ST 06

Chapter 06

I opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was the pure white ceiling of the cruise cabin.

After blinking a few times, the memories of last night came back one by one.

The shirt being peeled off in my hands.

The expressionless face that crumbled for the first time.

And then.

‘Yoon Seul.’

My name, heard in his voice for the first time in ten years.

I pulled the blanket up to the tip of my nose.

“…I’m insane.”

Last night I was definitely not in my right mind.

No matter how infuriating Bae Dohun was, no matter how much I wanted to see that composed face ruined at least once—still.

Talking about needing to get experience before marriage, telling him to teach me himself. How could I say such embarrassing things in my right mind!

“Ugh!”

I buried my face completely in the blanket.

I wanted to erase the memory.

Then, exactly three seconds later, I cautiously poked my face back out.

A faint smile formed at my lips.

Realizing it, I rolled my lips inward and swallowed the laughter threatening to escape.

Bae Dohun definitely remembered me.

He’d acted like a stranger, like he’d erased all of the past ten years—but last night, in the end, he called my name.

Not Kang Dohun, but with the face of the Bae Dohun I knew.

And in the end, he kissed me first again. Even as he pushed me away, there was no real force in his hands.

None of that could have been my imagination.

So at least this one thing was certain.

You’re not unaffected either.

That one fact was enough.

I bolted upright.

“That’s right.”

If you want to pretend not to know that badly, then let’s see you keep it up to the end. I won’t just sit still either.

The third day of the cruise event.

The morning schedule began with a brunch on board.

Beneath a clear sky, the sea stretched endlessly, and on the outdoor terrace, executives from Ocean’s major affiliates and invited guests sat gathered in small groups.

And I was seated across from Cha Taegyeong, per Chairman Yoon’s instructions.

“Shall I prepare coffee?”

Just as the staff member was about to set coffee down in front of me, Taegyeong spoke first.

“Tea for this side, please.”

The staff member’s hand stopped.

“…How did you know I don’t drink coffee?”

“You mentioned it at dinner yesterday.”

It was an answer as if it were nothing.

“You remembered that?”

“For important things.”

Taegyeong smiled as if it were no big deal.

The staff member quickly replaced the cup with warm tea.

I lifted the cup and took a sip.

It wasn’t bad.

The more I got to know Cha Taegyeong, the more flawless he seemed.

He was appropriately considerate of the other person, made appropriate eye contact when conversing, and didn’t come closer than necessary.

Above all, he knew how to endure silence.

The fact that he wasn’t the type to pour out pointless chatter because he couldn’t stand awkwardness was quite a big merit.

Yet a corner of my attention kept drifting behind me. To be exact, toward the one person standing a few steps away from me.

“You’re not looking much today.”

“…At what?”

“That handsome security guard.”

The hand setting down the teacup paused for just a moment.

“When did I ever look at him?”

“You looked quite often yesterday.”

“……”

“Did I see wrong?”

There seemed to be no particular intention on Taegyeong’s face. I took another sip of tea.

“Do you have a hobby of observing people?”

“It’s closer to an occupational habit.”

“Because you’re in the press?”

Taegyeong laughed softly.

That was his answer.

“People’s gazes are often more honest than their words, you see.”

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

I set down the teacup.

“Then you’re wrong today.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Even as I answered, I didn’t turn around.

There was no need to look.

I knew who was standing at a measured distance behind me.

Bae Dohun.

Since this morning, I hadn’t given him a single glance.

I, who until yesterday had called him over for no reason even to drink a glass of water, today hadn’t done so even once.

But ironically, the more I didn’t look at him, the more I thought about him.

Are you looking at me right now?

Are you thinking about last night?

Even in the brief moment of drinking tea, everything I was curious about was about Bae Dohun.

The afternoon schedule took place on the upper deck.

On the cruise’s top floor was an outdoor pool that looked like a small resort transplanted there.

While a separate program for corporate executives was underway, accompanying family members and young heirs were free to use the facilities.

My steps slowed slightly as I passed near the pool. The water’s surface, holding the sunlight, was breaking into fine fragments.

The moment I heard the rippling of the water, an old memory brushed briefly through my mind.

Wet hair.

Long arms cutting through the water.

When I first learned to swim, I thought the more I paddled my arms, the faster I’d move forward.

I flailed frantically until my breath reached my chin, but strangely my body didn’t advance as much as I thought.

There was someone who first taught me the stroke back then.

‘You don’t need to paddle that much.’

‘Then how?’

‘You just need to do it right once.’

Reach out, catch the water, push all the way through, then wait for your body to glide forward.

At first that was frustrating.

If I stayed still, I felt like I’d sink, so I kept rushing the next movement.

Every time, that kid said the same thing.

‘Don’t rush.’

‘I’m sinking! Puh!’

‘You’re not sinking. Trust the water.’

When I trusted those words and reduced the number of strokes, my body—strangely enough—traveled much farther than before.

That’s when I first understood.

Swimming isn’t a sport where the one who paddles the most wins.

How far you can go with a single stroke. In the end, what mattered wasn’t the number of strokes but each single movement.

“Do you like swimming?”

The voice from beside me cut through my thoughts.

This time too, it was Cha Taegyeong.

“Me?”

“You kept staring at it.”

“No.”

“For that, you were looking at it for quite a while.”

I turned my gaze back to the water’s surface. The waves catching the sunlight were breaking into fine fragments.

“There was someone who really loved swimming.”

Only after I said it did I realize I’d said something unnecessary, but the words were already out.

“They were really good.”

Dohun became a different person when he entered the water.

He moved less than anyone yet traveled farther than anyone.

So watching him swim, time strangely seemed to flow slowly.

“Someone you liked.”

Taegyeong echoed my words.

“Past tense, I see.”

“…It was a long time ago.”

“And now?”

This time I couldn’t answer right away.

Small ripples rose on the water’s surface.

I quietly watched the light breaking upon them.

The stroke I’d learned ten years ago—my body still remembered it.

But the feelings toward the person who taught me—

Those feelings that should have faded away after ten years—

“I’m not sure.”

I myself couldn’t tell just how far they’d come.

That was when it happened.

“Watch out!”

With a sharp bursting sound, someone’s short scream rang out.

The moment I turned my head, a rolling table that had lost its balance in the wind was tilting over.

Several champagne glasses on top slid and poured straight toward me.

There was no time to dodge.

But before that, an arm wrapped fiercely around my waist.

“…!”

My body was yanked backward.

Dohun, who had closed the distance before I knew it, pulled me in by the waist while blocking the falling glasses with his other arm.

A glass hit the floor and shattered into pieces. The surroundings instantly turned chaotic.

“I-I’m so sorry!”

A staff member rushed over with a face gone white.

But nothing was properly reaching my ears.

The arm wrapped around me and the tightly pressed lips.

The unmistakably hardened eyes.

“…Are you all right?”

Only then did Dohun look down at me. It was the first time our eyes had met today.

His gaze, checking whether I was hurt, overlapped with that face from long ago.

“Yes.”

I answered briefly.

As my gaze slowly drifted downward, Dohun seemed to realize belatedly and released his arm, stepping back.

Once again, the distance between security guard and employer.

“I’m glad.”

That face again.

The face that said nothing had happened.

Even after all the evening schedules had ended, small gatherings continued in various corners of the cruise.

Taegyeong and I took seats on one side of the lounge. Beyond the full-length glass, the dark blue sea stretched out.

“You don’t want to marry me, do you?”

My head turned at the sudden question.

“What do you mean, suddenly……”

Taegyeong was smiling.

He wasn’t offended, nor was he pressing for an answer. His face was simply very calm.

I looked at him for a moment, then answered honestly.

“…No.”

“I figured you wouldn’t hide it. And indeed.”

At his light laughter, a chuckle escaped me too.

“But aren’t you upset?”

“Why should I be?”

“When someone you’re in marriage talks with openly says they don’t want to.”

“I knew from the beginning that you weren’t spending time with me because you liked me, Yoon Seul-ssi.”

Taegyeong slowly swirled his glass.

The ice clinked with a clear sound.

“That was the same for me.”

“Then that’s a relief. Neither of us has feelings.”

“But.”

Taegyeong cut in.

“My thinking has changed a little.”

“…How so?”

“At the very least, toward the idea that opportunities should be given fairly.”

Taegyeong smiled faintly.

“Because marrying you, Yoon Seul-ssi, seems like it wouldn’t be so bad after all.”