Chapter 51: Chapter 51.

Chapter 51.

Shin sent a message to Woojin and stretched his arms.

-Wanna have lunch with me today?

They were busy until Friday because of the workshop and both of them spent the weekend recovering from their hectic schedule. On Monday, Shin checked the policy room as soon as he arrived at work, and he saw that both Woojin and Jihoon’s seats were empty. When he asked Yeonwoo, all she knew was that they had some errands to run. It seemed that Yeonwoo had become colder to Shin. It was probably because of what happened after the race. Yeonwoo asked Shin if he was dating someone, and he answered yes. Yeonwoo looked very upset. She murmured, “I thought you were interested in me…”

“Yeah…”

It was true that he was interested in her at one point. When he looked at her awkwardly, she replied, “Fine. Whatever.” Yeonwoo nodded coolly and walked away.

Unfortunately, they worked on the same floor. The first time they saw each other again at work, Shin asked her to not repeat what he said to her. Yeonwoo nodded with a small smile, but Shin knew she was still unhappy.

He sat down on the chair and wondered, ‘Maybe I should’ve visited Woojin during the weekend.’ Woojin mentioned that he had some things to take care of, but he didn’t explain further to Shin. There wasn’t a single message from Woojin during the weekend, except for the call they had last night. Woojin seemed very quiet. Shin really hoped that they would be able to have lunch together today.

Then suddenly, his phone beeped. A text from Siwoo popped up.

-Shin.

-Yes? What’s up?

-Are you able to talk on the phone right now?

Shin could feel that Siwoo had something important to tell him. He quickly grabbed his phone and walked out to the hallway. He called Siwoo immediately.

What did Siwoo want to tell him?

“Hey Shin.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I just remembered something right now.”

“…”

“Those two guys I saw in front of your office that night…”

“…”

“At the time, I had a feeling that I saw BOTH of them before…”

“What?”

“Then I was looking through some old photos yesterday, and I remembered.”

“…”

“Do you remember that person? You know, the guy you saved from the swimming pool in your high school?”

“…”

“That guy who was in his last year of high school… The one who tried to kill himself… What was his name…? I can’t remember…”

“Jin Yoo.”

Suddenly, Shin remembered.

***

Upperclassman Jin Yoo.

Shin barely knew him. He barely remembered him. Everything was vague to Shin at this point. The only clear thing he could remember was what happened in the swimming pool.

The water that slowly turned red… The smell of blood… Those dark eyes that looked at him so hopelessly…

It was such a horrifying scene.

‘Jin Yoo… I remember… His face…’

Shin could no longer hear Siwoo’s words. He remembered that boy’s hands and feet…

Those eyes…

Those eyes….

At the time, those dead eyes were staring at Shin and screaming at him.

‘I want to live.’

***

The teenager Shin was very different from the Shin in his twenties. As a teenager, Shin was so sure of everything and himself. He was the centre of his own universe, and he was certain about how his life was going to be like.

Until that traumatic day.

Until that fateful day, Shin had a perfect life. He was great at what he loved. He was kind and genuine. Everybody loved and admired him. Shin was very popular.

One day, Siwoo handed him a soda can and mentioned about one student.

“You know that guy in the final year. The one who has his own private room in the dorm. The one who gets one of the top grades.”

“I don’t know who you are talking about, Siwoo.”

“Isn’t that guy your friend?”

“Well, I don’t know who you are talking about!”

“You know, that guy who looks so… faint.”

Faint? Shin had no idea what Siwoo meant by that.

Siwoo was different than the most. At first, Shin wasn’t sure if they could be friends easily, but he was wrong. They became close very quickly.

The way Siwoo moved, talked, and acted were very different than all the other boys. Strangely, the other students seemed to not notice this difference. Shin wondered if it was because Siwoo was so good looking that people didn’t notice anything else about him.

Siwoo continued, “He watches you through the window every time you walk into the swimming pool. I assumed you guys knew each other.”

“… That sounds creepy.”

That was all Shin knew of that guy before the incident. Siwoo pointed at the window, but at the time, there was no one there.

And then…

The red swimming pool.

That morning, he woke up and went to the swimming pool as usual. The national competition was coming up soon, he went to the pool a little earlier. Strangely, that morning, he woke up very early. It was only 4:30 AM when he opened his eyes. The moon was still visible in the sky when Shin left the dorm.

When he entered the pool locker room, he could smell the unpleasant metallic smell. At the time, Shin ignored it and took a hot shower before going to the pool.

Winter was just about to arrive, so the weather was chilly. Shin shivered a little as he walked, and then he saw it.

The red swimming pool.

“…”

The middle of the pool was almost black while the rest of the water was red and pink. Blood. Black blood.

Shin’s initial reaction was to take a step back. But when he continued to look, he saw that there was a body in the water.

Shin didn’t remember what he did next. He only remembered the part after he took the body out of the water. He vaguely remembered to check if the body was breathing.

His legs shaking, Shin ran to the locker room and took out his cellphone. He called 911.

And then, what happened afterwards were all fragments.

Other students coming in and screaming.

The yellow tape.

The police and the ambulance.

The paramedics.

His too-thin wrists. The wrists that were cut up and bleeding so badly.

Shin collapsed to the floor weakly at the time. He continued to watch the hectic scene and as the body was taken away by the paramedics, Shin thought he saw the boy’s eyes flutter a little. His face seemed so blue, like the early morning sky. At the time, the boy’s face was so swollen that it was unrecognizable.

Just then, Shin saw the boy raise his hand. His eyes met Shin’s and Shin swore he could hear the boy screaming, “Save me.”

There was no doubt that this was a suicide attempt, yet what the boy told Shin with his eyes… It didn’t make sense.

Trying to kill himself, yet the way the boy moved… The way his eyes looked… None of it made sense.

Someone handed Shin a dry towel. As he wiped himself, Shin walked out of the pool and wondered, ‘Will he survive?’

That boy wanted to live so badly… So did he? Did he make it?