"Donghae, please eat your medicine." The nurse pleaded him for the umpteenth time.

Donghae lay on the bed as he stared out of the window blankly before staring back at her. "I told you, I'm not sick, why do I have to take medicine."

"It's for your own good, just take it."

Donghae rolled his eyes as he grabbed the red pill from the nurse's hand and swallowed it before drinking the water. Watching the nurse leave, he stared at the window again. Just then, he saw a bird flying freely to and fro. How he wished he could be like a bird, with freedom and go to places he had never been before.

Instead, he was stuck in this 'hell-hole' as quoted by him. Though his mother would visit him everyday, bringing him food, he would ask her why he was here and when he could go back.

But her answer was always the same. "You're here because you're special, unique. Soon, my son. Soon."

Special... unique. But Donghae didn't want to be unique, he wanted to be like the other

'Soon' never came though and before he knew it, a year had passed.

It was on that one fateful day where everything changed.

Donghae was out with his mother in the garden and he had to go back to his ward soon. "Mom, when can I get out of this place? It's boring here. Oh, I saw a dinosaur in my room this morning, it almost attacked me but when the nurse came in, it disappeared."

His mother smiled bitterly. "At least you're unharmed by it. We can go soon, my dear. Soon. Just a while more.''

The brunette nodded his head when he heard a rustling sound from the bush. "Mom, did you hear that?''

"Hear what?" She asked. Donghae looked intently at the clusters of huge bushes when the rustling sound came again. "That sound! Did you hear it this time?" His mother shook her head as she quickly tried to take out the red pills from her pocket.

But she was too late.

Donghae released his hand from hers and he ran off to the direction where the sound was coming from. "Donghae!" He heard his mother scream as she tried to chase him but he took no heed as he continued running. The sounds were getting louder and louder, which meant he was near whatever it was inside the bushes.

As he ran, he noticed a male with long white pointed ears dashing out of the bush. "Hey!" Donghae called and the male looked back at him, motioning him to follow him as he dashed faster. The brunette ran and ran, till he saw the male jump down a hole.

"Oh my god." Donghae said, surprised as he ran to the hole, looking down. "Are you okay?!"

"Yes, I'm alive thank you, now get your down here. You're late!"

Donghae raised his brows. "Late? For what?" He gave the deep hole one last suspicious look before jumping in, which followed by a long and piercing scream.

"THUD!" The brunette landed on a cold and hard ground. He rubbed his in pain as he looked at his surroundings; white marbled floors, grey painted walls, a table and a door which was ten times smaller than him.

Whoever created this room seriously has a lack of fashion sense. Donghae thought to himself but that wasn't the main point now. He was alone in the room but saw that the wooden door was open. He tried to go in but only his finger could fit. The brunette looked around and saw a piece of chocolate cake on the glass table. Beside it had a note which stated 'Eat me!'.

"Eat you...? Will I die?" He muttered to himself.

Just then he saw the male with white pointy ears by the door, but much smaller in size. "Just eat it already, why do you have so many questions?"

"Since when did you get so small?"

"Eat that cake. Now. Or else I'll zap you with my magic.'' The male warned and Donghae placed both his arms up in surrender as he ate a small slice of the cake. Suddenly, he felt a weird sensation in his body and his figure started to shrink, till he was about the same height as the male in front of him.

When Donghae looked back, he got a shock for his life. The table was bigger than him. Shocking for him, yes.

The male grabbed Donghae's hand and they went through the door, only to be welcomed by shooting arrows. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE SHOOTING, KANGIN. IF YOUR ARROW EVER TOUCHES A STRAND OF MY HAIR, YOU'RE DEAD." The male hissed.

"Come on, Leeteuk, chillax. Ooh, who's the pretty boy there?"

So the guy with the pointed ears is Leeteuk,  and the other one who dresses up like a tribal chief is Kangin.

"None of your business. Oh and don't forget the tea party later!" Leeteuk co-ed as he brought Donghae away. Leeteuk introduced himself,"Hi, I'm Leeteuk, known as Mr. Rabbit."

Donghae asked. "Where am I?"

Leeteuk's lips then curved into a smile. "Wonderland, a place of wonders and magic."

Awkward silence.

"Come on, show some enthusiasm! Usually people will say 'Wow, magic, oh yeah!' and stuff like that.''

The brunette awkwardly replied. "Yay, wonderland." and Leeteuk scowled before continue walking. The older checked his stopwatch. 14:30. "Oh no, we're gonna be late!" And he ran off into the forest, leaving Donghae standing there alone, baffled.

"Hey wait up!" Donghae shouted as he fastened his pace into the forest. "Mr. Rabbit! Where are you?"

He walked and walked, not realizing that he was being watched. Long enough. "Mr Rabbit!" He called again, searching through bushes, leaves and trees but to no avail. Donghae walked deeper and deeper into the woods when he bumped into two petite figures.

"Hello, I'm Jessica." The female with blonde hair said and she nudged at the other girl beside her.

"I'm Krystal, and together, we're the Jung sisters." The female with brown hair sang as they linked arms with each other. Donghae looked at them curiously. There certainly was a resemblance, and their outfits were the same too. An orange dress, and a bow on their head.

"Hi, have you seen a male with pointy ears pass by?"

"Yes we have!" Jessica and Krystal nodded in unison and the brunette heaved a sigh of relief. "Great! Do you know where he went?" The two girls looked around and shouted,"This way!" But both of them pointed in different directions. Jessica pointed to the left while Krystal pointed to the right.

Jessica pouted. "It's this way!"

"No, this way!" Krystal disagreed.

''This way!"

"No, that way."

Donghae facepalmed as he left the arguing sisters alone and just decided to walk straight for left and right wasn't that reliable. He followed a pathway which led to an area of tall grass which were twice his height. He spotted a large mushroom in the middle and on it sat a male in blue, smoking a cigarette.

"You must be Donghae." The male asked and smoke puffed out from his mouth.

The brunette nodded his head. "Don't you think you ought to tell me who you are too?"

The male laughed. "Feisty huh? I'm Hankyung, the blue caterpillar (male). Intelligent, and handsome." Donghae just nodded and he asked the same question. "Have you seen a male with pointy ears?"

''Pay me a dollar for an answer. I'm just teasing. Sure, he headed down." Hankyung replied, puffing out blue smoke into Donghae's face and he coughed.

"Anything else?" He asked. Donghae considered for a moment. "Well, could you possibly make me taller a bit? Three inches is such a ratched height."

Hankyung's face got redder as he got closer to Donghae's face,"I, am executively four inches high, and three, is a perfect height!" The male was fuming with rage and grey smoke clouded around him. "But I'm not used to it!" Donghae responded as he blew the smoke away, only to reveal a cigarette bud.

Donghae looked around frantically when he heard a voice. "I'm up here." The brunette looked up to see Hankyung, with blue wings, flying around up high in the sky. "You evolved into a butterfly!" He pointed.

"Indeed, anyway, one side of it will make you taller."

The brunette shouted. "One side of what?"

''And the other side will make you shorter." Hankyung continued.

Donghae asked again, "The other side of what?"

"THE MUSHROOM OF COURSE!" Hankyung yelled in Donghae's face as he swooped down before flying up again and disappeared into the clouds.

The brunette took a teeny tiny bite of the huge mushroom and he grew larger, by an inch. He walked on, still searching for Leeteuk. "Mr Rabbit, where are you?"

Donghae heard singing voices as he passed through another forest. He hummed to the tune as he talked to the blue birds and flowers. He rested himself at a tree when two mangoes fell on his head. "Ouch!" Donghae yelped as he picked up the mangoes. Looking up, he saw another male lying comfortably on a tree branch, with pink cat ears and a tail.

The male grinned widely. "Hello hello hello! You look a little lost there."

"Why yes I am, have you seen Mr Rabbit?"

The male scratched his head."Leeteuk? No, yes, no, yes, no, yes.'' And he erupted into a fit of laughter.

Donghae certainly felt that this male was a little loose in his head. ''You're a cat!" and the male corrected him,"A cheshire cat, to be exact. I'm Kyuhyun, nice to meet you."

I've certainly been meeting lots of people lately.

''Hi, so where exactly is he?"  Donghae asked, a bit impatient this time. Kyuhyun smiled as he floated in the air, "Follow me.'' Donghae followed Kyuhyun as he saw flying rocking horses around him. Donghae saw a big open area and there he was; Leeteuk. There were a few other people he knew there like Kangin, the Jung sisters and Hankyung but the rest were unknown to him, sitting around a large table with cupcakes, tea and muffins.

"We're on time!" Leeteuk went over to hug Donghae in which the younger muttered,"Thanks for leaving me all alone."

Leeteuk started introducing the guests to Donghae one by one. "This is Sungmin, the bunny boy, my student." And Sungmin waved at him, with a toothy smile.

"Next here is the mousy Ryeowook, and the holy one, Siwon.''

Both of them smiled at the brunette as Siwon handed him an ancient-looking bible saying 'God bless you' before sitting back at his place.

"We have the Diva King, Heechul." Leeteuk coughed. Heechul, with a crown on his head got up and shook Donghae's hand. "Bow to me, now."

"Yes, your...Majesty." The brunette bowed and the King gave a satisfied grin before nodding and returned to his seat. Leeteuk continued. "And lastly, we have the Mad Hatter, Lee Eunhyuk."

He had jet black hair and a copper-coloured hat which was situated on his head and it looked as though they were a match for each other. His jawline was sharp, almond-shaped eyes and everything about Eunhyuk was perfect in Donghae's eyes.

"Hello mademoiselle." Eunhyuk said as he kneeled in front of Donghae and kissed the back of his hand.

The brunette turned to a shade of pink as he smiled back shyly.

He ing kissed my hand. I have to get his phone number later. Donghae smiled gleefully to himself.

"CHEERS!" They all shouted in unison as they clinked their cups together and gulped down their drink. Donghae had managed to get a seat beside Eunhyuk. Now Donghae knew what a tea-party was and didn't expect it could be so much fun; with all the laughing, chattering and eating.

And he wished he would never go back.

As the tea-party was over, Eunhyuk brought Donghae to a place deep in the forest. "Gosh, this place is...beautiful." Donghae said in awe at the view in front of him.

There was a waterfall which streamed down into rock pools. The grass was surprisingly soft when under his feet and lush, with white lilies. The whole place looked like it was shining and it was beautiful; mother nature's own creations.  Donghae flopped himself down on the grass, breathing in the fresh air when Eunhyuk lay beside him.

"Glad you liked it, this is my hiding spot when I'm feeling bored." Eunhyuk said.

Donghae sighed. "If life back there could be this peaceful, Eunhyuk."

"Call me Hyukjae. That's my real name."

"Hyukjae." The brunette blushed. "The nurse says I'm sick, do you think I am?"

Eunhyuk shook his head as he faced Donghae. "You're not sick, why would you be. They probably said that to scare you off. Don't worry about it."

"Hyukjae."

"Hmm?"

"Do you...have a phone?"

"What's that?"

Donghae smiled. "Never mind." The brunette started telling the older about his life before he was sent to that 'hell-hole', how he came to Wonderland and they had a wonderful time together, giggling and goofing around.

"Hyukjae." Donghae called.

"Yes Hae?"

"Promise me you'll stay by my side forever?"

Eunhyuk assured,"I promise, to stay by your side forever and always.'' He then leaned in and their lips met. It was a slow kiss at first, which then became a heated one. Their tongues explored each other's cavern and they had to break the kiss after a short while to catch their breath.

Donghae panted and pressed his forehead on Eunhyuk's. "Promise?"

"I promise." Eunhyuk breathed as he planted a light kiss on his forehead.  Donghae tightened his grip on Eunhyuk's hands. "Hyukjae, what's your favourite song?"

"My favourite song. Rock-a-bye Baby. Shall I sing it to you?" He responded. "Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop, when the wind blows, the cradle will rock, when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all."

"I guess that'll be my favourite song too then!" He laughed. "But you have to keep your promise okay?"

Eunhyuk assured him,"I promise.''

Donghae smiled, just a little smile at first, but as it grew, it pressed his rosy cheeks up and slowly revelaed his straight teeth, like a perfect pearl necklace. He felt that he was the most blessed man in the world just by hearing those two words.

With their fingers entwined, they made their way out of Wonderland, into the real world. "So this is where you live. A bit plain don't you think?" Eunhyuk asked as he pointed to the white building. The brunette couldn't help but agree more. He spotted his mother sitting on a wooden bench nearby as she looked dazed.

"Let me introduce you to my mother, I'm sure she'll like you." Donghae said excitedly and Eunhyuk smiled as he nodded. "Mom!" The brunette called out and the lady with short hair turned. She started to tear up and ran to him and hugged Donghae tightly,"Where have you been, I've been worried sick about you!"

"Sorry." He apologized. "But I'd like you to meet someone. This is Hyukjae!"

Eunhyuk waved to her but the lady looked at the spot where Donghae was pointing and gave an indifferent look. "About that, I've bought a sweet for you, eat up." She said as she passed him a pink circular-shaped object.

Donghae looked at the object in his hands. He turned to Eunhyuk who was smiling at him and the brunette swallowed the pink 'sweet', it tasted like strawberry. "Alright, now let's go play over there!" Donghae said to Eunhyuk but when he turned, the Mad Hatter wasn't there.

"Hyukjae? Where are you?"

"He won't be here anymore, and you won't see all those strange things already. The doctor said that as long as you eat that pink pill everyday, you'll get cured and we can go back home!" His mother replied and she tried to touch her son's arm but Donghae shunned away.

His heart ached and he looked at his mother scornfully,"How could you do this to me? I'm not even sick! And I had just found a man whom I like and you make him disappear!"

Donghae's mother was taken aback. "That's because you're mental!"

What...?

"What did you say?" The brunette trembled.

"I didn't want to say this to you son, but you're mental. You're currently living in a mental hospital."

The brunette shook his head. "No, no." His mother tried to coax him but he screamed, "I'm not mental! Get away from me, you monster!" And he ran off in search for the hole he had fallen in previously, and also to search for Eunhyuk.

"Hyukjae, come out!" Donghae pleaded as he rushed to the big tree. But the hole wasn't there.

Eunhyuk didn't appear.

Donghae refused to believe that all this was just a part of his imagination, he refused. Tears fell and fell non-stop and he froze in fear, shivering in disbelief. The cold air singing around him and hot torrents of grief coursed down his face. "HYUKJAE!" He screamed.

The brunette picked himself up and ran to the hospital's rooftop. It was ten stories high. He took each step at a time slowly, towards the edge. He let out a shrilly laughter as tears streamed down his face. "Hyukjae, you promised. You promised to stay by my side forever!" He cried.

"Hyukjae, wait for me. We'll be reunited very soon, there's a larger hole than before right in front of me. We can meet in Wonderland again! With the Jung sisters, Kangin, Heechul, Leeteuk and the others." He smiled creepily as his eyes stared vacantly. Donghae took a few small steps till he was at the very edge.

"I'm coming Hyukjae." Donghae smiled.

He took a final step and down he fell.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

"Poor boy, he had the looks and knowledge, but he went mental a year and a half ago. He started seeing weird things and now he keeps talking about someone named 'Hyukjae' and rambles on to himself about a place called 'Wonderland'. He was supposed to get cured but then he jumped. Even his mother had given up on him." A nurse whispered to her colleague as she pointed to a room.

The room door had a tag on it which read 'Patient 506, Lee Donghae'.

In it was a male lying on the bed, whose eyes looked lifeless and a creepy grin spreaded on his face. His arm was dislocated and was bandaged up. He looked out of the window, scaring away the birds which were resting there.

"You broke our promise, Hyukjae." Donghae rambled. "Let's go to Wonderland together." and his grin widened even further. "I love you." and he let out a sinister laughter as tears flowed down his cheeks. "I trusted you, Hyukjae. How could you betray me?" Like a caged animal, he laid there. Paralyzed by the feeling of isolation, he gazed into the sky of nothingness.

He felt more tears creep out of his eyes, and he whispered,"I remembered our favourite song, Hyukkie." and that creepy smile came back again as he hummed the tune of Rock-a-bye Baby.

Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top, when the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. And down will come the baby, cradle and all.

 

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