Boy from Wonderland: The Untold Story of Hwan

III

2002, November

"Would you like me to read a story?" Hwan asked the furry little creature sitting on the cushion of the chair.

He walked towards the bookshelf and ran his fingers on the binds of the books till it landed on a particular book. He pulled it out and showed the cover to the creature.

"Alice in Wonderland!" he exclaimed excitedly. "You'll like this, Myodori."

He paced towards the seat before sitting down to the floor next to it. Myodori was now at eye's level with Hwan. He placed the book on his lap and opened the hard cover. Suddenly, something fell off. Hwan reached for it and found that it was an old picture of his mother with a young girl beside her.

"Hwan?" The door suddenly sprung open. Hwan turned to look at his mother standing in the doorway.

"Who is she, Mama?" Hwan asked his mother, showing to her the old picture.

Soo-ryun slowly walked towards her son. She took the picture from his hands and stared at it for a little while. Memories rushed through her mind as she knelt down beside Hwan.

"Who's she?" Hwan asked once more. But Soo-ryun didn't respond. She only stared at the picture in silence.

"I saw her," Hwan said after a few minutes of silence. Soo-ryun looked at the boy, confused. "In my dreams. Who is she, Mama?"

"Her name's Hye-joong," Soo-ryun finally answered. "She's your noona..."