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His instructor handed him a sturdy table. "Those were only for inland practice. You might need this one for a sturdier experience out there, mate."
Hyunjin nodded and bowed. "Oh, thank you Bang Chan-ssi."
There was really no need for such a lengthy name for the instructor though. "Just call me, Chan."
The older laughed heartily and Hyunjin felt his heart miss a beat. Surely he wouldn't have a heart attack in open sea. Oh my God, he had forgotten about sharks. What if sharks tried to attack him while he was out during cardiac arrest. Not that he would be in any less danger awake, maybe he should have seen all those shark documentals with his friend Jisung back home.
The instructor walked closer to the water and called them out. "We will go by the lineup now, kookies. Sanha, what is the lineup."
The young redhead stilled and answered unsurely, "that we have to go in line?"
Hyunjin cringed at the cute guy's words but he was somewhat right. It really was a line but it's like a waiting line where you take turns to catch a wave. He surely could have phrased it better.
The instructor corrected Sanha and kept asking questions for them to answer, meanwhile Hyunjin kept answering them correctly in his head.
Pop-up. The movement from laying on the table to standing on it.
Bomb. A heavy wave bigger than the rest of the waves. Avoid as a rookie.
Onshore. When the wind blows from the ocean to the shore.
Offshore. When the wind blows from the shore to the ocean.
"Hwang Hyunjin, what is a swell period."
Hyunjin smiled, he knew that one too. "It's the distance between waves. Usually the longer the distance is the bigger the next wave."
The instructor walked to him and ruffled his hair. "That's it, good boy."
Oh great not only did Hyunjin enjoyed the academical validation but he also enjoyed hot guys telling him he was a 'good boy'. And boy, was the instructor the hottest guy he had ever seen.
He had curvy blonde hair that reached just above his eyes. His golden skin glistening along his jewelry. Hyunjin wondered if he even realized he was still wearing them, but the older was probably just used to being all the time in the water that he really didn't care about his jewelry much.
Long black baggy shorts that reached his knees, but his leg muscles were impressive enough that he was left wondering about the ones covered by the cloth. His chest, pectorals and six pack covered only by a fluffy white towel. Hyunjin was doomed to fall in love with such Adonis.
"Well, the day isn't really ideal to go for your first surfing by the onshore but it's better to take the fear of the first time out of your system."
Hyunjin blushed and kept hearing Chan say first time like the pathetic virgin he was. He didn't even realize that Chan was walking to him until the other tapped his shoulder. "Hyunjin, are you okay? We are all now going to catch the first waves."
The younger snapped from his dirty thoughts and smiled at the other. "Yes, sorry. Let's go."
Hyunjin didn't know how to explain how he felt. He was an avid swimmer back in Seoul but the feeling was too different to even compare them.
As an Olympic headline swimmer, he knew the pool as a second home. The water was as familiar as him that he sometimes felt as it was the same air that he breathed up in Earth and that he never had to go back for oxygen.
This was different. Not a bad thing per se, but it was a little scary. Inland he fell he controled the water, now threading his fingers across the water he felt as if he didn't have any control over it. It didn't feel like water, his old friend, had any control either. It felt as if they were all only instruments of the all powerful wind.
When he reached lineup, he was the last one. One by one, he saw all the other surfing rookies ride their waves. He kept glancing at the waves and a bad feeling came over him. The wind was blowing harder and the waves started to come slower and bigger, but soon enough Chan was calling his name for him to ride his first wave.
He should have heard to his instincts because the first thing he heard during his wave was Chan scream. "Hyunjin, watch out!"
What an amazing way to die. Embraced by the warm water of the Australian beaches. In the scorching sun that teased his skin and made him smile a bit more than usual.
He felt the need to throw up and breathe at the same time. He tossed to his left and coughed water out.
He felt a warm hand holding his long hair to avoid getting regurgitated water on it. As he was about to thank his savior he saw a handsome face and immediately asked out loud. "Am I in heaven?"
"Hyunjin, you fucking idiot. How can you drown? You are a shitty swimmer, wait until the coach hears this."
Hyunjin saw his friend Seungmin sniffing and opening his mouth but he could only hear static. "What? Wait I think I have water in my ears."
A lean pretty guy looked over him and Hyunjin really asked himself if the water was different there for all the boys to look so good. The pretty looked worriedly at him before slapping his head around.
"What the fuck, Minho? Be more careful with him." He recognized Chan's voice.
Minho rolled his eyes before focusing back on Hyunjin. "Hey, kiddo. Can you hear us now?"
Dumbfounded, he nodded. It had worked but at what cost. He could feel an approaching headache worse than all the hangovers he ever had combined. And the red and yellow in the person in front of him only made him dizzier.
He realized he had probably gotten some water inhaled when his nose hurt when taking a big breath.
Chan put his hand back at Hyunjin's head fixing his hair. "I thought I had lost you. The wave was too big and you went over the falls. Why weren't you wearing your leggie?"
"You are so lucky you didn't hit your head on a bommie, right there." Minho, the guardlife said.
"I was a bit distracted looking at you." Hyunjin admitted sheepishly at Chan, his own raspy voice unrecognizable to him.
Chan chuckled and hugged Hyunjin. "Next time just ask me on a date, I was distracted with you too."
It somehow felt as if the incident was part of a bigger fate-like plan and as the wind blew one more time in a harsh manner sprinkling some drops of water, Hyunjin was sure of it.