Loud wedding bells rang outside the window slowly waking me up from my dreaming. A bright stream of sunlight shone into my room making me squint my eyes. Even the birds were chirping and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful day to get married.

My two maids, Victoria and Krystal quickly came scurrying into my room, shooing me out of my comfortable bed as I sighed. If only I could stay here all day.

"It's time to get up Miss Alice. Today is a very big day for you!" Krystal chirped, quickly starting to make my bed with me still in it. Victoria grabbed my hand, pulling me out of bed and into her arms.

"Miss Alice, I can't believe you're getting married today! It seems like only yesterday we were changing your diapers and now 17 years later we’re getting you ready to walk down the aisle!” Victoria squeaked, releasing me from her tight embrace to wipe away the tears that had started to build up in her eyes.

Despite the fact that Victoria and Krystal were my two closest friends, I could never get them to stop calling me “Miss Alice", no matter how much the formalities annoyed me. But the two of them have been there for me for as long as I could remember, ever since my mother died, raising me like I was their own child.

‘I’m really gonna miss them’ I sighed to myself, trying to hold my tears back. Today was supposed to be the happiest day of my life... even if I didn’t want to go through with it.

Victoria quickly shook her head, biting back the new flood of tears.

“Go and get yourself ready. I don't think your future husband would like it very much if you were late to your own wedding!" she giggled to cover up a sniff as she wiped away the last bit of tears b her eyes.

I quickly hugged the both of them then rushed off to the bathroom to take a shower.

I climbed in the shower but I couldn't help but feel terrified for today. Everything in my being wanted me to run away and forget about this wedding. I wanted nothing more than to climb back into bed and dream until this whole thing blew over but I knew my grandfather would never allow it.

When my mother died I was only a baby, just a few months old. Shortly after my father left under the pressure of my grandfather to find a new bride, someone to be my mother and take care of me. While he was away, my grandfather and grandmother were left as my official legal guardians until he returned... which he never did.

As I grew up my grandfather resented both me and my father, angry that there was no male in the family to take over his business. His one and only focus was always his business.

By the time I turned 16, he started to lose hope that I would ever attract a husband, so I was put up with a dowry for an arranged marriage. A few months later I was “bought” by the son of a wealthy business man. His name was Kim Jonghyun. We were to be married 8 months after we met, right after my 17^thbirthday.

Within those 8 months, I got to know Jonghyun and though we were shy to each other at first, our shyness eventually grew to a mutual respect for each other and that respect eventually even made us like each other... but not love. Never love.

Love meant maturing and growing up, something I wasn’t ready to do, so I followed my grandfather’s orders but held back, never willing to lose my childhood over such a silly thing as love.

“I wish just for once they would let me be a child.” I thought out loud, angrily turning off the shower and stepping out. “I'm tired of business and marriage and this life!”

I dried my hair with a towel slowly, hardly ready to go back to Victoria and Krystal and their crazy wedding preparations, but I knew I had to go through with this.

The two of them were waiting for me in my bedroom, admiring the wedding dress sprawled out on my bed. It was long and white with an hourglass shape for my small figure. It had a big stripe of blue in the back with a long blue train. It truly was beautiful and I think I might’ve loved it if I had actually wanted to get married... but I didn't.

Victoria and Krystal worked around me rapidly, changing me and making all the last minute changes to my dress. Then they started on my hair, putting my naturally straight blonde locks into tiny, delicate curls and spraying it down solid with hairspray. As soon as they were finished, they took a step back and looked me over, nodding their heads in approval.

"Miss Alice, you look so beautiful. You're so lucky to be marrying Master Kim." Krystal sighed dreamily. Victoria began to cry again.

"I'm going to miss you so much when you're gone." she sobbed, letting her tears flow freely this time.

"I'll miss you guys too." I said, hugging them both again. I really was going to miss them more than anything else. Although we weren’t blood related, the two of them were the closest thing to a real family I ever had. Everything about this marriage seemed to hurt me.

The wedding bells chimed outside the window again, signaling that the wedding would be starting in half an hour. Victoria and Krystal decided to leave me to let me have a few minutes to myself and I chose to spend them at my favorite place on Earth... the roof of our building. I would go up there whenever I missed my parents or felt lonely and I'd just breathe, letting all my stress go.

Even though I was getting married in a few minutes, I had never felt lonelier in my life.

I ran down the hallway and up the stairs, toward the attic. When I got to the attic door, I thought I heard a noise coming from insides. I pressed my ear to the door, indulging my curiosity, and heard a girl giggling on the other side.

"No." the voice giggled playfully. "Stop it."

The laughter was quickly replaced with light moans that slowly began to grow louder and needier.

Despite my conscious telling me to leave the obviously secretive couple alone, I couldn’t help but give into my curiosity more as I quietly opened the door and peeked inside, trying my hardest to make sure the two couldn’t see or hear me.

When I finally got a clear view of who the two lovers were, I gasped.

Jonghyun was lying on a mattress with a half Krystal under him.

The two of them heard my gasp and looked up at me in unison. Before either of them could say a word, I slammed the door as hard as I could, running off in the opposite direction.

I picked up my pace as I heard the two of them calling after me, quickly peeling off my tight wedding dress as I ran to my room. I threw the dress into the hall and quickly locked the door, changing into my usual short blue dress and making my escape out the open window and into the garden while the two of them pounded at the door.

By the time I finally reached the center of the garden, I was panting hard.

'I don't think they followed me.' I sighed a breath of relief. Now nothing could make me marry that Kim Jonghyun.

I walked over to a bench surrounded by roses, sitting down to catch my breath as I finally let a few tears begin to fall

‘I never wanted this wedding…’ I told myself. ‘Why am I even crying?’

Though I had never wanted to be married to begin with, I couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed by my future-husband and the woman who had been like family to me my whole life, like I couldn’t be trusted to know what they were doing behind my back.

And no matter how much I told myself I shouldn’t be affected, it still found a way to hurt me a little.

I sniffed, wiping the tears away when suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I saw something run by. I hopped off the bench and began to run in the opposite direction.

‘Did the find me?!'

I ran as fast as I could, dodging any branches or plants the stood in my way. I took a second to look behind me, still running, just to see if they were catching up when I collided head first into something. I fell backwards and groaned, rubbing my throbbing head.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!" someone said. I looked up.

Sitting on the floor in front of me was a young boy with jet black hair and eyes that sparkled. He was dressed all in white, shoes and all, wearing a pair of white rabbit ears on his head. The only color on him was a big blue clock that hung from his pocket.

He rubbed his backside and looked over at me, pouting. "What'd you do that for Alice?"

“Alice?” I gasped, staring at him. "H-how do you know my name...?"

The boy just smiled.

"Because I love you!"

My jaw dropped.

'He lovesme?'

He grabbed his watch and took a look at the time. His dark eyes lit up brightly as he gasped.

"Oh no!" he shouted, jumping up off the ground. "Look at the time! I'm late!"

"Late for wha-" I began to ask, but before I could finish, he was running off in the other direction. I picked myself up of the floor, dusted off my dress, and began to chase after him.

I could see him in front of me, but he ran so fast I could never catch up.

"Wait!" I called after him, but he never slowed his run.

As we were approaching the end of the garden, I thought he was finally going to stop for me. At a dead end, the only way to go was forward and going forward in this case would mean crashing right into a tall brick wall. I slowed down my run, but his just picked up faster. He looked as though he were going to run right into the wall.

"Watch out!" I shouted. He turned to look back at me giving me a quick wink before diving head first right into the ground. I ran over to see if he was okay, but in his place was a giant hole.

I peered down the hole.

Down the rabbit hole there was nothing but complete and utter darkness. I grabbed a rock and threw it down, waiting to hear it hit the ground but it never did. Suddenly a giant gust of wind blew at me and I lost my balance.

I started to fall rapidly... down the rabbit's hole.

I fell and fell, screaming for my life.

But no one had heard me. No one could save me. I would be stuck down here for the rest of my life... a very short life.

Finally I hit the ground with a thud, blacking out.

When I opened my eyes, the cute boy dressed as a rabbit stood above me.

"You're awake!" He said, lifting me off the ground and into his arms bridal style. To my surprise he leaned down slowly and kissed me softly on the cheek. "Saranghae, Alice!"