Yuri gently pushed the tube toward Ring Tangwin, who was swimming over with a startled expression, then quickly turned to scan the surroundings. As he suspected, the little child was nowhere to be seen.
Leaving Ring Tangwin to soothe the children, Yuri dove back into the sea and swam in the direction the child had dived.
The farther down he went, the stronger the currents became. If the child had been caught in these currents, he wouldn’t still be near the previous spot — he had likely been swept quite far. Yuri was relieved it wasn’t a descending current and clicked his tongue inwardly. Soon enough, he found the child.
The kid was barely conscious, clutching coral and rocks to hold on as he drifted. Scratches and bruises marked his hands, arms, and body. No air bubbles escaped from his lips; his breathing was almost gone. Approaching quickly, Yuri was somewhat surprised.
If the child hadn’t surfaced since entering the water, he should have already lost consciousness. Yet the child still fluttered his eyes weakly, revealing faint glints of black pupils.
At that moment, Yuri saw Ring Shinru properly for the first time.
Seeing him so close was a first.
He momentarily forgot the situation and was mesmerized.
The child, holding tight to a massive coral cluster, swayed gently in the current like a delicate flower blooming underwater.
His jet-black hair floated softly apart, his pale skin shimmered bluish in the water, and his exquisitely beautiful face seemed more like a fairy or a spirit of the water than a human.
Like a flower blooming underwater.
Bright, radiant, and lovely.
For a moment, Yuri was spellbound by something other than the water for the first time.
But he quickly snapped back to reality when he noticed the flicker of the child’s wide-open eyes—just barely conscious after being found.
The child recognized Yuri as his rescuer and waved his hands frantically. In the grip of death’s terror, the child’s thin rationality had long fled. His surprising willpower was entirely focused on grasping Yuri, as if survival instinct alone remained.
Yuri hesitated and stepped back.
Not now. It was different from Pay’s case.
Even a child’s strength clinging in such a situation was terrifying. Yuri was exhausted from swimming against the current. The current was now much stronger than before, and it was difficult for him to hold his position. If the child clung with that fierce strength, holding him tight so he couldn’t move, it would spell disaster for both of them. Yet Yuri had no rope or stick to offer the child to hold onto.
In such cases, the wisest move was to wait for the other to lose consciousness. Fortunately, it seemed the child wouldn’t remain conscious for much longer.
“It’s okay. It’s scary, but don’t worry. I’m watching over you here. Close your eyes for a bit, and when you open them again, you’ll be lying safe and comfortable.”
From a short distance, Yuri watched the child. Though he silently spoke these words with his eyes, he doubted the child understood. Watching the child flail his arms trying desperately to reach Yuri, he felt pity but couldn’t help early. He whispered inside, “It’s okay. I’ll definitely save you.”
Even so, the child’s extreme beauty stole Yuri’s gaze.
Truly, it was like a flower blooming underwater. Where else could such a radiant, lovely flower exist?
Trying to pull himself together from being nearly mesmerized, Yuri calmly waited for the child. His own breathing was growing heavier.
Then the child’s eyes filled with fury. It was a fierce, terrifying anger that made Yuri flinch—a silent rage directed at the one silently watching him die.
With a gaze mixed with resentment, anger, and pain, the child glared at Yuri, then immediately lost consciousness. His grip on the coral loosened, and his body began drifting with the current.
Only after approaching close enough to confirm the child had passed out did Yuri pull the precious, beautiful flower up to the surface. “Really beautiful. So beautiful,” he kept marveling.
The sea around Seringe maintains warm temperatures year-round; even during the rainy season, it rarely drops below 20°C. Especially in the hot season like now, the water temperature rivals many tropical seas.
“At this rate, it could reach 28 or 29 degrees…”
The water wrapped around Yuri’s body with just the right warmth to feel comfortable.
Closing his eyes, he heard a low, continuous sound inside the water — indescribably faint — the sound beneath the sea. The breathing of a living ocean.
Outside the water, the air breathes silently; inside, the ocean flows silently.
Even beneath the sea, the sky above is filled with water.
He liked that.
So he liked any water he could immerse himself in, but especially the sea.
Yuri opened his eyes. The dark blue shimmering surface was above his head. The deep blue water and dawn sky sparkled like jewels.
Though the underwater sky was endlessly beautiful and mesmerized him every time, he couldn’t stay there forever. His famously superior lung capacity was beginning to falter.
In his next life, he silently wished, he would be born a fish, then rose to the surface.
“........”
He blew bubbles from his lips and took a long breath. The eastern sky was faintly brightening. Another usual day was beginning. Yuri looked toward the island, cutting quietly through the lazy early morning silence.
His day always began with water. At the seaside, he immersed his body happily at dawn. Where there was no sea, he reluctantly bathed in grass or at least in a bathtub. When even that wasn’t possible, he suffered through bleak, depressive days.
For example, two years ago at this time, he was forced to wander the Sierra Nevada for several days, unable to find water in the mountains. It was drought season, so even small pools were hard to find, and he had to ration drinking water. No bathtub, no shower. His companions, seeing his gloomy, silent march, worried he’d go mad and banded together to finish the job early.
“That’s an illness. I could recommend a good doctor.”
Even James — who never cared about others’ privacy except for Kyle — seriously urged Yuri to see a doctor. Yuri reluctantly did, but all tests showed his mental health was perfectly normal.
“People usually have one or two attachments in life.”
Yuri said matter-of-factly, adding, “So I won’t accept any jobs in waterless areas anymore,” making James’ work scheduling difficult.
Whether because of that or not, Yuri was now finishing his work in a satisfying environment, and James was pleased with the progress.
Soon, all that was left was confirming Jung Jae-ui’s location. And that was the problem.
He had a guess where Jae-ui might be, but no way to confirm…
Only after Yuri reached the water’s edge did he rise from the sea. He stepped onto fine crushed shells and coral fragments with bare feet, having taken off his boots. The fine sand between his toes felt pleasant.
“...Achoo.”
Yuri sneezed, shrugging his shoulders and rubbing his chilly forearms as he hunched over.
Though warm underwater, outside the air was cool. Even in a year-round warm region, the dawn air on wet skin was never warm.
“A towel, a towel…”
As Yuri looked around for the towel tossed near his sandals, a familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar voice approached. At the same time, a pale hand suddenly held a towel before him.
“...Thank you.”
Yuri took the towel and straightened up. As he expected from the voice, a finely featured young man smiled softly before him. The young man didn’t seem to notice—or pretended not to notice—Yuri’s reluctant face as he silently dried himself and kept his bright smile while speaking.
“Isn’t it cold to get in the sea before sunrise? I didn’t want to get out of bed either.”
“...It’s warmer underwater than outside.”
“Really? I wouldn’t have thought so. Do you come to the sea every dawn?”
Instead of answering, Yuri hesitated a moment, then nodded. The young man smiled with his eyes and brazenly looked him over.
“I see. Swimmers really have great bodies. You don’t look like a man nearly forty.”
Yuri paused his drying briefly, then resumed. Throwing the towel roughly over his shoulder, he finally met the young man’s gaze.
He was still four years shy of forty, but that didn’t matter against the youthfulness of the man in his early twenties. Besides, yesterday, the young man had glared fiercely at him like saying, “Next time we meet, just wait and see.” Now this casual smile was confusing.
Yuri had no idea why the young man was here. If he wasn’t here on business, then probably just for swimming. The sea was beautiful enough to make anyone want to swim.
But when Yuri gestured toward the sea over his shoulder, the young man responded with a short silence. Wearing a loose white shirt and neat cotton pants with hands in pockets, he didn’t look like someone here just to swim.
“I don’t swim.”
The young man first looked a bit dumbfounded but soon smiled again. Yuri blinked and asked,
“You don’t know how?”
He knew that wasn’t true. He’d seen this man swim well as a child. But the young man wrinkled his nose and frowned.
“I nearly drowned when I was little, so since then I don’t even want to look at the sea. I know how, but I don’t swim. I don’t like pools either.”
Shrugging and frowning as if thinking unpleasant thoughts, he looked almost sincerely opposed.
Nearly drowning as a child... Yuri suspected what experience he meant. Unless he’d nearly drowned many times, Yuri knew the incident he referred to.
“But you survived…”
“But I still don’t like it.”
His firm smile showed no room for argument. He was serious about disliking water — a sad thing.
Yuri had no intention to persuade him, but his feelings showed on his face. The young man noticed and suddenly laughed.
“Ha ha, you look like you’re regretting it. Why care if it’s not your business?”
“Because it’s a waste.”
“How beautiful…” Yuri glanced back at the sea he’d just emerged from. The calm water was so beautiful, so rich and peaceful. It was sad to hate it and push it away.
Yuri looked away as dawn broke. He needed to shower and start his day, but first he had to deal with the young man who seemed to have come to see him.
The young man, who had been scrutinizing Yuri carefully, smiled thinly like a sly cat. Yuri found this unexpected reaction unsettling and stepped back. The young man’s smile deepened with delight.
“I heard from your older brother. You two know each other?”
“...Ah.”
Ring Tangwin must have already contacted the young man. Yuri had called him the night before; that was quick.
“You two seem really close if your brother defends you even though his own brother got shot.”
The young man’s tone was so friendly and casual that Yuri only realized he was being sarcastic a moment later. The young man was the one who drew his gun first; Yuri fired not at him but the gun he was holding, but that didn’t seem to matter.
Yuri chose not to comment.
“Is that your usual expression? So blank and unreadable? It’s hard to deal with people without expressions.”
The young man frowned and laughed, looking at Yuri’s face with mixed emotions. Yuri absentmindedly brushed his face with his palm.
He often heard he had a blank expression. Sometimes a compliment, sometimes a reproach — this time felt like the latter.
“People with clear emotions are easier to read and control.”
The young man grumbled and looked at Yuri as if to say, “Why do you look like that then?” Yuri met his rude words with a slightly startled but still indifferent expression.
The young man smiled sweetly again, changing expressions too fast to keep up.
Yuri still couldn’t guess why the young man had come, but he clearly hadn’t come for revenge.
“I came to make peace. Let’s be friends.”
He grabbed Yuri’s hand firmly and pretended to shake it. Yuri looked back and forth between the delicate face and the large, thick-jointed hand. Surprisingly soft, it felt like stroking a fluffy beast’s hidden paw.
“Peace?”
Feeling uneasy about the lurking claws, Yuri glanced at the young man. The young man’s black eyes narrowed.
“It means to let it go as if it never happened. Our first meeting wasn’t great and I’m still annoyed about it, but since you’re friends with my older brother, I can’t really do anything about it. So…”
The young man winked, playfully miming shooting a gun.
Though Yuri thought “It’s not the first time,” he had no intention of flattering him with talk of saving him as a child. But the young man’s words made him guess why he had come.
“Still, I don’t expect to get useful info about Jung Tae-ui. I don’t know much either.”
Yuri’s words made the young man laugh.
“Hey, don’t be like that. I said I came to make peace. Besides, I know more about Tae than you do. Not many know more than me.”
“And I have no intention to help you against Rick. I’m not on bad terms with him.”
Yuri cut him off flatly, ignoring the young man’s words.
This time the young man shut up. His sly smile and steady gaze made Yuri uneasy.
“Well… it’s fine. I don’t expect much from you. But causes always come from tiny things, like a mustard seed.”
A look flew with a smile saying “Maybe you’ll be the one to make that cause.” He seemed the type to mark any sprout worth noting.
“And…”
The young man hesitated, then tilted his head. His gaze, though clearly searching, looked innocent thanks to his big black eyes. This man truly seemed to have half his advantage from his looks.
“My older brother thinks highly of you. He said you seem quiet and blunt but trustworthy and kind — not the type to harbor malice. So if possible, just let it go. My big brother is stingy with praise.”
“...Thank you.”
“Ha ha, I didn’t praise you. You should thank my older brother.”
The young man laughed aloud and tapped Yuri’s shoulder warmly. Yuri didn’t feel the young man was arrogant — maybe because his clear, crisp laugh was pleasant to hear.
Yuri pulled the towel back up slipping from his shoulder and silently studied the young man.
He was certainly handsome. Yuri couldn’t understand why Jung Tae-ui had abandoned this pretty young man to choose the ticking bomb of a situation. While both were difficult types, on looks alone, this one was far superior.
“Is there something on my face?”
The young man looked straight at Yuri, slow and calm, already accustomed to such scrutiny. Yuri shook his head and averted his gaze.
He guessed it was those tiger-like eyes — eyes that seemed to see right through people. They were indeed overwhelming.
“I should get going. I set my alarm and woke up early to meet you, so I’m sleepy. You should get dressed too, right? You came out wet; it must be cold... Ah, that gave me goosebumps.”
The young man reached under the towel and brushed his palm slowly along Yuri’s forearm from just below the shoulder to the elbow. Yuri suddenly realized his arm was covered in goosebumps — chilled and tensed — but the place the hand touched was strangely warm.
Soft and gentle, but capable of becoming tough and fierce when needed.
Yuri quickly withdrew his gaze from the departing hand and said, “Well, then.” With a final smile, he turned and quietly watched the young man’s retreating back for some time.
That Ileigh Ligrow looked like an ordinary person was a strange feeling to Yuri.
About twenty minutes’ slow walk from the backpacker’s lodge was a small night market. Held every other day, it was smaller than the weekly large market in Vahel but had a dozen or so open-air stalls mainly selling fresh seafood and food. Locals frequented it often.
Yuri had come to buy watermelon on Anna’s— the backpacker’s owner’s — request, and spotted Rick and Jung Tae-ui among the bustling crowd, pausing.
Standing in front of a smoky open-air stall, eating grilled crayfish, the two looked so normal that Yuri might have passed them by if not for their familiar faces.
“.........”
He never imagined that man would ever look normal even for a moment in his life.
Yuri watched them quietly with a strange sense of emotion.
Ileigh Ligrow — anyone who knew him would grimace and shake their head. Countless sinister rumors followed his name. As far as Yuri knew, no one wanted to share a place with that man.
Yet now, he was recommending grilled scallops to his companion who had just finished crayfish, muttering a half-hearted “thanks” as the vendor handed him the sauce. He blended perfectly into the market scene.
Yuri stared at him intently, then suddenly murmured, “Ah,” realizing why he seemed normal. It was because of Jung Tae-ui, who calmly accepted the scallops and bit into them as if this was a usual scene. Jung Tae-ui treated him like a regular person, which made Ligrow seem so.
“........”
Suddenly, Jung Tae-ui looked extraordinary.
Yuri shifted his gaze to Jung Tae-ui, who carefully put down two watermelon halves and studied them.
What was it about that ordinary man that pulled Ligrow? Yuri couldn’t tell. Having spoken with Jung Tae-ui several times, Yuri liked him. Though sometimes unpredictable and strange, he was a well-raised, decent young man.
What was certain was that Ligrow wouldn’t let go of that man. And falling for someone doesn’t require a huge reason or a great cause.
“.........”
No, maybe Jung Tae-ui really did have something. Not just anyone could trail two men like that.
Putting down the watermelon and watching like a spectator, Yuri spotted a familiar face at the opposite end of a long bench where several people sat. Legs crossed, chin resting on his hand, lost in thought as he watched the others — the youngest master.
Since there were so few Asians around and with such distinct features, he was immediately noticeable. He sat naturally as if unconcerned whether they saw him or not. It didn’t seem he intended to secretly spy. If anything, it looked like he was upset they hadn’t noticed him sooner and was glaring at them intensely.
“........”
Yuri realized with a start that the youngest master had also spotted him.
No, it wasn’t a new discovery. He must have known Yuri was there but had ignored him — until now, when he turned to meet Yuri’s gaze calmly.
Once their eyes met, the youngest master looked even more startled. Why was the timing always so bad? Maybe he should have pretended not to see him.
Again, he wore a calm expression but subtly looked displeased. It seemed painful to have shown that face he didn’t want others to see — watching Jung Tae-ui with sorrow or Ligrow with envy.
If so, he shouldn’t sit so conspicuously in such a visible place.
Yuri repeated to himself it wasn’t his fault and quickly grabbed the watermelon to leave. He had to return to the backpacker’s — Anna would be waiting for the watermelon…
Though he hadn’t done anything wrong, an uneasy feeling nagged him as he hurried off. His brisk pace slowed as he left the yellow lights of the market and entered a dim alley.
But.
Was it really that good?
Yuri recalled the youngest master, who had been staring blankly, chin in hand, at just those two. His expression was a mix of envy, sorrow, frustration, and anger — gazing at them so fervently. Looking at him once, please. I’m staring so hard; won’t you look back just once? That frustrated, miserable look.
...Please just look once. If I had been kinder, I would have gladly looked back.
Lost in that thought, Yuri sighed softly.
“Why are you running away? You saw my face, so stop.”
A sudden firm grip on his shoulder came from behind. Silently—perhaps deliberately without a sound—the youngest master grabbed Yuri’s shoulder tightly. Yuri flinched slightly. Though he showed no outward sign, he must have felt the firm grasp.
With narrow eyes and a sly smile, the one holding him back was none other than the youngest master.
“...What are you doing here?”
Yuri, surprised to find the youngest master suddenly behind him when he had been watching the others moments ago, asked suspiciously.