One moment she was thrown off the boat, and then splashing hard on the water in the next. She felt it when she went under the water, the knot went undone and her live vest was off her. And she was sinking. Immediately, she was taken over by panic. She was in deep waters, so deep that the water looked royal blue. She hit the water hard, and she went down fast. It was dark, and the saltwater hurt her eyes. It's alright, she just had to get to the surface. But which direction was that, exactly, she didn't know.

Halsu isseoI can do this.

She knew how to swim, she just had to remember how to paddle. She willed herself not to think about how deep it was, just that she had to find air. She always had a long breath, she could hit high notes in choir and hold it for twelve beats, for goodness sakes!

Halsu isseo.

Eunhye could see it. There was a part of the water that looked brighter. That was it! It was the surface! Now paddle! Get to it! She swam, she had to get to the light. Mark would be worried. Her mom would be mad. Her dad would be ashamed of her if she couldn't swim. 

And then came the pull. The numbness on her right ankle everytime she swam on deep waters came to haunt her once again, caused by an accident when she twisted it back in her college days, her first year in college cheerleading and she was high up in the air when one of her catchers missed and she landed on her foot.

Don't think about it! Don't you dare think about it!

Six years ago, in another beach, she fell off a pump boat. She didn't mind, because she knew how to swim. But her ankle did what it was doing just like the present, it cramped up on her, betraying her. The waves came crashing and she thrashed and thrashed until one of her cousins jumped in and saved her. She fought off the memory, she didn't want a deja vu. Not that one. But it flooded her brain as her foot betrayed her once again and she could feel her lungs already screaming for air.

I have to breathe. I have to...

*********

"One, two, three, four, five.....C'mon!"

Mark blew. And pumped. And blew again.

"ILEONAGET UP!" he growled, still counting the pumps to the chest. "Eunhye-a, palli kae-eorahurry, wake up." Mark couldn't see through the tears in his eyes, but he blinked them away and focused on Noona's body there. She had to wake up. This wasn't the end Mark planned for them.

C'mon, we still gotta go skydiving, so I can propose to you.

She was just in front of him and in one second, she was gone. If she woke up--WHEN she wakes up, Mark swore he would never take his eyes off her again.

"Breathe, Grace, C'mon," Ren said.

Mark breathed on her, and she was still unresponsive. It was his fifth time, already, but he still went on.

I won't lose you.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven..."

And then she coughed, and water spilled from . Ren, MM, Paul and Mark fussed her at the same time, sitting her up as she continued to spit out the saltwater she drank.

"Nasty," she even managed to say.

Paul stepped back and ran both hands through his hair, relieved to see his eldest sister was still alive to torture him. MM patted Mark on the back for being so good at CPR--MM was an active member of the Redcross, and actually held a position as an officer, but Mark just took over when they were on the motorboat, probably not wanting anyone else giving her the mouth to mouth.

Mark only hugged her, not trusting his mouth to say anything. He was still trembling, and he hid it by holding her tighter.

"Ureo?Are you crying?"

"Shut up," Mark snapped. He didn't mean to, and he winced at the hurt look on her face, but he was in no mood to apologize.

The rescue team put Eunhye on a stretcher, and they all followed to their clinic, where she was checked and made to rest.

"I'm gonna go get her something to eat," Paul said.

"Yes, please," she replied, still trying to act tough. "Drowning makes one hungry."

"Jangnan hajimaDon't joke about it," Mark protested, pissed.

"A bit of deja vu, don't you think?" Ren asked. He was sitting on the bed next to the one Eunhye was lying on. "Only MM didn't rescue you this time."

MM leaned with his back next to the wall chuckled. "It's about time someone took over the job." He motioned to Mark.

"But you scared us, Curly," Ren said in a serious voice, kicking the foot of her bed.

"Oh, wait til Uncle Chris hears this."

"Can we NOT tell my dad, please?" Eunhye asked the three of them. "He's gonna be mad at me, not you."

"It's Ren's fault. He paid for the Banana Boat Ride," MM pointed a finger. "He was talking about trying it ever since we got here."

Mark was sitting quietly, staring at the wall, occassionally looking at the cousins who talked to Eunhye, until they left the room to give the two of them some time alone. Eunhye noticed this, and her hand lifted to Mark's face to make him look at her. He moved his head to avoid her touch. 

"Waegeurae?" she asked him.

He bit his lower lip and didn't say anything.

"Mark?"

His eyes met hers, and it felt like a hundred swords went through her chest. He looked hurt. Mark's eyes watered, and he just stared at her, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he gulped and gulped, forcing the tears not to fall. He hated crying just as much as she did. A tear slid down the side of his cheek, and she made to wipe it. He moved his head away again. Hurt, she let her hand fall down to the bed.

"MuseowosseoI was scared." Mark's voiced cracked. "I thought..." He took a deep breath to stifle the sob that was about to come out.

She hugged him then. He shouldn't be thinking about those things.

"MianhaeI'm sorry," she said, burrying her face on his wet neck. "Jeongmal mianhae."

They held each other there for a long time. In a way, Mark had to know for sure she was back, and he held her tight to prove to himself she didn't leave him. He almost died, himself, when he was almost about to give up. He thought he would never see her again, never hear her voice again, and worse, never be able to tell her how much he really loved her. For one moment there, he thought he was going to lose her forever.

"I love you," she said.

Mark pulled away a bit, enough to look her in the face when he told her. "I love you, too."

***************

"What did he say?"

Eunhye closed the door to the suite where the older generation were staying. "No more banana boats, ever."

"For you," stated MM. "From now on, you're banned from water sports."

The door to the suite opened, and out came Aunt Aljie, Ren's mom, and she put her hands on Eunhye's shoulder.

"Are you okay now, dear?" she asked her. "Maybe you should stay in your room and rest some more. You really don't have to go with them for the island hopping."

"You might fall off the boat again, and we'll be forced to cancel the whole thing," Ren said.

"And you," his mother pointed a damning finger at him. "Come with me. You're supposed to be the oldest--" She spotted Mark, and shifted to speaking in Filipino dialect. "How about you, Mark, are you okay?"

"We're fine," Eunhye answered quickly. "I'm okay. I can go on with the island hopping. I wanted to tour him around the place."

"We could tour him around just fine," her aunt said, worrying for her.

"No fuss, Auntie, please," Eunhye said, throwing aegyo. "I'll be bored in the room if you left me alone. I won't fall off, again, I promise."

Her aunt lightly smacked her in reprimand. "You said that last time."

Eunhye smiled sweetly at her, and took Mark's hand to run away.

***************

They had a fun time going around. Eunhye scared Mark again when she sat in front of the boat, dangerously near the edge and he pulled her back. He also tied the knots on her life vest, himself(which was double--and tripple--checked by her father) before they got on the pumpboat. She said to Mark she always sat on the edge with her feet dangling off the edge, all the time, and Paul argued to her that was how she fell off in the first place six years ago. Mark saw how she tried to get his mind off her drowning episode, by telling him a lot of stories about this and that, or pointing to him some of the residences on cliffs which were private resthouses for some of the wealthier people around the place. She was good at sidetracking him. She knew all the right things to interest him, and soon he thought of it less.

"No more swimming for you," he breathed through her ear while the boat moved to the last island stop before they went back to the resort.

"Over hajima, nan kwaenchanhaDon't overeact, I'm fine," she whispered back, leaning against his shoulder.

"Nan aniyaI'm not."