Lost In The Woods

"What do we do now? Should we try finding our way back?"

I shook my head. "I can't remember which anime it was but I learned that when you're lost, you shouldn't move around. Especially at night time. That way, it will be easier for the rescuers to find you. Our best bet is for the others to realize that we're missing and they come find us."

Joshua sat back on the ground with a sigh. "And how long do you think that will take them?"

I looked at my watch then sat down beside him. "Half an hour at least. I told Katherine that if I could not find the doll in 30 minutes, I'll head back to the base."

"Why did you tell her that?" He looked at me with skepticism.

The corner of my lips lifted with amusement. "Just in case."

"Just in case what?"

I smiled at him and lay back on the ground, not caring anymore if there were ants or worms. Those things were the least of my concern at the moment. "Just in case that the doll is the real deal. At least she'll know that I'm in trouble."

He looked down at me. "You mean you already predicted that this will happen?"

"How could I predict this to happen? It was just me being paranoid." I looked at the trees and sighed. "It would have been better if we could see the stars."

Joshua also looked up. "I don't think this is the time to be thinking about star-gazing. What if that thing followed us here?"

I shivered at the thought but I was thinking a lot clearer compared to earlier. "It won't. It's just a doll."

He frowned at me. "What are you talking about? We both saw it standing in front of us earlier. That doll was looking at us menacingly."

"It wasn't. It's just our imagination going wild from fear. It probably fell from the tree and coincidentally landed on its feet. And we ran like idiots without thinking properly." I put an arm over my eyes, starting to relax. 'That's right. That's probably what happened.'

"You say that now after freaking out earlier?" Joshua's tone was rising again but even that sound was calming me down. Sleep was calling me which was strange because I've been suffering from insomnia again lately.

I chuckled feeling lightheaded. "I was not freaking out. You are."

"Ha! What's with this selective amnesia? Did you hit your head somewhere?" He poked my side but I didn't budge. "What are you doing?"

"Playing dead. If that thing comes to find us, he'll kill the noisy one first." I grinned as I pictured Joshua's horrified face in my head.

"Will you stick to one thing? You're starting to drive me crazy. One minute you tell me that it's just a doll, then the next you tell me that it will come hunting us down."

"That means you're free to believe whatever suits you." I answered him flatly while straining my ears for any sound.

"Whatever." I heard a rustling beside me as Joshua settled on his back.

I smiled. "Playing dead too?"

"Yeah."

I giggled then slowly drifted off to sleep for a couple of minutes. Then I woke up to see Joshua watching me with awe.

He chuckled and sat up. "You really are crazy. I can't believe you managed to fall asleep in this situation."

"I was just playing dead." I stretched my arms and legs out before sitting up as well.

"Tell that to your fellow owl that was terrorized by your snoring." He massaged his ankle with a sharp wince.

I cursed inwardly at myself for forgetting that he was in pain. "Sorry. I forgot about this. Does it still hurt a lot?"

He carefully lifted his pants and revealed a red swollen ankle that looked awfully painful. "It feels numb now but I feel a prickling pain from time to time."

"I'm really sorry. I really haven't learned how to properly treat an ankle sprain. I've only seen them wrap it with cloth in anime. You think that would help?" I looked at him with uncertainty. "Or is it too late to do that now?"

"It's okay. I've also only seen this happen in movies. But I keep having the urge to put pressure around it. I guess, that's my body telling me what needs to be done." He said as he searched his pocket for something to wrap it with. When he couldn't find anything, he looked at me. "Can you lend me your shirt? I saw people tearing their shirts to make a bandage out of them. You can close your jacket, right?"

"You want me to freeze to death?" I found a handkerchief from the back pocket of my pants. "I hope this will do. Tell me if it hurts okay?"

He nodded and I carefully wrapped the cloth around his ankle. I tightened it and watched as his face contorted with pain.

"Can you make it tighter?"

I was surprised because he looked like he was in a lot of pain already but still requested me to tighten the cloth. "Are you sure?"

He nodded with his eyes closed and I complied. I tied the handkerchief tighter and winced when he groaned as if I was also feeling his pain.

"Thanks." He let out a breath.

"You okay?" I wiped the sweat that was beading on his forehead with the sleeve of my jacket. Then I looked at my watch and realized that it's almost been an hour since the game started. "They're probably looking for us right now."

"They are. I heard Kenji's drone whizz by earlier. But because of these trees, they probably won't find us with that method." Joshua pointed at his hair. "You have leaves on your hair."

"Oh, thanks." I brushed my hair with my fingers and caught a couple of small leaves in the process.

"Zee."

"Hm?" I was still busy cleaning my hair.

"I heard from Katherine that you used to have panic attacks when you're put on the spot." Joshua was fidgeting with his hands, looking so unsure. "I don't think I've properly apologized to you for what I did during the audition."

'Katherine told him about that?'

I frowned at him. "You're still beating yourself up for that? That was so long ago. I don't even remember it anymore."

"I'm really sorry." He sounded really sincere that I could not help but smile.

"Josh, it's fine. Really. You were not aware of it. I'm not holding that against you." I lightly punched his arm. "Besides, I'm a lot better since. I didn't cause you any trouble during the actual play, right?"

He smiled. "Yeah. You did great."

I grinned proudly at him.

His smile grew wide and he punched my arm as well.

"Can I ask you something though?" I started when a thought suddenly came to me.

"Sure."

"You were so passionate about being recruited for that play but you chose a minor role even though you could have made a better role for yourself. Why did you go through such trouble for a minor character?" This question has been nagging me since he gave us the first draft of the script but I keep on forgetting to ask him.

"Ah. That." He looked far ahead and smiled even though there was nothing to be seen there except for the shadows of the trees. "My goal was to write and direct the play. You see, my father is a retired director. He promised to come and watch the play if I manage to become its director. He was discouraging me from taking the same path as him because he suffered a lot during his time. He said it would be better for me to find something more stable and not as stressful."

"So you wanted to show him that you're great in what you love doing?"

"Exactly. And he approved of it after watching the play. It was all thanks to you guys for doing such a great job." He nodded and I could not help but smile with envy.

"Maybe I should have invited my dad to watch the play as well."

He turned to me with surprise. "Is he against your wish to pursue acting?"

I smiled. "He has the same sentiments as your father did."

'And I experienced that first hand already…'

"But he's running a talent agency, right?"

My head snapped towards Joshua. "How did you know?"

He hesitated at first then he heaved a sigh. "My dad and Mr. Choi have been friends for a long time. A couple of months back, he came for my father's birthday and when he learned that I go to the same school as his daughter, he talked about you nonstop."

I put a hand to cover my gaping mouth from embarrassment.

Joshua laughed and tilted his head. "You said that he's against you pursuing acting but he sounded really proud of your talent when he was bragging about you to my dad."

My laugh was dry and heavy before I answered him. "He wasn't against it at first. But something happened last year that instantly changed his mind."

"What happened?"

Recently, I was getting better at controlling my emotions. Thinking or talking about that incident has become possible without having an attack. But it's only possible if I stay focused on the present and not let myself get sucked in by the past. And it was all thanks to all the help that I've received over the past months.

'Can I tell him?'

I smiled triumphantly when I felt that my heart rate remained normal. But before I could start sharing my story to Joshua, we both froze when we heard a rustling sound from the bushes which made every strand of hair on my neck stand up.