The day after the little get-together of their team, Hyunjin couldn't sleep. He layed in bed with open eyes so long, that the silence he usually loves so much feels deafening. That was probably one reason why he found himself in the indoor pool of his dorm complex not even a quarter of an hour later. The bigger and more prominent reason would be the seem that kept him awake.

Australia's competition.

The boys 'partied' until 2 o'clock, Hyunjin tried falling asleep until 4. He is an athlet, so swimming three hours wasn't anything special, still, when he saw the clock hands showing him 7 o'clock he wasn't satisfied. Neither with the break he took, nor with the number on laps, even though he stopped counting. It just didn't feel like it was good enough to win an international competition. It just didn't feel good enough to win anything at all. It felt like he swam with weights on his legs and vacuumed lungs. But he needed to start the day. It annoyed him. Training wasn't enough, sleep stayed away from him for days and the night was his only close company when he trained for hours and hours while Seoul sleeped.

"Guys, it was soooo stressful. I did not know what to pack and what not! I mean, what do we need at our first international? I think, I overpacked.", Sanha yapped and Dawon laughed at his desperate face.

Hyunjin's face stayed monotone, his mouth closed, earbuds in, tho no music plays and he hears exactly what the people around him are talking about. But his mind was somewhere else. Far away in the swimming halls of Sydney. His mind goes through the packing list. He had everything, right? He was sure he forgot something. This feeling in his gut. On the other side, this feeling never left. Mingi joined them, their coach too and a few other stuff members and together they boarded. The whole one hour process, not a word left Hyunjin's mouth. He only opened it, when he needed to drink a sip, elegantly leaning his head back and letting the cold liquid run down his throat to enjoy the feeling and taste of it. Water was always something Hyunjin loved. In every way. The boys teased him a lot about his 'macho-boy drinking style', but he never added a word to these kind of conversations.

The flight was short. It felt short. And at the same time too long. The departure felt like it was minutes ago and the time in the air felt like a waste of training time. Hyunjin fell asleep. He always appreciated his sleep, but now it felt like a crime. He planned to watch analysis' and technique trainings with Mingi, but instead he was off, the moment his head touched the seat. He never felt worse about sleeping.

Such a waste of precious time.

The other boys shouted and grinned when they arrived at the airport, Hyunjin was in a trance, his eyes fixated on the list of unwatched analysis'. Mingi needed to peal him out of his seat and drag him out of the plane.

They got their suitcases.

Drove to the hotel.

Checked in.

Searched their rooms.

Emptied their suitcases.

It all happened in a rush, moved past Hyunjin in a blur. He didn't even realize anything happened, until he found himself standing alone in an empty, clean room with an oddly uncomfortable and heavy, pressing silence.

A knock on his door. He opened it lazily.

"Your suitcase is still packed? Man, you are slower than the coaches... anyways, forget the suitcase, let's hit the clubs, come on."

Dawon was talking. He wears an lose button-up, with the upper half of the buttons opened. At the downer half of his body he wears an lose bathing trousers. Expensive looking sunglasses held his hair (which are full of taft anyways) back and adds a rich look, to the open surfer boy vibes.

The others wear about the same, except Sanha has a colorful Hawaiin shirt and Mingi looked more like a business man from New York than a surfer boy (and yeah, he still wears about the same stuff). Hyunjin looks down at himself.

"I'll be down in a minute."

Yeah, he trained in the night, but that didn't change him going out with the boys or get together for a movie or gaming evening. And yeah, that was exhausting. But Hyunjin overplayed it just perfectly fine. He wouldn't stay there long anyways. These parties consist of the same routine anyways. Always and everywhere. The boys come there. Dawon and Sanha go home with a girl. Mingi buys a room kn the club for a night and Hyunjin leaves within the first three hours. It's not that it's lacking on girls that would be interested. It's just him who is not interested. The only thing that ever counted for him is swimming, school and work. Maybe his team. Maybe Changbin, a classmate and probably the closest one to being an actually good friend of Hyunjin.

And Hyunjin called it. The party was boring. Mingi disappeared not even half an hour after they arrived, Dawon left an hour later, Sanha two after they entered the club. Hyunjin excused himself from the girl sittin on his thigh, wearing... well, about nothing. Restroom he said. The odds that he would see that girl again are pretty mich zero anyways. The way to the hotel wasn't long. He hadn't deunk anything either, even tho today is the last day they could before the competition. Could or should, how you want to put it.

Back in his hotel room, he launched for the duffel bag with his training clothes and exited, leaving everything behind like it was before, still neatly folded in his suitcase except for the clothes he wor eat the plane. He already searched up the closest pool in Seoul. The hotel provided them with bicycles, so he had everythinf planned out. With the bike it took ten minutes to reach the pool hall. He changed into his trousers in a short minute, the movement a muscle memory by now, exactly like the way his arms need to dip intl the water, his legs need to kick, his body needs to move with the waves and crunch at the end of the lane to turn back. The water hugs his sculptured body and sucks him in like a siren's song calling you home. The loneliness doesn't feel lonely at all, when water surrounds him. It feels familiar. It feels good. It feels right and it feels like home.

200 laps. Two hours. Not bad. At least not for tonight. Hyunjin did not plan to swim a world record. Not tonight. Tonight was a comfortable night. A night in which the silence of being alone engulfs him carefully and he searches comfort in it again, after a few ways pressure. He wouldn't have felt that comfortable if he knew he was being watched.

"Good rhythm!", the ethuastic voice sounds over the slow claps. Hyunjin freezes. His head turns, takes in a beautiful... who is he lying to. A eternal boy, sitting on the start podium, his legs crossed, his blonde locks, hanging in his face. The boy shone. But a much as he shone, as magical as he looked in thw moonlight, that shines through the glass wall behind him, one question screams louder at Hyunjin's brain than the breathtaking presence.

"Since when are you here?", he asks coldly, his voice loud and strong, while he steps out of the water on the other end of the lane. The stranger doesn't move an inch.

"A while... maybe ten minutes, maybe a hour, K forgot time watching you swim."

It's a compliment. Obviously. But Hyunjin frowns. Absolutely not creepy... (that's sarcastic... duh)

"You are from the South Korean Team?"

He nods slowly, still skeptical about the other boy, even though, he in no way seems dangerous. Other way around... his smile shines brighter than the sun, his dipples show, his eyes lighten up and he was very friendly. Maybe - Hyunjin thinks - they would start a good friendship.

"You are here for the competition, right? Nice to meet you, I will swim for Australia!", the boy introduces himself bubbly.

A swimmer.

For Australia.

Swimming in the international competition.

His pure presence screams bubbly, positive and motivated.

He is an enemy.

A good one.

Hyunjin hates him.

A/N: here the new chap, this was stressful, bcs i started an hour ago 😂 a bit more than 1400