New year, new job, new officemates, new friends, and… new crush? Hah! I smiled to myself when I saw just how pretty my new seatmate is. I was being introduced to the team but although I wanted to be polite and greet every one of them and try to remember their names, my eyes kept drifting back to her face.

She has an oval-shaped face, small round brown eyes, small nose, and equally cute tiny mouth. She smiled at me when I was introduced to her and I got a view of her perfect set of pearly whites. Wow! I’m in love! Again, I laughed at myself and at my own silliness.

The entire day went by fast with me saying not a word to her aside from thanking her after she said that I can ask her anything if I’m confused with something. That was so unlike me. Although I’m not entirely the suave kinda guy when it comes to the ladies, I am never the timid type as well. So, what happened?

Three months passed and our relationship has improved. Well, not in the direction I was aiming to lead it to but hey, at least she now considers me as her “friend.” I’m so pathetic, I know! But I don’t know what’s happening to me. I just can’t bring myself to tell her how I feel about her. And yes, the attraction didn’t subside the more I know her. On the contrary, I’m betting my money that it has escalated into something more than just physical attraction.

The way she makes everything bright and beautiful whenever she’s around is a sure sign that Cupid has hit me. And he had hit me HARD.

It’s our company outing and I am definitely looking forward to spending time with her, maybe even confess my feelings to her. Who knows? A guy can dream, right?

We booked at a nice resort. The beach is just there, inviting everyone to be free and.. strip their clothes! Oh my! Although I’ve imagined her to have a toned physique, I haven’t imagined she’d have a 9 to 1 body! Woah! She’s wearing a two-piece bikini and I can tell that all the men have been eyeing her with adoration.

Unlucky for them, they’re all married. Heh! She’s all mine!

I walked to her and appraised her body. She smiled and thanked me.

“You’re not so bad yourself!” She said as she eyes me appreciatively. Okay, Minsoo, you’re on the right track! I cheered inside my head as the engine in my mind whirl to come up with anything we can talk about.

“Are you going to swim?” I asked her.

“Maybe later.” She smiled and started to walk, leaving foot prints on the sand which the ocean quickly erases at each lap on the shore. I walked with her.

“It’s a great place, no?”

“You bet. I love the ocean.” She looked at the sea and I had the chance to stare at her face. She looked back at me and I didn’t have the strength to look away. Then she smiled, and I felt great. “How about you?”

“Huh?”

“How much do you like the sea?”

“Uhm.. as much as I love…” I stalled. She waited. “The food I love to hate?” I said with a smile. She laughed.

“Oh come on! You can’t mean that! Why, don’t you know how to swim?”

Bull’s eye! I stayed quiet and merely stared at her face. Sometimes, no answer can be an answer.

“I can teach you if you want.” She beamed and my heart jumped in glee. I smiled back. I was gonna tell her how much I would appreciate that but I was interrupted by someone yelling at us.

“We’re riding the banana boat! You two wanna join?”

“Yes!” She screamed back. Before I could say anything, she was dragging me towards the group, a wide smile on her face.

Now seated in position on the banana boat, I can’t help but feel nervous. As for her, she was smiling from ear to ear when she looked back at me, asking if I’m ready. Well, do I have a choice? I smiled at her and nodded my head.

When the speedboat began dragging us, I swallowed my fear and tried to copy the excitement of my officemates and well, I realized that it’s not so bad. The speed is exhilarating and the ocean breeze is always delightful. I was smiling and truly enjoying it. So when she looked back at me to ask if I’m having fun, I didn’t have to say anything to her. I have to admit, this is so fun!

The fun was short lived though. The next thing I know, I was submerged in the water, waving my arms and legs, trying to grab on to something to save my dear life.

I’m dying! I’m drowning! My mind screamed at me and the fear just enveloped around me. That’s when I felt someone grab my face. It was her.

“Minsoo! Relax! You’re not dying!”

I’m not? I asked inside my head. I couldn’t bring my mouth to move. I’m in great panic.

“You’re wearing a life vest!” She said and I realized that she’s right. But even so, my head is almost submerged in the water, making it difficult for me to breathe.

“Help me.” I said, throwing shame out the window.

She smiled. “I won’t let you die.”

That calmed me down. But then panic surged at me once again when she let go of me. I tried to cling to her but she pulled my hand away.

“Don’t cling to me. I will cling to you. Are you listening?”

What?

“I’m not an experienced rescue swimmer but I need you to trust me. I will not let you die, okay? Trust me.”

I stopped reaching for her and I saw her move beside me, cupping my chin inside her left hand.

“We do it this way, okay? You said you don’t know how to swim?”

I nodded.

“Well, you’re wearing a life vest so all you really have to do is paddle your feet so that we can move forward together. I can do that for the both of us but just so we can reach the shore faster. You understand?”

Again, I nodded. I’m still scared but as long as she hold on to me, I’m good. So I started paddling. We were now facing the shore and I saw that most of our other officemates who were with us on the banana boat were almost to the shore. As for us, we’re still a little far. Now I wonder why we’re dumped here.

“I thought you know that it’s part of the banana boat ride.” She said as we make our way to the shore side by side.

“What?”

“It’s normal for the boat to capsize. Actually, the speedboat driver really intended to dump people in the sea to finish the ride.”

“What?”

“I asked you if you were ready and you’re smiling so I thought that you know.”

I was quiet. So that was that? I thought she was asking me if I was having fun! Stupid me. But anyway, at least she’s here with me now. I smiled to myself. But the smile has been short lived as I felt pain on my leg.

“What is it?”

“Cramps.” I said.

“Oh okay. I’ll paddle for us then. Try stretching your legs to ease the muscle.” She instructed and I obliged. It’s so painful!

We’re almost at the shore and I can clearly see the teasing smiles of our officemate. They know I have a crush on her and seeing me in this situation with her, I can’t blame them for it.

“How’s your leg?” She asked, her voice sounding strained. I reckoned it’s because she’s tired from paddling for the two of us.

“It’s okay now.” I smiled at her.

“Good. I think we’re already at the shallow part. Can you stand and try to reach the bottom?”

I did and was happy to feel the fine sand on my toes. I smiled and nodded at her.

She smiled and let go of my chin. “Can you tell the team to ready the car?”

“Huh? What for?” I asked confused.

“I’m having terrible cramps on both my legs and I think I’ve been stung by a sea urchin.” She replied. Only now am I seeing that she’s in pain. How stupid of me!

“You what?” I blurted out and quickly yelled for our officemates about her condition. Screaming is really difficult for me because of my low voice but I don’t mind the pain in my throat now. She’s in a grave condition and I’m to blame for it!

They heard me and soon were shuffling to their feet. Someone moved towards the resort, possibly to get the car ready while the others walk towards us and see to her condition.

When the water was just knee deep, I clamped my arms around her and carried her towards the car. Is the sting of a sea urchin deadly? I’m not sure but I’m not going to risk it. She needs to get to the hospital.

At the hospital, we learned that there are different types of sea urchins. While there are those that are extremely poisonous, there are also those that pose no threat to human lives. We were all so relieved to hear that the ones in the beach where we stayed are the safe ones. I sighed in great relief upon hearing that.

After the doctor said that we can see her, I immediately walked inside her room and asked how she’s feeling.

She’s smiling at me and I know that she’s trying to make me feel better. Seeing her like that, I felt better.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sshh.. No need to feel sorry for. It was an accident.” She smiled and my heart ached for her.

“Thank you then.” I smiled at her.

She smiled even wider.

“I owe you my life.”

“You’re silly.”

“It’s true! If not for you, I would have died.”

“You’re wearing a life vest. You couldn’t have died.” She’s laughing now and I couldn’t help but smile at the sound of it.

I moved closer to her bed and held her hand. I saw that she was startled by the gesture but she didn’t pull her hand so I took that as a great sign. I looked straight into her eyes.

“Since I owe you my life now…” I started. She’s eyeing me patiently.

“…I wanted to spend the rest of it with you.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a loud cheer roared up from behind me. I have totally forgotten that our officemates are inside the room with us!

“Nice one, man!” They were saying, and I heard another one; “Took you long enough!”

I tried to ignore them and focus on her. She was laughing with them and I didn’t know what to feel about the whole thing.

“So, you had to drown first before you say those words, eh? But well, you didn’t really drown because of the life vest but of course, you get what I’m say—“

I didn’t let her finish. I covered in mine and the cheers from our officemates have grown louder. Only, I couldn’t care less about anything else. Here in my arms, is the woman I want to marry.

THE END