JL OS

Lifeguard

Lisa hung her towel neatly on the rung before turning to survey the pool.

It was still early, just a few minutes shy of ten in the morning, so there weren’t too many people in the water yet.

She was just about to start stretching when someone called her name from above.

“Lisa!”

She looked up to the top of the tall chair to find Jisoo staring down at her with wild eyes.

“Hey,” said Lisa, waving.

“Dude. Tell me if I’m wrong, but look over there. At the deep end. Do you see that woman in the pink and black swimsuit?”

Lisa squinted, then nodded. “What about her?”

“Isn’t that…isn’t she that Olympic swimmer? Jennie Kim?”

“Been checking her out, then, have you?”

“Well, I mean, she’s hot. But I’m a professional, I’m not just checking her out.”

“Speaking of professionalism, shouldn’t you be watching the water?”

Jisoo sighed and turned to face the pool, resting her elbows on her knees. “Just five more minutes in my shift, you can cut me some slack.”

“As if you don’t slack off enough.”

“Seriously, though, I’m pretty sure that’s her.” Lisa continued to stretch, grinning at Jisoo’s commentary. “She’s even wearing the national team’s swim cap. Right? Isn’t that the cap?”

“Since when have you been this interested in the national team?”

“I’ve always been a fan! She’s crazy, you know? Broke the national record for the 400m freestyle when she was just 20. She’s basically slated to win the gold at the Tokyo Olympics. And yes, the Tokyo Olympics because she’s taking a break and not participating in Rio this year.”

“You’ve done your research.”

“I just couldn’t believe my eyes, you know? Why is she here, and not in Seoul? She could probably sweep all the medals in Rio, to be honest.”

Lisa slipped the whistle’s cord over her head. “Didn’t your Google search tell you?”

“There was nothing at all.” Jisoo leaned over the edge of the chair. “Why? Do you know?”

“You can just ask her.”

“How?”

Lisa grinned, then cupped her hands around her mouth. “Hey! Jennie!”

Across the pool, the pink and black figure turned to them. As she waved and began to swim towards the two lifeguards, Jisoo reached down to smack Lisa in the head.

“Why’d you do that for?” She hissed. “She’s going to think we’re weirdos! You can’t just do that, she’s basically a celebrity! Respect her privacy!”

“She’s going to hear you,” said Lisa calmly as Jennie Kim’s head popped out of the water in front of them.

Beside her, Jisoo muttered darkly under her breath, but the sound of Jennie getting out of the water covered whatever she was saying.

“Hello!”

Lisa smiled. “Hello. This is Jisoo, the lifeguard on duty. She’s a big fan of yours.”

“Hello, Jisoo! Nice to meet you.” The swimmer beamed at Jisoo and reached up for a handshake. “Are we distracting you from your job?”

Lisa saw the awestruck look on Jisoo’s face and said, “Actually, her shift’s over now. You wanna switch, Jisoo?”