Chapter 7

Bright and early Thursday morning, a loudspeaker crackled to life in the Enzoni University’s hallway

“Attention, students!”

Yena rolled over with a groan, but as hard as she crammed her hands around her ears. “I hate this”, the duck mumbled.

“You have exactly nine minutes to report to the gymnasium for your physical education class. So be prompt and be ready for bodily assessment.”

Physical Education? Bodily assessment? In the morning? Eunbi had already been regretting staying out so late last night ... and staying up so much later lying in bed, stressing.

Eunbi, Minju, and Yuri crossed the south side of campus to the gymnasium. It was a large Gothic structure with flying buttresses and fieldstone towers. “Where’s Yena?” Yuri asked.

“Yena” Eunbi called out, spotting her tracksuit-clad friend lacing up her sneakers on a bench. Yena’s eyes were groggy “I slept late last night. Thought I’d compensate by trying to at least look athletic” Eunbi and others laughed as Yena fumbled with the double knot on her shoe.

The double doors to the gym were open. Their teacher stepped out in heavy rubber clogs, holding her ever-present clipboard. He waved the students forward, and one by one they filed past to be assigned their fitness station.

“Choi Yena” she bellowed next, causing Yena to cower and press her palms against her ears again. “Pool” their teacher instructed, reaching into a cardboard box behind him and tossing to Yena a red one-piece Speedo racer-back.

“Kwon Eunbi” their teacher continued, after consulting his list. Eunbi stepped forward and was relieved when their teacher said, “Also pool”, Eunbi reached up to catch the one-piece bathing suit in the air.

“Wang Yiren” the teacher said next, and Eunbi whipped around to see her.

Anything but a pool, Eunbi willed. Anything but pool

“Pool,” the teacher said.

****

Walking next to Yena toward the girls’ locker room, Eunbi tried to avoid looking back at Yiren, who twirled what seemed to be the only fashionable bathing suit in the stack around her. Instead, Eunbi focused on the gray stone walls. A series of faded triptychs hung at eye level, with only the orbs of the figures’ halos still aglow.

“Uplifting decor, isn’t it?” Yena asked. “Like everything else in this hellhole, they did a totally half-assed job of updating it.”

“You’re joking” Eunbi replied

“I wish” Yena rolled her eyes which earns a laugh from Eunbi.

“You’re straggling!” yelled their teacher. Eunbi and Yena scrambled into their faded, baggy bathing suits, Eunbi shuddered at her reflection in the mirror, then covered as much of herself as she could with her towel.

Inside the humid natatorium, she instantly understood what Yena was talking about. The pool itself was giant, Olympic-sized, one of the few state-of-the-art features Eunbi encountered so far on this school. But that wasn’t what made it remarkable, Eunbi realized in awe. This pool had been set down right in the middle in spanning the walls near the high, arched ceiling gymnasium.

Some of the other students were already in the water, gasping for air as they completed their laps. But it was the students who weren’t in the water who held Eunbi’s attention. Hyewon and Yujin were all spread out on the bleachers. They were in much more attractive white shirt than Eunbi's bathing suit, and not one of them looked like they had any intention of making a move toward the pool. Yiren walked over to the group. Like she was already best friends with all of them. She took a seat right next to Yujin and immediately started laughing, too, like whatever the joke was, she already got it.

Eunbi hemmed and hawed at the side of the pool, unable to tune in to their teacher's instructions. Seeing Yiren et al. clustered on the bleachers cool-kids-style made Eunbi wish that Chaeyeon were there, waving at her over to the crew with her big smile, making her feel immediately welcome, even important.

“Kwon Eunbi. It’s eight laps, pick your best ” their teacher said.

Eunbi nodded and stood with her toes curled over the edge. She used to love to swim. When her dad taught her how. She’d even been given an award as the youngest kid ever to brave the deep end without floaties. But that was years ago. Eunbi couldn’t even remember the last time she’d swum.

The teacher cleared his throat. “Maybe you didn’t catch that this is a race ... and you’re already losing”

 This was the most pathetic and ridiculous “race” that Eunbi had ever seen, but it didn’t stop her competitive edge from coming out. “And ... you’re still losing,” the teacher said, chewing on his whistle.

“Not for long,” Eunbi said. She checked out the competition. The guy to her left was sputtering water out of his mouth and doing a clumsy freestyle. On her right, a nose-plugged Yena was