Slumped beneath his piano, cursing himself, Adolfo looked utterly defeated—as if his life were about to end. Finally, he was ready to accept reality. What happened after the accident had been beyond his control; after all, he'd been hospitalized when it occurred.
But that wasn't his only regret. While the accident itself was unavoidable, he'd pushed away people who cared for him. In his earlier attempts to get closer to Sofía, he'd hurt many others.
"At least I wish I could apologize… starting with Isabel. For breaking our promise."
Past
Part 1
Adolfo radiated happiness. Today was the day he'd join the same club as Sofía, finally spending time with her. Naively, he believed that simply being near her would magically make her fall for him—even though they'd never exchanged a single word.
With this in mind, he hurried to the club coordinator. "Good morning! I'd like to sign up for this club, please."
"You seem eager, kid—but are you sure? Remember, you can't switch clubs for a month," the coordinator warned.
Adolfo nodded without hesitation. "Yes. I've never been more certain."
The coordinator opened his mouth to say more but stopped, seeing Adolfo's determined face. Instead, he handed him a registration form.
Moments later, Adolfo understood the coordinator's hesitation.
"Seriously? No one's here. Did I get the time wrong?"* He pulled out the schedule the coordinator had given him. *"First week: Monday to Friday, 3 to 4 p.m. Hmm… Maybe I'm just early. Guess I'll wait."
He wandered the pool area to kill time, marveling at its size—far larger than anything he'd seen on TV. After a few minutes, he'd explored the entire space. One thing stood out: compared to the grand pool, the showers and changing rooms were shockingly cramped. Clearly, the school had cut corners to fund the club, framing it as part of students' "education and training."
Fifteen minutes passed with no sign of anyone else. "Someone—*anyone*—please show up," he pleaded, but the door remained shut.
Then a strange thought struck him.
"No… It can't be. Did I… sign up for the wrong club?!"* Suddenly, everything made sense. *"This is what I get for rushing to enroll without paying attention."
After agonizing over his mistake, he sighed. "Well, I'm stuck here. Skipping isn't an option—my parents' rule. Maybe it'll be fun?" He tried to console himself. "Who am I kidding? There's not even a coach here."
Just then, footsteps echoed through the room. Adolfo froze—he wasn't alone after all.
A girl's voice rang out. "Hello? Is someone there?" Her gaze landed on Adolfo, lost in his thoughts.
Tears welled in her eyes. "How wonderful! After so long… We finally have a new member! Supervisor Diana would've been thrilled!" She clasped her hands as if praying and looked skyward, as though speaking to someone long gone.
Adolfo stared, baffled by her words.
Hesitantly, he asked, "Wait—why are you so excited? I thought the swimming club was the most popular."
"Oh, you're not wrong! Let me explain…" She spun in a circle, thinking. "Ah! You know the school has two swimming clubs because they're in such high demand, right?"
Adolfo hadn't known—but it made sense. Clubs meant nothing to him anyway. If not for Sofía, he'd only care about the piano.
"Guess I should've researched more," he muttered. "But… how many members are here?"
"Counting me? Two."
"Two…" He sank to his knees. "So it's just you and me. This couldn't get worse."
"Is that… a problem?" she asked innocently.
Adolfo's mood darkened further. Not only was the club empty, but Sofía wasn't even here.
The girl tilted her head, puzzled by his despair. To lighten the mood, she held out her hand. "I'm Isabel! Let's get along!"
Adolfo snapped to attention, shaking her hand. "Sorry about that. I'm—"
"Adolfo! The piano guy!" Isabel interrupted, beaming. "Never thought you'd join swimming!"
Though they'd never spoken, she knew him. He sat near her in class, always buried in sheet music.
"Wait… Do I know you?"
"Seriously? We sit next to each other! You lent me a pen once!"
Adolfo racked his brain but couldn't recall. When he wasn't thinking about the piano, he was fixated on Sofía—a habit that kept others at arm's length.
"Oh, you've wounded me!" Isabel clutched her chest dramatically.
Adolfo hung his head. This was his flaw. As a child, he'd hyper-focused on the piano, even forgetting his younger sister. His parents had scolded him, banning him from playing. "Can't you think about anything else?!" Those words had shattered him, driving him to lock himself in his room for days.
"I don't care if the club's empty," Isabel said cheerfully. "As long as I can swim, nothing else matters. So what if you don't remember me?"
"You're really into swimming, huh?"
She laughed awkwardly. "You could say that."
Eager to shift topics, she clapped her hands. "Let's start swimming!"
Adolfo froze. In his haste to follow Sofía, he'd overlooked one critical detail: he'd never learned to swim.
"What's wrong?"
He scrambled for an excuse but came up empty.
"Wait… You* can't *swim, can you?" Isabel smirked, covering her mouth.
Busted. He shrugged. "No. I can't."
"Relax! I'll teach you. It's easy!"*
"Shouldn't a professional do that?"
"Lucky for you, I'm the best swimmer here!"
"Well… I guess that's something. So, miss expert, will you teach this poor soul?"
"Gladly!"
After a few more jokes, their grueling—and comically chaotic—training began.