一层一层剥掉你的衣服

“Hey you.”

“Yeah?” Hye-jeong asked innocently.

“I thought we agreed not to slap each other.”

“It just happened in the moment.”

Ugh. You little…”

That was bullshit if I ever heard it. She definitely did it on purpose.

“But why aren’t they coming?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.

They were still standing there.

“I guess they were really shocked,” Hye-jeong giggled.

“Probably,” I said with a nod. They were right to be shocked, with the way we had suddenly flipped and all that. Hye-jeong had been crying and sobbing like a tragic damsel, and now she was smiling as if nothing had happened. Who could blame them for being confused? A few had even fallen to their knees in shock.

But soon, they all came back to their senses and praised us for our acting. They especially shook their heads at Hye-jeong.

“Alright, let’s cross. I’ll go first. Then Ji-chun, followed by Sian, then Sung-hwan, then Hye-jeong and finally Junho. Okay?”

“Okay!” we all answered.

Byung-hoon began to cross. The river really was quite shallow, only up to the ankles. But it was very wide and the water was strong. If you weren’t careful, you could easily lose your footing.

“Be careful, Sian,” Sung-hwan said, taking hold of my arm. Ugh, I really did not enjoy having a man touch me, but I was careful not to show it.

“Thanks, but you don’t have to help me.”

“No. You’re so delicate. You could fall.”

“Hahaha.”

How funny.

Just then, I felt it. A raindrop falling onto my head.

“Huh?”

We all looked up at the sky in shock just as the downpour started.

Whoosh!

Ugh, this weather. How could rain just fall out of nowhere? With no warning, either. I’ve truly never seen anything like this, but the rain wasn’t the only issue. At the moment, the river we were standing began to rise at an alarming rate.

“Run!” Byung-hoon shouted. We all struggled to get to the other side, but the water mixed with our heavy gear was weighing us down so we couldn’t move very fast. The water was now up to our thighs and was roaring down the river. Ji-chun and Hye-jeong both immediately fell over.

“Help them up!”

Byung-hoon immediately grabbed Ji-chun while Junho got a hold of Hye-jeong. I caught a glimpse of Hye-jeong’s face and she looked very terrified, no doubt wondering if she was going to die. We continued to wade through. Byung-hoon and Ji-chun reached the other side, while Sung-hwan and I followed soon after. Unfortunately, not Junho and Hye-jeong. The water suddenly sped up and blocked them from reaching the bank.

“Ah!”

Junho grabbed onto Hye-jeong and tried to reach the bank, but the water kept pushing them back. It was fruitless. The water was now up to their hips.

“Kyaaaah!” Hye-jeong shouted. Junho didn’t look too good himself, but it wasn’t just them. One of the cameramen who had followed us was also in danger.

“Hye-jeong!”

Sung-hwan and Byung-hoon both jumped back into the water. But they too couldn’t fight against the water and ended up stuck. And just then, Hye-jeong lost her grip on Junho’s hand and fell, as she began to get swept away by the water.

“Help me!” Hye-jeong shouted. All of a sudden, she fell under the water.

“Hye-jeong!” Junho waded over and plucked Hye-jeong out of the water. But just then, he was also pushed by the water and fell over. Now they were both underwater.

“Sung-hwan!” I shouted as I ran over to him. Sung-hwan looked over at me.

“I need your shoulders!”

And with that, I jumped. I landed on Sung-hwan’s shoulders and jumped off again. I flew over to where Hye-jeong was and jumped into the water.

Splash!

I grabbed onto Hye-jeong’s hair.

“Hye-jeong!”

Just then, I felt something hit my thigh. A huge rock had been pushed by the water and was now hitting me in the legs.

“Argh!”

The impact was surprising enough for me to lose my grip on Hye-jeong and fall under the water. The water immediately began to push me down the river.

“Sian!” Hye-jeong cried, but it was too late and I was swept away by the current.

***

“Ugh, fuck this rock...”

I gathered myself and started swimming. But wow, my thigh…it really hurt. Probably because I hadn’t been able to brace myself for the impact in the first place…

“Ugh.”

I drew up some of my powers again. I could instantly feel my physical strength and stamina improve. I immediately started to resist the current and go up the river. The water was no well over the waist, and Junho and Hye-jeong were struggling to maintain their footing. One misstep could be fatal. I looked over at Byung-hoon and Sung-hwan. Sung-hwan just stood there, having already given up, while Byung-hoon was fighting against the water to come towards us little by little. He had also been overpowered by the water, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. Ji-chun was currently shouting at the producers.

Hye-jeong eventually came to where I was and I immediately grabbed her.

“Kyaah!”

“Whoa there.”

“Oh my god! Sian!”

Hye-jeong immediately clung onto me as I wrapped my arms around her. I could sense that Hye-jeong felt much safer now that she was in my arms.

“You okay?”

“Uh-huh…sniff…”

Hye-jeong started to cry again. Were these fake too? I really couldn’t tell. She was so good earlier.

“Don’t worry. I’m here.”

“Okay…sniff sniff…Sian…sniff…”

Hye-jeong did look genuinely relieved. When she was with Junho, she had looked so scared but with me, she seemed to know she was very safe. She must think I’m more reliable. Soon, I saw Junho come near. I immediately reached out to grab onto his hair, helping him to his feet.

“You okay?”

“Oh…yeah…” Junho gasped, grabbing onto my shoulder. He looked at me with wide eyes.

“But…how did you…”

“What?”

“The water…it got you…”

“Shush.”

Junho immediately clammed up. I glanced over at the cameraman, who was hanging on for dear life. Even while struggling, he refused to let go of the camera. Hm…now that I look at him, he has some muscle. He could go up against Junho and Sung-hwan with those. So that’s how he was doing it. We made eye contact and he immediately began shouting.

“Go on!”

“Okay!”

So without hesitation, I turned around and began to head for the other side. He seemed a little sad, but it couldn’t be helped. I had to get Hye-jeong onto land first. With that, I began to wade against the current, holding Hye-jeong in my arms while Junho followed me, grabbing onto my shoulder.

Soon, we reached Byung-hoon.

“You guys okay?” he asked, bracing himself against the current. We nodded. I passed Hye-jeong over to Byung-hoon. Without the added weight, it was much easier to maintain my balance in the water.

“Junho, I’m going to take Hye-jeong. You help Sian, okay?”

“O-okay…” Junho stammered. Byung-hoon probably thought that it was Junho who helped me and Hye-jeong. I guess from the distance, it could look that way.

“Junho, go ahead.”

“W-what? What about you…” Junho said, his hand still on my shoulder.

“I have to go get that camera guy.”

“Oh…” Junho had no response. After all, he himself had used me as a buoy to get to safety.

“Should I go with…”

“You’ll only be in the way.”

“Oh…” Junho nodded in acknowledgment.

“W-well, then…I’ll just…”

“Just go,” I cut in, waving him off. And just then, the rain stopped.

“Ugh. Fuck this!” I spat out without thinking. Junho flinched away from me.

Still, it’s good that the rain stopped. The current was slowing down, and the water level was decreasing. Amazing. The weather here can really change in the blink of an eye. I’ve never seen anything like it.

“I guess he doesn’t need me.”

With the water going down, the cameraman was able to walk over on his own. The camera had remained safe as well. But the most amazing part was that somehow, he had managed to slip a plastic cover over the camera. He really was a reliable guy.

***

“Wow…what a relief that everyone is okay…” the lobster head producer sighed with relief. He hung his head, looking apologetic.

“Really? That’s all you have to say for yourself? Don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming?! We could’ve died!” Ji-chun shouted. He seemed to really like shouting at our producer. Then again, it was all he really could do. The strong ones do what they can and the weak ones find what they can do. Ji-chun’s strength is his ability to ream into the producer. The man was really in for it now.

“I’m going to sue you!”

“I’m really sorry, everyone.” This time, the staff also bowed in apology.

“Where’s our guide?!”

“We decided to meet at the beach…I’m really sorry…I had no idea the water would rise so fast…”

The lobster head producer really had nothing else to say.

“Byung-hoon! Let’s go back! There’s no point in filming anymore!” Ji-chun shouted.

Byung-hoon looked conflicted, wondering what to do. That only made Ji-chun more frustrated.

“What’s there to think about? We almost died! I can only imagine how much traumatized Hye-jeong and Sian are right now!”

Ji-chun looked over at us. I gave him a light-hearted smile, so did Hye-jeong. Ji-chun seemed taken aback by our reactions. But why is Hye-jeong laughing?

“Hey, aren’t you guys traumatized?”

“I mean, it was a bit shocking, but it’s not a big deal.”

“That’s impressive.”

“I’m not easily scared. I’ve even gone white-water rafting before.”

“I guess if you’ve done stuff like that before, it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

Yeah, if she’s gone white-water rafting…she’s more experienced with this stuff than I thought. Anyways, Ji-chun turned back to the lobster head producer while Junho approached me.

“Hey, Sian…?”

“Yeah?”

“Earlier…in the water…how did you…”

“What?”

“The current was really strong…no average human would’ve been able to withstand that…how…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“…”