Bring It On! - Chapter 28

Chapter 28. 

Suho, who acted like teasing or scolding Jay was the only joy in life on this deserted island, particularly loved to pick on the man’s inability to swim. Jay could’ve just ignored him, but instead, he took every jab from Suho like a serious fight with a grade schooler. 

He got genuinely hurt by Suho’s teasing and got worked up about it, which only made Suho more excited to push his buttons. How could he not realize that?

The two bickered every day over the pettiest things without ever getting bored. And most of the time, the one who claimed victory after a fierce war of words was Suho. No matter what the argument started with, as long as Suho pulled out his trump card, “swimming,” he was unstoppable.

“I don’t want to hear anything from someone who can’t even float in water!”

That one sentence would completely crush Jay’s fighting spirit.

Maybe that’s why. At first, Jay hadn’t been particularly eager to learn how to swim. But at some point, he started practicing holding his breath in shallow water.

Maybe he was embarrassed to be caught, but he kept sneaking glances around and pretending to wash his face or “accidentally” dunking his head underwater. I watched him from a distance.

One time, just like any other day, we locked eyes while he was secretly practicing. His eyes widened in surprise, then immediately narrowed into a scowl as he stomped over, soaking wet.

“Why are you looking at me like I’m an idiot?”

Jay was quick on the uptake.

Anyway, despite all his efforts, Jay still couldn’t escape Suho’s teasing. Practicing alone in secret during stolen moments of free time just wasn’t enough. And then one day, Suho brought back a chunk of styrofoam.

“Hyung, want me to give you some special swimming lessons?”

His tone was dripping with self-importance. Whatever kind of weird phrasing that was, Jay ended up swallowing his pride and nodding along. He genuinely seemed to want to learn how to swim. Foolishly so. Because Suho’s real intention was to use swimming as an excuse to torment Jay even more.

I tagged along to keep an eye on them, but quickly realized I wasn’t there to watch, I was the target. I barely recovered from the sudden barrage of splashes that hit me out of nowhere.

While Jay floated awkwardly on the Styrofoam with his bare back exposed, Suho swam confidently up beside him and grabbed the foam. His small, water-wrinkled hand tugged gently at Jay’s hair.

Jay lifted his head, revealing a face so pale he looked ready to pass out.

“What.”

“Hyung, if you swim like that, you’re gonna be nothing but stingray food.”

“There are sharks too, why make it sound so lame with stingrays?”

Jay snapped back in irritation.

“There’s a food chain, you know. You’re nowhere near shark level yet. A stingray can totally handle you.”

“Hey. Did you teach me wrong on purpose just to screw me over?!”

“How is it my fault if hyung sucks?”

“You told me to relax my body, so I did. But I kept sinking! I drank half the ocean because of you!”

“Don’t just think you’re relaxing. You have to actually let your body go completely limp and comfortable.”

They started arguing, both holding onto the same piece of Styrofoam. 

“You taught me wrong!” 

“No, you’re just terrible!” 

From my perspective, they were both equally bad. Jay had no talent for swimming, and Suho, who had been a swimming prodigy since he was a kid, couldn’t understand the struggles of someone who just couldn’t get it.

In the middle of their nonstop back-and-forth, Jay suddenly slammed his fist down into the water with a splash. Then he shouted, “Fuck this, I’m done!” and pushed the Styrofoam toward shore. 

Suho, who had been leaning on it, was also dragged along.

“You can’t give up already! Why are you so weak? You can’t even swim, how are you gonna survive this harsh world?”

Suho kept provoking him from behind. Honestly, Jay had already endured more than enough. Even Cinderella’s stepmother didn’t torment people like Suho did. He’d go on and on, saying even a water strider could float, so why couldn’t a supposedly intelligent human like him? 

Maybe Jay was just a less-evolved human, some kind of evolutionary failure? It was a relentless character assassination.

And on top of all that, the quality of the “lessons” didn’t make the abuse worth enduring.

So of course, Jay finally exploded. Honestly, it was to be expected. The only surprising part was how long he had managed to hold out.

“Hyung!”

“Who cares if I can’t swim? It’s not like I’ll die from that.”

“Don’t try to justify it! How long are you gonna keep living like a pathetic loser?”

“Oh, like you’re good at everything? Huh?!”

“Pretty much, yeah?”

Jay stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at Suho. With an irritated face, he lifted just one corner of his mouth in a twisted smile that made him look like he had a seriously bad temper. He swept his wet bangs back from his forehead and let out a shallow breath.

His sharp features stood out even more with his hair pushed back, and the defined line of his jaw became more prominent. Rather than thinking, Wow, he’s handsome, my first thought was, Yep, Suho’s attack really hit him where it hurt.

Jay’s expression was tense, veins popping on his forehead, but Suho didn’t flinch. He just looked back at him coolly, unbothered.

“You. Try copying me.”

He couldn’t swim, but his massive frame looked like it belonged to a professional athlete. Broad shoulders, sharply defined pecs that looked almost angry with how prominent they were, and abs clearly etched below. 

His body was so overflowing with testosterone, it almost felt too much. That massive man glared down at a much younger kid with the kind of simmering intensity that came from sheer frustration.

Jay, now stewing with rage, somehow looked calmer than before. His eyes, like those of a predator, locked on Suho as he spoke in a low, warning tone.

“Try copying me. If you can’t, then you’re just a loud-mouthed liar.”

“…What are you trying to do now?”

Even before I finished muttering to myself, Jay began climbing the tree with swift movements. Barefoot, no less. He placed the side of his foot against the trunk and alternated his hands as he rapidly ascended.

Suho and I gaped in awe at the immense, destructive power and speed. How could someone with such a massive body move so agilely? It was like watching King Kong climb a skyscraper in a movie.

He even jumped from one tree to another and hung on. His tree-climbing was nothing short of astonishing. It was clean, efficient, and breathtaking. Perhaps those years he spent stealing eggs from birds’ nests weren’t completely wasted. 

Suho looked utterly defeated. After all, his swimming, something anyone could learn in a month at a pool academy, paled in comparison to the near-acrobatics Jay was now showing off.

“Try it! Come on, try it!”

Jae shouted loudly, hanging from the treetop. Just as Suho drooped his head in dismay….

Thud.

A heavy sound made me whip my gaze away from Suho.

“Jay!”

Just seconds ago, he’d been hanging steadily on the tree, but now he had fallen. I knew he was overdoing it; of course he’d end up getting hurt. I rushed over and inspected his injury. As expected, a long gash stretched across his firm forearm, as if cut by something sharp, and beads of blood were beginning to form.

It wasn’t bad enough to panic, but it wasn’t something we could ignore either. If the wound got infected, we’d be in serious trouble. This was exactly why I’d tagged along as a self-appointed supervisor. 

And yet, even I had been mesmerized by Jay’s sudden stunt and completely let my guard down.

“Suho, bring the ointment!”

Suho ran toward the shelter. I used Jay’s discarded shirt to wipe off the dirt around the wound.

“Ahhh!”

“Don’t be such a baby.”

“I could’ve stayed up there, you know.”

“Even monkeys fall from trees. You’re no exception.”

“No, really. This tree is just… you know.”

“You blamed Suho when you couldn’t swim. Now you’re blaming the tree?”

“I’m not making excuses. I’m serious. Didn’t you feel anything?”

“What the hell is wrong with this tree…?”

A tree is a tree. I looked up from treating his wound to snap at his nonsense and froze. I couldn’t say a word. As ridiculous as it was, I understood exactly what he meant. 

The massive tree towering right next to us was the same one where we had, in a daze, kissed just the day before.

“……”

“That promise to help each other whenever needed… still valid, right?”