WHISKERS' RED | HWANG HYUNJIN.
genre | fantasy au, magic au / alice in wonderland inspired au
synopsis | hyunjin knew the consequences of rejecting the queen of hearts' marriage proposal would be severe, but he didn't think it would bother her this much!
word count | 5.1k+
warning | playful illusions involving the body being twisted and turned in ways it should not
world | zero
The burst of red petals in the air was the last thing Hyunjin thought he would see. Yet, at the same time, he was not surprised to see them appear in the nick of time.
The queen must be furious to hear his rejection to her marriage proposal. He had also done it in the middle of a ballroom filled with elite guests of the kingdom. However, to be fair, she should not have been so self-assured as to propose to him in the middle of an extravagant party.
He knew a great deal about the Queen the Hearts. Everyone does. After all, she was the queen. But he reckoned she didn’t know much about him. Even after she attempted to court him through unconventional (very unconventional) means, her knowledge of him was not enough to warrant the kind of affection she held.
Thinking about the terrible courting process where he deadpanned his way through most of the interactions made him shiver. He tried so hard, but the queen was so absorbed in trying to impress him that all his effort to show disinterest was overlooked.
Anybody with some sense could see that he does not love the queen and should have wisely deterred her from proposing and thinking that he would agree to marry someone at least twice his age.
It appeared that nobody in the kingdom had sense. The general public thought nothing of his dislike toward royalty when the benefit of a crown overshone his mundane opinion. After all, he need not fall in love with the queen, but how could he not fall in love with the crown?
Except Hyunjin did not fall in love with the crown. He fell in love with the young maiden who lived next door to his disdainful uncle, who he’s been forced to live with since his parents passed away, and he spent his entire teenage years pining over her. He liked to say she was the first girl to treat him kindly, conveniently forgetting that she was the first girl he had ever met.
He chose her over the queen. He will always choose her over the queen… which was only preposterous! So preposterous that the queen wanted his head for rejecting her!
“Hello, handsome!”
You had appeared from thin air—bursted from thin air, to be precise. Your signature marking of red rose petals fell elegantly onto the ground to signify the end of your untraceable teleportation.
Hyunjin looked to you immediately and breathed out a sigh of relief. An annoying soul, but a familiar face, nonetheless. Anything would be better than the situation he got himself trapped in by uttering a kind rejection, which was hiding out in the palace maze and waiting for his eventual doom when the guards find their way to the spot he hid in.
“I see you’ve caught yourself in a bit of a fickle!” you mused, your body floating in the air with a feather’s weight. You put your face in front of his, invading his personal space. “Rejecting the queen’s marriage proposal? Now that is the kind of drama I have been dying to watch!”
It has been made abundantly clear to Hyunjin since your first encounter that his—or anybody's—misfortunes are a source of entertainment to you. Your privilege to wield an unclear amount of power, which provided you the freedom to dismiss the monarchy, has made your life a purgatory of boredom and stillness you cannot escape. You resorted to lurk through kingdoms in your usual feathery weight, finding those in misery just to get a kick out of them.
“I can’t imagine how entertaining this must be for you,” Hyunjin grumbled as he pushed your face away.
“Indeed, you cannot! I never thought the circus will pan out this way!” you exclaimed as you spun quickly in the air before abruptly pausing with a magnificent ending pose. “You and the queen have been going on dates for weeks now! What a surprise that you turned down the proposal!”
“I was never going to accept her hand in marriage! Certainly, you realized that!” he hissed, his vine-like paranoia forcing him to continuously cast anxious glances behind his shoulders to watch out for the guards.
The corner of your mouth quirked into a widening grin. Your lower body twisted, evaporating into colored mist, leaving only your torso in the air. Leaning forward, you placed your hands under your chin to make a flower and let your dreamy eyes set atop of Hyunjin’s disheveled features. Messy brown hair and glistening sweat. A look of frustration and fear cast over his gorgeous face.
Your endeared heart jumped! Oh, how you love his reactions to trouble! This is how all men should be—frustrated and afraid!
“Of course you don’t! It would make me so upset if you were to marry the queen,” you giggled as flew forward to poke his nose. “Keeping you single is my top priority.”
He blinked in surprise when you flicked your fingers between his eyes, then he frowned at you suspiciously.
He no longer questioned your fondness toward him. On many occasions, you have unwaveringly confessed to him your undying love for his beautiful face. Sweet and romantic words have flown out of your mouth like waterfalls, and they have only ever been for his beautiful face. Everyone in the kingdom knows that you have an honest tongue, so your praise and admiration for his looks must hold some truth to them.
Those were not grounds for him to believe you were genuinely in love with him. Besides, Hyunjin never believed their affection was genuine due to your erratic behavior. You were too playful, mysterious, and self-centered to devote yourself to another person. You already do not look out for yourself and look out even less for others. There was no way you could fall in love. Your affection for him has to be an ongoing joke in their immortal schedule.
“I am in love with someone else,” Hyunjin mentioned after your comment. There was a scowl on his face.
Your smile did not fade. You already knew that.
Before you could reply, you flew around his head when you heard the rattling of armors, your eyes twinkling with delight as the guards approached in groups. You grinned at the horrid expression he made before his feet began to scramble to bring him further into the maze.
“Looks like we should get out of here first before we continue our conversation!” you said, flying in front of him.
Hyunjin huffed in fear, his head turning to look behind him. The thought of being captured and having to explain to the queen his decision clouded his mind like poison he would willingly drink just so he could avoid that responsibility.
“I don’t know what you are doing here, genuinely,” he said through gritted teeth. “But unless you are planning to help, there is no ‘we’ here! It is just me!”
“Now, now, Hyunjin. I am not so heartless as to leave you in this mess alone!” You shook your head just as your torso vanished, leaving only your head turning in circles like an owl would turn their neck. “I know just the way out of this maze.”
“The queen must have ordered the guards to wait by the exit for me!” he sputtered out, then he grimaced. “Also, can you not do the cheshire cat thing with your human head!”
“Awe, why? It’s fun and it makes me even more weightless with only my head in the air,” you whined, bouncing your head in the air as if it was a ball walking down a flight of stairs.
You could hear the voices of the guards now. Their armors rubbed against each other as they ran, hoping to find the poor boy whom the queen has taken a liking toward. How unfortunate that such unpleasant sound would overshadow the orchestra performing at the ball tonight.
“Oh no–look, Y/N.” Hyunjin stopped to turn around, his ears drowning with the pitter-patter of steps. He turned to them, his hands gripping their shoulders, which appeared when he aimed for it confidently. His widened eyes were harsh and determined, much unlike what you were used to seeing on him. “Just get me out of here!”
You cooed at the way his hair flung over his face, your eyes shining with endearment at how he managed to maintain an air of prettiness even in such a stressful situation. He did not look appreciative of your reaction at all as he gripped your shoulders harder, borderline giving you a shove, and he glared at you to take his life seriously.
“Since you asked so frantically, I will spare you–” you released yourself from his grasp and popped one of your arms off, swinging it in the air like a flag, “–a help hand!"
“Y/N!”
“Okay, okay! I already told you I know the way out of this maze,” you said with a roll of your eyes before you tapped your chin, ignoring the ever-growing sound of footsteps. You spun around, scanning almost every nook and cranny of the maze. There was nothing to look at besides tall bushes and the sky. “Hmm… let me think. I waltzed into the maze once and planted a secret exit, but that was some time ago. If my memory serves me correctly, it should be around a corner somewhere…”
“Y/N! Are you serious?”
“There he is! We found him!”
Hyunjin cursed under his breath at the booming voice. He would be surrounded soon if he does not make a run for it, but whichever way of the maze was he supposed to go? What if he gets trapped in a dead-end? You released a hand from your chin and tilted your head, smiling upon seeing a group of unfamiliar faces.
“Greetings, everyone!” You waved with your detached arm. When you received no heartfelt welcome in return, you sighed. “The queen can’t seriously still be mad about what I did to the garden? That was at least twenty years ago!”
The guards were taken back when they noticed your presence.
“He is with cheshire’s descendant! Everyone be careful!”
You grinned as you huffed out a few breaths of laughter. What glorious reputation you and yours ancestors have cultivated that the royal guards have to set aside their objective to be alarmed with your presence. It was wise to pay extra attention to them, but not too much so they would neglect their surroundings because who knew what you would do?
Not even you knew what you would do sometimes. It was all so spontaneous! Sometimes, you spread rumors and gossip, which is all in good fun, no matter the minor consequences. Sometimes, you plant insects and bombs in flowers, which is still all in good fun, no matter the deadly consequences.
“Tough crowd! You people are worse than hecklers!” you complained playfully as you flew over to Hyunjin. "Fortunately for me, I ran out of jokes to tell."
Hyunjin froze when he felt legs settle over his shoulders. You had sat yourself on them, your body shrunk to that of a child so you could sit upon him without being out of place or too heavy for him to handle. Putting your hands on his cheeks, you pulled at him and giggled.
“I and my side-kick are going to take our leave.” Reaching your hand up in the air, you smiled widely and yelled at the top of your lungs, “Ladies and gentleman! Have a fantastic night and you will see me again when I allow you to!”
Hyunjin was unsure what had happened but turned around and began running when he saw fireworks bursting amid the knights. You laughed maniacally above him. Your eyes were ablaze as the wind blew against them in this thrilling moment, and you remembered briefly why you existed.
“Y/N! I don’t know what it is that you did but please, don’t kill anyone!”
When Hyunjin saw you again, you were no longer sitting on his shoulders but flying alongside him. He turned to you, his eyes wide in acknowledgment instead of shock. He has known you long enough to predict some of your antics, he believed, and this one he liked to claim as loyalty. No matter what, if you start something with someone, you will stick with them until the end.
Hence, you were still here with him during this escape. Or perhaps it was only because you liked him more than anyone else.
“You are giving me an awful lot of orders, Hyunjin,” you grumbled as you leaned close to him. The faux grimace on your face vanished as quickly as the wind and was replaced with your usual playful smile. “Have you finally learned how to use my affection to your advantage?”
He pulled a face. He tried to yell over the wind even though he wasn’t running very fast anymore. “I am already in love with someone else!”
You laughed, feeling equally as dismissive of his statement as any other time he’s announced it to you. You flew ahead of him and threw your hands up. Confetti released from your palms as if his affection for another was something worth congratulating.
“There is still a lot you don’t know about the Cheshire family, Hyunjin!”
The first thing being that every Cheshire descendant has a mate, a second soul, a linkage—a Hatta. Every Cheshire descendant has a Hatta whom they answer to, whom they devote themselves to, whom they love.
Your Hatta is Hyunjin.
The metal lock shattered with a flick of your wrist. Hyunjin stumbled toward you in a frenzy when the dungeon cell opened.
“Yeji! Yeji! My sister, they–the queen has my sister!” he uttered, his eyes wide with a discerning frown.
Hyunjin clutched their shirt collar, frightened, and rushed for his beloved little sister more than his own safety. As his hair bounced with his animated movement, you could faintly notice a bruise near the corner of his eye.
Either way, his need to pester you about Yeji immediately was not lost on you. He knew you would save him and only him unless it was otherwise stated that you had to prioritize another. You liked Yeji. She was an amazing daughter, a welcoming step-sister, and a lovely friend. However, no matter your relationship with her, it was not within your godly obligation to help her when she is in trouble, nor were you compelled to save her life.
You are only bound to Hyunjin, your Hatta. You only answer to him. If an emergency calls for it, the world can die with your sins.
Hyunjin has grown to understand that very well. He was finally utilizing his status, finally learning. Pestering you about his little sister forced you to also take care of her, making it impossible for you to abandon her after saving him, which he knew you would do no matter the consequences.
“I already knew they took you both,” you said, suppressing the jittery happiness in you. “I was watching you guys get taken from the tree in the backyard.”
He slowed down, the grip on your collar loosening as he processed your word. “You were watching us?”
“Yeah,” you said with a nod as you ran your hand through his disheveled hair. He didn’t flinch away, but you knew it was from shock and nothing else. “I didn’t feel like helping and you didn’t order me to.”
You soothed your hand down the back of his head before gently brushing his fringes away to examine the bruise better. Depending on how much they destroyed his pretty face, how bothersome you would be soon in the courtroom. Judging by the fading purple, he wasn’t too hurt. You didn’t think he would be; the queen loved his pretty face as much as you did. But, regardless, you decided you were going to be as mischievous as you wanted.
“Do you want me to save her?” you asked, pushing his gloomy face up with your hands, squishing his cheeks together.
His grievances with you neglecting him and watching him and his sister’s misery for entertainment have mostly vanished. It was just the kind of thing you would do, so he wasn’t sure why he even felt annoyed by it in the first place. Besides, as long as you manage to rescue Yeji from the queen’s wrath, he would pretend nothing ever happened. Just like he has been doing.
He nodded, a look of relief rushing over him. He was let off easier because the queen was in love with him, but Yeji was much less fortunate. A pretty face and a youthful soul could never fend well in the palace, for the envious queen was not pretty, youthful, or in love. She was dragged away last night when the guards found out she has been eating Hyunjin’s share of food, and he has not heard of her since. Not even her screams or moans. Just silence.
It has been a long, frustrating three days in the dungeon. Truth be told, he had been surprised it took you longer than a few hours to come to his rescue. Knowing you were there when he was taken from his home, he wasn’t so much surprised but rather confused. He figured he should throw that away too. Being confused about your actions would garner him a lifetime of confusion, but there would never be an answer.
“Yes. Please save my sister,” he said. “I command you to save her.”
The golden glow in your eyes shone only for a moment. Your first ever official Hatta command!
Hyunjin has learned the first time it happened that the glow was akin to the act of signing a contract, or the act of your priorities shifting. It is a promise. When the gold shines in your eyes, vanishing and blinking as the legacy of the original Cheshire Cat, it means you would only stop until the command is fulfilled.
“Okey-dokey!” You stepped back and gave him a courtesy, then you stood up and tapped his shoulder twice. “You just wait at the Cheshire House for me. I will bring your sister along in no time!”
He looked confused. The Cheshire House? He has never heard of such a place. Could it be near the Looking Glass or could it be hidden somewhere in Hearts that he never knew of? It would not be surprising if he never knew of it. He was just a staple boy, after all. He had not the rich to spend on extravagant vacations.
“The what?”
You smiled at him fondly, squeezing his cheeks and cooing at how adorable his confusion appeared. He didn’t have the sense to swat your hand away as he usually would, he only looked on this time, waiting for an explanation. But you gave him nothing of satisfaction, only the sound of a foreign name.
“Minho.”
Within a second, Hyunjin vanished out of existence in a wrap.
The queen was furious when you appeared in court.
Emerging in a fit of red rose petals, you made your presence known amongst the council and the throne. You had appeared at the center of the courtroom where Yeji was being held captive. Within a blink of an eye, you snatched the girl away from the knight from the Spade Section, which meant he was an executioner!
You mirrored the card’s shocked expression before sticking your tongue out at him while holding Yeji to your chest and ignoring the way she gasped in shock. Whether it came from the proximity of you both or the fact that you blatantly disrespected a royal guard, you have no idea.
“Who dares to interrupt the morning court?”
“Oh, here we go,” you sang under your breath with a quirk of your brows upon the queen’s roar. Turning to face the throne, you bowed to the Queen of Hearts and her goofy, useless husband. “Greetings, your majesties! I hope you are having a much blessed morning!”
The king bounced in his seat with wondrous stupidity, one which you admired to the extent that you would always be applauded under his attention. He was easy to entertain and he hasn’t much standard, considering he stayed with the stubborn queen who was only once beautiful inside and out.
“Good morning to you too, Cheshire’s descendant!” the king exclaimed as his clumsy arm waved.
You flashed him a lovely smile, sparkles radiating off the side of your face as if you were a cartoon character. It only made him happier to see the cheerful illusion.
The queen scoffed on her throne and ignored her husband’s reaction. “One can never have a blessed morning with you intruding my court.”
Stifling a fake gasp, you covered your mouth and leaned your head on Yeji’s shoulder, sobbing into her clothes with big, chunky tears that disappeared in the air as they fell, never once staining the carpet beneath your feet. “Oh, Yeji, whatever should I do now? The queen hates me!”
“You have my prisoner.”
“Yes, I do!” You released Yeji with a grin and clapped excitedly.
With a confused and somewhat frightened expression, Yeji got shoved to the front before a string of confetti bounced off the top of her head. They latched onto her red braids and farmer dress after appearing with a ‘pop!’ that startled her.
“I present to you, Hwang Yeji!” you announced after walking up next to her and presenting her as if she were standing in a dark room in a spotlight. You could present a spotlight, but the courtroom was too bright, and you didn’t feel like making the effort to darken the room. “Hwang Hyunjin’s beloved little sister, as well as an innocent prisoner taken in because the Queen of Hearts wanted to commit a crime of passion–”
Your voice dragged on the last syllable of the word ‘passion’ as your body wrapped into nothing. Not a second later, like a boomerang, your voice echoed through all corners of the courtroom in a circle, finishing with the vocabulary. The council members, all animals, looked around in hopes of catching a glimpse of you, but their effort was to no avail.
A turtle ducked his head into its shell, leaving only his glasses perched at the entrance. An owl turned her head in a circle and sprung back around quickly, feathers flying off her body. The horse’s nostrils flared when she felt a breeze rush past her neck, blowing away the papers on her desk.
You reappeared with a loud gasp. When you were visible again, you were by the queen’s side, intruding on her personal space. Unlike your original attire, your new outfit matched that of the council members: something sophisticated and unnecessary. It took a minute for everyone to notice the naked rabbit hiding in the corner of the courtroom—you had taken his clothes, which appeared to be the Spokesman’s uniform.
“Would the queen like to comment on the matter?”
“My queen, our dearest queen?”
“For the Hearts Morning Post, my queen, would you like to give an answer to why Hwang Yeji was arrested?”
“My queen, please look over here for the headline picture!”
“Gossip! Gossip! Gossip!”
“On a scale of white to red, how relevant is Yeji’s arrest related to her brother’s rejection of the marriage proposal?”
Lights flashed, and questions were fired left and right by the numerous clones of yourself made to look like a group of paparazzi interrogating the queen. You have given each clone a different voice to make them appear as other people. However, instead of appearing altogether, you flashed from here to there at an immeasurable speed while confusing the queen by continuously throwing camera flashes at her face.
“I command you to stop at this instant!”
You did. You stopped before her, your eyes gleaming with such ridiculous enjoyment that the queen had to question whether your mind had been taken away by the purple-stripe mushrooms in the forests. But she knew for a fact that you were sane. Insanity was the Mad Hatter’s legacy, spontaneity the Cheshire Cat’s.
Both of which were a hindrance to her ruling of the kingdom.
“My queen! Such generous volume in your voice, you almost blew me away!”
“Shut your mouth, Cheshire.”
“That is my ancestor’s name, Iracebeth,” you mused, not so much because you were bothered by her choice of names. You tilted your head. It went around like a clock’s hand as your pupils dilated until it covered all surface of your eyes. “I don’t go around calling you by your mother’s name, do I?”
Her face flushed with red. Your eyes returned normal quickly and you raised your eyebrows. Stepping back, your stood straight and in silence before you suddenly began to mirror her appearance by turning your head into the shade of a tomato. She only fumed more when she realized you were mocking her anger.
“You insolent brat! How dare you! I am to be addressed with the utmost respect or I will have your head chopped off!”
The redness stayed on your face as you wheezed at the sheer arrogance of her statement. You threw your head back and thrashed your torso about as you laughed, your laughter causing your head to slowly inflate like a balloon. Incredible! The queen is a stuck-up bonehead who does not understand the absolute Law of Fate!
There was a loud crack when you twisted your neck. You froze, the departure of your boisterous laughter leaving the air with a sudden, unfamiliar dryness. Yeji whipped around to find your body crumbled to the ground, and she stayed frozen at her spot as she watched your head detach from your neck and float up to play in a merry-go-round. She knew you could do that, but like her brother, she could never get used to seeing no blood in a human body.
“Get my head chopped off like this?” you asked, the arm of your fallen body raising and waving. “A very clean cut! Are you sure your executioner can manage that?”
The queen huffed at your mockery. She raised her chin at you, a desperate attempt to exert authority. “The executioner will do anything I ask, which is to behead you, Cheshire poison.”
The merry-go-round stopped and vanished into soft glitter. You stood up from the ground, your head reattached to your body. When you gathered yourself, you stared at her for a belated moment, then you relaxed into yourself.
You would give her the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps she didn’t know the Law of Fate rather than thinking she could defy it with the crown on her head. Perhaps she had no idea that no mortals other than a Hatta could kill a Cheshire. It was not your confidence speaking, it was a rule written by Fate, the Cheshire Cat’s first wife.
Anyone born into the Cheshire bloodline could only die when the Hatta allowed them to. It was why any action with malice intent—unless made by their Hatta or another Cheshire descendant—would fly right through a body like yours. That fact was mostly known to the long lines of descendants and their Hattas, but some people have read them from books or heard them from folktales, too.
“You cannot do that, my queen,” you explained with a bright smile. “You cannot have my head. Only Hyunjin can.”
“Nonsense! I can do whatever I want!” she hollered at your blatant disobedience. “I am the queen!”
You blinked, even more surprised by her ignorance and confidence now. Even though you liked to abuse the Cheshire power you possessed, something about the way the queen screamed of her identity made your skin itch in dismay. So much confidence for someone who knew only what they were allowed to know.
This was not the Iracebeth your family told you about. This was not the girl with a fairytale and flowers. This was not the girl in love with a boy who died. That girl was no longer. She has become the Queen of Hearts.
“Yes, you are the queen.” You nodded, then you stared straight into her eyes. “You are also only a queen.”
“I am unsure how you have become this way, Your Majesty,” you continued after a moment of silence. “But I am here to assure you that you have no authority to treat people the way you do.”
She squinted her eyes at you. “You know nothing of what i have been through.”
“That is never the point. Whatever tragic past you have, you do not own the monopoly in human suffering,” you said. “Contrary to your desired belief, you do not have it worse, Your Majesty. Those who do don’t turn out like you.”
“That’s enough!” She slammed her hands on the armrests of her throne and stood up. She pointed an accusing finger at you and spat, “Off with their heads! Both of them!”
Yeji stumbled back in fear at the command. She shook her head when the guards closed in on her and screamed when you tapped her shoulder. You flashed her a judgemental grimace and pulled her close to you. You raised your hand and flicked your wrists, your eyes glowing the Cheshire gold before a force field activated around the room.
The knights continued to run but were making no progress, cursed to be stuck running in the same spot repeatedly to reach an unreachable destination. They looked ridiculous with their spears and moving legs.
“You majesty, have I not mentioned that you cannot have my head?” you asked rhetorically, sighing at her as the venom in you eased back into your usual playful self. “Your knights can’t even get close to me.”
She looked baffled. She tried barking at the soldiers to run faster, but with another twist of your hand, they were rendered back to square one again. She whipped her head, her crown stuck on top, and back to you when no one else had the answer.
“You cheshire poison! What are you doing to my guards?”
“Nothing,” you replied, wiggling your finger with a giggle before you settled down. You wafted your hand near Yeji’s red braids and watched as her hair undone itself, setting them straight and messy the way the girl woke up. “This is my Cheshire talent. I control time.”
The queen gulped when you eyed her purposefully.
You knew. You knew that she was surprised because time was not what she thought it would look like, because you were exactly what she had been looking for because, after all the screams and shouts, you were the person she had to look to if she ever wanted to revive her lost love.
The boy who once went all out for her. The boy who died for her. The boy named Christopher.