Bring It On! - Chapter 10

Chapter 10.

Jay turned to me with a deeply hurt expression.

I know. Just like you shouldn’t call a real fool a fool, you shouldn’t tell someone who smells like garbage that you can’t stand their stench. But…

“I’ve been holding it in for days. I can’t take it anymore.”

“I wash every day.”

“I know.”

More or less. Jay splashed around in the stream naked every morning and evening. Ever since I accidentally saw his bare butt during a midnight walk to the stream, I avoided the area at night. Still, his well-toned body, probably from regular exercise, was impressive.

“I can’t get any cleaner than this,” he said, clearly feeling wronged.

To be fair, he had a point. Thanks to the backpacks left on the yacht, Sooho and I had at least a change of clothes. But Jay had been wearing the same outfit for over two weeks. Even washing twice a day couldn’t get rid of the stench clinging to his clothes.

I wanted to lend him some of our clothes, but the size difference was too big. A T-shirt would barely fit over one of his arms.

“Sigh… what are we supposed to do?”

I even considered weaving some kind of leaf-underwear for him. While Jay sniffed his arm suspiciously, he suddenly grabbed my shoulder, leaned in close to my neck, and sniffed me just like he did himself. His nose brushed my skin, and his hair tickled my cheek.

After acting like a drug-sniffing dog for a moment, Jay finally pulled back and said, “You and I smell about the same.”

“That’s rude.”

“I’m serious.”

“You know people usually can’t smell their own stink.”

How could I cure this poor guy’s nose? Jay had been obsessively clean about everything since getting stranded, yet he didn’t realize how badly he stank.

With a completely straight face, I told him, “You smell like poop.”

Jay stared into my eyes for a long moment. Finally understanding the gravity of the situation, he took two big steps away from me.

“Where are you going?”

“You said I smell like poop.”

“Well, you do, but still, come here. It’s too late to act all formal now.”

It was laughable that he was suddenly trying to keep distance over smell, when he usually clung to me like a leech at night. When I tugged on his clothes, he reluctantly shuffled back toward me.

“Isn’t there anything left on the yacht?”

He was pointing at the wrecked yacht, still beached on the sand.

“We already took everything useful.”

“You sure?”

“…”

“Oh? No answer, huh?”

I looked toward the yacht. Kim Jaecheol and Jaden had searched it last. Aside from the first day we were stranded, I hadn’t gone back inside it myself.

“Hey, what’s with that look?”

Kim Jaecheol had claimed there was nothing left, but I didn’t trust him. He was the type to half-ass everything. Right after the wreck, we were all too busy trying to survive and take care of sick Suho to think about checking thoroughly.

After the three traitors escaped the island, I had thought about going back in. But…

“You scared?” 

Jay asked, tapping my arm.

I clenched my fists. Just looking at the yacht made my vision blur and cold sweat run down my back.

“Sun Woo-ri.”

Jay’s voice sounded muffled, like it came from underwater. My eyes were fixed on the yacht, but in my mind, I was seeing something else.

The yacht shook violently with a deafening roar. Dark seawater crashing into the boat like a monster. And Lee Haeseong, holding the wheel to the very end.

“Suho! Suho’s still in the room!”

He had screamed at the top of his lungs, neck veins bulging. I was barely clinging to the deck, battered by wind and spray. The yacht heaved wildly, waves flooding in faster and faster.

In that terrifying moment, I remembered a boy’s bright face. He had said that after this delivery job, he would return to Korea with his brother and go back to school.

The yacht was slowly swallowed by endless, deep blue waves. The wind roared. It wasn’t a joke. Death had truly come knocking. Fear and despair clung to my skin like salt.

The wrecked yacht, stranded in the middle of the ocean, stood no chance against the massive waves.

A wave as big as a house was rapidly approaching from the front, and beneath it was Lee Haeseong. His face already accepted death. I couldn’t even shout for him to run.

I just turned my back and ran into the cabin. Water was already up to my chest, and no matter how hard I pulled, the door wouldn’t open. I used an axe hanging on the wall to smash the door and create a gap, then shoved my arm through and turned the handle.

A small boy was standing on a desk, crying and gasping. I immediately pulled him into my arms. In that moment, the wave that must have engulfed Lee Haeseong loomed dark above our heads.

“Sun Woo-ri!”

Jay gripped my shoulders tightly with both hands. Startled, I was yanked out of my thoughts and blinked, trembling. Jay’s expression had gone strangely tense.

“What’s wrong with you? Is that place haunted or something?”

“…Well, there’s no rule that says it couldn’t be.”

“What? Are you serious?”

I wiped the sweat from my palm onto my thigh without him noticing. When I batted away his hands and started walking forward, Jay quickly caught up and walked beside me.

“I’ll go by myself. You stay and rest at the shelter.”

“You’re going alone to the yacht?”

“Yeah. I’m not scared of ghosts.”

Jay gave a bright smile and showed the rosary in his hand. The silver cross charm sparkled in the sunlight.

“Even if you get possessed by a demon, don’t worry. I’ll try an exorcism. You know exorcisms work on evil spirits too, right?”

I couldn’t bring myself to say I wanted to go with him. Jay didn’t seem to care at all, but for some reason, I felt uneasy.

“…Then I’ll wait for you in front.”

“No need.”

Jay walked me all the way back to the shelter, then headed toward the yacht alone. His steps were confident, as if fear didn’t exist in his world. He wasn’t the type to pray regularly or clutch a Bible to his chest, but somehow, in terms of sincere faith, he seemed more genuine than Jaden.

While Jay searched the yacht, I started preparing dinner with Suho. We hadn’t caught many crabs today. I’d wanted to prep food for tomorrow, but there was barely enough for tonight. It definitely wouldn’t be enough for Jay’s appetite.

In the end, I took out the dried bird meat we’d stored and skewered it on wooden sticks. It felt too early to be using our emergency rations. Just as I was feeling down about it, a flashlight beam started approaching from the distance.

I grabbed a torch and waved it. It was Jay.

At first, I watched him approach without much thought, but then my pupils widened. Before I knew it, I was standing.

“What the hell is all that?!”

Jay had returned carrying a huge black backpack like a military bag. He was no longer in those ragged home clothes but in a neat black T-shirt and pants. In just an hour, his appearance had completely changed, and I couldn’t hide my shock. How were there clothes and shoes that fit him perfectly on that yacht?

“You haven’t seen anything yet.”

With a click of his tongue, Jay unzipped the bag. Inside were a working rescue rope, aluminum paddles, blankets, pillows, paper, and lots of other useful stuff. He’d even found several half-finished bottles of alcohol.

“You’re telling me you hadn’t searched that place all this time because of a ghost?”

Jay gave a smug shrug like we’d be doomed without him. But this time, I didn’t argue with his showboating. The materials he’d brought back would be very useful for building a new shelter. 

A deep, genuine breath of amazement escaped from within me. I honestly wanted to kiss his cheek in gratitude. I clapped and spread my arms open.

“Come here.”

Jay muttered, “Ugh, for something like this?” but still ducked his head and walked into my arms. I rubbed the back of his head roughly and praised him.

“Well done. Good job.”

“But you wanna see something even cooler?”

Despite me treating him like a nine-year-old, Jay grinned and whispered in my ear. Something even cooler?

He pulled something out of his back pocket. A smooth, black, cold metallic object.

It was a gun.