CHAPTER ONE

(Luhan’s POV)

I felt the cold water engulf my body and I exhaled all the oxygen left in my lungs until it was too hard for me to breathe. I let my hands float to my sides and relaxed all my muscles. I was surrendering to the freezing river. I Minseok there in the water unmoving for who-knows-how-long; and just as I was feeling dizzy, I felt hands wrap around my waist and somebody was struggling very hard to heave me out of the water.

I wanted to break free from my captor. I wanted to shout at whoever that person was to let me be and leave me alone, but I was already too weak to do anything. I was a little oblivious to what was happening that time, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the river bank, coughing so hard that my lungs hurt. A girl was sitting beside me. She was panting.

“Why are you so stupid to swim in a river when you don’t know how to?!” She shouted at me, looking really mad.

I wondered why she was acting that way. No one asked her to save me.

She stared at me with eyes like daggers, waiting for me to answer. Her wet, dark brown hair swayed in the breeze. I focused on her and realized she was tall. Her skin was fair and flawless. Her bangs covered half of her huge eyes since they were wet. Her eyebrows and puffy cheeks turned red from frustration. And her lips looked like they were always pouting.

“I know how to swim.” I finally answered, pulling myself to sit upright.

“What?” She asked again.

“I said I know how to swim. I wasn’t drowning. I mean, I was drowning but it’s not an accident, you know. It was supposed to be suicide.”

“What sane young boy would commit suicide?” She looked bewildered.

“A boy who had a serious problem.”

“That’s not an excuse. What’s your problem?”

“My parents.” I decided to tell her. “They kept naggin