ST 04

Chapter 04

Glug glug—

I could feel the air I’d held in my mouth when I fell into the water slipping away helplessly.

The pool must have been quite deep, because no matter how much I struggled, my body kept sinking instead of rising to the surface.

I stretched both hands out and flailed above my head.

It was when I squeezed my eyes shut at the chilling thought that I might actually die like this.

I felt someone swimming toward me.

Just as I was about to turn my head, a hand wrapped around my shoulder and neck from behind, and my struggling body suddenly shot upward.

Someone’s firm arm was wrapped around me, pulling me up toward the surface.

I clung to that arm and thrashed out of survival instinct, but only briefly—relief at being alive drained all the strength from my body.

“Puhah!”

By the time I came to my senses, I was already completely out of the water.

“Keh, cough.”

I braced my trembling arms on the ground and bent my upper body over, and the water I’d swallowed came right back up.

My nose stung and my eyes burned, and as I coughed several times, a large hand patted my back.

“You okay?”

I barely lifted my head at the voice coming from right beside me.

And there was the boy who had captivated me like a siren, bent over beside me, looking down at me.

So this must be the one who saved me.

“……”

Water was dripping steadily from his wet black hair—he must have thrown off his swim cap at some point.

His eyes, with double eyelids folded beneath, stretched coolly with slightly upturned corners, and the round nostrils perched atop his sharp nose bridge softened an impression that could otherwise seem intimidating.

That perfect harmony made his image read as a beauty with just the right mix of sharpness and purity.

“I don’t know how you got in, but outsiders aren’t allowed in here.”

The boy, one eye slightly narrowed, spoke as he put distance between us.

In that short sentence, his wish not to get tangled up with me came through clearly.

But it was strange.

I should have felt bad, but I didn’t feel anything at all.

His forehead revealed between wet strands of hair, his eyes looking down at me indifferently, his hands that had just pulled me up—all of it kept catching my eye.

My heart pounded.

So fast and hard it was strange to attribute it to being startled from falling in the water.

I didn’t know what this was, but one thing was certain.

I shouldn’t let him go like this.

He picked up the swim cap he’d taken off and turned to leave.

“Wait!”

A urgent voice burst out of me before I knew it.

I bolted upright from where I’d been lying half-prone.

“What’s your name?”

I hurriedly pulled my gaze up as it tried to drift naturally to his broad shoulders and firm chest.

For an instant, his eyes slid down below my face and then returned.

“……”

It was such a fleeting change that I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been watching him the whole time.

But he didn’t answer my question.

Instead, he opened a locker, took out a white towel, and strode over.

Then he spread the towel over my shoulders and carefully wrapped it around my upper body.

“Cover yourself before you go.”

“…Huh?”

Only then did I understand why.

My white T-shirt, soaked through, was clinging tightly to my body.

“…Ah, thanks.”

As I belatedly realized why his gaze had shifted earlier, my ears burned hot.

Meanwhile, the one who’d wrapped the towel around me looked utterly unbothered.

He picked up another towel draped over a chair back, roughly dried his wet hair, and turned without a shred of lingering attachment, disappearing through the door opposite the one I’d come in.

Even after the door closed, I stood frozen in place for a long while.

I was clutching the towel he’d wrapped around me tightly against my shoulders.

My burning face wouldn’t cool down.

It was only after quite some time that I suddenly came to my senses.

“…Ah.”

His name!

I didn’t get his name.

To think I’d been so distracted by a boy I’d just met that I couldn’t even get his name properly.

And yet I laughed.

If I didn’t know his name, I could just meet him again and ask.

When I came home soaked that day, Mr. Byeongun’s face went pale.

Fretting that I’d catch a cold, he bustled about bringing medicine and warm drinks, making quite a fuss.

“Oh, and I’ve ironed and hung up your old school uniform, Miss. I’ll always be in the annex, so call me anytime you need something. Understood?”

When I nodded, Mr. Byeongun finally seemed relieved, patted my shoulder once, and disappeared down the stairs.

The house where I’d be staying with Mr. Byeongun in Cheonghae was a country home situated just to the left of the oldest tree in the village.

What was unusual was that two buildings with light green roofs stood side by side like twins.

One was a two-story house large enough for a family of four, and beside it was a smaller annex.

Naturally, the two-story house went to me, and the annex to Mr. Byeongun.

I leaned obliquely against the window frame and watched Mr. Byeongun cross the garden and disappear into the annex.

I was alone now, but fortunately I wasn’t lonely.

In Seoul, I had always lived under the same roof as the Ocean family.

But in that house, I was the one who had to watch everyone else’s moods.

When eating, when going down to the living room.

Even when joining the family gathering, it was a habit to first think about whether it was a place I was allowed to be.

So an empty house was actually more comfortable.

Past the second-floor living room, I saw my door that Mr. Byeongun had pointed out earlier.

When I opened the door, a dainty room covered entirely in pink and lace unfolded before me.

“It’s a total princess room.”

I wasn’t particularly fond of pink.

But I didn’t dislike it.

Perhaps because I could see Mr. Byeongun’s heart in it—he must have picked everything one by one thinking of my tastes—the chilly house felt a little warmer.

I grabbed the large teddy bear sitting on the desk chair, hugged it, and flopped onto the bed just like that.

Mr. Byeongun had reminded me several times to wash before resting, but I didn’t want to move just yet.

Because the moment I closed my eyes, that boy came to mind again.

Black hair dripping down over his forehead, wet from the water.

The eyes that had looked down at me.

Even the low, indifferent voice.

I opened my eyes.

I stared blankly at the ceiling, then closed my eyes again.

The same face appeared again.

“…What is this.”

This time I turned onto my side.

It was no use.

When I closed my eyes his face appeared, and when I opened them his voice came to mind.

The arm that had pulled me up from the water, the long, large hands that had wrapped the towel around me without a word.

Every single one of them was needlessly vivid.

I’d only seen him for a few minutes at most.

I picked up the towel I’d been carrying at my side.

When I spread it out with both hands, the small letters stamped on the edge came into unusually sharp focus.

Cheonghae High School Swimming Club.

It wasn’t even his name written there.

It was just a common towel used by any swimming club member.

I flipped the towel over.

Looked again.

Flipped it again.

No matter how much I looked, there was nothing new.

But I couldn’t figure out why I kept looking.

“…What’s wrong with me.”

I laid the towel on my chest and stared blankly at the ceiling. My heart seemed to be beating a little faster than usual.

No, quite a lot faster.

Could it be love at first sight?

I’d never believed in such things and had never liked anyone, so I wasn’t sure.

But I kept thinking of him.

I wanted to see him again.

I was curious about his name, then curious about how old he was, then curious about which class he was in.

“…If there are three or four classes per grade, that’s at most twelve classes for the whole school.”

I bolted upright.

According to Mr. Byeongun, the number of students at Cheonghae High wouldn’t be that large.

Then finding him wouldn’t be difficult either.

I even knew he was in the swimming club.

With some luck, I might even see him tomorrow.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t hold back and threw myself back onto the bed.

I covered my face with the towel I’d raised and rolled over a couple of times just like that.

“Ugh……”

Strange sounds leaked out between my parted lips. I didn’t know why I was like this either.

I just felt good.

I laughed to myself under the towel for a long while, then suddenly thought—

Even at the moment I’d left Seoul, I hadn’t been particularly curious about tomorrow, but now I wished morning would come quickly.

Because I wanted to see him again.

I think that’s when it started.

When I began to like Cheonghae.

When I began to look forward to tomorrow.

When Bae Dohun—whose name I didn’t even know yet—began to take up the whole of my eighteenth summer.

“Miss, fighting for your first day of school.”

Mr. Byeongun clenched both fists toward me in the back seat.

I clenched one hand hard in return and opened the car door.

Even the blazing sunlight suited Cheonghae’s blue hues quite well.

The village that had felt so unfamiliar just yesterday was starting to grow on me after only a day.

Cheonghae High School.

I looked up at the nameplate of the school I’d be attending starting today, then crossed the school gate.

The gazes of students heading to school latched onto me one by one. It was only natural—I was a new face, and my uniform was different besides.

I straightened my shoulders for no reason and headed toward the main building.

The entrance that had been firmly locked yesterday was wide open today.

But where’s the faculty office?

Just as I entered the main building and was looking left and right in confusion—

“You’re the transfer student, right? Looking for the faculty office?”

A voice came from behind me.

It was a girl wearing the Cheonghae High uniform.