Winter Rabbit in Wonderland - Chapter 101

“Will you live with me?” Mad Hatter said, his ceramic cheeks blushing pink. SoYoon turned her head as she heard these words.

***

After returning from the research facility, SoYoon went back to her routine of working requests. Then one day, March, Dor, and Li came to visit her. It was unusual for Li to come along, so SoYoon’s gaze was directed at her. As she looked, Li hid behind March, cringing in fear. March pulled Li back and stood her in front of SoYoon.

“Tell her properly.”

SoYoon stared at the awkwardly acting Li with an emotionless expression. Li tensed up again. That was expected. Just a few days before, SoYoon had forced Li into the slums after finding Li explaining to Dor about crimes and about situations in which she should be careful.

She had spent precisely one week in the place. Because she had told the slum residents to not lay a hand on her, she hadn’t been in danger, but it was still scary. SoYoon slightly lowered her gaze. At this, a little of Li’s nervousness seemed to subside.

“Um, so… Do you think you can tell me who I can go see to learn magic?”

She had started the sentence in a small voice, but it ended in almost a scream. It was because SoYoon had looked up at the word magic.

“Magic?”

“Yes, yes!”

“Aren’t you nonmagical?”

“Well, I used to be… but now, I… have… it…”

Li’s voice was shaking as she cried, but SoYoon was lost in thought. There was only one wizard that SoYoon knew about. There were also very few people who knew of his wizarding ancestry in Wonderland. And so, she didn’t think that it would be too horrible to let a couple more people know of his magical powers. The real problem was whether he would be willing to teach someone else or not.

SoYoon pulled out a smartphone from her bag. The one she usually used had been left at the research facility, so Mad Hatter had created a new one for her. She opened up her messaging app and sent a text to Mad Hatter. After a few minutes, a response came in. She stood up from her seat and looked at Li.

“Let’s go.”

“What?”

“He said he’ll teach you. Hurry up.”

SoYoon didn’t force her. However, Li, reading the look in her eyes, hung onto March in fear. And so, all four people headed to Mad Hatter’s house together.

SoYoon, who had been holding Dor’s hand while they walked, looked back at Li. She had come to realize something that she hadn’t thought about.

In 『Wonderland』Mad Hatter loved Alice. And Li had the soul of the real Alice. Although the original story had crumbled completely, it bothered her. What would happen when the two of them met? The thought kept manifesting itself into uncomfortable images in her head.

Once they arrived at Mad Hatter’s house, SoYoon knocked on his door. If she had been alone, she would have walked in without an invitation, but this time she was with guests. A few moments later, they heard the second story window opening. All the guests’ gazes looked up toward the direction of the sound.

“Wow…” Li exclaimed under her breath. Even Dor, who didn’t know enough people to compare Mad Hatter to anyone, didn’t remove her gaze from him. An absolute beauty was standing there. A man, shimmering in the golden light of the late afternoon sun, smiled at them.

“You’ve come, White Rabbit. I’ve been waiting for you,” he called out to her, a bit awkward because other people were around. Then he opened the door quickly. When he disappeared from the window, the three people who had been entranced by him came back to their senses. SoYoon was able to understand how they felt. Mad Hatter’s beauty had even made her mind go numb in surprise.

“Let’s go inside.”

The moment they stepped inside, Mad Hatter was waiting for them on the 2nd floor of the staircase. As always, he was wearing a bluish-green cardigan, a wrinkled shirt, and pants. Today’s hat was a violently purple nightcap. Because it was able to cover his grey-blue hair, it could not distract from his extravagant beauty.

Mad Hatter came down the stairs and headed directly toward SoYoon. His cool arms wrapped around her. He bent over and whispered into her ear, “I missed you, SoYoon.”

SoYoon put her forehead on his shoulder. She sighed deeply and felt the strength go out of the shoulder.

“… Me too, Yochanan,” she said to Mad Hatter in an even smaller voice than he’d used. His heat rose suddenly as he hugged her. If he had looked up at this instant, she would have seen how red his cheeks were. A slight smile rose on SoYoon’s face.

If she had let him, she was sure that Mad Hatter would have never let go of her. She coaxed him to release her and she told him the reason she had come.

“This is Li. She wants to learn magic. And…This is the real Alice.”

Mad Hatter realized what SoYoon meant by telling him that and his eyes grew cold.

“I see.”

Mad Hatter looked Li up and down. Upon being scanned by his gaze, Li held on tightly to the ends of March’s clothes. March, in turn, wrapped his hands over hers. Upon seeing this, Mad Hatter’s eyes seemed to relax.

They decided to start the lessons after he could prepare the lesson plans. After March, Dor, and Li went inside, SoYoon stared up at Mad Hatter.

“What’s the matter, SoYoon?”

“You don’t have to teach her if you don’t want to.”

“Are you worried about me?”

“…Of course, I am.”

Mad Hatter didn’t like people in general, but he especially seemed to hate Li. SoYoon could sense this by the way he’d looked at Li. After she admitted that she was worried about him, he looked relieved. Feeling embarrassed, she ignored his gaze.

“I don’t like that girl. And I’m a bit afraid.”

SoYoon blinked. These were not words the great Mad Hatter would ever say about anyone. But she continued as if it didn’t faze her.

“It’s because you’ve done something like this before.” Mad Hatter was talking about the time that SoYoon had pushed Alice upon him. SoYoon closed her mouth. His eyes curved into a pretty crescent shape as he smiled. “I didn’t mean for you to feel sorry.”

Those words were scarier than if he had demanded an apology. But she was unable to apologize. Back then, she had thought that it had been the right thing to do. And he seemed to be saying this now because he also realized that she’d had little choice.

SoYoon glanced over at Mad Hatter. She realized that a shadow had fallen over his face. She asked him, “Were you unable to sleep?”

It was easy to tell that this was the case. He still had his sleeping cap on in the middle of the day and his ceramic-like face was shadowed. She was certain that he had woken up the moment he’d received her message. He shook his head at her question and brought her rough fingers up under his eyes, smiling a bit embarrassedly.

“My head is hurting a bit.”

His headaches were practically a chronic illness. And the only treatment for this illness was SoYoon. Mad Hatter grabbed SoYoon’s hand, which was getting farther from his face, and placed it back on his cheek.

“Are you busy?”

He pressed his red lips onto SoYoon’s palm and smiled with his eyes. His eyes drooped as if he was drowsy from the medication and it made him look irresistibly seductive.

She was already weak when it came to his attractiveness, but looking at his face right now, it was impossible to say that she was busy. She shook her head and Mad Hatter smiled joyfully.

The two of them went into the bedroom on the 1st floor. The bedroom had the curtains drawn shut and it was dark and peaceful inside. Mad Hatter laid down first and SoYoon removed her sword and laid down next to him.

His long arms reached out and pulled her in, closing the remaining small gap between them. He buried his face into her hair and breathed in deeply, then kissed the top of her head. First, it was a light peck, but his lips started to move more and more with purpose. SoYoon pushed him away gently.

“You should sleep now.”

“I don’t want to. It’s been such a long time since I’ve spent time alone with you.”

Mad Hatter was forcing his closing eyes to remain open. She saw his eyelids twitching and no longer let him continue his tantrum. SoYoon put her hands over his eyes and pressed slightly down on them.

“I will stay here until you wake up.”

“Then… I’ll just sleep for just a little bit…” he mumbled in a voice full of regret. But he already sounded as if he was half asleep. In a few seconds, the sound of his deep rhythmic breathing spread through the bedroom.

SoYoon looked up at him. A smile was planted on Mad Hatter’s face. She wondered what he was so happy about. But she could see the tiredness in his face and she reflected upon her flaws.

SoYoon knew that she was not sensitive to these sorts of things. And as White Rabbit, she was expected to be so. Knowing how hard it was for Mad Hatter to sleep without her there, she knew that he must have spent several nights in agony.

She had finished most of her work. She could concentrate on him for a while, but this was only a temporary fix. SoYoon buried her face into his chest. His drowsiness was contagious and sleep overtook her.

***

When SoYoon woke up from her sleep, all her surroundings were dark. To check the time, she looked for her smartphone.

“It’s only 1 o’clock. You should sleep more.” Her hands had been feeling around the bed when Mad Hatter grabbed them. His voice melted into the peaceful night air and was crisp, unlike that of someone who had just woken up. SoYoon escaped from his embrace and got up.

“When did you wake up?”

“Just now.”

Mad Hatter got up also. SoYoon looked over him. Sensing her gaze, Mad Hatter smiled.

“I’m fine. I’ve gotten a lot better.” He told her this as he combed through her tousled hair. But even in the darkness, she could see that, contrary to his words, he looked exhausted. SoYoon remembered the thought she’d had right before she fell asleep. Her lips moved impulsively.

“Should we live together?”

At that moment, an unnatural silence blanketed them. Mad Hatter froze in the middle of sweeping back her hair over her ear. Stone-faced, he looked like a strange, living doll. Then the red lips moved.

“What are you talking about?”

Only then did he realize what SoYoon had said to him and his eyes grew wide. His cheeks started to blush, then the redness spread to the rest of his face. When SoYoon blinked, he hurriedly covered her eyes.

“Wait. Don’t look at me.”

“Yochanan?”

“This is cheating…”

Even his voice seemed to be blushing. SoYoon removed his hands. When she did, he hugged her tightly. Through the thin clothes, she could feel that his temperature was higher than usual.

By his reaction, it didn’t seem to be a rejection, but she still felt a little insecure from his lack of an exact answer. Then Mad Hatter mumbled softly, “Really, I was preparing myself to ask you myself.”

Mad Hatter’s arms relaxed and released her. SoYoon lifted her head and looked at him. Still blushing, he asked her cautiously, “Will you live with me?”

That was when SoYoon understood how Mad Hatter felt. She turned her head swiftly. Mad Hatter laughed quietly and kissed her blushing cheeks.

“I’m going to assume I already heard the answer.

“…That’s what I said.”

She had always been so determined to leave if given a chance. But this moment had officially allowed her to ground herself in this place.