Swimming Pool
Swimming Pool
"Soo-young Water Park? Isn't it crowded?"
"Since it's gradually turning into autumn, wouldn't it be a little less crowded?"
"Hmm..."
Even now, as we moved toward the end of September,
the weather outside was much hotter than expected, so we were talking about somewhere cool to take a break.
But then, out of nowhere, Lee Min-ho brought up going to Soo-young Water Park
and started the ball rolling.
This guy sometimes says the most random things in the middle of a conversation.
"Wouldn't it be troublesome if we went just among ourselves?"
But maybe I'd been infected by Lee Min-ho, too.
I wasn't refusing his suggestion; I was just going along with it.
Even though we hadn't decided to go yet,
I was already thinking about the problems that might come up...
And it wasn't just excessive self-consciousness; something really might happen.
Just walking down the street draws attention to us,
so at Soo-young Water Park — it might not end with just being hit on.
"So, you go with A-ra, and we'll go with our girlfriends. That settles it."
"Will there be time?"
"This weekend — any fan knows A-ra doesn't have a schedule."
"You must be proud you know something even her husband doesn't."
How on earth do you come across that kind of information?
Since A-ra doesn't tell me her schedule specifically,
I have no way of finding out.
If A-ra's schedule was free,
it wouldn't be bad to visit Soo-young Water Park before summer ended.
I also wanted to see A-ra in a swimsuit...
"Then I'll ask first and let you know."
"Okay. Jeong Hwan-yi, what about you?"
Lee Min-ho turned to Jeong Hwan-yi and pressured him for an answer.
After thinking it over for a while, he started to speak.
"Well, I don't think it'd be bad. Doesn't it have a sauna there?"
"It has a sauna with incredible scale and facilities attached."
"I'm more into that than the swimming, but in exchange, you're paying for everything."
"Alright, alright."
With that, Lee Min-ho took something shiny out of his pocket.
Believe it or not, it was the key to his first beloved car — a Mercedes-Benz E-Class he called 'Ssing-ssing-i'.
Now he was flashing it whenever he got the chance.
"What, can't I at least do this much?"
"Ugh... so annoying... I should just buy a car too."
It had been less than two months since Jeong Hwan-yi got his license,
and seeing his friends acquire expensive cars, he looked full of envy.
In my case, since my wife has plenty of money, that's understandable,
but Lee Min-ho got his simply by luck, so that probably stings even more.
Generally, it's almost impossible for a twenty-year-old new worker to buy a car.
If you knew how much insurance costs, you'd give up on buying one.
For reference, it seemed the company was going to cover Lee Min-ho's car insurance.
"Jeong Hwan, shall I introduce you to a job? Something you can do while attending school."
"If there's something like that, please recommend it."
"You want to try being a PD?"
"PD? Like at a broadcasting station?"
"Simply put, it's like a video planner."
Forget about filming videos — I couldn't even settle on a topic right now.
It felt like the content was repeating every time,
so I was a bit uneasy.
You know that feeling when you keep marking the same number on an OMR card
and it somehow feels like a wrong answer?
I was getting a feeling similar to that.
"I'll think about it for now."
Closing his eyes for a moment, Jeong Hwan-yi said he'd put it on hold and think about it.
That's why I wanted to bring Jeong Hwan-yi into channel management.
He's careful, full of ideas, and I believed he would brighten up the channel's operation.
"Can't I do that?"
"You have too much to do."
What would happen if I made Lee Min-ho the PD?
He'd just keep filming collab videos where I cook and he eats and evaluates, right?
And the evaluation would just be 'It's delicious!' and that'd be it.
I could never stand to watch that.
*
Before dinner, while I was watching A-ra change out of her work clothes,
I sat on the bed and brought up Soo-young Water Park.
A-ra, who had been quietly listening to me,
made an expression like she'd forgotten to eat a snack,
then sat perched on the bed and hugged my arm tightly.
My arm went between her chest and got sandwiched like a sandwich.
"Come to think of it, we didn't go to Soo-young Water Park this year?"
"But we went to a hot spring instead, though."
"If we go now, there'd be fewer people... I think it's fine, noona?"
A-ra also seemed to want to go to Soo-young Water Park after a long time.
When was the last time we went?
Was it last summer?
I can't remember.
"If I'd known, I should have bought a swimsuit with the gift certificate."
"Do you need to buy one? I think there were a few in the closet."
"You always buy a new swimsuit every time you go to a water park."
Nodding as if it were completely obvious, A-ra
lay forward on the bed she'd been perched on and started fiddling with her phone.
"You're not going to buy it in person?"
"The swimsuit season is already over, you know."
"Ah-ha..."
Simply put, at stores now, only leftovers remain.
Well, the remaining stock would be insufficient to satisfy A-ra.
"What about something like this?"
A-ra showed me her phone. There was a photo of a model wearing a bikini
with a very short skirt-like wrap over it.
"It's a bikini with a sort of school uniform feel."
"It's made with that concept. Pretty, right?"
"Are you going to wear it for me?"
"If Seong-hwan wants to see it, anytime."
Somehow, A-ra seemed to be choosing based on my taste rather than her own.
"But isn't it a bit much to wear at a water park?"
"Show me separately later."
"So you want to see it?"
"Cough."
A dry cough came out because my mouth was parched.
Saying I didn't want to see A-ra in a bikini would be an obvious lie.
A-ra has never worn a swimsuit even on all those variety shows.
How could I miss that?
"Then I'll order a swimsuit?"
"I'll also tell Lee Min-ho that we'll go to Soo-young Water Park."
With that, I quietly slipped out of the bedroom.
I had the excuse of making dinner, but actually, I fled because I couldn't hide my red face.
***
- Of all days, a typhoon had to hit today...
On the very day we were supposed to go to Soo-young Water Park,
as soon as I woke up in the morning, I felt a bit uneasy because of the humidity I sensed.
The water park we were going to was an outdoor one, but it wasn't the kind of place that closes just because of a little rain.
When I pulled back the blackout curtains in the bedroom, clinging to a sliver of hope,
a sound like dreams and hopes shattering echoed in my ears.
An incredibly strong wind was rattling the door as if determined to break it,
and outside, the city was a mess of leaves and trash.
"Typhoon......"
When I turned on the bedroom TV to check the news,
a typhoon that had suddenly formed late at night had veered at a right angle toward the west coast,
slammed into Gyeonggi Province, and made landfall — a typhoon strong enough to send trees flying.
Because it had hit so suddenly, only the voice of the anchor 'hyung' was quietly resonating in the bedroom,
saying many households unprepared for the typhoon had suffered damage.
- Seems like it's too late to go this year. Just rest at home.
"Yeah......."
- I'll let Jeong Hwan-yi know.
Since Lee Min-ho was the one who had suggested we go out,
he seemed a bit troubled that the one canceling was also him.
Well, it can't be helped that it was canceled because of the weather...
I was disappointed too, so I was just sighing deeply.
"I wanted to see A-ra noona's swimsuit..."
Actually, most of the purpose of going to the water park was to see A-ra's swimsuit.
The package had already arrived and been put away, but she said she'd show me on the day,
so I hadn't seen what kind of swimsuit it was.
"Seong-hwan, don't be too disappointed."
"Noona was probably looking forward to it too, I'm sorry."
"It's because of the typhoon that we can't go — what can you do."
A-ra told me not to worry and roughly stroked my hair.
And following A-ra's command to spread my arms and give her a hug,
I dove into her chest, which was as wide as the vast Pacific Ocean.
"Since it's come to this, we can't go swimming, but how about a bath at least?"
"Then I'll run the bathwater."
"Yeah. Go in first."
Confirming that A-ra had gone into the dressing room, I opened the other door in the bedroom,
went into the bathroom, and ran the water.
The large bathtub, big enough for six people, had all kinds of features.
There was a circulation system that kept the water flowing,
a reheating system that kept it hot,
and even a system that massaged you with strong bubbles — but we didn't use that one often.
When the water was sufficiently full, I quickly washed my body and got into the tub.
Sitting in the hot bath and looking out at the typhoon raging,
should I say it felt like the ryokan we visited in Japan a while ago?
It wouldn't be bad to use the bath salts I bought there.
Well, my languid body didn't want to move, so I didn't feel like it enough to actually do it.
"Seong-hwan, noona's coming in?"
"Come in~"
Hearing A-ra's voice asking permission even though she had already opened the door wide, I smiled wryly.
And I got up and moved to the end of the tub.
Since hot water comes out from the center, I tend to sit in the middle when I'm alone.
And when A-ra came near the bathtub,
I couldn't believe my eyes.
Because A-ra, who took off the robe she had come in wearing, was not naked but wearing a bikini swimsuit.
"N-noona?"
"How is it? Does it suit me?"
At A-ra's question, blushing and asking if it suited her, I just quietly nodded.
Even though I'd often seen her in just underwear, or completely naked,
a swimsuit had its own unique feel.
"You looked so disappointed, so I tried it on."
"........"
"Seong-hwan? If you stare like that, noona gets embarrassed..."
A-ra, who had just boldly shown off her body a moment ago,
now blushed and twisted her body shyly.
First, I grabbed her wrist and urged her to come into the bathtub.