Natural Shape (2)
Kang Cheol-jin took off his top.
An Seo-ra's eyes flew wide at the sight.
'What the hell, his form's already there?'
Both his chest and shoulders showed clear muscle definition. Sure, there was some body fat keeping the muscles from being sharply cut, but the sheer volume was impressive — you'd never guess he was someone who'd never set foot in a gym.
In truth, she'd suspected there was muscle even while he was clothed. Kang Cheol-jin's build was closer to a bear than a pig.
But she hadn't expected the form to be this visible. The reason was simple — he always wore loose, oversized fits that never let his outline show through.
'His frame is natural-born too.'
Not just the muscles — the bone structure itself was excellent. Bone structure was something no amount of exercise could change.
As An Seo-ra kept staring at him, inwardly marveling over and over, Kang Cheol-jin called out in a puzzled voice.
"Noona?"
"Uh, uh-huh. You said you did push-ups and pull-ups, right?"
"Yes. For about a year. I heard if you just starve the weight off, your skin sags."
"You did well. Looks like you worked hard. Just looking at your body, you're not a beginner."
Kang Cheol-jin blinked and asked in return.
"Really? I'm at over 26% body fat though?"
"But your skeletal muscle mass is high, like I told you. At your body weight, doing 60 push-ups is seriously impressive. You shed a little fat and you'll probably hit 100 easily."
"But I can only do five pull-ups......"
"Not 'only' five — 'as many as' five. Pull-ups are heavily affected by body weight. Most people your weight can't even do one."
"Really?"
Kang Cheol-jin wore an expression of disbelief. He genuinely seemed to be asking because he didn't know, which, from the perspective of someone who'd been training for years, was just flabbergasting. At this point, it almost felt like he was low-key flexing.
"Can I put my clothes back on now?"
"Hold on."
An Seo-ra scrutinized Kang Cheol-jin's body in detail.
"Flex for me?"
"Uh, like this?"
"Wow......"
Admiringly, An Seo-ra circled around Kang Cheol-jin once.
In truth, Kang Cheol-jin's body wasn't overwhelmingly amazing. As a Sports Science student and professional trainer, she was surrounded by men with far better physiques than Kang Cheol-jin. No matter how talented or hardworking he'd been, he couldn't surpass them in a single year.
But natural-born bone structure and muscle shape weren't things you could achieve through effort. Just like every person had a different face, everyone was born with their own unique bone structure and muscle shape.
Even the chest alone came in various forms.
A lot of people considered the square chest the ideal, but in reality the shapes varied widely from person to person — U-shapes, V-shapes, and so on.
"Can I touch it a little?"
"Wh-what?"
"I want to check the shape."
"Ah, um......"
An Seo-ra carefully touched Kang Cheol-jin's muscles. Doing this in the middle of the gym did make the scene look a bit odd, but it wasn't long before others were watching the two of them, too. When An Seo-ra — the gym's beautiful trainer and notorious muscle pervert — acted like that, everyone's curiosity was naturally piqued.
Feeling the muscles with her own hands made An Seo-ra's heart pound.
'This guy's a gem.'
Kang Cheol-jin had a square chest that was densely packed all the way through. And on top of that, his waist was thin while his frame was thick. Of course, to examine it precisely she'd have to strip away the fat, but just from what was visible right now, his was a perfectly natural-born physique.
His back was the same. Unusually for an East Asian, his lats stretched long. His shoulder blades were already somewhat spread apart. He'd said he did pull-ups by himself, and his back was already better than most people who'd been hitting the gym for two or three years.
Looking closer now, his arms had a longer reach than average, and the ratio of his upper to lower body was aesthetically pleasing. A heat gradually crept into An Seo-ra's eyes as she examined Kang Cheol-jin's body.
'Clavicles are upper-middle width. Decent length too.'
If he built up just a little more hypertrophy, his shoulders would look far broader than they did now. Overall, his long limbs meant there were more areas that needed filling out, but that also meant he would shine all the more when he was fully built.
"Pull up your pants a bit. So I can see your thighs."
"Um, everyone's staring though......"
"It's fine, go on."
Kang Cheol-jin shyly shrank back, but An Seo-ra, whose eyes had already gone wild, didn't stop.
She made him roll up his pants in the end and examined his thighs. She even touched them directly.
The members watching him each chimed in.
"Hey hey, Seora's sexually harassing another member."
"Oh dear, she's lost it."
"But damn, his body is nice. Look at that thin waist."
"Nice wide ribcage too. Thick legs as well."
An impromptu critique session broke out in the crowd.
Hearing them, Kang Cheol-jin felt like he could die of embarrassment. Getting showered with praise by men who were clearly jacked was unspeakably mortifying.
Then Kang Cheol-jin, startled, grabbed An Seo-ra's hand.
"N-noona. Your hand's going too far in. Stop."
At some point, her hand had been creeping up the inside of his thigh. Any higher and she'd be touching a part that shouldn't be touched.
"Ah, uh? Ack, sorry! I'm really sorry."
Coming to her senses, An Seo-ra jumped up in alarm. The members watching clicked their tongues.
"Seora, keep doing that and you'll actually get reported."
"Tsk tsk, she's lucky she was born a woman. If she were a guy she'd have been sued already."
"This is why members always ask for her number. What's that thing called, color-ring? They think she's doing that."
"Hyungnim, it's flirting."
"Right, that."
An Seo-ra glared around, her face gone bright red.
"Misters, you not working out? Isn't your rest time way too long?"
"What're you sayin'. Don't you know two-minute rests are the trend these days? For a trainer, your info's slow."
"Seora-ssaem, I'm not a mister though."
"Ah, come on!"
"Alright, alright. We'll mind our own business."
After fending off the onlookers, An Seo-ra huffed for a moment before turning back to Kang Cheol-jin. He had already picked up his shirt and put it back on, and was eyeing her while covering his chest like a maiden.
An Seo-ra apologized with an awkward expression.
"Sorry. The muscle shape was just so good."
"Seora noona, you pervert......"
"...Yah."
"That was a joke. I'm sorry."
"No, I mean I am the one who's sorry... Anyway, ahem."
After clearing her throat out of awkwardness, An Seo-ra soon spoke with a straight face.
"Cheol-jin, wanna do it properly with me sometime?"
"...What?"
Do what properly? A subject would be nice.
Whether Kang Cheol-jin was flustered or not, An Seo-ra continued speaking with a dead serious expression.
"In my opinion, you really have talent. In bodybuilding, muscle shape is talent, y'know? Same for physique. If you build your body properly, you could even win awards."
"Ah, no. I'm not that interested......"
"If you promise to compete, I'll cut your PT price in half."
"...Deal."
The contract was sealed immediately.
*
I got utterly wrecked by Seora noona.
She'd said since it was the first day we'd run a test to check my level, but I never imagined that meant she was going to systematically demolish every part of my body.
Starting with bench press, then military press, barbell rows, deadlifts, and even squats.
With my chest, shoulders, back, and lower body all evenly pulverized, I lay sprawled over the lecture room desk, groaning. My muscles were screaming in agony so loudly I couldn't do a thing.
I spent the lecture half-listening, half-zoned out, and then break time arrived.
I was dragging my body, racked with severe pain, back from the bathroom.
"You, get over here!"
A tiny hand — Hana's — grabbed my arm and yanked me toward the emergency exit.
When I looked at the target with a bewildered face, round-cheeked Pi Ah-reum was glaring at me like an enraged crow-tit.
"What, it's Ah-reum?"
"You little shit? 'What, it's Ah-reum?' What kind of reaction is that? You trying to fight?"
"Whoa whoa. Why are you so combative today?"
I blocked Ah-reum, who was trying to headbutt me, with one hand. Normally she'd stop around here, but for some reason she kept thrusting her head forward and throwing punches.
Tudadadadak.
Letting her cotton-ball fists land lightly, I asked.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong-n-n?"
What's with her? Why's she so down?
When I blinked, genuinely confused, Ah-reum let out a 'Hah, seriously!' scoff and crossed her arms. Relative to her small frame, her generously endowed chest was all the more emphasized.
"Hey, Kang Cheol-jin."
"Uh, huh?"
I'd been staring at her chest and found myself a bit panicked. Ah-reum calling me by my full name 'Kang Cheol-jin' instead of 'Kkang-cheol-i'? This meant she was serious.
Ah-reum fixed me with a steady glare and spoke.
"I was quietly thinking about it, you know. Why you've been avoiding me lately."
"Huh? I've never avoided you though."
"Shut up."
"Yep."
Let's just shut up for now. Poke her now and she'll blow.
"You got a girlfriend, didn't you?"
"...What?"
"You're dating Soyeon unni, aren't you."
What was she even talking about? At the completely unexpected words, I could only blink.
'No way, is she... jealous of me?'
All sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind.
First of all, Ah-reum and I weren't dating. If I had to define us, we were sex partners — no, that sounded too bleak, so let's go with sex friends.
Anyway, my relationship with Ah-reum had been decided that way from our very first experience. That remark I'd made after jumping to conclusions — when she heard me say I had no intention of dating anyone right now, Ah-reum had laughed like I was ridiculous.
- What are you saying? I wasn't confessing to you. I said let's fuck, did I say let's date?
Dismissing it like that, Ah-reum had revealed a purely genuine desire to have sex. Thanks to that, all my illusions about women came crashing down, but it was precisely because of that that I was able to sleep with Ah-reum without worrying about my past trauma.
But Ah-reum's attitude right now — no matter how I looked at it — seemed like jealousy. Did she like me? Not as a person, but as a member of the opposite sex?
In that brief instant, all kinds of thoughts raced through my mind and my head grew complicated, but.
"No. I told you I'm not thinking about dating."
First, I shook my head firmly. Because Soyeon noona and I had already broken things off.