Chapter 56 (1/2)
Chapter 56: Chapter 6 Sudden Change-4
The next morning, SoYoon was looking for some clothes when she found a man-to-man sweater that was ripped in half. She thought it strange that this piece of clothing had come off so easily. Either way, the sleeves were a mess and crusted with so much dried blood that it was probably better to throw it away. Instead, she wore a thick hoodie tee with a zip-up jumper and cargo pants that Heart brought her.
Her boyish attire made it unlikely for anyone to imagine what had happened last night. Heart swept away the hair that had stuck to the back of her neck. As he did, he saw clearly on her neck the imprint of his lips.
He kissed the area lightly, and SoYoon flinched. He laughed quietly and inhaled deeply. Even the scent of the same body cleanser smelled different depending on the person. If his scent was that of a rainy midday inside a forest, hers was a rainy morning at its mouth. If he pulled her in deeper, would they become the same?
He rubbed his nose on her bare skin as SoYoon whined, uninterested.
”I'm hungry.”
With those words, the heated moment fizzled out.
A few moments later, a phenomenal breakfast of eggs benedict and sides lay before SoYoon, who had not eaten all day.
She cut the egg slathered in the pale yellow sauce with her knife and a waterfall of yolk flowed over it. She put the poached egg, spinach, bacon, and the flat English muffin together and savored the combination of its saltiness with the tart hollandaise sauce. She had been extremely hungry and ate four eggs benedict, a large cheese omelet, a shrimp cocktail salad, and a strawberry smoothie.
For dessert, she had a waffle on which Heart placed a hearty scoop of vanilla ice cream. As she ate, he prepared coffee. If anyone had seen Heart listening to the requests of another person like this, they would have thought they were delusional. The two of them thought nothing of it, however.
SoYoon put the mug to her mouth and watched Heart. There was an aura of gentleness about him today. She felt like she was swimming in a warm bath of pudding but tried to rid herself of the feeling and distracted herself with a different subject.
”What about Cheshire?”
Heart lifted his head. He didn't try to hide the gleam of rage in his auburn eyes. She pretended to be unaware of it and fiddled with her mug then continued.
”I'll deal with it…”
”He broke the code.”
White Rabbit was not the only one who had to follow the protocol for requests. The client should never lie about their requests. This was one of the few nods at maintaining decency in Wonderland. As Wonderland's warlord, Heart had a responsibility to punish those who broke the law of the land.
”Let me handle this, Heart.”
Heart put his mug on the table and crossed his legs. He put his chin over his hands and observed SoYoon in a gaze that looked almost bored, but he didn't fool her. As Wonderland's Heart, he told her, ”I think that's exceeding authority, Whitey.”
”Don't exaggerate. How is me seeking revenge exceeding authority?”
SoYoon did not break contact with Heart's violence-filled eyes. He stared back at her under the pinned bangs and sighed.
”My Whitey sure doesn't listen.”
”Thank you.”
There was still something Cheshire was meant to do. He needed to obsess over Alice, kidnap her, and push her to the edge of death. SoYoon's obsession with maintaining the plot of the original story made her suddenly feel a range of complicated emotions. Yes, she only had to proceed like the original story...
”I'm going to go.”
She got up after finishing her coffee. Heart got up and approached her. He leaned over and lightly kissed her on her lips and looked at her.
”Stay safe. You're probably not a hundred percent, so don't overwork yourself.”
His blushing eyes and soft voice dripped of seduction. Feeling she might unknowingly get dragged back into bed, she hurriedly left the bedroom.
The moment SoYoon left Heart's house, she messaged Mad Hatter and Baby. She explained what happened to Mad Hatter and how she should go about remedying it. She asked Baby for intel about Cheshire. Then she headed home. On her way back, she got a reply from Baby. It asked her to wait a day.
Nearing her house, she found a familiar face waiting in front of it. It was Twins, Tweedle Dee. He was muttering to himself and kicking the glass door. Then, bored, he started to pick at the old black color sheet stuck on the door. Having walked closer, she could hear what he was mumbling.
”Blondie, why does she live in a place like this? Sh*t. I can't even see inside.”
”What does it matter to you where I live?”
He had been so concentrating on removing the sheet that he hadn't realized how close SoYoon had come. Only after hearing her voice did he realize who she was, and he jumped in surprise, removing his hand.
”Oh, uh. You're here.”
He laughed awkwardly. There were pieces of black under his fingernails. He clenched his fists to hide them and walked toward SoYoon.
”What are you doing?” she asked, not trying to hide her exasperation with him. Enraged by her tone, he turned away from her with an annoyed expression. She could see his lips stick out in a pout.
”Why are you picking at that?”
”F*ck, because you weren't coming home…! Where were you all day! Huh? Every time I come, your house is always empty…”
”Requests.”
It meant there was nothing she needed to explain to him. Lost for words, Dee moved his mouth silently and scratched his head. She stared at his messed-up silklike hair and asked, ”Why'd you come?”
”...Do you like that girl? Alice or whatever?”
”She likes me.” Those were three well-chosen words intended to make Twins feel uncomfortable. Not knowing why that was offensive to them, they fretted over it and went to see SoYoon. Even the peculiar feeling they felt last time didn't bother them.
For them, it was good timing. SoYoon responded truthfully without much emotion upon hearing the one name she didn't necessarily want to hear at the moment.
”Not particularly.”