Perhaps she does need to…cool off, as he put it. He can’t deny that it pleases him, although he’s still completely bewildered about what, exactly, had been going through her mind at the spa. The sensational glide of his tongue, indeed. (The thought has inspired some of his own. Yes, Seokga can be quite skilled with his tongue when he wants to be.)

“Er,” she whispers, tucking a curl behind her ear, “hi.”

“Hi,” he rasps, treading water. Hi. When has he ever, in his immortal life, said hi? It’s disgraceful. Humiliating. Absurd.

And yet he will be all of those things for her.

Kisa shifts nervously on her feet, looking as if she doesn’t know what she’s doing there.

—I really—should squash—what—am—I—should—leave—

“You don’t need to come in,” Seokga tells her gently, wanting more than anything to put her at ease, wanting her to stay.

“I know.” But she hesitates, and his eyes are fixed on the wildness of her curls, no doubt due to the sauna’s humidity. Kisa’s forehead is shiny with sweat as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other. “Is it cool?”

“Mm,” Seokga says noncommittally before smiling wickedly and sweeping his arm to send icy water arcing toward Kisa. She splutters as it drenches her, and in the very bottom of his vision, Seokga is half-certain that the shaking red thread is spelling out HAHAHAHA again.

“That’s—freezing—” Kisa gasps, but she’s laughing.

“It’s nice,” Seokga promises, and he watches as Kisa hesitates, looking to the small sign on the cavern’s wall, reading Please No Fabric in Water. There’s a moment of deep contemplation from her, and Seokga is captivated by how she tilts her head and scratches at her cheek. Finally, she takes a deep breath and says, “Turn around.”

Seokga practically spins away. He’s never been gladder to meet somebody who follows the rules so strictly. Is she coming in? His heart is thumping like he’s a smitten teenage boy. There’s the soft rustling of clothing falling to the ground, and then a faint splashing. The waters of the cavern are cloudy with what Seokga knows must be buckets of minerals, salts, and whatever gives the water an almost clean, soap-like fragrance. Neither will be able to see any part of the other that’s below the surface, but his blood still stirs knowing that Kisa is nude like him beneath the cold water. “Okay,” Kisa says softly, and Seokga turns around. If he’s suddenly trembling, it’s only due to the cold.

—can’t believe—I’m—doing this—what has—gotten into me—

She’s leaning against the bath’s rocky wall a healthy distance away from him, the waters reaching her neck. Her eyes flutter shut. “You’re right,” she murmurs reluctantly. “It is nice.”