บท 28: A Breath Of Life
"This is it?" Glenn commented, popping a fresh strawberry fruit into his mouth. He looking unimpressed as he stared at the swimming pool in front of them. "I was expecting something unique, but this looks like any other resort I've been."
After their horse-back riding at Country Club Trail, they had stopped by at the La Trinidad Strawberry Farm to pick, well, strawberries. There was nothing special about it other than getting to pick the fruit fresh from the plant. It was affordable, healthy, and it helped the local farmers.
Yves carried a wooden basket in one hand, filled with strawberries, and Glenn's backpack in the other. He sighed, exasperated. "What exactly are you expecting? A sinkhole gushing with steaming hot water? They had pools with spring water from the mountain, so what else do you want?"
"Whatever." Glenn only scoffed, lifted his shirt to his head, and threw it at Yves' face.
Yves wrenched the shirt away, finding Glenn's pants, shoes, and socks on the ground. It's as if he had become this guy's nanny all of a sudden as he picked them up one by one. He felt the urge to drown Glenn in the pool.
"Bring my things to the room we rented, then come back here. Did you bring a change of clothes? I didn't see you bring anything but that vendor bag on your waist."
"It's not a vendor bag."
"It looks like one." Glenn adjusted the swimming trunks he was already wearing. "So you didn't bring any?"
"I'm not soaking in the pool. Our agreement is to accompany you, not to join you in everything you do." Yves swiveled and walked out to find the room Glenn would be staying in for how long he planned to stay here.
A sigh escaped Yves. It felt wrong... so wrong to be in the company of another man in places like this. As much as he wanted to convince himself that this was just work, they didn't go through any formalities. It's an agreement he was forced to enter because Glenn had something against him, which was also the result of his stupidity.
Admittedly, Yves got swept up in the moment with Richard at the altar. He was his celebrity crush. They flirted a little, but he drew the line when Richard tried to kiss him.
Maybe he should just come clean to Timothy. He hadn't done anything grievous to the point it would destroy their relationship. If he explained it to Timothy, his boyfriend will understand. If Timothy got mad, he will accept his wrath.
After locking the door to Glenn's designated room, Yves walked back to the pool barefooted. He had removed his shoes and jacket, as his attire was inappropriate for the setting. But he kept his undershirt and rolled his pants to his knees to prevent it from getting soaked in the wet floor.
From the other end of the largest pool, Yves spotted Glenn swimming freestyle. He ignored him and settled at the edge of the pool, soaking his legs in the lukewarm water.
It was already getting dark, so the hot spring resort he recommended was almost empty. Just like what Glenn said, it looked just like any other resort. It had palm trees, oriental bushes, and water slides.
To Glenn, it could just be another resort, but to the locals, it was a luxury they could soak on when the temperature had dropped in the mountain. Yves would have jumped in to destress, but he'd rather not get his only clothes wet.
A certain jerk thought otherwise, however.
Yves glowered at the figure under the pool as water splashes into him with Glenn's every stroke. When Glenn's head rose next to him, his inner devil goaded him to dunk the head back underwater until he drowned.
"You sure you don't want to take a dip?" Glenn asked, wiping the water from his face before raking his finger through his hair. "The water's warm. Just a little salty. Why is that?"
Yves smiled. "Because of people's urine. We came in late, so--"
"What?!"
At Glenn's outburst, Yves cackled until he almost fell off of the swimming pool. He clutched his stomach and watched as Glenn climbed out of the water. The glare he received only promised he'd go home drenched.
And he was right.
As Yves pulled his legs out of the pool to make his escape, Glenn had gone behind to push him into the water. He grabbed both Glenn's hands and pushed back, matching his strength with ease.
Once Yves found the opportunity, he wrenched Glenn's hold to his fingers and made a dash to the other side of the pool, leading to the exit. But Glenn had caught up to him and wrapped his still dripping arms around his waist.
"Idiot, I'm just kidding!" Yves affixed the soles of his feet to the ground as Glenn tried to lift him. "Let go, you jerk! It's just a joke! Asin Hot Springs is called Asin for a reason! Asin means salt!"
"Is that so?"
"Yes! Are you dumb? The spring water here is naturally salty!"
"Oh, okay." Glenn stopped trying to throwing him into the pool. "I thought you were trying to mess with me again. I've been so wary since that crazy boat ride."
"I'm not..." Yves became aware of how Glenn still had his arms around him, his back still pressed against Glenn's drenched body. "I'm not trying to mess with you, so you can let go of me now."
Slowly, Glenn's fingers slid out of Yves' waist. "Right. Sorry."
"It's okay..." Yves shivered at the chilly afternoon breeze and groaned. "Actually, it's not okay. My clothes are damped now because of you!"
Glenn sniggered. "There's no point in crying over spilled milk now. Let's just take a dip."
"What? No!" Yves dodged Glenn's hand and tripped him into the water by himself. The huge splash that Glenn's body created made him grin. "Serves you right, jerk."
Glenn thrashed his arms into the surface with a gasp. "H-Help!"
Yves rolled his eyes and walked away. "I've seen that in the movies. You can swim. You don't need help."
The wild sloshing of water continued until the distant murmurs of the few people still lounging around the pool reached his ears.
"Lifeguard! Someone is drowning!"
Yves halted on the stairs and whipped his head to find Glenn already sinking to the bottom of the pool. His feet moved. He dunked into the water and swam until he wrapped his arms around Glenn's torso, pulling him back into the surface.
"Glenn!" Yves tapped Glenn's cheek after he laid him to the ground with the help of another guy. "Hey, asshole! This isn't funny!"
Glenn's lips were turning purple. And like a grim premonition, a cluster of black butterflies started swirling above them. His grandmother used to tell him that the appearance of several black butterflies in one place could mean... death was approaching.
Fear gripped Yves' heart as he started pumping the heel of his hand onto Glenn's chest. And as more people and black butterflies surrounded them, the more his fear intensified that Glenn wasn't waking up. His left eyelid began to twitch.
"Glenn! Damn it!" Yves pinched Glenn's nose to tilt his head, placed his lips over his mouth, and breathed into him. He repeated the process; pumping into Glenn's chest and breathing into his mouth, until on the third mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Yves paused mere centimeters into Glenn's mouth upon noticing his half-lidded eyes staring at him. His hand resting above Glenn's chest felt the steady heartbeat. "Glenn, you're—"
Glenn's hand shot up to grab his head, pulling him back to his mouth, and kissed him.
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