Winter Rabbit in Wonderland

Twins stepped on the researcher’s neck and killed him. Afterward, he turned around and met SoYoon’s eyes. She seemed to have been watching him all this time. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he avoided her gaze.

“Um...It’s probably better for you to drag that thing from now on.” Twins added that he would do the fighting and SoYoon responded, “Alright.” Twins shut his mouth after hearing her exasperated tone.

When he turned back around, she was reaching out her arm toward Alice. She must have hated the thought of touching Alice because SoYoon’s lips were pursed tensely. Twins opened his mouth then closed it, muttering a sigh. He messed up his hair angrily and stomped over to SoYoon.

SoYoon looked up at Twins who grabbed Alice’s hair before she could get to it. They left to go outside, dragging Alice behind them. SoYoon watched them then killed off the rest of the researchers who were still alive. Then she followed behind Twins and left the room.

The slowly made their way forward until they made it to the exit. Before they were able to step foot outside, Twins grabbed SoYoon and stopped her.

“Wait. You’re barefoot right now.”

SoYoon followed his gaze and looked down at her bare feet. In her mind, stepping on the dirt with her bare feet was not a big deal. But for Twins, that was not the case. He bent down and wrapped one arm around SoYoon’s legs then stood up.

Lifted like a small child, she was carried out of the research facility, staring down at Twins. Because she was hovering above him, she could see the top of his head.

SoYoon asked abruptly, “Why do you like me?”

Twins was so surprised by the question that he clenched Alice’s hair tightly. As a consequence, a clump of frail golden hair got pulled out by accident. Twins’ face frowned as he tossed the strands away. “Why are you interested in it all of a sudden?”

SoYoon thought back to just a few hours before. Twins had grown up with an abusive mother and was exposed to so much violence at a young age. They hated being in pain. He had also known that he was no match for the opposition. SoYoon had never in her life been protected with this much fervor by anyone. On Earth, there had never been a situation that warranted such protection and at the research facility, she had not been worthy enough to ever receive it. And at some point, she always became the protector to someone else.

She never wanted to get stuck in a similar situation again. But the feeling she got seeing the person in front of her fighting for her did not feel bad at all. Truthfully, she felt a little happy. It was as if she had been told that she was worthy of being saved.

Then Twins asked, “...Can I kiss you?”

SoYoon looked at Twins’ ear peeking out through his golden hair. It was red. SoYoon thought that his ear looked cute. When she didn’t answer, Dee rose up to the surface and started to complain. “Oh, c’mon, we came all the way here. Can’t you give us permission just once? You really shouldn’t be so mean all the...”

As Twins was complaining, SoYoon lowered her head. The smell of blood and soap shot through the air, and her rough lips touched the top of Twins’ forehead.

“...Huh?”

Their mind drew a blank for a second, and when they came back to their senses, they looked up at SoYoon. She was wearing her expressionless face as usual. Was it a dream? Was the medicine I ate earlier actually a sedative? But my forehead still feels hot.

Twins tossed Alice carelessly and made SoYoon stand on top of their feet. The brown fairy dust-filled eyes were staring directly at him. His blushing face was reflected inside them.

I don’t have this stupid expression on my face every time I see this girl, do I? As Twins’ face grew redder, SoYoon opened her mouth to speak.

“Thank you for coming. Before, and now.”

“Wow...Hey, you, don’t look at me. Look over there!” Twins yelled, not knowing what to do about his deeply reddening face. She turned away as he had requested. The next moment, her eyes grew wide.

In the space that had previously had nothing, a colored silhouette could be seen. It quickly formed into the shape of a complete human. She opened her mouth reflexively. The first name that flowed out naturally from her mouth was one that was extremely familiar to her. “Heart.”

As SoYoon called out his name quietly, Heart, who had been hugging her tightly, released her and whispered, “I was worried.”

“...Sorry.”

Twins muttered curses. From his perspective, he had her stolen from him so it was reasonable for him to do so. When Heart made eye contact with Twins, his lips curved into a large smile.

“Whitey, what is this? If you want to raise a dog, I can get you a different one. One that is much more loyal.”

Twins charged at him growling like a real dog. Heart easily got away from Twins’ grasp, but SoYoon stopped both of them. She tapped lightly on Heart’s shoulder and handed him the bag she had been wearing.

“What is it?”

“Look inside.”

SoYoon handed him the bag and simultaneously tried to remove herself from Heart’s arms. But when she jumped out from his embrace, she was caught by Mad Hatter who had walked towards them. Mad Hatter hugged her tightly with his long arms, then started to rub his face into her neck and whispered, “I’m so glad you are all right.”

His voice was shaking so much that the person listening felt sad just listening to it. SoYoon accepted the suffocating hug. A little while later, he lifted his head and smiled like a blooming flower. She had been a bit out of it but soon returned to normal.

“I have something to ask of you.”

“Ask me anything,” he said, ready to do anything for her, wanting to give her the entire world if he could. SoYoon pointed to the research facility.

“That, burn it down. So that nothing is left of it.”

“That’s simple enough.”

With one word out of Mad Hatter’s mouth, the research facility burst into flames. All the experiment subjects had gotten out of the research facility. The only people left inside were the researchers themselves. The few of them who were able to still move soon scuttled out of the research facility. Mad Hatter massacred them all with his magic.

Watching the scene, SoYoon asked, “What is the function of the magic insignia you branded on me?”

“It got activated I assume. I was hoping there would be no need for it... It’s nothing special, it was meant to create a defense against a magical attack. It was difficult trying to shove the whole thing in a tiny insignia. Although it wasn’t of much use against a sleeping spell.”

If he had made it block all magic spells, healing spells would also have not affected her. And so, he had only made it defend against attack type spells which, as a consequence, led to its downfall. After hearing his explanation, SoYoon smiled meekly. Then, Twins came growling in anger towards SoYoon.

“You latecomers, get lost.”

As Mad Hatter was distracted from using his powers, Twins snatched SoYoon away from his embrace. SoYoon, who had consequently been shuffled back and forth among the men, frowned in annoyance. Then, she heard a small whimper from a few steps away. SoYoon turned her gaze to the place where she heard the sound.

Alice woke up with immense pain in her stomach and head and looked around. Then she found SoYoon. At that moment, the pretty blue eyes turned a vicious red.

“Ye SoYoon!”

Alice ran at SoYoon with her fingernails up like claws. But she was unable to even get close to SoYoon. Her whole body tensed and she fell face forward at the speed she was running.

SoYoon turned toward Alice then looked at Mad Hatter. As she did, he raised his eyebrows and smiled innocently. At that moment, Alice lifted her head and screamed at SoYoon.

“What the heck is up with you! You were like this from the beginning! With DongHyun Oppa! And now! What do you have against me that you keep stealing what’s mine away from me!”

The name DongHyun caught SoYoon off guard but SoYoon remembered that it was the name of her previous boyfriend. Alice had realized the slight change in SoYoon’s expression and continued to scream at the top of her lungs.

“Stop acting like you’re innocent! A girl like you...You don’t know an ounce about the true weight of love, do you! Do you know how much I wanted the thing that you took for granted?”

“For someone so adamant about that, you seemed to have asked for a lot from here and there ever since you came here.”

SoYoon muttered as she stepped out of Twins’ embrace. This time, she walked over to Alice. Through Alice’s immensely tousled gold hair, SoYoon could see the blue eyes that glared up at her as if wanting to stab her dead.

“Is there anything that was actually yours? All of them and DongHyun also, not one of them were ever yours.”

“I am Alice! If you didn’t mess it up, they would all have loved me!”

“...What do they call this? Megalomaniac?”

SoYoon muttered with an expressionless face and Twins laughed hysterically. Heart and Mad Hatter had on a bitter smile. Alice huffed as anger boiled up to the top of her head.

“Whether I’m a megalomaniac or not, doesn’t matter. The important thing is that I fell into this place and suffered because of you.”

SoYoon flipped Alice over easily with her foot and stepped lightly on her neck. Alice quickly started to turn blue from lack of oxygen as her airway was blocked.

SoYoon looked down at Alice gasping for air, not even able to flail in resistance then removed her foot off of her. Alice made a croaking sound like a toad and curled up her body. That was the first time she had felt such pain. She waited, trembling, for the next attack, but SoYoon turned her back to her.

SoYoon got farther away from Alice and walked towards Heart. Heart hugged her and lifted her into the air.

“I have legs too.”

“But you don’t have shoes. So what are you planning to do with that girl?” SoYoon asked in discontent.

Heart watched her as he removed the dirt on her feet. SoYoon watched him in return then opened her mouth. “Do you know anyone that runs an illegal experimentation lab? If he’s a crazed wizard, that’s even better.”𝙛𝐫e𝚎wℯ𝗯𝒏𝗼ѵ𝙚l.𝒄o𝚖