Winter Rabbit in Wonderland

Chapter 62

After finishing all the food and treating Mad Hatter’s cut hand, SoYoon left his house. Then as she got close to March’s house, she changed directions upon remembering that the girl had woken up.

Dor, who had been in the living room, greeted her.

“Welcome, Rabbit!”

Dor let go of the towel and tub and jumped into SoYoon’s arms. Usually, she would have stayed a long time in this position, rubbing her head into SoYoon’s, but this time, she released her quickly and grabbed the towel and tub again. SoYoon took the water-filled tub and asked her, “What’s this for?”

“To wash her. She still can’t move well, so I have to do it for her.”

SoYoon followed Dor into March’s room. The dark-haired girl was asleep on the bed. Even though Dor was loud, she didn’t wake her up.

“She sleeps all the time. I’m bored. Brother said that if I take care of her well, then she will get better soon. Do you think so?”

“She will. She woke up because you took such good care of her.”

She stroked Dor’s head. Dor smiled, blushing. Underneath her white hair, SoYoon looked down with softened eyes.

SoYoon left March’s house when the sunlight started to fade. Suddenly reminded that she hadn’t had anything to eat for breakfast, she stopped by Central.

She was returning home with bread and a small pack of milk when she saw Twins at a place five minutes away from her house. Twins saw her just as she was about to turn into the alleyway leading to her house.

“Oh, Undertaker.”

The way they dressed was not the only way to differentiate between Tweedle Dee and Dum. Unlike Dee’s drawling voice, Dum’s was soft and crisp. With his lush pink lips, he smiled, and an aura of light emanated from his head.

SoYoon was reminded of the first time she met Twins. It had been exactly this time of day then also. The sunlight had been hitting their dark golden hair through the window they were standing near.

Dum walked up to her. The sky behind him was red. Shadows covered his, but she could still see that he was smiling. He stopped with a step left between them and asked her with his head tilted, “You’re alone today?”

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With those words, she realized who had been on the other side of the wall yesterday. When she didn’t say anything, Dum reached out his hand. Her hair was still a mess from having just woken from a nap at Mad Hatter’s. He swept his fingers through the side of her hair, and it slid down slowly.

His fingers passed her ear and stopped for a second at her mask, exactly over her lips. Two days ago and yesterday, Heart and Mad Hatter had kissed her. Another stimulation to her lips made them tremble. Dum felt that slight movement beneath the cloth of her mask and smiled.

When he swept past her lips, she turned away, not liking it. His blue eyes had been glimmering, but as she moved away, he smiled again, trying to look polite.

“Sorry. Did it hurt?”

“What business do you have with me?”

“Don’t be so scared. I was hoping to put in a request from time to time. But I don’t have your number. Will you give it to me?”

SoYoon received Dum’s phone, put in her number, then returned it to him. He asked, “How come you didn’t give it to me last time?”

“Last time?” SoYoon asked.

Dum understood what had happened and ground his teeth.

“No, never mind.”

He waved it off and put out his hand.

“Just a friendly gesture regarding future business.”

SoYoon hadn’t participated in many handshakes before, so she hesitantly took his hand. He squeezed her small and rough hands.

***

The next afternoon, SoYoon went to visit Mad Hatter and was escorted not into the second-story laboratory but into his bedroom. He stared at her with a dissatisfied expression as he explained how he was going to draw the magic insignia on her body.

Taking into consideration that it would have to be hidden even in her naked form, there were not many options available. Mad Hatter recommended the inside of her lips, her lower gums, or her scalp. SoYoon nodded, having thought the same thing.

“Of course, if they decide to examine you closely, they will discover it. Um, your hair is white, so your scalp is a bit dangerous, I think. I would prefer you do it on the insides of your gums instead of your lips because it will be harder to find. What do you think, SoYoon?”

“Then let’s do it there.”

He pulled out a fingernail-sized paper, on which the magic insignia was marked.

“It looks a bit complicated because we had to combine defenses against two types of magic.

”

He said this nonchalantly, but SoYoon could tell from his eyes and sunken skin that he had spent all night fabricating this.

She looked him dead in the eye and said, “Thank you, Yochanan.”

She had decided on this on her way home yesterday, that she would call his name as much as she could. If she did, he would be happy about it. That is what he had told her. Mad Hatter looked at her strangely upon hearing her words, then laughed dispiritedly.

“Really...You sure know how to play with my emotions. All right. If we are going to do it anyway, we might as well finish it quick. Put that paper on the part where you want to place the insignia. Put it as close to your teeth as possible. However meticulous they may be, I doubt that they will look that closely there the moment they catch you.”

SoYoon put the paper in her mouth and nodded. Mad Hatter then placed his hands around her cheeks and lifted her head.

“I’m going to cycle my powers into your body. At first, I’m going to circulate it, but when the magic starts to circulate on its own, it will hurt. I thought it would be better for you to be lying down, so I brought you here instead. How would you like to do it?”

She took off her shoes and weapons and moved them to a corner then lay on the bed. Mad Hatter cleared his throat.

“I’m going to start now.”

He had one knee against the bed and was holding the part next to her head with his arms. Then he slowly lowered his head. When his lips touched hers, SoYoon slightly opened her mouth. His cool magical powers filtered into her through her lips.

At first, the sensation was only a tickle. When he removed his lips, however, the place where the paper touched her burned, and the pain spread through her body.

Her body cringed, and she buried her face into the pillow. His strong arms were holding her, but she couldn’t register it. She clenched her teeth and prayed for the moment to pass.

Mad Hatter looked down at SoYoon with worry in his eyes. Although in excruciating pain, she didn’t once utter a complaint. And to hold it in, she was clenching her teeth to keep from screaming. He removed her sweat-soaked hair from her cheek.

He whispered. “There’s only a little left. You’re doing great; just a little more.”

At this, SoYoon buried herself deeper into his embrace.

The three minutes that felt like three years finally passed, and the pain receded. SoYoon realized that she was grasping onto Mad Hatter’s clothes. Just from what she could tell from the feeling in her fingertips, she knew he wouldn’t be able to wear these clothes again.

Mad Hatter, upon finding her fiddling with his clothes, realized her state and said, “It’s over now.”

“Yes. I’m sorry about your clothes.”

“...You caused me this much worry, and the first thing that you talk about is my clothes?”

Mad Hatter sighed so she would hear and wiped away the cold sweat from her forehead and cheeks with his cardigan sleeve. She accepted his touch with her eyes closed.

“You did well.”

She heard his sweet words, and an even sweeter kiss touched her lips. SoYoon opened her eyes and saw the sunlight from the window bounce off his orange hair.

As she closed her eyes again, she felt his tongue gently grazing the brand. From inside her mouth, something thin was pushed out. When he removed his lips from hers, he stuck out his tongue. There was the paper that had the insignia drawn on it.

Strangely, when she saw it, SoYoon felt something stab at her heart. She was surprised by her own reaction. This had never happened before.

As SoYoon was lost in thought, Mad Hatter observed her expression. She crinkled her eyebrows and pursed her lips shut. Those lips held many emotions, and Mad Hatter knew the reason for such a reaction. He forced his lips into a smile as he saw the last of her emotions expressed on her face.

“SoYoon.”

Her brown eyes looked up at him. He kissed SoYoon lightly on the forehead. This must have been okay because she didn’t react in any way.

“I think I need to sleep a bit. I’m very tired.”

“It must have taken a big toll on you.”

She had thought that it wouldn’t take a lot of energy to counter the fainting and anesthetic magic, but she must have been wrong.

He laughed a bit shiftily then hugged SoYoon. Her small body fit perfectly into his. Even so, she was not his. Her white hair stuck to his face, and he tried desperately to soothe his heart.

“Will you stay with me?”

“Yes.”

“You promised. Please keep it.”

Mad Hatter knew that what SoYoon had promised was only to keep him company while he slept. Even knowing this, however, he revealed his true wish. But this wish was something that she might never know.

The first to fall asleep was SoYoon. Mad Hatter, who had been pretending to be asleep, opened his eyes.

He saw her pale lips first, and he lowered his head as if in a trance. The sweet yet cold lips both welcomed and rejected him. He kissed her lips several times, then hugged her tight. As he did, he could feel his powers circulating through her body.

“Hoo...”

Although he had done it for her benefit, he still couldn’t believe his magic was flowing inside her. He felt a strange happiness about it. The next moment, however, his face turned serious.

He had planted something inside her in secret. If there came a time to use it, that meant it would be something extremely serious. He hoped that she would figure it out, but he also hoped the time to use it would never come.