A light shone in the darkness. It started at the picturesque mansion, licked its exterior, and crawled up to its very top until it swallowed it whole. The city was bright as midday. n.o.body knew, however, that a man had been running, using the deepened shadows from the light as cover.
The man turned into the center of the alleys he knew so well and ran for a long time until he arrived at his destination. He found another man sitting on the cold ground. No matter how many times he ran the simulation, this was the place where the light shone the brightest.
The light he was creating engulfed the night. He fell from his ecstasy and wept.
SoYoon turned into the alley. She had been a little ways from the bright lights, but, surprisingly, this alley was dark and cold. She had turned into the center of the alley and found a man lying on the ground, sleeping.
Alias Firebug. He was the acquaintance SoYoon was supposed to meet today. She placed him in a sack, lifted him over her shoulders, and left the place without a second glance.
After arriving at Firebug"s home, SoYoon opened the sack and tossed him onto the bed. The man woke momentarily, only to crawl out of the sack and into his covers. A few moments later, a small voice came from the huddle of blankets.
"The money is on the table…"
SoYoon had collected the wad of money that had been the cost for her troubles and left Firebug"s house. The clock hanging on the man"s wall read 12:00.
She had made sure to lock the door, then headed to the slums as usual. She had been waiting for the unknown time of Alice"s arrival. SoYoon wanted to ensure her safety.
From the slums came a unique smell of defecation. March had described it as a rotting smell. SoYoon thought it to be the smell of hopelessness.
After SoYoon had completed her rounds, she left the slums and returned to the neutral zone. As she was returning, she pa.s.sed March and Dor"s house. She stopped to check if anyone was there.
There was movement of one and then another movement of something half as small—the familiar sounds of March and Dor. No one else was there yet.
It was just another spring day in which Alice had yet to arrive.
The next day, SoYoon mentally organized the things she had to do for the day. Deliver cigarettes and a loaf of bread to the doctor, and also buy eggs. Buy medicine from Duke and give it to Baby. The doctor"s request could be handled by March, but Baby"s tasks had to be done by SoYoon. She sent a message to March on a slide phone and went into the bathroom to lightly wash up. A few days ago, Dor had woken up briefly to choose a grapefruit-scented soap, and now its bittersweet scent floated in the air.
After coming out of the bathroom, SoYoon replaced her patch. The patch she used now lasted 24 hours. The patch had been created to match her skin tone, and aside from the center that looked like a silk hat, it was as if the patch wasn"t there.
She walked into the dressing room and looked at the mirror. The pin she used to stabilize her bangs was still there. SoYoon removed the pin and curled her hair with her fingers. The brown eyes that were different from the previous White Rabbit"s were covered by her bangs. She placed the black mask on her face, slung the sword crookedly over her back, slid the knife onto her thigh, put on the hat that Mad Hatter had given her, and left the house. Her destination was Duke"s house.
"Welcome, Undertaker."
He invited her inside, no longer acting like an adult in front of SoYoon. As always, he put a cup of tea next to her and greedily watched her with his yellow eyes. And as always, she didn"t touch the cup and got down to business.
"It"s Baby"s request. Like always, ten bottles of contraceptives."
"How is Baby? It"s so difficult to see Baby"s face these days."
"Obviously doing well, if ordering medicine. I"m busy, so hurry and give me the medicine," SoYoon said. Duke got up, went inside, and brought out a small box. SoYoon checked the contents of the box and opened her wallet. Duke grabbed the hand that carried the Lewis Carroll.
"You are always busy," Duke said. "Let"s spend some time together. I have so many things I want to ask you. For example, how your face does not age even though time pa.s.ses. You"re like an adorable doll to me."
His fingers, nothing but skin and bones, swept across SoYoon"s hand. SoYoon grabbed his wrist and twisted it.
"Ow, it hurts! It hurts! I won"t touch you again. It hurts—ow, I think it"s going to break!"
Duke fretted as he begged. She knew it wasn"t a promise he would keep, but SoYoon let him go regardless, hating even this sort of contact. Duke was so weak that he rolled onto the couch as she pushed him away. He had crawled over to the next couch and sat down. SoYoon counted the money and placed it on the table.
"Check it."
"It"s correct."
SoYoon rose from her seat. Duke remained crumpled on the sofa.
SoYoon left Duke"s house, checked the time, and pulled out her cellphone. Heart had left a message.
/[Come around lunchtime.]/
It was now 11:04. SoYoon had stopped by Baby"s house first. Baby must have tossed all night because it was still in dreamland. The bright silver hair cast upon the pillow was a sleeping, fairy-like child. Unable to wake Baby, SoYoon had received the cost of the medicine from its lover and headed to Heart"s house.
Other than the neutral zone, the majority of Wonderland"s buildings were old and withered from people chiseling them for firewood. When one walked the streets, it was common to see fights break out. SoYoon had hurriedly walked past a couple of people who looked as if they were fighting over groceries from Central"s mart.
As always, Heart"s house looked like a mafia house. Surprisingly, Heart didn"t force his minions to wear suits. The minions, however, out of respect toward Heart, were set on wearing them. It said a lot about Heart to have such loyal followers.
SoYoon knocked as she arrived at Heart"s office. A familiar voice invited her in. His minions had announced her arrival, and as soon as SoYoon stepped foot in the office, he dismissed them.
"Welcome, Whitey. Had lunch?"
"Not yet."
"Eat before you go."
Heart called his a.s.sistants to bring in two servings of food. He did not take his eyes off his doc.u.ments.
SoYoon searched the bottom of the table as usual and pulled out the pin to pin her hair back. Heart"s special request was that SoYoon not hide her face when she was with him.
Heart signed the papers and hurried over to where she sat. If her regular seat in this office was the long couch, his was the seat right next to her. There must have been a reason he avoided the one-person armchair or the sofa across from hers, but she couldn"t figure out why.
Heart sat next to SoYoon and observed her. Her forehead and eyebrows, the contour from her eyes down her face, was as sharp as a cliff. And below her eyelashes, her light brown pupils did not waver one bit.
SoYoon was busy because Heart had summoned her. Starting some time ago, he would call her over for no apparent reason and just watch her, sometimes resting while hugging her. When Heart was with her, he didn"t let anyone else into the office, so no one knew about this. There wasn"t a particular reason to reject such advances; as long as it was within reason, she had let him do as he pleased.
Only when they heard someone at the door did he break his gaze to open it. Outside was a tray of food. Heart pushed the cart, and SoYoon helped him set it up.
What awaited was a salad made with fresh vegetables mixed with grilled eggplant marinated in a balsamic vinegar dressing, two varieties of pasta, one with shrimp and cream sauce, another with clams and olive oil, a margarita pizza baked in a stone oven, and finally, a crispy mille-feuille stacked between sweet strawberry-and-custard cream. If you asked SoYoon what she wanted most from Heart"s house, without a second thought, it would be his cook.
They ate silently. After the salad, pasta, pizza, and dessert, Heart prepared coffee. The sound of beans grinding was peaceful. Just as she thought this, Heart"s residents became rowdy.
"He ordered us to not let anyone enter!"
"Is he hiding some sort of treasure in there? There"s no such thing as secrets in Wonderland. White Rabbit also has to hear this anyways. Move."
"You can"t...Hey! Mad Hatter!"
"I told you to move."
The uninvited guest was Mad Hatter. As if it wasn"t enough that he was a technological geek, recently, he ordered SoYoon to purchase Hikkomori"s property items for him. SoYoon looked at Heart. He continued to grind the beans, not changing his expression, although she couldn"t miss the way his fingers tightened their grip on the coffee mill or the slight tremor of his eyelashes.
"You can"t go in!"
With a loud sound, the door opened. At the same time, Heart"s minions screamed.
The water flowed out of the silver drip pot to soak the coffee grounds. As Heart prepared the coffee, Mad Hatter entered without permission and sat across from SoYoon.
"It"s been a while…," he said, meekly looking at SoYoon.
"...?"
SoYoon, taken aback for a moment, soon lost interest. His eyes were drooping, and there were deep, dark circles under it, so she a.s.sumed he wasn"t getting much sleep. Either that or he had been suffering from his migraines.
Heart brought over the coffee. There were only two cups. Obviously, neither made its way to Mad Hatter. Mad Hatter didn"t react, for he probably hadn"t expected it.
"What business brings you all the way here?" Heart asked, smiling.
SoYoon was sure she was not the only one who sensed that the smile was actually saying "get lost." Mad Hatter took out an item from his wrinkled jacket pocket and put it in front of SoYoon.
"It"s a new product."
A s.h.i.+ning cube-shaped item the size of her hand lay on the table. The size and design were a bit different, but it was definitely a smartphone. Above the round home b.u.t.ton was drawn Mad Hatter"s silk hat.
SoYoon pressed it lightly. She saw the phone, message, and other essential apps that were usually on a smartphone screen.
"Are we able to use it now?"
"Of course."
"It"s amazing."
Mad Hatter smiled. Heart tapped the table lightly, and SoYoon looked up at him. Heart was smiling with discontent.
He put down his mug and said, "It"s getting cold, my Whitey." His mug was almost empty.
"So, what is that?"
Heart grabbed the smartphone with one hand and pushed the coffee toward SoYoon with the other.