Chapter 44.2

Chapter 44.2

She reflexively jumped to her feet at the sound of the instructor’s whistle. It was only a matter of seconds before the group, who had separated, reassembled in the pool.

Throughout this fourth week, Seoryeong had been doing various underwater drills, including holding her breath, diving 50 metres, and retrieving objects from 15 metres below the surface.

Lee Wooshin still treated her harshly whenever he saw her. Especially when she was in the water tank holding her breath, he would press down on the back of her head as if torturing her.

Only when she was about to pass out did he finally let her go. She raised her head in a dazed state and caught the eyes of a smiling Lee Wooshin.

Instantly, a murderous rage surged through her, and a fist flew. However, stumbling, she ended up spilling with the tube tank to the floor in an embarrassing display.

I never thought I’d have such a dark moment… Her face still burned at the thought.

“It’s five hundred yuan today, if you don’t give me a hundred, you’ll be punished.”

Lee Wooshin was alone with a shawl tied around his neck and a hot pack on his cheeks.

He shook off all the bullshit about how cold he was, and blew the whistle firmly, forcing the men into the water.

They dived in without hesitation, as they had done many times before. Today they had to dive seven metres to pick up the coins that had fallen to the bottom.

Seoryeong was no different. She sliced through the heavy water pressure with her arms, heading downward, deeper and deeper.

She was out of shape and a mediocre swimmer, but her breathing abilities was good enough to keep her from falling too far behind.

After retrieving the 500 yuan coin, she surfaced directly, and unusually, Lee Wooshin had entered the pool himself. The trainees, with only their faces out of the water, watched the instructor’s mouth.

“Today, we’ll try creating makeshift floats.”

He fumbled around his waist under the water. What… is he doing? As she watched with a puzzled expression, with a click, his pants buckle came undone.

Seoryeong blinked in confusion. Then he lifted his soaked pants and said.

“The men follow the instructor and take off their pants.”

“……!”

Lee Wooshin demonstrated how to inflate the pants he was wearing to create a temporary float. The crew members watched, and in unison, they hesitantly removed their pants in the water. At the same time, their awkward gazes sneaked in the direction of Seoryeong.

“…..”

Seoryeong froze for a moment as she moved her legs. For whatever reason, the fact that she hesitated was enough to make her feel like a failure.

“Agent Han Seoryeong.”

Just then, she made eye contact with Lee Wooshin, who was tilting his head slightly.

“Do you plan to just cling onto your teammates and survive when you said you wanted to work in my team?”

His cold gaze pierced her as she was the only one unable to make her own float.

“Why should we accept someone who can’t even save themselves?”

“….!”

“However, considering your discomfort, we’ll skip this part.”

As if he had never pointed it out, he nonchalantly turned his head away. It was a statement acknowledging the difficult part she was feeling, precisely some sense of shame, but without his usual mocking smile, and in a monotone that seemed to check her limits, it somehow made her anxious.

It can’t be that I’m kicked out just for this…!

“No…!”

Despite her hesitation, Seoryeong quickly took off her pants. The icy water stinging her bare legs snapped her back to reality.

She managed to fill her pants with air like everyone else and successfully created a makeshift float. Holding the round, inflated pants made it much more comfortable to stay in the water. After several more practices, the morning training was finally over.

“Dismissed.”

Wooshin briefly ordered dismissal and was the first to leave the pool. As he walked away, shaking off the clinging water like gravity, the trainees’ attention blatantly followed him.

His soaked top revealed the flexing muscles of his chest, stomach, and back, and his underwear was a pair of tight-fitting drawers.

At first glance, it looked like a swimsuit, but the elasticized buttocks and thighs were strangely obscene. Seoryeong turned her head away as if she were looking at something obscene.

Soon, the others shivered and got out of the pool. It was time for Seoryeong to hug the float and move to the end of the pool.

“Don’t look back and run straight to the barracks.”

He briefly blew the whistle, giving instructions to the trainees.

“You,” pointing to Han Seoryeong, “don’t come up yet.”