Author's Note

In celebration of Amazon Prime Video's newest seriesPanic, I am thrilled to be teaming up with Amazon Prime Video and Wattpad to write this exclusive chapter that puts my characters from this story into the world of Panic!

I hope this chapter intrigues and inspires you to learn more about Panic. Visit the #PanicWritingContest on Wattpad for the chance to put your creative writing chops to the test and learn more about the show!

To find out more about the contest, prizes, and how to enter, check out the #PanicWritingContest here: wattpad.com/AmazonPrimeVideo

Don't forget to watch the series premiere on May 28th, only on Amazon Prime Video, here:http://primevideo.com/

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Ares stepped out of the minivan, the soles of his polished leather shoes grinding against the roadside gravel. He lowered his shades and did a quick survey of his surroundings. American suburbia. Generic houses painted in varying flavourless shades of white and cream that looked like they could be transplanted to another generic town and still fit right in. He took a step forward, and his shoe sunk straight into an unfixed pothole filled with muddy water from yesterday's rain. An autumn wind blew, sending stray leaves of gold and amber flying across his face and into his well-styled hair.

"Great," he muttered. "Can someone tell me why you picked this place to film my new MV?"

"It was the cheapest boring American town the producers could find," Gina replied, her lacquered lips puckering in disdain. "Live with it. We'll be in and out in five days tops. At least the aesthetics look like it'll fit the mood of your song."

"Are you trying to tell me my song is dull and boring?"

Gina rolled her eyes and proceeded to order the rest of the staff to move their luggage and equipment to the relevant locations, leaving Ares to continue mulling over his current circumstances.

"What were you expecting from a town called Carpe?" a voice whispered into his left ear.

He turned to find Yeseul standing beside him, carrying two large carry-alls that were bulging uncomfortably on all fronts, probably filled with the hairstyling equipment they had flown over from Seoul.

"Do you need a hand?" he asked. Those bags were practically swallowing up her entire frame.

The girl shook her head. "Nah, I'm good. Can't make our superstar do the heavy lifting. If you trip and fall over one of these potholes, Gina will bite my head off."

"I'm not that delicate," Ares mumbled. He reached over and grabbed both bags out of her hands, heading towards the entrance of their hotel—more like a guesthouse, from the looks of it.

It was a three-storey building with large flakes of paint peeling off its whitewashed exterior walls, with a lopsided sign hanging on the wooden fence up front that spelled "Wicker's Bed and Breakfast". Gina had instructed one of the staff to open the gate, and it creaked open with a tired groan.

"Welcome to Wicker's," a monotonous voice greeted when they stepped into the guesthouse lobby. It belonged to a young man with dark hair, probably in his late teens or early twenties. "Have you got a reservation?"

"I'm wondering why we even need reservations in a dump like this," Gina said, glancing at around at the dusty, dated décor. She ran one finger along the reception's countertop and grimaced. "Yes, under Gina Kim, which should be obvious considering we've booked out the entire place."

"Just checking." The man turned and fumbled around at the key rack, retrieving a bunch of keys. He tossed the entire pile onto the counter. "Four rooms on the second floor, four on the third. The biggest room we have is 303 and the broom cupboard is 201. Name's Dodge, dial 1 for reception if you need anything."

"I highly doubt you'd be able to conjure up anything of standard," Gina mused. She picked up one set of keys for herself and dropped another set into Ares' hand, then she headed for the stairs. "Not even a bloody lift in this place."

Ares stepped up to the counter. "Dodge, was it?" he asked.

The boy nodded. "Are you the kpop star? They said you folks were here for some music video shoot. Funny choice of location for a shoot if you ask me."

"It is a bit far out. You mustn't get many outsiders around here." In order to get here they had travelled past what felt like a lifetime's worth of farmland. Not that Ares was complaining. He quite appreciated the peace and quiet. Sometimes cows were better than humans.

"No we don't. Nothing much happens around here, unless you're lucky enough to be here for Panic season. You're a month too early for that."

Dodge's eyes seemed to glaze over, the wry smile he had been wearing on his face all this while fading away. Ares thought he was looking at someone, or some place, deep within the inner recesses of his mind, tucked away in a corner he was reluctant to touch.

"What's Panic season?"

"Oh, just some stupid high school graduation game." Dodge shrugged. "Complete a series of challenges, be the last one standing and win a pot of money—or die trying."

"Excuse me?"

Ares turned to see Yeseul standing beside him, her wine-coloured lips curled in incredulity.

"Like I said, it's stupid really. Goodness knows what possesses so many people to do it."

"Have you done it before?" Ares asked. He could detect a certain tension hidden behind Dodge's words when he spoke of Panic, and that peaked his curiosity.

"Yeah. Last year."

"So what's it like? These challenges."

"Jump off a cliff into a quarry, break into someone's house and steal something, survive a night buried in a coffin—mindless shit like that."

"Did you win?"

Dodge hesitated for a moment, then he simply pushed all the keys towards them. "Dial 1 for reception, but I can only handle things like leaky pipes and broken bulbs. If you need anything else, don't dial 1, there's a convenience store five minutes down the street from here. Have a good stay." His lips twitched upwards in a stiff smile, then he disappeared into the back room.

"He was joking right?" Yeseul asked. "About people dying?"

"Yeah, probably."

Honestly, Ares wasn't too convinced of his own reply. Dodge didn't look or sound like he was joking when he said that, but this rundown B&B was already unsettling enough without having to plant thoughts of dead teenagers into Yeseul's mind.

"Here," he held out his key to her, "you can have this room."

Gina had given him 303, but he didn't need all that space. Space made him feel even emptier than he already did.

Yeseul was eyeing him suspiciously, as if he was leading her into a booby-trap.

He laughed. "Come on, I'll help you take these up the stairs," he said, referring to the duffels. "I hope you're less averse to climbing stairs than Gina."

#

The town was as dull as Dodge said it would be.

Since his filming schedule didn't start till the next morning, Ares decided to take a gander down to the convenience store. Gina didn't care because there wasn't going to be any whiff of paparazzi in this rural backwater anyway. She had declared she would be sleeping the rest of the evening away because staying awake and staring at the garish floral wallpaper of her B&B room—or any other part of this town—was too much for her chic self to deal with.

An old-school doorbell jingled when he pushed open the door, and to his surprise, the first face he saw was a familiar one.

"You're here too?" he asked.

Yeseul blinked, seemingly as surprised to see him here. She nodded and held up the packet of crisps in her hand. "Got a bit peckish. I brought cup ramen but the kettle in my room wasn't working," she said. "Your kettle broken too?"

"I don't even think I have one," Ares answered honestly. He took a quick scan around the store. Nondescript rows of shelves filled with sundries. A lone teenager—probably a part-timer—chewing gum by the cash register. Not the most interesting place to visit in a new town.

He headed for the magazine rack and casually flipped through a couple of random entertainment tabloids sitting there. Out of the corner of his eye, he could spy Yeseul rummaging around the refrigerators, trying to choose a drink to go along with her snack.

The doorbell jingled again, and in strolled two girls who looked like part of a set of triplets with the one behind the counter.

"Hey Marcy," one of them said.

"What're you two doing here? I thought we were meeting directly at the cinema?" the counter girl asked.

"Change of plans. Josh suggested going down to quarry. You wanna come with?"

"Whatever for?"

"I think he wants to train for Panic. You know how it was last year. The first challenge was the quarry cliff jump."

The girl behind the counter snorted. "As if they'll repeat a challenge. Why the heck does he want to do that?"

Her friends shrugged. "Who knows? I think they just want to scare the competition by proving that they can. Josh claims he's going to do Devil's Drop."

"Doesn't have balls to do it."

"So are you coming or not?"

"Go ahead first. I'll close up in half an hour and join you there," Marcy said, shooing her friends towards the door.

After the girls left, Ares walked up to the counter. He put down a magazine and picked up two packets of sweets from the rack by the cash register. "I didn't mean to overhear your conversation, but if you don't mind me asking, where is this quarry that you were talking about? We're in town for a few days and I'd quite like to explore some interesting places in Carpe."

"The quarry? That's hardly interesting," Marcy scoffed. "You're better off going to the farms to feed the goats. At least they're cute." She scanned the items on the table. "That'll be five-sixty."

Ares fumbled through his wallet for the correct change. "No, no, I quite like—uh—quarries," he said.

The girl arched an eyebrow, unconvinced. She took the money from him and shoved it into the cash tray. "Well if you really want to see it, I guess you can hang around until I close the shop and then you can come along since I'm headed there."

"Great! That'll be fantastic."

Marcy tossed him another skeptical glance, then she headed towards the back of the store to unpack some cartons of soft drinks.

Yeseul came up to Ares. "Why on earth do you want to go to that quarry? I never knew you were interested in geography," she asked, nudging him with her elbow.

"Nothing better to do anyway. Might as well go and explore the town. Didn't you hear what they said? Some of their friends want to attempt a quarry jump, something about it being a Panic challenge."

"Not that again." Yeseul rolled her eyes. "It's just some silly games that high schoolers play." She paused, then narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't tell me you're thinking of doing the jump too?"

Ares shrugged. "I'm only curious. Don't go telling tales to Gina. We don't need her having a meltdown out here in the wilderness."

"I'm not going anywhere near Medusa, that much you don't have to worry about. I'm coming with you," Yeseul declared.

"You are?" It was Ares' turn to be surprised. "You don't have to. I'm a grown man, I can look after myself."

"Who's going to look after you? Like you said, there's nothing better to do here so I might as well tag along." Yeseul pressed the rusty silver bell sitting on the counter, summoning Marcy to check out her crisps and bottle of iced lemon tea.

"O-kay then."

He wasn't going to complain about having company.

#

Ares and Yeseul traipsed along behind Marcy, brushing away the tall grass as they made their way towards the quarry at the south side of town. It had been a short bus ride away from the convenience store and the B&B, but it felt like they had suddenly been transported into the middle of nowhere. Shrubbery, whistling crickets and swathes of tiny flies hovering over the bushes.

"We're a long way from Seoul alright," Yeseul muttered, swatting flies away from her head.

"It's nice, isn't it? Fresh countryside air," Ares remarked, stretching out his arms and taking a deep breath. He wondered if this was what it was like on Hyunwon's vineyard. He had said that he would pay it a visit one day, but when it came down to finding time in his schedule, "one day" was basically synonymous to "never".

The sun was setting in the horizon, dying the skies a magical shade of orange fading into azure blue.

He wondered what Hyejin was doing. Was she about to have dinner with Hyunwon? Did she even think about him every now and then? A bout of melancholy set in. It was like tripping and falling into a well, he reckoned. One minute he was inhaling the scent of grass flowers drifting through the air, the next he was underwater, gasping for dear life.

There was a tap at his shoulder, and suddenly his airways cleared.

He turned around, disoriented.

"Are you... okay?" Yeseul asked, concern etched in her dark irises.

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Of course," he lied, as if the anxiety that set in earlier had merely been a hallucination. He had trained himself to treat those episodes as such, but that was both a boon and a bane. The upside was that he could recover quickly, the downside was that he was kicking the can down the road. The problem remained festering inside, like an elusive worm.

They continued walking until a towering cliff came into view, blocking out the dying rays of the sun and casting a grim shadow on the earth.

"We're here," Marcy said.

She picked up the pace, shouting to her friends when she saw them milling about by the quarry's edge.

"Hey, what took you so long!" One of the girls that Ares recognised from the store waved back. "Josh has already gone up."

There seven of them gathered there, the boys decked out in their swimming gear and the girls skipping stones across the surface of the water.

When he squinted, he could spy a tiny figure standing midway up the hill, waving both arms in the air in greeting. Josh, he presumed, the instigator of this little outing.

"I thought you were going for Devil's Drop!" Marcy called out.

"Got to warm up first," Josh shouted back. He was stretching his waist left and right, as if preparing to make the jump.

"He's not going to do it," one of the other boys sneered.

"If he doesn't then he'll owe us a round of drinks," another said. "Eh Josh! Hurry up and do the jump, else you can just forget about competing in Panic this year. What's the matter? Pissing your pants?"

The crowd burst out in delighted laughter.

"What's the rush! It's more challenging at night, isn't it? Sun's not even set yet," Josh argued back.

"How high is that drop?" Yeseul whispered into Ares' ear.

Ares did a quick estimate in her mind. Where Josh was standing looked like at least a height of a two storey building. His gaze traced the contour of the slope until it reached the highest point, illuminated by the glow of the setting sun.

Devil's drop. That must be at least three storeys.

How high was that in metres? High enough to smash bones if one landed on concrete instead of a pool of water.

A bold thought flashed inside his mind as he stared at that highest peak.

"Hey Marcy," he said, "did you say that this was the first challenge of last year's Panic competition?"

Marcy turned, suddenly remembering that she had brought two tag-alongs. She nodded. "Yeah. Extra 25 points if you jump from High Jump," she pointed to a spot midway between where Josh was and the highest peak, "and extra 100 points if you go for Devil's Drop. Last year only one person had the guts to attempt Devil's Drop."

"Oh?"

"Heather Nils. Who would have guessed? She always seemed so timid," one of the other girls contributed.

"She has more balls than Josh Harrington that's for sure!" a boy yelled, loud enough for his friend perched on the cliffside to hear.

"Shutup and get the hell up here if you're so brave!" Josh replied. "I'm doing it now!"

All eyes shifted towards the boy as he took a few steps back from the edge. Then, he charged forwards and leapt into the air. Within seconds, the cannonball landed in the water with a loud, resounding splash. The crowd cheered and hooted, and Josh broke through the lake's surface with a victorious fist pump.

"It's your turn, bitches!" Josh shouted, before swimming towards their direction. He hoisted himself out of the water, taking a towel from one of the girls to dry himself off. "So, which one of you is going next?"

His friends exchanged wary glances, no one volunteering to be the next foolhardy soul.

"What? Are you really chicken? Panic's in a month's time. I thought all of you were bragging about taking part?" Josh taunted. "This was one of the easiest challenges last year! Heather Nilsdid it."

"It's getting dark. We're not even supposed to be here after dark," Marcy ventured.

Josh rolled his eyes. "As if that ever stopped anyone. Look, if you're all scared then fine. Not gonna force anyone to risk their lives if they ain't got the guts for it."

"Is it okay if I have a go?"

The group of teens turned their heads around to stare at Ares, puzzled by the appearance of two strangers.

"Who're you?" Josh asked.

"Oh, they're some tourists staying at Wicker's. Came into the store earlier and said they wanted to come take a look at the quarry for goodness knows what reason," Marcy answered dismissively. "Are you sure you know what you're talking about?" she said, directing her question at Ares this time. "We don't want to get into trouble with the sheriff if some dead tourists are found floating in the quarry."

"Tourists? In Carpe?" Josh snorted. "Y'all must have been conned by some cheap tour agency."

"Are you out of your mind?" Yeseul hissed into Ares' ear. "Who knows what could happen from that jump! What if there are rocks below? You'll end up with ten broken bones and then Gina will break the rest of them."

Ares paused. He did have an MV to film the next morning and if he dared show up in any less of a pristine condition, his devil-possessed manager would have his hide. He glanced up at the peak of the cliff, and then at the ever-darkening sky. Nightfall would be upon them in a matter of minutes.

"If you want to take the plunge then go ahead," Josh said. "You're gonna get the full authentic tourist experience if you wait till dark. Last year's challenge was at midnight. Staring down into murky darkness, not knowing what waits for you down there—that's where the adrenaline rush comes from." His lips curled upwards in a sly smile.

"Why are you egging him on?" Marcy slapped Josh on the arm. "I brought him here. If anything happens to him I could get into trouble with the sheriff."

"Nothing's gonna happen." Josh pushed past her and stepped up in front of Ares. "Why? You scared?"

Ares replied with a smile. He turned and headed towards the tiny path leading up to the hill, carved out only by the pounding soles of those who had clambered up this same route before him.

"You're seriously doing it?" Yeseul exclaimed, chasing after him.

"You can just wait for me down there, Yeseul."

"But why! Do you know how insane this is? Cliff jumping into some random quarry lake in the middle of nowhere?"

"Maybe I am insane," Ares murmured.

He continued climbing until he reached the point midway up the slope where Josh had leapt down from. He walked over to the edge, peering down. The sun had disappeared, and the land was now bathed in shadows. Down below, the lake was a murky pool of darkness, like a black hole that could swallow one whole.

Maybe it can just swallow me up completely, and I'll reappear on the other end as a new person. No more Ares Hwang.

"Oh god," Yeseul came up beside him, flinching when she took a look at the height they were at. "This is higher than the diving board at my neighbourhood pool."

"What're you waiting for!" Josh yelled.

From where they were at, he looked like a tiny Lego figurine.

Ares stared down at the water for a moment, then he turned and continued upwards.

"Ares, please, don't do this. It's already high enough from here, and you want to go even higher? Did you hear what they called that point? Devil's Drop. It'll drop you straight to hell."

Ares didn't listen. He kept going, pushing past the brambles and bushes until finally he emerged at the top. A tiny clearing at the highest point of this hill. He took a deep breath of the cold night air. It was revitalising, to say the least.

From this vantage point, he could see for miles. The town centre of Carpe was a warm bed of flickering lights in the distance, surrounded by swathes of shadowy forest. He closed his eyes. No sounds of traffic, no incessant chatter, nothing but a chorus of crickets.

Peace.

He never knew how much he yearned for it until he felt it for himself.

Yeseul's panting interrupted his moment of quietude. He turned his head and found the girl making her final steps up the slope. She wiped the sweat off her brow, pausing to catch her breath.

"Why did you follow me all the way up? I thought I told you to wait down there." Ares frowned. He had thought she had given up halfway. The slope was steep, and not the easiest to scale.

"To... stop... you from... doing something... stupid," Yeseul replied with a scowl. She took a couple of gulps of air, then marched up to him. "You're really going to to do this, aren't you? You're going to jump down from here and—" The words got stuck down her throat when she peered over the edge.

Ares sighed. "And so what if I am?" he said. "Nothing's going to happen to me, Yeseul. It's just a pool of water down there."

"But why!"

Yeseul's shout caught Ares by surprise. She was actually angry with him. He could see the fire in her eyes—meek, timid Yeseul, who was always content to shy away from the spotlight. He didn't even remember her after she gave him that horrendous poodle-do all those months back, because she was the wallflower that didn't catch anyone's eye. Even when he did notice her, it was only because of Hyejin.

"Fine, if you're going to make the jump, then I'll do it too," Yeseul declared.

Now it was Ares' turn to be confused.

"Why?"

He could see the tremble in her legs that betrayed her fear of heights.

"Because you're not the only one trying to find courage to live on." She took a deep breath and stepped forward to the edge of the cliff. "You said nothing's going to happen if we jump from here, right? I'm trusting you on this."

Ares reached out and grabbed hold of her wrist. "Yeseul, don't."

"Why? Were you lying to me then?"

"No, but—"

The one he had been trying to lie to was himself. He was also afraid. Afraid that once he leapt off the edge, his entire life would flash by and end in that watery grave. All that bravado he had was only a front. At the end of the day he was still a coward. The same coward who had tried to cling on to Hyejin as if she was a life raft.

He had let go, but he was still drowning.

The warmth of Yeseul's fingers around his own pulled him out from the pit of vipers in his mind. He looked up, and saw her smiling face. There was fear in those eyes, but also a bravery that he didn't have inside himself.

"We can do this," she said.

"We can?"

"Together."

Together.

"Ready?" Yeseul asked.

"I guess. If anything happens, at least I'll have you for company."

Yeseul grimaced. "If anything happens, you'd best cover my medical bills." Her grip around his fingers tightened. "On the count of three. One, two, three—"

In that instant, Ares faltered. But Yeseul didn't. She stepped right off the edge, and her momentum left him with no choice.

This was Devil's Drop, and what was actually a few short seconds felt like an eternity of freefall. While he was falling, Ares' mind was a complete blank. Before his eyes, darkness. It was almost as if he was truly making the journey through the depths of hell. The only thing keeping him tethered to this world was Yeseul's fingers around his own.

She didn't let go.

His feet struck the surface of the water, and then he felt the icy coldness envelope him entirely as his body sank into the frigid lake.

Still she didn't let go.

He looked up, and through the ripples he could see the full moon shimmering overhead. He reached up with his other hand, until he finally broke through the boundary. The minute he surfaced, Ares took a huge gulp of air, letting the life rush into his lungs. He turned to his side, and relief washed over him when he saw Yeseul do the same.

"Looks like we made it," he said with a laugh.

"Looks like we did," she replied.

She wore a light smile on her face, illuminated by the cool glow from the moon above. And for the first time in a long time, Ares actually believed that he wasn't alone.

#

That's all for this bonus chapter! 

To all of you who have been requesting for an Ares x Yeseul ship - I heard you! <3