"Where were the two of you?" A teacher asks upon our arrival at the river. I say nothing and simply apologize. Jungkook does the same beside me and the two of us return to our group in silence. I walk past Reumi and without me noticing, she sticks out her foot, causing me to trip over with my knees landing hard on the ground. I don't look up. I should have seen this coming.
"Hmph, that's for ruining my moment with Jungkook." I hear her say before strutting away. Her friends giggles at how lame I look but I ignore them and get up from the ground. My knees are bleeding.
I limp towards my group, who are organizing bits of wood and tires before fastening them together with a rope. Apparently this activity is a raft-making contest. The group who makes the most successful raft that can carry all group members across the river wins.
"I think this tire should go here to balance out the weight." Jungkook says to the rest of the group members. Naturally, he becomes the leader without even trying. We listen to him, contributing our ideas at the same time and waiting for his approval. It's like he's the big boss and we are his underlings, but no one complains since he has the best leadership skills out of us all. After an hour or so, majority of the groups have completed their rafts. Our group is the last one to finish.
"Okay guys, hop onto your rafts!" The teacher instructs us over the speaker-head. My group mates jump onto the raft without difficulty, however, with my injured knees, I struggle to get on. Jungkook must have notice my struggle because without any warning, he leans down beside me and lifts me up in bridal fashion. I stare at him in surprise. He isn't looking back at me. Before I can say anything, he dumps my body onto the raft and I jolt back into reality.
"Look after your body more." He says, eyeing my bloody knees. I quickly hide them and look away. Is he trying to be nice or what..? I can't tell because his words and actions contradict each other, leaving me in a state of confusion. "Tch...you ungrateful brat." I hear him mumble under his breath. Out of cheekiness, I lean in close to his face.
"Go. Ma. Wo." I pronounce each syllable loudly and exaggeratedly, making it sound as insincere as possible. For a second, he seems startled by my sudden action. A soft tint of pink colored his cheeks, but they disappear quickly when he shoots me a look of annoyance before getting on the raft himself. I fold my arms proudly and shuffle closer towards the center. Beside me, a girl called Ji Young whispers in my ear.
"You guys seem close. Do you guys know each other?" Her voice is filled with curiosity.
"Ah, no we aren't."
"Are you sure? I've never seen him act this close with a girl before."
If only you knew. I think back to the incident that got me into this miserable state and chuckle to myself.
"No. We are simply just classmates. Nothing more." I reply flatly, which seems to have shut her up. She didn't ask any more questions after that.
"On your marks...get set...go!" A whistle goes off and everyone starts paddling their oars in a hurry to win. Beside our raft is Reumi's group, who is struggling to get theirs moving. We sail past them and laugh at their progress. One of our group members pulls a thumbs down at them and I join in for the fun. However when no one was watching, Reumi yanks my arm really hard from where she is sitting on her raft, causing me to lose my balance. Before I can regain it, I fall head first into the river.
The river is surprisingly deep in the middle, which catches me off guard because I thought it is shallow throughout. I flail my arms in the water, struggling to call for help as water keeps entering through my mouth and nose. The current is gradually getting stronger and I feel my body getting weaker. It seems no one has noticed my disappearance because nobody has yet rescued me. Of course, why would they. Everyone hates me. Over time, my body becomes limp from fatigue and eventually, I surrender myself to the water.
Everything goes black.
-(Jungkook's POV)-
"YES WE WIN!" I scream in delight when we reach the other side. My whole group starts cheering and I scan the raft to see Jyeri's reaction. To my surprise, she is nowhere to be seen. "Um guys, where is Jyeri?" I ask them. They look around and simply shrug their shoulders. I scan the river and notice a hand reaching out before disappearing under the surface. Without thinking twice, I jump in and swim towards the center.
"Jungkook-oppa! What are you doing?"
"Come back Jungkook! The current is getting stronger!"
"Jeon Jungkook! Get back here instantly!"
The noises drown out as soon as I dive underwater. It is murky and dark down here, but I don't care. Right now, I need to save my classmate. I frantically look around in all directions, gasping for air when needed, and dive back down again. I repeat this process 3 times before finally spotting her body drifting downstream. Her eyes are closed and she is no longer blowing any bubbles. My heart races as I carry her to the surface, one hand behind her knees and one hand behind her neck. She cannot die. No, not after what I've done to her. Guilt hits me hard in the stomach as I continue to carry her towards the river bank. People are starting to realize what had happened and begin to crowd around me. I gently lay her on the ground and place a finger under her nose. She isn't breathing.
"Move aside! I need space to perform CPR." I yell out, while forcing her mouth , people made space for me and remain standing on the sidelines, watching quietly in shock. I can't believe I'm doing this. Without wasting anymore time, I breathe in and place my mouth over hers. This made me think about our first kiss, how I have stolen it without her permission. Well, here I am, stealing her second kiss.
I have been performing CPR for 10 minutes now, but she is still not breathing. Am I doing it right? Negative thoughts flood my brain and I am starting to lose hope as each second passes. Come on Jyeri, you can do it...
Suddenly, her finger twitches ever so slightly.
The next thing I know, her eyes fly open and I feel a splash of water on my face. I slowly open my eyes and look at her in disgust. She has just thrown up water on me. Gee. Thanks.
"Everyone look! Jungkook did it! She's breathing!" I hear someone yell from the side. People begin cheering my name as if I'm their new king or something while teachers gather around Jyeri to ask her if she is okay. Before I can examine her myself, the whole senior year group swarm around me, showering me with praises and cheers.
"Who pushed you into the water?" I hear a teacher ask her. I glance over my shoulder to see her response. She is staring at Reumi, who have also seem to have heard the teacher because she's staring right back at her while biting her finger nervously. Good, now she can have her revenge on Reumi so she won't bother her anymore.
"Ah, no one did. I accidentally fell in myself. Mianhae." She replies convincingly to the teacher and bows her head. What is she doing? She looks at Reumi one more time before heading back to her tent. Ji Young chases after her and supports Jyeri by placing her arm around her neck to make walking easier. It seems like she has made a new friend.
"Jungkook, the teacher wants a word with you." Taehyung taps me on the shoulder and I look away quickly before anyone can notice I have been looking at her. Part of me feels proud of what I've just done, but another part of me feels more than that, like I've just completed my life mission.
Do I perhaps...care about her? My eyes widen at the thought.
To me...is she perhaps...more than just a classmate?
-(end of part 9)-
