Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Achy Legs and New Semester Nerves
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The morning when the start of the semester was just one day away.
"Ugh...... Hngh...."
The reason Han Seo-ah was groaning at the breakfast table from the early morning.
It wasn't because the long break was ending and classes were approaching.
...Nor was it because she'd overdone it in bed the night before.
"Feeling pretty sore?"
On her first night living alone, when Seo-ah had earnestly asked me to teach her how to work out—not joking around—she'd joined me every time since then.
Couple workouts. Nice.
Hehe, hoho. Our bodies brushing lightly during stretches. Sneakily touching workout spots under the guise of adjusting form, satisfying a bit of selfish desire.
The couple workouts that started with those fantasies in mind...
"Seo-ah, just one more!"
"J-Jun-woo, I'm dying..."
"Seo-ah, you won't die from this. Don't worry, just one more. Almost there, really almost!!!"
"Hngh, you said that last time too, haah, just one more and it's done..."
—Squats, why hold back on something this great?
Even though her thighs and calves were trembling like a newborn chick's.
Even though she shot me resentful looks while I clapped beside her like a YouTube video on auto-loop, endlessly chanting "just one more."
—No way I'd stop.
Wasn't the fact that she could glare at me like that proof she could do one more?
I kept clapping and shouting, thinking thoughts that would make her faint if she heard them.
"Seo-ah, workouts are all about tearing your muscles. Hurry, one more and then we eat, okay?"
"M-my legs won't go down, Jun-woo..."
"That's just your brain tricking you. See, they're going down?"
I pressed down firmly on her frozen thighs, which seemed stuck in time, forcing them lower.
"Kyaaah! J-Jun-woo, it hurts too much...!"
"How's that, tasty, right Seo-ah? Gotta tear the muscles like this for it to work?"
"I wanna tear you apart, so stop...!"
"What?"
What did that mean, standing Seo-ah?
I looked up, doubting my ears at the harsh words from my beloved girlfriend for the first time.
A joke, right?
But her eyes staring at me blazed fiercely, proving those words weren't a joke.
Ah, she means it.
"...Should we call it here and eat?"
Scratching my head awkwardly, I declared a break.
"Haaa...... So toughhh..."
She collapsed into her seat with a long sigh of relief, and I wondered if I'd gone too far.
No, this is how real workouts are done...
I felt wronged, but pushing further might cost me this precious workout newbie, so I held back.
"Come here, I'll massage you. Or tomorrow will be worse."
"...You think I can do it again tomorrow in this state, hngh...!"
"Of course you can. Just trust me."
"It hurts too much, Jun-woo..."
"That means today's workout was super effective. Tasty, right?"
Whether she had no strength to reply or just didn't want to, Seo-ah bit her pretty lips and stayed silent.
As I massaged her pale, soft thighs down to her calves, pressing firmly, she let out moans, twitching here and there. Her sweat-soaked pants clung revealingly to her body, looking tantalizing.
But this was sacred workout time.
My junior stirred with a "You called?", but I turned away sharply. No way.
I barely averted my eyes and continued the massage.
That day, after the workout, she was so exhausted that for the first time since we started dating, she avoided eye contact and barely spoke to me. There was even an incident where sweat poured from her brow.
Only at bedtime did her anger fade; she wriggled into my arms, whispering sorry, and I hugged her tight with a sigh of relief.
...I didn't dare say we'd work out tomorrow too, or I'd be sleeping on the floor.
We kept this up, and at some point—whether she'd gotten hooked or was struggling to survive—Seo-ah started trying exercises she'd learned from YouTube instructors on her own or even made her own routine.
For me, just working out with my girlfriend was satisfying enough.
Having exercise added to our daily routine together felt great.
"What's for breakfast today, Jun-wooo...?"
She still turned into sick chick mode after workouts, so I handled breakfast, she did dinner, and lunch we improvised. That became our unspoken rule.
"Super duper protein-packed~"
"If you say chicken breast, Jun-woo..."
Those eyes from when she wanted to tear me apart flashed again, sending chills down my spine.
".........I made rolled omelets~"
"Th-thanks for the hard work, Jun-woo. I'll dig in."
Phew.
Watching her munch happily on the omelets and sides, I couldn't help but smile.
"...Tasty?"
"Yeah, tasty, Jun-woo. You're getting so good, better than me now...?"
We were both total cooking newbies, and after crying through our first meals that first day.
Desperately learning from YouTube and our parents paid off—we could now say "tasty" after eating, which filled me with pride.
I preferred Korean food, so I focused on that; she liked pasta and Western stuff, so she handled those. We ate without getting bored.
After our simple but satisfying breakfast.
Clink clink—
We'd agreed the one who didn't cook would do dishes.
But that promise had never been kept once.
Clink clink—
Whoever did them, the other was always there helping.
Standing side by side like this felt like we were married. I loved that sensation. Just, loved it.
Seo-ah probably felt the same.
Whenever I did dishes or chores, she was always right there beside me, helping.
It made envisioning our future together feel so real. That was nice.
"Tomorrow's finally here, huh?"
"Hm? What? Oh, classes starting?"
"Yeah. Kinda excited for college life, but thinking about actually going back to school feels... weird."
"I get that. Totally weird."
After 12 years of school, even if college was different, four more years? I'd vaguely looked forward to it, but now that it was here, I felt the same strange mix as Seo-ah.
Especially with horror stories like Hermione schedules or Iron Man timetables.
Luckily, freshmen got pre-made major schedules; we just filled electives. So I could match with Seo-ah and the others.
"Saw the group chat yesterday—Yang Jun-hyuk said since OT's the first week, maybe he doesn't have to go? Then Seo Sae-rom chewed him out."
"...Jun-hyuk's consistent as ever."
I couldn't admit I'd thought the same.
Thanks, Jun-hyuk...!
"Now that we're here, I don't wanna go in..."
"We're already here, Jun-woo. Let's go in."
Before arriving at university, Seo-ah and I had fantasized plenty, full of excitement.
But seeing the rows of desks inside the lecture hall made my resolve crumble.
Just because I'm a college student, I'm imprisoned in this university penitentiary, locked in lecture hall cells, listed on the attendance roster prisoner list, serving study sentences until graduation parole...
Muttering inwardly, I entered, spotting familiar faces now.
"Oh, Jun-woo and Han Seo-ah are here."
"Welcome, damn couple."
"Hey guys~!"
"Hi hi~"
"Hey, guys! You're early?"
"What's with 'damn couple'?"
I approached the group—Ha Si-woo, Yang Jun-hyuk, Seo Sae-rom, Kim A-ri—now hanging out together, sat with Seo-ah, and looked around.
We exchanged awkward hellos with OT faces, then spotted an unforgettable one.
"Yo, isn't that Pufferfish?"
"Huh? Isn't this a freshman class?"
"I saw that senior right away and texted Dae-hye sunbae. Turns out it's a required elective, and she got an F so she's retaking."
"Legend from one to ten."
Amid fresh green freshmen, a lone pufferfish sullying the waters in the corner. I quietly asked Si-woo and Jun-hyuk; their absurd answer made me chuckle.
Freshman class or OT rumors?
She sat alone in the corner, and I savored it. She noticed, our eyes met.
I grinned and waved; her face flushed red and blue like she might spit poison, fuming as she flipped me off from afar.
Angry but too scared to approach—that pathetic sight from the distant corner made me burst out laughing.