castle runaway. ᵈᵒⁿᵍʰʸᵘᶜᵏ

THIRTY THREE

Monique's POV

John let me sit on the couch and he made himself comfortable beside me. What I know is that I am not comfortable. This is all too familiar and I don't like it. My heart is racing like crazy.

He put an arm around me and I felt goosebumps all over my body. "Monique, was it?" I nodded and removed his arm from my shoulder. "E-Excuse me. I need to go to Haechan—"

He pulled my arm and my back hit his chest. I started to sweat badly and my mind is slowly becoming very hazy. "Please, don't do this." I mumbled. My breathing became rapid.

"Come on, I just want to have some talk." I pulled back my arms. "It doesn't need a lot of skinship." I managed to reply.

"John," We turned our heads to Haechan. He was glaring at the boy beside me. "Don't touch her." John took his hands off of me and I grabbed hold of that chance to run towards Haechan.

"And I thought she's not your girlfriend." Haechan pulled me outside. "She's not, but that was too much." He fired and we exited the house. He dragged me a bit far away and when he made sure we were now alone, my eyes started to water.

He cupped my face and looked at me. "Are you alright?" Haechan's voice was etched with worry. A stray tear stained my cheek and I covered my face. "I'm sorry, I'm such a crybaby." I started to cry.

"No, it's not your fault," He hugged me again. "I know you felt uncomfortable around Little John. You haven't told me, but I know you have fear of being touched by men." I nodded.

"The only man I'm not scared to touch is you, because when we first met, you helped me and you comforted me with your smile. I instantly knew you were a friend." I said.

He patted my back, letting me know that he is there for me. "It's okay, it's okay." He whispered. I slowly calmed down and I pulled away from our hug. I smiled at him. "Thank you."

He smiled back. "You are always welcome."

•••

We went back to the house and joined the others in dinner. Haechan told Maid Marian we'll be taking our lunch in the living room (because of John). She and Robin agreed and so we were on the said room, chatting.

"We're going to leave as soon as we finish eating. I'm guessing Alan taught Little John how to flirt with girls.. incorrectly." He rolled his eyes and I just chuckled lowly.

I was already finished with my lunch and waited for Haechan. After he did, we put our plates in the sink and bid goodbye to Maid Marian, Robin Hood and his Merry Men (Little John was not in a good mood).

We walked out of the house, out of the garden until we were walking back to Nottingham.

Haechan stopped, making me stop, too. He whistled and Shimmer suddenly appeared in front of us. She neighed and he rubbed her jaw again. "How was your Oz trip?" He asked while mounting on her. He held his hand out and lifted me on Shimmer's back.

The horse neighed something that Haechan understood. "Oh, really? That's good. Shimmy, let's go to Nowhere." I looked at Haechan. "Wait, are you talking about a place or a literal nowhere?"

"The Nowhere, Monique. It's a portal to where we are going. Only Shimmer and I and popular characters know where that is." Haechan told Shimmer to go and she drove away to Nowhere.

The ride to it was a only a minute and a half and we arrived into a wide vast land of green grass. Haechan hopped off of Shimmer, following me and walked to the center of Nowhere.

I turned behind and saw that Shimmer disappeared once again. "Monique, come on!" The tanned male called and I immediately went beside him.

He held my hand and looked me in the eyes. "Close your eyes. Let your imagination take over your mind. Tell me if it feels real." He said. I took a deep breath and did as I was told to.

I closed my eyes and without even trying, images appeared in my mind. It was uninvited but the canvases were beautiful and they felt.. real.

I must have said out loud that it's real because Haechan started to chant a poem.

"Where we are right now is Reality,
A place where things can be bad,
Take us to somewhere we can be free,
To Queen Alice Liddell's Wonderland."

I was going to open my eyes but he shushed me. "Don't. I'll tell you when you can." I nodded with my eyes still closed. I felt a gust of wind consuming and the next thing I knew, I felt like I was falling..

...falling into a rabbit hole.

Later on, I felt no wind. I kept quiet for a couple of seconds before I heard Haechan say, "You can now open them."

By the time that I did, we were not in Nowhere anymore. I looked around and the place was.. different. It was much more colorful, lively and abstract. It was funny in a beautiful way.

Haechan took my hand and his hand motioned to my left whilst on his right. "Monique, I welcome you.." I turned my head to the direction he is pointing and I gasped when I saw the red Heart Castle standing there.

"Wonderland!"

•••

The Heart Castle was not so far from where we teleported so we walked there. I always squeal at everything I see, making Haechan laugh at my reactions.

"I didn't know we can go inside Alice's imagination." I commented. The Heart Castle was slowly becoming bigger and bigger in front of us and now, we are in front of the huge red-white haven.

"We can, if she lets us. She can already see us at Nowhere." We walked up the steps of the castle and Haechan grabbed the knocker, banging it on the door.

It opened by itself and Haechan motioned me to come in and follow him. Of course, a red and white foyer greeted us. There were paintings of different rulers of Wonderland displayed on the walls. Below it was the Queens' treasured entities.

In the middle was the portrait of Alice, her signature black ribbon above her blonde hair and her dress was a literal Queen's, embroidered with red silk and linen. I walked closer to it and read the label below.

QUEEN ALICE LIDDELL
REIGN: JANUARY 27, 2018 - PRESENT

"Isn't she lovely?" Haechan asked beside me. I smiled and nodded. "She is. Even in the painting, her Queen aura is very intimidating. She is one of my favorite characters."

We heard footsteps from the grand staircase. Haechan and I turned our heads and saw Alice running down the stairs, her beautiful gold hair flowing. She was wearing a simple, light red dress, almost like what I was wearing.. but red.

"Tootles? Is that really you?" She giggled and ran towards Haechan excitedly. They seem very good friends. The boy smiled and opened his arms. "I sure am, Al. Good to see you again."

Alice jumped on Haechan and her laughter echoed through the ground floor of the palace. Looking at the both of them, they looked really good together.. like they were meant for each other.

I am happy for them but I suddenly felt my heart tighten unwillingly. The feeling was strange but I recognized how it was described in books.

Am I feeling jealous?

•••