Hobby (3)
"So why are you two even here?"
"I'm here to lose weight!"
Kim Naeun said she was dieting. Come to think of it, hadn't she mentioned that her hobby was hunting down good restaurants? Looking at her now, I couldn't for the life of me figure out where she even had weight to lose. Maybe I just didn't get it because I was a guy.
Anyway, Kim Naeun was here for a diet. So then why had Yeonhee come along?
"What about you, Yeonhee?"
"Me? Obviously I came to watch my boyfriend work out~"
She tossed me a short wink and a smile. Whether that was the truth or not, I had no idea — but at least her excuses were consistent.
"Do we really need to overthink this? Why else would anyone come to a gym? They're here to work out, obviously."
Coming from Kang Hanbyeol, that was surprisingly reasonable. I had nothing to say to that.
"Alright, let's get in there!"
"Yeah... we should go in..."
Thinking about it, the reason didn't really matter. Whatever their motives, they were here to exercise anyway. What was the problem? No need to get suspicious. We'd each just do our own thing.
When we opened the gym door and stepped inside, the trainer came out to greet us in the same outfit as yesterday, only the color of his top changed.
"Brought some pretty young ladies with you today! Now who's the popular guy who dragged these ladies along?"
They'd probably tagged along saying they wanted to work out too. I hadn't been the one to tell him, so Kang Hanbyeol must have. Which meant they'd followed Hanbyeol... right? But hadn't Yeonhee just said she'd come to watch me work out?
Then Yeonhee stepped forward and greeted the trainer with perfect manners.
"Hello. I'm Lee Yeonhee, Hanbyeol's classmate. And I'm Juyeong's girlfriend!"
"Oh! Juyeong didn't strike me as the type, but you've got a beauty like this for a girlfriend? Color me impressed!"
"Haha..."
It wasn't true, but it also wasn't not true, and I couldn't exactly say so either way. I had no idea what to say, so I just laughed awkwardly, feeling the heat creep up my neck.
"I'm Lee Doogeun, the trainer at this gym. You can just call me Trainer."
"Yes. Thank you for having us."
Then he turned toward Kim Naeun.
"Hmm..."
The sight of them together was like watching Attack on Titan. Kim Naeun, smaller than average, standing next to that mountain of a trainer — they could have passed for a grade-schooler and an adult without anyone batting an eye.
"Pfft. Hey, Kim Naeun looks like an elementary school kid."
Kang Hanbyeol seemed to be thinking the same thing I was, but he clearly hadn't caught the look in Kim Naeun's eyes, because he was cheerfully running his mouth.
Rest in peace, Kang Hanbyeol... just think of it as karma.
Imagining the near future, I kept my mouth shut.
"Hello~ I'm Kim Naeun, also in the same class as Yeonhee!"
"Right! I'm Lee Doogeun, same as I told her."
Watching Kim Naeun and the trainer shake hands from a little behind them, it looked like a small dog offering its paw to its owner. Her hand looked even tinier against his than mine had.
"Whoa... your hands are huge."
Maybe even she found it fascinating, because Kim Naeun let out a gasp of wonder, and the trainer threw his head back with a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha! You could even hang off my arm, you know."
"Really?"
The trainer held out his right arm, and Kim Naeun dangled from it.
It actually works.
Seeing something I'd only ever watched in videos happen in real life was pretty amazing. He bounced her a few times like that, then set her down and looked at Kang Hanbyeol.
"Alright then, Hanbyeol, you come with me. Yeonhee, Naeun — what did you two come here to work out for?"
"I'm here to diet!"
"Um... I sit for a long time studying, so I just wanted to loosen up a bit."
So she'd said she came to watch, but she had a separate purpose after all. The trainer thought for a moment, then nodded and went on.
"Naeun, since it's your first day, let's just do a few simple cardio exercises. Come with Hanbyeol and follow me — I'll show you."
"Okaaay~"
"And Yeonhee, you can use machines that work the whole body evenly. Nothing too intense."
"Yes. Thank you."
"Hanbyeol, shall we burn it up to make up for everything we missed yesterday?!"
"Whaaat?!"
Tsk tsk. That's what you get for running away yesterday. You reap what you sow. I had a feeling he wouldn't be slipping away like he had last time. He'd been so cocky this morning — served him right.
"Juyeong, you did a lot yesterday, so you must have muscle soreness, right? Don't overdo it today."
"......Yes."
So he'd been watching yesterday...
I watched Kang Hanbyeol get hauled off by the trainer, with Kim Naeun trailing after them, then started moving to begin my own workout.
The routine I'd settled on was to jog moderately on the treadmill for cardio, then switch to strength training once my body was warmed up. For the weights, I'd vary it depending on what I'd done the day before.
Yesterday I did upper body with dumbbells.
So today, after the treadmill, I'd do legs. I hopped on a treadmill and started at a brisk walk, and saw Yeonhee climbing onto the one beside me.
Looks like she's starting with something simple too.
I ran for a decent thirty minutes or so, then happened to glance over —
......!
Yeonhee was running hard. But the way she looked was a problem. She was panting as she ran, and with a certain part of her bouncing, I had no idea where to put my eyes. When I widened my field of view and looked behind us, there were plenty of guys who'd forgotten their own workouts entirely and were staring straight at her.
She usually gets so sensitive about looks like that — why isn't she noticing?!
Was she too focused on running to notice, or was she pretending not to know and ignoring them? Probably not the latter. At least, the Yeonhee I'd known wasn't that kind of person. She got exhausted just from being looked at, and she hated those lecherous stares. She had to be too locked in on running to have noticed.
"Hey, Lee Yeonhee."
I called her quietly enough that no one else would hear. She slowed a little and looked over at me. She must have been too out of breath to speak, because I could see her mouth the word Why?
......I'd called her over, but now that I thought about it, what was I supposed to say? If I told her, "Other people are staring at your body," wouldn't that make me one of those people? The look I'd get back would probably be one of contempt. I couldn't say it straight, so I scrambled for something else.
"Want to go do a different exercise?"
Maybe she'd already run enough, because she nodded and started slowing down.
Whew... thank god she went along with it without asking questions.
When Yeonhee stepped off the treadmill, beads of sweat dotted her face. If it had been anyone else, a sweat-soaked look like that might have come with a smell — but thanks to her looks, it only made her seem more alluring.
I swallowed hard.
"So what exercise are we doing?"
Yeonhee's voice from right in front of me snapped me back to my senses.
"Uh... since we just ran, how about something for the upper body?"
I had a feeling I'd get completely mesmerized if I looked at her face while talking, so I looked off in another direction as I spoke.
"Hmm... I don't really know what machines there are. Can you show me, Juyeong?"
I'd been the one to suggest it, so of course I had to teach her.
"Alright."
I looked around for something suitable and spotted one that looked decent.
"How about that one?"
Following my finger, you could see the chest press machine. It wasn't too difficult, and I could watch her form, so it would be fine. I didn't know much about the difference between men's and women's weights, and this was just a warm-up anyway, so I set it lightly at ten kilos.
"First, sit in the chair."
"Okay."
"Then press your back against the backrest and grab the handles in front."
"Like this?"
"Yeah. From there, push your arms straight out, then pull them back, and repeat."
"Got it. I'll try, so watch me from the side."
It was an exercise where you just grabbed the handles and moved them back and forth. I'd racked my brains earlier just trying to get us away from that spot. I thought things were finally okay — but then I saw the guys who'd been staring earlier had come over near us to work out. And of course, their eyes kept drifting toward Yeonhee now and then.
Man... these guys are shameless...
At this rate, I was starting to wonder whether having a boyfriend even did anything. Still, just standing there watching somehow put me in a bad mood, so I casually moved to stand in front of Yeonhee, blocking their view. I could feel their burning stares on the back of my head.
Not my problem. I didn't do anything wrong.
But now a different problem had arisen. By standing in front of her to block the others, I'd given myself a front-row seat.
"Nngh...! Hah..."
She was breathing hard from the effort, drawing air in and letting it out, and somehow those sounds felt suggestive. On top of that, every time she inhaled, her chest rose and fell — and of all people, I was the one standing right in front of it, with no idea where to put my eyes. It was a situation that was embarrassing both to look at and to listen to, a perfect storm of awkwardness.
Solve one problem and another one pops up...
We'd only just started, so I couldn't exactly suggest moving somewhere else right away. Just standing there listening, I could feel my mind going hazy.
Begone, worldly thoughts... begone, worldly thoughts...
Even a moment's lapse and it was like this. This really was hell. This wouldn't do. I looked around —
"Alright! One more!"
"Aaaagh!!"
"One more! You can do it!"
"Hwaaagh!!!"
Kang Hanbyeol, hanging on through sheer spite and grit.
He looks pretty pitiful like this.
Still, looking at Kang Hanbyeol cleared my head.
But where's Kim Naeun?
I didn't even have to look far. Near Kang Hanbyeol, Kim Naeun was pedaling hard on a machine that looked like a bicycle.
They're both working hard.
I'd been looking elsewhere for a while to empty my head when Yeonhee's panting voice reached me.
"Haa... Juyeong, can I... haa... stop now...?"
"Ah. Yeah, you can stop."
Like an idiot, I'd said I'd watch her form, but the situation hadn't allowed it and I hadn't actually watched at all.
"This is harder than I thought..."
"If you're tired, sit down and rest a bit."
"What about you?"
I could have worked out nearby while Yeonhee rested, but it was obvious what would happen if I left, so I didn't think long.
"I'm gonna rest a bit too."
Something about that seemed to please her, because a smile bloomed across her face.
"Won't it be tiring to just stand there, though?"
I hadn't done anything, so there was no way I'd be tired.
"Not really. This is nothing."
"Didn't they say you have muscle soreness? Want me to give you a massage?"
"......No, I'm fine."
Just thinking about it was embarrassing. How could she say something like that so casually to a guy who wasn't even family?
"You'd hate it too if you imagined me giving you a massage, right?"
"I wouldn't mind, though..."
"...What?"
Wondering if I'd misheard, I looked at Yeonhee, and her ears had gone red, as if she was embarrassed by her own words.
What does that mean...?
Was it not just me — did she say<|eos|>