Even If You Have Eyes, an Assa Is Still an Assa
Our eyes met at a distance so close that if I fell forward, my nose would probably hit her. Even though I tried to act like nothing was wrong, I found myself blankly staring up at Chae Songha’s face, where a faint smile lingered at the corners of her lips.
‘……Looking at her this close.’
Chae Songha. Her smile was just as beautiful as Mo Yuna’s. No joke, it was so charming that for a second I genuinely thought, ‘Yeah, pretty girls really do look pretty even when they smile…’.
Which was exactly why, right after that, I felt ridiculous for having such thoughts while standing in front of someone who was smiling and trying to help me.
I snapped back to my senses a beat too late and grabbed Chae Songha’s hand, slowly pulling myself up. She must have been pretty strong from all the training, because she lifted me—one-handed—despite my fairly large build.
“You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
Chae Songha asked bluntly after scanning me up and down. She let go of my hand, shoved both of hers into the pockets of her tracksuit jacket, and the casual way she did it made her seem pretty easygoing. Thanks to that, I was able to forget my embarrassment and reply lightly.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Okay.”
A truly dry, short answer. After saying just that, Chae Songha gave a small nod as if her job was done, then turned on her heel and headed straight for the women’s locker room.
‘Whoa.’
She really has a cool personality. Her attitude felt even more refreshing than most guys. I was quietly admiring her when—
“Hey, Sunwoo.”
The trainer hyung, who had been standing there like a sack of barley, tapped me on the shoulder.
“You know her?”
I wasn’t sure whether to say yes or no. After thinking for a second, I decided she probably fell into the “knowing” category and nodded.
“Yes. She’s a junior from the same school.”
“Oh, really? She must be smart too, huh?”
Well. I had no idea about that. The admission standards for the Physical Education department weren’t exactly on my radar.
“Anyway, I don’t know who she is, but try to charm her a bit.”
“…Sorry?”
What was he even saying all of a sudden? When I glanced at him, Trainer hyung jerked his chin toward the women’s locker room where Chae Songha had gone.
“She’s a junior from your school, right? Get close to her somehow and ask her to take a PT session. If you bring her in, I’ll spot you during your workouts.”
Ah. So that’s what he meant.
I felt embarrassed once I realized I’d misunderstood. ‘A national short-distance prospect getting PT from a neighborhood gym trainer…’ Still, even if that weren’t the case, I doubted it would ever happen.
“Sure. I’ll try asking.”
It wasn’t hard to say I’d give it a shot. When I nodded to show I understood, Trainer hyung broke into a wide grin and patted my shoulder a few times.
“Good. I’m counting on you, Sunwoo.”
No, please don’t.
I muttered that only inside my head as I watched him head back to the front desk.
‘Alright, time to get serious.’
I was about to finally start my own workout when—
Tap.
The sound of feet hitting the floor came from not too far away. It was coming from the direction of the women’s locker room. When I instinctively looked over, I saw Chae Songha, now changed, lightly stretching.
She was wearing a short-sleeved gray t-shirt, black dolphin shorts, and thick white sneakers. Her body looked firm and slim at a glance. Anyone would think she was built for athletics.
“……But.”
He wanted me to ask someone like her to take a PT session? Did that even make sense? It would be way more natural if I asked her to train me instead.
‘Huh?’
Right then, I felt a poking gaze from behind. When I glanced back, Trainer hyung sitting at the front desk was mouthing something.
‘PT! PT!’
It looked like he was saying. He wanted me to ask her right now while the topic was fresh.
‘…This is ridiculous.’
Anyone could see this was a bad idea. If he actually looked at Chae Songha’s body, he’d get the picture immediately.
‘PT!’
Still, maybe he figured it was worth a shot… He kept pressuring me with his eyes alone.
‘Ugh.’
Part of me wanted to pretend I didn’t see him, but I couldn’t. This was the same Trainer hyung who, before I enlisted, had told me I had talent and offered to teach me for free. I couldn’t just ignore him.
‘……Fine.’
Whatever. I’d consider it paying back a favor and just ask once. I put on the most natural expression I could and walked over to Chae Songha.
“Um.”
She, who had been stretching, glanced up at me. Her eyes asked what I wanted.
“Ah, it’s nothing big.”
My gaze naturally drifted down below her neck. Past the feminine curves… and then to the hem of her slightly lifted gray t-shirt, where I caught a glimpse of her firm, defined abs.
“So…”
I was supposed to say, ‘Would you be interested in taking a PT session?’ But seeing abs clearer than mine despite how hard I’d been working out, the words just wouldn’t come out.
So instead, what slipped from my half-forced open mouth was—
“Would you like me to spot you while you work out?”
An utterly random sentence.
‘…Wait, what.’
Spotting? We barely knew each other. This was our first real meeting.
“……”
Maybe she was thinking the same thing. Chae Songha’s eyes, looking up at me, went a little blank. She didn’t say anything, but her gaze practically screamed, ‘What is this guy suddenly talking about…?’
“Ah…. You helped me earlier, right? So this is like… returning the favor.”
I was the one saying it, but I had no idea what I was talking about. Because I genuinely didn’t. I was just blurting out whatever came to mind because I was desperate. It was so incoherent that even I couldn’t organize my own words.
“……”
“……”
Chae Songha stared up at me silently. …That gaze was incredibly heavy.
‘…Should I just ask her to pretend she didn’t hear me?’
Since she had a cool personality, she’d probably go along with it if I asked. Just as I was about to say something—
Chae Songha, who had been staring straight at my face, spoke first.
“Okay. Then please do.”
It was an acceptance I hadn’t expected at all.
“I’m going to do bench press, so spot me please.”
Maybe because I’d been so sure she’d refuse. Her surprisingly willing acceptance made me think—
‘…Ah. She was competition for the bench.’
I should’ve just done my own workout first and asked later.
Two hours later.
—Thud!
“—Huu!”
A sigh escaped as my heavy arms suddenly felt light again. I returned the barbell—with quite a few plates still loaded—to its rack and slowly sat up.
“Want some?”
Right after, Chae Songha—who had been standing over my head just moments ago—came to my side and wordlessly held out her tumbler. It was hers. The one she had just been drinking from with her own lips.
‘……Do I take it, or…?’
I seriously thought about it for a second. But then I told myself I wasn’t some elementary school kid and took it gratefully.
Cool water flowed smoothly down my throat. I wiped my mouth roughly with the back of my hand and handed the tumbler back.
“Thanks.”
“Sure.”
Chae Songha answered shortly and took the tumbler. Then, without any hesitation, she put her lips where mine had been and drank the remaining water.
“Gulp…”
“……”
Maybe it was because I hadn’t been out of the military that long. Sharing a tumbler made all sorts of unnecessary thoughts pop into my head. To push those useless ideas away, I looked somewhere else for a moment.
That brought back what had just happened. I was the one who offered to spot her first. Yet somehow I ended up being the one getting spotted by Chae Songha.
‘Sunbae, would you like me to spot you too?’
‘Huh? Me?’
‘Yes. I’d feel bad just receiving help.’
‘……Oh, really? Then sure.’
That was pretty much how it went. Since there was an unspoken rule among people who worked out that if you received a spot, you should return the favor, Chae Songha naturally ended up helping me too.
Of course, the bonus was that Trainer hyung’s gaze from the front desk had become extremely sharp the entire time.
Even though he didn’t say anything, his eyes were clearly saying, ‘This bastard, I told you to ask for PT and you’re messing around?’
‘Still.’
That aside, having a spotter really did make bench press a lot better. When I worked out alone, I couldn’t go all out because I was worried about getting pinned under the bar. With a spotter, I didn’t have to worry about that and could push my limits.
‘Ah, if I hadn’t held back so much from my solo workout habits, I probably could’ve hit 120.’
I’d left too much strength in reserve. I couldn’t quite push it higher, but it was still a satisfying session. I was quietly smiling to myself when—
“You must have been working out consistently?”
A voice came from right beside me. It was Chae Songha, who had already emptied the entire tumbler.
“Yeah. Well, I did some in the military.”
“You didn’t before enlisting?”
“It’s not that I never did it, but I couldn’t go hard because I was busy studying.”
The kind of weight training I did now—pushing serious numbers—I’d only done once or twice a week, and even then just casually on weekends. When I told her that, Chae Songha’s expression suddenly turned strange.
“Really?”
She stared at me with a face full of suspicion, like she didn’t quite believe me.
“Yeah. It’s true.”
“……Doesn’t seem like it.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
I asked again because I didn’t hear her clearly. Chae Songha stood up from her spot. When I instinctively asked where she was going, she glanced back at me and said—
“Workout’s over, so I’m going to rest. Thanks for your help.”
—in her usual dry tone before heading toward the women’s locker room.
“Hmm.”
I see. Well, once the workout was done, resting made sense. Feeling a bit awkward, I headed to the men’s locker room as well.
‘Besides, we weren’t close enough to chat comfortably anyway.’
All we’d done was spot each other during workouts, so this level of distance felt just right. With those thoughts in mind, I finished my shower, changed clothes, and casually stepped outside.
Naturally, there was no sign of Chae Songha.
“Hyung, I’m heading out.”
I carefully said goodbye before leaving the gym.
“Sunwoo.”
I honestly expected him to say something, but—
“—Fighting!”
Trainer hyung just smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. …I could tell he was under some weird misunderstanding, but I didn’t think I needed to clear it up, so I just nodded and left.
Then.
‘Huh?’
Not too far away, I spotted Chae Songha. She had both hands shoved deep into her tracksuit pockets again and was talking with someone.
—…right? What do you think?
—….
—Ah, not really? Then how about somewhere else. What about there?
Correction. She wasn’t really talking. She was just listening to the other person speak one-sidedly. And she looked quite displeased while doing so.
‘…Tsk.’
Interrupting might just be unnecessary meddling. Though maybe her expression was the only thing that looked bad and she was actually fine.
‘…Well, if that’s the case.’
I’d just end up feeling embarrassed for a bit. With that thought, I casually walked toward where my fellow bench-press comrade was standing.
And then.
“Songha, have you been waiting long?”
I spoke with the brightest smile I could manage.
‘Please don’t look at me like I’m a crazy person…’
I prayed desperately inside.
“Who is this?”
The guy who had been talking at Chae Songha one-sidedly glanced at me. He had a pretty solid build, though he was a bit shorter than me.
‘Wait, is he in the same PE department?’
If this guy was her senior or classmate and that’s why he was talking to her, then I really had just stuck my nose in where it didn’t belong. Just as I started feeling anxious and tried to pick my next words—
“……Ah.”
Chae Songha, who had been blankly looking up at me, blinked. It seemed she finally understood my intention.
After briefly meeting my eyes, she subtly moved closer and stood right beside me.
“I’m sorry, sunbae. This person is a second-year senior from the Korean Language and Literature department. We’re supposed to have dinner together because of a liberal arts group project.”
“Oh, really? You have group projects in liberal arts classes?”
“Yes.”
It wasn’t a lie. We really did have a group project.
“I see. But you’re eating dinner just the two of you?”
The nameless male student looked me over with a gaze full of obvious wariness. He wasn’t even trying to hide his feelings—his eyes were so fierce that if I said yes, it looked like he might grab me by the collar.
I shrugged and answered nonchalantly.
“No, we’re eating with four group members.”
Immediately, the wariness disappeared from the male student’s face.
‘Wow.’
He really was honest with his emotions. Right at that moment, the male student walked up to me, held out his hand, and smiled.
“Nice to meet you. Please take good care of our Songha.”
Our Songha. They didn’t seem particularly close, but he called her so casually. I wasn’t sure, but maybe the PE department was just like that. Without thinking much, I shook his hand.
“Sure. Of course.”
Then—
—Squeeze.
The male student suddenly gripped my hand tightly. At first I thought he just had a strong grip, but as the pressure kept increasing, I realized that wasn’t it.
This guy.
“……”
“……”
No, this bastard. He was deliberately putting strength into his hand on purpose.
“……”
“……”
I had no idea why he was doing this all of a sudden. But.
If he thought that since I was from the Korean Language and Literature department, I’d be easily overpowered by strength, he was sorely mistaken.
‘You wanna try this?’
I had given him plenty of chances, but since he wouldn’t stop the power struggle, I stopped holding back and started gripping his hand with real force.
And then.
“……Ah, ah! —Ack!!”
The male student screamed and collapsed to the ground.
‘…?’
I hadn’t even used my full strength yet.