Alice's POV

“Alright everyone! All of you are about to experience the most phenomenal and breath-taking moments of your life. The TOWN!” Chen had two open palms held out in front of his face and manoeuvred the both of them to the sides, revealing an exaggerated expression plastered on his face. He reminds me of a bogus magician who only knows how to sweet-talk and bull.

Morning had just broken and it appears that we are not done with the tour yet; the legendary town area that people were talking about is about to showcase right in front of our eyes.

From the north of the academy the ground slopes gently away to, drop a few feet and then rolls to the banks of the Town. We gathered at the entrance.

Loud rock music filled my ears; the laughter and screams of boys and girls conflicting with the music. The air smelled of popcorn and corn sausages. The road that leads to the depth of the Town was lined up with various booths and it seems that there was some sort of competition between them. A petite brunette stood tall on a chair, screaming into the shiny microphone at the top of her lungs. “Take a break, have a kit kat! If you’re looking for the most glamorous and mysterious things you have never seen in your life, the Shining Blackjacks is the peeeerfect stall for you! So what are you waiting for? Zoom your way down now!” I rolled my eyes at her speech. What does Kit Kat have to do with the items she’s promoting anyway?

Chen stood on the balls of his feet and waved his hands in the air wildly to divert our attentions to him. “All of you are given two hours to walk around the Town by yourselves! I’ll be at my booth the Hopping Maniac if anyone needs me!” he called out over the booming music. He spun around and disappeared into the clamor of the crowd at the gates.

“Hey, Alice.” Someone said. It was Baekhyun. “Hey.”

“Let’s conquer this Town together, shall we? Since both of us have no companions.” I smiled at his choice of words. “Sure, why not? We will subjugate them in no time!”

Baekhyun laughed mildly. “Come on, let’s go!”

We stride over to the first booth in sight. It was decorated with colourful festive loops of ribbons and a variety of animal biscuits were arranged neatly on the table draped with a plain checkered table cloth. An elated stout teenager approached us with a box of biscuits from the table, his wavy dark-blond hair bouncing as he walked. “Wow! What a stunning young lady and handsome young man!” he said in a well-rounded and deep voice. “Welcome to our booth! The biscuits we sell here cannot be found anywhere else in the universe, I promise! Why is it so? Your-”

Being my impatient self, I took a piece from the box clutched in his hands and popped it into my mouth! It tasted really sweet and melts inside my mouth instantly!

“-voice will change according to the animal biscuit you ate…” his voice faded as he saw no need to explain it further.

I tried to speak. “MEHHH-MEHH!” was all that escaped my mouth. I feel like fainting at that moment. I must have ate a sheep biscuit!

Baekhyun doubled over laughing, holding on to the table for support as he was laughing so hard that he could barely stand properly. The owner of the booth just watched us with a fascinated look on his face. Scowling, I grabbed another biscuit randomly from a box on the table and threw it into Baekhyun’s open mouth! He stopped his maniac laughing immediately when he felt the sugary slice in his mouth. Instantly, Baekhyun was on all fours and purred innocently at me! The booth owner shook his head. “The one you ate only changes your voice while the one he ate changes both his behaviour and voice. But it only lasts for 5 minutes! No worries!”

This time, it was me who cracked up! I don’t care if I sound like a crazy sheep now because I really can’t stop myself from laughing! The embarrassed cat, a.k.a Baekhyun, just rolled over onto the floor and pretended he was dead.

After we turned back to our original selves, I apologised to the teenager. “I am so sorry for being rude just now! I have always been this impatient and somehow my hand just moved without myself knowing it!” He smiled awkwardly. “It’s okay!”

I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. “I would like to purchase the biscuits that he ate earlier on. How much is it?” His face brightened up and held up two fingers. “It costs 2 Stones!” I shot him a baffled look. “Stones?”

“They use Stones here instead of notes and coins. Chen hyung gave me 10 of those earlier on!” Baekhyun chimed and dropped two into the booth owner’s hands.

“Thank you! Please come again!” he beamed as he handed a box over to me. I gladly took it and waved goodbye to him. Next, we patronized all the other booths. It was amazing. From talking teddy bears to love potions to longevity water (This is most probably bull).

As we walked further into the Town, the amount of people began to multiply itself by a few times and everyone was practically moving around shoulder-to-shoulder. “Eeep!” I squealed a little as someone accidentally poked me in the sides with his elbow. He mumbled an apology before vanishing into the crowd.

“Someone is ticklish, huh?” Baekhyun had a grin on his face, but it was quickly replaced by a flustered expression when he was forcefully pushed from behind, causing him to stagger a few meters ahead of me.

A black rectangular-shaped item slipped out from his back pocket and flopped lifelessly onto the floor. Dozens of feet stormed past, threatening to trample on it any moment. I had to push past a few people before managing to scoop up the object into my hands before I let the huge wave of people wash me away helplessly like sand when the tides come crashing in onto the beach.

Now that I look closely, the black object is actually a billfold leather wallet. It has a zip that goes around two sides and opens up into a ‘fan’ design with enough room for coins, notes and cards. I spotted an old brown photo under the plastic cover sewn at the side of the wallet. A baby version of Baekhyun beaming from ear-to-ear. I can totally see the uncanny resemblance between the toddler him and the present him. Small eyes, straight nose and gleaming teeth when he smiled. The young him was dressed in an oversized vintage sailor-collared blouse.

My breath hitched as my eyes travelled to the female toddler beside him. She was wearing the same outfit as him and they were hooking hands, smiling equally brightly at the camera.

It’s me. The toddler me.

A/N: So sorry for the late update! T_T