Minjeong began thrashing her arms back and forth, screaming incoherent sentences. She could no longer see her group or hear anything that would indicate their presence. There was no rustling of trees or chirping of Kwangya creatures; only the sounds of her panting and desperation filled the air. It then occurred to Minjeong that perhaps it wasn't the safest thing in the world to shriek bloody murder in a place where there were highly vicious monstrosities roaming the area, but what else was she to do? Wait for the quicksand to swallow her whole?

 

Minjeong then remembered the little pastry she had eaten many moons ago, the one that made her grow ten feet tall. She looked frantically around her, hopeful to find some kind of treat on the forest floor. If she were to grow a few more feet, it would certainly help her stall time before she found an escape. Craning her neck around, she tried twisting her body to get a better look at everything around her, and when she did, her eyes stretched and she gasped when she saw she was not alone.

 

A small woman sat on top of an abnormally large mushroom, her arms folded and eyes closed. She did not seem to take any notice of Minjeong, despite her blatant screams and pleadings. She was fabulously dressed in a purple, teal, and dark blue ensemble, and while it would have looked garish on anyone else, she seemed to pull it off respectively well. She had a small, fair face, looking much younger than she probably was, and in spite of all the irrational events of this moment, Minjeong could not help but find herself feeling envious of how soft and flawless her skin looked.

 

“Hello?" Minjeong called out. "Hello! You there! Down here!”

 

The woman sighed, and when she did, Minjeong saw a trail of smoke escape her lips. As her arms moved to her side, Minjeong saw that she had been quietly smoking a golden hookah, and she coughed and waved the air in front of her face. "Hello? Hello there! Excuse me! I need your help! I've fallen into some quicksand!" Minjeong exclaimed. "Please, I need your help!”

 

It was then that the woman finally looked at her, her face indifferent and almost judgmental. She took another long drag from her hookah and crossed her legs regally. They both looked at each other for a long moment, and gradually, she took the hookah out of . "Who are you?" she asked in a unique, raspy voice.

 

Minjeong blinked. She found yet another person from Kwangya who looks like someone from the real world. "Look, I'm kind of not in the best state to explain that stuff right now, so do you mind helping me out of here and then we can discuss introductions and such?"

 

The woman stared at her. "You didn't answer my question."

 

“Okay, fine. Fine, I'm Minjeong. Kim Minjeong. Happy? Now can you please get me out of here?"

 

“Brown is an awful color on you.”

 

Minjeong glanced down at the dark mud creeping up her knees. "Yes, yes, I agree. Please, what's-your-name, can you get me out of here?"

 

“Caterpillar."

 

"... What?"

 

“My name is Caterpillar," the woman rolled her eyes and took another drag.

 

“Okay, great," Minjeong sighed in exasperation. "That's fabulous, but if you can't tell, I'm really short on time. I got separated from my friends, and I really need to get out of here. Can you just please help pull me out?"

 

“I'm really not one for dirt." Caterpillar raised an eyebrow.

 

“Oh my goodness, I'm sinking for God’s sake!" Minjeong pleaded. "Just help me, please! I'll do whatever you want!"

 

Caterpillar looked away.

 

For a second, Minjeong thought if she stretched her arms further enough, there was a possibility she could wring her neck. But alas, her desperation was outweighing her violent tendencies, so she subsided and did the next best thing: threaten.

 

“Well, I'm not one for flamboyance either, but I guess we both have to make due. I have some really powerful friends, you know, and if they find out that you just let me die here, they won't be too happy about it. And then you're going to wish you saved me."

 

Caterpillar grimaced. "You really need to work on your glare. Gah, it looks like you're being amputated or something. Please, honey, easy on the lips. You want to make me feel like I want to kill myself, not kill you.”

 

Minjeong paused everything and frowned noticeably. "You... you don't like my glare?"

 

“It could use some minor adjustments. Besides, you've got leaves in your hair. I just can't take you seriously right now."

 

“But... everyone gets intimidated by my glare."

 

“Sorry, honey, it does nothing for me. Look, we can chat about it as much as you'd like, but you're waist deep in quicksand, and I only have so much strength to pull you out before your head goes under, all right?" Caterpillar huffed another drag from her hookah before pushing herself off the mushroom. She very carefully edged around the quicksand, a look of disgust adorning her face, before she grabbed one of the sturdy tree branches and tilted it towards Minjeong’s reach. She her arms out and snatched the branch, and together with the Caterpillar, they gradually pulled her out of the pit (with a great load of effort from both sides). It felt something like a suction cup being pulled off a glass window, and she felt a weird sliminess on her legs when she finally touched the ground.

 

“Ew," Minjeong scrunched her nose. "This is disgusting."

 

“I'll say," Caterpillar observed, scooting further away from her. "I suppose I should offer you a bath…or something?"

 

“It would be the kind thing to do."

 

“You have to promise me no sob stories," Caterpillar said suddenly. Minjeong gave her both a strongly quizzical and annoyed look, but her expression remained stern. "You look like one of the girls who's been on an emotional high, and I really don't deal with that sort of thing. So if you promise me you'll refrain from the water works, then I can invite you in."

 

“Well don't you have some very specific requirements," Minjeong quipped. "Fine. I wasn't going to cry anyway."

 

“What, were you going glare at me instead?"

 

“Just show me your bathtub.”

 

 

It really shouldn't have surprised Minjeong that Caterpillar lived in a mushroom.

 

But it was still quite hard refraining a gasp when she walked around the mushroom, prodded open a hidden door, and led her inside into her strangely quaint abode. There were no divisions of rooms, just the essentials. A small bed on one end, accompanied by a tiny night stand and a lamp. (Where did the electricity come from? Then again, how the hell was she supposed to know? She lived in a mushroom!) On the other end was a tiny table with an even tinier stove, and way in the back was a bathtub, a wardrobe, and a sink. Other than that, the place was strikingly bare, an odd comparison to the Caterpillar's extravagant appearance.

 

“I didn't always live here," she had explained when Minjeong asked. "See, my father is Kwangya's official handler for royal horses and other traveling creatures. But when the Queen of Hurt came to power... well, she didn't really take kindly to people as outspoken as me. To put it in simple words for your little mind, she banned me from the kingdom. My father was still forced to work for her, and I was forced to stay here. This," she gestured around the room, "is temporary living, you can say.”

 

“This Queen of Hurt is just a straight up , isn't she?" Minjeong called from the bathtub. She was first extremely wary over bathing in front of her new friend, but the fact that she was just as indifferent about the human body as she was with quicksand, Minjeong realized there was really nothing to worry about. So she let the warm water and scented bubbles soak her bruised skin, and she'd be lying if she said it didn't feel heavenly.

 

“Maybe it's best if you are the one to try and stop her. You two have got a lot in common." Minjeong let out a bitter laugh as she threw a bar of soap at Caterpillar's head. She laughed as well, and in a very sick and twisted way, Minjeong quite enjoyed their sarcastic relationship. Throughout her bath, she had explained to her the plan and her adventure thus far while she sat on the table, reading what seemed to be Kwangya’s equivalent to a magazine.

 

After a silent moment, Minjeong sighed nonchalantly. "My friends must be worried sick about me."

 

“I'm sorry, did you call them your friends?"

 

“They must be searching all over for me."

 

“Oh, like your family?"

 

Minjeong shot her a look before closing her eyes and sinking further into the tub. "Living alone has made you really cynical," she remarked.

 

“Oh, sweetheart, you should have seen me before."

 

Minjeong giggled slightly. "I wonder what will happen when you turn into a butterfly."