Chapter 13: 10-2

Oh my— He sits at an overhead shoulder press machine, shirtless, his torso on full display for me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, but as soon as they open again they focus right on his abdominal muscles—his incredibly toned and smooth looking abdominals. And then he begins, the muscles in his biceps and shoulders twitching and showing themselves off as he pulls the bar. Fudge, fudge, fudge. Zen, where are you when I really need you to extinguish a fire? Forget this. I slow down the treadmill and do a quick cool down. Then I leave and head towards the floor mats so I can stretch out my sore muscles. I start with toe touches, and the pain that shoots through the backs of my thighs and glutes causes my face to scrunch up in agony. "Mother of pearl," I blow out with a puff of air. I stand back up, unable to reach all the way down because of the pain. I do different stretches instead for now to loosen up. But when I try it again, I can't get any further. "Looks like today just isn't your day Destiny," I mumble to myself. "Need help?" I gasp and stand straight in shock from the voice. My hand comes over my heart as it races uncontrollably. "Oh sorry," Jaewook snickers at me. "Are your muscles sore? It looks like you're in pain." I eye him, unsure of his motivations but very sure that he's definitely not wearing a shirt still. "You should use a foam roller if it's that bad." I can't find words to say. I just wish he would leave so I can stretch in peace. "I'm fine," I say as I try to brush him off. I reach down again, this time even further since I can feel his eyes burning into me. Just push, push and then you can leave. "Noona—" his hand lays on my back just as I pull a hamstring and collapse onto the floor. That's it. This is the end for me. My mouth is open like a fish out of water as I hold my thigh in pain. Jaewook squats down to look at me, a stupid smirk on his face. "Still don't need help?" I'm too winded to say anything, and instead just grab his ankle. Please have mercy on me. "I can't move," I breathe out. His hands come to hold my arms as he makes me sit up. My leg stays contracted, looking like it's detached from my body. He then grabs my foot and starts to slowly bend my leg. The pain is excruciating, I grab onto his arms as I wail in pain. Once he bends my leg completely, he does it again. "Okay, stand up." I stare at him with watery eyes, wishing I could kick his balls for the pain he's caused me. He holds out his hands and I reluctantly grab them, standing up on one leg. He very softly jerks me forward; such a small movement that he probably thought I wouldn't feel it, but I know enough tricks to catch it. And of course, I hit his bare chest as I fall into it. This little punk. His skin is warm and damp with sweat, and my god does his sweat look hot. I pull away a bit as he steadies me. "Hold on, I'll walk you home." At this point, I can't imagine anything else going wrong so why the hell not. He lets go of me and puts his shirt back on, and I can't help but feel disappointed. After grabbing his phone, he puts my arm around his shoulders, leans down a bit to accustom to my height, and starts to walk. Thank god I'm relatively tall or else this would feel even more uncomfortable than it already is. I limp the whole way, and the slowness of it irritates me to no end. It just means more time for my thoughts to spiral out of control, more chances for my nose to pick up a whiff of his sweat smell, more opportunities for our faces to turn and look at each other at the same time. After the excruciating long walk, we stand in front of the stairs in our building for a moment too long. "Get on my back," he casually says. I hop away from him, "no." "Get on my back," he firmly says again. "No, I'm fine." "Noona," his lips purse in annoyance. I hold onto the railing and hop up one step, but then like déjà vu, I'm swept up into the air. I can't say anything as he looks down at me with a serious gaze. "Do you want to injure your other leg too?" He asks angrily. "I didn't know you liked my legs so much," I joke but the astonishment on his face causes my laugh to stop. I gulp the awkwardness down and look at the stairs as he climbs them. All three flights of them. While carrying me bridal style. "I'm sorry I'm so heavy," I whine as I hold on for dear life. "You're not heavy," he insists, but by his heavy pants and grunts, that's a lie. I'm tall and curvy enough that there's no way I'm not at least a bit heavy. He doesn't put me down until we reach the doors. Very softly he lowers his arms so that my feet can lightly touch the ground. Once my arms unwrap from his neck, I quickly turn and type in the code. "Bye Noona," Jaewook says as I turn back around. He turns to leave but then pauses, "oh and, you're right. I do love your legs." There it is. That smirk. It's there again. I shut the door quickly and try to make sense of everything that just happened. But I can't make sense of it. Not one bit.