Mine | Bang Chan

12

<The timeless bop I (Felix, actually) mentioned in the previous chapter - Headphone sseo / My headphones on by TWICE>

"This is the last time I talk to you, I'm not even kidding."

"Shh. I know you don't mean it."

"Oh, I do."

Hyerim rolled her eyes, throwing a glare at the boy sitting next to her. As Chan adviced, she brought Jeongin with her to the swimming competition she was invited to. The younger guy is friends with the athlete and it's also very wise to not be alone in an unfamiliar situation (and also Jeonging has been at a lot of Chan's competitions).

Because sitting on the bleachers of Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool - one of the biggest aquatics venues in Seoul -, waiting for a national men's swimming competition to start was indeed an unfamiliar setting for Hyerim.

Heck, even the guy who she was there for was, logically speaking, unfamiliar. But she didn't want him to be unfamiliar - that's why she agreed to ditch Jeongin after the competition and hang out with Chan.

"Look, there's your severly underdressed Prince Charming. Lane 5." The classmate pointed to the side of the pool, where the athletes had just lined up to the diving boards. And indeed, at lane 5 stood a guy who resembled Chan (Hyerim only saw him 2 times, afterall and none of those times he had a cap and googles on).

"He's going to swim, what is he supposed to wear if not jammers?" The girl muttered, flustered by the sight of so many shirtless, jacked college boys (or one, particularly).
"And he's not my Prince Charming."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Hey, Jeongin. How many years have you known Chan for?" Hyerim asked while not taking her eyes off the swimmers, the tense atmosphere of the competition somehow rubbing on her.

The boy huffed. "Don't dig into my personal life."

"I'm not digging into your personal life, I'm digging into Chan's pers-"
The so-called cutie was cut off by the speaker, instructing the swimmers to take their places on the diving boards.

However, Jeongin was not bothered by the noise, he started talking louder, trying to overpower the voice.
"We met 3 years ago at a concert. We also met all the others there."

Hyerim hummed but her attention was on the blonde athlete, who bent his knees then dived into the water as soon as he heard the whistle. For a minute, the pooled seemed empty, as if the 10 athletes who'd just jumped in were mere illusions. Then they appeard already metres away from the side and smoothly sliding in the frontline was Chan.

"Woah, he's good." The shortie's eyes widened and she kept quiet for a while, observing (admiring?) the older boy she'd met at that restaurant a month ago.
"Is there a chance that, you know, realistically speaking, he'll win?"

Her grade mate scoffed, not in a mean way but rather in a very Jeongin way - if that made sense. "Very much yes. I'm sure he didn't bloat to you but he's one of the most talented swimmers in his age group - if not the most talented. The only thing that can hold him back is his nerves."

Hyerim teared her eye away from Chan's mesmerizing, stable stokes and looked at Jeongin, confused. "What?"

"I said what I said." The other shrugged. "He has a hard time accepting it but this is the truth."

Recognizing the mischievous glint in his eyes, the girl shook her head, disappointed. "You're just making stuff up."

"I'm really not, I promise.. Hey, how long is this?"

Before the high school senior could answer that she had no idea at all, the cheering from the bleachers intensified and she dragged her eyes back to the pool just in time to see two guys fighting for the first place - except that there was no fighting at all. Chan smoothly touched the side of the pool while the second place guy was half a stroke behind him.