“Wow that was amazing!” Jongin exclaimed as Boram waded back towards the shore. She shook the water from her hair and giggled. “This is nothing!” she teased. “You’ll learn this in no time! I’ve already showed you the basics, now you just need to put it all together!”

Jongin looked hesitantly out on the water. “I don’t know about this Boram,” he murmured uncertainly. “I don’t think I can do this!”

Boram giggled and pushed him playfully. “Don’t be such a baby! Look!” she pointed out to where I sat on my board, eyeing the horizon line. “Don’t you want to surf as well as we do?” Jongin nodded and sighed. Boram laughed and ruffled his hair. “It just takes practice.”

 A small swell started to form and made its way to the shore, steadily growing in size. I grinned in anticipation and began to paddle further out. “All you have to do,” Boram continued, coaxing Jongin into the water to join me. “Is try!”

I dove under the wave, doing the same thing I had always done. It felt so good to be able to surf again. The water my skin and I could feel my muscles relax. I let the water guide me to the surface before balancing on my board and catching air. This is where I could let go of my inhibitions; all my troubles. All I had to do was let go and be one with the water itself. Maneuvering through the waves, I laughed as I did several tricks in the air. Even though I had only started surfing three years ago, most of the people here were amazed by how naturally I could surf. Living in Seoul my entire life didn’t exactly help either, but no matter what, I loved the sea; I felt like it called to me.

The wave finally died down and I swam back to the shore where Jongin and Boram were. Boram saw me approach them and she began to clap exaggeratedly. “All hail the queen of the sea!” I playfully flicked water at her and laughed.

“Shut up,” I teased. Boram kept her gaze towards the water where Jongin had been practicing on the baby waves. He had definitely improved from the first time he tried, but he was still a bit unsteady on his feet. At least he wasn’t falling head first into the water; the magic of Boram, I presume. She was able to teach even the most hopeless into incredible surfers. “He’s doing pretty well,” I commented.

Boram grinned proudly. “Yeah, he’s getting the hang of it.” Jongin began to move along the water, finally mastering the baby waves. The two of us cheered as he waved triumphantly. “Are you ready to take him out to the big ones?” she asked me. I hesitated as he rushed over to us proudly. “Did you see me?”

“I did!” Boram squealed as she jumped up and down. She gave him a peck on the lips as a reward. “You did so great out there!”

“It felt like dancing,” he admitted. “It was just how I moved my body.” Boram paused and thought about his words.

“Huh. I guess it kind of is.” Turning to me, she stuck her tongue out and joked, “That’s probably why you’re such a natural aren’t you?”

I felt my face heat up and I poked her. “Am not.”

The corners of his mouth turned up just slightly and Jongin smiled lazily at me. “I still haven’t seen you dance.” I blushed even more and looked away.

“You’re not missing anything. I haven’t danced in years.” I really did miss dancing though. Like how surfing is now, dancing was my way to escape. I could pour hours of sweat and tears into my dancing, but I had never felt so happy in all my life. After I had to stop because of school and work, I felt really lost. Only after I began working at the World did I find a new way to express myself.

Jongin pouted. “I want to see you dance. You were one of the most talented dancers in our age group, and then one day, you just disappeared.”

I scoffed and stuck my tongue out at him. “Aish, you’re acting like a two year old! Since when did you start sounding like a baby?”

Jongin mischievously and grabbed my board out of my hands. “I want to see you dance! Until then, I’m going to keep your board!”

“Hell no!” I yanked my board out of his hands and petted it softly. “My poor baby,” I murmured. I shot him a mock glare and growled, “If I could hit you I would.”

“Go surf on your own damn board!” I pointed to his surfboard, lying on the ground. It was a pretty nice board. I had to admit it. It had a similar cut to mine, except it was an ebony board decorated with bold scarlet streaks.

Boram had chosen her board because she said it made her want to be happy. She felt like surfing could make her fly away, which technically, she did. She could really soar on that board when it hit the water – it was amazing. I had chosen my board because the blue reminded me of the water that soothed away my worries. The delicate swirls that covered my board made me think of when I used to dance; how I would move across the floor. It made me nostalgic, but it kept me connected to all the memories I had when I danced. When Boram had asked Jongin why he chose such a daring yet simple board, he simply shrugged and said, “I like the colors. It kind of describes how I want to dance: bold and edgy.”

My heart had nearly leapt out of my chest when I heard him say that. He had chosen his board because of dancing too. Maybe we had more in common than I had originally thought.  

“Ji you’re so mean to him,” Boram huffed. She bent down and picked up Jongin’s board, brushing off all the sand before handing it to him. “Here sweetie.”

That’s right, I realized once again. No matter how much I like Jongin, I can’t be with him. One, he’s dating Boram. Two, he won’t let me or any other girl touch him (I still really don’t appreciate being grouped with other girls). And I think the most important one, I DON’T THINK HE ING LIKES ME. I’m grateful that he still kind of talks to me now. Maybe he’s sort of forgiven me, but I’m not entirely sure about that.

“Fine,” he pouted. “But you have to surf with me then!”

“What? Me?” I stuttered. “Why me?”

“Yeah… that would be my fault.”

I looked at Boram incredulously. “What? Why would it be your fault?”

Boram chuckled nervously and twiddled her fingers. “Well, I might have told him about the Tao incident.”

“You didn’t.”
“I did!” she countered. “I’m not risking my boyfriend’s life! The one kid I take out to try the waves compared to the five you handled. And mine is the one who almost drowned! I can take care of the kids along the shore where the water is shallow. You have the deep end.”

It took all my strength not to facepalm myself. “Idiot,” I muttered. “Fine. Let’s go Jongin.”

As Boram bid the two of us farewell, we waded into the water and paddled away. When we were far enough from the shore, I hoisted myself up and shot Jongin a sideways glance. “So, now that we’re out here, let’s get you used to surfing on bigger waves.” I scanned the horizon line, waiting for a little swell to break. “There,” I pointed. “This is going to be a little wave. I want you to go ahead and show me what you know so far.”

Jongin stared hesitantly at the growing wave. “I don’t think I can do this.”
I reached out to comfort him, but then I stopped and laid my hand on his board beside his leg. “There is nothing to be worried about. Remember, it’s just like dancing.”
He looked at me, and for a moment, our eyes held each other’s. Jongin’s face broke in to a grin and he flashed me a look of appreciation. “Thanks.”

Stunned, I smiled back. “You’re welcome Jongin.” Slapping his board, I cheered him on. “Now go get ‘im Tiger!”

Jongin paddled away and repeating the same thing I had done earlier, he dove under the waves, only to rise again on top. Using his body weight to control his direction, he gracefully carved the waves. Even though this wave was a lot smaller than the waves I normally rode on, he looked like he was already a professional. As the wave died down, Jongin pivoted his board and headed back towards me, a triumphant grin spread across his face. “Did you see that?” he asked excitedly.

“Jongin that was awesome! I told you that you would be good at this!”

Jongin laughed and then laid on his back across his board. “That was so fun. I can only imagine how it would feel to ride the bigger ones.”

I sighed dreamily and replied, “It’s such a thrill. I love doing tricks in the air. It feels like your flying.”
“Really?”

“Yeah. It makes you feel like you’re on top of the world. But honestly, I think my favorite thing to do it go into a barrel. It’s so cool to see the water wall circle you. For a moment, you’re surrounded by darkness; it’s only you and the cool water. After that, you emerge into a world of light.”
 

Jongin turned his head to look at me. You’re going to teach me that before we go back to school.”
“Oh definitely. Look.” I watched as the water began to move faster. The new wave began to build higher and higher. “That’s the start of a barrel wave. It’s going to be huge.” I turned my board around and started to paddle back to shore. “We better head back so you can take a break. I don’t want the wave to pull you out to sea.”

When I didn’t hear a reply, I turned around only to see Jongin heading in the opposite direction, swimming straight towards the colossal water wall.

“Jongin!” I screamed. “Come back!”
He paid no attention to me, getting closer and closer to the wave. I spun my board and began to paddle after him. “Jongin!” I cried again.

Panicked thoughts raced through my mind. “He’s not ready for this! He’s going to get hurt! Even Boram can’t ride a tube!”

Jongin caught his wave and dropped low at the base of the wave. Even though he had never done anything remotely close to tube riding before, he was doing everything right, but the fear kept eating away at me as I pushed closer and closer towards the wave. “I’ve got to catch up to him!” 100 meters, only 100 meters more. I paddled even harder. The lip of the tube began to close down. I was running out of time. “Oh god please let me make it in time!” 60 meters left. “Jongin I’m coming!”

Jongin and his board were consumed by the barrel of water. I held my breath and kept paddling. “Maybe he’s okay. He’ll make it out. Just be there for him to come out, just a few more !” The wave suddenly collapsed, and a black figure shot out from the burst of water. Jongin’s ebony board glided along the surface, but its rider was nowhere to be found.

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A/N:

Drama and a double update! OOH *Congratulate me*

It's the least I can do since I haven't updated in like a month, so here you go! Hopefully I can update again soon!

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Oh and if y'all find any typos and weird stuff, please PM me them! I HATE not properly written things hahaha......

So thank you to everyone for being so patient with me! I'll see you all again soon! xx

- Li Niao <3