Mel liked to consider herself brave. She guessed it was just a trait that came with being an ace or maybe she became an ace because of already having that trait. Either way, she took pride in her courage. But at this moment, she was willing to throw that all way.

Clutching onto the torch with both her hands, she cowered behind it, using it as a shield from whatever was hidden between the abundance of trees. She couldn't help but feel stupid for not listening to Minho and staying in the cave. She should have backed out while she still had the chance but now her pride wouldn't allow her to return empty-handed.

The torch did a good job at lighting up the trail but Melody knew following it would only lead her to the river and night fishing wasn't exactly ideal. If she wanted to have a better chance at getting something to eat, she'd have start looking at plants. And that meant stepping off the trail and going deeper into the jungle.

"You're insane," she muttered to herself as she ventured further from the trail. Even if something did happen to her, there was no way anyone would find her now. She was too far from the cave for anyone to hear her scream and too hidden by the foliage for anyone on the trail to see her.

The difference between this part of the jungle and the one she had been venturing in for days was evident. It was denser, quieter. Eerier. Her hands felt clammy against the wood on the torch and her forehead felt drenched. She was panting now and not out of exhaustion. She was terrified.

The further she walked, the more vegetation she discovered and the more tense she felt. Which is why Mel released a loud sigh of relief upon finally spotting a blackberry bush.

Immediately, she dug a little hole and buried the bottom half of her torch so she wouldn't have to hold it and pulled her backpack off. Wiping her sweaty hands on her jumpsuit, she began filling the bag with blackberries whilst also rewarding herself with a few.

She closed her eyes to savour it. The sweet, fresh taste lingered on her tongue long after she had finished devouring them, causing a smile to form on her face. And in that moment, it all seemed worth it. The fear, the hunger and the risky act of leaving the trail felt worth it. She couldn't help but feel giddy with delight at the thought of being the one to discover this bush.

But the feeling quickly disappeared when she opened her eyes again. A pair of bright yellow eyes glared back at her followed by a deep growl emitted from the back of its throat. Mel had never seen this creature, she knew for a fact she did not know it and yet she immediately identified it as a black panther.

It was much smaller than any of the wolves she had ever seen but its fangs were longer, sharper. Deadlier. And it was alone. She had never seen any of the wolves hunt alone. But something told her that it didn't need another one of its kind to kill her. This dark, muscular creature was more than capable to do it on its own.

With each step forward it took, she took one back, maintaining a three metre distance between them. It wasn't as big of a gap as she could have hoped for but it was all she had.

"You must be hungry," she articulated out of fear. "I am too. How about... How about you just let me go and..."

It was stupid, she knew. There was nothing she could say to make sure the panther wouldn't charge at her and that's just assuming it could understand her. However, she also didn't want to turn and make a run for it. Although she didn't know this creature, she somehow knew it was fast and by the way it was crouched down slightly as it approached her, it was well prepared to pounce.

Hunger was evident in its beady eyes as it scanned her being cautiously. She couldn't help but wonder just how many days it had without anything to eat and her leaving the trail and crossing its path was all their plan. Maybe it was unfair to blame her stupidity on them but it was also unfair for them to expect her, a defenceless teenage girl, to be able to defeat this beast.

The blackberries were long forgotten at this point, crushing beneath the panther's mighty paws but that didn't seem to faze it in the slightest bit. Her torch was behind it now and she didn't have any weapons to save her. One option was all she had. One option was the only thing that help her now. So, despite knowing the risk it held, she turned and made a run of it.

Past towering trees and over minuscule shrubs, pushing aside branches and dodging bushes, she raced across the flora-populated terrain. The sound of twigs snapping beneath the beast's feet as it chased her down filled her ears, getting louder and closer with each step. She wouldn't last long. She needed a plan b.

Perhaps it was because she was so focused on her next move that she didn't notice the exposed tree trunk bulging out of the ground. Cliché, I know. At least, that's what she guessed happened. After all, Mel was too preoccupied to notice that none of the surrounding trees were big enough to have such wide buttress roots nor the fact that the roots weren't there only seconds prior to tripping on one.

And the world stopped again. Not for long but long enough for Mel to grab the nearest stick as a weapon. The panther froze and eyed her again when the everything resumed. Unlike before, the look it gave her wasn't out of hunger, but rather confusion. As though even it could tell something was wrong.

However, it quickly shook its head and the ravenous look returned. It took soft, stealthy steps forward as its eyes narrowed, focused on her. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. So she did all she could think of and pointed the stick at the panther than immediately dismissed it.

Bang.

Mel winced at the dull blare, watching as the beast collapsed before her feet.

"Next time, don't go alone," a stern voice uttered. Behind the unconscious panther's body, Seungmin held a shovel firmly between his two hands. The intensity of his gaze on her made her look down at her lap in embarrassment. Soaked brown hair stuck to his sweaty forehead and his cheeks were rosy from all the running. He was panting heavily and judging by the way he weakly dropped the shovel, he was exhausted too.

"I had it under control," she mumbled, earning a scoff from him.

"You were two seconds away from being it's dinner."

"I knew what I was doing."

"Did you? Because it really didn't seem that way from my perspective." He ran a hand through his hair in irritation. "What are you doing here anyway? Didn't we tell you to get some sleep? Didn't I specifically tell you to sleep? Or did that all fall on deaf ears?"

"I was just trying to help," she retorted through gritted teeth.

"Help? You were trying to help? How? By getting yourself killed? How on earth would losing an ace help?"

"I was getting us food! It was my fault we didn't catch any fish so excuse me for just trying to make sure we didn't starve to death."

"We weren't going to starve to death!" he shouted before releasing a loud, heavy breath and softening his tone. "And it wasn't your fault-"

"It was-"

"It wasn't. There were barely any fish in the river. Even if you were paying attention, we wouldn't have caught anything. Besides, the way I see it, I was the one who got us food," he nodded towards the panther.

"For your information, I found blackberries and was planning to bring them back to the cave before I was rudely interrupted."

"Blackberries?" he chuckled. "What would blackberries do to satisfy anyone's hunger? The way I see it, you should be happy the panther caught you. Tonight, we'll eat like kings."

"How did you find me anyway? And how did you channel enough power to kill a panther with one blow?" she questioned as she pulled herself off the ground.

"Minho woke me after you left. I followed the trail you made and when I saw your torch discarded, I realised something was wrong and went in the direction all the noise was coming from. And it's not dead, just unconscious."

"Still. How did you do that?"

"I don't know. It just happened." He glanced down at his shovel then shrugged. "We should go now. Help me carry the panther."

Mel simply nodded. The way she saw it, arguing with Seungmin wouldn't help either of them and would only tire them out. Carrying the panther by themselves, as you could except, was hard work. Despite it being much smaller than the wolves, it's frame was more muscular but leaving it there to get extra help was out of the question. Who knew how much longer it would stay unconscious or if they would ever be able to find it again.

"Thanks," Mel muttered quietly.

"For what?" Seungmin didn't even look at her as he responded, more focused on finding the trail again than what she had to say.

"For saving me. I know I was a little upset about it earlier but I actually do appreciate it. Thanks for coming."

"Don't worry about it," he shook his head lightly. "We are a team now. We have to be there for each other no matter what."

She smiled to herself although Seungmin didn't notice it.

"There's your torch," he stated, words laced with relief upon confirming that they were going in the right direction and were not lost. "And your blackberries. If we can enough of them, we could use them as little snacks to have during the day."

Mel watched as he dropped the panther, grabbed her bag and began refilling it with the berries. And that was when she noticed it.

The Ace of Spades

"Hey Seungmin," she called out slowly. "You know how last night we were discussing what the words written on the back of our jumpsuits meant?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You practically killed a panther by hitting it with a shovel once. And you are the Ace of Spades. What if," she paused when he raised an eyebrow at her, finally giving her his full attention. "What if the words are our strengths?"