Minjeong woke up to something soft wrapped around her upper body. She let out a delicate moan, the touch feeling like silk against her skin. As her body settled in comfortably, she smiled and snuggled against the building warmth. Slowly, she blinked her eyelids open and saw the fireflies still dancing above her head, never tiring under the night sky. It was when whatever was holding her began to shift that Minjeong realized what that something was, and she instinctively screamed.

 

“Ahh!" Minjeong shrieked and immediately shoved Hatter away. "Get off me!" She stumbled from her side and rolled a few inches, her limbs messily splayed out. She quickly jumped up and started bouncing up and down, shaking and wiggling her whole body. Hatter groaned and massaged her backside. 

 

“Why are you always trying to touch me?" Minjeong shuddered.

 

“Why are you always trying to push me?" Hatter grumbled back.

 

She shot her a look before suddenly turning away, a familiar heat rising in her face. Some time between swimming last night and falling asleep, Minjeong had managed to slip her clothes back on.

 

Hatter, on the other hand, had not.

 

She was still clad in just her undies, her token hat tossed carelessly on the floor. Minjeong could clearly see her little head now and her thick, dark beautiful hair which she was now running a lazy hand through. Minjeong blinked and forced herself to not look anywhere below Hatter’s neck. She decided to look her square in the eye, and it was really irritating how Hatter was the one, yet she was the one who felt vulnerable.

 

“Can you put some clothes on?" Minjeong growled. She picked up her hat off the floor and tossed it at her.

 

“Easy with the attitude, Winter. From what I remember, you weren't so insistent about my clothes a while ago."

 

“You say that like we actually did something!"

 

“Who says we didn't?"

 

Minjeong gasped as she threw the rest of Hatter’s clothes at her. "Just... get dressed! Who knows how long we've slept? We need to catch up with everyone!"

 

“Relax, Winter," Hatter dismissed, snaking through her shirt. "They wouldn't think twice leaving without us. Now about last night...”

 

Minjeong groaned. "You do realize nothing happened?"

 

“Oh, come on, don't pretend it didn't fulfill your romantic fantasies," Hatter teased, slipping into her pants. "Swimming under the moonlight, falling asleep under the stars, waking up in each other’s arms…semi-."

 

Minjeong made a gagging noise and rolled her eyes at her laughter. "I was only trying to prove a point."

 

“What? That it's impossible to get a second kiss out of you?"

 

“No," Minjeong said quickly. "You said I wasn't fun. I was being fun."

 

“You know what would have been more fun?”

 

Minjeong glared at her, not even bothering to inquire further. 

 

“Making out," Hatter grinned. She leaned in mockingly, and Minjeong pushed her away.

 

“You have issues even God himself couldn't help you with.”

 

“Who’s God?"

 

“Oh my goodness!” Minjeong threw her hands in the air. "Just finish getting dressed so we can return back to camp. Preferably within this decade."

 

“Minjeong?"

 

“What now?"

 

“God isn't your boyfriend or something like that, right?"

 

Minjeong closed her eyes and bit her lip in frustration. “Please stop talking.”

 

“Winter!”

 

“What?”

 

“I like your pink underwear," Hatter smirked. As much as Minjeong wanted to rejoin the others as quickly as possible, she supposed she could sacrifice another minute or so by shoving Hatter directly back into the lake.

 

So she did. And it certainly was worth it.

 

 

The whole crew was off again, sans Dearie and Bear.

 

“We'll meet you when you get there," Dearie had smiled reassuringly.

 

“You're not coming with us?" Minjeong questioned, disappointment evident in her voice.

 

“Afraid not, Minjeong. The Oysters, brave as they are, are completely useless without our direction, so Bear and I will have to lead them to the White Queen's castle. They would never be able to find their way themselves.” And as if on cue, Minjeong suddenly heard heavy marching approaching from across the seashore, and it took only moments for Bear to appear with a group of boys, no younger than Minjeong, following mechanically behind her. They were all dressed in what seemed like light gray baseball uniforms with (complete with grey shiny helmets) with “Oysters” plastered on the front and small numbers at the left chest area, the highest number Minjeong could find was 26. They were not very talkative, and she couldn't make out any faces under their helmets. Minjeong was about to make some witty joke involving baseball, but she stopped when she remembered Hatter's confusion about God. If they didn't know much about religion in her world in Kwangya, surely they wouldn't know about sports.

 

So the group had dwindled back down to her, Squirrel, Hatter, March Hare, and Cheshire Cat. Minjeong did wish that Dearie and Bear could have joined them, for despite being named Dearie and Bear, they seemed much saner than the sorry group she had to be stuck with.

 

“I believe it's in our group's best interest if we have a team captain, just so that things don't get out of control, and seeing that I have more characteristics that make me most qualified, I nominate myself," Cheshire had been rambling on.

 

“That's funny, because I thought Ms. Dodo already appointed me leader," Minjeong retorted smugly. "What was that she said to me? Oh yeah. 'You, Minjeong, are the key to restoring Kwangya back to its glorious original state.' Just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?”

 

She could hear Hatter chuckling distantly as Cheshire tried babbling a response, but Minjeong had already quickened her pace and brushed by her.

 

“So, if you're team captain," March Hare began, rushing to catch up with her. "What does that make me?"

 

“Uh," Minjeong raised a brow. "It's not mandatory for all us to have titles."

 

“But what if we want one?"

 

Minjeong stifled her smile at her hopeful tone. "All right. I'm alpha, and you're omega."

 

March Hare beamed. "Awesome!” They continued walking, Hatter up ahead leading the way with Squirrel on her shoulder and Cheshire Cat chatting wildly in her ear. "You know, she's not that bad," March Hare mumbled absently, following Cheshire with her eyes.

 

“If you're talking about anyone besides Cheshire, then I enthusiastically agree."

 

March Hare smiled. "I know she comes off as really annoying and kind of crazy and all in your face, but I think she's just misunderstood. You know, she actually has a lot of heart, and I think she knows exactly who she is... and that makes her pretty cool."

 

Minjeong glanced at her, a bit taken aback. "I didn't know you two were so close."

 

“Well, we had some time to get to know each other when you and Hatter went missing."

 

“Oh my goodness," Minje