“Girls’ Generation make ‘em feel the heat-”

Yoona jolted at the familiar voices and turned in circles, trying to pinpoint the source. It seemed to be coming from the right; she immediately took off in that direction, heels still dangling from her fingertips.

“Girls bring the boys out-”

How was that possible? The sound was even fainter than before, like she was getting further away from it. Could it be coming from behind her?

Yoona turned around and nearly ran into a wall. A wall that certainly hadn’t been there before. She tentatively reached out and touched it, hoping it was an illusion…no, it was solid. Very solid. Like it was made out of steel (this far underground? Why would a company have steel walls under the building?)

And she could still hear the other girls singing, as faint as before, though the sound seemed to be coming from in front of her now. Despite all her instincts telling her not to, Yoona continued down the hallway. After all, there was only one direction she could go in.

The concrete walls shifted behind her, filling in the space and leaving her with no exit. The faster she moved, the faster they collapsed, until she was sprinting down the corridor, her long legs battling against her trailing skirt. And the music would grow louder as she ran, but every time she turned a corner, it would instantly grow faint, like the building was leading her in circles towards-

She stopped to catch her breath.

But the walls didn’t stop caving in.

"What-” Yoona didn’t have time to finish her question before she was running again, the walls practically snapping at her feet. Two concrete blocks clamped around the end of her train and in desperation, she lunged forward, tearing off a large section of it. Glancing over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of the white cloth fluttering like a flag of surrender before being swallowed amongst the piles of bricks.

Something was wrong with the walls in front of her as well. There was a crude chalk drawing on one of them- was that a hat?- and when she looked over a few moments later it was still there. It wasn’t moving. No…either she was running in the same place…or the walls were moving as well, to keep up with her. But that’s impossible…

Suddenly spotting a narrow corridor up ahead, Yoona forced herself to run faster and dove for it, catching the edge with her fingertips and flinging herself around the corner. She flattened herself against the wall as a wave of bricks traveled past her. Belatedly, she realized that she’d dropped her heels somewhere out there-

Had she gained weight, or was this corridor more narrow than she’d thought?

No, it was neither of the above- the walls were closing in on her. Yoona leaned back against one, bracing her arms against the other. It was no use; her hands were shoved back until they pressed tight against her chest. She turned her head to the side and screamed as loudly as she could, hoping that someone would come, someone would save her, even though she knew it was no use. No one knew where she was, no one would find her in this place, wherever she was. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the pain that was sure to come.

Minutes ticked by and Yoona tentatively opened her eyes, surprised to find that she hadn’t been crushed like a pancake yet. How was that possible? Glancing down, Yoona was rewarded with a surprise that nearly gave her another heart attack. She was up to her waist in concrete- the wall was slowly her in.

Frantically, she reached out for the opposite wall, scrabbling at its smooth surface with her fingers to find a hold and haul herself out, but it was useless. Faster than quicksand, the wall eagerly pulled in her arms, her chest, her neck-

“Help!” she managed to call out before the wall’s slimy fingers closed over .

Delicate white flowers rose out of the lush green meadow. Waves of grass rolled around lazily from one side of the surrounding forest to the other. Through the trees, a shimmering blue lake peeked through like a gem shining in the distance.

But no breeze stirred the painted leaves of the trees poised at the meadows edge.

And the flowers, while plucked straight from a idyllic scene, had no scent.

And there was no noise, no birdcalls, no insects buzzing, no rustle of grass, to wake the girl sprawled in the center of the picture-perfect meadow, fast asleep. She passed a hand over her face and the meadow held its breath. The Alice was waking up.

Yoona stirred slowly, reaching her arms above her head as if moving through water. She sighed and tilted her head back, blinking at the sunlight streaming through her window-

She opened her eyes. She wasn’t in her room.

Instantly, she sat up straight, staring around her at the waves of grass. The surrounding trees peeked over one another to see what she would do.

Yoona lay back down and covered her face with her hands, hoping it would all be a dream. To test this idea, she pinched herself.

“Ow,” she muttered. So it wasn’t a dream.

Where was she? The last thing she remembered, she was about to get crushed by a wall which she had started sinking into-

Yoona stopped her train of thought and shook her head. It sounded insane, even to her. No one would believe her story, even if she could make her way back to the other girls. Wherever they were.

Well, there was no way she’d find them in she stayed in this place.

The Alice started walking.

Pushing her way through two oaks, her bare toes sank into the moist earth. Fallen leaves brushed the tops of her feet and thorns tugged at her torn dress. She was going to have to explain that somehow. But how would she do it without sounding completely insane?

She stopped suddenly and all around her, the trees seemed to lean in to watch her reaction. There was a clearing up ahead. And in the middle of the clearing was a large ornate door.

What the hell?

No, she didn’t want an answer to that question. Yoona promptly turned around and headed off in a different direction. She had no idea where she was going- heck, she was completely lost, but she’d never get anywhere if she stayed in one place.

Dodging around a spruce that seemed to have sprung up in her path, Yoona again found herself at the edge of the clearing, facing the door.

“No,” she muttered, instantly marching away from it. But the trees were blocking her way, forcing her to move around them, until, by making a left turn, she again arrived at the door.

“That doesn’t even make sense!” she burst out.

“Well of course,” answered another voice. “Sense is unmade here.”

Yoona instantly glanced behind her, even though she knew the voice had come from in front of her. But the only thing there was the door, and…doors didn’t talk.

She tentatively took a step towards it, and behind her, leaves and vines shifted in place, weaving a solid wall between the trees that prevented her from going back.

How in the world could there be a door in the middle of the forest? Yoona slowly walked in a circle around it, attempting to examine it from all angles, but the door seemed to be rotating along with her. She stopped and began moving in the other direction. Yes, it was definitely turning along with her.

But how?

“‘How’ isn’t the right question,” another voice said, ignoring Yoona’s startled yelp. “The question is ‘why.’”

“Don’t be ridiculous, the question is always ‘what’,” the first voice retorted.

“I like to know ‘where’ sometimes,” the second voice added cheerfully.

“As long as it’s not ‘when’-”

“Who’s there?” Yoona demanded and the voices fell silent, as if she had just uttered a horrific curse.

“Damn it,” she muttered, scowling at the door. “You’re a piece of wood, I shouldn’t be scared of you.”

She thought she heard one of the voices snicker, but the sound was straight out of the air before she could think about it.

Yoona moved closer to the door until she was directly in front of it. Only then could she see the large gashes gracing the thick wood, gouged with what appeared to be…fingernails? But they were huge and deep, slashing the door from the top to the bottom, as if a giant had lost its temper and raked its nails down the door. She shivered and took a step back.

And that was when she noticed the door guardians. They stood short, compared to the door, only a few inches taller than her. The one on the left was made of what appeared to be stone, his eyes brooding off into the distance ahead of him.

The one on the right was grinning at her.

“Boo,” he said.

She yelped and took a step back.

“Oh, sorry, Alice! I didn’t mean to scare you,” grinned the statue.

“Yes you did,” retorted the other one as it creaked to life. She recognized the speaker as the first voice, the one who had told her that nothing in this place made sense. But that wasn’t all she noticed.

“Kai? D.O.?” she managed.

“Nope, sorry,” the statue on the right said. “My name is Right and that kid over there is Left.”

“D.O., stop joking with me,” Yoona snapped. “This isn’t funny.”

“She’s right,” Kai nodded.

“No, I’m Right,” D.O. insisted.

“Stop it, you two! What is going on here? Where am I?” Yoona snapped, nearly stomping her foot like a frustrated child.

“Ah, that depends,” Kai said gravely. “What time is it?”

“What?” Yoona blinked at the non sequitor.

“Four o’clock,” D.O. replied. “Time for tea. You’re at tea time.”

“But that’s not a place…” Yoona groaned and covered her face with her hands. First, she chases a rabbit that looks like Ryeowook, now she finds talking statues that look like her dongsaengs. She sighed and shook her head. “Okay, sure. I’m at tea time. And where does that door lead?”

“That also depends,” Kai told her. “Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere but here.”

“You can’t, Alice,” D.O. protested. “You have to stay- we need you!”

“Don’t listen to him,” Kai snapped. “If you want to leave, the only way out is through this door.”

“But I’m on your right side, so I must be right!” D.O. whined.

“I’m left to your right, but I’m right to your wrong!” Kai shot back. “Don’t you see?”

Yoona shook her head slowly. “Not at all.” She frowned at D.O. “If you switched places with Kai, would you still be right?”

“I can’t do that!” D.O. gasped, apparently horrified at the suggestion. “Because then Left wouldn’t be on his right and there’s nothing worse than being on your own wrong side.”

The Alice could only stare. Kai chuckled at her expression and lifted his shoulders in an apologetic shrug. “It’s like I told you, Miss Alice. Sense is unmade here.”

“It is…” Like she couldn’t figure that out for herself. “So…could you guys please let me through?”

The door guardians exchanged glances before Kai awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. “Do you have a key? We’re not supposed to let you through without one. The last time that happened, She did this.” He pointed at the gashes gracing the door.

“Who’s She?” Yoona demanded, but the guardians just looked solemn.

“Anyways,” Kai sighed after a few moments. “We can’t just let you pass, even if you are the Alice.”

“He’s right,” D.O. nodded.

“Wait, that’s just confusing. I thought you just said that you were right and I was left, so if I’m not wrong now-”

Yoona broke into the conversation before they could go any further; her brain couldn’t take much more spinning. “No, I don’t have a key. Where would I have a key?”

“How about your pocket?” Kai retorted.

Pocket? She was wearing a ball gown, they didn’t have pockets. And yet, as she slid her fingers along the skirt, she felt a fold in the fabric and, slipping her hand inside, she drew out a rusty brass key.

“That’s it, Alice!” beamed D.O.

“Really?” Yoona felt herself smiling for the first time since this she’d glimpsed her strange reflection back in the dance studio. “So I can get-”

Before she could finish her sentence, something shot out from the forest, gashing her hand, the one wrapped around the key, wide open. She whirled around in alarm, only to duck as another projectile narrowly missed her cheek. It was a leaf.

The forest was attacking.

“Hurry, Miss Alice,” Kai urged as D.O., looking serious for once, stomped his foot. The shockwave that rippled the earth caused rocks the pile up in front of them, forming a crude wall. Kai flung the door open and rushed forward to grab Yoona by the wrist, shoving her towards it. “My powers should sustain this until you reach your destination.”

“But where-” Yoona began, but she was already falling, falling and twisting and tumbling through a vortex of darkness. As she fell, she could hear Kai’s voice saying faintly,

“It’ll take you where you need to be.”