The Anchovy King
My name is Im Young-seok.
A fine, upstanding young man of the Republic of Korea who has just turned twenty…
…or so I would claim, if I hadn't been born with a body that defined the very standard of an anchovy—painfully skinny, and short on top of it.
Thanks to this miserable physique, I had always been the perfect target for bullying by kids my own age. My all-boys middle school and high school path left nothing lacking when it came to growing up a full-fledged mosol, forever solo.
Whether it was the crushing lack of confidence that came from my scrawny frame, or the trauma of all that bullying during my school years, even as an adult I still just stayed home reading web novels and playing computer games. These days I felt like I'd become one of those hikikomori types you only ever see on the news…
"Young-seok, come here and sit a moment…."
Out of nowhere, Father, who had been watching TV in the living room, called out in the most solemn tone he could muster. And this father of mine was just as skinny as I was—the very root of my cursed body, you could say….
Creak—
Father and son dragged our precarious frames over to face each other and folded into cross-legged seats.
"You're twenty now. Time to think about the military… and they say if your body's that weak, you can even get washed out of basic training. Aigoo…."
The sight of him worrying over his miniature self—his knees already aching the second he sat down—was enough to make my chest tighten.
"Still, I seem to remember that when I was your age I could at least do push-ups without any trouble…. How many can you manage right now?"
"I've… never even tried one."
"You little… A real man ought to have done at least ten. Look here. You straighten your upper body, get down like this, and then…."
Thud—
And just like that, Father became one with the floor.
"Are you okay? Dad?"
"Ah…!!! Don't touch me…!! I've gotten up from this position countless times…."
His whole body trembled like a leaf in the wind. The moment the shaking finally stilled, a sound rang through the living room.
Crack—
"Gyaaaaaaaah!!"
"Oh my God, honey!!!!!! What do we do?! Did you break a bone?!"
And so Father, after giving the push-up demonstration of a lifetime, was loaded into an ambulance while staring at me with the saddest eyes in the world.
"Just in case…. I'll leave a will…."
"W-what?! Dad, they said your arm is broken—what kind of will is this…. They said it'll heal in a month…."
"Khh…. Go… join a gym…. Stamina… is national power…. cough"
Khack—
With those final words he turned his head and went limp. I figured he'd just blacked out from the jolt of being moved into the ambulance.
A gym…?
He wanted me to start working out…?
In this age overflowing with information, here I was—learning how to pick a gym from YouTube comments….
Closest to home is best….
That line stuck with me the most.
And so, for the first time in my life, I stood at the entrance of a gym, ready to sign up.
Keo Gym
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump.
My already tiny body felt like it was trembling from head to toe in time with my heartbeat. Just stepping outside was rare enough, and my first outing in ages was… a gym packed with people….
On top of that, seeing a woman who wasn't my mother right in front of me—I couldn't even remember the last time that had happened.
"Welcome~!!!"
A voice packed with energy rang out from the front desk. And the owner of that voice was a pure, delicate-looking young woman who seemed about my age.
Ah……. Sh…she's so fucking pretty….
Tall, with a figure that curved in all the right places. Black hair tied into twin tails, pale skin, and huge eyes that took up half her face. More than anything, the bright smile she was giving me was genuinely beautiful.
W-what is this… does she like me……? Or has she been waiting for me…? How can a person smile that brightly….
"I'll show you around over here!!"
For a worthless existence like me, that warm tone, those smiling eyes, and that lively grin all felt far more than I deserved…. Sitting face-to-face with her at the reception desk right now, my heart felt ready to explode….
"Have you visited our center before? If this is your first time registering…."
Every word she rattled off brushed my ears like the sound of jade beads rolling. With the way she was treating me right now… maybe if I asked for her number she'd actually give it to me….
"Sir…? Let's head over together. Hehe."
The pure, delicate young woman set off first to give me the gym tour. Her name tag read Lee Mi-na.
Mi…Mi-na….
Not a bad name for my future bride….
"This is the free weight zone~. Over there is the cardio zone! And you can stretch over there!"
"Ah… yes…."
"And the restrooms are that way…."
Thump—
Just as I was listening to Mi-na's beautiful voice with my mouth hanging open, something heavy as a rock dropped onto my shoulder.
"Ohhh…! Our new member's here, huh?"
"Y-yes…?"
Back in my school days, the arm-around-the-shoulder move had been one of the techniques that left me with massive trauma. After that, the bullying usually began….
I forced my crushed neck to turn and look. A man whose body looked like four of mine combined—in other words, a figure rippling like a Greek statue—was beaming at me with a huge grin. And his hairline was receding a bit….
"Hyeek… a-are you the owner here?"
"Tsk! Owner? Come on…."
Mi-na flashed a mischievous smile and mouthed the correction to me.
"D-Director…?"
"That's right! That's right! This place is both my personal training ground and the gym I run! Once you start working out here, you'll never be able to go anywhere else!"
"Ah… a-ah, yes…."
"Whoa… but for someone with your natural frame and bone structure, you're awfully skinny, aren't you!? Hmm…. Just a little training and you'd turn into a real stud, no?"
"…Excuse me?… I've never even tried…. Um, your arm is… kind of heavy…."
Words I'd never heard in my entire life…. Being told my body was good was so unprecedented that I could tell immediately it was a lie.
"No, no! Bodies like yours start off a little slow, then boom! They explode all at once, you know?!"
"Ah-ah… is that so…? Haha…. But your arm, please…."
Still wrapped in an arm that looked big enough to fit several of my heads inside it, I was dragged along to the Director's office.
"Our new member's name is…?"
"Ah… yes, I'm Im Young-seok…."
"Mm~. And your address~?"
"Ah, yes, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul…. Wait, why do you need my address…?"
"So we can register you, of course."
They always said the world outside was full of scammers. Looks like that was true. The fake-friendly arm around the shoulder, the way he tried to sign me up without asking what I wanted—none of it was any different from what the school bullies used to do.
"Uh… I… I'd like a little more time to think…."
"Heh-heh! All right, all right! Just for my little brother Young-seok here, I'll give you the special sale price! One year for 1.2 million won! How about it?! Locker use, shoe rack, clothes, towels—all included!"
The spit flying from his cheerfully chattering mouth somehow only seemed to land on my face…. And right above the back of the Director's head hung a small banner.
New Year Special Sale — Just for You! 1 Year Only 990,000 Won!
It didn't take him long to notice me staring at the banner without a word.
"Aggggh!!!! Okay!! Okay!! Young-seok, my man!"
"No… I don't want to…."
"No!! Wait! Okay!! Fine! 790,000 won! We're friends, after all!"
"No, really… I'll look around a bit more…."
"Okay! And I'll throw in PT!"
"P-PT…? What's that? Ah, I've heard you out for now… so I'll look into things a little more and maybe come back later… haha…."
Even if it was Father's will-that-wasn't-a-will, barging into a gym like this without thinking had clearly been a huge mistake. And a gym where the prices flipped around like some kind of auction… these guys were straight-up thugs….
For now, I'd just start by walking around the neighborhood….
"PT means, you see…. When Young-seok is working out, someone stays right beside you to guide and assist…."
The Director's voice had grown completely calm. That unexpectedly serious tone made my feet, which had been spinning around to leave, pause for just a second.
"……."
"And that someone… will be a woman……."
…A… a woman…?
"Do you even know the beauty of a woman in her twenties who works out and takes care of herself…?"
"…What?"
"She'll be stuck to you the entire time you're training…. While correcting your form there'll be some unavoidable touching…. And looking at you, Young-seok, you look like you need a whole lot of touching…."
A woman… the whole time I'm working out…? Staying with me…? Like… a girlfriend…??? If I come to the gym every day… does that mean… she'll meet me every day…?
"Let's just call the signature covered by bank transfer, Director."
"That's it! Now you're talking sense."
My first time ever joining a gym.
And it came with a girlfriend event on top of it….