Chapter 5:  A Fish Out of Water

The nurse's office is brightly lit compared to the rest of the school. A white curtain was pushed to one side as the nurse sat beside Jun Hong with a thermometer stuck in his mouth. She had asked you a few questions earlier and you answered as best as you could.

After taking his temperature she turned to you. Her large spectacles sat close to the tip of her nose. Her worn eyes looked over at you giving you an uninterested look that she has probably given everyone she has come in contact with. "He just needs rest. He should know better than to strain himself when he is sick."

You simply nodded with a solemn expression on your face. You looked over at Jun Hong who was still laying down.

"You can leave now," the nurse replied.

Your attention shifted from him back to her. "What?"

"He isn't going to die nor was he going to when you brought him in. You kids these days are so overly dramatic " the nurse replied.

"I-I know. I just want to make sure he is alright." You answered.

She rolls her eyes and shrugs. She rolls her chair over to the cabinet at the far end of the room near the window and takes a small packet of pills. She looks over at you then walks over to Jun Hong and sits the pills beside the table.

"I have to leave. Tell him to only take these with water and lay down for the next 12 hours after taking them."

“Okay,” you say slowly.

The nurse picks up her things and leaves in a hurried fashion. You walk over to where Jun Hong is resting and put the packet of pills on the bedside table. When you look down at him you feel a tug at your heart. ‘I have to make it up to him,’ you thought. You were lost in your thoughts until a voice brought you back.

“Hey!”

You look around and see Jun Hong sitting with his legs hanging from one side of the bed.

“Are you daydreaming? That’s not a good habit to have.”

“No,” you answer. You quickly take a few steps towards Jun Hong and swing your middle finger back using your index finger so that it hits Jun Hong’s forehead.

“Owww! What was that for?” he whined as he held his forehead in his hands.

“You should have told me you were on your deathbed.”

“You said you needed me though. Besides, you promised to get me out early..”

Your eyes cast down towards the linoleum floor. “So much for keeping that promise.” A great idea hits you. You clap your hands and sit beside Jun Hong.

“How does ice cream sound?” you ask before walking back to your seat to pick up your purse.

You held the door open for Jun Hong as he fought to prevent the drops of ice cream from slipping onto the outside of the cone and his hand. He had gotten a grape flavored ice cream pop and you had gotten a bubble gum flavored pop.

“Thanks!” he said in between .

“No problem.” You took your first of your pop and made a face. “Yuck!”

“See, I told you getting a bubble gum flavored pop was not a good idea. Why did you get it anyway?”

“I like trying new things. You could be missing out on the best thing if you don’t try it.”

“Well, in this case, you got stuck with a horrible tasting ice cream pop,” Jun Hong teased.

You popped him on the back of his head. ‘Yes! I reached his head!’ You silently celebrated your victory as you two strolled past the ice cream shop in the direction of his house.

“You don’t have to walk me home you know..” Jun Hong replied.

“I can’t let you walk home by yourself,” you answered.

“It’s not like I’m your girlfriend. We aren’t on a date,” he whined.

“Well I bought ice cream for you.”

“Only because you broke your promise and made me pass out.”

You playfully punched him in the arm as you both continued to walk. The two of you kept up a friendly chat until you reached his place. You ruffled his hair, much to his dismay.

“Go inside  and take your medicine and get some rest.”

“Yes. Anything else?.”

“Don’t forget to brush your hair nicely and don’t put on so much make-up. I like you the way you are,” you tease while pinching his cheek.

“Aww come on!” he protested. He quickly pushed your hand away and walked to the door.

“Goodnight honey!!” you call back as you head up the street. You can see Jun Hong shake his head with embarrassment as he walked into the apartment complex.

You sat with your arm on your desk and your hand holding one side of your face. Your English teacher decided to go over Romeo and Juliet. You are in the highest level English class considering you traveled to the US over the summer. Languages were very easy for you. You did not understand the socially popular slang but your English skills were not bad and your accent was not noticeable among other foreigners. You never liked the story of Romeo and Juliet. You were probably too logical to understand the deeper meanings of the play. All you could see were two dumb teenagers who had little self respect, so much so that they decided to kill themselves. However, you did like the family feuds between the Capulets and the Montagues.

The teacher was nice enough. He was an American. He had brown hair and blue eyes. The girls in the class loved to talk about him and to him. Many spoke in broken English hoping to get more attention from him. You did not care as much. The class had to create an online presentation. Since you were the first to  finish your presentation, you decided to go on the student website. The website was created by students and student representatives served as moderators. You only logging in to see the funny, immature posts made by students. Nowadays, students created lists like ‘Most likely to be Asked Out’ , ‘Uzzlangs’, ‘Most Likely to Become President’ etc. You scrolled up and down the page until one caught your eye. You clicked the list and scanned the names. The list was called ‘Triathlon Picks’.

Your eyes ran across a few names you knew in the freshman, sophomore, and junior lists. You stopped for a moment before scrolling down to the Senior list. You looked at the list. You were currently number 4. You bit the bottom of your lip. ‘Why would anyone list you as a possible contender?’ you thought. You had to quit volleyball so you could invest more in your studies and other extracurricular activities. You started hiking and cycling whenever you got the chance. You were not out of shape but you were not as fit as you used to be.

“So you saw it?” you heard someone say from behind.

Your head jerked around. It was your friend Soo Kyung. Your other friend Min Ah looked over from her computer.

“When did this happen?” you asked.

“How could you forget? The school government brought up the idea of a school triathlon last year,” Soo Kyung said.

You scoffed. “A freshman brought that up. I didn’t think they were taking it seriously.”

“Nope,” Min Ah interjected. “Someone posted the list. It’s the most popular one. You are so out of the loop Seol!”

You cocked your head to the side as Soo Kyung walked over to your desk and began pointing at the screen.

“Look! You’re fourth! Let’s see the comments!” Soo Kyung takes hold of the mouse and scrolls down. “Hmmm..Oh here’s one about you!”

You looked over at the screen. “Lee Seol must be blood type O! She can lead the senior class to victory!” There were three times as many likes as there were dislikes.

“Those dislikes probably came from the lower classmen,” Min Ah said as she sat close to you.

Before you could argue with either Min Ah or Soo Kyung, everything went black. There was even more chatter before the lights were quickly turned back on.

“It is a little trick I learned when I taught primary school,” the teacher called. “Everyone must be finished since all I hear is talking.”

The bell rings and everyone finishes packing up to leave.

“Don’t forget to vote for Lee Seol in the Triathlon poll!” Your teacher yells as everyone floods into the hallway and out of the classroom.

You slap your forehead with your palm as you walk out of the classroom. ‘When did teachers get involved in this sort of thing?’ You walked quickly to your locker, put in your ethics, science, and English books and took out your sketchbook and math book. You literally jumped when you shut your locker door and saw Jun Hong standing beside you.

“What’s wrong with you?” you scolded.

“A lot of things probably. I heard you are in the top four! Congratulations!” Jun Hong beamed.

“I appreciate the congratulations but no thanks. I haven’t played a sport in years.”

“You don’t have to be an athlete to participate. It is just the basic stuff. Cycling, running..Oh! And swimming.”

“I can’t swim-”

“I gotta go! See you later!” He waved feverishly and ran off.

‘He looks like he is feeling better.’

You made your way to your last class. You noticed everyone in groups whispering. ‘They probably weren’t talking about you,’ you thought. You walked in the classroom and sat at your desk. Doo Joon slid into his seat right across from you. The sound of the intercom made everyone look up from whatever they were doing.

Attention students. After much consideration, I have decided to announce a school-wide triathlon. Each class will participate. It has been brought to my attention that there is a poll going around ranking the students to represent each class for an event of this sort. This poll was created by your school government and I feel that I should honor the results of this poll. The following students will participate in this triathlon. From the senior class, Choi Jung Hyun, Park Mi Sung, Kim Doo Joon, and Lee...Seol.

The dean pronounced your name as if he were surprised. You heard clapping from all around you. A few of the soccer players high fived Doo Joon.  

“Alright, alright. Let’s get started..” the teacher yelled as he turned his back to the class and began writing on the chalkboard.

You make your way to the light switch on the wall beside you. Your finger flicks the light switch up and one light after another comes on. The pool water glistens as the reflection of the lights hit its surface. You walk to the bench beside the shallow end of the pool and place your things on them. You quickly remove your sweatshirt and sweatpants so that you are now only in your swimsuit. Lastly, you take off your glasses and place them beside your things.

You had finished reading a few books on swimming and watched a video or two on the internet describing how to float and perform basic techniques. You took a deep breath and climbed down the ladder and into the water. It was a traumatic experience that prevented you from learning how to swim earlier on. Now that you had been selected as a representative for the senior class in the school’s triathlon you knew you would have to learn how to swim. You had spoken with the swim coach about using the pool. He was too busy to help you but promised to let you use the pool on Tuesday afternoons after school.

You let your body adjust to the temperature of the water before laying back and floating. Your mind cleared as you drifted on the surface. You drifted peacefully for a good ten minutes before a voice nearly gave you a heart attack. You jumped and hid yourself behind the ledge.

“Who is there?!” the voice called.

You did not say a word and hoped the person would leave.

“No one is supposed to be here. I’ll report you to the swim coach and the dean if you don’t come out now!” the voice threatened.

You heard footsteps rushing somewhere then the sound of your things being moved and handled by whoever was there.

“Stop!” you finally say. You pull yourself to the closest ladder and made your way out of the pool. “I am just practicing. The swim coach gave me permission to use the pool so I could practice swimming.”

You walked over to the person and put on your glasses so you could get a better look. He was a lanky guy. He probably was on the swim team.

“Coach gave you permission?”

“Yeah. I’m Lee Seol. I-”

“Aren’t you participating in the School Triathlon?” he interrupted.

“Yeah. To be honest, I don’t know how to swim. I asked the coach if he would let me use the pool to practice. I have been watching videos and everything. I just needed a space to actually swim.”

“Well I wouldn’t call that swimming,” the guy teased.

You pout. “That’s why I said I was learning.”

“If you want, I can teach you? Our class shouldn’t lose to the lowerclassmen. You can’t float during the swimming portion of the competition.” He smiled.

“True.”

“Deal?” He asked holding out an open palm.

“Deal,” you replied shaking his hand.

[CHAPTER 6 TEASER]

You stood outside of the school auditorium. The cold air caressed your shoulders as the night breeze passed. You looked around searching for your ride. Families and friends who had come walked past you. You began to regret wearing a cocktail-styled dress. You feet started to hurt having stood in your high heels for over an hour.

“Sunbae!”

You felt a hand your shoulder and held back a shiver. You turned around and realized the hand belonged to Jun Hong.

“What are you waiting for?”

“My ride. Why are you so happy?”

“My brother and some of his friends are taking me out to celebrate. Want to come?”

“Is your brother in college?” you asked.

“Yeah. He’s a bit of a work in progress,” Jun Hong replied.

You nodded silently.

“Did you want to go with us?” he asked.

“I’m a little tired. Next time.”

You felt something slip onto your shoulders.

“I can’t have you getting sick.” You pulled his jacket closer to you.

“Thanks kid,” you said meeting his grin with your own and reaching up to pat him on the head. He lowered down obediently and you proceeded to pat his slightly curled head.

AN/// So much has happened since my last update! I apologize. I felt like it has been a mini-hiatus since my last update. I hope this one is good. I am not super excited about it so I will probably update it. It could be because BAP recently had TWO CONCERTS ON THE EAST COAST OF THE US!! I can’t believe BAP was 6 hours away from me. T-T AND HIMCHAN CAME TOO!!! I hate being broke..... Thanks for reading. There is more juicy (jucier) stuff to come. Thank you to all of the subscribers! I love each and every one of you! I hope you all will share this story with your friends and continue going on this journey with me. If you haven’t subscribed, please do. I also have a story with Nichkhun! (2pm’s comeback was great! A.D.T.O.Y is perfection!) I will update that soon! It’s actually coming to a close. Oh! About the whole triathlon thing, this will probably be the premise for the sequel to this story. If all goes well of course. Please upvote and leave comments! Let me know about any mistakes or errors. I will come back to this story as soon as I can. I made the mistake of taking two English courses this summer (first half) so I will be a bit braindead but I will continue to work on this story. And who knew that EXO would come back before my update? It hasn't been THAT long since my last update has it? Thank you all again for waiting patiently for this update!