nine girls, right?"

"Right. I know everyone tells me that they're just characters I made up in my head, but it doesn't stop me from feeling sad about leaving them."

"You sound attached to them."

"I do, huh?" Sookie hummed in contemplation as the therapist wrote some notes on his clipboard. "Made-up characters, imaginary friends or not, they feel real to me. And I don't like leaving them stuck in that house, it's not fair."

"What's not fair? Can you elaborate, Hyunsook-ssi?"

"Ah, I forgot to explain this part. The house that the girls live in is cursed, and only I'm able to leave, or wake up from it."

"Got it. Please continue."

"So, it's unfair that they're unable to leave the house and get to live freely without the curse hovering above their heads."

"The situation is rather hopeless for them."

"... I hate it. If there was anything I could do to free them, I would do it."

Anything, eh... Sookie-ssi...

Here was his chance to fix his mistake. He could finally get his hyung off his back about one of his bigger mistakes.

"You cursed a group of innocent girls?! For what? Because they wouldn't let you join their sleepover?! Are you trying to be a dirty old man?"

"No! Not like that! It was an accident! I was just grumbling to myself that they can stay in the house for all I care."

"You idiot! You call yourself a god? Our words are enough to cast a curse, irreversible in most cases. Unless you find a human being with a pure heart willing to give something up in exchange. You can't find