Just as fear gripped my insides, I shrieked at the feel of something tug my foot, jerking me just below the surface.

            When my head bobbed above the surface of the water this time, I was sputtering and coughing.  After I’d wiped the water from my eyes, I saw Tae Il treading water in front of me.  Laughing.

            I glared at him and pushed myself through the water to sidle right up against him.  Raking my nails down his chest under the water, I grinned devilishly at him.

            “Oh?  So you want to play, hmm?” I asked.

            His mouth dropped and he sank into the water.  Bobbing and splashing back up so that his shoulders and above were out of the water, he coughed.

            “Sorry.  I’m sorry.”

            I giggled.  “That’s what I thought.”

            We splashed and played around a bit.  I hoped it would relax him since he looked like he was about to be dragged to the electric chair any second.  I was right, so we were talking like it was nothing.  Like we were sitting on a swing set and not floating around under a bridge.

            “So,” I began, drifting myself closer to a column of the bridge.  It was darker there, but we could push up against the cement and not have to tread as much.  He joined me.  “Tell me about your last girlfriend.”

            He hummed thoughtfully for a second.  “It was just after high school, but I’d known her all throughout school.”  He smiled fondly.  I looked away from him and chose to stare into the dark water swirling around us.

            “Did you love her?” I wondered.

            He cocked his head to the side and then nodded.  “Yeah.  I did.”

            “So what happened?”

            Shrugging, the water rippled from him over to me.  “I don’t know.  Over time, we just didn’t match well together anymore, I guess.”  His voice was quiet.  “We may have been too alike,” he pondered.  “We were both timid, shy.  Perhaps too shy.”

            “She dumped you?”

            He nodded.

            “I bet she regrets that decision now.”

            He laughed lightly.  “I haven’t talked to her in a really long time.  She’s probably with someone else by now.”  I couldn’t tell if he was upset or sincerely indifferent about that idea.

            “Did you do her?”

            He slipped a little and splashed in the water to bring his head back up above the water.  “I’m sorry?”

            I giggled a little.  “Did you have with her?”

            “Yes,” he answered carefully, staring directly into the water in front of him.

            I couldn’t help but smile at him.  I’d regret dumping him if I were her.

            “I bet you’re really ,” I teased.  He groaned and sank himself into the water until his chin touched the surface.

            “I a-am not,” he argued.

            “I didn’t think so,” I said more seriously.  I let my head fall to the side, facing him.  “I bet you’re really romantic.”

            He grinned, an almost ‘aw shucks’ expression on his face.  “I think I really loved her, so I wanted it to be special.”

            “I think that’s sweet.”

            He shrugged one shoulder up out of the water as if to brush it off.

            “What’s it like?” I asked lowly, still studying his profile.  He slipped into the water again and hacked when he came back up.

            “H-having s-s-?” he stuttered.  I playfully splashed him.

            “Being in love,” I clarified.  “ert,” I added teasingly.

            He cleared his throat, adorably embarrassed, and tilted his head to the side.  “It’s…I don’t know.  I can’t even describe it in Korean,” he chuckled.  Then he looked at me.  Met my eyes.  “Haven’t you been in love?”

            I smiled lightly into his eyes.  “No.”

            “You didn’t love any of your boyfriends?” he asked, now turning his upper half to face me.  Clearly interested.

            Still smiling, my eyes dropped to water between us.  I watched as I let my arm float to the surface.  “I’ve never had a boyfriend.”

            I only met his eyes again when he scoffed and splashed me.  I stuck my tongue out and splashed him back.

            “Don’t lie to me.  I was honest with you,” he pouted.

            I splashed him again.  “I am being honest.”

            His smile melted off his face as he continued to study me.  “Really?”

            “Really.”

            “I-I just thought…well, you know, from what little I know about you so far, I thought, well, that you would have had a lot of boyfriends.  Been in love a lot.  Had-had…”  He laughed and pushed my arm through the water toward me.

            “I never said anything about not having ,” I remarked.

            He stayed silent for a second.  “Are you ?”

            I threw my head back and laughed, hard.  My stomach hurt I laughed so hard.  Looking over at him, he was laughing lightly, nodding to himself as though he wasn’t sure it would go over well.

            I sighed when I finished cracking up.  “No, I’m not,” I answered.  “I want romance, but it’s never very romantic.”  He blinked at me, waiting for me to continue, listening attentively.  I took a deep breath and before I could fully think about what I was saying, blurted out, “It’s never been anything more than .  He wants it.  I want it.  We do it.  The end.  I leave or he leaves, depending whose place it is.”

            “Doesn’t that bother you?” he wondered.

            “I don’t have time to wait for love.”

            He scoffed, but then looked confused as he eyed my expression.  “But you’re young and beautiful and…”  He laughed uncomfortably and looked away.  “I-I just mean, you have plenty of time to find love.  Someone who will give you all the romance you want.  Hand holding, whispering, caressing, whatever romantic crap you want!”  He had no idea just how wrong he was, but nonetheless, I managed to giggle.  Regardless of what my brain was trying to make me focus on, I refused.  I’d rather think about Tae Il.

            And how he’d just set my entire body on fire without even touching me.

            “Why do you say you don’t have time?” he wondered curiously.

            Because I know I don’t.

            “Romance is for ers,” I said instead.  He frowned a little, clearly not liking the way I dodged his question.  The way I so often did.

            I pushed off the wall and through the water, making sure to kick my feet hard enough to splash him.  He caved and laughed then followed me.  Treading water face to face, I asked, “Are you trying to seduce me?”  I bobbed over to him and hooked my fingers into the waistband of his boxers.  “Because it’s working.”  I was glad for the opportunity to lighten the mood.

            I’m pretty sure the noise he made was supposed to be a laugh, but it sounded like a whine in his throat.  I couldn’t resist.  “Have you ever had in a river?” I purred.

            He covered my hands with his under the water and arched an eyebrow at me.  “Don’t start what you can’t finish,” he growled.

            What?!  My hands yanked away from his out of sheer confusion and shock as I dipped below the water.  Flailing my arms, I bobbed back to the surface.

           He shook his head and looked away.  “I can’t.  I’m sorry.  I was trying to be tough, but I can’t pull it off.  I have no swag.  I can’t.”

            I laughed until he began to laugh too.

            “It’s ok,” I replied.  “I think you do shy and sweet really well.  It’s cute.  The way you blush and stutter.”

            “I’m actually not doing anything,” he replied.  “I really am that skittish all the time.  Especially around you,” he added under his breath.

            Too much.  I couldn’t do this.  We floated in silence that I could tell was only making me feel like screaming.  He looked like he might be blushing though.

            His hand emerged from the water and he pointed at my mouth a moment later.  At first, I thought he was going to touch my lips and when he didn’t, I found myself aggravatingly disappointed.  I had to stay focused.  This was a bad idea.

            “Your lips are turning blue.  It is getting kind of cold.  We should get out of here before you get sick,” he said.

            That was when I noticed my teeth chattering.  I nodded.  “Ok.”

            The moment we emerged from under the bridge, I think I was the first one to see the light darting around the water.  I was also the first to figure out what it was.

            “The police?!” I hissed, backing into Tae Il.

            Sure enough, I saw three figures on the sidewalk that ran along the edge of the river.  Blocking our escape.

            “Take a breath,” I whispered, whipping around to face Tae Il.  A look of horror all over his face.  He in deep as I pushed him under the water.

            Just as he wrapped his arms around my legs to stay under, the light landed on me.  “Hey!  What are you doing?” one officer called.

            “Being blinded by your damn five watt flashlight,” I muttered.  Switching to polite Korean in the cutest voice I could create, I called back, “Sorry, Officers!  I’ll get out!”

            “You can’t swim here!” another one informed me. 

            Yeah, thanks.  Tae Il’s fingers began to dig into my thighs.  He was running out of air, I bet.  I lowered my arms into the water to hold onto his arms.  I paddled, slowly, over to the column of the bridge.

            “You need to get out, now!” the third officer warned.  I squinted as the flashlight burned into my retinas.

            I exhaled a puff of air as I backed closer to the darkness near the column, tugging lightly on Tae Il’s arms.  I heard him air in through his nose as he popped up as quietly as he could behind me.  I almost sank when he bumped into me.

            “I’ll get out now, Officers!  I’m sorry!” I called.  “I have to get my clothes!”

            The three young officers looked to each other.  Their body language telling me they were as embarrassed as I’d hoped they’d be of the thought of seeing a half foreigner.

            “We’ll be back in ten minutes.  If you’re not out by then-”

            “I will be!  I promise!  Thank you!” I interrupted loudly.

            I waited until they were far enough away before I burst out laughing and turned to face Tae Il.  His lower lip was stuck out and he was bobbing angrily.

            “You might be the death of me,” he told me.

            I giggled, but tried to look apologetic.  “I’m sorry.”

            “No one will see us, you said,” he mocked.

            “No one saw you though!” I pointed out.

            He sighed, but the corners of his mouth threatened to turn up in a smile.  “Let’s get out of here before you get sick.”

            “Or the cops come back.”

            He groaned as he swam seamlessly through the water to get to the edge.  Checking in both directions, once he saw the coast was clear, he hoisted himself out of the water.  Turning on his knees, he reached his arms out to me, still in the water.

            Hands in his, he yanked me out of the water.  I laughed, shaking as the cold water dripped off me.  He shook his head at me.

            “If you get sick from this, I’m going to say that I told you so,” he scolded playfully.

            “Deal,” I said, my teeth chattering loudly.

            With no warning whatsoever, and blushing furiously, he pulled me against his body into a tight hug.  His hands rubbing up and down my arms.

            “That was fun,” he whispered in my ear.  “Let’s never do it again.”

            I nodded, telling myself not to touch him.  Not to let myself know what it felt like to feel his skin.  My arms felt heavy, but I forced them to encircle his torso.  My eyes closed as my hands flattened against his wet back.  His skin was cold, but soft.

            Crap.