The Sound of the Heart (2)
After changing clothes and stepping inside, an unfamiliar floral fragrance washed over me in waves. It came from the flowers that filled the long swimming pool to the brim.
Normally a pool would reek of that distinctive mix of water and chlorine, but here they had solved the problem with money.
Those blossoms floating on the surface were said to cost several million won apiece. I started to count the drifting flowers one by one, then gave up.
Some looked rather ordinary, but if I began tallying them all it would clearly take hours. With that thought I approached Chae-rin, who was lightly loosening up alone amid the young ladies gathering in twos and threes.
“Miss Chae-rin.”
“Ah, Miss Ha-eun. You’ve arrived. Would you like to warm up together?”
“Sure.”
The instructor would make us do another round of warm-ups once she arrived, but Chae-rin always worked hard at loosening her body beforehand. She claimed it brought the vitality back so she could push harder. I was hopeless at exercise, so I simply followed whatever she suggested.
We began with light stretches and moved on to the ones that needed a partner—pressing the soles of our feet together and pulling, linking arms back-to-back and lifting each other—until I could already feel my body heating up.
“Haa…”
“I’ve thought this since last time, but you’re really light, Miss Ha-eun.”
While I caught my breath, Chae-rin—still pressing one long leg down firmly—spoke up. I considered the remark for a moment before answering.
“Isn’t that about average?”
“Average? My older sister works as a magazine model, and even she’s heavier than you.”
Well, of course she was. Chae-rin’s sister—the heroine of the original story—stood a full 170 centimeters with H-cups, a truly destructive physique. I had always thought models were supposed to be slim, so I had no idea how that worked, but comparing her build to mine made the comment perfectly natural.
Besides, I didn’t have those heavy fat lumps that blocked the view of my own feet.
Ah—Chae-rin was different. Even compressed by the competition swimsuit, the size was still plain to the eye. And we were about the same height. When I let my gaze linger on her chest, Chae-rin casually covered herself with an arm and grew wary.
“…What is that look?”
“Huh? What look?”
“You were staring a hole through my chest.”
I hadn’t meant anything by it, but staying silent would only make the misunderstanding worse, so I added,
“I was just thinking about why I feel so light to you.”
“The reason? …Ah.”
Chae-rin let out a soft sound of belated understanding, then looked at me with something like pity—wait, why that look?
“…They say drinking lots of milk can make them bigger.”
“Make what bigger? No, more importantly, I don’t really care.”
“It’s all right. You don’t have to say anything more, Miss Ha-eun…”
“Would you stop talking like you’re looking at something pitiful?!”
I protested, but Chae-rin only gave me a kindly smile and nodded without a word. Being treated like someone who fretted over it when I truly didn’t care was so unfair I wanted to scream. I was about to argue with an incredulous face when a voice came from behind me.
“You two seem to be having an interesting conversation, Miss Ha-eun.”
“…Miss Yoon Seo-a?”
I turned my stiff neck toward the owner of the voice. Yoon Seo-a stood there in the same competition swimsuit as mine and spoke with a smile.
“If you don’t mind, would you share it with me as well? I’m curious what could make Miss Ha-eun raise her voice like that.”
The way she smiled, I almost heard the phantom snap of a fan opening. If this hadn’t been a pool, she would certainly have been holding one.
I glanced at Chae-rin. She, too, looked openly unsettled by Yoon Seo-a’s sudden appearance.
“…I’ve never seen your face before. I’m certain you weren’t in the last class.”
“My, do you wish to hear my introduction? But the order is wrong. If you want my name, you should offer yours first.”
“What?”
Chae-rin’s face twisted at Yoon Seo-a’s words. Ordinarily she wouldn’t care about introductions, but this was different. Right now Yoon Seo-a was essentially declaring Chae-rin beneath her—ordering her to introduce herself first. Status-wise it was true, yet Chae-rin made no effort to hide her displeasure.
“I’m sorry, but I have no desire to tell you my name.”
“Is that so? Well, it doesn’t matter. The one I have business with isn’t you—it’s Miss Ha-eun.”
Yoon Seo-a dropped the exchange with Chae-rin and turned her gaze on me. Those eyes that seemed to bind my body brought back the conversation we had shared the day before in the empty classroom. She had said she was the sort of person who had to obtain whatever she wanted. I hid my trembling hands behind my back, lifted my chin, and forced a confident tone.
“…Business? More importantly, how did you get into this class? Isn’t your afternoon schedule calligraphy?”
“Embarrassing as it is to admit, I don’t particularly enjoy calligraphy. For a young lady to dislike it is practically a grave flaw, but fortunately the calligraphy instructor showed generous understanding, allowing me to join you here.”
Couldn’t she just get to the point instead of circling around?
“Where did the person originally scheduled for this class go?”
“Heh. Since I’m here, of course she went to calligraphy. Through mutual amicable agreement and consultation between the two instructors, naturally.”
“That’s even possible…?”
Chae-rin muttered under her breath. I couldn’t hide my own bewilderment either. No matter how great Yoon Seo-a’s influence was, this was Private Acacia Academy—not some ordinary school. Changing classes on a whim should have been impossible. Yet she had already done the impossible. I clenched the fist hidden behind my back.
“By the way, Miss Ha-eun, are you good at swimming?”
“…I’m not bad.”
Swimming had been my main exercise for body management and building strength. I could confidently claim a decent level of skill—at least in a pool, if not the open sea. When I answered, Yoon Seo-a beamed.
“Wonderful. Then you can teach me, Miss Ha-eun.”
“Teach you? That’s what the swimming instructor is for—”
“Did I ask you?”
Yoon Seo-a’s voice turned ice-cold toward Chae-rin, who had spoken up in my place. The abrupt shift from her earlier smile made even Chae-rin flinch and take a step back. Leaving the two of them any closer would only drag Chae-rin into trouble.
“Miss Chae-rin. For today’s class, it would be better if you stayed away.”
“But Miss Ha-eun—”
“It’s fine. Nothing will happen.”
Chae-rin bit her lip hard, shot Yoon Seo-a a sharp glare along with a quiet warning, then moved off. She didn’t go far—just far enough that she could still catch our conversation if she listened carefully. I smiled at her watching figure to reassure her.
“You keep a fine dog. Not knowing her place is a flaw, but she suits you well, Miss Ha-eun.”
“Don’t compare my friend to an animal.”
Even the backhanded dig. When I glared, Yoon Seo-a only chuckled. A glance at the clock showed the instructor still had a little time before arriving, so I spoke first.
“So why did you come? You didn’t really come to learn swimming from me. Or did you want to try for yourself what your followers did to me?”
The words themselves were sarcastic, yet I kept my tone perfectly flat. Of course I wanted to needle her, but more than that I was genuinely curious.
“Didn’t I tell you yesterday? If there’s something I want, I must have it or I can’t rest.”
“…So you came to persuade me in person.”
“Yes. So take it as an honor. It’s not often that I go around making invitations myself.”
Yoon Seo-a smiled and murmured. The swimming instructor had just entered; class time had arrived.
“What an honor that is.”
“Heh. Sometimes I think you have a rather rough side, Miss Ha-eun.”
That’s probably why I’m even more drawn to you. The unspoken words made me shudder.
With the instructor’s announcement that afternoon class had begun, simple preparatory exercises followed. Since Chae-rin and I had already warmed up thoroughly, the routine merely reheated bodies that had cooled a little. Even so, there were partner poses that forced me to work with Yoon Seo-a, which soured my mood, but it was too late to change pairs.
Chae-rin was already far away, pressed against another young lady, and no one stood near Yoon Seo-a and me. Literally no one. Whether they wanted to avoid entanglement or simply preferred to watch the spectacle from a safe distance, everyone kept well clear.
Thus even after warm-ups ended and we entered the water to listen to the instructor’s lecture—mostly on how to swim “elegantly,” whatever that meant—Yoon Seo-a and I remained paired.
Unlike ordinary pools, Private Acacia’s was filled with warm water. Combined with the fragrant flowers, it felt almost like a bathhouse.
“Miss Ha-eun, would you hold my hand for a moment?”
Yoon Seo-a, who had been quiet, spoke while we swam two-by-two along the lanes to the instructor’s cadence. I glanced at her, then back at the other swimming girls.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s been so long since I swam that I need a little time to adjust. I’d like to practice while no one is looking this way. At the very least I don’t want to thrash about in the middle of everyone.”
So the request to be taught hadn’t been a complete lie? The thought crossed my mind, but I quickly shook it off. She was definitely plotting something again.
“You could just grab the edge of the pool instead of my hand.”
“Then I might hurt my hands. Don’t tell me you refuse to grant even this small request?”
Was that even a serious argument? I didn’t bother looking at her and gave no answer. She made a soft humming sound, then continued.
“If Miss Ha-eun won’t help me, then I suppose I have no choice.”
“Then practice alone—”
“Yeon Chae-rin, was it? That little puppy who follows you around.”
My head turned toward her of its own accord. Yoon Seo-a smiled sweetly and went on.
“Her father happens to work at one of our subsidiaries. A department head, no less. Her mother is an ordinary housewife, and she has one older sister, I believe.”
“What exactly are you saying right now?”
“If Miss Ha-eun won’t listen to me, I might grow so sad that I take my frustration out on the wrong place.”
She made a little sobbing motion, then casually withdrew her hand and looked at me.
What expression did she see on my face?
Anger, almost certainly. And perhaps fear mixed in as well.
“What will you do?”
At her artless question I clenched my fist so hard my entire arm trembled. Then the strength drained away and my hand slowly extended forward.
That was answer enough. Yoon Seo-a smiled and laid her hand over mine.
Ironically, her hand was very warm—even as my own heart grew colder and harder.