Chapter 19: Coaching, Touch, and the Locker Room

I changed into the workout clothes the gym provided and followed Kang Taeyang through some light stretching to keep my muscles from going into shock.

“For a beginner, this is the safest option. We’ll start with the chest press.”

“Uh… what does this work?”

“Pectoralis major. Triceps brachii. Anterior deltoids.”

Reciting muscle names that sounded like a foreign language, Kang Taeyang led me toward the machine.

He glanced at my hesitant figure, then tapped the lower part of the machine with his uninjured right foot.

I spread my legs wide and awkwardly settled onto the chest press seat.

“Let’s see.”

Kang Taeyang planted himself right in front of me as if it were only natural.

Looking up at him from below, I realized just how solid his build was.

His broad upper body bent at the waist, lowering itself deeply, and he adjusted the weight by moving the plates on the side.

“You can handle this much, right?”

More than half the plates slid off.

Kang Taeyang tilted his head slightly, gauging whether the remaining amount was suitable.

Compared to what Kang Taeyang could handle, it was an absurdly small amount, but I couldn’t help feeling nervous.

“Uh… probably?”

“Put your feet on the supports below, and when you push straight out, the bar comes forward. Grab it lightly.”

Following Kang Taeyang’s instructions, I fixed my feet on the footrests and reached out to grip the bar.

He stepped back and scanned me from head to toe.

He wore an expression of mild dissatisfaction.

Even though I had done exactly as told, I found myself nervously checking his reaction.

“The height is off. Doing it like this will strain your shoulders.”

Kang Taeyang stepped in close again, stretched out his arms, and lifted the seat I was sitting on.

While the machine’s height was being adjusted, I found myself almost enveloped in his broad frame, my breath catching in short stops.

I stole a glance upward, but Kang Taeyang was just moving the machine with an indifferent face.

“If you work out with bad form, your muscles hurt the next day.”

“Oh…”

“That’s why you need to learn properly from the start. Press your back flat against the cushion and straighten your waist.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah. That’s good. Now push.”

“Ugh, hng.”

“Push all the way. When you pull it back, do it slowly, bringing your arms to a right angle.”

Thanks to the lightened weight, moving the press was more manageable than I expected.

But appallingly true to his reputation as a national athlete, Kang Taeyang scrutinized every detail of my posture.

Even as I tried to do what he said, my head and body wouldn’t cooperate, and my movements kept turning clumsy.

“Wooju. Don’t let your shoulders follow along. Only move your arms.”

It had only been a few pushes and pulls.

At first I could follow along, clumsily, but soon the strength in my shoulders gave out.

The back and waist that had been neatly pressed against the machine at the start now peeled away with every push.

“Ah…”

The kind coach personally pressed down on my raised waist to correct my posture.

Startled by the sudden touch, I jerked my head up.

Seeing his serious face, completely free of playfulness, I wondered if I was the only one feeling self-conscious.

“Again.”

Kang Taeyang finished fixing my posture and gave the order in a firm voice.

So right now, at this moment at least, Kang Taeyang wasn’t the flirtatious love interest from the game, but a strict coach teaching me the ropes.

I nodded vigorously and cleared my head of stray thoughts, focusing on the exercise.

“Ugh… I’m already tired.”

“Still, let’s try to get ten reps in?”

I thought he’d just let me go through the motions, but Kang Taeyang was dead serious about weight training.

He had no mercy for my subtle attempts to play up my struggle.

He never missed a wobble in my form and kept pushing me through each rep with a crisp, clean ‘Again.’

“Hah, huff…”

By the time I barely finished two sets, my breathing was a complete wreck.

I wiped the sweat soaking my forehead with the back of my hand.

Blinking my increasingly heavy eyelids, I tried to grab the bar again, but my arms wouldn’t gather any strength.

“How can your arms be so smooth, with no muscle at all?”

Kang Taeyang stared intently at my visibly trembling arms and asked casually.

His glossy eyes held an even mix of amusement and curiosity.

Compared to his bronze, well-muscled arms with their defined curves, my pale, smooth arms running flat from shoulder to wrist looked utterly plain.

“You said you wouldn’t make fun of people for stuff like this…”

Besides, I’m actually pretty tall.

I’ve never been called small anywhere.

Even considering the gap between an athlete and an ordinary person, I suddenly felt small in front of Kang Taeyang, so I pouted.

“Who said anything bad? I’m just stating what I see.”

“It’s because I have a body type that doesn’t build muscle easily, unlike some people.”

“If you keep at it, you’ll improve. Try again.”

As if refusing to accept any excuses, his stone-hard palm patted my shoulder.

I knew then that no tricks would work on this coach.

I gritted my teeth and pushed the bar out again.

“Your waist is lifting again. Press it flat and reset your posture.”

But I had already exhausted every ounce of strength I could muster.

No matter how my mind willed it, my shoulders and arms wouldn’t hold, and my whole upper body kept getting dragged along with it.

Kang Taeyang approached my drained figure, let out a big sigh, and slowly stroked from my shoulder down my spine.

“Huff…”

The hand sweeping down my back pressed my body flush against the machine.

I sucked in a breath and straightened my spine again.

At this point, I was sure I was making proper contact with the machine… wasn’t I?

Yet the hand kept stroking my back without stopping.

Kang Taeyang’s palm, calloused from repeated training, was hard and thick.

The rough texture transmitted through the thin layer of fabric was so unfamiliar that goosebumps prickled along the back of my neck.

“…I’ve already pressed my waist back, so why is your hand still there?”

“Caught me? You’re pretty strict, huh.”

Kang Taeyang stepped back, widening his eyes as if surprised.

He raised both hands high in the air toward me, as if proving his innocence.

Annoyed by the act, I shot him a sharp glare, and he laughed, his shoulders shaking.

“Hah, huff…”

After all the twists and turns, only when I completed the original three sets did Kang Taeyang finally let me stop.

I had only moved my arms and shoulders, but the strength had drained from my legs too.

I slumped over the exercise machine, gasping for breath.

“Yeon Wooju.”

Kang Taeyang was already right in front of me.

‘It’s not like I worked out that much, so why am I already soaked down to my spine…’

I squinted slightly and looked up at him.

With his arms hanging at his sides, Kang Taeyang tousled his soft, fluffy hair.

“Good work. You did well for your first time.”

“Got it. …Thanks.”

At the unexpected encouragement, I swallowed hard.

Of course, there was the caveat ‘for your first time,’ but still, knowing my sweat and effort hadn’t been entirely in vain made me feel a little better.

“Come here. Let’s go wash up.”

“Okay, walk a bit slower.”

Still leading my trembling legs, I headed to the locker room with Kang Taeyang.

After opening the locker door, my hands stopped dead as if hit by buffering.

My mesh T-shirt was soaked with sweat and felt gross, but I just clutched the hem, unable to pull it off.

“Hmm…”

It was because I was conscious of Kang Taeyang standing behind me.

‘So… was I supposed to strip down and shower together like this?’

‘Normally, this would be no big deal. I usually go to saunas, indoor pools, and public baths without any complaints.’

‘But right now, I was inside a dating sim game, and maybe because Kang Taeyang was a capture target, I felt oddly self-conscious about it.’

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going in?”

Kang Taeyang poked my shoulder as I lingered awkwardly in front of the locker.

He had already stripped off his shirt, and his bare torso was adorned with nothing but a rather ruggedly designed necklace, which didn’t seem to suit him.

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