The Reflection Meeting
"All right, kids. Shall we do yoga now?"
"Yes!"
"Yes, unnie!"
"Call me Instructor. And let's stop bothering Oppa and head over that way, shall we?"
"Hyung's not doing it?"
"Hm?"
"Oppa should do it with us too."
At that I glanced at Go Yewon, and she smiled and nodded. Faced with the children's bright, sparkling eyes, I quietly nodded as well.
"Want to give it a try?"
"......Shall I?"
"Whoa."
"Oppa, this way."
I watched the kids drag me along and caught Go Yewon with her phone raised, taking my picture.
"You look good."
"......That's a relief. Kids, go grab your spots first."
"Okay!"
I watched their lively backs patter away, then muttered.
"......Just my opinion, but I think we did the right thing, aiming this at kids."
"I agree. I was a little surprised today myself. They're so innocent and well-behaved."
"There ought to be a few brats in the mix. Maybe it's all right because they're still in the lower grades."
"When we interviewed yesterday, I turned away the ones who looked halfhearted. We'll have to keep an eye on them a little longer."
"True. Not many kids show their real colors on the first day."
"Oh, and from what I overheard them saying, they got quite a shock earlier, watching you hit the mitts, Shinwoo."
"......I have a feeling it was Ra-hee who shocked them."
"Could be."
"......Why does that tone sound an awful lot like you're telling me to come up tomorrow too?"
"Ah. Caught me."
I let my eyes rest on Ra-hee as she taught the children with everything she had, and murmured to myself. Her face was full of joy. The feeling pouring into my chest warmed my gaze on her before I even noticed.
"If it helps, I ought to come up whenever you need me."
"......Me too."
I had been about to step away when Go Yewon's words stopped me, and I turned quietly back. Her face was flushed. She hesitated, then whispered.
"......Me too. The way you look at Ra-hee...... could you look at me with eyes like that......?"
It was practically a confession. She was watching me so earnestly that teasing her felt wrong. Maybe Ra-hee's seriousness was rubbing off on her.
"Are you really sure?"
"......Yes. That warm look of yours, Shinwoo...... I want it too......"
"......"
"......Am I... not allowed......?"
I looked quietly into her eyes, swallowed, and whispered to her as she gazed at me, pleading.
"......Ah......"
The moment the words left me, Go Yewon clapped both hands over her mouth in shock, and tears began to well. I was scratching my cheek, suddenly embarrassed, when—
"Oppa!"
"Teacher!"
"Dummy, call her Instructor."
"......Teacher is fine too, kids. Just don't use mean words."
"Okay......"
Go Yewon passed through the noisy children, and they slowly sat down on their mats and looked up at her. From my seat in the back I watched her smile, then began following the movements one by one.
"You're incredibly flexible, Shinwoo."
"......So it seems."
Moving among the children to check their form, Go Yewon watched me stretch my legs out, fold at the waist, and reach—and spoke in open surprise. Truth was, I was amazed myself. My palms had gone almost entirely past my feet. This body used to be stiff as a plank. No matter how far I bent, I couldn't get so much as a knuckle beyond the soles of my feet.
"What's the big deal. Acting like you didn't know."
"......I just don't get much chance to move."
"Ah—there you don't bounce. You press down gently and hold."
Then Go Yewon came up behind me and began to press quietly on my back. She leaned in, and the soft, warm give of her chest settled against me. It felt good, of course. It also wouldn't do.
"......What if the kids see?"
"......You're in the back. They can't."
"And if they go home and say something strange to their moms, are you going to take responsibility?"
"......Ah. Th-that's true......"
I whispered to her as she drew reluctantly away. I wasn't without regret myself. I'd enjoyed it too. But after hearing my answer earlier, she seemed a little worked up, and I needed to turn the subject—if only to redirect the current of her thoughts.
"Later. Just the two of us."
"......Okay."
"Oh, and there's something I've been thinking about."
"Yes?"
"What if we split the gym? Even with a temporary partition."
"Mm. It's not that I haven't thought about it......"
"Is it the cost?"
"That was a big part of it, yes."
"I was thinking we should just make a proper yoga room. Set the mood a little. Yoga's better in a relaxed atmosphere, isn't it?"
"......That's true. It's hard to play music as things are. If we separate the space, we could even offer hot yoga."
"And once business picks up, we'll have to think about a pilates studio too. Don't spend too much, though. We might be moving."
"......I'll look into it."
"Good. Get a quote, and we'll all talk it over."
"......All right."
"Don't look so disappointed. I enjoyed it too."
"......Ah......"
Go Yewon gave me a shy little smile, then walked off among the children. I whispered for her to settle down, watched the soft sway of her hips, and bent at the waist again to follow the pose. The tension leaving my body bit by bit made it perfect as a cooldown. Just then someone appeared at the entrance, looked around, and bowed to Chang-soo.
"Hello, Coach."
"Ah, Yeona's mom is here. Yeona!"
"Mom!"
One of the children doing yoga shot to her feet and tried to run. Chang-soo stopped her.
"Ah-ah, Yeona! Class isn't over yet. And you have to say goodbye to the director first!"
"Ah, okay."
"It's all right. Everyone, good work. That's yoga for today."
The moment Go Yewon finished, Yeona bowed straight to her.
"Goodbye."
"Mm. Get home safe, Yeona. See you tomorrow."
"Yes! Mom!"
The little one pattered over and hid behind a neatly dressed woman. Chang-soo smiled at the sight and spoke to Yeona's mother.
"Yeona, how was today?"
"I-it was fun......"
"I'm sorry. We've spoiled her rotten."
"Not at all. Yeona's very well-behaved, and she listens. Yeona—you need to get your bag, don't you?"
"Ah, yes!"
Chang-soo watched her run toward the tightly packed bags, then nodded and turned back to her mother.
"Goodness. At home she won't even listen to me."
"I teach manners as well, so if you trust her to us, we'll guide her properly."
"Thank you. Seeing how bright her face is, I can tell you're looking after her."
"Of course. We may not have much of a championship record, but every one of us has been training since we were little."
"I see."
The kid's tone had gone soft. Something felt off. I narrowed my eyes and watched the two of them. The look that passed between him and Yeona's mother was a little sticky. Come to think of it, she was exactly Chang-soo's type—glamorous, if you were being kind; a plump, neatly kept ajumma, if you weren't.
"......Um, by any chance. H-have you eaten......?"
"Well, there is the next schedule to think about."
"Ah, ah...... of course......"
"......Around eleven, I think I'll have time."
"......Th-then, would it be all right to have a little consultation about Yeona......?"
"......Let's do that."
"Ah. Th-then......"
The moment Chang-soo left an opening, something dangerous began to drift through the air. Worried about the child, I looked over—but she had already gone for her bag and was giggling with her friends. Better to leave Chang-soo to it. Watching any longer felt, somehow, like I was committing a sin.
"Whew. I'm beat."
Before I knew it, it was past ten. Chang-soo lay sprawled like a starfish in the middle of the gym, groaning. Sitting beside him with both legs stretched out, I was no better.
"We really do need one more car."
"I think we can manage with one."
"You're working way too hard. The routes get tangled too, don't they?"
"A little. It's still all right for now, but if the numbers grow..."
"How'd you handle it today?"
"Like a bus. I drove around the neighborhood and had them raise a hand when they wanted off. The addresses aren't sorted yet."
"Can't be helped. We can't do everything down to the last detail on day one."
"Thank goodness it's a new town and the roads are laid out properly, so pickup was easy. If this were the old downtown, it'd be a nightmare."
"Aigoo......"
Still groaning, Go Yewon simply folded her legs and sank down cross-legged. She'd had to keep teaching the kids on the yoga mats, and the steady stream of new consultations had worn her out on top of it.
"How many came today?"
"We took ten and stopped for now. Coach Chang-soo said the car situation was too much."
Even a rough count put about twenty kids in every slot through seven o'clock. Take any more and the quality of the instruction would drop. Running both pickup and drop-off with a single van had been touch-and-go today as well.
"That's just about right. You got contact info from the people we turned away, didn't you?"
"Of course. I asked them to wait a little."
"What'd they say?"
"They all looked relieved. Is there really nowhere to leave kids?"
Ra-hee, Chang-soo, and Yewon, all raised in facilities, could be forgiven for not knowing. I hadn't predicted the response would be this good either. Even in my old world, with its low birth rate, finding someone to watch the children had been a real problem, so I'd adapted the idea.
Anyway, it worked out.
Once the last schedule ended, we huddled together in the empty gym. Ordinarily people should still have been working out, but we had no adult members. Ra-hee brought americanos mixed in water bottles from the office and set them down among us.
"Thanks."
"It's nothing. Here—Coach Chang-soo, too."
"Thank you."
"Thanks."
The four of us sat in a circle, opened the bottles at the same time, and wet our mouths, and the cool ran all the way through. Chang-soo sighed and spoke to Go Yewon.
"I might live. Oh—after doing pickup today, I think designating zones would be fine. Better to pick one or two corners in the academy district, set them as stops, and have the kids gather there."
"Ah, I heard. Let's do that."
"But if we run two vans later, won't it get more complicated?"
"Mm, it might. Rather than confusing the kids, we should just suffer through one more day ourselves."
"Right. If they start moving around on their own and something goes wrong, it'll be a headache."
"True. We should keep doing it the way we have."
I left Chang-soo to his conversation with Go Yewon and turned to Ra-hee, sitting beside me.
"How was it? You okay?"
"I'm a bit tired, but I'm fine. It was work I used to do. A few more days to adjust and I think that'll be enough."
"You barely had any breaks, huh?"
"That's true. More than that, I'm a little worried that we don't have adult members."
"It's because we aimed at kids. We knew that was the downside."
It was Chang-soo who answered.
"It might actually be a blessing. Looking at how worn out everyone is. Adult members need even more detailed attention."
Except for me, they all looked a little spent. Training from morning until ten at night was no easy thing.
"Been a while since a reflection meeting."
At Chang-soo's mutter, Go Yewon and Ra-hee tilted their heads. I let out a short laugh.
"What. You miss it?"
"Those days were good. We had dreams. That bastard—if I ever actually get my hands on him."
"Think you'll see him? He's probably off in Southeast Asia somewhere, living well."
"All over a measly few billion won."
"Measly, my ass. That kind of money is enormous. We misjudged the size of the man."
"Ugh. Now I'm pissed off again."
Ra-hee nodded, having a rough idea what they were talking about, but it was a story Go Yewon didn't know. It wasn't a pleasant one anyway, so I changed the subject.
"Then shall we actually hold a reflection meeting? It ought to be the director's job, but."
"Just do it. Director or not, what does any of that matter now? We're practically partners. The moms see it that way too."
"That's true. I'm relying on you as well, Shinwoo."
Go Yewon smiled, nodded, and drew both knees into her arms. Ra-hee, sitting cross-legged, pulled herself forward from where she had been leaning back and settled in again.