Gather together
Young and free, we hiss at the world
Brighten ourselves in the dark with no answer
- Ateez, Answer
"What the hell did you feel so that we look like that?", a curious voice asked when Rory opened her eyes. She found herself swimming in the water and as soon as she realized that, her body stiffened. Then a hand came into her vision and she gladly took it. Seonghwa pulled her up with ease.
"So?", Wooyoung asked when Rory didn't answer his question. At first she thought something was wrong with her eyes but when she opened them again, Wooyoung was wearing a black suit with chains and belts around his body. A look at Seonghwa told Rory he was wearing similar clothes. All in one they looked like princes.
"I may or may not have watched a princess movie yesterday.", Rory answered and couldn't help but glance at Wooyoung's purple hair. "It suits you, though."
Someone landed next to Rory, scaring the shit out of her.
"So we look like that, because you dreamed of your Prince Charming?", San asked amused. He, too, was wearing a suit but unlike Wooyoung, he visibly enjoyed it.
"Who are we talking about? Prince Charming?", Yunho asked confused when he joined the group. Soon all boys were here and Rory had to look twice at Hongjoong's white and Mingi's red hair.
"No one.", Rory answered, slightly shivering. Even though the weather was warm and cloudy, it didn't change the temperature of the water. Rory took a look at the ship and could see white sails and a golden flag. It reminded her of a royal ship she had seen in history movies. Then she turned to the boys again. "Could I get some dry clothes?"
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry.", Seonghwa said. "Come with me."
Rory followed him into a dining room and couldn't help but stare at the expensive looking table and chandelier. God, how beautiful is this? Rory didn't notice Seonghwa had stopped so she ran straight into his back.
"Sorry.", she said embarrassed but Seonghwa just laughed and gave her a pair of clothes and shoes.
"Apparently this time, you prepared clothes for yourself as well."
"Huh?", Rory asked confused but a look at the clothes gave her an answer. They were definitely for a feminine body. Luckily it wasn't a dress but it still looked fancy. A tiny, metal hair band could be seen under the shirt and when Rory pulled it out, she gasped. Beautiful flowers were engraved into it.
Rory quickly changed after Seonghwa left the room and put her wet clothes away to dry. As she did so, a bracelet fell out of her pocket and she didn't even have to look at it to know which one it was. It was Danbi's.
"Ro?", a voice called from the outside. "Are you ready?"
"I'm done.", Rory said and quickly put the bracelet into her pocket before Yunho could see it. He came into the room and Rory could see his eyes slightly widen in surprise. His ears turned red and when he looked away his eyes fell onto the hairband.
"Why aren't you wearing it?", he asked and carefully held it up.
"Why are you calling me Ro?", Rory asked with a glimpse of hope. He had always called her that at theatre practice. She could feel her heart jump at this nickname and hoped he'd remember why he called her that.
"It, I don't know, it just feels right, I guess. If- if you don't like it, I'll stop-"
"I love it.", Rory interrupted him with a sad smile. He didn't remember. But at least it was a connection to the real world, right? Yunho gave Rory a smile and came closer to her, the tiny hairband in his hands.
Carefully, to not hurt her, he put it on Rory's hair and smiled brightly when he did it. The touch felt weird but Rory couldn't help but smile as well.
"It suits you.", he said and Rory couldn't remember him giving her compliments like that before. She liked it. Probably more than she should.
A shout from the outside tore them away from each other's eyes. "Look at that! It's an island!"
Yunho excitedly jumped up and grabbed Rory's arm to pull her outside. Rory had to blink against the sunlight a few times before finally seeing what Jongho had meant.
An island could be seen at the horizon. Could it be? Scared Rory wanted to ask Yunho but he was already with Jongho, talking about the island.
"Is this Wonderland?", Rory asked Hongjoong and hoped the scared tone in her voice wouldn't be heard. Hongjoong laughed at that.
"No. That would be way too easy.", he said. "But we'll make a stop there to fill up food and supplies. Maybe someone can help us get to Wonderland."
Rory tried not to seem to relieved when she heard that. Good, she thought. A hand on her shoulder made her turn around. Wooyoung was standing there and held up a plate. "Figured you might be hungry."
"Thanks, Woo." Roy took the plate and took a bite of the sandwich. "God is this good." The taste reminded her of Wooyoung's usual sandwiches he made and made her feel nostalgic.
"Since when are you making these?", Rory asked and watched Wooyoung closely. His face darkened in confusion but it was gone as soon as it came.
"Don't know exactly. My hands kind of remembered, I guess."
Both Wooyoung and Rory joined the others at the front of the ship who were watching the island coming closer. Rory saw a few other ships at the port and the city on top of the hill was crowded. Colourful flags had been hung up everywhere and many houses were painted in various colours. All in one, the city seemed like a huge party.
"Gentlemen!", Hongjoong called out as if he was giving a speech. Then his eyes fell onto Rory and he quickly added. "And Lady. This island doesn't seem so bad so we may or may not spend the night there. But first, we should refill our supplies and find out more about Wonderland. Maybe someone can give us a map or a compass."
Rory froze at his last sentence and her hand automatically wandered to her pocket but the compass wasn't there. Of course it wasn't, Rory thought relieved. It was on her desk.
"Let's split up. So we can get back faster.", Seonghwa suggested. But Wooyoung was clearly not fond of his idea.
"This never works in horror movies!"
"But we're not in a horror movie, Wooyoung."
"We could be.", Wooyoung argued. "This could be an alternate universe where everything seems allright but in the end it was all bad."
Seonghwa playfully hit Wooyoung's head. "You watch too many movies. And you will come with me."
"But why?"
"I'm not letting you go around this city without somebody watching you. You would probably set something on fire, like you did yesterday with my underwear."
"Don't ask. Just don't.", Jongho said to Rory who already opened her mouth to answer. With an embarrassed smile she closed it again.
"I'll set the teams, okay?", Hongjoong asked but continued without waiting for a reply. "Wooyoung and Seonghwa, you get the food. San, Yunho and Rory, you'll get some medicine and other stuff we might need-"
"That's not a very exact list, you know?", San said sarcastically but Hongjoong ignored him.
"-Jongho, Mingi, Yeosang. You'll join me and we'll see what information we can get."
"Why do I have to go with you?", Yeosang whined. Meanwhile Jongho was happily ruffling Mingi's hair.
"We'll walk around with a red light!"
"My hair is offended.", Mingi murmured while Hongjoong rolled his eyes.
"I'm taking Jongho because nobody would win against him, Mingi can actually SEEM scary and Yeosang will win any staring competition.", he explained.
"Yeah, of course. A staring competition will save us from dying.", Wooyoung said. Once again, Hongjoong ignored the comments.
"Everyone prepare. In five minutes we'll go."
Turns out Hongjoong wasn't exactly good at math. They did reach the island in five minutes but it definitely took a lot longer since Hongjoong had to convince the guard at the port they were not here to take over the government, Jongho had to free Mingi from the ropes and Seonghwa was running around making up codewords no one was able to remember.
A few minutes later than expected the nine of them reached the centre of the city, then they split up. Luckily for Rory and San, Yunho was taller than most people here so they didn't have to worry about losing each other. When Rory turned around she could still see Mingi's bright red hair at the end of the street.
"That seems like a pharmacy.", Yunho announced and pointed at a store. Rory didn't look at it twice and just followed him into the house. In fact she was really glad to be away from the crowded streets. Even though the people seemed nice they still freaked her out. On top of that, most were wearing bright clothes and the three of them really seemed out of place with their black ones.
As soon as they entered the house, various smells hit against their noses. Rory had to hold it for a while to get used to it. Meanwhile San was talking with the Lady at the counter, definitely not noticing the looks he got from other women.
Rory couldn't help but chuckle. San surely had such an effect on girls and didn't even notice it. At school every girl and even boys were admiring him. But when she turned to Yunho to help him, he was looking in San's direction as well. Unlike the women he had a darker look on his face and Rory immediately knew what he felt.
A little Jealousyyy.
Even though Yunho tried not to show it, he was envious of his best friend. He didn't know exactly why, at least he couldn't remember it but it felt like he was used to it. Yunho shook away these thoughts and immediately scolded himself. He should be happy for San, right? As his friend. He turned around and almost ran over Rory who had watched him for a while. Since she was a lot smaller than him, Yunho hadn't seen her.
"Oh, I'm sorry.", Rory said embarrassed and had to look up to meet his eyes.
Yunho chuckled. "Well, I didn't see you there. God, how small are you actually? Even Hongjoong is probably taller than you."
"Hey! I may be smaller but I can be very dangerous if I have to be."
"I don't wanna sound offensive, but I could accidently smack your face with my elbow."
"Well, it's not like I-", Rory started but was interrupted by yelling from the streets. Bells were ringing around the city and all women immediately ran out of the store. "What's going on here?"
Yunho and Rory ran out from the building as well and the crowd of people made it hard to see what the cause of the panic was. Feeling her own fear rising, Rory reached out for Yunho's hand. As soon as Yunho felt her shaking fingers around his own, he knew it was Rory. When he wanted to hold on tighter, he felt them disappear.
Confused he looked around but Rory was gone. At first he thought she was back in her world again but then he saw men with black fedoras holding an unconscious body in their arms. Yunho didn't have to look twice to know who it was. Rory.
Not glancing back or looking after San, Yunho started running towards the men. The streets were now getting emptier and it was easier to spot them.
"Stop!", he yelled and surprisingly, they did stop. One man, around the same height as himself, went to him. He wore a mask but Yunho had a feeling, he already knew who this guy was.
When his exact copy took of his mask, everything went black.