“Do you really have to do this?”

Dave, who was following Kyle, spat out a word he had been holding back as if he couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Why? Want to come in together? Then go change and come back.”

Kyle said indifferently towards Dave, who was in a suit.

“No, sir. That’s not it. Right now…”

But Dave closed his mouth at Kyle’s sharp gaze that immediately followed.

During the last Hatch incident, Kyle had issued a stern order regarding Marcus the captain’s illegal customer surveillance work instructions.

He also instructed never to mention the content about the ‘Curse of Jeina’ again.

Dave thought that all matters had been settled with Kyle’s strong measures.

But strangely, Kyle’s schedule became even busier after that incident.

Moreover, Dave became busy as well due to Kyle personally checking all the events on board.

Today, as usual, after the regular work day ended, Kyle set out to personally inspect the event venue.

However, Dave was suspicious of Kyle’s intention to insist on entering while even complying with the dress code.

As if he was intentionally looking for someone.

Even so, it’s not like his stubbornness could be broken by stopping him now.

Dave sighed deeply in resignation and stepped back.

Kyle was already fully prepared.

“Would you like to enter?”

The staff member in charge of the main entrance to the pool where the event party was being held quickly approached.

Kyle nodded lightly and handed the beach robe he was wearing to the staff member.

Seeing Kyle in his swimsuit with his upper body completely exposed, the staff member’s mouth fell open involuntarily despite being male.

When Kyle twitched his eyebrow, the staff member finally came to his senses and opened the door.

Loud music and dazzling lights disorienting the view.

The party was in full swing with numerous people intertwined, moving boisterously in a frenzy.

However, the moment Kyle entered, everyone’s attention focused on one spot.

With expressions as if facing the appearance of a god.

The music that seemed to pierce the eardrums, the brilliant moving lights.

None of these dared to surpass Kyle’s intense presence.

It was hard to believe that this place had been a cauldron of madness just moments ago.

Even time seemed to have stopped.

Everything in the space he slowly occupied moved thoroughly around him as if existing solely for Kyle.

People began to gather along the path he passed, as if being sucked into a black hole.

* * *

“A beach ball? Alright. Look here. Who wants to play with the beach ball? Hands up!”

Seong Jae playfully bounced the beach ball.

“Can’t you see this noona who’s in a trance, becoming one with the enchanting music? What’s with the childish beach ball?”

“Me! Me!”

But despite Jung Yeon’s sarcasm, Se Hee enthusiastically welcomed it.

“Yes, Se Hee wins. That’s it, we’re done!”

As soon as Se Hee raised her hand, Seong Jae declared it closed.

“What? Was this planned?”

Jung Yeon rolled her eyes in disbelief.

“Playing ball is most fun with two people. I’ll play with you separately later, noona. Keep being in a trance or whatever with that enchanting music there.”

Seong Jae completely turned his back on Jung Yeon.

“Hey! Ban Seong Jae. You really… our friendship… Wait, what’s that? Why did the music suddenly stop?”

Jung Yeon, who was shouting at Seong Jae, pointed to the crowd gathered at the entrance.

“Why are so many people gathered there?”

Seong Jae’s attention was drawn to where Jung Yeon was pointing.

“Is there a performance maybe? Looks like there’s a performance besides the DJ today? An extremely famous guest?”

Jung Yeon turned towards the suspiciously crowded area as she got out of the water.

With many people gathered and the continuous sound of women’s ecstatic screams, Se Hee’s curiosity also exploded.

The crowd that had gathered like clouds strangely seemed to be moving towards this direction.

“Doesn’t the direction seem to be this way?”

Jung Yeon nodded at Se Hee’s question.

“It seems so. Why is it this way and not towards the stage?”

And not long after, the two could clearly understand the reason.

“Haa.”

A sigh mixed with annoyance burst from Seong Jae’s mouth as he first realized what it was.

Damn it.

Even a vulgar curse.

He thought it would be what’s commonly referred to as a suit fraud.

Seong Jae believed that the man’s superior physique, slightly taller than his own 188 centimeters, was surely due to an expensive suit.

So he boldly provoked him.

Here, he wouldn’t be able to hide his true body with that fancy suit.

Perhaps he made a confident gesture wanting to show off his own body toned through exercise.

But, he was real.

It wasn’t thanks to the expensive suit, rather it had been hiding his perfect physique.

The man’s smooth white skin was revealing his well-developed muscles all over his body even more nakedly.

Shoulders so broad they could be called the Pacific Ocean.

Perfect chest muscles and taut abs positioned below.

Thick thighs that looked ready to burst were enough to make even Seong Jae, a former swimmer, envious.

It was an overwhelming presence that even made one feel as if it was emitting a light more intense than the dazzling event hall lights.

It was hard to believe that this place had been a cauldron of madness just moments ago.

Seong Jae’s face crumpled into a frown.

“Oh. My. God!”

Jung Yeon was half dazed as she watched Kyle getting closer and closer.

“This must surely be paradise on earth. I think I could die without regrets now, friend.”

Jung Yeon’s gaze was already fixed on that man.

“Hey! Get a grip, Jin Jung Yeon. Your jaw’s about to drop. Close your mouth and fix your gaze properly.”

Despite Seong Jae’s irritated criticism, Jung Yeon couldn’t take her eyes off that man.

Jung Yeon’s gaze, which had slowly scanned Kyle’s entire body from the top of his head, was ecstatically fixed on his abdomen where solid six-pack abs were located.

Se Hee was equally shocked.

She had already seen him in a wet shirt at the pool before, but this current situation where he was approaching with his bare upper body proudly exposed was incomparable to then.

It was truly on a different level.

Se Hee was realizing for the first time that a man’s body could be this beautiful.

A fantastic body.

This one phrase perfectly suited the man.

Only Seong Jae was stubbornly standing his ground in this catastrophic scene brought about by his own arrogance.

“There’s absolutely nothing I like about this.”

Finally, Seong Jae threw the beach ball he was holding with all his might.

As if he was going to smash the approaching Kyle.

The beach ball flying towards Kyle was caught in one hand in an instant.

Exclamations of admiration burst out here and there, once again moved by his surprisingly agile athleticism.

Kyle adjusted his grip on the beach ball and threw it back to Seong Jae with proper force.

The moment the beach ball leaving Kyle’s hand was caught in Seong Jae’s hands.

Unable to withstand the speed and force, it burst with a terrifying popping sound.

“Gasp.”

Seong Jae nearly stumbled from the shock.

“Seong Jae, are you okay?”

Jung Yeon, startled, finally came to her senses and rushed to Seong Jae’s side.

“Seong Jae.”

Se Hee, also surprised, approached.

“Ah… I’m fine. It’s fine. The beach ball was just weak, that’s all. Looks like I put too much strength into it.”

Seong Jae, who had turned pale, quickly composed his expression.

Trying to somehow turn the situation around by claiming that the beach ball burst because of himself, not Kyle.

“What a noisy entrance you make.”

Seong Jae sneered as if it was unsightly.

“I tend to always attract attention, so this much is nothing.”

Kyle arrogantly replied.

Then he turned his gaze to Se Hee and asked.

“Are you okay even though you can’t swim?”

“Huh? Yes. Yes. The water is shallower than I thought, so I’m fine.”

As Kyle came closer, Se Hee, whose ears had already turned red, quickly averted her gaze and spoke.

“Then shall we learn some swimming here?”

Kyle grabbed Se Hee’s hand while moving even closer to her who wasn’t making eye contact.

Only then did Se Hee look up at him, startled.

As Se Hee’s gaze fully turned to him, the corners of Kyle’s mouth slowly lifted.

“Seems like you know how to swim a bit?”

Seong Jae, who couldn’t just stand by watching this, subtly provoked while intervening.

“A bit?”

Kyle’s eyebrow twitched.

“Ah… I used to represent my school in swimming back in the day. If you need to learn swimming, I can teach you, Se Hee.”

Seong Jae boasted, swinging his arm as if showing off his toned muscles.

“Back in the day? I’ve rarely seen anyone with proper skills who uses such words.”

Kyle sneered.

“Ha, what? Have you only been deceived all your life? Then why don’t we have a match?”

You’re going to fall for it, right?

Seong Jae inwardly rejoiced.

As mentioned earlier, Seong Jae had displayed national-level skills in swimming throughout middle school, high school, and even university.

I’ll flatten that arrogant nose of his in front of Se Hee.

“Why? Hesitating because you might lose?”

Seong Jae attempted another childish provocation towards Kyle, who hadn’t given any particular affirmative response.

“A bet. It’s been too long. What are the conditions?”

Kyle approached Seong Jae with slow steps.

“Conditions?”

“A bet without conditions lacks appeal.”

Kyle’s languid voice irritatingly stimulated Seong Jae.

“Of course, it’s to. get. lost. The loser quietly leaves.”

Seong Jae’s mouth corners rose high as if he had already won the competition.

“You’ll regret it, you know?”

Kyle casually remarked.

“Regret? Who’s talking. Swimming is my main event, you see.”

Seong Jae laughed it off as if it were nonsense.

“Is that so? I’m not particularly good at swimming, but… I’ve never lost a bet even once. I accept the conditions.”

Kyle’s arrogant gaze turned to Seong Jae.

“Don’t make excuses later, you’ll have to leave quickly.”

Seong Jae growled as if spitting out profanities in an unpleasant mood.

Without anyone taking the lead, the two stood side by side on the swimming lane right behind, which had been excluded from the party area.

“What? Are they really having a match now?”

Jung Yeon’s eyes sparkled as if an interesting spectacle had appeared.

Se Hee also approached.

“Jin Jung Yeon. Start.”

Seong Jae shouted.

“Okay. Three. Two. One. Go!”

Jung Yeon loudly called out the start signal.

“Ooh… Look at him cutting through those waves. Wow. Ban Seong Jae’s not dead yet.”

Jung Yeon’s gaze followed Seong Jae’s figure rapidly cutting through the water.

On the other hand, Se Hee’s gaze was directed towards Kyle, who was smoothly swimming underwater.

Kyle, who had been closely chasing Seong Jae underwater, finally revealed himself above water.

Kyle pursued Seong Jae with long strides of his straight, solid arms.

Kyle’s movements, cutting through the rippling waves, were as graceful as wings soaring through the night sky.

The light reflecting off his water-soaked body made those movements even more enchantingly beautiful.

In the moment Se Hee was captivated by Kyle’s appearance, the tide immediately turned.

It was truly a split second.

The first to reach the finish line was Kyle.

“No way!”

He had never lost a swimming match before.

Seong Jae, who arrived at the finish line by a hair’s breadth, looked at Kyle with a dumbfounded expression as if he couldn’t believe it.

What flew towards Seong Jae was Kyle’s gaze, exuding the leisurely aura of a top predator he had felt when he first met him.

Kyle’s large hand, which was about to get out of the water first, heavily pressed down on Seong Jae’s shoulder.

Seong Jae froze on the spot, overwhelmed by the incomparable, dominant aura that made everything up until now seem like child’s play.

Kyle’s chilling low voice seemed to penetrate straight through Seong Jae’s head.

“Now you should get lost.”