Chapter Text
Pond hated the sea.
He hated the smell of it, the sound of waves crashing like the memory of screams. He hated how it pulled at something in him he couldn't explain. The trauma of losing his parents in a boating accident ten years ago still clung to him like seaweed.Cold, tangled and impossible to shake off.
Worse than the sea though,Phuwin.
Phuwin,with his effortless charm and irritatingly perfect face. His rising popularity, his natural talent, his smug little smirk on set. They were co-stars in the upcoming romantic fantasy drama Tidebound Hearts, and their characters were supposed to fall in love. Pond couldn't imagine anything more ridiculous.
During rehearsals, they clashed constantly. Phuwin teased him. Pond snapped back. Directors sighed. The tension was thick-but not the romantic kind.
Then came the pool shoot.
It was supposed to be a simple underwater scene. Pond hated it, but he was a professional. He dove in. He held his breath. He followed the choreography.
Until something went wrong.
His foot caught. He panicked. A sharp pain bloomed in his head and everything turned dark. Water rushed into his lungs and he was back there-ten years old again, struggling, sinking, terrified.
And then,warmth.
A hand. Strong. Gentle. Holding him.
He woke on the pool deck, sputtering, gasping for air. People shouted. Crew members hovered. But the only person he could see was Phuwin, crouched beside him, soaking wet, eyes wide with something between fear and relief.
"You okay?"
Phuwin asked, voice low.
Pond nodded, dazed.
"You... pulled me out?"
Phuwin gave a tight nod.
"You weren't breathing."
There was something strange in his eyes. Something... familiar.
That night, Pond couldn't sleep. A memory stirred-half-dream, half-hallucination. The sea. The storm. The arms that had pulled him from the depths all those years ago. A face, blurred but there. And now... Phuwin's face overlapping with that memory.
It was ridiculous. Impossible. But the thought lingered.
Days passed. Phuwin avoided him. The banter between them dulled. The teasing stopped. Pond should've been relieved-but the silence felt worse.
One evening, unable to bear it, Pond cornered him on set.
"You've been weird since the pool shoot."
Phuwin stiffened.
"I'm always weird."
"I remember something,"
Pond said, watching him closely.
"From when I was a kid. When I almost drowned."
Phuwin went pale.
"You hit your head. Probably just a dream."
"It wasn't."
Their eyes locked. For the first time, Pond saw past the arrogance, past the rivalry. There was something fragile in Phuwin's expression. Like a secret held too long.
But Phuwin just smiled, hollow and careful.
"You hate the sea, Pond. Don't chase things you're afraid to find."
And he walked away.
Pond stood there, heart pounding. Because for the first time, he wasn't sure what he hated more.The sea, or the fact that Phuwin might not be a rival at all but someone who had been saving him all along.
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