FIREFALL, OR IN EXO WONDERLAND ▷ COMPLETE

Euchre

CHAPTER 36: EUCHRE

Had everything went as smoothly as planned, Eun-soo would have slept in her pink room on a comfy bed up Above. However, she was still in Wonderland. There wasn't a comfy bed for her. Therefore, she slept on a sofa in the living room of the Scientists' Domain with Ace by her side.

The recent mass intake of information plagued her mind to the point that she couldn't sleep. Eun-soo was still analysing Luhan's narrative, probing and twisting it over and over—like a Rubik’s cube—into distinct, comprehensible colours: envy, revenge, sadness, triumph, hubris and tragedy.

Sweet Ace Kristoffson wasn't sleeping any soundly either. He was 'meeping' for her to get up. The sacred silence of night went to pieces. "Meep, meep, meep~"

"Why, Ace?" Eun-soo responded groggily. She pushed her messy flaxen hair back.

"Meep." Ace said his plea and rested his head on her arm.

Eun-soo ruffled the fluffy-cloud fleece of Ace's head. The gloomy cloud moved under her hand. "Alright, alright, I'll take you to your Pabbi. Will you wait?"

Ace's eyes glinted. "Meep meep~!"

Eun-soo knew well what that meant. "If you really missed your Pabbi that much, let's go." she picked Ace up with one hand and used the other to try opening the door. To open the door, she turned and turned the doorknob. Clickety-clickety-click it went, like a clapping diamond (is that even possible?). It stuck. The door was locked. "Aishh! Chincha?" she groaned.

To make matters worse, Ace didn't stay still in her arms. He took a kamikaze plunge down and ran towards a sleeping D.O sitting on guard on a sofa by the Scientists' Domain's door. Beside the sofa was a pot of a certain herbaceous plant.

Ace jumped onto the pot and climbed up the sofa with his tiny hooves. Once there, Ace snatched a golden key from D.O's grasp. The key was held secure between Ace's teeth.

Mission complete. Ace crept a little backwards. But, he couldn't creep any farther. His hind feet tripped on a strand of long leaf, sending a spray of spore to his nose. AT-CHOO! Something golden was fired. Oh, wait—the key! With the force of Ace's sneezing, it was shot straight to D.O's forehead.

The key bounced off D.O's skin and landed on the floor.

D.O's sclera-rich eyes sprung open.

Ace stopped moving at once.

"Nnnn~" D.O rubbed his bruised forehead and blinked twice, looking around. His eyes only turned towards the door and hence, missing Ace fully. Still, to him, nothing evil was in the vicinity. Satisfied, D.O continued to sleep.

Ace untangled his feet from the leaf, jumped down the sofa and scrambled for the key. He gave the key to Eun-soo. "You shouldn't just wander off like this!" she half-shouted to Ace. "If you're missing, your Pabbi will chop me to pieces!"

"Meep..." said Ace in apology.

"Let's see." Eun-soo fitted the key into the key-hole and turned the doorknob again. One click and the door was open. Scooping Ace up with one arm, she went outside. She locked the door back and headed to the cactus garden.

In the middle of the cactus garden was a beige patch. Last time, Xiumin had begged her to hide there during the card-soldiers' raid. She remembered that the beige patch was a door leading to a flight of stairs. It was a shortcut to the operation theatre where Kris slept.

Eun-soo placed Ace on the ground and crouched over the beige patch. She found a C-shaped handle and tugged at it.

"Meep! Meep! Meep!" Ace meeped a warning.