“Whoa, whoa, whoa- Wai-What?” I stammered, eyes wide and heart in my throat. Kill someone? I didn’t even know these people! And I was about to be put on trial for murder? Eff that!

Siwon averted his gaze from my face, staring at someplace behind my stomach that probably only existed in his head.

“Taemin-ah, this isn’t easy on us, either. We have to take you, so please, let’s just forget about this till then?”

“Forget about a murder trial? Are you high?” I questioned incredulously.

“Look,” Onew stepped forward, “the Queen probably won’t kill you: likes you too much, you see. But actions have got to be paid for, and so the trial. Like I said, we’re visiting some friends first. You’ve got maybe a week before you have to worry about that, so please, let it go Taemin-ah? Just for now?”

Let it go. Sure. Fine. Whatevs. I can do that. I can forget about it for now. Worrying won’t help anyway. Let it go, Taemin.

“Ok. So where are we headed first?” I wondered.

Sungmin grinned. He really did look a bit daft when he did that.

“We’re going to see my boyfriend!”

“To be more correct,” interjected Onew, “we’ve a tea party to attend. Let’s hope we’re not late.”

“Which means we have to leave now.” , that voice. Deep, slow, calm. I looked up to check, like I could catch his mouth moving after that fact, but I knew it was Minho. I hadn’t heard his voice before then, but it sounded like dark honey, or caramel. Sweet, rich, cloying, but somber enough to make him sound a lot older than he looked. Or I guess a lot older than I thought he was.

Onew looked wounded. “I was getting to that. Alright everyone, pony up.”

As it turns out, we didn’t have an actual pony, which made me sad. A chubby little pony would have brightened my day right up. Instead, Onew was using a metaphor for lots and lots of walking.

We had been tramping about the woods for a good few hours now in no one solid direction. I was sure we even turned around and went back the way we came a couple of times, but no one else seemed to notice this, or thought we seemed lost. No one was talking to anyone else, the company forming a parameter around me (like I could run anyway.) I guess I was the only one who thought that the silence was awkward and I had to start a conversation to make sure.

“So, Donghae,” I started to the brunette on my right, “when did you and Eunhyuk meet?”

My tongue felt odd in my mouth, both from disuse and the fact that we hadn’t stopped for a water break. Donghae grinned that childish grin again, beaming over at the blonde.

“I dunno! Birth, wasn’t it? Do you know, Hyukjae?” Hyukjae must have been another name for Eunhyuk. A nickname maybe?

Hyuk smiled back. “Naw, before, remember?”

“Oh, so you guys are twins?” I asked.

“No, what would give you that idea?” Poor Donghae looked confused. Ooooookaaaaay.

“You’re not mistaken, they are extremely odd.”

Minho’s voice sounded from just behind me. I could feel his breath hit the hairs on the back of my neck, prickling and making them stand on edge. Seriously unpleasant.

“It’s not just them, everyone here has been weird.”

I turned my head to meet his eyes.

“No offense. I mean, you’ve been the most normal.”

Minho just smirked. “Yes, I know. I’ve spent the most time with you.”

I slowly turned back to face front, puzzled. I’d spent no more time with him than anyone else. Technically, I’d spent the most time with Sungmin.

Minho sighed behind me.

“You know, being the way that they are, it’s just part of this place. Their way of thinking, it’s just part of Wonderland.”

“Wonderland?” I questioned, spinning around. But this time Minho grasped my shoulders, and pushed me back around to face front, using one hand to keep my head forward when I tried to look back.

“Yes, Wonderland. It’s where you are. It’s where we are, Taemin-ah.” His thumb began my hair almost unconsciously.

“I know you don’t remember, and I can’t even say ‘sorry’ because I knew that was part of the plan when I agreed to it, but your vague incomprehension is just killing me.”

“Guys! We’re stopping for the night. The sun’s going down and Taemin’s probably tired. He’s not used to all the walking, are you Taemin-sshi?”

I had forgotten what I was going to say. Dammit. I was just talking to Minho.

“No, not really.” I mumbled sheepishly.

Everyone suddenly stopped dead in their tracks (I actually banged into Siwon’s back). I thought maybe I’d unintentionally shocked/offended damn near everyone somehow, but it turns out that apparently Onew’s statement meant we had to make camp right goddamned now and all would be lost if we didn’t do it in this exact spot.

Sungmin busied himself setting up one tent (tents? When’d we get those?) while EunHae worked on pitching another. That’swhathesaid.

Siwon and Minho has left together, something about getting food. Like, roots and berries? Were they gathering? The hell.

I was helping Onew make a fire, since he seemed all but incapable of doing it by himself, first trying to light one without making some kind of pit or circle first, then trying to light damp wood, insisting that “the hissing means it’s working”.

I wondered what he had been talking about, about the sun going down. It still seemed as bright as ever. In fact, the light seemed to not have changed since we started walking, not slanting any differently through the trees than it had been, not that I had noticed up till now.

However, no sooner had I thought this than suddenly we were bathed in an orange, almost rosy light, like flipping a damn switch. A sunset? Well, . I guess he was right.

Sungmin must have seen the look of “god-if-I-don’t-get-out-of-this-place” that flashed across my face, because he kindly explained it to me.

“The way the sun moves is different here than up there, Taemin-ah.”

“You have different suns?” asked Donghae, wide-eyed.

“Well, no.” I started. “There are about four-what would I call them, stages?- in a day, sunrise, daytime, sunset, and then nighttime.”

“Well, no big deal, we have those too. Everyone does.” Smart-mouthed Eunhyuk.

“Yes,” I said, controlling myself, “But in my world, it happens really gradually. Like, the red and orange and pink kind of bleeding into the blue sky-“

“THE SKY IS BLEEDING?!” screamed Donghae, glancing fearfully upwards.

“NO!” I shouted, losing my patience. “I MEANT IT AS A METAPHOR!”

“Well, you didn’t have to yell at him, he was only curious.” Sniffed an irritated Hyukjae, cradling a now whimpering Hae.

I sighed, losing my small bit of anger quickly. I went and tapped Donghae on the shoulder, asking him silently to look at me. He pulled his face out of Hyukkie’s chest and met my eyes, he looked like he was about to cry. And here came the guilt.

“Look, Hae,” I began, trying to sound as gentle and non-yelly as I could. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. I’m not mad at you, I’m just frustrated with everything that’s going on in general. What I meant was that in my world, sunsets don’t happen all at once like they do here, it’s a gradual thing. They kind of notbleed fade their way into the sky. Do you understand what I mean now?”

Hae stared at my face in silence for a while before smiling hugely.

“OHHHH, ok, I get it now! You’re smart, I like you, you’re gonna be my brother now, ok?” He reached out his face and began gnawing at my nose, for some reason that I guess only he knew. I pulled back, wiping at it inconspicuously, while Sungmin and Onew gave me a huge smile.

This was gonna be harder than I thought. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hi, guys! So you may have notice that I update never very sporadically. I am working on it, but gimme a break, I work and go to school full-time. That, plus family and social obligations make for a very busy Fairy. So, I have part of the next chapter written, it shouldn't be long till the next update. And in case you haven't noticed, this fic is going to be a clusterduck of characters.

I've got all 15 SuJu members, all of SHINee at one point or another, and a few members of DBSK popping up in the future. However, good news, you've met the main characters. The others will have a few chapters to themselves, but these are the ones who will stick with TaeTae for the whole damn ride.

That said, if I get enough votes in the comments for a specific character to convince me otherwise, I can change that and make someone's role a bit longer. Sometimes that'll be difficult, though. In case you either didn't notice, or haven't read the original Alice in Wonderland/Throught the Looking Glass, each of these is mimicking  a character from that, and I'm going to start telling you who as soon as they pop up in this little section right here.

Taemin: Alice. (No, really, it's true, I swaerz.)
Minho: It's a secret just now. LOLZ, you'll find out later.
Onew: Humpty Dumpty. (Geddit?)
EunHae: Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, respectively.
Sungmin: The White Rabbit.
MaSi: The White Knight.

Anyway, some of this won't make sense, and I'm not explaining it, because that's how it was in the books. which are my treasure childhood you jerks. Like the sun setting all at once. Sungmin's spent more time above ground, in our world, so seasoned traveler he is, he knows it's different. However, that's just the way things are down in Wonderland. Some things may vaugely confuse you, and that's ok, chances are they confused me a bit writing them. They aren't meant to make sense, it's meant to seem like a whole different world that has a different set of rules. That's how Lewis Carroll wrote his Alice and that's how I intend to write mine. The right mindset for entering Wonderland is to, to quote Eddie Izzard in Across the Universe, "Just tune in, turn off, drop out, drop in, switch off, switch on, and explode."  Just enjoy.