something in the water - winrina

1: Smart Water

Minjeong remembers the first time she ever swam.

The chill waters engulfed her body full heartedly, and it was like being born again. Unlike other children, Minjeong let her instructor carefully let them teach her that going under water wasn't scary. And at 8 years old, little Minjeong begged her parents to enroll her in more swim classes.

She grew to love the waters, finding it calming whenever she took a dip, a round back and forth enough to make her forget about how bad her day was. As soon as she'd get out, a smile occupied her lips willingly.

High school came and fortunately for her they had a swim team, which Minjeong immediately applied for. She ended up making it onto to the Varsity team, freshman year. While she enjoyed it, there was always a girl who was tall, sharp eyes, had the physique and was drop dead gorgeous who was one of the only people on par with Minjeong.

She hated it.

She liked having the attention on her and it seemed like the girl did too because she'd give Minjeong a glare whenever she came from the changing room.

Their school was full of incredible swimmers and Minjeong liked the atmosphere, she even made a bunch of new friends too. But with Yu Jimin on the team, there seemed to be a split in the varsity team. To make it even worse, Jimin was captain while Minjeong was vice captain. They became athletic rivals.

She didn't care but she guessed the others did. They took their sides and eventually, bets of which group would have the better scores were set.

They were fun because it gave Minjeong a sense of thrill. It was always relieving whenever Minjeong saw the slight scowl on Jimin's face when Minjeong's group gathered the better scores. It was never a matter of their high school against others but within their own swim team.

They graduated their senior year with the national title, and Minjeong remembered it being the only day where there wasn't tension in the air.

Offers fly out for a high ranking school for swim teams. Kwangya University. They all accept, excited that they worked hard enough to earn a full ride for a scholarship to one of the top universities.

"Minjeong, can we go now?" Ryujin groans, her knees to her chin while she sits on the long chair.

The brunette rises up to top, slowly back stroking toward the girl's direction. When she reaches the edge of the pool, Minjeong lifts her goggles to give Ryujin a knowing look.

Ryujin rolls her eyes. "Saturdays are for free sessions going over the things you struggled with during practice." They both say at the same time, one monotone, the other brightly. Minjeong smiles.

Pulling herself up the wall, she grabs the towel Ryujin hands her, patting the cloth around her body. She removes her swim cap, shaking her head to get her hair back to its normal state.

She scrolls through her phone, looking at the time. "Are you hungry? I'll get you something to eat." Minjeong offers.

Her friend immediately springs up from her position. The brunette knows she has Ryujin for Saturday sessions for the rest of the semester. Quickly taking a shower and changing, she feels as if nothing can ruin her day. She in such a good mood that she decides to not to take too long getting ready so Ryujin doesn't have to wait.

She grabs her keys, pulling Ryujin down the dorm hallways. The raven begs for her to slow down, obviously noticing the beam on Minjeong's face.

As they leave to go outside, she hears girls giggling, making Ryujin and Minjeong look up.