CHAPTER 9

♦♦♦

I didn’t wake up in the morning because I had never gone back to sleep. My head was too busy spinning lies to allow sleep to set in. I had to keep myself away from the lake and out of the water. Exposing myself to a hundred boys would be the perfect way to get sent home, but I was above doing that. I didn’t have much going for me at that point, but at least I had my self-respect.

I couldn’t just use the excuse that I didn’t have proper swim wear. Multiple people had already lent me clothing. They’d be likely to spare something else. I could fake a head injury, or complain that my body was too sore. After soccer practice the day before, both things were kind of true. That would only be a temporary solution though. I knew the camp counselors would make me swim eventually. Who’s to say that they wouldn’t just throw me in the lake on the spot.

Minseok had left the cabin already. I remembered hearing him try to be quiet, as he got ready and shuffled out the door to breakfast. Eating breakfast, that was just one more thing I couldn’t get motivated to do. I rolled out of bed, pulled on a sweatshirt, and headed for cabin eight. Someone in there was bound to help a girl, well, guy out.

Sandeul answered the door. “Hey buddy. You doing all right? I heard what happened yesterday at soccer.”

“Does news really spread that quickly around here?” I asked as I stepped into the cabin.

“Baro rooms with us. He was there for the whole thing.”

In the back of the room stood said boy. He looked vaguely familiar. I didn’t remember seeing him at practice, but maybe I’d seen him in at the dining hall. He had dyed blonde hair, natural black roots peaking from underneath. The hair effortlessly framed his face and his finely groomed eyebrows were exposed for the world to see. His toned arms shone brightly from the tank top he wore. How had my eyes not locked onto someone like him? My face heated up at the thought.

He turned and bowed in my direction. “I’m Cha Sunwoo. I go by Baro. Sorry I never got a chance to introduce myself yesterday. How are you feeling after the first practice?”

“Surprisingly my head hurts worse than the rest of my body.” It was just a little lie. The soreness in my thighs wasn’t noticeable unless I moved in a particular way.

“You were really impressive yesterday with all that running. Seeing as you’re the only first year in the soccer club, we thought you were trying to act cool to fit in. We were sure that you’d pass out before practice even ended. You’re building a name for yourself, Jisoo.”

The cabin door pulled open behind me, and an unexpected weight was added to my body. “What brings my little Jisoo here this morning?” Gongchan gave my body a shake from the arm he had over my shoulders.

It was no wonder I had felt like I had tons of personal space. He had been missing.

Gongchan took a bite from his dining hall toast and motioned for me to follow him farther inside. He motioned for me to take a seat on his bed with him. I declined. My nerves were eating me away enough as it was. I didn’t need to be in a cabin with three boys for any longer than necessary.

“I hate to ask this, but do any of you have swim trunks I can borrow? Minseok told me that the swim test is today. I feel bad asking to borrow something from him because I feel like it’s going to happen all the time.”

“I have extras you can borrow,” Sandeul spoke up. “They might be a bit big for you. You’ll just have to draw the strings tight.” He tossed me some electric blue and black swim trunks from his dresser. I nodded in appreciation.

“Do you know if we’re allowed to swim with a t-shirt on or anything? Honestly, I’m not too confident with my body, especially around a lot of people. I’m not good at swimming either. Wearing a shirt is a comfort thing for me.” I thought my lie sounded pretty convincing.

“I wore one last summer to keep the sun off of me, but it really slows you down in the water. There are a few other people wear one. No one ever says anything about it, so you should be fine,” Gongchan informed me.

Thankfully, the boys had taken the bait easily. They seemed to believe me and were genuine in their responses.  Now that I had the proper back-story set up, the only thing left to do was figure out how to avoid getting in the water.

In no time at all, I stood on the beach in my borrowed clothing. Shirtless boys were everywhere. I felt like I was violating their privacy. I felt like I was being violated. They splashed and tried to kill each other in the shallow end of the lake. Others scurried down the dock and waited for their turn to jump in.

If the situation had been a bit different, surely I would have been standing there clutching at my heart and trying to catch my breath. Any girl would react that way to a lake full of boys. The thing that kept me in check was the worry floating around in the back of my mind.

What if I couldn’t get out of swimming? What if someone tried to make me take the shirt off? What if they ganged up on me, took my shirt off, and threw me in the lake? The combination of scenarios seemed to be endless.

I stood at the end of the dock where it met the shore and observed the swimmers from afar. The requirements for the test didn’t seem too hard. I was sure I could pass with flying colors. You had to be able to dive into the water. You were timed to see how long you could hold your breath, and you were required to swim two hundred meters just to see if you had the endurance it took to swim in the lake. If you met the standards for all three, you successfully earned the right to swim and take part in other water activities. I would love to go kayaking, but getting in the water was too risky for me.

“Are you going to join the line or just stand here all day?” Gongchan asked, coming up beside me.

“I’d like to stand here all day. Can I not do it and forfeit my right to swim? I’m not fond of the idea of swimming in that,” I said pointing out to the lake. “Who knows what’s lurking underneath the water.” That wasn’t a complete lie either. The thought of a fish touching my leg made me cringe.

“Baro’s up next for his test. We can go watch him swim and you can think about it,” Gongchan suggested.

“Um, I don’t really need