wonderland 「 jungkook 」

[thirteen] everywhere and nowhere

널 안고 날아가볼래.
our dream is right here.

once jungkook retrieved his raggedy, old shoes from the bathroom and got them on, alice took him into the backyard, which he hadn't noticed wasn't fenced before. she had a flashlight in one hand (even though the sun would be coming up soon) and jungkook's hand on the other as she led him into the woods.

jungkook was filled with uneasiness when they took their first steps into the underbrush through a trail that was almost overgrown, only having room for them to walk down in a single file line. "what are we doing out here?" he voiced the question he'd been holding back for a few minutes now.

"you'll see," the girl laughed slightly, the sound resonating in the silence. "don't worry. i know this part of the woods like the back of my hand; we won't get lost."

the confidence in her voice put him at ease, so he decided to just go with it. he trusted her.

as they ventured onwards, the sun had just began to rise, but was still out of sight. there was only a bit of light that barely filtered through the millions of limbs overhead. after quite some time, they reached a small clearing. jungkook jumped when he saw a large animal move out the corner of his eye, freezing out of fear even when he noticed that it was just a buck.

the buck stared the pair down, freezing as well. the rest of his herd stepped out of the trees, mostly does and baby deer. they paused as well when they noticed them, and they were caught in a staring match.

alice laughed quietly, wrapping her other hand around jungkook's arm as he stood completely motionless. "you look just like them."

"w-what?" he stuttered out.

"your eyes hold that same look that theirs do, like you're scared of everything. but there's a sort of delicate beauty to you that makes people want to come closer and help you. but you're always out of reach." jungkook blushed. he'd never think someone would compare him to a deer.

"they're completely harmless," she continued to whisper to him. "but it's probably best to leave them alone; they can get protective when they're with the ones they love."

jungkook nodded in agreement, eyes not leaving the buck's as they headed farther into the woods on the other side, finding a continuation of the path they were on before.

"i remember that buck," she said in a normal volume once they walked a ways.

"how?" jungkook asked, frowning in confusion.

"when i was little, my father and i used to go on walks out here every morning. our house was just down the road from nana's. one day, we came across him. he'd lost his herd and he was so thin that he was almost a skeleton. when we approached, he trembled in fear, but he was too weak to run away," she revealed, looking deep in thought as she relayed her memories to him. he was completely engrossed in what she was telling him, imagining it all. "i gave him the snacks i'd brought along and we carried him home, where we nursed him back to health. eventually, he got big enough to go on his own, and he found a herd."

"how can you tell that that was him?" jungkook asked, wanted to believe her no matter how unlikely it was. he wanted to see things like she did, with a sense of wonder and imagination.