The Lens Directed Towards
The door to the senior center opened, and the smell of vinyl flooring and dust came first. The second hand of the clock on the wall was particularly large.
Yuna set her bag down and lowered her head.
“Starting today, I'll be teaching you yoga... I'm Yuna.”
The greeting came a beat late, and only half the words left her mouth.
The elders in the senior center suddenly stopped laughing and stared at Yuna with piercing eyes.
Breaking the silence, the janitor clapped his hands.
“Yeah. Come here, everyone. This is the swimming girl.” “It wasn't a lie that she had a good figure.”
The elders' murmurs mixed, and it was hard to make out what they were saying.
The elders' gazes landed on Yuna's body. One elder standing by the door asked Hyunwoo.
“Who's the young man behind you?” “Is he your boyfriend?”
Yuna shook her head, her words getting tangled.
“Ah, no. A friend... Hyunwoo. I came with him...”
Hyunwoo stepped forward. His throat closed, then barely opened.
“I'm Hyunwoo, Yuna's friend.” “I came to work part-time... with her.”
He spoke as if the reason they came together was that simple. An elder standing beside him spoke first. Kim Deuksoo. Before the name was called, his eyes went straight to Yuna's chest.
“If it's just a friend, that's fine. My name is Kim Deuksoo, and please call me Grandpa Kim.”
He said it in a way that he didn't want to hear the old man's jokes.
The elders laughed loudly at Kim Deuksoo's boring joke, wondering what was so funny.
“Then the young man, go take care of the elderly who have trouble moving around in the back room. The teaching is done by this girl.”
It wasn't to monitor Yuna.
Hyunwoo could only nod at those words.
While I was moving,
Yuna spread out the mat.
The elders sat around her. When Yuna bent her waist, her tracksuit clung to her back and waist. Deuksoo clicked his tongue.
“Huh, look at the leg line.” “She came dressed lewdly on purpose.” “Her breasts are sticking out forward. Is this teaching yoga or seduction?”
“Young lady showing her cleavage, and her boyfriend not helping with his lust.”
Their laughter spread. Yuna straightened her waist and lifted her head. She seemed to have heard something, but her face didn't catch the meaning.
“This posture... don't hold your breath.” “You don't have to bend your waist too much.”
The words were short and a bit strange. The elders took the short words with other meanings. They laughed louder.
Hyunwoo's fist clenched in his pocket. It would be more pitiful to scold the elders in front of the girl he liked. Closing his mouth to avoid looking pitiful made it even more pitiful, but he had no choice.
Another elder grabbed Hyunwoo's arm. It was a hand that made the gaze leave Yuna.
“Young man, what are you standing here for.” “There's an elderly person with trouble moving around over there, go help them first, and before that, turn the fan direction.” “It's embarrassing for a young man to stare at the young lady teaching.”
Hyunwoo moved as the elder instructed, turning the fan. Every time the turning angle veered away from Yuna, the elder adjusted the angle again. Towards Yuna.
Every time Yuna bent her waist, the shutter sound rang out. It was a small sound, but it was loud inside the senior center.
Deuksoo turned his phone horizontally. The janitor took it out of his pocket too.
“Need to review.”
“If you forget the posture at home, it's no good.”
“You can't take photos if your granddaughter teaches like this.”
Yuna hesitated while half-straightening her waist. Her face showed she knew the camera was pointed at her. It was also a face that couldn't read the intent to the end.
“Th-that... photos...”
“Just the posture... take it.”
Just the posture. That word became permission. Deuksoo sat closer. The lens was on her face, not on the chest and waist. Hyunwoo saw that angle. Yuna couldn't see the angle.
“Okay, bend over one more time.”
“Keep holding your breath. Stay like that.”
“This angle needs to be studied at home.”
The shutter rang repeatedly. When Yuna spread her legs and sat, Deuksoo leaned his body.
“Aigo, that posture needs to be seen up close to learn.”
“Can't you just hold the hand position once?”
“This posture must be kept.”
Yuna hesitated. It was the spot where refusal should come first. Her mouth opened then closed.
“I-I... I can explain with words...”
“If I explain with words, I won't understand well. Think of me as your granddaughter.”
The janitor replied. The word granddaughter came out, but the eyes weren't looking at the granddaughter.
Yuna lowered her head slightly. The personality that couldn't refuse came out. An elder placed his hand on Yuna's waist. It was an excuse to correct posture. The fingers slipped once over the waistband. Another shutter rang above it.
Hyunwoo was taking care of the elderly with trouble moving, watching Yuna through the door gap. Yuna only glanced at Hyunwoo. It was unclear whether the eyes were asking to be with him or if photos were okay. Hyunwoo stayed in place even receiving those eyes. His feet wouldn't leave.
“Next posture.”
“Chest out, stay like that. Take the photo.”
“Review use. Review use.”
“Inhale, it comes out more. Heh heh.”
The word "review use" came out three times. The more it came out, the less it sounded like an excuse and more like consent. Yuna couldn't refuse, so she only corrected the posture. The more she corrected, the more shutters rang. Even if you become an elder, if you can pick up a spoon, the saying is that you're not an elder but a man.
The thought that the photos taken by the elders could be seen at home made him angry.
After the yoga movements ended, the elders clapped. The janitor patted Yuna's shoulder. The patting hand was a bit long.
“Aigo, you look just like our granddaughter.”
“It's lively to have such a pretty girl in the senior center.”
“Next time, wear clothes a bit more comfortably. Comfortably.”
“It's because it looks uncomfortable because it's too tight.”
Yuna only nodded her head.
“Yes. Please take care of me well next time too.”
Deuksoo received those words and laughed.
“Please take care is what we should do.”
“Looking at the body loosening up makes my hands itchy.”
“Everyone, review the photos well.”
Hyunwoo went to the kitchen pretending to drink water. No one was looking at the sound from the kitchen sink.
“If it's just that chest, it's stupid not to touch it.”
“The angle between the legs is art, you know.”
“The janitor's eyes are on it, right?”
“We should get along well as friends. We should share the photos too.”
Yuna was wiping the mat with a wet tissue, her face looking like she thought the laughter was praise.
The yoga time had passed.
At the door, Yuna lowered her head again.
Deuksoo clicked his tongue.
“Aigo, just lowering your head shows the cleavage.”
“If your granddaughter bows like that, how can the elders endure.”
“You'll see that at home too, young man.”
“Friend, friend.”
Yuna's ears turned slightly red.
“Ah... sorry.”
“Was the greeting wrong?”
The mistake wasn't the greeting. Hyunwoo knew it. He knew but only looked at Yuna's legs.
“I'll go first.”
Hyunwoo's voice was small. The elders looked at Yuna's chest, not Hyunwoo.
When they came out to the alley, Yuna fixed the strap of her bag.
“Thanks to the grandpas welcoming and taking care of me... it's fortunate.”
“Photos too... it was only the posture.”
“It was hard, right.”
“It's okay.” “You'll come with me next time too?”
If refused, Yuna would enter the elders' den alone.
“...Uh.”
When passing in front of the convenience store, someone called first.
“Eh? Yuna senpai.”
It was Minsu. Next to him, Jaemin.
Yuna slightly raised her hand.
“Ah... hello.”
Jaemin scanned Hyunwoo.
“Where did you go today, senpai?” “Tracksuit.”
“Senior center.” “Yoga... part-time.”
Minsu laughed.
“Senior center?” “Yoga there?”
“Yeah. Starting today.” “The janitor... recommended it.”
Jaemin clicked his tongue.
“Wow, there are a lot of grandpas there.” “If a girl like you enters there, it'll be a mess.”
The word "mess" didn't sound like worry. Yuna's face accepted the mess as praise.
“Just telling you.” “Just the posture.”
Minsu turned his head towards Hyunwoo.
“Hyunwoo senpai also coming?” “Using the same house and doing part-time together.”
“Just... friends.” “It was a bit worrying to send Yuna alone.”
Jaemin narrowed his eyes.
“Friend.” “Understood.”
The word understood didn't mean understood. Hyunwoo felt that gap and closed his mouth.
Minsu glanced at the tracksuit shoulder strap.
“You'll do yoga in that outfit?” “The grandpas' hearts will go out.” “No, not the heart, but other places.”
Yuna couldn't catch the end of the joke and only lowered her head.
“The clothes... are strange?”
Yuna received that words as a neighbor's greeting.
“If the senior center is fun, we'll come to see too.” “Pretending to learn yoga.”
See. That word remained in Hyunwoo's ears. Yuna only nodded and took the lead. Hyunwoo walked half a step behind.
After arriving home, Yuna took off her shoes and said shortly.
“Thanks for coming with me today.” “If it was just me, I would have been very tense.”
Hyunwoo swallowed those words and only nodded.
Yuna poured water and placed it in front of him.
“Your expression isn't good.” “Was the senior center not fun?”
It wasn't a place that was not fun. The elders taking photos of Yuna was not fun.
“Just a bit hot.”
“Next week too, together.”
“...Uh.”
Time passed like that, and Yuna went into the room.
When the door closed, the living room narrowed again. Hyunwoo heard the sentences he heard today ringing in his ears. Behind the young man is... Need to review. The cleavage is fully visible. We'll come to see too.