Chapter 108
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Tempting and Arousing
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Tempting and arousing.
The first feeling upon opening the door and stepping into the gym was...
'Dark.'
It was probably because of the contrast with the bright outdoors, but the sense of darkness wasn't solely due to the lighting.
Of course, it was early morning, but there wasn't a soul in the gym.
Pang, papapang, pang-!
Looking toward the only source of noise, there was Catherine in a black tank top pounding the heavy bag.
Even to me, who knew nothing about boxing, she looked incredibly stylish.
That was when it happened.
"What? You're the guy who was supposed to show up today...?"
A man with a balding head and a belly protruding so far it couldn't be hidden tossed aside the broom he'd been using to sweep the floor and started heading my way.
He looked a bit different from the photo I'd seen online, but it was definitely Coach 'Jim Miller'.
He approached me with a fairly friendly expression.
He extended his hand as if to shake mine, then suddenly shoved my chest.
Catching me off guard with the unexpected move and more strength than I'd anticipated, I stumbled back a step. But I quickly regained my balance and straightened up.
There was a thick mat laid out in the direction he'd pushed me, but it was still dangerous all the same.
"What the hell was that?"
I demanded, incredulous, but he completely ignored me, stroking his chin and muttering nonchalantly.
"Body's built decent enough, but reflexes are trash. Hmm..."
In the meantime, Catherine rushed over and wedged herself between Jim and me.
She snapped at him accusingly.
"This old man's impossible...! I told him you're not here for fighting—you're an actor! No wonder everyone bails with you being such a grouch. Ugh..."
But Jim Miller seemed lost in thought, unfazed by Catherine's tirade.
After scratching his bald head, Jim met my eyes and spoke.
"Never seen anything like this before... Reflexes and athleticism aren't anything special, so why's the flexibility this good? You do that thing... what d'you call it. Ah! Yoga! Right, you done yoga or something?"
What I'd originally hoped for was some scientific regimen—strict diet and workouts tailored to squeeze out the optimal performance from me as an actor.
But the old man in front of me seemed a bit distant from that ideal.
He gave off the vibe of someone who prioritized more traditional training methods.
And looking at this guy, a certain idiom sprang to mind unbidden.
Not mad, no mastery.
You can't achieve greatness without a touch of madness.
It held true for everyone around me too—anyone who'd accomplished something was, without exception, a little crazy in their own way.
This old man included.
"No need to be embarrassed—just spit it out. How am I supposed to customize your training without knowing?"
"I told you, I'm not here to learn fighting?!"
Catherine shouted in disbelief from the side, but he kept staring silently into my eyes.
"No. As an actor, I need to move my body naturally, so I just loosen up regularly. Never formally learned yoga."
"Hmm... The flexibility's excessive even for natural male talent, but it's a boon for training regardless. Come on in. Name's Jim Miller."
Only then could I finally shake hands with Jim.
"Nice to meet you... Actor Jung Woo-jin."
Coach Jim Miller turned out to be more of a hassle than I'd expected.
I followed Catherine as she showed me around the gym, while Jim dogged my heels, scrutinizing me relentlessly.
"It's a boxing gym, but you can warm up or practice basic moves on these mats. Not many people around anyway, so it'll be fine."
The gym was surprisingly spacious for how empty it was, showing plenty of wear and tear but cleaned spotless with barely a speck of dust.
I had a pretty good idea who to thank for that, but anyway.
"That guy's got such a prickly personality there's no casual classes or anything, but we do have some regulars. Mostly pro hopefuls or actual pros, though, so you probably won't run into them much. What do you think? Wanna take a swing at the heavy bag?"
"Might as well."
"Forget jabs or straights or form—just hit it. Best stress buster ever."
I shrugged and stepped up beside Catherine as she moved aside, taking position in front of the heavy bag.
I noticed Jim closing in uncomfortably close, but I focused and mimicked the stance Catherine had shown earlier.
'Not just the arms—whip the whole body like a lash, keep shoulders and arms loose, then impact at the last second...'
I twisted my body like on a punch machine and swung my fist.
Puheok-!
The moment my fist connected, I felt the bag's substantial heft.
"Ngh."
Having tensed up too much, I wobbled slightly after the punch, but I leveraged my flexibility to snap right back into position.
"Definitely hits the spot for stress."
The moment I turned to say that to Catherine...
My eyes landed first on Jim's face, contorted in an even more ridiculous grimace than hers.
"Kh, ahem."
He scowled like he'd witnessed something unsightly, then abruptly turned and walked away from me.
Catherine stepped forward.
"Ignore him. Guy's standards are sky-high."
And those words...
Ruffled my pride more than a little.
Come to think of it, my physical ability-related talents were...
Phenomenal Stamina (A+), Innate Flexibility (A), Precise Body Control (B+), and such.
I shifted my gaze from Jim, who had picked up the broom again, to Catherine.
There stood a female brimming with an utterly mouthwatering, arousing appearance and talents.
One whose subordination level had already hit 50%, no less.
⤷ 1st Condition: Participate in conditioning training at ‘ABA’.
⤷ 2nd Condition: Fulfill the 1st condition first.
After a quick tour of the gym and some light warm-ups together, a few regulars began trickling in.
And then...
"You sure about this, Woo-jin...?"
Catherine was flustered that Jung Woo-jin suddenly wanted to join the regulars' conditioning session.
"I'm good. Pretty confident in my stamina."
"Jumping into intense stuff like this out of nowhere could get you hurt..."
She'd phrased it as delicately as possible—trying to say 'That might be a bit much for you' without bruising his ego.
But Jung Woo-jin was marching over to the coach with a stubbornness that made her wonder if he'd always been this bullheaded.
"Haa..."
Hard to put into words, but what the regulars were prepping for under the coach's instructions was none other than interval training.
High-intensity conditioning that amps up results by sandwiching incomplete rests between bursts of explosive effort.
In simple terms...
Sprint full-tilt across a short distance, pause briefly, sprint back full-tilt, rest a bit, repeat.
A workout that lets you taste hell in a short burst—one even the regulars, who ran daily, dreaded and squirmed to avoid.
Of course, you could always quit midway...
Catherine worried he'd amp up his pace out of pride watching the others and end up embarrassing himself.
Jung Woo-jin had gotten the coach's okay and was setting up an extra track alongside the regulars.
Catherine let out a deep sigh and approached Jim.
"Jim, I'll join too."
"Huh? Yeah, whatever... Do your thing."
With Jim's permission, Catherine laid out a new track right next to Woo-jin's and told him,
"Woo-jin, don't glance at the others—just match my pace."
"Hm? We'll see."
"Hoo..."
Catherine pinched the bridge of her nose, staring at his utterly unpersuadable profile.
'Really living up to that pretty face...'
And with that, the interval training kicked off.
Catherine's jaw dropped as she watched Woo-jin explode forward like a coiled spring.
"Huk, heuk, huk..."
My mouth felt parched like a desert, tasting faintly of blood. My lungs had shrunk tight, screaming in pain, while blood surged to the back of my head, pounding out my heartbeat.
Beep-.
The whistle blew, but my hunched back refused to straighten.
"Huk, heuk... I-I'm done here..."
Catherine raised her hand to signal she was tapping out, then shuffled toward Coach Jim Miller.
Plopping down beside the whistle-blowing coach, she watched the male regulars and Woo-jin keep running.
She too possessed stamina far beyond an ordinary woman's, but there was a limit when competing with the men—that's why she'd dropped first.
Beep-.
No sooner had she caught her breath than the whistle blared again, sending the panting men sprinting back the other way.
Woo-jin's running form might look average to a layperson, but to her trained eye, it was a bit sloppy—like someone who hadn't run much.
As she steadied her breathing, Catherine asked the coach,
"Huu, hu... What'd you say to get him running with them?"
"Said if he's last among the guys, he cleans every evening."
"Huh...? What the hell kind of thinking is that...?"
Thanks to the coach's personality, the handful of regulars were all pro hopefuls or full pros—monsters who ate, slept, ran, and punched day in, day out.
"Thought the same at first. But... Catherine, take a good look at that guy's face. Think he might be the real monster here."
"What?"
Catherine looked up at Woo-jin's face as he paused for a brief rest.
He was panting hard, but...
Even with his mouth agape, he was deliberately trying to breathe through his nose, staying composed.
And his eyes...
"Crazy..."
Were locked unwaveringly on the turnaround point across the way.