The Ace (Stray Kids Kim Seungmin)

16

Every year I write an advent story where I post one chapter everyday until Christmas (Day5 in 2017, Refresh in 2018, The Last Guardian in 2019) and I just felt like I couldn't miss it this year but I didn't want to make a new story when I haven't even finished this one so every day until Christmas I plan to be posting a new chapter of The Ace.

"I don't like this," Mia spat out, pacing around the cave with her arms folded across her chest. "I don't like this at all."

Her voice echoed as though to remind them of the urgency of the situation. Blood stained the walls and ceiling and ground. Every surface in cave had blood painted across it and Mel couldn't help but focus on the trail that meandered across the ground, mixing with the dirt and dead ants before cascading off the cliff.

"That's the third time this week," Minho muttered what they were all thinking. "That's not a coincidence, is it?"

Sprawled across the cold, smooth rock lay a jaguar mere centimetres away from the half-eaten body of another of its kind. The sight, much like the smell, was repulsive. And Mel just couldn't bring herself to look at it. She couldn't bring herself to look at what she had just done.

"I don't understand though..." Brea shook her head. "I thought they weren't meant to find this cave. It's hidden from the rest of the jungle... How did they even get here?"

"How it got here isn't our biggest concern," Seungmin stated. "Panthers hunt at night. Why on Earth is it here during the day?"

Shifting her gaze to the jungle, Mel watched as the red-orange sun slowly descended beneath the canopy, dressing the sky in pale shades of pink, blue and lilac. It was beautiful and that disgusted her. It felt like a slap in the face from the people that created it and created this whole illusion. How could they have the audacity to design something so elegant and seemingly happy when just minutes ago they sent a panther to kill her?

"Isn't it obvious? They are trying to kill us!" Jisung stated. "They've always been trying to kill us!"

"No," Mel shook her head. "They're only trying to kill me. All three times those panthers showed up here were while I was the only one in the cave."

"Why would they want to kill you?" Minho raised an eyebrow. "I mean, yeah, you are an ace but so is Seungmin. Why aren't they trying to kill him too-?"

"It doesn't matter whether they are trying to kill me or not. All that matters now is figuring out a way out of here. Clearly the cave isn't safe anymore. We need to leave."

"Are you insane?" Mia scoffed. "We can't leave the cave! Where would we even go?"

"Doesn't matter. We'll just have to walk until we find another cave or shelter or whatever."

"No way," Mia shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere. If even the cave isn't safe anymore how can we possibly expect out there to be any safer? And at night too for that matter! There's no way I'm leaving. Not a chance."

Seungmin rolled his eyes, "so what? You're going to stay in this cave alone? You'll die if you stay here!"

"Who said I'll be alone?"

"Mia-"

"I don't want to leave either," Jisung mumbled.

And automatically, silence engulfed them. In fact, at that moment the whole jungle hushed. No birds chirping, no distant hums of rushing water from the stream, no rustling of leaves. Everything was quiet. Everything was still.

Mel didn't bother averting her gaze from the sunset, the shock on Seungmin's face was impossible to miss even if she wasn't looking at him. The tense, prolonged silence said it all.