Worlds Apart | Book 1 Wonderland | Jungwon X Reader

006

Jay had lent you and Jungwon two cots in the very back of his small, one-room abode, and then disappeared without a trace. Where to, you could not say. But, it did give you and the other time to talk.

"What have you been thinking?" You whispered to the boy next to you.

"That I don't know you as well as I thought I did," He replied. "I do not know your haunts, your friends, how you go about your tasks. Only that I get to see you when you get back. When you are too tired to do much more than sleep."

You turned to face Jungwon. "You've never asked."

"There's never been time to ask." He was right in so many ways. "The Prince keeps you busy, the Rabbit is all you can think about. When you get back, it's either to leave again or to rest in a warm bed. It's nothing like it was when you first came."

For a moment, you let his words sink in, staring at the beige quilts you'd been lent. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything I didn't before."

"That'd be quite a bit."

"We have all night."

And you did. You didn't finish talking until the sun had risen above the Moores, and the weight around the two of you had been lifted.

-

You awoke to the midday breeze and subtle whispers of two boys conversing. Every bone in you ached with sleep, and your eyes still felt heavy. But, you managed to force yourself from bed. Outside, your companions had taken to quiet talk.

"...there's a town just north of here." The Knight sat polishing his black iron helm. "You should find the Rabbit there. It is on the border of Hearts and the White Kingdom. He hides just out of the Prince's reach."

You walked through the door quietly, staring at the Knight. "How do you know this?"

"Because I have been wanting to catch him myself," He said, "But just as he has you, he eludes me. Evades my questions."

"Questions?" Jungwon asked, eyebrow ticking upward. "What kind of questions?"

"There's a way out," Jay whispered, "Of here, of this world. I do not know where it is, or where it may take us. I'd assume to the Otherside but I could be wrong. But what I do know is that it exists, and he knows where to find it."

That's what the Catapillar had meant. "To find my way I have to start at the beginning...retrace my steps..." Your eyes met with Jungwon.

"You can get out," Jungwon said slowly... "You need to get out."

"Why?" The word surprised you as it came from your mouth. Regrettably, you'd become attached to Wonderland. To the people. Jungwon. The Cat. The Hatter. The March Hare. Everything. It'd become your home. Hell, you couldn't remember anything before it. That urge to leave, the urge that came from an unknown source, had slowly vanished. Even with the death penalty above your head.

Jungwon took your hand into his. "He's going to kill you, Y/n."

"But I don't want to leave you."

There was a beat of silence between you, so small you barely noticed. "Either way, I lose you. I'd rather you alive than dead." He was so completely right and it left an ache in your chest.

Jay stared blankly at the sight. "Y/n. There are things you don't know. Things we can't tell you. And even if Jungwon was wrong, you must leave. So much depends upon it."

"And you know how?"

The Knight's smile was distant. "I can't say. I only know what I told you." Everything was frustrating at this point. How they hid everything. How you were kept constantly from the truth. How you had to figure out the cryptic code of Wonderland. "Go. Go north. Find the Rabbit, find a way out."