He was not just a child. Jihong also trained alone. The 50-meter pool on the second floor of the municipal sports center had eight lanes, which is quite unusual for Korea, but seven of them have always remained free. At other times, the pool may have been overcrowded. With the exception of individual classes, group classes were usually held in it, then a certain number of people could be observed. But during Jihon's training session from 16:00 to 18:00 on weekdays, there was almost no one. There was only one person in this large pool, Jihon's coach, who stayed by his side while he prepared for the competition. But as the rehabilitation dragged on, and it was decided to skip the season, his presence became less noticeable.

The child swimming in the pool was in a different situation. Unlike Jihon, whose career was nearing the end, the guy was just starting out, and his coach was full of enthusiasm. However, he suffered from alcoholism and often missed training due to a hangover. While the coach slept in the living room, the kid swam alone around the 50-meter pool several times.

Jihong often saw the child studying alone. He didn't want to watch him. There was a day when physical therapy quickly ended and he came to the pool early. At this time, Jihong changed his clothes in advance and sat down on a bench by the pool, waiting for the start of training. He had to watch the child swim. Despite being able to look away, Jihong decided not to. The baby's abilities were impressive: excellent technique and impressive speed. It was amazing to witness such skill as a fifth-grader, especially since the child was over 170 cm tall. It also became obvious why coach Lim offered the kid individual training.

However, it was beyond his comprehension when he saw a child training in the pool alone. He didn't know why, but the pool seemed unusually huge that day. And it was so quiet. The sound of the child cutting the waves was heard non-stop, so much of it that it was enough to fill a large space with it. It seemed to echo blankly. Jihong, having waited until the guy swam 400 meters freestyle, spoke to him.

"Aren't you bored alone?"

The guy took off his glasses and looked at Jihon standing by the pool. Jihong saw that the child's eyes were not completely black, but rather brown. It was not just beautiful, but amazing.

"Why should I be bored when I'm swimming?"

This child, a 12-year-old boy, blinked as if he didn't understand Jihon's words. In the light of the pool, the baby's brown eyes seemed more transparent, and the drops of water on his long eyelashes glittered like precious stones.

"Do you get bored when you train, hyung?" the boy asked, rubbing his eyes with his fingertips. Jihon replied after thinking for a while.

"No, I'm not bored either.

The boy looked at Jihon with an expression of complete incomprehension on his face. Instead of answering, Jihon turned his gaze to the center of the pool. Sunlight poured in through the windows. In the afternoon, the sun would set and reflect off the surface of the water. In the middle of the large pool, Jihong muttered softly after seeing the still flickering light, "But sometimes I feel lonely."

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep beep

A repetitive mechanical sound woke Jihon up, causing him to open his eyes. Instinctively, he found his cell phone as he got out of bed. After the alarm clock was turned off, a distant sound from the living room leaked through the partially open door.

"Oh God," Jihon sighed and lowered his face down.

After thinking about the options for a moment, Jihon dangled his legs from the edge of the bed and stood up. As expected, there were obvious traces of the previous night on the sheets. Fortunately, the blanket was fine, but it didn't bring much comfort. There were no stains on the short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts he always wore when he slept. Jihong couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he dressed again.

Rolling up the dirty sheets and putting them aside, he headed for the living room. Running his hand through his disheveled hair, he noticed a man sitting on the couch, absorbed in watching TV. The young man, turning his head when Jihon appeared, casually asked:

"Oh, are you awake?"

"Of course. I had to," Jihon replied routinely and went to the kitchen.

"Hey, you drank so much yesterday. Korean office workers are so amazing.

Seeing the man smiling and talking, it seemed that he was not an employee of the company. Well, if he was, then he should have gone home and got ready for work. On Monday morning, he couldn't sit back and watch TV.

"What does he do for a living? Writing? I don't think he's a student," Jihon thought.

He brought a glass of cold water and stole a glance at the man. His face was small and thin. Even though he was skinny, his forearms were surprisingly powerful, and his legs had a straight and elongated shape.

Such a body definitely didn't belong to an ordinary person. The man's impeccable balance and graceful sitting posture indicated that he had been subjected to hard training or had developed these habits for a long period. Perhaps he has something to do with show business or was a dancer...

"Oh, exactly. This is a friend of Kiju who used to practice modern dance," as soon as Jihon thought of this, the memories of the previous night filled his mind.

This guy was introduced to him by a friend who worked in a bar. The acquaintance itself was unremarkable - they just exchanged greetings and decided to drink together. However, as the conversation continued, time slipped away, and they left the bar long after midnight. Jihong remembered that the guy had told him that his house was in Gimpo, so they got into a taxi together to spend the night at his place... He still couldn't remember what happened next. Who kissed first, how the atmosphere became like this, whether the clothes were taken off or not, whether a condom was worn or not, even whether he or that guy was the one who should put it on.

"Do you have a headache? Maybe you feel sick?" the man leaned to the side and asked when Jihon approached the sofa.

"No, it's all right. I don't usually have a hangover.

"That's what you said last night.

The man laughed as if he was having fun.

"Really?"

"Yes, you've been drinking a lot, so I asked if you'd be okay at work tomorrow, and you said you don't usually have a hangover."

"You must have thought I was bluffing.

The man laughed at his words again. It seems that this was the case. Jihon also smirked and drank the water. As the cold liquid entered him, he felt that his head began to think more clearly. Jihon finished his water and looked at the man sitting next to him. The guy's hair was wet. Apparently, he got up early and even took a shower. He seemed to be very diligent. Unless he just wanted to show Jihon his neat appearance.

"A handsome man is handsome even when he wakes up," the man muttered something to himself as he combed Jihon's hair with his fingers.

"That praise won't do you anything.

Jihong put down the empty glass and smiled. In fact, he was going to find out who did it yesterday, but decided that he didn't need to ask so quickly. Jihong gently clarified, "Sorry, did I put on a condom yesterday?"

— Yes. You've worn it all three times.

Jihon nodded, grabbing a cigarette case from the table. It was a satisfactory answer in every respect.

"As soon as you open your eyes, do you smoke right away?"

"I need to wake up."

"But you just got up

The man shyly snapped back. Jihong lit a cigarette and took a deep breath. After a long exhalation, he said, "I'm still in a state of prostration."

"Isn't that a hangover?"

"No, it's not. I just had a strange dream.

"What kind of dream?"

When asked by the man, Jihong said, putting a cigarette in his mouth, "A dream about the times when I used to swim."

"Oh, that's right. You were a swimmer.

But that was already ten years ago. For the next ten years, he never even appeared near the pool, but he often dreamed about that time. Usually this happened on the day when he drank a lot and had sex on a drunken head. He fell asleep as if he was losing consciousness, so it seemed to him that his body was falling under the bed.

But perhaps it was this feeling that led to such a dream, Jihon thought to himself. In this sense, yesterday's dream was a little strange. Although the familiar setting was still the pool, Jihong found himself just watching from the sidelines, not even submerging his feet in the water, let alone submerging himself in it.

The dream was more like a vivid memory than a vague vision. Why did he suddenly see such a thing? In ten years, he had never thought about it. Why now, and for what reason?

"Am I lonely?" asked Jihon with a cigarette in his mouth. Soon he grinned and lit a cigarette. Just yesterday he had fun, and today he felt lonely.

"What's the matter?" the young man asked.

"No, nothing. It's okay," Jihong replied succinctly. He wasn't going to tell his one-night stand partner who had been in bed with him just hours before. Fortunately, the man was no longer interested. This was because something was shown on the morning TV that caught his attention.

[Next news from the entertainment industry and the world of sports: Kwon Jaekyung, who has finally won the title of the best athlete outside of Korea and Asia, and is now the most popular sports star in Korea, is once again involved in a scandal before the final competition for the Grand Slam tournament.

"Oh, finally," the man said with an interested expression. The rumor of the relationship that the reporter was talking about not only interested the unknown guy, but also Jihon. Of course, there was another reason why Jihong reacted to the news.

"So it happened because of this," he understood the reason for the strange dream he had had the night before.