The Gym Owner, 36-Year-Old Jung Soojin (3)
"Ahh, ahh, aahn...!"
Soojin was now driving the showerhead against her pussy. Worked up past the point of no return, she soon arched her back and came with a scream.
At the same moment, Jinsu could hold out no longer.
"Khh…!"
His mind flashed white, and he spilled himself into his pants.
Spurt, spurt!
"Haah… hahk…!"
Jinsu leaned back against the wall and gulped down air.
I've lost my mind.
What on earth had he just done? The moment his senses returned, guilt and mortification crashed in all at once, and he let out a hollow sigh.
What the hell is this.
He hurriedly straightened his clothes, then slipped away from the spot, careful to make as little noise as possible.
Back at the counter, Jinsu sat staring blankly at the open ledger. Not a single number registered in his head.
Nothing happened.
He kept repeating it to himself.
I'm the only one who knows. That she was getting herself off in the women's bath — and that I was doing the same.
That's right. Only him.
"Aaaargh!"
Jinsu raked both hands through his hair. "Why is today like this?!"
He punched uselessly at the calculator. Tap, tap! Meaningless numbers marched across the display.
How long had it been?
Clunk.
The women's bath door swung open, and Jinsu's hand froze. Soojin emerged, toweling her damp hair, leggings and sports bra back in place. Perhaps from soaking so long in the hot water, her face glowed a fresh pink — but her expression was as calm as before, as if nothing whatsoever had happened.
"Did you leave a towel in there?"
"Huh? Ah— y-yes. I figured you wouldn't have one…"
Damn it. He shouldn't have said anything. What if she thinks I watched her get off?
Jinsu dropped his gaze and coughed dryly. Thankfully, Soojin's expression was bright.
"Water's great. Had a wonderful soak."
"I-is that so?"
"Shower pressure's excellent too."
"Ah… I keep on top of the maintenance."
"Then I can send my members over without a worry."
"Thank you."
"Oh, by the way."
Soojin glanced around the room. "Where's the banana milk? I don't see a fridge anywhere?"
"The fridge is out for repairs. It suddenly stopped turning on."
"…None? What a shame."
"Shall I go buy you one?"
"You'd run out and buy it? Pfft."
Amused by how flustered he was, she laughed. "Forget it. Why would I make the owner run errands for me? Let's just grab lunch instead."
Soojin tipped her head back to read the clock on the wall. "And I'm starving right on schedule."
"Lunch? Don't you have the gym?"
"I have staff, don't I?"
"Even so, shouldn't you be heading back, ma'am?"
"If the boss hovers around all day, the staff get antsy."
Tossing her used towel into the basket, Soojin strolled up to the counter. "I'm having jjambbong."
Jinsu blinked. "…You're really going to eat here?"
A little while later, the break room table held steaming bowls of jjambbong and jjajangmyeon — spicy seafood noodle soup and black-bean noodles — with a small order of sweet and sour pork nestled between them.
Tearing open her chopsticks, Soojin dragged the jjambbong bowl in front of her. "Ooh, this looks good."
"Please, eat plenty, ma'am."
"You too, boss."
Slurp. Smack. For a while, the only sounds in the room were the two of them putting away noodles.
A few bites into his jjajangmyeon, Jinsu stole a glance across the table. Soojin, evidently ravenous, was silently demolishing her jjambbong — and all the while, the pale skin swelling above her sports bra and the deep furrow of her cleavage kept snagging his eyes.
"Khh— cough, cough!"
"Went down the wrong pipe?"
"N-no, ma'am. Please, go on."
"Must be the nerves, sitting across from a pretty woman. Take your time."
"Th-that's not it at all."
Grinning, Soojin gathered up a small pinch of noodles and ate. Then she speared a piece of sweet and sour pork, chewed it a few times, and suddenly looked him in the eye.
"By the way, how old are you, boss?"
"Me?"
"Mm."
"Twenty-six."
Her eyes widened a fraction. "Seriously?"
"Why?"
"You're younger than I figured."
"How old did I look?"
"Thirty, give or take?"
Jinsu scowled. "Do I really look that weathered?"
"Weathered, no — you've just got a certain… air about you. Maybe it's the bathhouse-owner thing."
"And you, ma'am?"
Soojin laughed. "Guess."
"Twenty-two?"
"Don't lie."
"Why not?"
"Way too low. Fishing for compliments?"
"…Thirty?"
"Hahahaha."
She pressed the back of her hand, chopsticks and all, to her mouth and dissolved into giggles. "Thirty-six."
Jinsu's chopsticks stopped mid-air. "Really?"
"Why so surprised?"
"You're more… than I thought."
"More what?"
He hesitated, then gave up on dodging. "…You look young for it."
The corner of Soojin's mouth crept upward. "Aren't you sweet."
She set down her chopsticks and dabbed her lips with a napkin. "So I'm quite a bit your senior."
"Ten years, I make it."
"That's a lot. No girlfriend?"
At some point she had drifted, quite naturally, into casual speech. Jinsu puzzled over it for half a second, then decided to just roll with it.
"Call me noona from now on."
"I'd rather not."
"Why?"
"We've known each other for all of a few hours. Noona, really?"
"I'm a whole ten years older?"
"'Ma'am' is plenty."
"No fun."
Jinsu picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork and asked in return, "Then… you'd be married, I suppose?"
"I was."
"You were?"
"Mm." She said it as though remarking on the weather. "Divorced. No kids."
Jinsu's expression turned careful. "Oh… I'm sorry."
"What are you apologizing for?"
"It felt like a question I shouldn't have asked."
"Oh, please. It's nothing."
Soojin shrugged. "It's been years. Doesn't touch me anymore."
"I see."
"What about you? No — wait, what's your name?"
"Seo Jinsu."
"Seo Jinsu."
She tried the name out loud, then smiled. "Pretty name."
"Pretty? Please."
"Seriously, no girlfriend? You've got a decent body and a decent face."
"None. There was someone, a few months back, but…"
Jinsu moved to continue — and stopped. A voice he'd buried came roaring back to life inside his skull.
You can't even fuck properly, you've got no money — you're a truly pathetic man.
Those had been the last words she ever said to him, the day they broke up. He poked listlessly at his jjajangmyeon. Even now, the memory burned in his gut.
Fuck. If she saw what's between my legs now, she'd be on her knees begging.
His ex had also been a woman more than a little obsessed with sex. Her complaints about his flagging stamina had piled up, and in the end that had been part of why she'd thrown him over.
"Whew. That hit the spot."
Soojin rubbed her belly in satisfaction. When the long line of waist and the flash of navel beneath her sports bra swam into view, Jinsu looked away.
"Yaaawn."
The moment she stretched, her hourglass figure drew out long and taut. She rolled her neck a few times, then fixed him with a look. "What did the food come to? I'll cover half."
"Not necessary. It's my treat. …Consider it payment for the show, too."
He added that last part half under his breath, the scene from the women's bath replaying behind his eyes.
Soojin snorted. "What's that supposed to mean? Fine, noted. Thanks for the meal."
"My pleasure."
"Next one's on me."
"There's going to be a next time?"
"What, you don't want to eat with me?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then we're good."
Soojin rose from her seat and pushed the empty dishes aside, then looked him up and down. "You know, though."
"Yes?"
"I've been thinking it since earlier."
Her gaze settled on his shoulders, his arms. "You've got a seriously good body."
"…Mine?"
"Mm. You've trained, haven't you?"
"I told you I haven't."
"Doesn't look like an untrained body to me."
Arms crossed, Soojin studied him closely — perhaps from running a gym, she read a body with an appraiser's eye. Jinsu self-consciously straightened his posture, and she burst out laughing.
"What was that? Why'd you suddenly square up?"
"I didn't."
"You absolutely did."
Soojin scooped up her phone. "Even better. Let's take a few pictures."
"Pictures?"
"Promo shots. For my gym and Geumcheontang."
"Why me?"
"People come when the owner puts himself out there. You'd really waste a body like this?"
"I'm not a model."
"You are starting now."
Without warning she thrust the phone camera at him. "I'm announcing the Geumcheontang partnership to my members. Facility photos alone are boring, so the owner has to be in them too."
"No, thanks."
"You're the face of Geumcheontang. How can you bow out?"
"Nobody visits a bathhouse to gaze at the owner's face."
"Plenty do. Why do you think I only hire male trainers who look like models?"
"This seems to be drifting rather far from bathhouse promotion."
"Promotion starts with catching the eye. Full stop."
Soojin was immovable. "My members are the audience here. Bathhouse owner or not, you have to look like a man who works out."
"How exactly are you planning to shoot this?"
Her eyes made one slow sweep of his clothes. "First — shirt off."
"…Excuse me?"
"Clothes on, nobody can see the body."
"Could I at least wear workout clothes?"
"You have workout clothes?"
"A short-sleeve shirt and shorts."
"Hm. Not the worst idea."
She mulled it over for a beat — then said, perfectly at ease, "Actually, just the boxer briefs would be better. Let's go bold."
Jinsu turned to stone. "Are you insane? You want me to pose for photos in my underwear?"
"Never seen fitness promo shots?"
"Even if I had, I'm not doing it."
"Honestly — a body like that, and this shy. It's a crime."
"Isn't being shy the normal reaction?"
"Oh, come off it — how would you know? For all you can tell, once the women in this neighborhood get a look at that body, they'll come flocking. And not just my members."
"No."
The tug-of-war dragged on for a while yet. In the end, Jinsu let out a long, long sigh.
Ahh. If only I had money.
A short while later, Jinsu reappeared in the break room wearing nothing but his boxer briefs.
"Is th-this okay?"
"Hmm."
Soojin regarded him in silence.
"What?"
"Hold on. I'm admiring the view."
Her gaze traveled slowly from his shoulders, across his chest, down over his abdomen. Clothed, his frame had been impressive; bared, it was a different animal altogether. Broad shoulders, hard arms, the clean taper to his waist — the balance of it was better than she'd dared guess. Soojin caught herself wetting her lips.
"You really are something."
"Just take the pictures."
"Fine, fine. Stand over there."
Truthfully, Jinsu wasn't entirely unwilling either. Until a few hours ago, this hadn't been his body at all. After the spring water had drenched him, his shoulders had swept wider, strength had poured into his arms and chest, and even his waist had shrunk a size — obvious to anyone with eyes. It still felt like wearing a stranger's skin, but having a woman who ran a gym marvel at it openly stirred something strange and not altogether unpleasant in him.
…I guess I really did come out ahead.
Through the embarrassment, a quiet thrill was rising. Jinsu stepped clear of Soojin, spread his chest, and put tension into his arms — then discovered he'd never actually posed in his life and had no idea where his hands belonged.
"…Like this?"
Peering at him through the phone, Soojin cracked up. "What is that? Why are you standing like a man waiting for his sentence? Loosen those shoulders."
"I don't take many photos."
"Hold still."
Soojin lowered the phone and came close. "Drop the shoulders a little."
She pressed down lightly on both of them. "Don't force it. Open up, nice and natural."
"Like this?"
"Mm. And chin down, just a touch."
Her fingers grazed the underside of his jaw — then were gone as quickly as they'd come. "Good. Chest is fine. Stay just like that."
She backed off a few steps and raised the phone. "Here we go."
Click.
"One more."
Click.
Reviewing the shots, Soojin shook her head. "Not enough. I need more."
She hoisted the phone again. "Shooting."
Click.
"Tighten the core. Again."
Click.
"How much longer?"
"Patience. A few more."
Click. Click.
This really shouldn't go on too long…
Minute by minute, Jinsu found it impossible not to notice the woman circling in front of him. Every time she shifted with the phone raised, skin-tight leggings hugged a hip or a smooth thigh flashed through the corner of his vision — and whenever his eyes climbed, the deep valley splitting her sports bra was waiting for him in plain sight. He tried not to look. His gaze went back anyway.
And then—
His cock began, slowly, to wake up inside his boxer briefs.
The instant the memory of Soojin's naked body in the women's bath resurrected itself behind his eyes, the situation careened past all control. His cock reared up at full mast in short order, shoving the thin fabric outward into a shameless tent — even the shape of the huge, plum-like glans printed through it in merciless detail.
Oh no…
"Hm?"
The clicking stopped. Soojin lowered her phone, slowly, and her gaze dropped — squarely, deliberately — to his crotch.
A beat of silence.
Then the corner of her mouth curled up, slow and wicked. "Standing at attention again?"
"…"
Jinsu wavered, then nodded, ever so slightly. "…Yes."
Soojin snickered. "Seeing me gets you that worked up?"
"No… it's not…"
"Well, seeing your body gets me worked up."
"…I'm sorry, what?"
Jinsu stared at her, dumbstruck. Soojin was smiling — not the mischievous grin she'd worn when she first caught his hard-on earlier, but something else entirely. A heat like the one that had spread across her face while she touched herself in the women's bath was blooming there now.
Her phone landed on the chair beside her with a slap.
"Wanna do it?"