Guide To Hawaiian Reef Fish

THE JUMP

I surprised Chaeyoung by getting into the water right away. She says I’m like a baby who runs headlong into things, not knowing enough to be afraid. And just ike a baby, I stick my tongue out at her and make my way with life jacket and all, going further into the water.

We’re at Black Rock, so named because of the rocky cliff formed by the lava rocks that run right up to the beach and jut high into the sky. In the water, the rocks form a crescent shape that calms the waves and forms a coral reef perfect for snorkeling. Our guide at the Fun in the Sun desk says the beach is popular with cliff divers, too.

The water is cold and salty and delicious and I feel like I was a mermaid in a former life. An astronaut mermaid architect. The flippers and life jacket keep me floating on the surface and it only takes a few minutes for me to get used to breathing through the mask. Listening to the magnified sound of my own breath is peaceful and strangely euphoric. I’m being reassured with every breath that I’m more than just alive. I’m living.

We see the humuhumunukunukuapua’a right away. Actually, we see quite a lot of them. I guess the reason they’re the Hawaiian state fish is that because they’re plentiful. Most of the fish are clustered around the coral reef. I’ve never seen colors so intense, not just blue and yellow and red, but the deepest blues and brightest yellows and most vibrant reds you’ve ever seen. Away from the coral, the sun’s rays form rectangular columns of light in the water. Schools of silver fish dart in and out, acting with one mind.

With holding hands, we swim farther out and see gliding stingrays that look like giant white-bellied birds. We see two enormous sea turtles that seem to be flying instead of swimming. Intellectually I know that they won’t hurt us. But they’re so big, and so obviously belong to this water world—where I do not—that I stop moving, not wanting to attract their attention.

I could stay all day, but Chaeyoung eventually tugs me back to shore with some laughters that left my mouth. She doesn’t want us, meaning me, to get burned by the midday sun. It's still afternoon anyway, it's hot ofcourse, but Chaeyoung is even hotter than the sun. That almost melt me.

Back on the beach we dry off under a shady tree. I feel Chaeyoung’s eyes on me when she thinks I’m not noticing, but we are a mutual admiration society—I’m secretly ogling over her too. She’s only wearing swim trunks, so I can finally see the lean, smooth muscles of her shoulders and her chest and stomach. I want to memorize the landscape of her with my hands. I shiver from the cold water earlier and wrap my towel around my body.

Chaeyoung misinterprets my shiver and steps closer to me to add her towel to my shoulders. Her skin smells like the ocean and something else, some indefinable thing that makes her "Chaeyoung".

I shock myself by wanting to touch her chest by my lips, wanting to taste the sun and salt on her skin. I drag my eyes away from her chest and up to her face. I didn't realized that while doing it, I my lips and swallowing a saliva. I don't know why, but she seems tasty.

She trying to avoid my eyes and wraps the towel tight around me so none of my skin is showing and then steps away from me. I got the feeling that she’s holding herself in the count of check.

And I’m sure I don’t want her to.

She looks over to the cliff where people, mostly teenagers, are leaping into the ocean. “Yah Minari, wanna jump from a big rock over there?” she asks, with eyes sparkling and without fears of course.

“Uhm Chaeng, I-I can’t swim,” I remind her.

“Nah Minari, a little drowning never hurt anybody,” says the girl who once warned me that the sea was merciless and unforgiving.

In the middle thinking of if I could jump or not, she suddenly grabs my hand and we run toward the cliff together. Up close the rocks look like hard black sponge. They’re sharp against my feet and it takes me a while to find foot holes for each step, but eventually we make it to the top.

Chaeyoung is eager to jump. She doesn’t even stop to admire the view. Meanwhile me keep shaking while looking at the deep water see below.

“Minari, together?” she asks, looking down at the sparkling water.

“Ne-next time Chaeng,” I'm shaking in fear.

She nods.

“I’ll go first. I promise Mina, I won’t let you drown. Trust me would you?” She jumps up and out and does a full somersault before arrowing into the water. A few seconds later her resurfaces and waves up to me. I wave back and then close my eyes to take stock of my situation, because jumping off a cliff seems like a pivotal moment where a little stock taking should be done.

Strangely, though, I find I don’t really want to think too much. Like Chaeyoung, I just want to jump. I search out Chaeyoung’s face in the water and find her waiting for me. Considering what the future may hold, jumping off this cliff doesn’t seem so scary at all.

And here I am, floating in the air for the first time, I feel so free, clear and unoccupied by the white walls of the room. And the water hit my body, and I got drown in the water, I'd never felt this peacefulness of mind. I'm not curious anymore on how the sea feels. This is what I got.

We float together on the water surface, Chaeyoung is holding me tight and we laugh together, without worries and concerns for a while, just being happy.

CLIFF DIVING: A GUIDE

Back at the hotel, Chaeyoung calls her friend, Somi, from our room phone. Half an hour later she’s at in front of our door.

Somi has dark umber skin and enormous dreadlocks and a smile that’s almost too big for her face. She immediately begins playing air guitar and singing a song that I don’t know. Chaeyoung grins from ear to ear. Somi thrashes her head dramatically while she “plays” and her hair keeps time with the “music.”

“Somi!” Chaeyoung says, and pulls her into a hug. They slap each other’s backs loudly. They seems to be so happy meeting each other. Maybe after a while they haven't met.<