Worlds Apart | Book 1 Wonderland | Jungwon X Reader

002

Jungwon walked with his hands behind his back, moving briskly. He walked ahead of you, barely sparing you a glance. There was a stiffness to his movements, a tightness in his shoulders.

"I assume you'll be going after the Rabbit again? How long will you be gone this time?"

You pushed forward, trying to match his pace. "You always ask, even though you know the answers. Yes. It is my duty. But I can't say how long I must be away." You caught him, turning him around. "You mustn't worry about me."

The boy shook away from your touch, looking to the floor. "This is your last chance." He paused. "I can't help but worry."

A small smile crept onto your lips as you skipped ahead. "Well. Then I must win our game this time, mustn't I?"

But Jungwon did not follow. He simply stared at you from behind, eyes blank. You turned to face him, already twenty feet down the path, knowing your joke hadn't reached him. "Your death is no game," He whispered, barely audible. "Do you know how many will mourn you? Not just myself, but my father, Riki."

You pursed your lips. "I know. And that is why the Rabbit's head will be mine."

"But will it?" His skepticism hit you like a knife. "How many times have you claimed that? Have you come home bloodied and bruised with no head in your hands?" There was pain in his voice. An unfiltered, unignorable pain. "Y/n, you will never be able to kill him. Not because you do not possess the skills but because he's different. Perhaps you can execute card soldiers, and perhaps you can kill criminals, but can you kill the only being with the answers to all your questions?"

You knew he was right. The White Rabbit had led you here. He was your only way out. He was the only one who could tell you what had happened before. Before you fell down the rabbit hole. Before wonderland.

You stayed silent.

Jungwon let out a huff of frustration, running a hand through his hair. "I'm going with you this time."

"No." Your response was automatic. "Absolutely not."

"I need to know you're safe," He begged. "Please."

"If you go, you know the Hare-"

"We'll leave at night. They won't know." There was a pleading in his voice you couldn't ignore. He closed the gap between you and grabbed your shoulders. "You need to stop trying to protect me when I'm the one who's lived here my whole life. I know how this land works. I know what risk I take."

A sigh released itself from your lips. "Fine. We leave tonight and head for the Archives. I have someone waiting for me there."

His shoulders sank in relief. "Alright. I'll be ready."

Your stomach churned. You knew that you shouldn't let him. That you should leave in an hour instead of night. Jungwon would be a hindrance at best. He could not fight. He had a silver tongue, yes, but in Wonderland that only got you so far, especially with the Rabbit.

Yes, you'd met him. You'd talked to him. You'd breathed the same air as him.

And he'd eluded you. Once, twice, and then thrice. A sequence you doubted you could break, even if you had a knife pressed against his throat with no signs of struggle.

Because Jungwon was right.

No matter how much you craved life, you craved one thing even more.

Answers.

-

When you arrived back at the cottage, the March Hare and the Mad Hatter had gotten into an awful argument over whether Jasmine or Mint tea was best. It was a comical sight, the Doormouse nodding along with the Hatter's whims, often catching itself agreeing with the wrong side.

They didn't pause even once to notice your presence or the overwhelming stiffness that came with it. They didn't pause until they grew tired and lay down to sleep

They wouldn't notice until they woke up to your absence.

Jungwon met you outside the small cottage with two mares. One with no eyes and eight legs, the other with the normal four, but three sets of ears. They were both saddled already, bags filled with rations at their side.

You stared at him for only a moment before looking away, mounting the eight-legged horse swiftly. He followed your lead, just as silently as you had, lips pursing.

There was a hesitation in his voice. "Are you...ready?"

"More than."

This was a lie. One he could more than likely sense, but ignored, sparing you the humility of being called out.

The trouble with time being ever stilled was that when wandering beyond the reaches of the Blue Hour, you could never be sure what time, day, or even week you would enter. It could be the exact moment you arrived, or five weeks later. Normally, the farthest it would jump you was a month out, but stories had been told where people had been transported years further through time.

You prayed as you rode toward the border where timelessness met seconds, minutes, and hours. You could not afford to be set back weeks or even days.

Jungwon broke your silent prayer, riding up next to you. "I suppose we're meeting the Catapillar, no?"

"Yes. We are."

He cocked his head slightly. "Sunghoon-"

"He doesn't know you're coming," You say abruptly. "Nor, for that matter, I."

"But he knows everything and is therefore expecting us." A small smile crept along the boy's lips. "You've adjusted well to Wonderland, and so has your mind."

"I've been here for three years," You scoffed. "It's only natural."

"Perhaps." Jungwon had a look on his face you could only interpret as knowingness. As though there was someone whispering secrets in his ears, things you could never comprehend. "But so is the Otherworld logic you'd been accustomed to for fifteen years before. Even if you can't remember."

You watched as you crossed the border, the blue hour fading to a sunny green glen, clouds scuttling away from the sky, sunset fading to a bright blue. Midday. When? You could not tell

"The glen is green...but the ferns are tired." Jungwon hopped off his mount, picking a mushroom from the floor. "It's Monday. Even the mushrooms can't stand straight." You coughed, choking back a laugh. This earned you a look of concern. "Pardon?"

"It's odd that mushrooms feel the pain of Mondays," You said, still swallowing the rising giggles in your throat. "Is it not?"

"I don't see why not," He quipped, placing the mushroom back where he'd picked it from. "But there's been no season change yet, so it must be the Monday right after you entered the Blue Hour." Jungwon hopped back up onto his horse. "We've lost only a day or two."

Relief washed through you before panic set in. "Unless...is it possible we're four weeks out and the seasons have reset?"

"Possible but unlikely. Though the forest enjoys mischief, it's Monday. It's probably too tired to work that magic."

"But it's not Monday in the Blue Hour."

"But it's Monday now."

Deep, deep frustration set in your gut as you eased your horse into a trot. "Whatever. What matters is that we reach the Archives as soon as possible."

Jungwon smirked but didn't fight you, letting him lead you through the forest.

The Archives were only a day's walk from the Blue Hour and even less by horse. But it felt like it took much, much longer. By the time you reached the narrow brick building, you had burned through half a loaf of bread and a bag of dried fruit.

A tall, skinny boy peaked his head out from a large, oblong wood door.

"You're late."