The indoor aquatic centre had since fallen into a gentle hush. With the swim team long gone and the echo of their practice fading from the tiled walls, the pools were now quiet, just the soft hum of lights above and the rhythmic ripple of water.
Yunho and Bella floated side by side in the recreational pool, the stillness around them mirroring something steady and deep between them. No longer separated by lanes or noise, they were fully in each other's presence.
They'd just laughed over the memory of their first meeting, the towel mix-up, Chad's chaos and Yunho's unexpected gratitude for it. Then Bella, with a sly smile, brought up another moment.
"Speaking of lucky moments," she said, the corners of her mouth lifting, "remember the swim meet when you cramped up mid-swim?"
Yunho groaned with a sheepish smile. "Don't remind me. I was halfway through the 200 and thought my leg was going to fall off."
"You were panicking a little," she teased.
He pointed at her. "I was *managing* it. You just happened to make a dramatic rescue."
Bella laughed. "I saw you flailing, Yunho."
He narrowed his eyes playfully, then tilted his head. "Alright then. Show me. Reenact it."
She blinked. "You're serious?"
He gave a small smirk, floating back a little. "Dead serious. Let's see how heroic you really looked."
Rolling her eyes but smiling, Bella swam a slow circle before positioning herself beside him. "Fine. You were here," she said, tapping the spot in the water. "And I came up from behind, grabbed your arm,"
She demonstrated, gently looping an arm under his and wrapping around his back for support. Her body pressed lightly to his, the motion natural and practiced from instinct, but different now. Slower. More deliberate.
"And I started swimming us to the edge," she continued, voice softening, her lips just beside his ear.
Her breath ghosted against his skin. She was trying to drag him along in water and had her body fully supporting him from below.
Yunho's heartbeat stuttered, then settled into something heavy and slow. The feel of her chest against his back, the firm but careful way she held him, it was too easy to remember how close they had been that day. But now, there was no panic. No urgency. Just her hands on him, her breath on his skin and the tension in the water rising.
"Bella," he murmured.
She stilled. "Yeah?"
He turned in her arms.
Before she could fully react, he leaned in and kissed her.
Softly, at first. Then more strongly, as a growing hunger builds within him.
But when she didn't pull away, just made a surprised sound in the back of her throat, he deepened it, arms wrapping around her in the water. His body moved instinctively, adjusting his balance, keeping them afloat with a subtle strength that came from years of training. She melted into him, lips parting beneath his with a breathless sigh.
The pool cradled them, the gentle waves echoing the slow pull between their bodies. Nothing else existed, just her hands finding his shoulders, his fingers tracing the small of her back, their mouths meeting again and again, strong possessiveness wrapped in the calm of the water.
And through it all, Yunho held her, perfectly steady, a swimmer completely in his element, now adrift in something far deeper than water.
Their lips parted slowly, reluctantly, as if the air between them had thickened. For a few long seconds, neither of them spoke, still floating, suspended in warmth and weightlessness. The water rippled gently around them, catching light from above like soft, shifting silk.
Bella's breath was shallow, her heart pounding not from exertion but from surprise and something that had been simmering between them for longer than she wanted to admit. Her hands were still resting on his shoulders, his skin slick beneath her fingertips.
Yunho looked at her, his gaze unreadable at first, then softening with something unmistakably tender. His voice came out low, barely above a whisper. "Sorry. I didn't really plan that."
She didn't answer right away. Instead, she tilted her head, studying him, the curve of his jaw still damp from the water, the quiet apology in his expression and the trace of wonder like he couldn't quite believe what he'd just done.
"I almost forgotten how to swim," she said finally, a small smirk playing at her lips.
Yunho's shoulders relaxed, a soft laugh escaping. "Well. Good thing I'm the better swimmer."
"That's debatable," she murmured, but her voice had changed, low and breathy, tinged with something new.
Their gazes held, the silence stretching, but now it hummed with something softer, heavier. Bella leaned back slightly, not to retreat, but to regain her balance. Her back met the edge of the pool, the cool tile anchoring her while her mind felt anything but steady.
"You caught me off guard," she murmured, her voice quieter now. Honest. Unfiltered.
Yunho drifted closer, slow and deliberate, the water swirling gently around them. His hand hovered just beside hers, fingertips grazing the surface.
"Oh, but I didn't get that impression when your hands were feeling up my abs," he said, brow arching in playful accusation.
Bella's eyes widened. "I was not, !"
"You definitely were," he said, laughing now, low and teasing. "Very thorough inspection, actually."
A flush bloomed across her cheeks. "You're making that up."
"Pretty sure the evidence speaks for itself."
She splashed water at him in retaliation. He flinched with a grin, shaking droplets from his hair like a wet dog.
"Take it back," she demanded, half-laughing, half-embarrassed.
"Not a chance."
Then he moved in a little closer, eyes still glinting with amusement, but there was something else there too. An undercurrent of heat in the way he looked at her. Like the teasing was just surface tension.
"If you want another shot at a proper inspection," he murmured, voice low and rough around the edges, "I'm free after practice tomorrow too."
Bella shook her head, biting back a smile. "You're such a menace."
"And yet," he said softly, gaze locked on hers, "here you are."
She didn't deny it. Couldn't. Not when she wasn't even sure she wanted to leave the water at all.
Her eyes dropped to their hands, floating close, not touching. Just two quiet currents waiting to meet. The moment held steady, pulsing with unspoken questions.
"So what was that?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper. "Just… heat-of-the-moment?"
His breath deepened, one of those slow, centring inhales like before a dive. Then he looked at her, all traces of teasing gone.
"I couldn't help myself," he said simply.
Bella looked up, meeting his eyes and this time, nothing wavered.
"You just changed the current," she murmured.
A breath passed between them. Then, without overthinking it, she brushed her fingers against his under the water. Soft. Intentional.
The contact was small, but it landed like a wave.
And in the quiet stillness of the pool, with no one left to watch or interrupt, they drifted closer again, not rushed, not hesitant, just pulled by something real. Something steady. Something neither of them wanted to swim away from.
The pool had gone silent except for the soft hum of the lights above and the faint rush of water around them. Their hands brushed again beneath the surface, a touch that seemed casual, but the intimacy between them grew more pronounced with each passing second.
Yunho stayed close, his presence almost overwhelming now, not just the weight of his body in the water, but the way he had shifted their dynamic in the space between them. Every inch of her skin seemed to hum with the awareness of him and as he moved, his chest brushing lightly against hers, Bella felt her pulse quicken, her breath catching in her throat. She wanted him.
It wasn't just that they were close, it was how close they were. The feel of his body against hers, the way his legs brushed hers in the water and how every shift of his muscles seemed to press against her more intimately than she was prepared for.
She swallowed, trying to steady herself but found she couldn't quite escape the physical awareness creeping up her spine.
The water between them should've offered some separation, some space, but the way he hovered, barely a breath away, made it impossible to ignore the feel of his chest, the firm but gentle press of his form against hers.
She froze, unable to move. The realization hit her all at once: the entire length of Yunho was pressed up against her and it wasn't just his body she could feel, but the heat of his desire. She didn't have to look down to know what was happening. She felt it, felt him through every muscle in her body.
Her breath caught and for a moment, she simply stared at him, feeling all of the tension in the space between them, the intimate silence. She was hyper-aware now, painfully aware, of the way his body fit against hers, the heat that radiated between them, the almost magnetic pull they shared.
Yunho's eyes darkened, something flickering there, an unreadable emotion that pulled her in even closer. His breath was shallow, but his hands remained steady on her, as if he was holding himself back, though she could tell it wasn't easy.