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For as long as Hoseok cared to remember, he'd been stuck in his house. Voluntarily or involuntarily, it didn't matter. He had plenty of glimpses of the outside world through the windows scattered throughout his house. His most peaceful moments were at six when he had a cup of tea warming his hands as he listened to Seokjin ramble about a caucus race while Hoseok watched the clouds slowly move out of sight. The conversation ended when Seokjin disappeared as soon as he realized Hoseok wasn't paying attention.
At the end of the day, Hoseok liked to curl up under his quilt wearing his neon fuzzy socks and stare at a crayon doodle of the stars and the moon Seokjin made on his ceiling. He could never fall asleep even during the times he closed his eyes and purposely slowed his breathing. Every time he thought he was close, he felt his house shake and heard a deep rumble above him.
"Those must be some really heavy clouds." Seokjin raised an eyebrow at Hoseok from where he crouched on the kitchen counter.
"Are you sure those are clouds? You never leave the house. How can you be sure?" Seokjin asked. Hoseok shrugged as he bit into an apple. "How about you leave the house for once?"
Hoseok choked on the apple and pounded his chest. He stared at Seokjin's amused face. "Why would I do that?"
Seokjin brought a hand up and stared at his nails. "Oh, I don't know, maybe you'd like to hang out somewhere nice for once. I can show you my favorite parts of the forest, and you'd be able to know what made that sound."
"Can't you just tell me what that sound is?" Hoseok whined. Seokjin crossed his arms.
"If you imagine it's a heavy cloud, then it's a heavy cloud. If you come with me to the forest, you might change your mind." It would be nice to hang out somewhere new with Seokjin; Seokjin never liked staying in one place for too long, and although he came by every day, Hoseok could tell he didn't like the stuffiness. There was nervousness concentrated in his gut that threatened to claw its way out, but there was also excitement pushing the vile feelings down. When Seokjin gave him a pout with wide eyes, Hoseok knew which feeling won over.
"I'll go, but don't disappear on me." Seokjin hopped off the counter with a wide grin and grabbed Hoseok's hand. He pulled Hoseok towards the door, and fear crawled up Hoseok's spine. Before he opened his mouth, they were outside. Hoseok held his breath as he saw the path to his house covered in a sea of red and orange leaves. His heart leapt when he heard the sharp crunch under his feet. A bubble of laughter escaped as he glanced at the flowers and the trees and the squirrels who stuck their heads out as they curiously watched the duo. Hoseok's excitement started to wear off when Seokjin took hesitant steps and looked down one path and another. There were multiple signs in the middle of the split roads. One sign read "This way" and another read "That way". A sign pointed up that read "Sometimes a bird" and another pointed down that read "Maybe an ant". Hoseok took his hand back to cross his arms. "Don't tell me we're lost."
Seokjin shook his head. "It doesn't matter where we go, but I wanted to take you to a tea party. I don't know which way is better." Seokjin placed a hand under his chin as he circled the signs. Then he snapped his fingers. Hoseok raised an eyebrow as he watched Seokjin head to the grass to pick up a stick. "I'll let the wind decide."
Seokjin placed the stick upright in the middle of the crossroads. He sucked in a breath and released the stick for it to lean to the left. "What are you two doing?" Hoseok scrambled towards Seokjin and looked back to see a kid.
"We're deciding where to go. I'm Seokjin and this is Hoseok."
"I'm Jungkook. I was going to my friend's house for lunch. Do you want to join?" Jungkook pointed at the left path. Seokjin smiled.
"I got a good feeling." Hoseok didn't, but surely Seokjin knew the place and the people around here better than he did.
Jungkook was pleasant company. Hoseok couldn't help but relax in the presence of a kid with large eyes and a large smile. His boyish charm contrasted with the old pocket watch he always carried with him. "I never know if I'm late. Sometimes, my clock goes slower than everyone else's. Other times it goes faster. But it's still my clock." It must be precious as Jungkook carefully placed the pocket watch in Hoseok's hand and watched Hoseok's every move until he returned it.
They arrived at a house with statues of white rabbits that Jungkook happily pointed out. Hoseok's attention was on the flamingo lawn ornaments and copied their poses, which was met with a muffled laugh and slap from Seokjin. Jungkook knocked on the door, and it opened to reveal a tall man. "Hey, I brought some guests over."
Namjoon opened the door wide, and Hoseok shuffled inside. Hoseok hovered by the dining table while glancing hesitantly around him. Seokjin wandered to the kitchen stove and peered into the pot. He sniffed the soup and turned away to sneeze. "I can only smell pepper in this."
"Sorry. I've been recovering from a cold." Namjoon looked down with an embarrassed smile. Hoseok wandered over just as Seokjin walked away while sneezing into his elbow.
"I heard somewhere that lemon and sugar can counteract pepper," Hoseok said. Namjoon looked into the cupboards for a bottle of lemon juice. Hoseok took over the cooking until the pepper mellowed out. Jungkook helped him fill four bowls, and they gathered to eat at the wooden table. It felt a little strange to eat in the company of strangers, but Seokjin wolfed down the soup, so it made Hoseok feel less self conscious of his table manners.
"What happened to your pig?" Jungkook asked.
"He left. Said he wanted to explore the world to find himself," Namjoon replied. He shook his head with a fond smile. "I felt sad but extremely proud." Seokjin patted Hoseok on the back.
"That's like Hobi."
"That's not true," Hoseok muttered. "You wouldn't tell me what that sound was."
"What sound?" Namjoon asked. Hoseok tried his best to recreate the noise accompanied by hand gestures. It might not have been the best attempt as even Seokjin tilted his head. "Hmm. I think you'll know if you go to the castle, but I advise against it. The Queen of Hearts has an aimless fury, and if you're unlucky, they'll direct it at you."
Hoseok never heard of the Queen before. Seokjin had also never mentioned the Queen. He looked at the older who busied himself with the soup. "Let's just go to the tea party first."
When Hoseok and Seokjin walked through the front door to leave, they stepped through the closet door into the dining room. Hoseok's jaw dropped as he quickly looked around. Namjoon scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about that. My house likes to play pranks sometimes. I usually teleport outside when this happens."
Hoseok didn't know how to teleport. He never had to and believed it wasn't an ability he possessed. Hoseok walked through the front door again and walked out of the bathroom. Seokjin grabbed Hoseok's arm. "You can teleport. It might be easier if you close your eyes." Hoseok followed the instruction. "We're going to teleport right outside Namjoon's house. Picture yourself disappearing from this kitchen and appearing outside. Remember the rabbits and flamingos? You're standing among them."
Was this really the secret to teleportation? It seemed too simple to be true, but Hoseok trusted Seokjin. He trusted the voice and the words that held belief in Hoseok, and he was not one to disappoint. Hoseok opened his eyes and let out a breath when he saw a pink flamingo. He turned to Seokjin with a wide and goofy grin that matched Seokjin's own. Hoseok teleported. He did that. He just did that.
Namjoon cleared his throat. "Sorry for the trouble. I'll make it up to you by leading you to the main road." Namjoon turned to face Jungkook. "What about you?"
Jungkook shook his head. "I have to go somewhere."
They parted ways with Jungkook, and Namjoon took the lead through the forest and hummed a soft tune. Hoseok glanced at their surroundings with wide eyes. The deeper they walked into the forest, the larger the flowers, grass, and mushrooms became until they towered over them. Hoseok stopped to look at a daisy and ran his hands along the soft petals. He rubbed the petal trying to figure out what it reminded him of. It was a little delicate and slightly damp. It felt rejuvenating.
"Jin, you gotta feel this." Hoseok turned around to see Seokjin and Namjoon gone. Not even the petals could calm the sudden fear scratching up Hoseok's spine. He whipped his head around trying to see if he could spot his friends through the grass.
"What are you looking for?" Hoseok screamed and hid behind a flower stem. He peered around to see a boy with a backpack lounging on a mushroom. "Who are you?"
"I'm Hoseok. I got separated from my friends." The boy sat up and beamed.
"I can help with that." Hoseok's shoulders slumped in relief. "It'd be best to look from up high." Hoseok looked up. The tallest thing he could see nearby was a flower. He never tried to climb a flower before. Would it be stable enough? Or would it bend? Hoseok hesitantly pointed at the flower. "You'd have to search from higher than that."
Hoseok looked around. There were some sticks that looked like they could be taller than the flower. Perhaps he could make stilts, but he was sure he'd fall. He looked back up. Maybe he could ride the back of a bird, but wouldn't the bird try to eat him first? He couldn't risk that. "It's impossible."
"Nothing is impossible here. You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger." Hoseok furrowed his eyebrows. He knew Seokjin would be able to float, but Seokjin was special. Hoseok couldn't do the same, right? Hoseok jumped, hoping that every time he left the ground he would reach a higher height. The boy laughed. "That's better, but there's something more comfortable."
Butterflies fluttered through the grass and picked the boy up. Another butterfly picked Hoseok, and he screeched. He tightly shut his eyes as he no longer felt the ground beneath his feet and instead felt the wind through his limbs. When he felt the butterfly descend, he opened one eye and saw Seokjin strangling Namjoon. The butterfly lowered Hoseok on the ground, and he collapsed. "Hobi! You okay?" Hoseok let out a guttural whine. "Namjoon wouldn't let me look for you."
"That's because I knew Taehyung would help him." Hoseok peered up at Taehyung who waved at the butterflies. Taehyung dug through his backpack before crouching beside Hoseok. He held out a jar.
"I'll give these to you. They'll become butterflies one day, but they'll still be the same lovely creatures." Hoseok looked at the jar and yelped. He scrambled to his feet and clung onto the back of Seokjin's shirt. Seokjin leaned away from the jar, but Taehyung placed it in his hands. They tried to ignore the wriggling caterpillars inside.
Seokjin wrapped one arm around Hoseok's shoulders. "No more detours. We're going to the tea party." They parted ways with Taehyung and Namjoon and stuck to the paved path. The flowers, grass, and mushrooms shrank, and they followed a sign that pointed to "Madness". They stepped into a clearing with a long table that had a tea cup in front of every seat and a string of paper lanterns hanging above. There was a man slouched in one of the seats with a beanie covering his eyes. Seokjin jostled the chair until the man used one hand to grab the table and the other to push the beanie back. Seokjin ran and pushed Hoseok by the back, and Hoseok felt like he was being offered as a sacrifice to the glaring man.
"This is Hoseok. He's that friend I talked about." The man nodded and briefly motioned at the large red chair at the front of the table. Seokjin pushed Hoseok along until he sat down. Hoseok felt small as the back of the chair seemed like it was twice his height. "This is Yoongi. We became friends when we almost got killed by the Queen of Hearts after making a joke. Although honestly, his joke was worse than mine."
"It was not," Yoongi huffed. "The Queen would have laughed at mine if you didn't anger them right before my turn." It didn't seem that Seokjin listened as he poured himself a cup of tea. Yoongi pointed at another teapot and dragged his finger in the air until the teapot floated over and a stream of hot tea filled the cup. Hoseok's eyes widened as he watched the teapot float to Hoseok's cup.
"You guys have cool powers," Hoseok said. "How'd you get them?"
"We always had them," Seokjin said. "We got better at using them. After we were accused for killing time-" Hoseok rolled his eyes. "-time stopped working for us. We had a lot of time, well technically we had none, so we got to practice it."
"You can do the same. Nothing is impossible here," Yoongi said. Hoseok wasn't sure about that. He tried to float but only jumped. "You're thinking of everything as hypothetical. If you can imagine it, what's stopping you from achieving it?"
"Reality," Hoseok muttered.
"Then change your reality," Seokjin said. Hoseok huffed. It wasn't as simple as that. "Before you left the house, I bet you'd say flowers twice your size were impossible. Now your reality has gotten a little bit bigger."
Hoseok hated when Seokjin had a point. He never cared to learn about the world; he was content staying in his small house. But now, anything Hoseok thought was fact was fiction. Anything he never dared to imagine happened before his eyes. Anything he thought was impossible might just be possible. It's not like he tried to learn or attempt to do any of it before.
Yoongi waved his hand and Hoseok's teacup filled up and a slice of cake plopped onto a plate. Hoseok grinned and stuffed his face. He glanced at the jar Taehyung gave him and noticed that the caterpillars were in their cocoons. That made looking at the jar more bearable as he didn't have to see their thousand crawly legs.
Hoseok leaned back into the cushioned seat. He could do this often. He could explore the forest with Seokjin and have tea with Yoongi. He would return home and check on the caterpillar's progress. It'd be much more fun than staying in his house all day, but there was also his original goal. "Hey Yoongi, do you know what this sound is?"
After Hoseok recreated the noise, Yoongi tilted his head and hummed. "I don't know, but I know someone who can help you." They followed Yoongi through the forest off the paved path until they saw Jungkook and another boy dressed in white sitting by a stream. The boy in white turned around and gave them a smile on his lips and on his eyes. "Jimin, this is Jin and Hoseok."
"Didn't know you knew the White Queen," Seokjin said. Yoongi shrugged.
"What's up?" Jimin asked.
Yoongi gently pushed Hoseok forward. "Talk to this guy." Jimin offered Hoseok his hand, and Hoseok froze. He glanced behind to see Seokjin and Yoongi talking to Jungkook. Hoseok took Jimin's hand, and they walked along the stream. A couple of goldfish leapt out of the water and swam through the air. One winked at him. Hoseok shuddered.
"Is there anything you want to ask?"
"Yoongi said you'd be able to help me. There's this sound-" Hoseok was getting tired of recreating the noise. "I thought it was a cloud, but Jin said it wasn't."
"It could be a cloud," Jimin began. "It could be a bird, a fish, or the sky's stomach grumbling. What do you want it to be?"
"I've been chasing it all day. I'd like if it was something awesome."
"Do you want help with that?" Jimin asked. Hoseok scrunched his eyebrows.
"Uh, sure." Jimin smiled. Something about the smile made Hoseok relax although his mind rang warning bells. Hoseok felt a strong pull on his arm, and his muscles screeched when Jimin swung Hoseok into the stream. Hoseok held his breath and flailed his arms. He thrashed his head and reached towards the water's surface, but the distance kept increasing.
"You won't drown as long as you trust me." Hoseok didn't know if he wanted to trust Jimin. "Take in a deep breath." Half the nerves in his body forbade him from taking in water. The other half pleaded him to breathe. Hoseok hung onto the slimmer of hope and opened his mouth. He didn't choke on water and instead gasped as his body hit the ground. Goldfish half his size circled around him. He looked up and saw light shimmering through the water that tickled his cheeks. Jimin floated down and landed on one foot before placing the other down.
"If you want the sound to be awesome, you have to find a way to get out of the water." From Jimin's tone, it sounded like he thought he was helpful, but Hoseok wanted to punch him. He'd been scared too many times today, and Jimin's surprise was the worst. One of the fishes nudged Hoseok's back, and he jumped. Jimin grabbed Hoseok's arm and pulled him away. Much to Hoseok's horror, the fish followed them. Hoseok nervously glanced back. They stopped before a round wooden table covered by tablecloth and a cookie on a plate labeled "Eat Me". Hoseok picked up the cookie and turned it one way and another. He sniffed it. It seemed harmless.
"What do you think happens when you eat it?" Jimin asked. A happy stomach, Hoseok thought. Yet that seemed like the least likely answer. The goldfish surrounded them again, and Hoseok brought the cookie to his chest.
"You would shrink to the size of an ant," one of the fishes answered.
"You would grow to the size of a whale," another fish said.
"That's impossible," Hoseok replied. Jimin shook his head.
"I believe in six impossible things before breakfast." That seemed unhealthy to Hoseok, but he could hold onto the hope the words brought. The only thing Hoseok knew was that he didn't understand reality the way he thought he did that morning. Perhaps reality changed along with him. He wasn't the same person he was a few hours ago.
Hoseok closed his eyes and tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. He'd try teleporting out of the water. He pictured Seokjin, Yoongi, and Jungkook standing by the stream among the towering trees. A fish nudged his back and Hoseok jumped. He brought a hand to his heart and whipped around. Jimin waved his hand and the fishes backed off.
Hoseok looked at the cookie again. To get out of the water, he needed to eat the cookie; his heart had a thousand emotions racing through it, and he couldn't focus on teleporting. He didn't want to shrink or grow; he wasn't sure how he'd get back to his original size. He knew of a simpler way to reach the surface. He took a bite and felt the ground leave his feet. He watched in satisfaction as the fishes' faces tilted up and the distance between kept increasing. Hoseok looked up and reached out for the wriggling light.
Hoseok jumped out of the water, and his chest hit dry ground. He groaned as he tried to heave the rest of his body out of the water. Strong arms helped pull him up, and he turned to see Seokjin. Yoongi snapped his fingers, and Hoseok's clothes became dry. Jimin stepped out of the water and brushed a hand through his hair. "Now you're ready to visit the castle." At this point, Hoseok was ready to faint in Seokjin's arms. "The Queen of Hearts should know what the sound is."
"The Queen of Hearts might order to behead you. Do you really want to go?" Seokjin asked. Hoseok nodded. He wasn't about to waste all of his suffering to go home not knowing the answer.
"Follow Jungkook to the castle." Jungkook waited for Hoseok to find the strength to move his legs. Jimin and Yoongi stayed behind. Hoseok stuffed the rest of the cookie inside his pocket.
Hoseok's palm began to sweat as he thought about the Queen of Hearts. The White Queen was peculiar but supposedly helpful; Jimin seemed to know a lot. Perhaps the Queen of Hearts knew even more, but perhaps that meant the Queen was more peculiar. "You know, the Red Queen had a pretty smile," Jungkook began. "Children and adults fell for the Red Queen. Their heart was that beautiful too. There was a time the Red Queen used to laugh as deep blue as a blue day."
Hoseok scrunched his eyebrows. Weren't they visiting the Queen of Hearts? Maybe the Red Queen also lived at the castle. "Used to?" Jungkook didn't answer. Seokjin tightened his grip around Hoseok's shoulders. The grip brought warmth and dread to Hoseok's muscles.
They entered through the garden and stopped before a tree with white roses. Jungkook waved his hand and the white roses became red. It was shame, Hoseok thought, since he preferred the way white roses looked. Jungkook straightened his suit and took a look at his pocket watch. "Stay here. I'll bring the Queen of Hearts."
Hoseok stood stock still in the middle of the garden. "I have to disappear. The Queen of Hearts will freak if they see me with you," Seokjin said. Hoseok tightened his hold on Seokjin. Everybody was wary of the Queen, and Hoseok knew he wouldn't be able to stand without support. "I'm not leaving. Just disappearing." Seokjin quickly vanished from Hoseok's sight, but he felt Seokjin's arm around his shoulders. Hoseok laughed. Seokjin always found a loophole. "If you're not careful, you'll turn into the Queen of Hearts."
Before Hoseok could question Seokjin, Jungkook came back and Hoseok tried not to fall backwards. The Queen of Hearts looked too much like himself. The difference came from the red and neatly styled hair, the pale cheeks, the teasing smile, and the amused eyes that held a coldness that froze Hoseok in place. "Why don't we play a game of croquet?"
Hoseok did not know what croquet was, but he caught on to what he was supposed to do. He held the flamingo ornament by the legs, positioned his hips, and swung. The flamingo hit the hedgehog and passed through one hoop. Hoseok looked at the Queen who leaned against the flamingo. "I was told you could help me." The Queen quirked an eyebrow. "There's this sound people told me you could name. I thought it was a cloud, but people told me otherwise."
Hoseok was too afraid to make the noise, but the Queen seemed to understand. "What did other people say?"
"It could be a bird, a fish, or the sky's stomach grumbling." The Queen shook his head.
"Nonsense. It's just thunder." That didn't seem right to Hoseok. Whenever he heard the sound, it was bright outside with just a few clouds passing by. "Did the White Queen fill your head with impossible things?" Hoseok nodded although it wasn't just the White Queen. Ever since he stepped out of his house, he saw impossible things happening before his eyes and he also performed impossible acts. The Queen scoffed. "Everyone here loves to believe in the impossible, but they're just running from reality." That didn't seem right to Hoseok either. His reality turned upside down and he didn't know what it looked like anymore, but he was sure it was bigger than before.
The Queen walked towards Hoseok, and he felt Seokjin squeeze his shoulder in comfort. "You seem to have some sense in you. That's what everyone in this place needs. Why don't you become a Queen?" Hoseok did not sign up for this. "You could take the position of Red Queen."
"What happened to the old Red Queen?"
"He stopped believing in the impossible." There was the bitter smile and cold eyes on the Queen. Hoseok wanted to leave. Contrary to everyone's words, Hoseok was sure out of everyone in the forest, the Queen of Hearts did not know what the sound was. However, Seokjin's grip on his shoulder held him in place. Maybe the Queen of Hearts did once know but no longer believed in it.
"I'm not used to it, but I want to believe in the impossible," Hoseok said. "I saw flowers twice my height and flying fish half it. I teleported and floated where I sunk. This morning I didn't think it was possible, but I lived through it. I want to experience more impossible things."
Hoseok smiled with his heart shaped lips and warm eyes holding his sincerity for the Queen to see. He didn't want to become the Queen of Hearts, but he also had a feeling the Queen didn't plan on taking the position either. He wanted to ask about the Queen's bloodshot eyes. "If you do that, you'll keep on chasing after impossible things. You'll fly so high, but you'll be shot down and have a wound redder than anything in this castle."
Despite the Queen's rumored fury, Hoseok felt traces of when the Queen's cheeks used to flush with liveliness and when the Queen smiled as bright as a sunny day. "That doesn't mean the impossible isn't reachable. I'll let the pain turn into wings."
That caught the Queen off guard, and he looked at Hoseok with eyes that were confused yet held a twinkle of hope. The look was soon wiped from the Queen's face when Seokjin picked Hoseok up in glee. Hoseok glanced from Seokjin to the Queen's cold face. "Off with their heads."
Hoseok felt a set of burly arms wrap around his own. He dug his heels into the ground, but it was no use as he was dragged towards the castle. Hoseok searched for Seokjin and saw he was in a similar state although Seokjin sent him a wink. Seokjin disappeared, and the guards stumbled back in surprise. Hoseok felt the arms around him weaken their grip, and he ran away. He turned his head one way and another and saw Seokjin grinning. He tossed the jar towards Hoseok; Hoseok fumbled with the catch but ultimately held it to his chest. He looked down to see that the cocoon turned into blue butterflies. He unscrewed the cap, and the butterflies fluttered out. With every flap of their wings, the butterflies grew larger in size until they grabbed Hoseok's back.
Hoseok gasped as the butterflies lifted him off the ground. He watched the guards stare at him in shock. Seokjin sent him a goofy grin that was sure to match the one on Hoseok's face. The Queen confused Hoseok the most as it wasn't fury but fear on his face. He couldn't study the expression for long as they soon looked like specks of paint.
The wind whispered in Hoseok's ear but gained volume until it deafened him. The sun that caressed his skin disappeared until the warmth was replaced by slaps of cold rain. The butterflies held on strong and climbed further up. Hoseok looked up to see black clouds and felt the deep rumble through his limbs. This sound wasn't the one Hoseok had been pursuing.
Electricity filled the air and caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand up. The static grew angrier, perhaps furious that Hoseok dared to fly this high. The butterflies fluttered erratically when lightning struck until they pulled in opposite directions and let go. Hoseok screamed as he plummeted towards the ground.
The dark clouds had been the highest the Red Queen climbed, but Hoseok knew there was more. He dug through his pockets and brought out the half-eaten cookie. He held it in his palms and focused on the stinging on his back. He brought the cookie on his lips and gulped. Feathers shot out of his back, and he became dizzy on the pain.
Hoseok blinked and saw that he wasn't falling. He turned his head around to see the feathers and grinned. He took in a deep breath and shot upwards past the dark clouds and electricity that threatened to tear the wings from his back again. He kept going as he felt the hair on his arms poke through and kept going as he felt water stick to his eyelids.
When Hoseok opened his eyes, he saw the blue sky and a long object in the air. He flew closer to the object and heard a deep rumble that he knew was the sound he'd been chasing after. He approached one of the windows and peered inside. He saw himself but not with the bright red hair the Queen of Hearts had; instead it was a soft brown hidden under a bucket hat. Hoseok knocked against the window with a fist. "Wake up."
...
Hoseok groaned and stretched his back. He looked beside him to see Seokjin playing a Mario game on the DS. He blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust, and then curiously looked at the screen in front of him. They had an hour left before they landed in South Korea. Hoseok wiped the drool that ran down his chin and leaned against Seokjin. "You know, I had a really weird dream."