He's My Boyfriend!
I'd become Ice Bean's Saturday part-timer almost by accident, but nothing much had changed.
Working out on Saturday and then pulling an evening shift would be a little tiring, sure — but after seeing the state of the shop yesterday, I figured it wouldn't be a problem.
More importantly, today was the day I'd promised to work out with Ajeong. If I wanted to keep serving as her machine instructor and plate shuttle going forward, I needed to leave her thoroughly satisfied today.
Today was chest day again. Judging by how she'd been even more invested in my record-breaking last time than I was, I figured she liked watching heavy lifts. So for today, I'd prepared a secret weapon for the bench press.
Wrist wraps.
Of course, they wouldn't magically let me press more weight — they were for injury prevention. I'd already confirmed last time that I could handle 100 kg easily enough, so it wasn't like I couldn't lift heavy. The wraps just took the edge off the psychological pressure of a big number, and that alone was a huge help.
When they'd first arrived, I hadn't known how to put them on and had to follow a YouTube video. Now I could strap them on like a pro. That snug, locked-in grip around my wrists. I felt stronger for no good reason.
Operation: Capture the Plate Shuttle. Preparations were complete.
Whoooosh—
"Hello~"
I entered the gym through the pinnacle of modern technology — automatic doors. The staff member greeting me from the desk was, of course, not Ajeong but someone else. Figuring I should change before hunting her down, I returned the greeting and headed straight for the locker room.
"Ah."
I'd accepted the greeting and gone for the lockers without grabbing a gym uniform. No choice but to head back to the counter where they were stocked.
"Ajeong-ssaem, heading out to work out?"
"Ah, yeah~"
I was picking a uniform size when a familiar name floated over from the counter, and I turned. Sure enough, there was Kang Ajeong already in her workout clothes, talking with the male staffer who'd greeted me earlier.
"Want me to join you?"
"Ah… you need to stay at the desk, ssaem~"
"Stepping away for a bit is fine~"
"That… ah! Woohyun-ssi!"
Ajeong had been glancing around uncomfortably while dealing with the guy, and our eyes met.
"Hello."
"I thought you weren't coming today!!"
"Huh? I'm not late, am I?"
"Hehe… I guess I got here way too early."
Just in case, I checked my phone — thankfully, it was still before 12:02.
"Who's this?"
"A member I planned to work out with today!"
"Hello."
"Ah, yeah…"
The guy returned my greeting with a lukewarm expression. The service-industry smile from earlier was gone.
"Hurry up! We've got a ton of new exercises to try today!"
Apparently eager to escape the situation, Ajeong had already moved a good distance away.
"I'll go change and be right there~!"
She'd gone the opposite direction from the locker room, of all places. Wanting to change and get back as fast as possible, I spun around and headed for the lockers.
Pat-pat-pat-pat-pat…
"Hehe."
Before I knew it, Ajeong had closed the gap and was walking alongside me.
"Change quick and come out! I have to be at work by two."
"Got it~"
And so began the trial to secure my position as plate shuttle. The wrist wraps were incredible.
"Whoa!"
CLANG—
"Hoo…"
I'd hit a bench press one-rep max of 115 kg. At the same time, I knew this was my limit. Add five more kilos to make it 120 and I could already picture myself getting buried under the bar.
"I'll stop here."
"Ehh~ so close…"
"Your turn now, Ajeong-ssi."
"Yes!!"
The final weight we set was 60 kg — the weight she'd successfully pressed not long ago.
"Hup!… ah, wait, hehe, just a second!"
She seemed a little nervous, resetting her breathing several times. In the brief window that bought me, I quickly slid 2.5 kg plates onto both sides.
"Hup!"
Ajeong unracked the bar successfully. Without hesitation she lowered it to her chest and pressed back up—
"S… save me…"
CLANG—
She couldn't lock it out. At her surrender, I scrambled to spot her and rack the bar.
"Hiiing… it worked last time… you saw me do it, Woohyun-ssi…"
She looked so devastated I couldn't bring myself to admit I'd added plates, and decided to quietly remove them instead.
"Guess your condition's just off today… now… Woohyun-ssi, what are you doing?"
"Huh? Just putting the plates away~"
"No. What's that in your hand."
I whipped one hand behind my back, but I'd already been caught.
"Ugh… you can't just do that without saying anything!!"
The existence of the 2.5 kg plates had been fully exposed. By way of penance, I agreed to rack every plate we used for the rest of the session.
"Hmmph… having a plate shuttle around makes me feel like a powerlifter!"
Why on earth did some machines use plates, anyway? Even machines that looked identical — some took plates, others used pin stacks. And as luck would have it, every new exercise Ajeong had researched used plates and dumbbells.
"Hehe, good work today!"
"Yeah… let's definitely do this again next time…"
Looking thoroughly satisfied with the workout, Ajeong headed into the locker room. Standing under the hot water, I resolved to keep playing plate shuttle until the day she finally begged me to stop.
"Hoo… huh?"
To my surprise, Ajeong was waiting right outside the locker room.
"You take forever to shower, huh?"
"Ah, yeah. Had some things on my mind. Were you waiting?"
"Yep~ my shift hasn't started yet either~"
I checked the time — 1:58. About two minutes until she had to clock in.
"Almost time. Let's go."
We walked together to the front desk by the entrance, and Ajeong stepped inside behind the counter.
"Woohyun-ssi!"
"Yeah?"
"Can't you hang out with me a little before you go?"
"Huh? You're supposed to be working."
"Right now I just have to hold down the desk~ Just thirty minutes!"
I hesitated for a second, but figured I'd just end up grinding LoL ranks at home anyway, so I decided to grant her request.
"Am I even allowed back here?"
"Yeah! I've seen other staff do it all the time!"
I followed her behind the desk, and there was even a chair for me to sit in.
Pat— pat—
"Sit here!"
I sat down and was still perched there a little awkwardly when the previous-shift male staffer appeared.
"Have a good one!"
"Ah…"
Ajeong greeted him the moment she saw him, and the guy spotted me and looked flustered.
"You can't just let anyone back here…"
"Oh, is that so?"
"You were back here with a friend last time too, ssaem! We won't be long!"
Ajeong fired right back at his comment. Whether her claim was true or not, he didn't push it further.
"Could you grab that water bottle from the back…"
"Sure~"
I took the blue water bottle from the back of the desk and handed it straight to him. For a brief moment, he looked at me with a faintly dissatisfied expression.
…
"See you later."
"Yep~ bye!"
Ajeong answered his goodbye so fast it was like she was shooing him out the door.
Whoooosh—
Once he was fully outside, I asked her.
"Do you not like that guy?"
"Ah… it's not that…"
"Does he like you?"
"Uh… something like that?"
So the sense that he'd been subtly checking me out hadn't been my imagination.
"Woohyun-ssi, can I ask you something? No wait — several things!"
"Sure~ go ahead."
"Um… first, how old are you?"
"Twenty-two."
"Oh! Me too! Should we drop the formalities?"
"Sure~"
"You have to talk casually too!"
"Okay."
She started whacking my shoulder like she found my response hilarious.
"So, college student?"
"Yeah, Hongpyeong University nearby."
"No way! Me too!"
Surprisingly, she was a student at the same university. Her major suited her perfectly — Physical Education. She'd attended through sophomore year, then taken a leave of absence, and had been working here ever since.
"Heh… no wonder your hair…"
"Ah, that obvious?"
When I mentioned I'd only finished freshman year before going to the military, she immediately commented on my hair length.
"Just saying. It's a little short? It'd look cute if it were a bit longer!"
"Yeah?"
Conversation with her flowed like water, and before I knew it the promised thirty minutes had long since passed.
"I should get going."
"Ack! It's already been an hour. Go, go!"
I grabbed my stuff and stepped out from behind the desk, and she followed me out.
"Thanks for today! I'll text you?"
"Sounds good~"
I waved several times at her bright goodbye and headed home. That night, while playing LoL, I checked my phone off and on — but no message from Ajeong ever came.
Today was the Thursday she'd been waiting for. The day she got to work out with her newly discovered gym buddy. Full of anticipation, she'd arrived a full twenty minutes before their noon appointment, changed into her workout clothes early, and was resting in the staff break room.
She'd sent the KakaoTalk message the moment she arrived at the gym, but there was still no reply. Wondering if he wasn't coming again today, she decided to go wait by the entrance instead.
"Ajeong-ssaem, heading out to work out?"
Ah, right…
"Ah, yeah~"
She'd been so focused on waiting for Woohyun that she'd forgotten about this guy. His name was… she wasn't sure. Taewoon? Taehoon? She'd overheard other staff call him something before, but she didn't know the exact name.
There'd been signs from the start, but lately he'd been making his interest more and more obvious. Still, he hadn't actually done anything yet, so there wasn't much she could do about it. She'd wanted to quit cleanly after hitting exactly one year on the job, which meant she'd have to keep seeing him. She'd hoped maybe he'd quit first, but he'd said he had no plans to leave this year either.
"Want to go together?"
And now he was asking to work out with her while he was still on the clock.
When is he getting here…
The cleanest way to shut this down would be to show him she already had a workout partner — but of course Woohyun still hadn't shown up. She was glancing around in discomfort when—
"Woohyun-ssi!"
The guy she'd thought still hadn't arrived appeared from inside the gym. Thankfully, the moment she showed she had someone to train with, the other guy backed off.
This is…
Pat-pat-pat-pat
"Hurry up!!"
Embarrassed by the whole situation, she quickly put some distance between them and called out to Woohyun.
Who's this…?
He's my boyfriend!
The scene just now had felt exactly like those drama moments where a girl fends off a hit-on by claiming she has a boyfriend. Meanwhile Woohyun, looking completely unfazed, said he'd go change and headed off to the locker room alone. His indifference left her a little disappointed — and somehow charming at the same time.
I-it's just because he's comfortable to be around!!
She'd blurted out an absurd take in her own head, but it was probably just because he was the first person who treated her casually, like a friend rather than a romantic interest.
"Hehe…"
A smile slipped out before she could stop it, and Ajeong quickly closed the distance to walk beside Woohyun. Even Ajeong, who was usually so sensitive to people's gazes, failed to notice this time that Woohyun was sneaking glances at her butt.