After diving right in, we swam under the cold water for as long as we could. It was dark and difficult to tell which way was up or down. I made sure not to let go of Yejun’s hand. An even worse-case scenario than getting arrested was drowning.

We broke the surface, gasping for breath. By then, the police couldn’t see our bobbing heads since their flashlights couldn’t reach that far. A wave washed over us and gave us both a big gulp of salty water. I coughed as my legs frantically attempted to keep me afloat. Just because I could swim, didn’t mean I was a good swimmer.

I would like to say I helped Yejun, but it was he who helped me from going under.

“Why did you… jump in the ocean… at night… when you can’t swim well?” he asked and coughed too.

He spat out the water that kept splashing into his face. I had no answer.

We never let go of each other’s hand. How long were we struggling across the dark shore? A minute? Five minutes? An hour?

While kicking and pulling on each other we also observed the land. The high, man-made wall of rocks eventually fazed out into a beach. No one was there. I did my best to swim ashore. My legs were numb.

Don’t give up. Almost there.

Yejun was pulling my weight and was the one further ahead. We finally collapsed on the sand, chests heaving from exhaustion. The salt burned my throat.

Where we jumped was far away, so the police officers looked like ants. I could tell they had handcuffed people and pushed them into the cruisers next to the warehouse. That would’ve been Yejun and I if I hadn’t forced us to jump.

All of this hassle for breaking into a building that isn’t even used anymore? What a joke—

BLARGH.

I rolled around quickly towards Yejun. He was throwing up after discarding his soggy face mask to the side. His body shivered from being wet in the autumn night air. I felt guilty. So, so guilty. Absolutely no caring sunbae in history would say they forced their hoobae to leap from such a high place.

What was I thinking?! I’m glad he didn’t have a fear of heights!

I patted his back to comfort him as he was heaving, then asked, “Are you okay?”

“You are… crazy,” Yejun wheezed in English. He was in total shock, reverting to his native language. “Next time you want to… jump to your death… don’t force me to go with you. I could have… drowned saving your ass!”

He vomited salt water again. I treated him like a friend who had drunk too much soju by holding his longish pink and black hair back into a ponytail.

“But did you die?” I asked, trying to lighten him up with a funny movie quote.

I thought he’d curse me out for joking, but he just sighed and sat up without talking.

Eventually, the corners of his lips had a slight smile and he said, “If you consoling me near midnight on a beach covered in dead fish is heaven, I’ve been scammed.”

I chuckled before turning serious and helping him up.

“Sorry, man. It was spur of the moment. This rarely happens. The police must have received a tip in exchange for a reward.”

Yejun placed his hands on his hips and took a long, drawn-out breath. He was probably processing the evening. I stared at the water droplets dripping down his face that were leaving black streaks from the hairspray.

“You warned me it was dangerous. I just didn’t think it was like this.”

We did not have much to say. We walked in the opposite direction of the chaos. It would take longer to get to my car, but it was better than risking getting approached by the law.

As we trekked, I had no sense of the time. My phone was water-damaged. So was Yejun’s. I offered to replace it but he declined since it had full coverage.

“Buy me dinner instead,” he said.

Finally, we reached my car without being seen by any other officers. It was parked at the 24/7 convenience store. Some of the late-night workers who had stopped there to get snacks gawked at our condition. It would be a story for them to tell their coworkers later.

I opened the trunk and took out the lone gym towel I kept in the back and tossed it to Yejun.

“Wipe your face. You have dye all over it.”

Since the spray was for one-time use, jumping into the ocean caused the black dye to soak his shirt and leave streaks down his arms. Most of the pink was visible again. Yejun saw his reflection and made a cringed expression.

“Ew.”

I habitually took my phone from my pocket so I could text SCORPIO’s group chat to make sure everyone was good. The screen was black and a sloshing sound came from behind the glass.

Oh, right. Dang it, this was the latest model too!

I opened the passenger side door and ordered, “Wait in the car. I’ll be right back.”

As I stepped into the store, my shoes squeaked with every step. The single employee restocking the shelves couldn’t stop ogling me. Dude had likely seen plenty of weird things occur during the night shift. Maybe I made the books and he’d retell it to future generations.

I grabbed a basket and haphazardly threw items in it. Two hot lemon teas, fried chicken, strawberry sandwiches, different flavors of onigiri, and a package of cookies to name a few. Then at the counter, I asked for a certain brand of cigarettes and gave him soaking-wet bills.

“Keep the change,” I said and hurried out of there before the man could tell me I couldn’t pay with them.

Yejun was sitting in my car with his moist sweatshirt hood over his head since he lost his hat in the ocean. I placed the hot can on his cheek which startled him.

“Here. Dig in.”

“What’s all this?” he asked, glancing at the bag.

“Dinner.”

“‘Dinner’?”

“You said to buy you dinner. Voilà.”

“I sort of meant at a restaur—”

GROWL.

His stomach rumbled in protest. He looked at the food then grabbed an onigiri.

“All right.”

While eating, I lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply. My body instantly released the pent-up tension.

“Do you always smoke?” he asked.

“No. Only when I’m stressed to the max. Come to think of it, the last time I smoked was when you blackmailed me. Want one?”

He turned down my offer and continued to eat.

How dumb of me. I keep forgetting the things he’s restricted to do. His manager would eat him alive if he picked up this habit.

Although many idols were legally adults, netizens went after them mercilessly if they were caught smoking in public. Those internet fans loved their faves to be “pure” even if they were a thirty-something-year-old man.

Recently, a soloist singer was caught smoking a cig on his own house’s balcony. It was all over the news that celebrities shouldn’t smoke and how it was a bad example for the younger fans.

It was quiet for the next ten minutes except for the deep inhaling of my cigarette. I got out of the car to put the tobacco butt in the disposal box.

Can’t be polluting the environment, can we?

Then I put the car into drive and we headed back to the heart of Seoul in silence. When we arrived at his dorm, Yejun got out.

“Hey,” I said before he closed the door. He leaned down to hear what I had to say. “About the battle, you did the best you could. Remember what I told you—my world can be unpredictable. What happened tonight was just a taste of what we risk when we go out there as a crew. If I were you, I’d remain safe in your dorm with SATURN. Do you understand?”

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he slammed the door and went inside. He was upset.

Once I got to my apartment and showered the crusty salt off my skin, it was almost one in the morning. Friday was done.

I’m so glad it’s the weekend.

I lay in bed under a layer of clothes and blankets, browsing through an online forum. I saw a few discussions about the SCORPIO vs. Flamin’ Hot battle. There was also a secret recording of the dances. Jihoon wouldn’t expose his video, so it must have been from a watcher last night.

The news about what happened had already spread. That was to be expected. We hadn’t lost in a while. I clicked on the first post, scared to read the comments about our loss. Much to my surprise, the comments were not what I thought they’d be.

I can’t believe Flamin’ Hot’s leader called out a kid.

Was he even a part of a crew officially? That should be against the rules.

Shouldn’t they do something about the winner? I think they need to forfeit.

It wasn’t a fair fight.

Rematch!

I wished the crowd had shown such feelings of unfairness last night. I guess saying it online was easier to express than going against the majority in real life. Online, no one had any reservations about saying what was really on their minds. Especially if there was injustice.

The users thought Yejun was a student. To them, the leader of a big crew challenging an unsuspecting high schooler was disgraceful.

A pop-up chat connected to my KoffeeTalk messenger account appeared on my computer screen.

Donghyun: Are you alive? Did you see the forums?

Minwoo: We’re fine. I’m reading the posts now. Was anyone caught by the police?

Donghyun: Nope. We’re too awesome to get snatched by those amateurs. You should bring Jun to practice. I think he has potential.

Minwoo: We’ll see how he feels. He’s probably crying in his room.

Donghyun: Kekeke you never know.

I yawned and shut off my computer. After what I said to Yejun about his future involvement, I doubted he would want to continue.