Passion Raga Novel (Completed) - Chapter 42

The Way of Love

The water was a deep, dark blue-grey. In the hazy pre-dawn light, the grass was dark. The ceiling was made of glass, letting in dazzling sunlight during the day, but it was useless without the sun, so the space viewed from underwater was a dark, blue-grey.

Just a few meters down, the murky vision would be obscured, but the deepest part of this indoor pool was only three meters. So, Yuri enjoyed the dim tranquility in the deep blue-grey shimmering water.

However, the ephemeral comfort did not last long. At some point, bright lights suddenly illuminated the entire space. The gently dark surface of the water shimmered blindingly white. It seemed someone had entered.

When Yuri entered the pool, there was no one else. It was dimly dark, but not so dark that he couldn’t see, and in fact, he didn’t much care if he couldn’t see underwater. That’s why he had entered the water without turning on the lights, keeping it dark. Listening closely, he heard the dull thud of footsteps, a human presence.

It seemed the person who had turned on the indoor lights was about to enter the pool. Yuri thought for a moment about what to do but decided to surface without much hesitation. There had been a similar incident once before, where he had continued to swim submerged without a care and almost got into trouble.

Back then, a man had entered the dimly lit pool, thinking it was empty, and was swimming when Yuri, who had been idly diving and gliding underwater, suddenly passed beneath him. The man was so startled he nearly had a seizure. Yuri remembered feeling quite wronged because after he pulled the man out of the pool, massaged him, and brought him water, the man immediately started cursing at him as soon as he came to his senses. However, Yuri, who couldn’t be free from the responsibility of having caused the initial incident, silently endured all the curses.

He refused to go through such a situation again. Even if he were to be cursed at, he knew well how dangerous it could be for someone to experience an unexpected shock underwater.

“…”

Exhaling a long breath, Yuri surfaced and looked towards where the sounds had come from. The distance was appropriate, so the person wouldn’t be startled enough to have a seizure, but still, he thought, they would probably flinch when someone suddenly popped up from a pool they thought was empty. He felt a little apologetic towards the person who had entered.

However, Yuri’s prediction was wrong. The person standing by the pool, as if they had been waiting for him to emerge, was Ling Xinlu.

It was Yuri who was startled, blinking his eyes on the spot, until he heard Ling Xinlu ask, “Is it good?” Only then did he snap out of it and swim towards him.

“What brings you up so early?”

“Oh, I just got up to go to the bathroom, and Mr. Gable’s door was open, but no one was inside. I thought maybe he went for a swim, so I looked out onto the balcony, and the outdoor pool was empty too. The thought of where someone could have suddenly disappeared at this hour woke me up.”

“I thought you’d be here,” Ling Xinlu mumbled, indeed looking as if he had just woken up. He was wrapped in a knee blanket like a cloak over his shoulders, dragging his slippers, and scratching his dishevelled hair, even picking sleep from his eyes. Yuri briefly had an odd thought, realizing that he didn’t look ugly at all, which must mean his innate appearance was truly important.

“You were swimming in the outdoor pool until yesterday, but you’ve moved indoors?”

Ling Xinlu picked up Yuri’s water bottle, which was placed near the pool with a towel, and drank deeply, looking around. It seemed this was his first time in the gym located on the top floor of the mansion for residents. And, of course, the indoor pool attached to it.

“The outside air is getting chilly…”

Yuri was about to say something more but stopped mid-sentence. Ling Xinlu, who was usually a heavy sleeper and never got out of bed until Yuri finished his swim and returned home, had somehow noticed all of that. Ling Xinlu was someone who subtly knew a lot about others without showing any outward signs.

“Indeed, the water’s quite cold for swimming outside now, isn’t it?”

Ling Xinlu, who had emptied half the water bottle in one go, pulled up a folding chair next to him and sat down. It seemed he wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

“No… the water’s still fine. It’s actually warmer in the water than outside. But it’s difficult when the outside air is cold after getting out of the water.”

So, starting today, he decided to use the indoor pool. Until the cold season passed and the weather warmed up.

“I see,” Ling Xinlu nodded, smiling broadly. “I chose this mansion because of you, Mr. Gable, because it has such well-equipped resident sports facilities. It really feels worthwhile. It would be a waste not to use the facilities provided.”

However, despite saying that, Ling Xinlu himself never used the pool, nor the attached gym facilities. As far as Yuri knew, this was his first time even coming here.

“I should exercise a bit too,” Ling Xinlu mumbled, looking around the empty space, then looked at Yuri and chuckled.

“You like water that much?”

“Yes, I do.”

He answered readily without needing to think, and Ling Xinlu’s smile deepened.

“More than sleep?”

When a comparative question came up, it inevitably took a little longer to answer.

“At least after satisfying my need for sleep.”

No matter what, he wouldn’t choose the pool over his bed if he hadn’t slept at all.

Then, Ling Xinlu suddenly laughed as if dumbfounded.

“Minimal sleep? Do you live on two or three hours of sleep a day, Mr. Gable? You were awake with me yesterday and went to bed after three, do you know what time it is now?”

Yuri looked at the wall clock, which was just pointing to six in the morning, and closed his mouth. He was about to say that he always woke up at a similar time, so even if he went to bed late, his eyes would naturally open at that hour, but he stopped himself. Ling Xinlu, whose waking hours were as inconsistent as a chameleon’s, probably wouldn’t listen anyway.

“Wow… but Mr. Gable, your stamina is incredible… are you even human? To wake up perfectly fine after only two or three hours of sleep and come to exercise.”

“It’s less about exercise and more about coming to relax.”

“Ah, yes, is that so?”

As expected, he wasn’t listening. While being told he had good stamina could be taken as a compliment, hearing “are you even human?” in a slightly sarcastic tone made him feel somewhat wronged, as if he had been cursed at. For Yuri, entering the water was truly relaxation, not exercise, and moreover, it was Ling Xinlu who actually had good stamina.

Just look at yesterday. If he had to pinpoint it, it was because of Ling Xinlu that he went to bed late last night. And it wasn’t just that he went to bed late. Yesterday, he had spent the whole day hiking.

Ling Hwirung, who was over seventy but still spry, often went hiking, proclaiming “benevolence loves mountains.” Yesterday, he had set out with a few direct family members. (It was a well-known fact that many outsiders cursed, asking what connection there could possibly be between the notoriously cold-hearted Ling Hwirung and benevolence, as much as it was known that he loved hiking.)

The hike wasn’t difficult, as the mountain was just over a thousand meters and the trails were well-maintained. However, it wasn’t so easy for the aging Ling Hwirung, so in places where the terrain became a little rougher, Ling Xinlu mostly supported him. It must have been quite strenuous to climb and descend the mountain while also looking after others, but Ling Xinlu showed no signs of fatigue after reaching the summit and coming down.

The problem arose when they reached the entrance of the hiking trail, almost at the end of the hike. His second elder brother, with a serious expression, mentioned that he had left his electronic notebook on the mountain. When his brother expressed his dismay, saying that buying a new one wasn’t the issue, but rather the schedule stored inside, Ling Xinlu readily offered to go back up and retrieve it.

Thanks to that, Yuri also had to go back up with him. What was even worse was that his brother had left the electronic notebook at the temporary resting place closest to the mountain summit.

In the end, after sending the other family members home first, they went back up the mountain and returned to the main house before heading to the mansion. By then, it was very late at night, and although Yuri showed no outward signs of discomfort, his limbs were actually heavy and aching.

By rights, Ling Xinlu should have been more exhausted than Yuri. On their second descent from the mountain, he had even supported Yuri, who had slightly twisted his ankle after almost slipping. Yet, even in that situation, Ling Xinlu showed no signs of fatigue upon returning home. To be precise, he was no different from any other time, saying, “My eyes are tired. Please massage them,” but he didn’t complain of more fatigue than usual.

He usually forgot about it because there was no need to think about it, but now that he thought about it, this cheerful and lovely young man was said to be the chief of UNHRDO’s section. Indeed, if that were the case, it made sense that his stamina would be like a spring.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t just his stamina; he seemed to be subtly strong too… When they moved into the mansion, he had casually moved the bed and wardrobe when he didn’t like the furniture arrangement…

The more Yuri thought about it, the more wronged he felt about being asked if he was human by such a person.

“Perhaps living in the water every day has made my stamina inhumanly good.”

He replied with as much sarcasm as he could muster, but his indifferent tone and expression seemed to fail to convey it properly. Ling Xinlu merely nodded innocently, saying, “I guess so.”

“Hmm… my stamina hasn’t been what it used to be lately… Should I try going in too?”

Ling Xinlu gazed intently at the pool, where Yuri was submerged up to his neck, and mumbled. Yuri raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Weren’t you unable to enter the pool?”

“Who said I can’t? I just don’t. I think I told you I know how to swim?”

Ling Xinlu retorted as if to say, “What are you talking about?” and splashed one bare foot, having taken off his slippers, into the pool. He tapped the surface of the water with his foot, muttering, “What should I do?”

“But haven’t you been in the water for almost ten years?”

“Hmm… roughly that long, you know well.”

Yuri remained silent when Ling Xinlu casually asked, “Who told you?”

‘If it weren’t for that murderous bastard who just watched a drowning child, I would have grown up loving water activities,’ Ling Xinlu mumbled, stirring the water with his foot. Yuri had nothing to say to him. He could only keep his mouth shut.

Fortunately, that uncomfortable silence didn’t last long, as Ling Xinlu’s thoughts seemed to shift elsewhere, and he looked back at Yuri.

“If I haven’t done it for so long, would I have forgotten?”

“No, you wouldn’t have forgotten. Swimming is something your body remembers. But your form would have gotten much worse.”

“Form,” Ling Xinlu repeated, chuckling. “It’s not like I’m entering a competition. Is form important even when you’re swimming for your own enjoyment?”

“A competition?” Yuri countered, looking as if he had never even considered such a thing, then quickly shook his head. “Ah, no. Learning basic form isn’t because it gets you good scores in a competition, but because it allows you to enjoy the water with the least strain on your body. You learn to enjoy the water with the least effort. …That’s just how it is.”

“Is that so?” Ling Xinlu mumbled, staring at Yuri, then suddenly grinned. “You sound like an instructor… You like water that much, huh? Then, shall I try going in?”

Ling Xinlu took off the knee blanket draped over his shoulders and hung it on the chair. It seemed he had only been wearing knee-length shorts as pajamas and had just thrown the blanket over himself.

“Can I go in with just shorts?”