Jia struggled to breathe as the water invaded her nose and mouth. She flapped and kicked frantically, doing her best not to drown in the deep end of the pool. She wanted to scream and shout for help but each time she opened her mouth, she was attacked by water. Her thick layers of uniform suddenly weighed a ton as the water swished furiously around her. She tried to hold in her breath, but there was only so much one could do while panicking. She made the mistake of opening her mouth which only gave more power to the water. The chlorine scented water filled up her lungs until she could no longer breathe. Soon, the light blue of the water turned yellowish. Her limbs felt unattached, and her body could no longer retaliate. The yellow finally turned black.

***

From above, Jungkook was going crazy with happiness. He watched as the helpless Jia struggled to remain afloat, her muffled screams distorted by the water. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he doubled over with fits of laughter.

"Jia- 12. Jungkook- 15." He snickered. He felt as though his lungs would explode if he laughed any further. He called out to her several times, but she responded to none. Seconds later, the laughter died down as concern effectively took over.

"Jia?" he called out again. The insistent flopping was replaced with an eerie silence.

"You can pretend all you want but I'm not coming down there. Nice try." His voice echoed down the emptiness of the pool.

"Ha-ha very funny. That's enough, Princess. You can come out now." Silence.

Jungkook was only partially panicking. One part of him assured him that she was faking it to pull a classic 'pull into the water' prank and that he shouldn't give in. But on the rare occasion that it wasn't a prank...

"Fuck it." He muttered as he jumped into the blue tiled pool. Eyes adjusting to the dim yellowish blue, he found Jia slowly sinking down with her eyes closed. It was safe to say that Jungkook nearly died of a heart attack. He willed himself to stay calm and swam towards her. He looped his arms with hers and pulled her closer. With all his might, he pushed upwards and broke out into the surface. He hauled her onto the tiled edge of the pool and pushed his hair back. Heaving himself out, he knelt next to her.

"J-Jia?" He whispered as he urgently patted her cheeks. Seeing no response, he gulped and looked around. He reluctantly placed his hands on her chest and pumped down successively with force. His heavy panting resonated across the pool and Jungkook dared not to blink. She remained motionless. He swore under his breath. Wiping the cold water and sweat off his forehead, he repeated again more aggressively than he did before. His desperate prayers must have been heard, for she spluttered water out of her mouth and sat bolt upright. She coughed violently and wheezed, struggling to catch her breath.

Jungkook nearly toppled over the floor in relief. Eyes closed, he clutched his wet jersey and heaved a long sigh. He moved closer to her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

She refused to meet his eyes but nodded timidly.

"Good." He breathed harshly. His hands moved in circles as he softly rubbed her back in reassurance.

They remained silent for a while, both taking time to get over the shock. Jungkook watched as her lips trembled. He couldn't tell if it was from fear or cold. Or maybe both; he concluded.

"What kind of a stupid princess doesn't know how to swim, huh?" He said in mock sarcasm, trying his best to bring her out of her trance.

For a moment, it seemed like it worked as she snapped her head up to look him directly in the eyes. His hopes soon crumbled as the fierceness in her eyes watered down. Her trembling intensified and she sniffed. A steady stream of tears poured down her eyes as she sobbed hard. He had made it worse.

"H-hey. Don't c-cry. I was only joking." He stuttered as the girl next to him continued to bawl her eyes out. "Come on, Jia. Please don't cry." He pleaded but to no avail. He looked around once again and awkwardly hugged her. To his surprise, she did not push him away. Yun Jia must be that shaken to give in to his hug; he thought worriedly. He held her clumsily for a few seconds and then let go.

"Here." He grabbed her cold palms and slapped it across his own cheek. "Take your anger out on me." He repeated the action. Aggression, he decided, was better than having to console a crying person. "Go on. Beat me up." He continued hitting himself with her limp arm until she grabbed a fistful of his jersey.

"You." She growled. Tears still making their way down her cheeks, she pushed him onto the floor and heaved herself on top of him. Jungkook's eyes widened as she clenched her hand into a fist. She punched him once and looked marvellously at her own fist. He gulped unconsciously as she looked back at him with a murderous glare. Soon, she started punching his face left and right. Jungkook had gravely underestimated her. He had always assumed her to be a weakling and on several occasions, she'd proved it as well. But turns out, girls when angry were scary. It was as though she'd magically gained some super-strength. Her punches got threateningly painful while her damp hair flayed in hysteric frenzy. Jungkook decided that it was enough as he suspected the taste of blood in his mouth. He held his arms out and effortlessly restrained her.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" Boomed a third voice.

Both Jungkook and Jia snapped their heads around, only to be met with the fuming face of their swim team coach. The coach stared at them as though he was making sure what he saw was right.

"You're going to the principal's office right now." He billowed. "With your parents."

"NO!" Jungkook and Jia scuffled to get up and broke out in a commotion of begging and pleading. "Please don't call our parents." Jungkook whined.

"Enough!"

The duo stopped complaining, startled by the sheer intensity of the voice.

"Squabbling and fighting like some uncultured idiots. Defiling the pool. Damaging the school property." He glared at them. "I'm calling your parents, alright. End of discussion."

***

Jia reluctantly changed into a pair of dry clothes that were handed to her. She tapped her now bandaged foot nervously on the floor and prepped herself to face her not-so-pleased parents. Meanwhile, Jungkook sat utterly still. He neither complained nor cursed but rather, simply stared dead serious at the floor. Jia tried to remember ever seeing him sit this still, but her thoughts were soon cut off with the arrival of her parents.

She dared not to look at them as they wordlessly sat next to her, waiting for Jungkook's parents. A while later, his mom showed up. For a teenager's mom, Jia was surprised at how young she looked. If Jungkook looked a little more mature, an outsider would assume them to be siblings. The Principal started out the lecture with how outrageous it was for teenagers to behave immature. Ironic, Jia thought. He then proceeded to say that he'd constantly been getting reports of minor ruckuses every now and then but had never imagined it to go out of hand.

"I never expected this from you, Yun Jia." He concluded. She bowed her head down in shame. "You're one of our brightest students. You of all people should know better than this."

"I'm sorry. I will not repeat this again." She mumbled.

"And I believe you. I'm sure this was just a big misunderstanding. I have high hopes for you." He smiled at her. Her parents apologised again on her behalf and he assured them that everything was fine.

"I can't say the same about Jeon Jungkook." He proceeded gravely. "I'm sure you've seen his results, Mrs. Jeon. Pathetic. He has failed in almost all the papers." He shook his head in disapproval. Jungkook stood quiet. "And now, you've taken to vandalising the school. This is unacceptable behaviour." Jungkook's mom mumbled out a small apology but he remained silent.

"But it's not too late to improve. Work hard for your next exams or I will no longer tolerate this. Understand?"

Jungkook continued to stare at the floor until his mother nudged him to reply. He mumbled a quick yes.

"You will have to settle the payment for damaging school property." He said casually. Jia internally cursed at that. They'd been hoping for something to happen all along, waiting to charge money for repairing the already damaged door. "Both of you will receive special detentions." First ever serious detention that Jia has ever received. Jia was not happy. "You may now disperse."

Jia hung her head low and followed her parents out of the office. They were nearly close to the exit when Mrs. Jeon called her out from behind.

"Yun Jia... you're Jungkook's classmate, right?"

Jia nodded her head.

"I'm sorry for whatever trouble he caused you today." She said apologetically.

"That's okay." She replied politely.

"I don't know what I am going to do with this good-for-nothing kid." She said destressed. Jia flinched at the sudden bitterness that overtook her words. "Did he hurt you anywhere? Did he push you into the pool?"

She looked at Jungkook, but his face was expressionless. He seemed distant, almost as though he was used to it. The soon to be bruises stood out on his usually cheerful face and she was suddenly overcome with a sense of pity. She looked back at his mother. She stood like a predator waiting to pounce, ready to bash him right in front of her.

"N-no. No. We were running around, and I accidentally tripped into the pool. Jungkook saved me from drowning. If it weren't for him, things would have gotten critical." She said, ignoring her shivers and the spine-chilling look that she got from the woman.

At that, Jungkook looked at her surprised. Given the circumstances, it was the perfect opportunity for her to get her sweet revenge. She looked back at him and a silent conversation passed between them.

His mother looked at her as though she found that hard to believe.

"I have to go now. My parents are waiting for me. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Jeon." She bowed politely and made her way towards her parents.

Something told her that he was staring right at her, but she dared not to turn back.