The Ace (Stray Kids Kim Seungmin)

14

"Just admit it already. We're lost, aren't we?" Harri grumbled, glaring at Aira who immediately shook her head.

"Of course not! We're just... Exploring, you know? Nothing wrong with a little adventure," Aira chirped but the uncertainty in her tone was evident.

"We've been walking for weeks now. My legs ache and I'm starving! I don't want to be exploring. I just want to find Rayne and get back to the Pen already. Is that too much to ask for?"

"And we will find Rayne soon enough. But think about it, Harri, everyone who has left the Pen returns the next day dead. We are the only survivors. We are the only people to have survived outside of the Pen. You should be enjoying this, admiring the outside world before we are forced to return to the Pen and with it, our old monotonous lives."

"What's there to enjoy? Look around us. Just take one good look. What's so nice about being stranded in a desert? There's just kilometres upon kilometres of sand dunes and nothing else. We haven't seen any animals in weeks and any plants in days. I don't know what your definition of enjoyable is but this certainly ain't mine!"

"Relax," Aira stretched out the word, shaking Harri's shoulders playfully. "You are so caught up with being outside of your comfort zone that you aren't even appreciating what is around you. Yes, all there is around us is sand and, yes, we haven't seen any form of life in a long time but how many people can say 'I've been on the other side of the Pen walls'? How many people get the chance to see all this? We are fortunate."

"I don't see starving to death as fortunate. And that's just assuming our water doesn't run out first. I don't see any of this as 'fortunate'. Not even slightly."

"That's just the dehydration talking."

"And that's another thing. I was never dehydrated in the Pen. Never. And I was there for years. I miss having water to drink at any time of the day and food to satisfy my hunger. I miss the simplicity of life without having to worry about surviving every single second. I miss having a shelter to sleep in and a pillow to lay my head on. I never thought I'd ever say this but I miss the Pen. A lot."

"Harri-"

"I miss Mia and Brea too."

"What about Melody?"

"Oh, you know how I feel about her. She could rot in a ditch for all I care."

"Why do you hate her so much? I just don't understand. You never gave her a chance. As soon as she arrived, you already hated her. She's our Ace, Harri. She's going to save us from all of this. That's why she's here."

"Well, she isn't doing a great job at it. She saw a wolf and fainted. That's our Ace. That's the girl meant to help us get out of here. I don't have much faith in her and you are delusional if you trust her."

"What else am I meant to believe then?" Aira retorted. "Because all I've ever known is one day a girl is going to show up and she is going to lead us all to the escape! She's to going to save us all from stupid place. I've been here for five years, Harri. Five full years. Two of which I was completely alone. Two years of being by myself until you suddenly arrived. What else am I supposed to put my faith in? Rayne is gone, we are completely lost and who on earth even know what's going on in the Pen. For all we know they could all be dead! So maybe it's a stretch and maybe it's stupid but if I'm supposed to believe that some cowardly girl is our Ace, then that's exactly what I'm going to believe."

Harri rolled her eyes before glaring at Aira.

"She could always be the Joker-"

"Stop! Don't you dare say that, Harriet. Don't you dare."

"We can't completely cross it out. You said it yourself. Mel's a coward. Our Ace can't be a coward. How on earth can a coward lead us to the exit? None of us have met the Joker. Is it a coincidence that everything has just fallen apart since her arrival? Shouldn't the Ace be saving us from all this? Not bringing death in our direction?"

"Well, if you are saying that, how can I believe that you aren't the Joker, huh?"

"You can't be serious, Aira. You can't seriously be suspicious of me... You've known me better than any of the other here. We've been through thick and thin together. It has always been us against the world. It has always been us! You can't seriously be questioning me. If I was the Joker, you would have figured it out by now."

"You're right," she glared at Harri. "We really have been together through everything. You've been like a sister to me. That's why I didn't want to say anything about it. Maybe in doing so I betrayed everyone else, I have fooled everyone into thinking you are just as innocent as the rest of us but I will not have you attempt to fool me too. If you were the Joker, you're right, I would have figured it out by now. And I have so stop pretending, Harri. I know you are the Joker. I know that you are trying to get us all to kill off Mel. And I know that in the end, no matter what I do or say or how much I defend you, in the end, you'll betray us all. But I'd rather die to your hands than any of the creatures in this stupid place."

"You'd rather die from betrayal?" Harri's tone was nothing short of utter confusion. "Why? And I'm not the Joker. I don't know why you'd even think that."

"I once heard in a dream a long time ago that even Joker's can fool themselves into thinking they are good. Maybe you've forgotten your real part in all of this but definitely haven't. And to answer your question, is it really betrayal if you knew it all along?"