Poolside

2

Encounter

 

            A couple days had gone by since Cori’s arrival in Seoul. Since she was so worn out from the jet lag the women stayed in the apartment. Tay didn’t mind at all, she knew what jet lag felt like so she wasn’t going to chastise her friend.  Instead, she used a good majority of her time trying to figure out what they could do together. She had found a few things but decided to save those events for later on during their break.

            It was around noon when Cori officially got out of bed. She had been awake since eleven but chose to stay in bed an extra hour. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and she was wearing a white tank top and light blue shorts. The brunette sat beside her friend on the couch.

            “Good morning” Cori said with a smile.

“More like good afternoon you late sleeper.”

Cori only smiled and leaned against the back of the couch. “Doesn’t matter, I’m awake now and I’m ready to have some fun. Have you decided what we’re going to do first?”

Tay shook her head and sighed. “Not really. I have things planned, but it’s stuff that I would rather wait until the middle of the break to do, so I’ve decided,” She turned her head and looked at the brunette, “to let you be the one to choose what we do first.”

“Me? But I’ve never been here before; I wouldn’t know where to go.”

“I didn’t mean you had to choose a specific place. You pick any activity you want to do, even if it’s just walking in the park.”

Cori had to think for a moment. It was a lovely day so a walk in the park would be nice or even just exploring the city. However, something in her mind told her that they shouldn’t walk around. At that moment, her eyes brightened and a little smile appeared on her face. “I know what we should do today!”

~x~

Taylynn wasn’t fond of public places like this. She preferred places like the park or even the city, where she wouldn’t necessarily be noticed and no one would pay that much attention to her. Cori knew this and yet she still chose this place. “Why did you choose to hang out here?”

“I had this feeling that we should go to the pool. I think something special is going to happen today.” The brunette answered back. Cori was currently changing into her swimsuit. She had decided not to change in the apartment for whatever reason. “By the way aren’t you going to take those off?”

The dark-skinned girl shook her head. “No, it’s alright. I’m wearing my swimsuit underneath so if I want I can take these off whenever.” At the moment, Tay was wearing dark blue shorts and a white sweatshirt. Taylynn was self-conscious when it came to her body, even though she wasn’t that much bigger than Cori. Years ago she used to be overweight and was constantly picked on by her peers. Even though she had lost a considerable amount of weight, the fear of getting picked on remained.

Cori only sighed. She knew her friend was self-conscious but she had hoped that Tay had gotten a little more confident over the years. “Please take those off. How are we going to have fun together if I’m in the water and you’re sitting on the sides?”

“My feet will be in the water.”

“That’s not the same Tay.”

The dark skinned girl didn’t have a response to that. She turned her head away and stared at the wall. She stuffed her hands in her sweatshirt’s pocket and still didn’t say anything.

Cori sighed once again. “Fine, don’t take them off now. Just promise me that you’ll change sometime before we leave.” The brunette smiled a little when she saw her friend nod. After checking to make sure her all her stuff was put away in a locker, she grabbed Tay’s wrist and lead her friend out the locker room.

~x~

Dark brown eyes glanced at the many people in and around the pool. The man those eyes belonged to was tall, had tanned skin, and short black hair. Many women were looking in his direction as he walked around but he paid no mind to it. After all he was used to looks like that. He knew he was an attractive guy, with a beautiful face and chiseled abs, but he knew that that was all that those women saw. Did they want to get to know him at all? The possibility was low.

“Siwon-ssi!”

The man known as Siwon turned towards the voice and couldn’t help but frown at the shorter man coming towards him. “Donghae-ah, you know better than to yell in here. Don’t blame me if one of the other lifeguards kicks you out.”

Donghae just shrugged and smiled at Siwon. Donghae had short brown hair and light brown eyes. “They haven’t done so yet so I think I’ll be fine!” He smiled brightly at Siwon. “Besides, you’ll protect me right Siwon-ssi?” The brunet made a cute face at the lifeguard, hoping that he would agree.

Siwon couldn’t help but smile and ruffle the other’s head. “Yes, yes. I would protect you. Now stop distracting me. I need to keep an eye out in case someone gets hurt.” Siwon watched as his friend nodded and jumped into the pool. He shook his head and continued to walk around. Today seemed to be another easy day, no one was in trouble and most of the kids were behaving themselves. Yet, Siwon had this feeling that something was going to happen.

~x~

Donghae sighed happily as he floated on his back. He was in a good mood after seeing Siwon, and his friend Sungmin would be by later after work. Until then he would have to try and figure out what to do to keep himself occupied. Suddenly, he felt his head hit someone’s back and heard the sound of a girl squeaking. He quickly stood and apologized to the girl. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.” He bowed his head slightly then looked at the girl.

She had dark brown hair that was pulled back in a messy bun and was wearing a dark blue, two piece swimsuit. Her blue and silver eyes looked shyly at Donghae. “O-oh it’s alright. You just scared me” she said softly. Donghae thought that she was defiantly cute.

“I should still be sorry. I should have been watching where I was floating” he responded. The girl only gave him a small smile.

“Cori, are you alright?” A nearby voice asked.

“Don’t worry Tay, I’m fine.” Cori responded happily

The male brunet turned towards the direction the other voice came from. Immediately he felt as if the world stopped. Sitting on the edge of a pool was an African American girl with her legs in the water. She wasn’t wearing a swimsuit but her outfit still looked cute on her. “Wow, you’re really cute” Donghae said as he continued to stare at the girl.

She gave him a skeptical look and moved away from him a bit. “Um…excuse me?”

“You’re cute.” The brunet spoke again only with a bit more confidence. “Sorry, I have a tendency to say what’s on my mind.” He moved closer to her with a smile plastered on his face. “My name is Donghae and may I ask what your name is?”

She silently watched him before answering “I’m Taylynn but my friends call me Tay.” She seemed to be on edge, trying to figure out why Donghae was even talking to her in the first place.”

“Then may I call you Tay?”

“Last time I checked I just met you and we’re not exactly friends.” Tay responded bluntly.

“Then maybe I should try to become your friend.”

“If you want to. I’m not going to stop you.” It became silent between after that remark. The brunet couldn’t help but want to get to know her more. There was certain mystery to her that he liked.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why aren’t you in the pool with your friend?” He nodded his head in Cori’s direction. Cori was currently playing with some kids she had just met. Tay turned her head away from the man, refusing to look at him.

“I just don’t want to swim right now” was the only response she gave him.

“Come on there has to be more to it than that. I can tell by looking at you.” He had noticed that Taylynn had become even more tense once he asked that question. Before she could say anything, however, the sound of Cori yelping and a splash could be heard. Tay quickly stood up and looked around the room for her friend.

“Cori?!”

~x~

It was dark. Cori felt like she was just floating in the darkness that was surrounding her.

“Where am I,” she thought, “wasn’t I at the pool?”

She winced as a bright light suddenly came into her vision. It seemed to be pulling her in. Should she go towards it or try to avoid it? The girl wasn’t given much of a choice as the light engulfed her completely.

Suddenly she took in a deep breath and began to cough.  She could barely hear Tay’s voice calling out to her, trying to ask her if she was alright. Her eyes slowly started to open but her vision was blurry.”

“Wh-what?” she whispered.

“Are you alright miss? Do you think you could stay awake?”

Wait, that wasn’t Tay’s voice. She was pretty sure her friend’s voice wasn’t that masculine. As her vision cleared she saw the face of the lifeguard who had been walking around earlier. “Wow,” she thought, “he’s even more handsome up close.” After that she entered the darkness once again.