Trainer Oh Rahi

"You've got to get used to it too, hyung. At the office people hold back because they don't want to get fired, but a gym is like this no matter where you go. Women who train are even worse, if anything. God, I want to report them, but harassment like that is nearly impossible to prove."

Changsu glanced around, then ducked his head toward me and dropped his voice to a whisper.

"Nobody's already put their hands on you, have they?"

"They haven't."

"Report it the moment they do. Something ugly happened here recently."

"What happened?"

"I saw you working out with Trainer Rahi earlier. Be careful. The talk about her isn't good."

It had to be whatever those women had been whispering about a little while ago.

"What kind of talk?"

He scanned the floor, and only after he caught Trainer Rahi at the front desk, speaking with the male trainer who was supposedly the owner, did he whisper again.

"One of the male members raised hell about pressing charges. Said he'd been sexually assaulted."

"……What?"

"It never showed up on the CCTV, so it never actually became a complaint. I heard the owner settled it quietly."

"Settled what? What did she do?"

"Touched him during a workout, I guess. His chest, and… well. His groin."

If it had been me, I would have thanked her profusely, but I put on a grave face and asked again.

"……And how did that happen?"

"She said it was an accident while they were training. He insisted it was deliberate, and he wasn't quiet about it. There's no proof, though. Anyway, the best thing we can do is watch ourselves."

"Hm. All right, I get it. Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

It felt like gossip behind her back, but the Trainer Rahi I had worked out with today didn't seem like that kind of person. Judging anyone after a single day was hasty, of course. By then the timer had already crept past thirty minutes. I eased the speed down, clapped Changsu on the shoulder, and said goodbye.

"I'm out. I think I'm dying."

"See? That's why I told you to exercise."

"I did, you brat."

"Tell me next time you're coming. Working out with you is way too nice, hyung."

"……I'll think about it."

"Okaaay."

Loosen my focus even a little and I was going to drop into a crawl. I couldn't afford a spectacle like that, so I ground my teeth and made for the showers. Afterward I barely managed to get socks onto legs that wouldn't stop shaking. I hadn't punished my body like this since the army, and it was not taking the reminder well.

"Haa."

I let out a breath and pulled my phone from my coat. It was already past six. Three hours of actual exercise, and once the warm-up and the shower were added on, of course it was this late. It would have been abnormal not to be exhausted. Then my eyes went wide at the stack of messages waiting for me.

Eighty of them? What the hell?

I opened KakaoTalk. A handful of ads, and the overwhelming share of the rest from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Lee Hyunji. She must have been sending them the entire time I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠working out. The older ones were mostly ordinary photos and emoticons; the recent ones were pleas for a reply, and crying stickers. I stared at them a moment, then hit call. I was too drained to type. The line hadn't even rung twice before she picked up.

I could feel how much courage that invitation had cost her, but I really was exhausted. The mere thought of dragging myself back out to meet her was enough to make me gag. My thighs had gone numb. At the disappointed sigh on the other end I hesitated, then offered something else. Take it or leave it. I kept talking as I slowly left the locker room and headed for the elevator.

I hung up and let a short laugh slip out. She had even mapped the whole date herself. That was new. And right then—

"Is that your girlfriend?"

I turned. Trainer Rahi was standing there, already changed into street clothes. A short puffer and tight jeans suited her almost unfairly well, and with her hair twisted up off the crown she looked even cuter. The ends were still a little damp, and that, somehow, made her quietly sexy.

"Ah, not exactly. Mm. I don't know. I only met her this morning."

"……And you're already making dinner plans?"

The question tilted my head.

"Well, yeah. She asked me to dinner, but I was too wiped, so I said tomorrow. Why?"

"I just thought you might be a little… careless."

"What's wrong with dinner? You're more conservative than I expected."

"……I wonder. Maybe I am."

She looked at me and drew the zipper of her puffer up. The slight chill in her manner was awkward, though I couldn't have said why. The elevator arrived. The moment I stepped in and reached for the button for the first floor, Trainer Rahi's hand came down over mine.

"Ah—sorry."

"It's fine."

She snatched her hand back and apologized at once, but I didn't mind. If anything, I was a little sorry to lose it. Her touch had been soft. By then the elevator was full of her perfume, and my nose was having a very good time of it. Even the fatigue of the workout seemed to be coming loose.

"Heading home?"

"Hm? Yes."

"Where do you live?"

"Right next door. I can walk."

I nodded at her answer and lifted my eyes to the numbers changing overhead.

"Would you have dinner with me?"

"What?"

I turned at the voice behind me and found her face gone pink. When our eyes met she slowly looked away—shy, for someone who had offered so boldly, and pretty cute for it.

"Why not? I met you for the first time today, too. So dinner should be allowed, shouldn't it?"

"Well. That's true, but."

I hadn't seen the offer coming. I didn't have any particular reason to refuse, either. I had only been too lazy to go far. I still had to eat.

"Sure. Why not."

"R-really?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"O-okay. Um, then… do you want pasta? Over there?"

The word pasta turned my stomach. What my wrecked body wanted was hot broth, something to sear the exhaustion out of me.

"How about gukbap instead? Rice in a hot soup. I want something warm."

"Guk—gukbap? Seriously?"

"Yeah. Why, you don't eat it?"

Trainer Rahi's eyes had gone perfectly round, and it was pretty cute.

"N-no. Gukbap's great. Then how about pork gukbap? There's a good place nearby."

"Oh—the red one?"

"Yes, the red one. That place."

"I know it. Their boiled pork is really good, too."

The moment I pictured that cloudy broth, the salted shrimp and the garlic chives, my mouth flooded. That was exactly what I wanted. It must have shown on my face, because Trainer Rahi stared at me blankly and murmured.

"……You actually mean it."

"I go there all the time."

"That's new."

"If you'd rather not, we can eat something else."

I answered her small mutter, but she shook her head.

"No. Let's go. I should blow off some stress myself. It's been a while."

The elevator doors opened and she caught my wrist and started towing me along. I had felt it earlier, too. She seemed to have more strength than the men of the world I had left behind.

"Slow down. The gukbap place isn't going to run away."

"Ah, r-right. Sorry."

"It's fine."

Outside, dusk was beginning to settle over the street, and the sidewalks had filled with people. Even so, the men were still strikingly few. Was the ratio the news kept citing actually real—ten women for every man? I still didn't want to believe it, but there were so plainly few of them that disbelief wasn't really an option. We hadn't walked far before the familiar red sign of the pork gukbap place came into view. Luckily there were seats left. Before we went in, though, Trainer Rahi caught me and asked.

"Are you really all right with gukbap?"

"Why? Just get inside. Someone's going to take the table."

"……You really are strange."

I sat first and waved her over. She came slowly, shaking her head, and sat.

"……You know you're a little unusual, right?"

"Me?"

"Yes. Most men get their guard up the moment you suggest a meal. And they only ever want things like pasta or steak."

That, at last, explained her odd reactions. Not every man, maybe, but the ones she had met must have been like that. So even something this small ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could be different here. I couldn't be expected to remember every little detail, but I would have to trust my ability to improvise. I nodded as if it were obvious and answered her.

"Oh, it's not that I dislike those. Pasta is easy enough to make at home, though, and buying it out is too expensive. And I can't sear a steak worth eating."

"……You cook?"

"Not well. Living alone, I manage survival cooking. And pasta's easy. Not restaurant-level, obviously, but the jarred sauces are good these days. Throw in some garlic and a few cocktail shrimp and it's plenty for eating alone."

"……You must be popular."

"Me? I feel like Trainer Rahi would have me beat."

She startled at that, and her eyes went round all over again.

"……Do I look like that to you?"

"Yeah. You're pretty."

"P-pretty."

"And your figure is something else. The kind of body that makes you think, now that's a trainer. How much do you have to work out to look like that?"

"Y-you're not supposed to say things like that."

"Why not?"

"Men have to be careful. If you talk like that, then……"

"What, you planning to jump me?"

She nearly leapt out of her seat. I waved her back down.

"A joke. It was a joke."

"What kind of joke is that?"

"It's just—you're so professional when you're working, and off the clock you're really cute."

"I am not. C-cute."

"……Ready to order?"

A server had come up to the table at some point. The way she looked at the two of us through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠half-lidded eyes, our little scuffle must have been loud.

"Pork gukbap. Rahi?"

"Rahi…… Ah. I-I'll have the same."

"……Two pork gukbaps."

The waitress shot Trainer Rahi a look for answering late, then took the order slip and disappeared. Rahi had been wearing a dazed expression for a while now. I leaned in.

"She's jealous."

"……Maybe she is."

Rahi wasn't stupid. There was no way she had missed the woman's attitude. She was a beat late catching my teasing, but the small smile that followed suggested she was loosening up. Even calling it just a meal, she had been stiff. Nothing for it. I was going to have to play with her a little.

"So. I hear this innocent act of yours goes around grabbing men's chests."

"Have you lost your—! ……mind?!"

She blurted it, then dropped her voice in a panic. One line, and a reaction that big. Her face had gone bright red. Teasing her was going to be fun.

"Hey, it happens. Chests. Sure. A person can be into those."

"I told you, it isn't like that. I was genuinely wronged."

"I said I understand. But below the belt was a bit much. Were you that hard up?"

"……It's really not true. The ch-chest did happen, but it was an accident, and anything lower absolutely did not."

I had started it like a joke, and thanks to that I could ask lightly.

"All right. I think I can tell at least that much—that you're not that kind of person."

"……We haven't even known each other a few hours. How would you know."

There was something a little self-mocking in it. She had been under a lot of stress. Even so, she didn't seem like someone with bad hands. Because—

"When you were helping me train, there wasn't a single glance that wandered. Nothing personal in your eyes at all."

"……"

"What? Was I wrong? Maybe I just missed the leering. Oh—are you the type who watches from behind? I hear they call that voyeurism."

"I told you, no. I wasn't looking at you that way. You're awful."

Her face flushed as she protested, and when I laughed along with her she pressed her fingers to her temple and muttered.