A few days had gone by since then...

"Good morning, Alice! Nice weather we're having today!" Wonderland Resident 1

"Alice, what brings you here today?" Wonderland Resident 2

"Good morning, everybody." 

I gently wave with a smile as everyone gathers around. 

"I got a craving for something sweet, so I came here."

"I know a real cute confectionery! The Hatter usually goes there!" Jimin

"If you want fruit, then that old vendor over there sells the sweetest in town!" Dawon

The energetic twins just flew by out of nowhere.

"Hahaha. Thanks, you two. Could you take me there?" 

"Of course!" 

Jimin and Dawon said in unison. I felt like I was finally getting used to my life in Wonderland. The people living in the city seemed to be getting used to seeing me as well, unlike how they acted when we first met. They have been welcoming me with open arms every time I come here lately. 

"Wow, these sweets look delicious..."

(Maybe I should get some for Yifan?)

Yifan was worried about me, so he sometimes came to Alice's house to check on me. He especially asked me if Baekhyun was bothering me or doing weird things to me. He was understandably busy throwing tea parties every day, so we couldn't meet very often though...

"This fruit is so cute!" 

I peeked inside the basket the old vendor was holding and pointed at a dark pink fruit. The vendor told me that these were called heartberries. He said they were bittersweet and tasted like a mix between a peach and a strawberry.

"These would be glorious on top of a cake. I should buy a few for later. I'll..."

"Oh, is that Alice? What a coincidence seeing you here!"  

The person who called out to me was none other than my new friend. 

"Good morning, Seokjin." 

On the outside, she was a beautiful woman dressed in luxurious garb, but was actually quite the character... She saw the fruit in my hand and merrily approached me. 

"Alice, I think that piece of fruit is riper than the one you're holding. Look here. Heartberries taste the best when they have a little shine on them like this. The little ones taste sweeter for the most part, but the larger ones are perfectly crips."

"Oh, really...? You sure know a lot, Seokjin."

I listened actively to her thorough explanation. Thereupon, the Duchess--Seokjin's face grew slightly red and she looked away. 

"T-This is common sense around here! So don't you forget it if you plan on living in Wonderland!"

"*Giggle* All right, I won't. Thanks."

My lips naturally curled upward after seeing how bashful Seokjin was getting. While Seokjin sometimes got pretty high-handed, she was actually a really caring person deep down inside. She was an all-around good person. She always taught me a lot about this world. While I was wandering around the area where I purchased the fruit, I suddenly heard a tenuous voice call out to me.

"H-Hey, Alice..."

"Bambam!"

I turned around to find a crestfallen, small white rabbit drooping his shoulders.

"What's wrong? By the way, how did things turn out after all that?" 

I hadn't seen Bambam since we got split up during that whole rabbit cookie incident in the White City. 

"Alice, I'm sorry for getting scared and running away. After that, I desperately ran back to the Castle of Heart as fast as I could... But the Queen of Hearts ended up scolding me... I felt really bad, so I wanted to apologize to you. I'm really sorry about disappearing like that. I shouldn't have left you."

"Don't worry about it, Bambam. I'm fine."

I affectionately rubbed his white, fluffy head. 

"Really? Are you and Baekhyun getting along?"

"We've had our problems...but we're good now."

"...Really?"

"Really."

I gave Bambam a smile as he gazed up at me with a look of worry in his eyes.

"Well, that's a relief..."

Bambam eventually let out a deep breath as if he were relieved. 

"Hey, Alice. I'm sure I made you worry after disappearing like that. So, like... I want to make it up to you..."

"What?"

I pondered to myself in wonder. Bambam didn't have to do this, but he probably wouldn't listen to me even if I told him not to worry about it. I brainstormed for a bit, trying to think if there was anything Bambam could help me with. 

"Got it." 

"...! You think of something I can help you with?"

"Yeah, there's one thing I need from you. Actually..."

~~*~~

Only a short amount of time had gone by since I came home from shopping. 

"Coming."

I heard a knock at the door and went to answer it.

"Hey, Kyungsoo."

It was Baekhyun at the door. He gave me his usual sweet smile while he deferentially bowed.

"Thank you for inviting me. It's an honor. I really missed you too."

"Yeah, I don't remember saying I missed you, but sure. I have something I wanted to talk to you about, so thanks for coming."

"Yeah, I was really surprised when Bambam came to my house and told me. There's no way I wouldn't come for you if you needed me... Do you know why?"

"No. Why?"

"Because I've fallen for you, of course."

Baekhyun grinned, and I put on a smile in response. 

"It's weird. You never sound serious when you say things like that." 

"Ahaha. Are you sure there's not something wrong with your ears?"

After Baekhyun let out a cheerful laugh, he slowly leaned in and whispered into my ear. In a deep, sweet, affectionate voice.

"If you want that from me, then you're going to have to start facing me for real."

"...Could you take a seat on the sofa for me? I'll be back in a second."

I created some distance between us and started to swiftly prepare. I placed beautifully cut fruit and sweets along with some freshly brewed coffee on the table.

"Wow, you sure went out of you way. Did you do all this for me?"

Baekhyun glanced over at me to see how I would react as he continued to sit on the sofa. After getting everything in place, I sat down next to him...

"I knew you would come right away, so it was easy preparing all this."

He came right when the coffee was ready. He must have left right after Bambam told him to.

"I..."

Baekhyun somewhat creased his eyes and spoke as if he needed some kind of confirmation.

"So does that mean you trust me?"

"...You can interpret that however you'd like."

"All right..."

Baekhyun nodded to himself multiple times as if he were processing his thoughts. And all of the sudden, he bashfully smiled.

"...Thank you, Kyungsoo."

His shy smile took me by surprise, causing my heart to race. 

(I didn't think I could trust Baekhyun ever since the first day we met...And just when I started to think that maybe I could trust him, that happened...)

I figured out that Baekhyun was lying when he told me that he would help me find the road home. Every bit of trust I had for him crumbled away at the moment.

(Baekhyun didn't seem hurt even though I told him that I didn't trust him. But I'm sure...he must have been really hurt, too.)

That was why he seemed so happy when he knew that I believed in him, even if it was for something so small like this. 

"So? What did you want to talk to me about?"

Baekhyun brok