hydra | svt

CHAPTER TWENTY.

wonwoo

"th-that's hansol's?"

izzy laughs and drops the keyring back in my palm. instinctively, i wrap my fingers around it and try to piece together everything that has just happened; the new boy was indeed hansol? and did he know that his seemingly harmless keyring turned into a very not harmless sword? i shake my head to clear my thoughts.

"wanna go and see him?"

"what?" i drop the metal in my hand, watching it plummet to the floor and wincing at the clang that resonates after. i stoop to pick it up.

"sure?" i reply uncertainly.

"okay, grab your swimming trunks because we're going to the pool!"

_

the pool.

riding the public bus to the community swimming pool gave me a lot of time to sort through my thoughts. obviously, it made perfect sense for a water mage to be around water; even though hansol couldn't use his powers, i'm sure he felt in his element (literally). however, i was feeling rather sceptical about the whole ordeal: was it this easy to find my best friends? and the mage said something about having to search further than korea? would that still happen?

it seems we weren't the only people heading to the pool today. the bus was packed with children and parents with large beach bags and obnoxiously loud inflatable pool floats. there was also a lot of excited chatter and i grumbled under my breath when some child started squeaking the brightly coloured plastic.

"what's up grumpy? don't like a bit of sun and sea?" izzy nudges me playfully and i roll my eyes in response. a public pool was hardly 'sun and sea'.

as we turned the corner, i could finally see the pool in all it's bustling glory. it was mildly hot today and so i expected it to be busy, but this was another level. children shrieked from the cool blue water, which glistened under the midday sun, every deck chair was occupied by sunbathers reading magazines and sipping icy drinks from the vending machine and it was extremely overwhelming. i turned my nose up and the thought of actually having to go in there and face all these loud, careless people. pity for the lifeguard flickers in my stomach as i watch three kids start to wrestle in the water.

the bus lurches to a stop right outside the gated area and izzy pulls me off the bus hastily. i barely have time to say thank you to the bus driver before stumbling after her.

"geez, slow down!"

"sorry, i'm really excited since i haven't been the pool in a while! and it's so hot today as well, the timing couldn't have been better!" she babbles on excitedly which doesn't help the guilt building up inside me thanks to the fact that i despised this sort of environment. obviously, i want to reunite with hansol but surely there's a better, less public way of doing so?

we reach the entrance and izzy pays for both of our fees. the smell of chlorine floods my nostrils and i start coughing awkwardly as we make our way towards the changing rooms up ahead, with men on the left and women on the right: this is where we go our separate ways.

"i'll meet you by that deckchair over there in the corner. don't forget your sunscreen!" she points vaguely in the are she means and i nod in feigned understanding. the feeling of absolute dread replaces my initial guilt and i pull out all the stops to try and find some other way to avoid this.

"i-is mark okay with you being here? with me?"

what a stupid thing to say.

izzy merely drops my hand and gives me an are-you-serious-it's-the-twenty-first-century look before disappearing into the female changing rooms, leaving me stranded in the searing twelve o clock heat. i quickly head inside, pushing against the blue door - noticing the peeling paint as i do so.

humidity swathes me immediately and i instantly regret coming here. the sound of the running showers echoes against the cream tiled walls; shuffling clumsily inside, i situate myself in the furthest corner from the door, closest to the entrance to the pool. thankfully, everyone seems to be keeping to themselves and i quickly change into my swimming trunks and a white t-shirt to protect me from the sun. reluctantly, i leave my things in a small locker and follow a father and his son into the jaws of hell.

it's even noisier on the inside and i fight the urge to scamper back towards the changing rooms like some storybook vampire. i weave through a group of children dashing across the cement as a female voice shouts "no running around the pool!".

izzy's already waiting for me on the aforementioned deckchair, glancing between her phone and the lifeguard repeatedly. i watch quietly for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"what're you doing?" i finally ask.

her head snaps up and her shoulder tense, before immediately relaxing when she realises it's just me.

"hold on any minute now," she whispers. i follow her line of sight to the female lifeguard climbing down from her watch-chair across the pool. my head spins at the sight of the new lifeguard and i feel like i'm about to faint. his honey-blond hair is hard to miss in the glorious sun and the features of his face come together in my mind to form a very familiar face.

it's hansol.

my suspicions are confirmed once the female lifeguard from before shouts "good luck vern!" before vanishing into the 'employees only' room.

vern. so he goes by his english name here. my nausea begins to ease slightly.

"how do we talk to him?" i ask dumbly. for the first time today, izzy's face falls.

"we can't. not today anyway. but now you know he works here you can catch him outside of school hours."

i nod wordlessly and take a quick survey of the pool. my eyes land on a poster by the vending machine, flapping in the gentle breeze. in bold red letters, it says LIFEGUARD NEEDED and some details in a smaller print that i can't make out from here.

"i think i'm going to get a summer job."