Taecyeon was shocked by the confused expression on her face. He didn’t think that it was possible for anyone not to know him in Korea unless she was a foreigner in which Yoona was obviously not.  

“Of course, I know who you are. You’re SSA top swimmer, superstar, handsome boy Ok Taecyeon. Congratulations on your win and goodbye!” Yoona said as she turned towards the direction of the washroom again.

Hearing her voice, it snapped Taecyeon out of his thoughts. “Wait” he called out. He simply just could not believe it. “You don’t want my autograph, photo or anything like the fangirls want?”

Yoona, feeling annoyed turned around for the third time and nonchantly replied him, “Why should I? You’re not SNSD or my other idols? Any more questions? Can I please go shower now?”

Taecyeon simply nodded as he watched Yoona walk towards the shower room. For some reason, he felt his ears had redden and his heart thumping wildly. He wondered why Yoona wasn’t like any other girls that would go crazy for him. For that, he felt somewhat attracted to her and wanting to see her again. At the point, realization struck him. He did not get her name or her school. Slapping himself, he made his way to the starting board and dived into the icy cold pool, hoping that he would see her again.

Taecyeon groaned as his alarm rang signaling the start of a new semester. Dragging himself out of bed, he went to wash-up before heading to class. As he walked along the hallway, half-asleep, he saw the silhouette of someone that looks exactly like Yoona. Perking up, he immediately ran down the hallway trying to search for that silhouette but to no avail. Feeling disappointed, he made his way to class.

It was 11pm in the night. Taecyeon entered the swimming complex, wanting to de-stress and practice after a tiring day in school. As he entered the complex, he heard splashing sounds coming from the pool. Getting his hopes up, he hurriedly changed and head to the pool. To his delight, it was Yoona. He tiptoed to the ledge of the pool, bent down with one knee on the ground and waited for Yoona to resurface from the water.

As Yoona touched the wall, she resurfaced only to notice that Taecyeon was staring at intently at her.

“OMG! You scared me!” Yoona shouted at Taecyeon. “You know you should really work on that turn” she heard Taecyeon say. “I could teach you” he further added. There was an awkward silence between the both of them as Taecyeon said that last line. “So, will you let me teach you” she heard Taecyeon ask again, breaking the silence. Sensing no harm, Yoona agreed. As she watched Taecyeon took off his shirt, showing his well-defined abs on his muscular body, she unknowingly blushed.

Taecyeon dived into the pool, swam a few laps as a warm-up before swimming towards Yoona. “In order to help you improve your turn, I need to assess your turn closely first. So can you do a turn for me…?” Taecyeon asked with the intention of getting her name. “Yoona, Im Yoona”. Observing closely, Taecyeon thoroughly assessed her turn techniques, noting any flaws and the improvement needed. From there, he began demonstrating the proper technique as he explained to her in detail the mistakes she made and how to improve on it. After a few hours, Yoona had shown slight improvement and they decide to call it for a day

“Do you study at SSA?” Taecyeon asked as they were packing up. “No, I don’t.” Yoona simply said. In disbelief, he said “Really? But with your skills, you would have easily entered SSA”. “You should enroll in SSA the next semester, I would love to see you in school.”

Yoona felt delighted upon hearing Taecyeon comments. It’s been long since she felt that she was being recognized for her skills especially coming from someone like Taecyeon. Overcome with emotions, Yoona suddenly gave Taecyeon a hug. “Thank you.” she sincerely said as she broke the hug. Feeling embarrassed, she hurriedly rushed to the shower room, leaving a stunned Taecyeon behind.

Their swimming sessions together continued over the next few weeks. Through the sessions, they were getting to know each other more and realized that they share similar hobbies and taste. Taecyeon was shocked to hear that Yoona actually had a phobia of water in the past. Deciding to overcome her fear, she decided to take up swimming and hence realizing her passion for it. It was exactly the same reason why Taecyeon had taken up swimming. Occasionally, the both of them will head down to the nearby fishcake store (they both love fishcakes) and grab some supper in which afterwards, Taecyeon will walk Yoona home.

One day, while having ramen outside the convenience store, Yoona explained to Taecyeon that she was actually supposed to attend SSA this semester, but could not do so as the school fees in which she had saved from working part-time jobs was stolen away by her gambling-addict father. “This is why I was training so hard for the upcoming competition. I know SSA directors will be there to scout for potential swimmers and offer them an SSA scholarship. And I really hope I can get one.”

Taecyeon took Yoona hands, and with a voice full of sincerity and determination, he said, “I’ll do my best to help you get that scholarship. Trust me.”

Yoona gave him the brightest smile ever, and simply nodded, knowing that he will fulfill his promise.

Just like that, both of them was falling for each other. 

“Yoong, to execute a proper turn, you have to turn slightly later. Right now, your flip turn are too early. That’s why you can’t push off fast and strong enough.” Taecyeon explained. They have been practicing for three hours now. With the competition nearing, Yoona had made little improvements in her flip turns which was key to winning any competition. As Yoona continued making mistakes, Taecyeon was gradually growing frustrated. “YOONA! You can only turn when you pass the T-mark! How are you going to get the scholarship at this rate?” shouted Taecyeon.

Hearing Taecyeon outburst, tears started flowing out from her eyes. Immediately, Yoona left the swimming pool and headed straight for the changing room. Noticing her tears, Taecyeon immediately regretted his actions and chased after her.

Yoona plopped onto the bench, hating herself for showing this side of her to Taecyeon. She did not blame him for his outburst, but instead blamed herself for not being able to execute the flip turn correctly especially so after he had spent so much time practicing with her.

“Yoong..” she heard Taecyeon apologetic voice.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scold you. I was was just …”

“It’s alright. I understand your frustration. I should be the one saying sorry. Sorry for not being to execute a simple flip turn.” Yoona said between her tears as she cut off Taecyeon sentence. “I really tried Taec, I really tried to overcome it.

“Overcome what?” a confused Taecyeon asked.