In the weeks that followed, Bella started making more of an effort, real effort, to be part of Yunho's world. She began showing up at swim practice after class, even if it meant rushing from the other side of campus or finishing her readings in noisy bleachers.
The scent of chlorine hit her the moment she stepped into the aquatic centre. It was sharp, clean, familiar, yet foreign all at once. She paused just inside the glass doors, her fingers tightening around the strap of her bookbag. Beyond the misted windows and the whistle-blown commands echoing off tile, Yunho was here. Practicing. Focused. Existing in a rhythm she had never really tried to understand.
But now, she was trying.
She hadn't come on a whim. Not this time. Maybe it started with the way his voice lingered in her mind lately, half-teasing, always patient, but carrying a quiet distance. Like there was a part of him still sealed off, just waiting for her to reach in.
She wanted to reach in.
Bella climbed the bleachers, settling halfway up with a quiet sort of determination. Below, the pool shimmered under fluorescent lights, the surface breaking and reforming with the steady motion of bodies slicing through lanes. Coaches paced. Stopwatches ticked.
She scanned the swimmers and found him almost immediately.
Lane three.
Yunho's strokes were clean and efficient, his body moving with a kind of grace she never associated with anyone she knew in real life. Here, he was different, strong, fluid, focused.
He hadn't seen her yet.
Bella hugged her knees to her chest, unsure whether she felt like a proud girlfriend or an intruder. This space belonged to him. But still, maybe he'd like knowing she was part of it now, even from the sidelines.
When practice finally ended, Yunho hoisted himself out of the pool, water rolling off him in silver streams. His smile was unguarded, caught in a laugh with one of his teammates, towel already looped around his neck. He looked lighter somehow, like the water had rinsed away everything else.
And then his eyes found her.
He stopped mid-sentence. The towel slipped slightly from his grip. Surprise flickered across his face and then something gentler.
"Bella?" he called, voice raised just enough to carry.
She stood, gave a little wave. "Hey," she said, nervous and warm. "Thought I'd stop by."
He blinked and then smiled, soft, wide, real. "You came."
"Yeah," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I wanted to see what you look like when you're not hiding behind calculus notes."
Yunho laughed, stepping closer. Water still dripped from his hair, but he didn't seem to notice.
"You picked a good day. I didn't drown."
"Even better," she said, teasing.
He looked at her like he couldn't believe she was real.
And for once, she let herself stay in that gaze.
Since she and Yunho had started officially going out, Bella made a quiet promise to herself: she would show up, not just in words, but in presence.
Yunho never asked for much. He rarely demanded attention, never made her feel guilty when she was too buried in schoolwork or her own thoughts to answer right away. But the more time they spent together, the more Bella realised how much he noticed. How much he cared in the spaces where he didn't say anything.
So she started showing up.
Sometimes it was small, waiting for him after swim practice, grabbing his favourite milk tea before he even asked. Other times, like today, it was more deliberate.
Bella arrived at the campus rec centre an hour early. The late afternoon sun slanted through the glass ceiling, turning the water in the smaller recreational pool a soft gold. Her gym bag felt awkward on her shoulder, she hadn't done laps since high school PE, but she was determined.
She changed quickly and eased into the water, letting it wrap around her limbs like a slow memory. Her strokes were far from perfect and she was definitely slower than she remembered, but she wasn't here to impress anyone. She just wanted to feel closer to him, understand the calm focus he seemed to find in the water.
Lap after lap, she settled into a quiet rhythm. The pool wasn't crowded and for once, her mind wasn't either.
Practice had just wrapped when Yunho climbed out of the pool, chest rising and falling with steady breaths, water trailing down his arms. He reached for his towel without looking, already mid-conversation with a teammate, until something shifted in the corner of his eye.
There she was.
Bella.
Yunho hasn't expected Bella to showed up at his practice. He has always giving her space to be herself. He believed that it's important not to lose themselves in each other and becoming dependent, unhealthily symbiotic. He appreciates his own boys' time with Chad and the swim team and like that she doesn't try to cling onto him when he needs his own space.
She was standing near the edge of the smaller recreational pool, towel around her neck, damp hair pulled back, hoodie clinging faintly from where it had soaked up water.
He blinked, surprised. Then, without thinking, he veered toward her.
"You swam today?" he asked, breath still catching from the last few laps.
Bella glanced up and grinned. "Just a few. Figured I'd kill time while you were finishing."
"You never said you were going to get in the water."
"I didn't want to overpromise and embarrass myself in front of the lifeguards."
He laughed, already setting his towel aside again. "How long ago did you finish?"
"Like, ten minutes ago." She looked at him, a little shy. "You said you'd swim with me sometime, remember?"
"I remember." He glanced at the pool behind her. "You still have energy?"
She arched an eyebrow. "Do you?"
Instead of answering, Yunho stepped past her, gave her a playful look over his shoulder and slipped back into the water.
"C'mon," he called, floating on his back with lazy kicks. "I want to see your form."
Bella groaned, but her smile gave her away as she dropped the towel and eased back in beside him.
"Prepare to be amazed."
"Always," he said, grinning as she pushed off from the wall gracefully.
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