Passion Raga Novel (Completed) - Chapter 4

It was an island renowned for its beautiful sea.

Not only was the view of the sea from the water breathtaking, but the underwater ecosystem, explored by diving into the sea, was also incredibly rich. Everyone who visited this island unanimously declared it “the most beautiful sea I’ve ever seen.”

Nevertheless, the reasons the island wasn’t widely known were, first, that most of the large and small islands clustered nearby were private property; second, even for islands that weren’t, the shipping routes weren’t properly established, making it extremely difficult for outsiders to visit; and third, the strong currents made it difficult to enter the sea around the island unless one was very accustomed to the water.

However, Yuri Gable met all the conditions to enter that sea.

Ling Tangyun, who had a considerable personal friendship with Yuri or more precisely, his family owned one of those islands and had granted him permission to enter. Ling Tangyun also decided to take the opportunity to rest there with his wife, children, and close family, having arrived on the island in advance. He sent a boat to pick up Yuri, who arrived at a nearby island later, making the journey to the island effortless. And as for the condition of being accustomed to the water to enter the sea despite the strong currents around the island, there was no need to say more.

It was a sea where no one was present except for the administrators employed by the Ling family, who resided on or visited the island. And inside, it was even more beautiful than what he had heard. So much so that he wished he could stop breathing while he was in the water.

“But you two shouldn’t go in.”

When Yuri, fresh out of the sea, wiped his hair with a dry towel, Ling Tangyun’s young son, Fei, pouted and complained.

“Why not?! I’m good at swimming too.”

“The currents are too strong.”

“Cur…?!”

The child wrinkled his lips, looking as if he didn’t understand what that meant. Yuri rephrased it in words the child could easily understand.

“It means the water flows very strongly, so it’s dangerous.”

“The waves aren’t crashing, though.”

The child pointed at the gently rippling sea and whined.

“There are also waves that flow only inside, unseen from the outside.”

“…Hmph. I want to go in too.”

Yuri wrapped the towel, which he had used to roughly dry his wet body, around the shoulders of the child who was grumbling but obediently giving up.

“Your body is red. You’ll be sore tonight, so don’t run around too much in the sun. As for the sea, see that black rock sticking out over there? Don’t go beyond that.”

The child shouted, “Yes!” and immediately jumped into the water. Yuri watched the child splashing around nearby for a while, then turned to leave. Fei was very mischievous and sometimes hard to handle, but he wasn’t a child who couldn’t understand or wouldn’t listen.

“Oh dear, the mermaid has finally come out of the water. I was wondering whether to call someone since you hadn’t come out for so long.”

A little above the pristine white sand, on the lush grass, Ling Tangyun, sitting under a parasol, offered Fei a beer and smiled. Fei lightly waved his hand and instead picked up water to quench his thirst.

“Strong currents? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Near the surface, it’s fine. You’d have to be careful if you went a few meters deeper, but it’s okay up to this point.”

Yuri glanced at Fei splashing around with his younger sister, then sat down in the chair.

“That’s a shame. So I can’t go deep either?”

“It wouldn’t be difficult if you had equipment and some help from others, but you didn’t bring any equipment, did you?”

“No,” Ling Tangyun said, shaking his head and clicking his tongue.

“That’s a pity. I was looking forward to it because I heard the underwater world here is very beautiful, but why are the currents so strong?”

“It’s beautiful precisely because the currents are strong. Because the water flow is active, many creatures gather to find food.”

Yuri set down his water glass, which he had emptied in a few gulps, and leaned back in the chair.

Checking his watch, he saw that quite some time had passed. It seemed he had lost track of time, mesmerized by the underwater scenery, going up and down and wandering around. He felt unusually languid compared to other times. He must have exerted himself quite a bit playing in the currents for a long time down there.

As he narrowed his eyes in pleasant fatigue, a small shadow entered the water without hesitation at the edge of his vision. The way it swam was refreshing. The posture was good, and the speed was fast.

“Oh… wait, isn’t that dangerous?”

Ling Tangyun’s voice grew a little serious. Yuri poured water into his glass again, saying, “Well…”

“Actually, even if you go a bit far, it’s generally fine as long as you stay on the surface. It would be a bit awkward if he got a cramp, though. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Yuri had no intention of leaving his spot unless something happened anyway. He was reluctant to take his eyes off the sea for even a moment. He had only arrived this afternoon, but he would have to leave again early tomorrow morning. He had taken some time off during work, so he couldn’t stay long.

Ling Tangyun clicked his tongue, asking if the travel time wasn’t longer, but Yuri shook his head. He couldn’t miss the opportunity to come to this beautiful place, even for just a day.

“Is that child your youngest sibling?”

Yuri looked at the small child he was seeing for the first time, having only heard rumors. He was too far away to see clearly, but he heard there was a two-year age gap with Fei, yet his build was much smaller than his peers, making him look about four or five years younger. He looked just like a small, delicate girl.

“Hmm…”

This man, who was already in his forties, muttered with a subtle frown, as he always did when talking about his youngest sibling. And this small child was his brother.

“Why did you bring your brother with you?”

Yuri, knowing that he didn’t think highly of his youngest sibling, asked with surprise.

“You’re telling me. Originally, Father said he’d take him to Hong Kong, but a few days ago, the child suddenly saw something and begged to see an island in the South Pacific. So what could I do? Since I was planning to come here anyway, I had to bring him. It seemed like he begged to go to the island with that intention from the start.”

“Thanks to that, I just unnecessarily incurred Father’s displeasure,” Ling Tangyun said, sipping his beer with a bitter expression.

“Since he’s your much younger older brother, he might think of you as a father.”

“Hey, don’t you start saying things like that too.”

Ling Tangyun suddenly groaned and clutched his head. Yuri glanced at him.

“Even without that, the child sometimes tells me I’m like his dad when Father is around, and Father looks at me disapprovingly. Do you know how uncomfortable that is?”

For a moment, Yuri felt sorry for Ling Hwirung, thinking it would be depressing if his cherished son followed someone else like a father. But Ling Tangyun, whose mood was undoubtedly affected, would also be in a difficult position. Yuri shrugged.

“Well… they’re just kids.”

Since almost all of their peers’ fathers would be similarly young to Ling Tangyun, it was possible that they would follow an older brother who was like a father, rather than a grandfather-like father. Isn’t that typical of children that age? “Whose mom is prettier,” or “Whose dad is cooler.”

“Well…” Ling Tangyun sighed softly, not seeming to agree with Yuri’s words, but he didn’t add anything further. He looked at his youngest sibling splashing in the water in the distance with complex eyes, then shook his head, saying, “Anyway, if that child gets even a little hurt, I’ll be in big trouble.”

Yuri looked at Ling Tangyun with a smiling expression, then turned his gaze back to the sea.

Ah, truly a dazzlingly beautiful sea.

The water shimmering like transparent jewels, the endlessly stretching azure sky, and the painfully white clouds.

He couldn’t help but feel regret that he had to go back soon.

If he had his way, he’d quit his job and stay here forever, but he couldn’t. Besides, Kyle had suddenly disappeared. He was probably at some rural book festival and James was gritting his teeth, groaning. If Yuri added to his burden, he would truly fall ill.

He could only hope for another opportunity.

Yuri gazed blankly at the endlessly stretching water, trying to take in as much as he could with his eyes.

He didn’t know how long he had been there.

He hadn’t fallen asleep, but it was as if time had emptied from his consciousness, as if he had. His body was in the water, but his mind was submerged in it.

He thought he heard the sound of water.

“…”

Yuri looked at the child. The child had been happily diving in and out of the sea for a while. The transparent water was so clear that he could see the bottom, which must have been breathtakingly beautiful. The small child, who couldn’t hold his breath for long, was diligently gasping for air and diving.

Then, the child, seeing something at the bottom of the sea, paused for a moment and looked down intently, then took a deep breath. He gave a big push with his body and went down into the sea again.

“…”

Yuri frowned slightly. Next to him, Ling Tangyun chuckled nonchalantly, “It must be really good, the kids won’t come out of the water,” and waved back at his son who was waving from the sea.

“What’s wrong?”

Ling Tangyun looked at Yuri, who had half-risen, with a puzzled expression.

“Your youngest brother…”

“Hmm? Oh. He’s been going in and out of the water constantly. He’s usually lively, but he rarely gets this excited. It must be really good. He just went in again.”

From a distance, Fei’s cheer could be heard. “Wow, a turtle! It’s so big!” he shouted with his sister.

“Father, it’s swimming under our feet!”

Fei let out a cheer mixed with surprise and joy. “Oh, that’s nice,” Ling Tangyun replied, then looked bewildered at Yuri, who was suddenly getting up without hesitation.

“What’s wrong? Is a turtle dangerous?”

“No, it’s not dangerous if you don’t touch it. A turtle will usually avoid you if you get close.”

However, even as he said that, Yuri walked quickly towards the sea with a serious expression though he always had such a face. As he took his first step, he saw Fei taking a big dive, just like the child before him. He probably wanted to touch the turtle. “Brother, me too, me too,” the younger Xiao Qun whined impatiently, but after trying to enter the water a few times and swallowing some, she burst into tears.

“Xiao Qun, stay there.”

Yuri said that and jumped into the water.

He reached Xiao Qun, who was floating in the water with a tube and crying, in one swift movement. He wiped the sniffling child’s tears and quietly said, “Hold on tight to your tube,” then looked down.

As Fei had said, a large turtle was gracefully passing below. It was a large turtle, about 60-70 centimeters long, rarely seen near the surface. And Fei was diligently swimming down towards that turtle.

Perhaps the small child who went into the water earlier also did so because he saw that turtle. …But.

Yuri went into the water.

The water was transparent, allowing him to see all the way to the bottom. Because of that, the turtle seemed close enough to touch, but it was easily several meters deep. As Fei went down, he pinched his nose and blew air a few times, probably because his ears hurt.

Then, at a certain depth, Fei, who had been swimming skillfully, lost his balance. His body swayed and tilted as if he had hit something invisible.

Just as I thought.

There were currents at that depth. The strong currents, which were somewhat difficult for even an experienced adult to handle, quickly enveloped Fei. Fei, startled that his body wasn’t moving as he intended, blew out the air he had held in his lungs and soon began to struggle, gasping for breath.

“…!”

Fei desperately clung to Yuri, who reached him without delay. The child, whose reason was paralyzed by the sudden onset of fear, ignored Yuri’s gestures and eye contact, simply clinging to and pulling on Yuri’s shoulders, arms, and waist.

Even a young child, if paralyzed by fear and exerting all their strength, can be difficult for an adult to handle. If Fei had gone a little deeper, if the currents had been stronger, Yuri probably wouldn’t have been able to reach Fei so directly.

It’s still okay. I can handle this much.

Yuri ascended, almost half-paralyzed by Fei’s frantic clinging. He thought it was fortunate that he hadn’t gone too deep and quickly surfaced.

Even after getting out of the water, Fei remained clinging to Yuri for a while, as if his mind was blank. He was gasping for breath and seemed to have swallowed water, as he coughed violently with a whimpering sound.

“It’s okay, Fei. Calm down. You’re okay now.”

Yuri slowly swam towards Xiao Qun, who was wide-eyed and looking scared. And he carefully transferred Fei to Xiao Qun’s tube. Fei flinched for a moment and tried to cling to Yuri, not wanting to let go, but soon, as if his mind had somewhat returned, he moved to the tube.