Labyrinth: tbz

30. I Said Stop!

Place: ??? Date: ??? Time: ???

"You are Angelica, right?" the new boy suddenly asked, catching the girl's eyes to himself.

"Depends who's asking," the girl responded while moving her head slightly backwards from the curious newcomer.

"So you finally found her!" Chanhee said happily to Hyunjoon while patting his back as a congratulating gesture, Hyunjoon instantly withdrawing Chanhee's hand from his shoulder. Angelica watched the two boys on the raft while slightly furrowing her eyebrows. She shared a glance with her childhood friend, with the expectation of an explanation later on.

"So, where are we and how long have you all been here?" Chanhee continued to interview, his tone sounding like a curious child. Everyone turned their attention to him, but no one was able to provide an answer. "Wait, you don't know?!" he asked in shock as everyone kept quiet.

"Nope," Younghoon answered shortly. 

"Not even how long?" the newcomer asked again, the slight panic rising inside of him. 

"No...How would we even know that?" the nurse questioned back as everyone else was still keeping quiet. 

Chanhee looked around while thinking for a minute, "Maybe, remembering the last date?"

Younghoon was about to open his mouth again, but a feeling of stupidness rose inside of him, causing him to keep his mouth shut. 

"What's the last date you remember, Angelica?" Jacob joined into the conversation, making Angelica look at Jacob with raised brows, the reporter answering to it with an innocent shrug.

"I don't- shouldn't you remember it though? You wrote an article about me," the girl defended, the reporter's mind going blank instantly from the attack. 

"8th of July," Hyunjoon answered swiftly, ignoring the quarrel between the two. The memories of him desperately trying to find his friend and all the sleepless nights at the police stations flooding into his mind. "That's the time I reported her missing."

The injured one glanced at the girl with sad eyes. Angelica went silent as she put her lips in a straight line while maintaining eye contact with Hyunjoon before having the urge to look away and keep her eyes on the water.

"For me, if I remember correctly, it was the 19th of July...So that would be...12 days and over?" Chanhee responded while quickly making the calculations in his head and on the tip of his fingers.

"I've been here for only two weeks?" Angelica raised her voice slightly, "I thought it would have been longer, but..." she quietly mumbled.

"So most of us have been here about a week or less?" Jacob pointed out. "It really has felt like a long time," he noted, amused, giving a glance at Angelica for sharing the same thoughts.

"What do you remember, Chanhee? What happened before you got here?" the girl asked after a moment of silence.

Chanhee locked eyes with the girl as he began to think about the events of the night when he had met the creepy man. The conversation he had had still lucid in his mind. He quickly glanced at Hyunjoon before looking down at his own hands.

"I don't remember anything specific, just the date. Sorry," Chanhee shortly answered, observing the girl's reaction from the corner of his eye before hugging his knees from the coldness.

"Okay," Angelica responded faintly, sounding disappointed.

"It's a dead-end, guys!" Sangyeon yelled from ahead, cutting off the conversation the tail keepers were having. All of them stopping in their places.