Until Then (Stray Kids Hwang Hyunjin)

Twelve

For the first time since Alex had arrived in Wonderland two weeks back, it rained.

And not just a gentle rain, a full on thunderstorm, much to the girl's liking.

She trotted through the dark, damp forest, not fazed by the fact her whole body was soaked.

She barely recognised the place, it was much different, much scarier at night. But now everything was so much brighter and made the forest seem somewhat enchanted.

After what travelling for a while, Alex finally came across the hole she had fallen in and gazed inside it to see the skeleton.

She remembered what Hyunjin had told her.

"She was hung by the way. And they just tossed her away, no coffin, no grave, just threw her away like trash...all for something she didn't even do."

The last sentence echoed in her head for what felt like ages as she continued her walk, eventually finding a cottage.

The cottage wasn't anything special. It was a simple rosewood house with a few flowers all over the place.

It seemed to be the only normal thing about Wonderland so far.

She approached the cottage and stared at the door for a while, wondering whether it was a clever idea to have come there or not.

She loosely clutched her fist and brought it to the door. Her small hand seemed lost against the red wood. As if it wasn't meant to be there. But then again, according to the palace rules, she wasn't.

But Alex couldn't care less at this point. If answers were behind the door, she would do anything to get to it.

Her knock seemed to echo around the forest, reminding her if how empty this place was, how excluded it was from the rest of Wonderland.

How lonely the place was.

Alex wasn't even the slightest bit surprised when no one answered the door. To be honest, she didn't expect it. So without anymore thinking, she wrapped her hand around the brass door handle and turned it slowly.

The door creaked open revealing a small room blanketed in dust. Insects travelled along the old, damp and rotting floorbeds while invisible spider webs ran all around the room. The room was dark and consisted of only broken furniture. It seemed no one had lived there in ages.

Alex gagged as soon as the foul stench of rotting wood combined with other undescribable miasmic smells filled her nostrils.

She immediately brought her arm to her nose in an attempt to block it off as she crept her way to the light switch.

The lights switched in with the sound of crackling that didn't even stop when the lights fully adjusted to being on after a long time.

Alex was surprised there was still electricity but decided not to question it too much.

The floorbeds creaked with every step she took as she approached what seemed to be the kitchen.

Just like the main room, it was just as nasty, if not more.

Alex dared not open the fridge, worried about what other sickening smells may emit from it.

She crept further into the house until she found stairs leading down. Slowly, she allowed herself to go down further and further until she found a door.

Much to her surprise, it wasn't locked. So she opened it, finding herself further confused when she did.

A room illuminated by a blue light stood behind the door. New and clean furniture sat proud in the middle of the room, a bookshelf full of various books beside it.

The foul stench seemed to immediately go away when she took a step into the room.

The floorbeds did not creak and neither did the door as she closed it behind her.

She looked to her left to see a mini kitchen which was stocked with a variety of delicious fruits and berries.

The room was clean and had no insects to be seen, the polar opposite of the house on ground level.

She approached a door on the far right, opening it only to see a large metal cauldron with a thick, clear, gel-like substance in it. Bordering the seemingly miniature room compared to the last, were shelves of both full and empty potion bottles, all with labels on them.

They all had different coloured substances inside, and some were even bubbling.

Alex approached the closest shelf and began to read the labels.

"Love Potion...Ghost Tears...Mermaid Tears...Immortality...Wolfsbane... Unicorn Tears..."

Alex froze, blinking her eyes rapidly, hoping she was dreaming.

An empty bottle stood before her, two others next to it, one half empty and the other full.

She shook her head as she read the label on the empty bottle.

"Alex," she read out loud before gazing at the half empty bottle. "Suzy."  Then she gazed at the last one, the full one. "Eunbyul."

"What are you doing here?" A harsh voice came from behind her.

She immediately turned around to meet Hyunjin's dark eyes that were filled other anger.

Alex gulped, unsure what to do.

"Are you deaf or something? I asked you a question!"

She cowered at his shouting, feeling herself tremble under his stare.

"What are all these potions, Hyunjin," she stammered, ignoring his question.

"Get out."

"What?"

"I said get out!"

"No, answer me! What are they?" Alex screamed back as tears subconsciously rolled down her cod cheeks.

Hyunjin's eyes softened looking at the state of her.

He never planned to make her cry. In fact, he never planned any of this. She wasn't supposed to find his lair nor was she supposed to find his potion room.

"Answer me!"

He sighed when she screamed again, as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Fine, but it's a long story." He gazed down at her wet dress. "You must be freezing in that! Come, you need to take a shower before you catch a cold. I'll leave clothes outside the bathroom for you to change into-"

"Just tell me why the heck you have these potions!"

"I will. Just...after you get out of that, okay? I'll explain, I swear."

"Why are you like this?" Alex asked, her voice almost a whisper. "You brought me here and couldn't less about me and yet now you care? What the eff is wrong with you?"

He sighed as he looked at the ground, unable to have eye contact with her.

"Let's just say I never wanted to involve you in any of this, okay? Now, are you going to get out of that dress or not?"

Oh my gosh, writing this chapter was a nightmare! My keyboard kept on messing up and I had to mainly rely on autocorrect.

Also, sorry if this isn't as interesting as the rest of the chapters because of all he descriptions. In class recently we've been focusing on descriptive writing so...

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it <3. Oh, and I forgot to thank you all so much for over 1K views. I really appreciate it and thank you guys so much for your patience. It means a lot!

~SpicyThaiChicken