Leo was never one to believe in ghosts or the supernatural for that matter. He was very logical and technical, so when he began to hear the stories of the Lotus Woods, located in the outskirts of  the Aokigahara Forest in Japan, he thought someone was just playing tricks. He decided to google it and it was indeed deemed haunted. Being a reporter, Leo always believed in writing the truth, not make believe stories just to scare people or make things more "interesting." One day, Leo and his best friend Hongbin were discussing the matter in the office.

"Why are you going there, Hongbin? It's just a waste of time. I can't believe Cheif N even wants you to cover this story," Leo said rolling his eyes.

"This is a situation unlike anything we've ever seen before and it's giving me chills. I'm really curious to know more about these Lotus Woods and maybe I'll even meet a ghost," Hongbin said jokingly winking at Leo.

"That's ridiculous. There's no ghost. I bet it's just people who get lost and then can't find their way back. They're probably just camping out and waiting for someone to find them or something like that," said Leo.

"I wouldn't wanna camp out in haunted forest. They say once you reach a certain point, it's impossible to find your way back, not to mention it stays completely dark and fog gathers around. A cold, dense wet fog that make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. Some say that there were many suicides there," said Hongbin.

"Well of course. That's what Aokigahara Forest is known for, but that doesn't mean it's haunted. I don't think you should've taken this assignment. It's just dumb," said Leo.

"Tell that to the chief! But I wanted to take it. Aww are you worried about me?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "I'm just saying, it's a waste of time. We have other things we could be covering," he said. Hongbin continued to pack his things and get ready for his flight to Japan.

"Well, I'm off to the airport. I should be back in three days. If I don't come back...don't come looking for me," Hongbin said jokingly then burst into laughter.

"Ha ha, very funny. Just hurry back so I can say I was right and that there's no haunted woods," said Leo. Hongbin saluted then headed out of the door with his briefcase. He got into a taxi cab which took him to the airport.

"Did Hongbin leave already?" asked Ken, another reporter. He walked in the room eating a donut, talking with his mouth full, which disgusted Leo.

"Can you chew your food first please?" he said, twisting up his face.

"Welp, you might as well say goodbye to him. He's been sent to his death," said Ken.

"Why the hell would you say that? He'll be back in three days," said Leo getting annoyed.

"No one ever comes back from those woods in case you haven't heard. Don't tell me you don't believe the rumors?"

"That's exactly what they are. Rumors. I don't have time for fictional things." Ken walked up to Leo and sat on his desk. "Can you get your off my desk? I really don't want to smell your ."

Ken leaned closer to Leo's face. "Let's just wait three days and see if he actually comes back," he said in a low voice. Leo snarled and shoved Ken off of his desk.

"Go be stupid somewhere else. Other people have important work to do," said Leo. Just then, Ken pulled out a digital camera and started snapping pictures of Leo, making him even more agitated. "What are you doing??" he growled.

"You make this really funny face when you get mad," Ken said laughing his head off, still snapping photos. Leo couldn't stand Ken in the slightest. He always thought he was immature and didn't like working in the same company as him. Not to mention he would always do things to piss him off. 

"Why do you have to be all mad all the time? Lighten up, you'll get more wrinkles the way you frown all the time," said Ken.

"Get out," Leo snarled. Ken finally put his camera away and smiled at Leo, then exited the room. Ken only liked to annoy Leo because he thought it was fun and liked seeing his reactions, but deep down he really admired Leo, but he'd never admit that to anyone else other than himself.

The first day had gone by and Hongbin sent a voiceover transmission back to the office. Cheif N gathered everyone around to listen to it.

Hongbin's voiceover: Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know I made it here and I'm exploring the forest as we speak. It's really pretty here. There are thousands of lotuses and it smells really nice, but once I got a little further the smell turned into something foul and vulgar. It's hard to describe but the best way I can is to say it smells like burning flesh. It could be an animal or something I suppose, but who knows. The further I go, the worse the smell gets. The sun was shining earlier but the sky is beginning to darken, which is kind of strange considering the fact that it's only 4:30PM. I'll send another voice over if I come across anything. I will also be taking pictures.

After the message finished, everyone was quiet for a few seconds. Leo finally broke the silence.

"See, he's fine," he said to Ken. Ken shrugged.

"It's only day one. Keep in mind he's only got two left, if he even makes it to the second," he replied. Leo slammed his hands on the desk and sprung up.

"Shut up Ken!" he shouted.

"Leo calm down. Hongbin will be fine," said Cheif N.

"H-he said he could smell flesh...tell him to turn around cheif! That's the first sign!" cried Hyuk, the youngest member of the company and also known to be the biggest scaredy cat.

"Oh Hyuk relax. There's probably just illegal poaching going on in those woods," said the chief.

"Yeah, there are tons of explanations for a smell like that, Hyuk," said Leo. Hyuk's facial expression still remained terrified, then Ravi, he's partner sat beside him and rubbed his shoulder to assure him there was nothing to be afraid of.

Day two, and the team received another voice over from Hongbin, however, this one wasn't as clear. Hongbin's voice was drowned out by static. It was hard to make out anything he was saying. During the voice over, they could hear a deeper voice whisper a few things, one in which sounded like the words "turn back." One more said clearly, "it's too late." This caused a little more disturbance in the office. Hyuk began to freak out.

"That's not Hongbin's voice!! That's the ghost! You can hear it clearly and it's deeper!! It drowned out Hongbin's voice!!" he cried.

"Well maybe there was just radio interference, happens all the time," said Leo.

"Or maybe even Hongbin's trying to play a trick on us," said Ravi.

"Well if he does, then he's fired. We have no time for games," said Cheif N.

"He's not the one playing games. It's the ghosts that are playing games with him," said Ken sitting comfortably in a chair leaning back with his arms relaxed behind his head.

"You're not even funny Ken. It was the radio so stop trying to freak everyone out," said Leo.

"Okay, but let's just wait until tomorrow to see if we receive a voice over," Ken replied.

By the end of the third day, they hadn't received any word back from Hongbin. No voice overs, no pictures, nothing.

"Well maybe he lost the signal. The deeper you go into the wilderness, the harder it is to reach people," said Leo.

"You have a point. Let's just wait until tomorrow. His flight comes in in the morning," said Cheif N. Once again, Hyuk was panicking and Ravi was trying to calm him down. Ken had nothing to say today, which was a shock to Leo.

The next day, Hongbin did not arrive back to Korea. He wasn't on the flight. He didn't return the next day, or the next day or the next day after that. After several weeks had gone by, everyone was now in a state of panic.

"See!?! I told you!!! He's trapped by the woods!!" shouted Hyuk.

"There's absolutely no way to contact him. What do we do cheif?" asked Ravi. Even the cheif was at a loss of words. He sat down at his desk quietly and buried his hands in his face. Leo was extra quiet that day as well, but then he approached the chief's desk.

"Cheif?" he said, causing N to raise his head.

"I'll go there. To finish the report and to look for him," said Leo. Everyone's eyes widened by Leo's request. N himself was shocked by he didn't disagree. 

"Okay then, just be careful and aware of your surroundings," said the cheif. Leo nodded and just as he was about to pack his briefcase, the cheif stopped him.

"Wait, I don't think you should go alone. That's the mistake we made with Hongbin," he said as he began to look around at the other employees. Everyone ducked their heads down low in an attempt to not get picked, except for Ken who was sitting on his desk daydreaming. "Ken will go with you," said cheif. On the inside, Leo was screaming "HELL NOOO" but he tried to remain professional.

"That's okay, cheif. I prefer to work alone," said Leo, but Cheif N shook his head.

"He's going with you and that's an order. You need someone with you so you can watch eachother's backs," he said. Ken, hearing everything came over and wrapped his arm around Leo's shoulder.

"So, when do we leave?" he asked smiling at Leo. Leo scowled and pushed his arm off of him. He went to his office to pack his things. Despite what was going on and the circumstances, Ken was excited to be spending time with Leo. He also went to pack his things as the cheif prepared a flight for them.

"Be careful, guys," said Ravi. Leo nodded.

"We will, don't worry," he said.

"If we die, nobody touch my stash of cheese puffs under my desk," said Ken. Leo slapped Ken's arm and gave him a death glare. The two of them then exited the office and got into a cab to the airport.

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A/N: Just an opening of this story! I probably will be updating this regularly, maybe every other day or so.