Tattooed Whales

Business was slow in the noon.

Outside the shop, the sun shone mercilessly bright as the cicadas screamed happily. Even though it was already autumn, the temperatures remained high, sometimes even higher than summer itself.

Like a pile of mud, Pang Zi shrunk into his chair as two flies flew noisy around him. Before long, the flies succumbed to fatigue; one choosing to rest on his arm while the other rested on his forehead.

Chi Jian entered the shop, kicked his thigh, grinned after hearing a loud scream and then stood in front of a mirror. He adjusted a few strands of his hair and stroked his chin. From his peripheral vision, he caught a glance of a duo coming down from the attic. After giving his reflection one last check, he turned and headed towards the stairs.

Hong Yu pointed at Chi Jian as he cuddled Ge Yue, “What’re you doing?”

Chi Jian smiled. “I’m going to sleep with myself.”

Ge Yue’s face flushed red immediately but gave him an eyeroll. “You can be jealous all you want. Go and find one if you’re capable.” She then added on, “Oh look at me, you’re still young. You’re still in your teens.”

Chi Jian was indifferent towards Ge Yue’s teasing. “Only half a year left.”

“What does sleeping have got to do with age?”
“Well, I’m a decent person.”

After Chi Jian spoke, Ge Yue couldn’t help but laugh.

“Shameless.” Hong Yu said.

“It’s my business.” He showed Hong Yu a finger and continued walking. Annoyed with his attitude, Hong Yu cussed him briefly and stopped him with his arm.

“Why are you sleeping in the middle of the day?”

Hong Yu thought for a while and then asked, “It’s Wednesday today?”

Chi Jian hadn’t answer but Hong Yu replied himself. “Yes, it’s Wednesday today, the swimming complex is open.” Loosening his grip on Ge Yue, Hong Yu placed his arm around Chi Jian’s shoulder and suggested, “The complex opens at twelve thirty. Why don’t we go for a swim?”

“Sure, what about the shop?”

“Close it.” Hong Yu replied plainly.

Pang Zi immediately shot up at the mention of closing up the shop. “Closing….. Someone said something about closing?”

“……” Hong Yu was stunned by Pang Zi’s reaction for a few seconds but kicked him and scolded, “The shop’s not closing. You will stay behind and tend it.”

Fully awake now, Pang Zi’s cheeks firmed up, which made his eyes narrow into a slit. “Don’t! Even if there are customers, I don’t know anything? Let’s not destroy our shop’s reputation.”

Hong Yu ignored him and asked Ge Yue to call for Wan Peng.

Chi Jian added, “Liang Xu came too.”

“Why did he come? Hasn’t school started?”

“There’s a break in the afternoon.”

“Sure.” Hong Yu said, “Call him too, the more the merrier.”

Liang Xu was still a student, but he had a good personality and opened up to people easily. He held a part time job at the tattoo parlor every vacation and got along well with everyone. Hence, even though school has already started, he would hang out at the shop every now and then.

The parlor was located at the end of Bai Hua Street’s back alley, and Hong Yu was its owner. Together with Ge Yue, there were a total of five people working in the shop. She didn’t visit frequently, Pang Zi and Wan Peng lived at home while Chi Jian and Hong Yu each stayed in their room in the attic above.

Hong Yu was the oldest, Chi Jian was 19, while Pang Zi and Wan Peng were just slightly younger than him. Neither of them were academically inclined, and had quit school to work in the parlor. Chi Jian only started tattooing last year, so any elaborate form of tattoo designs had to be left to Hong Yu. Chi Jian was perceptive, good with his hands and hence suited this line of work. In addition, he was good-looking, young, eager, and possessed an unconcealable wild spirit and was conspicuous. Before long, the customers, especially the girls, started to prefer him for tattoos. This exasperated Hong Yu, who had sometimes lashed out in indignation.

After locking the doors, they drove a secondhand SUV down Bai Hua Street’s long road. Bai Hua Street was the busiest street in their town; not only were there clothing and shoe stores, but there were also a wide variety of hardware stores, localised gift shops and convenience stores. A little further down the street and you’ll see a myriad of food stands and restaurants.

Hong Yu was impatient and honked his entire way down the street. After they drove out of Bai Hua Street, they picked up their speed and reached in a matter of seconds.

It was actually unnecessary to drive. Their town was part of Qi Yun Town, and even if it wasn’t developed, it didn’t take up much space. A total of roughly twenty thousand people resided here and it took at most two hours to walk from one end of the town to the other. There were only two eye-catching buildings in the town, one being the Old Folks Home that stood three floors tall and was located in the north of the town. The other building, Yu Ying High School, was located in the south of the town, and swimming complex was inside the high school. It was originally opened to only the school’s students but to raise funds for expansion, the swimming complex was outsourced and hence later opened to the public.

There weren’t much students in the afternoon, but there were quite a lot of adults. The group changed out of their clothes and jumped into the pools like dumplings. Pang Zi made a huge splash when he jumped and started playing for a while with Wan Peng. Liu Xu chatted with his classmates he saw while Hong Yu taught Ge Yue how to swim. The duo stuck closely with one another, hugging and cuddling, hardly swimming even a meter.

In the span of all this, Chi Jian had already swam two rounds. His posture was immaculate; with each stroke, his arms stretched out neatly as his legs kicked in line. It made his body seem especially long.

In the mood for a prank, Wan Peng swam up to Chi Jian and suddenly grabbed his ankle. Chi Jian, who was dragged into the water immediately held his breath and with a turn of his body, grabbed Wan Peng. Unaware of Chi Jian’s swimming prowess, Wan Peng’s arms and legs were easily restricted and his head was unable to reach the surface. Feeling the danger of drowning after a minute, Wan Peng immediately begged for mercy.

Nonchalantly, Chi Jian mouthed, “Satisfied?”

Wan Peng nodded frantically. The two broke out of water. After giving him a few seconds to catch his breath, Chi Jian’s palm covered Wan Peng’s forehead and was about to dunk him into the water again.

“Stop, stop. It’s my bad.”

“Dare to fool around again?”

Wan Peng slapped the water and replied, “No, no, I admit defeat.”

“Call me Jian Ge then.”

“Jian Ge! Jian Ge… My great brother!”

Smiling wickedly, Chi Jian further added, “Call me Dad.”

Wan Peng froze for a second. “Shit! Aren’t you asking too much?” He shouted in protest.

Chi Jian sat on the back of his legs and locked his arms around Wan Peng’s shoulder and got ready to dunk him into the water again. Having lost his balance, Wan Peng started to coughed violently. “Dad, Dad, spare me……”

In the mess, the water from the pool splashed everywhere.

Li Jiu Lu was soaked entirely by the splash, but said nothing. Using the back of her hand, she wiped her face and sat down on the chairs beside her. She had already changed into her swimming wear, her swimming cap in hand. The person she was keeping an eye on disappeared suddenly, and she strained her eyes as she walked about to search for him.

Ma Xiao Ye suddenly popped out, his hands holding onto the edge of the pool. “Jiu Lu, you’re not swimming?”

Li Jiu Lu squatted down. “I forgot my goggles, I’m scared I’ll bump into people if I swim.”

“You’re too careless. I can lend mine.”

“Your prescription is different. I’ll get dizzy if I wear them. I’ll still bump into people that way.”

“So you’re not swimming?”

She replied, “I’ll wait until the crowd disperses.”

“Do you still want my goggles then?” Ma Xiao Ye had thought that she wanted to wear his goggles.

“I don’t need it, I’ll close my eyes and swim.”

“Alright, I trust in your technique.” Ma Xiao Ye was a little impatient and kept throwing glances to his back. “I saw my tablemate just now and she challenged me. This brat, she really doesn’t know her limits.”

He then turned to face Jiu Lu. “Wait and see just how I am going to torture her.”

Li Jiu Lu’s eyes lowered.

“I’m going.”

She didn’t move and watched quietly as he swam away.

In the distance, Ma Xiao Ye and the girl wearing a blue swimming cap swam towards the end of the pool together and created numerous waves in the water while doing so.

Jiu Lu backed into the chairs she sat earlier on to avoid the crowd. It was a hot day today; the number of people that had came to swim were too many to count. As she eyed the complex, all she she could see was a sea of beige.

Suddenly, as she retracted her gaze, her eyes stopped halfway, paused, and she fell into a daze. There was an unknown force that attracted her, forcing her to look across the pool.

Separated by groups of people, there sat ‘swimming trunks’ from across the pool, his vision was seemingly also directed at her, but he sat too far, and Li Ju Lu didn’t dare to confirm it.

She then gave a brief and quick glance and her instincts told her that the person was a stranger. She averted her stare and ignored him.

Across the pool, Chi Jian also had the same feeling. Before he could think about it, Pang Zi swam up to him.

“What’re you looking at?”

It took Chi Jian half a day to reply. “A girl, she’s quite pretty.”

“Where?”

He didn’t reply but jumped straight into the pool.

After an hour, Chi Jian finished swimming. He sank to the bottom of the pool and held his breath. The people on shore had left almost entirely and Chi Jian allowed himself to relax his body, fully immersing himself in the water, and time had seemingly stopped for him. This was a habit of his. The water had the ability to block off all forms of noise, and it made him feel like he no longer had any ties to anything, that he can afford to forget who he was. There was no need to think of anything, and everything felt serene and peaceful.

His body only moved when waves were made in the water, and this sense of weightlessness brought him into a whole new dimension.

The goggles he wore was blue, so everything he saw became tinted with a clearer, darker shade of blue.

Without realising, he had already floated about for a few meters. Chi Jian only raised his head and watched.

Above, a ray of sunlight injected itself into the swimming complex. The beam of light, seemingly determined, passed through the transparent glass windows, then bounced off the air before making its way into the pool’s water, where it diffused completely into mottled dots of light.

The stretch of icy blue pool water was suddenly brought to life with the addition of a radiant stream of sunlight.

Chi Jian was unable to move his eyes away.

Just then, the peace in front of him was broken. Someone, had jumped from the diving boards and into the water.

A petite figure in black swimming wear and a black swimming cap moved about in the water freely. It was a girl; the figure had a tiny and slender waist, and her body was gently curved, but the elevation from her chest made it obvious.

Her arms navigated the water as her legs propelled her easily towards the surface of the water with just a lift of her waist.

Stupefied, Chi Jian unconsciously engulfed a mouthful of water but immediately held his breath and in seconds, was already swimming beside her. The two were in danger of colliding into one another but there seemed to be no intention of slowing down from either sides.

It then struck Chi Jian that the girl was not wearing goggles; her eyes were closed.

With a twist of his body, he propelled himself forward and swam below her body. This brought them closer; so close in fact that their bodies were seemingly touching.

The girl tightened her eyes and sped up.

In that few seconds, all Chi Jian saw was a blur of black. The black swimming wear she wore that perfectly showed off her figure seemed to also reflect a fleeting stream of light and Chi Jian suddenly thought that it resembled a particular animal’s skin; glossy, bright, clean and smooth to touch.

He raised his head backwards, and a small yet unswerving pair of white legs passed by briefly in front of him.

She quickly swam away. A muffled sound came from the pool side and Chi Jian resurfaced.

“Jian Ge, it’s time to leave.” Pang Zi shouted.

Chi Jian scanned his surroundings. In lieu of the closing session, there was hardly anyone on shore nor in the water, all but the girl from before.

“Coming.” Chi Jian waved. “Wait for me outside.”

He wiped off the water off his face, shook off the water in his hair and walked but suddenly came to a halt. In the entire fifty meters stretch of water, he would have to take at the very least, a minute and a half to cross, but it took the girl lesser to reach the end. Chi Jian stood and watched for a while, before sluggishly entering the pool again.

Li Jiu Lu still felt unsafe. Even though she knew no one would enter the water, she still swam cautiously. Just as she finished a round and was planning to leave, she kicked a stranger beside her.

The moment her feet came into contact with the firm object, Jiu Lu immediately swam up as her heart sank.

Even without getting a clear look of the other person, she apologised first. “I’m sorry, I didn’t manage to see that there were others in the pool.” She then wiped off the water on her face and opened her eyes to get a good look of the other person. The guy stared at her briefly before asking slowly, “Didn’t manage to see, or can’t see?”

“…… I’m sorry.”

He didn’t speak. Just to look at her, the guy needed to lower his eyes, and for some reason, his mouth twitched upwards, seemingly amused as he stared.

Li Jiu Lu at a loss for what to do after being stared at in such a manner by the guy. She wiped off the water off her chin and then thought of something to say. “So…… where did I kick? Is it painful?”

“It’s okay.” He replied.

Jiu Lu heaved a sigh of relief before the guy continued.

“The muscles in my butt are strong.” Jiu Lu: “……”

……So it was that position.

It seemed like this person had swam horizontally across the swimming tracks, and she just so happened to be swimming when suddenly, she had kicked off her legs to propel herself forward, thus accidentally came into contact with him.

Feeling awkward, Jiu Lu added uncomfortably, “Then, are you okay now?”

Chi Ye pretended to be serious and touched his butt: “Now that you mention it, it feels quite painful.”

Jiu Lu paused for a few seconds, “……Sorry!” thought about it, and then added, “If you swam within the tracks, the distance between us wouldn’t be so small. But by swimming horizontally, it makes it harder to avoid collisions, so……”

Chi Jian understood what she was indirectly trying to get and touched his nose. “It’s fine, nothing happened.” He then added as he tried to hide his smile, “It would have been more troublesome if you kicked me when I was swimming within the tracks……”

“What?”

“It’s nothing.” He swung his hands. “Are you still swimming?”

“Huh?”

“Are you still swimming?”

Li Jiu Lu was confused and nodded blurrily before shaking her head again. Chi Jian grinned, took off his swimming goggles and threw it to her. “Remember to return it.”

The pair of blue goggles bounced a few times in her palm before she finally grabbed it. She then understood after she realised she was holding onto a pair of googles. “Thanks…… But I don’t need it. I don’t know you, so I won’t be able to return this back.”

“The town is small. There’s always a chance.”

“Hey-“

Li Jiu Lu saw that he was planning to leave and chased after him. With his hands on the edge of the pool and a lift of his left foot, he pushed himself upwards and made a huge splash as he stepped out of the pool. The thought of chasing after him disappeared after Ju Liu saw his trunks, which had adhered closely to his butt, and when paired together with his clenched thigh muscles, his entire being seemingly emanated vigour.

Chi Jian turned back, gave her a flippant smile and left.

After exiting the complex, Chi Jian didn’t follow the rest home.

Out of consideration for safety and practicality, the school had built a fence of metal security gates to barricade what used to be a open path connecting the complex to the school’s stadium, and constructed another exit for the public to use.

Two motorcycles were parked to the front of the exit and Chi Jian lighted a cigarette as he leaned onto the back seats of a motorcycle.

The sun hung blazingly in the middle of the sky, and along with the occasional wind, it allowed Chi Jian’s wet hair to dry quickly but also burned his skin. He sat lazily on one of the seats with his back leaning forward slightly, his folded short sleeved t-shirt in hand as he wore a light grey tank top.

Only after finishing his second cigarette did the girl finally walk out. Chi Jian narrowed his eyes to check that it was her.

She wore a dark blue short sleeved t-shirt and jeans, sported a long ponytail and carried a black backpack. Under the sun, her smile seemed especially striking.

Chi Jian extinguished his cigarette, borrowed the rearview mirror on the motorcycle to check himself and then readjusted his hair.

The girl however, kept her attention on the boy beside her as they talked and passed him by.

Her eyes never did stop on him even for a moment.

Chi Jian sat firmly and fixated his attention on the girl.

The keychain on her backpack, a small black whale made of leather, swaying slightly with every step she took, and partially reflected some of the sunlight as it moved.

Suddenly, the sight he saw earlier on flashed in his mind.

He finally realised what the swimming figure in black resembled.

And the figure stopped after walking a few steps.

The ponytail and the whale keychain no longer swayed, and as though their owner had seemingly noticed something, she turned and threw a glance towards his direction.