Chapter 28: The Sea Part 2

Under the parasol, as I surrendered myself to the cool breeze and closed my eyes, a sudden unease brushed through my mind.

This place was none other than the setting of a romantic comedy.

A protagonist, a heroine, the perfect location.

‘Wasn’t this the kind of environment where clichés could pop up out of nowhere?’

With a slight sense of foreboding, I glanced over at Seo Yuna.

She was having fun riding a tube at a reasonable distance.

‘Have I been reading too many light novels lately?’

The storyline had already deviated from the original, and this nagging sense of unease stemmed from that possibility.

But perhaps it was needless worry.

Just as I relaxed and lay back down, something caught the corner of my vision.

Seo Yuna’s friend, Choi Dabin.

She was being carried farther into the deep waters while still on her tube.

‘Shit, you’ve got to be kidding me…’

A sense of dread surged within me.

At that moment, the wind and waves grew increasingly rough.

I quickly scanned my surroundings.

The lifeguard stationed on one side of the beach.

He was about 300 meters away from me.

The problem was…

He was lounging with his sunglasses pushed up, ogling some women applying oil on their bodies.

‘Negligent bastard.’

My ominous premonition was, of course, correct.

Before I knew it, Choi Dabin’s tube was caught in the rough waves and tipped over, leaving her stranded.

Every second counted.

“Ah, damn it…”

I let out a deep sigh as I got up from my spot.

Grumbling under my breath, I headed toward the sea.

I couldn’t just sit back and watch a classmate drown, and who knew—this might even be the butterfly effect of me altering the original story.

Before she completely sank underwater, I sprinted toward the sea with all my might.

The water was darker than I’d anticipated.

The moment the cold water enveloped my body, I tensed up as my breath hitched.

‘Was it around here?’

As I swam toward where Dabin had been, a strong wave crashed over me.

The murky, turbulent water blocked my vision perfectly.

The sound of a scream growing louder nearby told me I was getting closer to Dabin.

Soon, a small figure came into view at the edge of my vision.

It was Dabin, flailing her arms in panic and struggling in the water, her face filled with terror.

“Pu… ha! H-Help me!”

Without hesitation, I swam toward her.

“Hey, calm down! You’re going to be okay.”

Whether she heard me or not, she was still in a panic.

Terrified, she kept flailing her arms and shouting.

“H-Help me…!”

When I reached her, she instinctively grabbed onto me tightly.

“Stay still, damn it!”

She clung to my shoulders and thrashed around, pulling me underwater in the process.

The salty water rushed into my nose and mouth, choking me.

‘This damn girl, is she trying to kill me too?’

I twisted my body and managed to get my head above water.

“Huah…!”

Gasping for air, I glared at Dabin.

She looked at me with fear-filled eyes.

First, I needed to calm her down.

As much as I wanted to knock her out to make things easier, that seemed excessive.

But in her state, she wouldn’t listen to reason.

“I’m seriously going to leave you here! Relax your body!”

The threat must have worked somewhat, as her body began to relax little by little.

I grabbed her arms firmly, keeping her afloat, and pulled her to my side.

Using my other hand, I slowly pushed through the waves, heading toward the shore.

With each stroke, my legs felt heavier and heavier, as if I were swimming with a weight tied to me.

The resistance of the seawater was frustrating.

But there was no way I could just leave her behind.

‘Why the hell am I doing this…?’

Taking a deep breath, I pushed forward with renewed effort.

Before long, I felt the sand beneath my feet.

I managed to drag her onto the shore.

‘I seriously almost died.’

As soon as we reached the beach, Dabin collapsed onto the sand, gasping for air.

“Dabin! Are you okay?!”

Our classmates rushed over, their faces filled with alarm.

Our homeroom teacher, Yoo Jeonghwan, hurried over as well, checking on Dabin’s condition.

“Hey, kid! I told you not to go too far into the water! Are you okay?!”

She managed to nod weakly.

Jinyoung, who had run over to me, looked at me with a mixture of concern and surprise as I struggled to catch my breath.

“Hey, are you okay? You look like you’re completely worn out.”

I waved him off lazily as I responded.

“As long as I’m not dead, I’m fine. Anyway, could you grab me a towel?”

The salty water on my skin was starting to feel gross.

I wanted to dry off as soon as possible.

Jinyoung dashed to where everyone’s belongings were, grabbing a towel.

It was a hotel-grade, oversized one.

‘Where did he even find something like that?’

Trying to lighten the mood, Jinyoung handed me the towel with a joking tone.

“I was saving this for myself, but I’ll let you use it.”

“Thanks.”

When I turned to look at Dabin, she was still gasping for air.

Her lips were pale, and her body was trembling.

She didn’t look well.

Worried voices surrounded her as everyone fussed over her condition.

“Dabin, are you okay? Shouldn’t you go to the hospital?”

“You look so pale….”

Barely nodding, Dabin replied, “I-I’m… fine… really….”

Watching her, I sighed inwardly.

‘Yeah, sure. Fine, my ass.’

With the towel I was holding to dry myself off, I walked over to Choi Dabin.

I draped it over her shoulders and wrapped it firmly around her.

Dabin looked up at me with a surprised expression, then quickly averted her eyes, murmuring softly.
“…Thank you.”

From a distance, the lifeguard came running toward us with an AED in his hands, shouting,
“Are you… alright?”

It was that same bastard who had been lounging around with his sunglasses on, ogling women in bikinis.
‘Piece of shit.’

Our teacher, Yoo Jeonghwan, couldn’t hold back his anger when he saw the lifeguard arrive so late.

“Do you even know what just happened?! Someone almost drowned! What the hell were you doing?!”

The lifeguard stammered in embarrassment, trying to explain himself, but no one cared to listen.

Having neglected his duties, he was bound to face a report and disciplinary action.

I slowly caught my breath and stared out at the now calm sea, thinking,
‘Fucking clichés.’

Choi Dabin sat slumped on the beach, still gasping for air.

Her body was soaked and cold, and her heart continued to race.

Her trembling wouldn’t stop.

The worried voices around her sounded distant, like muffled noise from far away.

“Dabin, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“You could’ve been seriously hurt….”

“I should’ve paid more attention. I’m so sorry.”

Those words passed through her mind without registering.

Her gaze was fixed on one spot.

***

Not far away, Kim Dohyun sat wringing out his wet T-shirt.

Droplets of water dripped from his hair, and the soaked shirt clung to his skin.

Beneath it, his solid shoulders and defined muscles were clearly visible.

It was a stark contrast to his usual indifferent and aloof demeanor, exuding a powerful presence.

‘Kim Dohyun…’

Dabin bit her lip without realizing it.

The events that had just unfolded in the water replayed vividly in her mind.

The sight of him cutting through the rough waves to reach her.

The way he held her securely while calmly speaking to her.

“Calm down. It’s going to be okay.”

In that moment, his warmth made all her fear and anxiety pause, as if she was certain he would protect her no matter what.

It was a dry, matter-of-fact statement, but it had soothed her panicked heart.

‘Why am I feeling like this?’

She wondered if the trembling in her body wasn’t just from the cold water.

Lowering her head, she fiddled with her fingers.

Her chest felt like a tangled mess of emotions.

At that moment, she noticed Dohyun approaching out of the corner of her eye.

Without a word, he draped a towel over her shoulders.

The warmth of his hand lingered on her skin for a moment, and his steady gaze rested on her.

Dabin looked up at his face instinctively but quickly averted her eyes.

“…Thank you.”

Her voice was small and trembling, surprising even herself with its frailty.

Dohyun gave a brief nod and walked away without saying another word.

Dabin clutched the towel tightly, lowering her head.

‘Why am I like this?’

A strange feeling kept welling up inside her.

The way he had looked in the water wasn’t just cool.

It was a raw, instinctive trust— a feeling that no matter how much she struggled, he would never let her go.

But behind that trust, there was another emotion.

Her friend’s face surfaced in her mind.

‘Yuna….’

Yuna always talked about Kim Dohyun.

“We’re not like that yet, seriously….”

“He acts all aloof, but he has a surprisingly thoughtful side.”

It was obvious to anyone that Yuna liked him.

‘Haa….’

Dabin took a deep breath and shook her head.

‘This is just gratitude. That’s all it is. It’s normal to feel this way after being rescued.’

No matter how much she tried to convince herself, she couldn’t stop thinking about how Dohyun had held her and guided her through the waves.

The warmth and sense of safety she’d felt in that moment kept throwing her off balance.

Clenching the towel tighter, she made a resolution in her mind.

‘Right, it’s nothing more than gratitude. Nothing more, nothing less.’

But Dohyun’s image remained vivid in her head.

He wasn’t her type at all.

Her ideal had always been someone warm and dependable, like a big teddy bear.

‘But… why?’

‘I think I finally understand why Yuna likes Kim Dohyun.’

No matter how much she tried to deny it, her gaze kept drifting toward him.