Until Then (Stray Kids Hwang Hyunjin)

Twenty

Alex rubbed her temple gently with her index and middle finger, trying to get her head around what she had just heard.

When Eunbyul mentioned Hyunjin killed someone before, his father was the least of her expectations. But what annoyed her most of all was the fact Eunbyul and Suzy had tricked him into doing that.

How?

Was the only question occupying her mind.

How did they manage to trick him?

How did they manage to get a son to murder his own father?

How?

Alex wasn't even going to lie, she knew Wonderland would be a confusing place from the very beginning but she never in a million years expected this.

"I-I must leave," she shot up from the thick layer of grass she had been sitting on.

Eunbyul released a sigh.

"Alex-"

The other girl just decided to ignore it. She needed to get away from her, get away from everyone else.

She needed to get her mind straight but at the same time needed answers.

"Please, I...I need to leave."

The First Princess sighed once more before nodding. She pulled her legs to her chest and rested her face on her knees. Alex was aware of her sobbing but couldn't brush off the sudden urge to just dart off to gosh-knows-where and just scream until her throat hurt.

So that's what she did.

Her dress was severely torn by the time she made it up a hill far from the palace. She was sure she was going to be scolded at for the way she looked but Alex cared little about that.

Screaming her heart out, Alex couldn't help but break into a sob. She didn't know why all of this affected her so much. But her heart sank and for some reason everything seemed too much to handle.

She covered her face with her hands and let herself drop to the grass.

It wasn't long until she felt a pair of arms wrapped around her.

"Sh," the person uttered, hugging her tighter.

Alex could just tell who the person was from his scent.

Half of her wanted to hug him back, cry until there were no tears to cry left. But the other half told her to run away, that he wasn't safe anymore.

Or was he ever?

Pushing him off her, Alex took a couple steps back. It was clear but his dumbfound expression that Hyunjin was not only shocked by her actions, but also hurt.

"Don't touch me, Hyunjin!" She screamed.

He winced at her sudden shout but nothing escaped his mouth, he simply looked at the ground.

You see, Hyunjin had seen Alex on her own earlier but Eunbyul approached her before he had the chance to do he watched from afar. He heard everything, knew everything so he was aware of why Alex was acting this way.

He just wished she didn't blame him.

"Is it true?" She asked between sobs. "Did you really kill your father."

Hyunjin wasn't sure what to do. He would lie and tell her everything Eunbyul said wasn't true, or he could tell the truth, say yes. But then Alex would hate him.

"I did," he uttered quietly. "But I swear, I-"

"I don't want to hear it!" She yelled before running a hand through her hair and sighing.

"Look, I didn't mean to. Eunbyul said it too, I was tricked."

"What does that even mean? How in effing earth can you be tricked into killing your own father? What did she do, huh? Give you one of those dumb potions?"

He sighed.

"You see, this is the reason I didn't want to tell you anything yet!"

"So I could fall for your stupid lies? I can't believe I thought you were actually innocent! I'm so done with this stupid place, Hyunjin! I want to go back to earth! I want to get away from you!"

"Well too bad, princess! I brought you here for a reason and until then, you won't leave!"

"Argh! I hate you!"

Alex began to stomp off but before she could go far, Hyunjin tugged onto her arm, at her arm, sending her crashing into his chest. But Hyunjin didn't budge nor was he fazed by Alex crashing into him.

He just stared down into her dark brown eyes.

Alex gulped as she stared up at him. It was clear how angry he was and that worried Alex more than she would be comfortable to admit.

"You're not going anywhere. From now on, you're only allowed in two places: the palace and my base, got it?"

She gulped once more before nodding. She didn't want to mess with Hyunjin. Even she knew that wasn't a smart idea.