I Won't Show You...

I won't show you…

“As for me, it’s only natural since I work here. Lene, did you have any trouble today?”

“It was… manageable, I think…”

The last few poses had been a little difficult, but nothing I couldn’t handle. The side-kick kneel that the chat had mentioned earlier? That was about the only part that actually felt challenging.

“…Huh? This is weird. I’m getting competitive now. Even streamers who exercise regularly usually collapse by this point… No. Most of them are already on the floor after half of this.”

“Hmm… Excuse me, Lene. Before we finish, would it be okay to try one more simple pose?”

To be honest, I wanted to call it quits and go straight home. But there was no way I could say no here. In the end, I could only nod.

“How about we try that one?”

“…You mean that? No way, boss. That’s seriously not okay. Even I can’t do it.”

The staff member who had brought me here immediately shot down Harum’s suggestion.

Harum scratched her neck and continued. “Seo-hye, you’re still learning, so of course you can’t. And it’s not like you’re the only one who can’t do it.”

“That’s why I’m saying Lene might struggle too. It’s genuinely a really ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠difficult pose…”

“Well… it is definitely one of the hardest poses, but… don’t you think Lene could manage it? Her core strength is excellent, and her flexibility is impressive too.”

“You think so…?”

“So this pose… isn’t actually from Pilates. Um. It’s one of those poses that appeared in an old game character, you know? But it’s seriously difficult. When we tried it among the trainers, only me and Se-yeon managed to do it… Anyway, it requires incredible core strength and extreme flexibility, which makes it really tough. Oh, we haven’t uploaded it to our channel yet. If we do, we’ll have to use today’s footage.”

What exactly was this person trying to make me do?

Why would she ask me to attempt a pose that even professionals failed at?

“Umm. Lene. I’ll demonstrate it first, so if it looks too hard, you don’t have to try. And even if you do attempt it, it’s perfectly fine to stop midway.”

“…Okay.”

With that, Harum laid out another yoga mat horizontally on the floor.

“Usually when doing gymnastics poses, people lay the yoga mat vertically according to their body, right? For this one, it’s better to connect two mats horizontally.”

She then stretched in various directions before spreading her legs wide apart.

“First, spread your legs until they form roughly 130 to 140 degrees.”

“It’s okay, everyone. I did say from the beginning that this is a difficult pose, remember? If we film it, we’ll probably upload it separately from the Pilates content. Anyway, after spreading your legs wide, lean your upper body forward. Not completely flat—just lower yourself until your shoulders and the upper part of your chest touch the floor.”

“It’s a genuinely difficult and strenuous pose, so you must never force it! You could seriously injure yourself! …After that, overlap your hands to support your body.”

…How should I put this.

The chat was flooded with people saying they’d failed when they tried it, and Harum kept emphasizing over and over how incredibly difficult and demanding the pose was.

But watching it like this, it didn’t seem all that impossible…

“Then, pull your upper body inward as far as you can. The important part here is that your shoulders and chest must not lift off the floor. Pull yourself in like this… until your back forms a 90-degree angle with the floor. Then hold it using your lower back and core strength.”

…It might be a little tricky.

“…When releasing the pose, move slowly like this so you don’t get hurt.”

Harum demonstrated by pushing her upper body forward until it was flush against the floor, then slowly brought her legs back, straightening her entire body into a perfect line before lying flat on her stomach.

She sprang back up, clapped her hands, and continued speaking.

“Anyway, that’s the pose. It’s less of an exercise and more like a way to show off the results of your training. What do you think, Lene? Do you think you could do it?”

…To be completely honest, I felt like I could manage it just fine.

But whether I could do it and whether I wanted to were two different things. It looked annoying, and it clearly wasn’t an easy pose.

Well, since she kept calling it extremely difficult, I could just say it looks too hard for me and that would be—

“Like I said earlier, I’m not forcing you at all. It’s a pose where a mistake could lead to injury… So there’s absolutely no shame in saying you can’t do it.”

I-I guess there’s no shame in…

Shame…

“I’ll do it…”

“Really?”

“I-I didn’t get baited, and I’m not sulking…. I’m really doing this because I think I c-can do it…”

I am absolutely not baited or sulking right now.

Yep.

What’s the problem with doing something I know I can do?

“A-are you sure you’ll be okay…?”

When the staff member filming Harum asked, I answered with a nod.

“Huu…”

I took a deep breath, stepped onto the mat where Harum had been standing, and placed my phone in a spot where I could see it clearly once I succeeded.

The camera was still pointed at Harum.

But the staff member operating it was staring at me, and so was Harum.

The gazes pouring in from both sides were quite burdensome, but not enough to stop my body from moving.

“I-I’m starting…”

“Lene. If it feels too difficult, please tell me anytime.”

“Okay…”

“I’m going to succeed, so I won’t get hurt…”

After saying that, I slowly spread my legs just like Harum had done.

Then I lowered my upper body until my shoulders and chest touched the floor and overlapped my hands to support myself.

Finally, I pulled my entire upper body inward.

Slowly, making sure my shoulders and chest didn’t lift off the floor.

Until my back formed a perfect 90-degree angle with the floor.

“Huuuu…”

And I held it…!

“Wow…”

“Y-you did it, Lene! Wait, how did you succeed on the first try…?”

Exclamations of amazement burst out from both sides.

And the chat was going wild, saying they wanted to see it too. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pffft…. S-see? I told you I could do it…?”

“Ah, all the male staff have left the room right now~.”

“I won’t show you….”

I had no intention of showing the Lene fans who hadn’t believed in me.

“…Hmph.”