Si-hyun marveled at how smooth Chae-yeon's skin was. Despite her being an adult, her body felt as smooth and soft as a baby's cheek.

“Please apply it slowly so that the cream can absorb better.”

Blushing, Chae-yeon made this request, bringing Si-hyun out of his reverie.

‘What am I doing right now?’

He had chosen to break up with her with such determination, yet here he was, swayed by this trivial temptation.

Realizing how pathetic he was being, Si-hyun gritted his teeth. He wiped the sunscreen off his hand onto his own arm and then spoke in an indifferent voice.

“We’re not in a relationship where we should be doing this. Why don’t you ask Sohui when she gets back?”

“Sohui is delayed because she’s preparing drinks at the lodging.”

“Then ask one of the other female classmates. You shouldn’t ask a guy like me to do it.”

‘A guy like me.’

Chae-yeon turned around with a surprised expression at Si-hyun’s definitive statement. Realizing that the sunscreen had been wiped off, she spoke in a disappointed voice.

“...You used to do it just fine before.”

Si-hyun didn’t hear Chae-yeon’s grumble, but he could sense her disappointment.

After fastening the hook on her bikini, he spoke in a subdued tone.

“Don’t expect the old me anymore. I deeply regret the time we dated.”

“.......”

Lowering her head, Chae-yeon grabbed the sand with both hands. Her eyes trembled slightly, and she opened and closed her mouth repeatedly before finally managing to speak.

"I... I don't regret..."

"Si-hyun!"

Chae-yeon's words were cut off by Ye-rin's cheerful voice.

Interrupting the two, she tugged on Si-hyun's arm and said, "Get up. I want to swim already!"

"You just got here. How could you want to swim so soon..."

Si-hyun trailed off in his complaint as he stared blankly at Ye-rin's body.

A chest as if all the food she ever ate went straight to it?

Hips that seemed almost impossible to cover with such a small swimsuit?

But neither was what caught Si-hyun's attention. What drew his gaze was...

‘This bikini... it's the same one Chae-yeon is wearing.’

The same model swimsuit as Chae-yeon's black bikini, but in white.

Why was Ye-rin wearing that? With this question in his mind, Si-hyun's gaze intensified, and Ye-rin's lips curled up into a satisfied smile.

"It's a new swimsuit. How do you like it? Does it suit me?"

Si-hyun subconsciously looked back and forth between Chae-yeon and Ye-rin.

Unlike Chae-yeon's well-proportioned figure, Ye-rin flaunted a more superior and overwhelming body.

So much so that it almost seemed like a different swimsuit.

"It does suit you..."

Feeling his face heat up, Si-hyun turned his head away.

Not knowing where to rest his eyes, he fidgeted awkwardly.

Chae-yeon frowned at this sight, while Ye-rin, with a triumphant smile, led Si-hyun towards the beach.

‘Just earlier he said thinks of me like family~’

If it were the old days, he would've just given a simple compliment with a blank face.

Not sure what got into him, but Si-hyun was definitely aware of her now.

'Could it be that he likes outfits that are this revealing?’

It's a bit embarrassing, but Si-hyun's reaction more than made up for the risk.

Giggling to herself in a way that Si-hyun couldn't see, Ye-rin suggested in a lively voice, "Let's stretch before we swim!"

"Yeah…"

Si-hyun tried his best to stretch without looking in Ye-rin's direction.

Watching him with a fond smile, Ye-rin suddenly asked, "You were with Chae-yeon earlier. What were you two doing?"

Narrowing her eyes, she began her interrogation.

"Nothing much."

"Lies. I saw you two talking very clearly."

Ye-rin stopped stretching. She approached Si-hyun and fixed his attention on her.

"Be honest. What were you talking about?"

"Really, it was nothing... Chae-yeon just asked me to put sunscreen on her back."

"What. She seriously said that!?"

Grinding her teeth at Chae-yeon's shameless temptation, Ye-rin looked at Si-hyun with burning eyes and grabbed his wrist firmly.

"So what did you do? Did you put it on her back?"

"No. I just told her to ask Sohui and refused."

"Really!?"

Imagining how embarrassed Chae-yeon must have been to get confidently rejected, Ye-rin scoffed in her direction. Then, as a token of appreciation, she patted Si-hyun's head for a while.

After finishing their stretches, the two entered the ocean.

Ye-rin, with her wet hair swept back, held Si-hyun's hands and asked, "Come to think of it, Si-hyun, you're not that good at swimming, right? How about I teach you this time?"

The last time Ye-rin went to the pool with Si-hyun was back in high school.

Back then, Si-hyun, who couldn't swim, was paddling around with a life jacket on like a turtle, and Ye-rin would playfully unbuckle and re-buckle his life jacket while watching him.

'He was so cute back then.'

Every time she half-unbuckled his life jacket, Si-hyun would cling to her. Seeing him depend on her in fear, Ye-rin felt an indescribable joy.

'I'll do the same this time~'

With a sly plan to attempt some skinship under the guise of teaching him to swim, Ye-rin...

"No, you don't need to teach me. I can swim just fine now."

She tilted her head at the unexpected news.

"How come?"

"After we went to the pool, I started taking swimming lessons."

The memory she held so dear was more like a deep embarrassment for Si-hyun.

Mocked so much at the pool, he had engrossed himself in swimming practice to never be humiliated again.

'This is totally unexpected...'

Her plan to get closer under the pretext of teaching him to swim was now useless.

While Ye-rin was racking her brain...

"Honestly, I think I'm better at swimming than you now."

Si-hyun provoked her, something not easily ignored.

"Hah."

Ye-rin had learned to swim firsthand from the female divers whenever she visited her grandmother in the West Sea.

Having been in the water since she was a child, she was already known as one of the best swimmers in her neighborhood.

"Are you challenging me now?"

"Of course. The humiliation I faced at the pool, I'll pay you back for it today."

A sudden swimming contest. Ye-rin squinted her eyes as she asked.

"Okay. So where’s the finish line?"

Si-hyun pointed at a rock 200 meters away.

"The first one to touch that rock wins."

"Got it."

Ye-rin asked a nearby classmate to count down.

Three.

Two.

One.

As soon as the numbers decreased, both started paddling and kicking.

'Even if he learned at an academy, it’s all the same.'

Ye-rin thought this was the perfect opportunity to crush Si-hyun's swollen pride. How dare he challenge her in swimming? This was a matter of her pride.

'He should be falling behind by now, right?'

Thinking Si-hyun would be struggling behind her, Ye-rin opened her eyes.

However...

With about 80 meters left to reach the goal, what she saw was Si-hyun swimming right alongside her.

'And I was even increasing my speed?'

Seeing Si-hyun trying to overtake her, Ye-rin felt a sense of urgency. His swimming skills were beyond what she expected, and she couldn't afford to let her guard down anymore.

'I won't go easy on you anymore.'

Ye-rin pushed herself even harder.

The ocean was her home ground. Since she trained from a young age, her swimming skills were at a level that even the female divers of the West Sea would be astonished.

Without a sound—

Ye-rin, now like a mermaid, cut through the sea at a swift pace. As a result, she touched the rock about 10 meters ahead of Si-hyun.

"Phew..."

Catching her breath was more important than the joy of victory due to the intense competition.

Si-hyun arrived late, panting and grumbling.

"How can you move so fast? I felt like I was racing against a seal."

"Pfft... To beat me, you still have ten years to go."

Although she said that, she actually thought he could catch up in about three years. That’s how impressive Si-hyun's swimming skills were.

'Someday, I'll bring Si-hyun and gather seafood in the West Sea.'

Rather than feeling frustrated by Si-hyun's progress, Ye-rin was delighted at the thought of enjoying a diver's life with the boy she liked.

Leaving Ye-rin, who decided to swim some more, I headed back to the sandy beach.

I found shelter from the scorching sun under the beach umbrella again.

Fortunately, Chae-yeon was nowhere to be seen.

‘Phew... I didn't expect to lose.’

Reliving my disappointment, I sat in the shade to recover my stamina. How much time had passed? Three classmates started to gather around me.

'Are they here to rest too?'

Since many second-year men were in the military, all of them were women.

I didn't really socialize much with them, so I thought they would just sit around me...

But strangely, all three of them looked at me with great interest.

"Si-hyun, I saw you swimming with Ye-rin earlier. You both are really good."

I felt an inexplicable sense of unease as they suddenly started talking to me. But I continued the conversation without showing it.

"Ye-rin is much better than me."

And as expected, the moment I mentioned Ye-rin, they leaned in closer.

"Yeah, Ye-rin!"

"What’s your relationship with Ye-rin?"

"And what about Chae-yeon?"

Of course. They were all interested in other people's love lives.

Sensing that this might become annoying, I nervously shook the water out of my wet hair.

"Guys... just so you know, Ye-rin and I have known each other for a long time. It's not what you think."

"Really? That's strange. You two look great together."

This time, another classmate leaned in and asked,

"Then what happened between you and Chae-yeon? Si-hyun, you really liked her a lot."

My persistence in following Chae-yeon around was well-known in college.

I even earned the nickname ‘Chae-yeon’s puppy’ because of it.

"...We just broke up because I got a little tired."

"Well, it's understandable. Chae-yeon's personality isn't easy to handle."

"Definitely. It's impressive that Si-hyun lasted over a year with her."

While two of them agreed with my statement, the other one asked me, "So, you don't have any thoughts of dating Ye-rin?"

"Why would I date her? And listen, just in case, do not ask Ye-rin these kinds of questions. She feels the same way I do."

One of my classmates shook their head.

"That's not true. From what I've seen, Ye-rin has feelings for you."

"Yeah, even when you were with Chae-yeon, she always looked at you with envy. Didn’t you notice that?"

Ye-rin likes me?

Their baseless assumptions confused me.

Since we’ve always been so comfortable around each other, I never considered that she might like me.

"Recently, you two have seemed really close. You should go for it."

"Yeah, we’re cheering for you."

Embarrassed by their blatant encouragement, I stood up, signaling to stop.

"Ah, look at Si-hyun’s ears turning red~"

"Since you're up, why don’t you go over to Ye-rin?"

I felt like a grade schooler being teased for having a crush.

Ignoring them, I decided to head to the lodging to get a drink.

“Look over there. Ye-rin is waving at us.”

Waving?

Curious, I immediately turned my head.

Sure enough, Ye-rin was waving both hands at us.

'Does she want me to come back in?'

Maybe she wants me to stop resting and play again. Or perhaps she has something to say privately. To find out, I decided to head towards the beach.

The distance between us gradually lessened.

As Ye-rin's blurry figure became clearer, I felt an odd sense of unease.

Unlike earlier when she was leisurely swimming, now her gestures seemed frantic.

She was submerged, occasionally surfacing with a distressed expression.

It reminded me of how I used to react when I almost drowned before.

"Hey, Han Ye-rin!"

With a chill running down my spine, I dived into the water.

As quickly as I could. Mustering all the strength I had, I swam towards Ye-rin.

And then...

When I had closed about half the distance.

Ye-rin no longer emerged above the surface.