Bring It On! - Chapter 96

Chapter 96.

Cha Yoon spoke rather curtly without meeting my eyes. I turned my gaze toward the wide glass window. Heavy rain poured down in streaks across the open landscape. Where on earth was he planning to go in this downpour? And soaking wet like that.

“Let’s just stay here. You’re already drenched…”

“Don’t worry about me.”

“How can I not? You’ll catch a cold. Go wash up already.”

Despite my urging, Cha Yoon remained rooted to the spot as if nailed there, so I had to push him into the bathroom. Only after a long while did I faintly hear the sound of running water. 

I wondered if Suho had arrived safely. Checking my phone, several photos had arrived from him, all blurry and off-focus.

“Looks like he’s having a blast.”

While it was gloomy and rainy here, Suho seemed bright and carefree, as if the rain didn’t matter at all. I studied the photos twice over, walked around the spacious living room to take in the surroundings, and finally sat back on the sofa. 

How long has it been since Cha Yoon went to shower? Just as my boredom was starting to creep in, he appeared.

“What’s this?” 

I blurted instinctively.

“What’s what,” he muttered curtly, brushing past me toward the kitchen.

“Didn’t you just shower?”

“I did.”

I followed him immediately, placing a hand on his shoulder while standing on my tiptoes. Reaching up, I ran my fingers through his black hair. It was stiff and set, as if sprayed into place.

“Why did you do your hair? Going somewhere again?”

“Where would I go?”

He mumbled, opening the fridge. Apparently thirsty, he grabbed a soda and twisted the cap. In an instant, the drink exploded upward, drenching him completely from head to toe.

“…You okay?”

Bubbles were fizzing furiously in his hands. I carefully took the soda from him.

“Go wash up again.”

***

Cha Yoon’s streak of bad luck didn’t stop there. The table we’d set up on the terrace had been blown over by strong winds, and the previously working Bluetooth speaker suddenly made a popping sound and stopped. 

The worse things got, the more Cha Yoon’s expression hardened. Even when I told him to just relax, he stubbornly grabbed a frying pan.

I didn’t even get to see the dish he’d prepared after breaking several plates. It went straight into the trash.

“Are you really that hungry?” 

Cha Yoon asked cautiously, glancing at me. If I said it was fine, he’d probably go back to cooking.

“Yeah. Let’s just eat whatever.”

Only then did Chay Yoon nod in agreement.

“Wait a sec. I’ve got something simple to eat…”

As he opened the top shelf of the pantry, all the stacked ingredients came crashing down over his head.

“…….”

I was too stunned to even ask if he was okay. A brief silence fell. Finally, as a sort of final act, a single apple rolled out and smacked the top of his head before falling to the floor. The perfectly round, red apple rolled right to my feet.

“…Cha Yoon.”

I whispered. He just turned his head to look at me. The moment our eyes met, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. I didn’t even know why. 

I knew I had to hold it in, but once it escaped, it only grew louder. Covering my mouth with my hand, I tried to stifle it, while Cha Yoon silently averted his gaze.

His exposed ears were bright red.

“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh.”

“…….”

“Let’s just eat something quick. First, drink something. You couldn’t drink the soda earlier.”

I grabbed whatever was handy from the fridge and even opened the cap for him. Without hesitation, he drank it all in one go. He must’ve been thirsty. 

But after a few sips, he immediately coughed, noticing something strange. Checking the label, his face scrunched up in embarrassment.

“This… is beer, isn’t it?”

“Oh. Yeah, it is.”

Cha Yoon irritably swept his hair back from his forehead. At first, I wondered why he was making such a fuss over just a beer, but when I noticed his flushed cheeks and glistening eyes, it hit me. 

He really couldn’t handle alcohol at all.

He let out a deep breath that made his chest rise and fall noticeably, as if the alcohol was starting to hit him.

“Hey, sorry. I didn’t realize you couldn’t handle even this much alcohol.”

“Nothing seems to go right today.”

“Then why did you even bring the beer if you can’t drink it?”

“You… drink sometimes…”

“Huh?”

“Ha, come here.”

Cha Yoon grabbed my hand and began striding off somewhere. His legs were long and his steps wide, making it hard to keep up. 

Eventually, I stumbled, and he made a startled expression.

“Walk a little slower.”

“Ah… okay.”

He matched his pace to mine, moving at an almost comically slow speed. Slower than a snail, perhaps. I wasn’t sure if he was genuinely drunk from a few sips of beer or just teasing me. 

When I came to a complete stop, Cha Yoon seemed to realize something was off and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Even walking, I can’t get it right anymore.” 

He muttered to himself.

The hand that had been gripping mine so tightly finally fell. But soon after, Cha Yoon scooped me up in one motion. Suddenly, I was looking up at him, and I instinctively clutched his coat while gazing up. 

I wanted to tell him to put me down, but his angular jaw looked resolute, as if he had made some serious decision. Without any explanation, he carried me through the house until he reached a door deep within the villa, and a familiar smell of water brushed against my nose.

As he stepped inside, soft lighting bathed the space. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, a large indoor pool stretched across the room. 

I parted my lips slightly, staring at the gently rippling blue surface. For an indoor pool, it seemed quite deep and expansive. The ceiling was glass, so on a clear day, one could float and watch the stars above.

Cha Yoon carefully set me down. I slipped out of my slippers and dipped one foot into the water. I had expected an icy chill, but the water was surprisingly warm. 

Without hesitation, I submerged both feet and sat on the edge. Cha Yoon sat right next to me.

Outside the glass, night had painted the world black. As a result, our reflections were mirrored perfectly on the glass, making it feel like we were facing another pair of selves.

“I hate water,” came a voice beside me.

I turned, and our eyes met immediately. Had he been staring the whole time? The darkness seemed to deepen the color of his eyes today.

His gaze fell on me in a way that felt almost insistently fixated, making me slightly uneasy. I scratched my cheek and answered casually.

“Really?”

This was the same person who claimed to hate water but had gone through so much effort to build such a huge indoor pool. He couldn’t swim and disliked water, so why create a space like this?

“I almost drowned in the ocean when I was young because of my brother, so I never went near it again.”

“Ah…”

“That’s why I can’t swim.”

Hearing him talk about swimming inevitably reminded me of Jay. The beer bottle that had struggled and sunk despite Suho’s passionate instructions. 

Thinking of Jay made my heart ache, and I forced a bitter smile onto my lips. It felt strange being here with Cha Yoon instead.

Even so, I found his voice pleasant to hear. In the past, I would have been on edge, waiting for him to flare up at any moment, but now I felt as relaxed as if an old friend were beside me. 

I wasn’t exactly sure what that feeling was, having never kept in touch with old friends, but it was comforting.

Cha Yoon mentioned that he didn’t even want to board the cruise for Chairman Cha’s seventieth birthday. The cruise had been so horrible, he’d broken out in hives, and he’d bought a yacht in a rush to escape. 

When talking about the yacht, I noticed the edge of his voice twinged slightly. He kept glancing at me, as if worrying I thought he’d stranded me on a deserted island. I didn’t mind, but it seemed to linger on his conscience.

As he soaked his feet in the water, he went on and on about how much he hated water. Then, carefully, he paused mid-sentence, as if choosing his words.