The Ace (Stray Kids Kim Seungmin)

19

“Aira…” Harri mumbled, eyes half lidded in combined physical and mental exhaustion. Hands rested on her knees, she attempted to steady her legs, subconsciously digging her nails into her flesh when her body continued to sway.

Her skin was pale as a corpse, heck, everything about her resembled a corpse. After all, she should be dead by now.

“Just a few more kilometres, Harri,” Aira examined the other girl, a scowl growing on her face at the sight of her. “There should be a lake on the other side of that sand dune, remember? We saw it by the horizon a few days ago. It was behind this very sand dune.”

“I can’t,” she barely managed to say before collapsing, frail body trembling as she lay practically lifeless on the sand. Within seconds, Aira was by her side, checking her pulse quickly before placing the back of hand against the other’s forehead and grimacing.

“Gosh, what do I do?” Her eyes scanned the unconscious female in horror. “Hang in there, Harri. Come on. You’ve made it this far you can’t just give up now… just… just wait. I’ll go get some water for you. Don’t give up now. We are so close. Think about Rayne. We are doing this for her, remember? We just need to find her then we’ll go back to the Pen. Everything will be alright. Just hold on a little longer, ok?”

She knew she wasn’t going to get a response from her but she still waited by her side a little longer, simply inspecting her. Knowing what she had to do, she finally stood up but every single part of her longed to stay with Harri and just hold her hand until she woke up again. If she woke up again.

And that thought was the only thing that actually drove Aira to tighten the straps on her bag and race over the sand dune. She knew exactly what was on the other side, she remembered it after spending a day just staring at it; another day Harri had collapsed and Aira was forced to wait for her to become conscious again.

She recalled first seeing a green patch by the horizon but the longer she peered at it, the easier it was to make out tall pillars that towered over the green patch: trees. She had stared at it for well over ten hours, just pondering over it and confirming that it wasn’t just her hallucinations, before she finally saw a glint by the horizon. At first, she thought she had finally lost her mind but the glint continuously returned and by sunset, it was evident what the cause of the glints were. Harri knew it too when she woke up that day. It had to have been water.

While Aira was also severely dehydrated and equally as parched as Harri, she was in much better condition than the other. Although still weak, her body had enough energy and strength to slowly ascend the final sand dune. The blazing midday sun beat down on her ailing body as though mocking her seemingly vain attempt to save both her and Harri.

Sweat drenched her body, saturating her hair and making her thin, lose clothing stick uncomfortably to her sun-scorched skin. And with every step, she felt her legs momentarily give up, catching her right before she fell down. 

“Just a few more steps, just a few more kilometres,” she whispered to herself, planting her hands in the sand to drag her whole body up. “Just a little more suffering. And it will all be worth it. Just a little more pain...”

***

Harri’s eyes fluttered half-open, completely lacking the strength to force them open even a fraction more. Her vision spun and she watched as the sand dunes blurred together with the dark blue sky, twisting and turning until they formed an ugly, dark brown. She could hear distant voices of people arguing then erupting in laughter then repeating as although she wished she could stand up and run to them, she knew it was only her imagination. There weren’t really any voices. She knew that for a fact as soon as she heard the familiar sound of Rayne chortling.