On his way back, Dominic finds me along the way and together we walk to the lake where we'll be canoeing. The entire walk there, we don't exchange words and it's as awkward as it sounds. I am thankful to be separated from him when we meet up with the rest of the group.
When asked who I want to go with on the boat, I look over at Taylor, but she seems to be already pairing up with Edward, perhaps to placate him because she chose to be in a lodge with other girls instead of being in a cabin alone with him. I can only imagine what he was planning to do with her.
"Hey."
I glance over to my right and spot a particular timorously grinning, heterochromatic eyed boy standing beside me.
Kai too is in his swimming trunks and the slightly defined lines I got a peek at a few minutes ago in his car aren't being hidden by a shirt, the soft abs lining his abdomen too. He seems like he exercises, unlike me. Before I am caught checking him out again, I shift my gaze over to his hands which I find constantly obscuring his fingertips into his palm, then relaxing and again.
With my eyebrows furrowing, I murmur questioningly, "Hi?"
"Uh…" He brings his hand up to scratch the back of his head. He's nervous, I realise. What does he have to be nervous about? "Do you want to go canoeing with me?"
For a second, I remain quiet until amusement shines in my eyes. Is that what he was nervous about?
"It's just that Richard wanted to go with Sabina, and I don't really know anyone else besides you. Not saying I am only asking you just because I don't know anyone else, I do want to spend time with you."
While smiling brightly, I reply casually, "Sure."
He seems surprised at my response, so he decides to confirm it again, "Yeah?"
"Yeah, I said we'd hang out and chat the day away, didn't I?"
A relieved grin breaks out over his face and the tension leaves his shoulders. "Cool."
With a breathy chuckle, I avert my gaze and the remnants of my humour still stain my lips.
Once we have all paired up, I look around and almost burst out laughing when I see Damien standing with Savannah. The patent frowns on both their faces are very telling of how they both feel about being stuck with each other.
When the instructor explains to us the rules and safety procedures, I listen attentively until a soft giggle pierces through my attention and I glance over at Jodie who's trying not to laugh at something Dominic said to her. Then she nudges him playfully, tilting her chin over to said instructor as if to silently scold him and tell him to concentrate.
For being exes, they seem pretty comfortable with each other. It brings back a thought I had a couple of months ago. I have no idea what went on in their relationship when they were together in private. If Dominic truly didn't feel anything for her, he wouldn't have stayed with her for three whole months, right? Nor would he have invited her on this trip.
The instructor ends his speech and then merrily, he exclaims, "Alright, go wild."
Excitedly, we get in our respective canoes. The water sloshes against the side of the boat. Once in the lake, I paddle with all my might except in comparison to the other boats ours doesn't seem to be moving at the same speed.
"Are you even paddling?" I muse over to him.
"I am."
"Put some back into it."
"This is harder than it looks, Seong Jin."
With a chuckle, I turn around to face him and put the paddle back in the canoe. We're far away enough from shore that if I look over the side of the boat, all I'll see is deep blue. He dips his oar into the calm waters, the soft splash echoing through the afternoon heat. As we glide along the tranquil waters, a conversation effortlessly flows between us. At some point, he too stops paddling and defeatedly chucks the paddle down in the canoe.
When my eyes stick on him again, I think about Yang Jin's words about him. I have a feeling this is going to ring my mind out. What could he have possibly done in the past that warrants my brother telling me to stay away from him? Does it have something to do with the one thing he regrets doing, the thing he wouldn't tell me about because he is still ashamed of it?
"What?" he muses quietly when he catches the look in my eyes.
Even though I want to ask, I dismissively shake my head.
"I did not expect this to look this beautiful," I murmur instead, leaning on the side of the boat to gaze out into the horizon.
"Catches me off guard every time," he responds almost inaudibly and when I turn to look over at him, I see his eyes on me and at the sight of a soft smile on his lips, a warmth spreads through me.
There is a pause as we lock eyes, the air between us heavy with unspoken words.
The sunlight dances on his dark locks, framing his face like a halo and me, one the other hand, I can feel my face growing a deeper shade of red. Our canoe drifts to a stop, the waters below us stretching out around us in a tapestry of shimmering light. And the longer we keep looking at each other, his expression tender and earnest, the more I can feel something beginning between us.
"I've been meaning to ask," he hesitates for a second but after filling his lungs with an encouraging breath, he continues, "when you asked me out on Valentine's... was that a date?"
"What?"
Was it not obvious? I got him flowers.
I hesitate and cautiously glance up at him through my lashes, "I was trying to figure out what exactly you meant when you said you liked me too. I still don't know what you meant because I did not actually clarify if it was a date. What exactly did you mean?"
"I... I meant what I said."
With an indignant look, I whiningly question, "But what does that mean?"
"It means," he starts with a whisper that is barely audible and I sense a bit of fear in his gaze. "I'm... glad we met."
And as we sit here, two tentative souls unsure about each other but greatly intertwined by the gentle currents of the water, I take his words in and try to interpret them. He likes being cryptic, doesn't he?
He's glad he met me...
A smile slowly curls onto my lips, my heart overflowing with gratitude for the unexpected connection I have found with him. Quietly, I say back to him, "Me too."
And a hidden brightness glows in his pupils.
And I realise what he means when he keeps saying he meant what he said. He likes me too... I bashfully gaze out at the lake and a sudden wave of guilt washes over me. It's not just him who is keeping something from the other. I still have not told him that the text I sent him, where I was confessing my feelings, was meant for someone else.
Out of nowhere, the boat begins to violently rattle, a girly scream rings in the air from one of us and in a panic, I throw my head over my shoulder to check what it is. Is it a shark? Are there sharks in lakes? The instructor did not say anything about that. When I hear a loud splash, I turn around to see the spot that Kai was once previously occupying is now empty. In bemusement, I hurry over to his side and glance down to see him splashing around in the water.
"What are you doing?" I question him, furrowing my brows in perplex.
"Help… I c-cannot—" Then his head gets submerged in the water.
"You can't what?"
For some unknown reason, he doesn't come back up for air. Can he not swim?
With a sense of urgency, I spring to my feet and draw in a deep breath of air. My eyes are fixed on the water where I can see him, floating motionlessly, his eyes closed.
My heart races with fear as I quickly dive into the water to save him from drowning. The cool water envelops me and I can feel the pressure building as I swim deeper and deeper towards him. When I reach him, I wrap my arms around his limp body and try to steady myself. My mind races with the thought that he might die but I push the thought away with determination.
With all my strength, I try to propel us towards the surface. My lungs are screaming for air, and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest.
Finally, we break through the water and I gasp in a deep breath of air. I try to catch my breath and steady myself before attempting to swim back to shore. I make slow progress and with each stroke, I can feel my energy draining away.
When we finally reach the shore, I collapse on the safety of land and desperately gasp for air. Through my peripheral, I notice that he is unconscious and I look around for help on what to do.
I don't know how to do CPR.
Inexperiencedly, I lean over his unmoving form and my hands helplessly linger above his chest to perform the CPR I have seen in movies. Fortunately, before I can he coughs the water out by himself and helpfully, I turn him over so he can expel all the liquid from his lungs. Then he breathes in and out harshly and I stare down at him in shock.
"You can't swim?" I yell, dumbfounded.
"Did I… not mention that?" he muses breathlessly, sheepishly wiping his mouth dry.
"You have a swimming pool at your house. How come you can't swim?"
"I never learned how to."
I blink at him incredulously. He never learned how to swim with a whole arse swimming pool in his garden? After shaking my head as if to chase away my confusion, I adamantly proclaim, "Well, we're definitely not going back on the canoe if you can't swim."
Slowly, he gets up to sit beside me and continues to cough the rest of the water out of his lungs. "You saved my life."
I give him a sideways glance and realising the truth in his statement, I reply, "I did, didn't I?"
"Thank you."
"Well, I wasn't just going to let you die."
"You don't have to stay here with me by the way. You can go back if you want."
"That's no fun," I say as an excuse for actually being concerned about him and not wanting to leave him alone, "canoeing all by my lonesome would be boring."
An awkward silence drones on between us and then he timidly says, "I'm sorry I can't swim."
Bewildered by his apology, I look over at him and I notice how much his eyes are flickering around shamefully. Again, a chuckle escapes from my lips. Underneath my breath, I mutter to myself, "Neomu gwiyeobda."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"No, what does that mean?"
"Nothing. It doesn't mean anything."
"No, it definitely means something. Hey, neomu gwiyeobda. Does anybody understand what that means? Neomu gwiyeobda."
Hurriedly, I hush him by placing my hand over his mouth and above it, his heterochromatic eyes watch me in amusement.