castle runaway. ˡᵉᵉ ᵈᵒⁿᵍʰʸᵘᶜᵏ

NINETEEN

Monique's POV

"What do you mean by girls like me? You have dated before?" I asked him as he roamed around the kitchen to serve us chocolate milk. He laughed. "Why would I date? Elyas is already enough of a company."

He turned to me and I raised a brow in a sassy way. "Oh, was I an annoying companion?" I asked rudely. He sighed and placed a mug of the said drink in front of me. "Just because you want to kill yourself."

I sipped a small amount and I hissed when the hot water touched my tongue. I almost spilled my chocolate milk. "Do you drink them this hot?" I blew on it as he replied, "I made yours hotter." I glared at him.

He gave me a mocking face. "Because that will burn your tongue and kill you. Why won't you be thankful? Jeez. Girls." He groaned and drank his milk. "Excuse you?"

"No, excuse you. You came to my porch and I let you in here because I wanted to help you live but you want to die!"

"Then why did you drag me inside in the first place?!"

"I felt sorry and you approached my hut! It's your action."

"I was just thirsty!"

"Well, you are lazy enough not to search the woods further for a river! I mean, yay, you can drink and drown yourself right then and there!"

"I forgot to study about the woods! Unlike you, you lived here your whole life!"

"That's not my fault now! You could have just not drink water and die. You can't get hungry or thirsty in heaven," He smirked evilly. "That is, if you go there."

I stood up and slammed my palms on the table. "You rude donkey.." He also stood up and he loomed over me. I heard a sharp sound and I felt something on my throat.

A knife.

"Evil would do you no good." I whispered. He smirked and I felt him pull the knife away. "So does dying." He snapped back and slowly sat down, not taking his eyes off me.

"You don't know how depressed I am, Haechan." He emptied his mug and placed it in the sink. "I know. But I told you, you still don't see your place in here."

"My place is where my friend is right now." He walked past me and stopped beside. "What do you want?" I heaved a sigh. "I want to die."

"What do you really want?" He asked again, much more firmly. "I want to die, that's it." He grabbed my arm and gave me a sharp look. "You don't play with death, Monique. You can't just die."

My eyes fell on his hand with the knife and snatched it from him. I put the blade over my chest and he looked shocked because of what I did. "Don't do it." He warned.

"Oh, I will." I said and stabbed the knife to my chest. I felt the pain all over me, an unbearable pain. With a serious look, he pulled the knife out swiftly. I spat blood. I touched my chest and looked at the blood coming out of it.

I smiled mentally. This was it.

But then the wound.. closed. I glanced back at Haechan and he smirked victoriously. "Merlin enchanted this knife. It can't kill people with a purpose.. and with a good heart," He said and slid the knife in its sheath.

I looked unbelievably at him. "You are scared to die. You're just saying it because you feel like you have no use anymore," He cocked his head to the side. "The knife proved you wrong. You still have some things to do out there."

I shook my head. "No. I.. I want to die." Haechan held both of my arms, staying me put in my place. "I tried, too, Monique. I stabbed this knife to myself countless times and you still see me in front of you."

I don't know why, but I suddenly broke into tears. My knees became weak and I fell, but Haechan caught me. "What does the world want with me? Should I give them pleasure and I will suffer?"

"Are you a Reader?" He asked softly. I nodded. "Cinderella was treated like a servant, Snow White was hated by her step mother and Aurora was cursed to die in her sixteenth birthday. Not all princesses starts with a happy 'once upon a time', so does yours. You story is just starting."

I sniffed. "Why are you doing this?" I asked. I felt him smile. "I see myself in you. I don't want you to lose yourself to death. Once you are gone, you are gone. You cannot come back."

"That's what I want." I mumbled. "Merlin and the knife saw your purpose," He patted my arm. "You got a big storm coming. Not in a bad way." He stood up and started to walk to the sink.

I hugged myself and stayed on the floor. My fever was gone and I was doing better.

"Haechan," I looked at him and he looked down at me. "Why did you want to die?" He smiled in a melancholic way. "The only person I trusted told me to be gone, along with my friends. He didn't want us anymore."

"Who were your friends?" He told me to sit down before he can tell me. I did as I was told and waited patiently for his answer. "There's Doyoung, Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta and Jaehyun." As he said those names, he smiled.

"I don't recognize your names in a story book." His smile became intense, like he was going to tell me something I don't know. Well, I actually don't know.

"Do you want to know where story book I came from?" I nodded. I was so curious who he is. He inhaled and exhaled. "I'm Tootles."

There was only one character that immediately appeared in my head. Skunk-looking Tootles, a Lost Boy in.. Neverland. My jaw dropped at the realization.

"Wait," I gasped and covered my mouth. "You're Tootles?!" I exclaimed aloud. Haechan chuckled at my reaction. "Yes, it's me. The one and only Tootles. A Lost Boy and will forever be one, but not of Neverland, not anymore."

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