Chapter 67: Gym (4)
Chapter 67: Gym (4)
“Got it? You have to walk out there with confidence. Confidence.”
“I know. I get it.”
As we left the locker room, I muttered a sharp reply to Kang Yu-min, who had been nagging me repeatedly.
“Hey, watch your tone, will you?”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I won’t do it for you anymore.”
Well, that wouldn't do. I immediately lowered my head.
“I’m sorry.”
“Good. Now let’s do this right.”
Kang Yu-min walked out with a smirk. As I followed her out of the locker room, she pulled out a mask and put it on as if to show off, then led the way.
“Alright, time to work out… What do you want to start with?”
“Well, I’d like something where I can test this 10x Stamina.”
“Then, the treadmill first? They also have the stairs and the ladder.”
Kang Yu-min led me as if she had already made up her mind. I followed her without much complaint, though I tilted my head in confusion.
“I get the treadmill, but what are the stairs and the ladder? If I wanted to use stairs, I could’ve just used the ones in our building…”
“No, not those. I just forgot what they’re called. It’s like a staircase and a ladder, but…”
Kang Yu-min struggled to explain, but I didn't expect that airhead to be able to describe them properly anyway.
It seemed she realized that too, as she soon gave up and let out a long sigh.
“You’ll know when you see them.”
What on earth could they be? Curious, I followed her until we reached a large room.
“Oh.”
The room was filled with treadmills.
But that wasn't all. There were stationary bikes, and a few pieces of equipment I had never seen before.
“Are those the stairs and the ladder?”
“Yeah. See? They really are stairs and a ladder, right?”
There was no other way to describe them. They literally looked like a moving staircase and a vertical climbing machine. I approached them with interest, and Kang Yu-min stood in front of the stair-like machine next to me.
“So, how do I do this?”
“Hmm, which one are you starting with?”
I debated between the ladder and the stairs, but if I wanted to test my stamina, the stairs seemed better than the ladder.
The ladder didn't look bad, but it gave off the impression that it required more muscular strength than pure stamina.
Of course, my strength might have been buffed as well, but I wanted to take things one step at a time.
It had been a while since I’d exercised, after all.
“Let’s go with the stairs. How do I work this thing?”
“Just do it. Get on… yeah, keep your posture straight. Like that. Yeah, you’re doing great.”
The machine—I wasn't sure of the name, but it was basically a StepMill—wasn't that difficult to use.
Just as Kang Yu-min said, all I had to do was move my legs in a proper stance and keep climbing.
Of course, I shouldn't go too fast and break my pace, nor should I go too slow, but it wasn't hard.
“Alright… let’s see if this 10x Stamina effect actually works.”
Since the goal was to test my endurance, I didn't start at maximum speed. I set it to a moderately fast pace and began.
It was a simple exercise that didn't require much explanation or assistance. Kang Yu-min watched me for a moment from the side before stepping onto the machine next to mine.
“I guess I’ll join you.”
“Bored?”
“A little.”
Then again, she wouldn't be Kang Yu-min if she just stood there watching someone else work out. For a fitness freak who lived to exercise, this was only natural.
“Plus, I want to compare.”
She had a point.
I nodded and immediately began climbing the stairs alongside her, step after step.
The numbers indicating the time and the height I had climbed flickered on the display. I kept climbing, regulating my breath as it grew slightly heavier.
After several dozen minutes of working out with Kang Yu-min, I realized a few things.
“Aren't you tired?”
First of all, I wasn't out of breath. It was as if taking light, steady breaths was more than enough; my breathing never became labored. On the contrary, my body felt overflowing with energy.
“Uh… not really.”
My heart wasn't beating that fast either. I couldn't exactly reach inside my tight-fitting top to check, but it wasn't like back in the military where I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest or I could feel my pulse throbbing in my temples.
It was beating strong and fast, but it felt within a normal range. To put it bluntly, it felt like I had just finished a quick jog to catch a changing traffic light.
It wasn't that I didn't feel like I was exercising at all, but rather that I felt steady, as if I had barely even warmed up the engine.
On the other hand, Kang Yu-min beside me was already sweating and looking a bit fatigued.
It wasn't the kind of exhaustion where she’d want to call it a day, but she looked like she was sufficiently warmed up and ready to move on to other exercises.
“Want to take a break? I can keep going on my own. Go hit the weights if you want.”
“No, no. I can keep going.”
“Really? Then…”
Watching her work out wasn't bad, but I was starting to get bored. I felt like I should just wrap this up and move on to the next thing.
However, just getting off felt a bit unsatisfying. I snapped my fingers at Kang Yu-min to get her attention and then pressed the button to increase the speed of the stairs.
“Whoa, whoa! Hey, hey?!”
Kang Yu-min’s eyes widened in shock.
Having grown accustomed to the machine over the last few dozen minutes, I easily kept up with the stairs as they began to move faster, the motor whirring loudly.
From that point on, the workout felt more like I was sprinting up a flight of stairs.
Kang Yu-min stopped her machine and stared at me with her mouth agape. I ran under her gaze.
One minute. I kept my legs moving, exhaling controlled breaths that I could feel expanding and contracting my lungs. I started to feel heat in my muscles, and strangely, it felt good.
Two minutes. It felt like I had to clear at least one step per second. If it were the old me, my knees would have given out or started creaking, and my ankles would have been throbbing by now, but I felt none of that.
Three, four, five minutes passed. Only then did Kang Yu-min slowly pull down her mask.
“You’re insane, seriously.”
She was right. I continued moving without feeling tired at all before finally hitting the stop button.
“…I can’t really test the limit with this.”
As I caught my breath and stretched my body, Kang Yu-min shook her head with an exasperated expression.
“Geez, tell me about it. When I heard the number ‘10 times,’ I wondered just how much it would be, but this…”
After turning off the machine and stepping down, I took the towel Kang Yu-min had been using to wipe her head and rubbed it over my face.
The scent lingering on the towel was strangely pleasant. It had that distinct scent of a woman’s body, but there was something else—a nice fragrance.
I didn't say it out loud because I knew I’d get a ribbing for it, but Kang Yu-min seemed to catch on and snatched the towel back.
“So, you’re not tired? You can keep going?”
“Yeah, I think I’m fine.”
I wasn't bluffing; it was the truth. My body was warmed up, and there was a slight tightness in my muscles, but I didn't feel winded or exhausted.
The lethargy, the stiffness, and the stinging blurriness in my vision that I used to feel at the end of a day’s practice back when I did fencing were nowhere to be found.
In fact, I was bewildered by their absence, feeling like I could do even more than this.
“…That’s really amazing. Don’t I get something like that? Or maybe I can get it later?”
It was only natural for Kang Yu-min to be envious. She was a fitness addict; if she had the stamina to work out more, she’d spend every waking hour doing exactly that.
However, for me, that was a terrifying thought.
“No.”
“Huh?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Aw, why? I want it too…”
“Do you want to see me turned into a shriveled-up mummy?”
Kang Yu-min flinched. Before she could argue, I added, “Just dealing with you and Yu-ri is exhausting enough as it is. If I didn't have 10x Stamina, I’d probably be dead by now.”
I wasn't just saying that as an excuse. I meant it with 100% sincerity.
As Kang Yu-min fell silent, I recalled the times I thought I might actually die while being squeezed dry by Noona or Kang Yu-min.
In that sense, 10x Stamina was a very timely ability. Since it was even more practical than the contraception function, I didn't regret getting it.
Lately, I’d been thinking that without it, I might have actually dropped dead in bed.
“You know women have better stamina in that department. But if you had 10x Stamina on top of that? We’d be lucky if it ended with us just being unsatisfied. I’d be a dead man.”
“No, it wouldn't be that bad…”
“You like doing it until you’re exhausted. You like getting all drenched in sweat and sticky.”
As I said it, a thought occurred to me. It was remarkably similar to the image of working out.
Perhaps Kang Yu-min loved incest just as much as she loved exercising.
“But with 10x Stamina, you wouldn't even break a sweat, let alone get exhausted. So just be satisfied with how things are. Don’t get too greedy. Are you listening?”
“Uh, huh? Yeah, I’m… I’m listening…”
Look at this girl.
Whether she had gotten worked up just by listening to me or not, Kang Yu-min’s breathing was heavy as she rubbed her legs together.
Underneath her leggings, the lack of underwear made her mound stand out prominently, and she was even letting out faint, wet sounds.
I glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before reaching out.
“Ngh, ah.”
“Stop having dirty thoughts. They’re riding up.”
“Okay, okay… I will.”
Kang Yu-min swallowed hard, her breath still ragged as she nervously bit her thumb. Looking at her, I was certain of one thing.
We were definitely going to do it at least once in this gym today.
But that wasn't so bad either. I tapped the tip of her nose to get her attention.
Kang Yu-min’s eyes drifted toward me blankly. The slight haze in her eyes cleared as focus returned, and I could see her blinking in embarrassment.
If I left her like this, we’d be heading straight for the locker rooms. I suppose that could be considered a workout in its own way, but gyms generally have a ‘no incest’ policy.
I jerked my head toward the exit of the cardio room.
“Enough of that. Let’s go work out for real. Where’s the weight zone?”
“…Ah, right. Follow me. It’s this way.”
Kang Yu-min caught her breath and led me toward the weight zone.
Her hips swayed with every step, radiating a clear sense of anticipation.
I wondered just how long she’d be able to hold back.
Letting out a short laugh, I followed after her.