Side Story: Exercise
Side Story: Exercise
There are moments when you can physically feel that time has passed and you've aged right along with it.
Externally, I couldn't say I felt it yet, since my daughter's friends still asked if I was her oppa. But in other areas, I was beginning to feel it, little by little.
For example — was it the money piling up in my bank account, or matters related to my daughter?
The earnings from CueTube activities and photobook shoots had accumulated in my account to the point where it was almost difficult to spend it all, and watching that made me feel that time really was flowing.
And when I saw my daughter growing up so quickly, I felt full even without eating, and a smile bloomed on my face even when I was doing nothing at all.
Well, being able to have a full bank account at this age and to smile while watching my daughter grow was all thanks to A-ra.
When I thought about it, wasn't my entire life shining because I was together with A-ra?
Everything I'd mentioned about feeling my age up to this point — those were the advantages.
Naturally, there were disadvantages as well.
You could say I was still in my late twenties and wonder what I was going on about, but compared to my early twenties, I could definitely feel that things like stamina were noticeably worse.
If these things only became apparent when I exercised or went running, I could probably just accept it. But when I ran out of energy during nighttime activities and ended up panting, it drove me absolutely crazy.
No matter that I was a man with a weak body, my stamina had never been this poor before.
"That's all because you neglect working out."
"...Minji. Oppa is sick, you know?"
"Oh, right."
Even though no one had ever told me I was lacking in any particular way, it was true that my physical condition was far from good.
When it was really bad, I'd collapsed after jogging just a short distance or carrying something heavy.
That kid Minji knew better than anyone that those kinds of incidents had happened often in the past.
Which probably meant my body had gotten healthy enough that even my younger sibling would forget.
"But if you don't exercise because you're sick, it's just a vicious cycle repeating itself."
"Ugh... you're not wrong..."
Listening to Minji, who hadn't been wrong about a single thing, I let out a sigh without meaning to.
How was someone with trash-tier stamina like me supposed to build endurance?
"If you really have no clue, go run alongside Arini when she goes for a walk. Cardio is the best."
"Oppa will literally die if I do that..."
It was a bit awkward to say this as a father, but in Arini's case, once she started running wild on the weekend, she was a stamina monster who could genuinely run 10km.
Did she take after her mother?
The reason she made that suggestion was because the younger siblings had been helping walk the dogs and Arini these days.
Deep down, I trusted my younger siblings completely and believed they would take good care of her, and they genuinely were taking great care of her.
Of course, I was giving them an allowance accordingly.
They'd tried to refuse, asking what kind of allowance it was when I was already covering all their living expenses, but I'd shoved the money into their hands, insisting that getting paid for the work made you work harder.
"Or how about going to the gym with Arini?"
"It's dangerous for Tiny to go there."
"Arini can just watch. With your daughter watching you from the side, wouldn't that be some kind of motivation?"
"Hmm..."
I couldn't find a retort because it wasn't wrong.
With my bunny-like daughter watching me from the side, what couldn't I do?
"If not that... But, oppa."
"Huh? What?"
"You don't exercise, you don't even walk—so where exactly did you feel your stamina dropping?"
"Uh... huh?"
I couldn't answer the sudden question.
Where had I felt it? There was no way I could tell her that, was there?
"That's what I thought, since you hardly ever do any physically demanding work. During shoots, you just stand still."
"Op... Oppa does do physical work! Like the fried food shop!"
"Liar. The staff handles all the prep work, and you just do the frying."
"......Tch."
It was a pointless struggle.
After that, with my face burning red, I retreated back up to the house without answering my little sister, who kept grinning as she asked where my stamina had dropped.
This was my own fault for honestly telling Minji.
***
A-ra was using her chopsticks to debone the fish and place the meat onto Arini's rice bowl as we shared a harmonious meal together.
Seeing A-ra, who was such a glutton herself, take care of our daughter first made me think that maternal love truly was magnificent.
Whenever someone placed fish meat onto her bowl, Arini would scoop up some rice with her spoon and eat it together with the fish.
Even as her father, watching her, I could see her behavior was so neat and tidy — I could tell she'd been very well-raised at home.
Once the two of them finished their meal, I took the chilled ripe persimmons from the fridge, placed them into bowls, and handed them out as dessert.
Honestly, ripe persimmons were the absolute best when eaten cold rather than frozen.
The two of them used a spoon to scoop up the peeled ripe persimmons and put them in their mouths.
With blissful expressions, they chewed softly...
"Sweet!"
"Sweet!"
The sight of mother and daughter saying the exact same thing at the same time and beaming was so incredibly cute...
"Daddy, please give me just one more!"
"No~ We said one ripe persimmon per day, right?"
"Hing..."
"Arin-ah, do you want to eat more ripe persimmon?"
At that moment.
A-ra stroked Arini's head and flashed a sly smile.
Whenever she wore that kind of smile... it was always when she radiated desire.
...Usually, she made that expression in bed before going to sleep.
"What can we do? Since Arini wants to eat more~"
"N... Noona?"
Wasn't Noona the one who set the rule about one dessert per day...?
Noona...?
"Seong-hwan-a~ Our daughter says she wants to eat one more, so it can't be helped, right? Bring Noona another one too."
".......Yes, ma'am."
Resigned, I went to the fridge and brought out two more ripe persimmons.
After placing the persimmons in their bowls, I stroked both of their heads at the same time.
"Eat up, both of you."
"Hehe."
Arini accepted the head pat with the pleased look of a cat.
Were ripe persimmons really that delicious?
*
"Noona, please make me exercise."
"Exercise? Do you want to go running in the morning with Noona?"
"Even just that is fine, so let's do it together."
When I brought up that I wanted to exercise, she nodded, saying it wasn't a bad idea.
Five years ago, she would have said no because I might get hurt. What had brought about this change of heart?
"I've felt recently that my husband's stamina is lacking."
".....It's not lacking?"
"It's lacking. Seong-hwan, your stamina is lacking, and other things are lacking too."
With that same sly expression, A-ra started stroking my thigh.
Her caresses didn't stop at my thigh; her hand slowly crept down toward my groin.
It was a relief Arini wasn't there.
If Arini had been watching, she would have shouted again that Mommy was eating Daddy up.
"Hngh..."
"My husband's stamina really has dropped quite a bit. Starting tomorrow, let's run two laps around the apartment with Noona?"
"O... Okay."
Only then did she stop kneading and start stroking my head.
Two laps around the apartment... I wondered how far that would be.
"Then let's go to bed early today. Going out to run around 5 a.m. is the best."
"Got it. I'll turn the light off then."
Thinking maybe today we were just going to sleep with nothing happening, I turned off the light and lay down on the bed.
But, of course, that wasn't the case. A-ra began taking off my clothes one by one.
"They really do say that undressing it yourself makes it taste the best."
"....T...Today, just once."
"No way. Noona agreed to make you exercise, so twice."
"Hieeek..."
And that day, I ended up being devoured so thoroughly it was comparable to our newlywed days.
***
"Hoo... hoo...."
It had been a month since I started following A-ra out in the early dawn to run.
My once-clean running shoes were gradually getting worn in and comfortable, and the color of the long towel draped around my neck for wiping sweat began to fade.
And more than anything, the more I ran now, the more a sweet taste began rising in my mouth.
I could definitely feel that my stamina had improved, and my skin seemed to feel much clearer than before too.
With no sign of stopping, we continued our jog until we reached the entrance near the apartment lobby.
Only then did A-ra stop, straighten her tangled hair, and start drinking the water she carried at her waist.
"Let's stop here for today."
"Hoo..."
When we first started, we'd run two laps, but now we were running eight laps a day.
Despite that, the fact that I was less out of breath and less exhausted than when I first started meant my stamina had definitely increased.
Not just that, but my body, which once had no muscle at all, seemed to be bulking up a little...
So this was what cardio did for you.
"Don't exhale while looking down. Your lung capacity won't increase."
"Okay... Hoo... hoo..."
Following A-ra's advice, I straightened my back and gulped down breaths.
Since Noona's words were like lifeblood to me, I'd long since decided not to talk back.
"Want some?"
"Gah... water."
I brought my mouth to the water bottle A-ra offered and gulped it down.
Right now, in this moment, this water was the water of life for me.
Drinks like cola or cider meant nothing compared to this water right now.
It was so good that the moment I drank this water, I considered making water a paid item at the fried food shop.
"Pwah!"
"How is it? Incredibly refreshing, right?"
"It really is. When I touch it with my hand, it's just lukewarm water, but going down my throat, it feels ice cold."
"That's what exercise is."
I see.
So this was why people exercised.
Since you could feel your body getting healthier the more you did it, you simply couldn't not do it.
"What do you think? It's been a month now, like we promised... do you want to keep going?"
"I have to keep doing it. I can feel the difference this much, after all."
"Good thinking. Then starting tomorrow, we wake up at 4 a.m. and run ten laps?"
"....."
No, actually, scratch that. I'm not doing it anymore.
You'll kill me at that rate.