Chapter 70 (1/2)
Chapter 70: Chapter 7 Excommunication-5
Duke—he made such a big deal about it being odorless. They decided to give another beating to Duke and pretended to not know what was going on.
”What are you talking about?”
”I figured as much. This one doesn't smell as strongly as last time, but I'm overly sensitive to this stuff, so even if it is odorless to others, I can smell it.”
”I—I didn't want you to run away while I was gone, so I put it in! What are you, a bloodhound…?”
SoYoon picked up the bowl of clam chowder, went to the sink, and tipped in the warm contents.
After putting down the bowl, she said to Dee, who was glaring at her, ”I won't leave, so give me my bag and cellphone and my sword.”
”How can I trust you?”
”It's a request, so I won't leave.”
”Like I said, why should I trust you?”
Embarrassed at his failed plot, Dee continued to complain. From the outside, it looked like he was blaming himself for his wrongdoing.
Not in a good mood due to the drugging incident, she lightly retorted, ”You want to pinky swear or something?”
The problem was that Twins, who had never been outside of Wonderland, didn't know what that meant. Dum, who had book smarts but was strangely dense about common sense, and Dee, who didn't have either, took her to mean something else by the phrase.
”How cheap to wager a finger. You should at least bet a wrist or an arm…”
”...Forget it.”
”Ah, f*ck, what is it? You're the one who said you were betting a finger!”
As they left the kitchen and headed back to the sofa, Dee was noisily jabbering. Eventually, she lifted her pinky and placed it in front of his face.
”What? I don't have a special girl I like.”
SoYoon grabbed his right hand and lifted his pinky.
”What, what, what are you doing? Why are you all of a sudden holding my hand…?”
”Hook your pinky onto here. This means that I will keep the promise.”
”Promise?”
Even Dum had heard of the word only through books. Was it like a contract? Either way, it meant that she would not leave the house, so they brought their finger next to hers.
As their finger got closer, it started to tremble. They had done so much more, so what was the big deal about a finger? They hooked their finger onto hers.
As the small rough finger touched theirs, electricity shot through their finger to the rest of their body. As they ruminated over this feeling, SoYoon lightly shook her finger.
”Dee?”
”Huh? Oh, I mean...Then, you won't leave here?”
”Yes.”
At her agreement, Twins grinned. It was a bright, innocent smile on a lovely face.
After finally getting Dee out of the house—she told him to fix the window he broke while he was there—SoYoon didn't have much to do, so she spent the rest of her time on the sofa. Her thoughts naturally wandered to Mad Hatter. She shook her head and erased the last expression she saw on him. But the last words he said rang in her ear: ”I have, for you…”
I'm going back, she thought. I'm leaving.
From this conversation, she realized that these two statements meant the same thing. There was no guarantee that she would be able to go back. But thinking of leaving this place—she covered her face. If suddenly she was torn away from this place…the thought irked her.
She wanted to see her family. That much hadn't changed. But the faces that she thought of now were not them. Among those faces, the one person that was tethering her to this place popped into her head. She had thought she would never want to set foot inside this place again, but this man was pulling her emotions back into it.
That's why she didn't want to accept it. Having nowhere left to run away, she only had one choice.
”Blondie, what's wrong with you?”
Dee returned. She lifted her head as if nothing was the matter but Dee, seeing her face, frowned.