Chapter 26: The Instagram Reveal: 120kg Bench Press and Unwanted Kindness

Gyeongheon stared at the address on the screen for a moment before slowly tapping his phone.

[Yoon: Why send this?]

[Seo-Hyeon: Insta]

[Seo-Hyeon: It’s Insta]

At the brazen reply, he briefly shut his mouth.

Is there anyone in this day and age who doesn’t know what social media is? My point is, why are you sending this to me? Just how rich is he that he’s stepping up to share his SNS address like this? While his thoughts tailed one after another, another line squeezed its way up the screen.

[Seo-Hyeon: It’s my account, so come take a look]

[Yoon: Hyung will look at it after work]

[Yoon: Hey Seohyeon, you punk]

Just as the guy was about to disappear, Gyeongheon sent one more message.

[Yoon: Make sure you eat your meals]

However, in embarrassing contrast to his concern, Seohyeon simply read the message and vanished.

“…Wow, what does this guy do for a living that he scratches someone’s insides like this and then disappears?”

It was so absurd that a deflated chuckle escaped him. At the same time, looking at the address the guy left behind, the corners of Gyeongheon’s mouth crooked up.

He clicked the link the guy left and waited a moment.

corr_seoh_pos.

As soon as the familiar ID appeared, a red ring circled the profile picture, indicating he was currently online. So he ignored my greeting and came here instead? Staring at the round circle, Gyeongheon let out a small laugh.

Then, his gaze moved to the profile picture inside the red circle.

Inside the small circle, a man wearing a white sweatshirt and washed jeans was staring at the camera, half his face covered by a mask. With a cool beach in the background, he was leaning against a signpost. Just as Gyeongheon was noting his impressive height, he paused, surprised by the fact that this kid, five years his junior, had a height and build that far exceeded his own.

The straight nose bridge revealed above the mask and the light brown hair created a delicate image, but seeing the powerful physique attached below the neck, Gyeongheon’s brow furrowed slightly. Without realizing it, he muttered,

“…Does he work out?”

He’s young, so sure, he might work out. Tearing his eyes away from the thick neck that couldn’t result from anything but exercise, Gyeongheon began to scroll down the screen with quick swipes. But he hadn’t scrolled far when his lips pressed into a tight line.

What shut him up was a short, thirty-second video.

In a video set in a gym, the guy was weight training.

But something was strange.

“…120?”

The number visible through his narrowed eyes wasn’t something an average person lifted, nor was it a number Yoon Gyeongheon himself had ever attempted.

He started with 120kg on the bench press as if it were just a warm-up. Gyeongheon thought he had seen it wrong for a moment until a gasp of “Wow” erupted from beside him. Startled, Gyeongheon turned around to see Jongun, holding a plastic bag, staring at the video with wide eyes. Having just handed Gyeongheon the bag containing bandages and painkillers, Cha Jongun looked at the phone with a shocked expression.

“Wow, that’s insane. Is he a trainer? He just lifts that right away?”

“…I don’t know. How should I know?”

“He’s not someone you know? Wow, Sunbae-nim. What is he, this guy?”

Observing the workout as if glued to the screen, Jongun soon clicked his tongue.

The reason was that the living beast in the video began to toy with the gym equipment as if it were his own body. The guy who had just easily lifted 120kg was now doing pull-ups with a weighted belt strapped to his waist. That weight plate had to be at least 70 or 80kg.

At the guy’s performance capability, consistently sticking to high weights, Gyeongheon kept his mouth shut, while Jongun couldn’t hold back his admiration.

“Crazy. Aside from former athletes, this is the first time I’ve seen someone do dips with 80kg attached.”

“…Uh, no. Normal people do that much too.”

Gyeongheon tried to reply as if he hadn’t lost his composure at Jongun’s words, but the thought that something was wrong was creeping up on him.

“Wow, his lats are insane.”

With his junior admiring the guy right next to him, he spoke with a feigned expression of calm.

“Jongun. What, what is there to be envious of? Hey. Those are all fashion muscles.”

“His body is better than yours, Sunbae.”

“You punk, how dare you compare me to those water-muscles.”

Gyeongheon’s body, solid and without an ounce of flab, was also an object of envy for Jongun, but the person in the video, whose natural frame was different from the average person, was enough to elicit awe. Conscious of his junior’s shifting gaze, Gyeongheon couldn’t help but add on.

“I’m telling you, he built that by drinking protein shakes.”

I thought he only played games to death, but he’s doing fitness like a maniac. Having watched the short video to the end, Gyeongheon clicked his tongue. So that’s why his personality is like that. If push comes to shove, he can just settle things with his body.

Stimulated by the thirty-second video, Jongun said he was going to go do a lap and left. As soon as he was gone, Gyeongheon scrolled down the screen again. Among the rapidly passing photos, there was one of the guy posing with a small dog in front of a huge mansion, and further down, one of him enjoying a party with his family at a dining table that could seat dozens.

Not stopping there, he scrolled further down, and this time, the watch on the guy’s wrist caught his eye.

Staring blankly at the small diamonds embedded between the numbers of the twelve-digit price tag, Gyeongheon muttered calmly.

“It’s genuine.”

He tried to keep a nonchalant face as he scrolled down a bit more. But before he could go far, his finger, resting on the screen, paused.

Gyeongheon’s eyes narrowed slightly as he stared intently at the screen.

This time, the guy was hugging another man.

He was lying down with a peaceful expression, holding a man who was a head shorter than him in his arms. At first glance, Gyeongheon thought it was a friend, but hearts were flying around in the comments. Checking the date, it was a photo from a few years ago. Out of curiosity, he read the comments from the past; they weren’t dating anymore. Somewhere in the middle, they must have broken up, because the hearts changed to broken hearts, and then changed again to talk of friendship.

It seems he had a fickle love life.

While Gyeongheon debated whether he should press ‘like’ as well, a single line of text squeezed its way onto the top of the screen.

[Seo-Hyeon: Did you see it?]

Why is he so quick on the uptake? It seemed he sensed Gyeongheon had looked enough, so he messaged after a pause. Gyeongheon tapped the screen for a moment without opening the chat window, debated briefly, then pressed the pop-up notification to enter the chat room with the guy.

[Yoon: Hey, our Seohyeon]

[Yoon: You’re good looking too]

Then, he brought up something unasked for.

[Yoon: Hey]

[Seo-Hyeon: What?]

[Yoon: If you’re going to date people, you should date around a lot]

[Seo-Hyeon: What is this out of nowhere]

[Yoon: That way you develop an eye for people]

[Yoon: And meet a good person]

The ‘1’ (unread mark) disappeared quickly, but the reply didn’t come up until tens of seconds later.

[Seo-Hyeon: What are you talking about again?]

[Yoon: Seohyeon, there probably aren’t many people who can handle that eccentric personality of yours, but]

[Seo-Hyeon: Hyung, I told you not to criticize my personality]

[Seo-Hyeon: You’re f*cking not normal either]

[Yoon: Hey]

[Yoon: Also, why aren’t there any photos where your face is shown properly?]

[Yoon: Why did you slap stickers on every face?]

[Yoon: No, if you covered your own face]

[Yoon: You should have covered your parents’ faces too]

[Yoon: Is it fine as long as you cover just yourself?]

[Yoon: You unfilial punk]

Because he had meticulously placed stickers or cleverly covered half his face in every shot, Yoon Gyeongheon ended up making eye contact with Seohyeon’s parents, whom he had never met, several times. Especially whenever he saw the mother, whom Seohyeon seemed to resemble, he wanted to ask why her son’s personality was like that.

As soon as his fleeting thought ended, the guy’s message popped up.

[Seo-Hyeon: Hyung]

[Seo-Hyeon: You know you’re a really annoying type, right?]

[Yoon: Where could you find a man of character like me?]

[Seo-Hyeon: What gives a guy met in a game the confidence]

[Seo-Hyeon: To empty his own pockets to pay for my studies and feed me?]

[Seo-Hyeon: Are you in a situation to take care of anyone?]

[Seo-Hyeon: After spending money on me like that, what do you have left?]

[Seo-Hyeon: You can’t even take care of your own rice bowl (livelihood) at that age, so what are you going to do?]

[Yoon: Hey, I take care of my own rice bowl]

[Seo-Hyeon: Don’t bullshit me. You work two part-time jobs a day, f*ck, seriously]

[Yoon: You punk, no swearing]

It was a stern warning from an elder, but the other party audaciously continued the provocation.

[Seo-Hyeon: F*ck]

[Yoon: Are you Baron Ashura or something?]

[Yoon: I do a good deed and get cursed at]

[Yoon: I’m full and happy, you punk]

[Seo-Hyeon: F*cking annoying]

[Seo-Hyeon: I hate people like you the most in the world]

He was annoyed again, so Gyeongheon asked what the problem was this time. Absurdly, the reply that came back was “Don’t be unnecessarily sweet.”

[Yoon: When was I?]

Yoon Gyeongheon genuinely asked when he had ever been sweet, but…

[Yoon: When exactly was I sweet?]

[Seo-Hyeon: Even asking that is annoying]

The guy began to draw a firm line.

[Seo-Hyeon: Anyway, don’t act sweet in front of me from now on]

At the baffling message, a heavy sigh escaped Gyeongheon’s mouth. This crazy punk. And in the midst of that, he had left the chat room altogether.

He was completely and utterly doing whatever he wanted.