⊱Avec toi, c'est comme si c'était le pays des merveilles⊰

With you, it feels like it's wonderland

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"You should take some time to fully recover before going to university again. I'm still worried about you collapsing again."

Father took a sip from his coffee, musing. It was a miracle he was having his breakfast before going to work. I had been discharged not long ago and it was as if he wanted to spend at least one morning with his daughter.

"Your university is not even the greatest out there. You should quit and apply somewhere better when you're healthier."

He told me this back then, too.

"Yeah, I decided to drop out."

He nodded. "One of my coworker, Junseo's son has recently gone into a prestigious university. Junseo paid so many people for that. Where was it called... I'll save some more money and get you into the best university."

I knew he would. "You don't have to do that. I got a part time job at aunt's kindergarten."

His tired eyes darted up to meet mine and his eyebrows furrowed. "You can't possibly be content with such low paying job."

Confused, I took a moment to process before saying, "I am. I like it."

"You don't know that. You'll realize it after actually working there for a while."

I cleared my throat and took a bite from my sandwich. "I'll start next month."

He heaved a sigh. "I just want you to rest for a few months."

Ah, that's right. I was frail. But if I didn't work and only depended on my father, it would affect him to work harder. On the other hand, if I worked, he'd be worried my body would become worse and thus would work harder.

"Then... I'll ask if I can start after a few months because of my health."

He gave me a nod. "That's better."

I studied his expression for a moment. His eyes were unfocused as they stared at the cup of coffee in his hand. The wrinkles around his eyes and mouth were more prominent than before. Even though time was skipping, I knew we were spending less and less time together.

"Are you... okay?"

Focus returned to his gaze as he looked up at me again. "What?"

"Are you feeling okay, dad?" I bit my lips, contemplating my words. "You've been working a lot more after you got promoted."

"Of course," he monotonously stated. "You don't have to worry, my baby sparrow. Just focus on yourself since I can't be with you all the time. Your aunt and Aerin should be visiting often."

"Yeah... You should take care, too." Or you'll collapse soon.

I brought up my free hand to gently brush his calloused hand that held his cup. "Please promise me that you won't push your limits. You're not a robot."

He breathed out a weak laugh and held my hand with his other one. "Okay. I promise."

In a blink, I was standing on a frozen pond. The trees and the ground surrounding it were covered in thick layers of snow that shone in the sunlight. I fished for my phone in my jeans pocket and turned it on.

What day is it?

Many weeks had passed. By now, I used to still go to university despite my father's disapproval, reassuring him that I would be fine. I would have spent some time hanging out with some of the girls in my class.

"What are you thinking about?"

Flinching, I abruptly whirled around and stood face to face with Jimin. Or rather, tried to stand. I didn't notice I was wearing ice skates and lost balance, but he caught me. Or rather, he tried to catch me before falling with me. Within a second, he put himself under me to take the impact.

A groan escaped his lips as soon as we hit the ice.

"What are you doing here?" I strangled out, struggling to breathe with my chest crushed against his.

"I- don't know." He took a few shallow breaths before continuing. "Time skipped and I found myself here."

"What? What about your work?"

"I told you I didn't come here myself."

That's weird.

Seeing how I was crushing him, I propped myself up to give him space. I squeezed his chest through his pullover in the process and blushed at the softness. Scolding myself to get a freaking grip, I got up and pulled his hand to help him up.

"Careful. Don't hurt yourself, little snowflake," he teased as if I was weak.

I slapped his arm. "I'm strong enough to lift such a light body. Do you even eat anything?"

He stretched and cracked some bones. "I have to be on a diet. I'm an idol to millions. Constantly on display. Under public's scrutiny."

I skated away with his words echoing in my mind. Must had been hard to be always in the eyes of many. Kind of... sad.

Jimin followed me while staring at me. We skated around the frozen pond for a while like this, him silently watching me. It made me panic and blurt out 'what'.

"You really love skating don't you?"

"Y-Yeah. I just feel so free when I skate. Gliding anywhere I want with just a little push. It's effortless... I really love the snow, too."

"Because you're a snowflake?" He giggled.

I scowled at him. "What does that even mean?"

He simply laughed louder. We continued skating like that with occasional jabs from him. The weather was incredibly nice and I enjoyed the little time I had when I could just freely skate.

Why did time stop here?

A buzzing in my pocket made me stop and take out my phone to see my father calling. When I picked it up, he sounded... angry.

"Is Jimin with you right now?"

"Why?"

"That rascal has photoshoot in an hour but he ran off for no reason!" He fumed and it was unsettling. Even if it wasn't directed at me, he rarely ever raised his voice like that.

"Okay, I'll tell him. Don't worry."

I quickly hung up and faced Jimin who was already looking at me from beside me.

"Oh. So that's what's happening." He knew without me telling him and turned away to leave. "Bye then, snowflake."

It felt like we were doing something illegal and got caught. The adrenaline was there. The thrill was there. The guilt was brought on by my father. And Jimin left with the comfort and a piece of my happiness.

I soon found myself with him again.

He was entering a ski center and I was following him. There were only a handful of people roaming around. How convenient for him.

"I can't ski," I blurted when he started thinking what we should do.

He thought for a moment. "Then let's go sledding."

The question 'why' didn't even enter my mind and I didn't stop following him to the cable car. I never thought our conversation would be so natural while riding that car. I seemed to had lost all sense and was living as his friend. Hallucinating.

"Are you using your powers on me?"

He looked at me incredulously. "That's... I don't think we can use our powers on each other...? I haven't used them since we came back to the past."

I blinked. "I see..."

Then a stupid thought entered my mind. "Why don't you try now?"

I screamed at myself, asking why I even asked that. He, on the other hand, was frozen, staring stupidly at me. His usual narrow eyes were wide like puppy eyes. Sort of... cute.

Hold up.

"How about I make you see amusement park or... Disneyland? Since we're on a cable car," he offered carefully, observing my reaction. "Maybe like you're riding a roller coaster."

I hummed, actually thinking about it. "I haven't been on amusement park rides so I don't know what to expect and-"

"You haven't been to amusement parks?!" He exclaimed, eyes widening even further when I timidly nodded. "I gotta take you to Disneyland!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Is it that serious?"

"Okay." Jimin shifted in his seat to face me properly but there was no room for him to move. We were cramped with our thighs against each other, sitting on one side of the car. Why were we even sitting together on one side when there were only two of us? "I'll try."

I nodded, bracing myself with my hands balled in fists for the impact.

"Wait, what if I get punished for this?" He pouted, making me roll my eyes.

"I don't even think it'll work."

His eyes suddenly locked with mine and flashed bright golden before fading into black. Nothing changed and I was stared at him for a while until he shied away from my gaze.

"It doesn't work," I stated the obvious and he agreed.

We arrived at the summit of the slope and Jimin positioned the sled before making me sit in the front due to our body size and sitting behind me. Dread crawled up my throat when I beheld the steep road ahead of me and I started panicking when he gleefully yelled, "Let's go!"

"Wait! I'm not holding onto anything!"

His legs encased me and his arm tightened around my torso. "I'll hold you so just trust me."

I clutched the hand around my waist. A whimper escaped me and I trembled when he asked if I was ready.

"We don't have to if you're scared," he whispered next to my ear, giving me goosebumps.

"I watch horror movies for fun!" I unintentionally screamed. "This is nothing!"

He snorted, his breath hitting the side of my face. "Cute."

Did... Did I hear that right?

"Okay! Here we go!" Jimin cheered and pushed us down, prompting a screech from me as we plunged down the slope in an unexpectedly high speed.

I was enveloped in his hold, screaming like a madman. He was holding onto me and cheering in his tinkling bright voice. I couldn't see him but I knew he was smiling.

It happened so fast and we stopped at the bottom sooner than I thought. I leaned back against Jimin, dropping my head on his shoulder and heavily breathing. He looked at me from above with a wide smile. He was glowing with happiness. The sunlight reflected against the white snow, making everything seem magical. It was like I was in a winter wonderland.

"You okay?" He panted.

I grinned back at him. "Let's do it again!"

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I updated way sooner than you must have expected now! Near double update 😘

Thank you for reading 🌸