A New Hobby (2)
"Why are you here?"
"Because this is the gym I go to, obviously?"
Talk about rotten luck. Of all the gyms I could have picked, it had to be this one. Then again, maybe everything had started going wrong the moment I'd decided to take up working out.
While I was busy regretting my life choices, he turned the question back on me.
"Okay, then why are you here?"
"...I was going to start coming here today."
"Oh. I knew you seemed pretty clued in about this stuff. So you were into this kind of thing all along!"
I didn't actually know that much about it.
"Well... more or less."
"Alright, shall we head in?"
"Sure."
I followed him inside as he strode ahead like a regular. A trainer near the entrance locked eyes with Kang Hanbyeol and came right over.
"Hanbyeol! You're here. Ready to get started?"
"Could you maybe go easy on me today...?"
"Hahaha!"
His voice came out uncharacteristically drained. I glanced from him to the man standing across from us — a trainer laughing with his whole chest, a set of gleaming white teeth on full display. Every time he laughed, those massive pecs bounced along, as if his chest muscles were in on the joke.
I had no idea how long Hanbyeol had been coming here, but he seemed plenty close with the guy.
So that social-butterfly energy of his works outside of school too, huh.
I could only marvel at an extrovert's talent that knew no bounds of place. While I was busy being impressed, their conversation wrapped up, and the trainer's attention shifted to me.
"And who's the kid behind you?"
"Oh, he's a classmate. We just ran into each other out front. He said he's starting here today."
"Is that so? If he's a friend of Hanbyeol's, there's no way I can't throw in a little extra!"
With that, he started walking slowly toward me. It felt like a muscle-packed giant was closing in, and I shrank back a little. Up close, he was even more enormous than he'd looked from a distance. As I tried to take in a physique that barely fit in my field of vision, he held out a hand for a handshake.
"Great to meet you! I'm Lee Doogeun, the trainer here. Just call me Coach — no need to be formal."
It was a bit much, but I took his hand and introduced myself anyway.
"Hello. I'm Han Juyeong, Hanbyeol's classmate. Today's my first day."
"Great! Let's give it our all together!"
"Yes..."
I wasn't exactly a small guy myself, but his hands were so huge that mine looked downright dainty by comparison. His personality was so open and booming — the complete opposite of mine — that I found the whole thing a little overwhelming.
Once we'd finished introducing ourselves, I went to let go of his hand—
"......?"
For some reason, even though I'd released my grip, my hand wouldn't come free. A moment later, as if he'd scanned my entire body in that brief interval, the trainer spoke.
"Oh... Juyeong, you've got some decent muscle on you. You used to work out, didn't you?"
How could he tell just by looking? Was that what happened to everyone who spent enough time in a gym? Wait... would Kang Hanbyeol end up like that too...?
The image of a veiny, bulging Kang Hanbyeol looking me up and down flashed through my mind.
Ugh. That's horrifying.
A wave of goosebumps hit me, and I nearly gagged. I found myself staring at him, and he tilted his head as if to ask why I was looking at him like that.
I shoved the ridiculous thought aside and answered the question.
"...I did a little, a while back."
"I knew it. You don't get a body like that without putting in the work."
The whole situation was getting awkward, so I scratched the back of my neck with my free hand. Having finished his scan, the trainer finally let go.
"Hmm. Looks like it's been a while since you last trained, so no point in overdoing it on day one. Juyeong, just use the machines around here for a light workout. If you don't know how something works, come ask me."
"Got it. Thank you."
"Alright then, Hanbyeol — shall we get started?"
"W-wait, what?"
I watched Kang Hanbyeol get dragged off, shooting me a look that screamed for help, then went to take care of my own workout.
I don't really need that much strength, so I'll skip the heavy weights. Just some cardio and a bit of dumbbell work should do it.
I looked around for something suitable, spotted a treadmill nearby, and hopped on. I bumped the speed up a notch and started with a slow walk to warm up. After a reasonable stretch of that, once I figured it was enough, I started clicking the speed up one level at a time and eased into a jog.
I was jogging along at an easy pace when Kang Hanbyeol — looking somehow hollowed-out, however he'd managed to escape — climbed onto the treadmill next to mine.
"Whew... I barely got away."
"You're alive."
"You traitor."
He said it in a sulky tone.
What did I even do to betray him?
I didn't answer, focused on running, and he slowly cranked up his speed until he was going a little faster than me. Then he glanced over and sneered, as if I were a joke.
"Heh."
It was such an obvious taunt that irritation flared up in me. I nudged my own speed up a bit and snuck a look at him out of the corner of my eye. Kang Hanbyeol immediately bumped his speed up again.
We went back and forth like that a few times, and I started to feel the burn in my lungs. I wasn't the only one — the guy next to me was clearly winded too, and he was the first to speak.
"Alright, that's— hah... enough. Just give up already— hah..."
I answered him, equally out of breath.
"You're the one... hah... who should give up."
Fueled by completely pointless competitive spirit, we kept at that stupid routine for a long while. By the time we finally stopped and got off the treadmills, the only sound around us was the two of us gasping for air.
"I told you... to give up..."
"Hah... hah..."
We stood there with our hands on our knees, catching our breath for a long time. Once I had a little air back, I headed toward the dumbbells.
Among the various sizes, I picked up a pair of ten-kilo dumbbells, one in each hand. Kang Hanbyeol, who'd followed me over at some point, grabbed a pair labeled fifteen kilos. Then he grinned at me the same way as before. I didn't need to ask what that meant.
This bastard...
So that's how it was going to be, huh?
"Urrrgh..."
The next morning. I silenced my alarm and lay in bed, groaning in agony. I'd planned to take it easy yesterday, but thanks to a certain someone, I'd pushed myself way too hard on day one. There wasn't a single part of me that didn't ache.
Okay, half of that's on me too.
I could've just ignored him, but somehow my body had refused to lose to that guy.
I was lying there in a daze, making dying noises, when school suddenly flashed through my mind.
Right. I don't have time to be lying around like this.
I'd even forgotten it was a weekday. I got up as fast as I could, got ready for school, and rode the elevator down — where Yeonhee was waiting for me, same as always.
"...Are you hurt or something?"
The way I walked after getting off the elevator must have looked so off that even Yeonhee, who would normally have greeted me with a good morning, asked that instead.
"No."
"Then why are you walking like that?"
"Muscle soreness..."
"So you decided to take up working out as a hobby?"
"It just kind of happened."
After I answered, Yeonhee looked at me with a meaningful glint in her eyes.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No reason... you've been hanging out with Hanbyeol a lot, so I was wondering if you two were starting to act alike..."
"......"
Normally I would've had a comeback, but given that I'd burned through a bunch of pointless competitive energy yesterday and was now in this state, I had nothing to say.
"We were together yesterday, actually."
"Huh? So you two decided to go to the gym together?"
"Not exactly. I just showed up and he was already there."
And that's how I'd ended up like this.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
"Not really..."
Poke.
"Ow!"
Just as I was about to insist it didn't hurt, Yeonhee poked my arm with her finger, and a yelp escaped me on its own. I glared at her through the intense muscle pain, as if to ask what she thought she was doing. She just giggled like a kid who'd found a fun new toy, and raised both index fingers.
A sense of impending doom washed over me.
"W-wait—!"
Poke. Poke. Poke.
"Aaagh! Stop! That hurts!"
She kept jabbing her fingers into me all over. Somehow she knew exactly where it hurt most, and she was targeting those spots exclusively.
"Morning, everyone. Good morning."
"Morning, Yeonhee~"
The moment Yeonhee said hello, Kim Naeun popped out. At this point I could practically see a tail wagging behind her. I was watching that when Kang Hanbyeol came over.
"What's with your face?"
Probably because I'd just been through hell by poking. I must not have been managing my expression very well.
"It's nothing..."
"......?"
I answered in a weary voice, and he raised an eyebrow. That aside — this guy had gone through the same ordeal as me yesterday. Why did he look completely fine? Curious whether he actually was fine or just pretending, I asked.
"You're not sore?"
He wagged a finger at me, clicking his tongue.
"You think I'm you? I left the sore-muscle phase behind a long time ago."
Oh, is that so. How nice for you. I was in this state because of him, and watching him look perfectly fine all by himself put me in a really shitty mood.
"Hanbyeol. Could you come over here for a second?"
"Huh? Why?"
I was considering smacking him one when Yeonhee called him over at just the right moment. The three of them huddled together at a distance where I couldn't hear what they were saying.
Must be something important they need to talk about.
Figuring it was probably nothing, I got ready for class.
And after school.
"Hi, Juyeong!"
"Oh my. What a coincidence?"
"......"
Kim Naeun waving at me, and Yeonhee calling it a coincidence when it was clearly anything but.
Why are you two even here?
"Oh. You guys beat me here!"
I was frowning when Kang Hanbyeol showed up late, speaking as if he'd known this was exactly how it would go.
So I was the only one who didn't know... again.