Chapter 3: A Year’s Membership for the Savior

I swallowed hard and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Go wait in the counseling room.”

Han Jun gestured with his chin toward the small room beside the locker area.

I hurried inside and let out a breath.

The counseling room, barely even one pyeong in size, was furnished with the bare minimum.

For something called a counseling room, it had only one desk and two chairs.

What a modest gym.

I hadn’t committed a crime, so why was I this nervous?

If I managed to start a conversation with Han Jun, I wondered how I should explain yesterday.

Should I say I was captivated by the way he subdued the punks in the alley?

That I was so impressed by his fighting skills I ended up knocking on his door?

As for coming to the boxing gym, I could just say it was a coincidence.

That after seeing the fight, I was inspired to try boxing myself and came to a neighborhood gym on impulse.

Once I lined up these excuses in my head, I felt much more at ease.

It had to be a hundred times better than saying, “Humanity will face a crisis in two months, and you’re the only savior.”

As I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead in the stuffy, fanless counseling room, a mountain-sized man opened the door and stepped in.

“Oh ho~ What brings you here?”

“Ah, hello.”

I stood up and bowed politely to the man who looked like the head coach.

“You’re here to register this early in the morning? You’re diligent.”

The coach wore a wide business smile that didn’t quite match his rugged appearance.

“Ah, yes. I want to learn boxing as soon as possible.”

I had to get close to Han Jun quickly.

“Oh? Planning to become a boxer? With your build, it’s not impossible. Have you worked out before?”

The coach scanned me up and down, raising an eyebrow.

“Just some gym workouts.”

“Why only lift weights? With a build like that, you should do something manly. A real sport.”

To boost his sales pitch, the coach threw a few quick punches in the air.

I had no knowledge or real interest in boxing, so I gave a half-hearted reaction.

“Wow, that’s cool.”

“So, how many months are you signing up for?”

“About one month?”

He said boxing requires at least three months to learn properly.

When I agreed to three months, he said if I signed up for a year, I’d get a 50% discount.

What’s the point of a 50% discount when the world might end in two months?

Still, I fell for his sales tactics and signed up for a one-year membership on a six-month installment plan.

If you sign for a year, they give you boxing gloves and a uniform.

Plus, a coach provides one-on-one training and sparring for an hour, four times a week.

More than anything, what won me over was the “one hour alone” training.

It felt like the perfect opportunity to get closer to Han Jun.

“When do you want to start?”

The coach’s tone turned casual the moment my card went through.

Guess I was a caught fish now.

“Today.”

“I like that! Alright, let’s start with jump rope.”

“…What about the one-on-one training?”

“Jump rope first.”

“So no lesson?”

“First day is always jump rope. Stop overthinking and sweat it out.”

Damn it.

I never imagined I’d end up at such a shabby boxing gym.

D-Day, 58 days before.

Yesterday ended with nothing but jump rope.

While gasping for breath between sets, I kept stealing glances at Han Jun despite telling myself not to.

Our eyes met about three times.

The third time, his expression twisted in irritation.

I was starting to worry that things were going downhill between us.

This was all because I felt pressured to get close to him.

Determined to talk to him today no matter what, I arrived at the gym again.

Just looking at the old gray building with peeling paint made me sigh.

To think I had to travel two hours round-trip for a place like this.

All because of that damn book.

And Han Jun, who appeared before me like fate.

After grumbling to myself for a while, I stepped inside.

The air felt damp since the air conditioning was barely running.

It was around lunchtime, so there were no other members.

The coach looked up from his meal and greeted me.

I scanned the place, but Han Jun wasn’t visible.

“Oh! You’re early.”

“Yes, hello.”

I bowed and went into the locker room.

They said we’d learn footwork today.

Maybe I’d get a chance to talk to him.

While lazily changing clothes, the locker room door suddenly burst open.

Han Jun walked in.

I awkwardly greeted him with my pants halfway down.

“Hello.”

One of his eyebrows twitched.

Maybe because of our bad first impression, he still seemed wary of me.

Or maybe he was annoyed that our eyes kept meeting yesterday.

Strictly speaking, though, I was a paying member.

I had rights.

He wasn’t even the head coach, just staff.

He gave me a cold once-over, then nodded slightly.

“Yes. We’re learning footwork today, so change quickly and come out.”

So he’d be teaching instead of the coach.

At the good news, I grinned instinctively.

His brows immediately furrowed.

Startled, I quickly fixed my expression.

“Ah, yes.”

He left without another word.

Embarrassed, I hurried to finish changing.

When I came out, Han Jun was waiting with gloves in hand.

He must be about to show me how to put them on.

He grabbed my hand and started teaching me how to wrap hand wraps inside the gloves.

Pulling the elastic fabric tight, he carefully wound it around my hand and wrist like a bandage.

“If you don’t want to injure your wrist, it’s better to wrap it tight. But not too tight. You’ll cut off circulation.”

His tone and expression were stiff and devoid of friendliness.

But his hands wrapping the bandage were unexpectedly meticulous.

He might lack customer service, but he had professional pride.

If I didn’t think of him as humanity’s future savior, I probably wouldn’t feel this moved by him wrapping my hands.

But somehow, it felt like I was holding hands with a hero I admired.

I was supposed to focus on how to wear the hand wraps.

Instead, I kept staring at his face.

Straight nose.

Neat eyebrows.

Long eyelashes.

Slightly upturned, feline eyes that were oddly cute.

And it wasn’t just his face.

He wore a plain black short-sleeved T-shirt, but his dense muscles were clearly visible through the thin fabric.

You could tell he’d trained for years.

“Now try the other han—”

After finishing my right hand, he suddenly lifted his head.

Our eyes met directly.

His eyebrow twitched again.

His lips pressed into a straight line.

He looked at me suspiciously.

“You were watching properly, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Then try.”

It felt like I’d be in serious trouble if I messed up.

The truth was, I’d been too busy staring at his face to remember anything.

As I struggled to imitate the wrap on my right hand and clumsily wind the left, I heard a sigh from in front of me.

“You have to wrap inward.”

His voice carried a note of reproach.

Unable to bear it, he grabbed my left hand and glared.

“Watch carefully. Don’t mess around.”

There was an edge to his words.

“Yes…”

How old is this guy, anyway?

That question suddenly popped into my head.

“Spread your legs wider.”

Han Jun tapped my ankle into position.

“Bend your knees more.”

He tapped my knee as well.

“Forward, back. Forward, back… Are you uncoordinated?”

He even threw in a friendly jab.

Could I really get close to this guy?

I nearly snapped in irritation but suppressed it when I saw his solid forearms.

We were about the same height, but I’d definitely lose in a fight.

And I was the one who needed something from him.

I wanted to get close so I might survive any coming disaster.

So it made sense for me to bow my head.

I answered his jab politely.

“It’s my first time boxing.”

“Hah. Repeat that twenty sets.”

What a jerk.

I cursed internally while obediently following his orders.

It was just hopping in place, but it was surprisingly exhausting.

As I exhaled into the humid air—

“Have we met before?”

He casually asked while watching my footwork.

My spine stiffened.

The moment my movement stopped—

“Keep your heels up.”

He corrected my posture.

I couldn’t miss this chance.

I started rambling quickly to explain myself.

It was the perfect opportunity to fix his bad impression of me.

“Well, um… the other day, I saw you fighting in the alley.”

Han Jun stood there with his arms crossed, expressionless.

He didn’t nod, but I could tell he was listening.

“You subdued those punks in one go and went home. I thought it was cool. I kind of fell for you at first sight.”

I was desperately trying to build goodwill.

“Knocking on your door was too much. I was kind of an idiot, right?”

“……”

“Anyway, seeing you fight was cool, so I thought I’d try boxing too. I came here, and by total coincidence—reaaally total coincidence—you happened to be the coach here. I was surprised.”

While I rambled on alone, Han Jun didn’t move an inch.

After I finished and nervously swallowed—

“Hm.”

That was his indifferent response.

I was worried he might think I was a stalker.

Had the misunderstanding cleared up?

I couldn’t tell from his face.

“Twenty more sets.”

The Spartan training simply continued.