Chapter 39 - - A Love Like War, Part 4 (1/2)

Like a deflated balloon, my feelings and my body felt so void of energy that I moved incredibly slowly in the dressing room. As I was changing into my workout clothes, I felt annoyed. It was as if I was being made fun of.

Why? Why come all the way to a hotel to work out? What's the point of coming to a hotel then? I left the dressing room pouting angrily.

As Lee JiHan had said, the facility was indeed good. The health club I had attended before was the elementary school track and field, so I couldn't tell how good this place was compared to others. I was sure it ranked amongst the best.

The spacious facility had shiny new equipment and a swimming pool beyond the glass walls. Everything looked phenomenal, but something even more phenomenal was walking out of the men's changing room that very moment. Lee JiHan.

A normal work out outfit fit over a not so normal body. I first noticed his golden hair, but my attention soon locked onto his face. So good looking… Able to appreciate his fine facial features even from afar, I smiled. Lee JiHan, seeing me, walked over.

Even someone with double eyelids don't have eyes that big. How are those eyes so big. Ah… That smoothly sloped nose! I want to keep touching it… His lips! how are they like that? That smile he so effortlessly makes with those lips... When touching it, it's soft and sweet…

Imagining how it felt to have those lips on mine, my face burst into heat. With both hands covering my cheeks, I looked up at Lee JiHan. Whether my face burned or not, I couldn't stop looking at that face.

"I knew this outfit would look on you, but I didn't know it would look this good," Lee JiHan complimented me.

Oh? This guy is talking to me. Oh! I'm dating this guy? Wow… I'm so lucky!

My anger disappeared without a trace. It felt as if the Lee JiHan in the workout outfit was a different person. His presence made all my worries disappear.

People say they hear "Hallelujah" in this sort of situation, but strangely I heard the Buddhist Moktar instead. It was as if I was standing in front of a golden Buddha at a temple.

As I stood entranced, Lee JiHan looked me up and down in disbelief and asked, "Did you put on makeup in the dressing room so you would look prettier?"

"What? Oh, no? You said when you're working out, you should not have on makeup," I said. "I'm all natural."

"Really?" Lee JiHan swiped at my forehead with his thumb then nodded after examining it. "Good. No makeup and dressed appropriately. Let's start with cardio."

"Oh… I just want to continue staring," I mumbled, which made Lee JiHan smile.

He put his lips where his thumb had been. The soft touch brushed against my forehead and sent shivers down into my heart like electricity.

A few moments later, Lee JiHan removed his lips and stepped slightly back and said, "If you keep staring, that's all you're going to end up doing."

"What?" I was in a daze.

"Are you not going to do any of this with me and just stand there staring?" he asked.

"Oh, no? I'm not? I want to do this again?"

"Stop staring and let's move." Lee JiHan clapped his hands together as if filling me up with energy.

With his arms wrapped around mine, we headed to the treadmill. "First, we'll run for 10 minutes and then go into weights," he told me as he placed me on the treadmill and adjusted the speed settings. "Starting from this point on, you will do cardio, strength training, and cool down for exactly one hour with my lead."

"A whole hour?" I asked.

"If you follow my lead well, once every 10 minutes I'll give you a present," he said.

After Lee JiHan made this promise, he pressed the start button. The treadmill started to move beneath my feet. Matching the timing to its movement, I moved my two legs.

"Why are you suddenly making me exercise?" I asked. The moment I asked the question, a thought popped into my head that made me flinch. "Did I get fat? That's it, isn't it? I got fat? So, you're trying to make me lose weight?"

I waited fearfully for his answer.

"You of all people can get fatter," Lee JiHan said matter of factly. "The purpose of this exercise is to increase your stamina. Stamina increase."

"Sta, stamina, in, crease?" I asked through short breaths due to the increasing speed.

"You should be keeping fit even when you're doing nothing," Lee JiHan replied. "If you are going to get ready to be in a play, then you need to be diligent. You have to increase your stamina now so that when you do have to perform, you will be able to handle it. That's why I'm making you do this."

After answering, he turned my head back to the front. Removing his hand, Lee JiHan commanded, "Look forward so you don't fall down. A kiss in 9 minutes and 40 seconds."

9 minutes and 40 seconds!

I gathered all my determination and clenched my fists. Without another complaint, I clenched my mouth and bravely ran.

***

After exercising and showering, I exited the health club. My entire body was sore.

Lee JiHan saw me stumbling around and wagged his tongue at me. "How were you so good at dancing when you're this bad at coordination?"

"Dance? What dance?" I asked.

Lee JiHan helped me to the elevator as he replied, "You danced in your play."

"Ah, that…" Using his help as an excuse, I wrapped my arms more tightly around his and moved my shaking legs. "The dance was needed for the play, so I practiced it over and over. I have bad body coordination. I'm bad at dancing."

"Hmm. Did you attend a dance school?" he asked.

"No. I just played the dance video repetitively and practiced it on my own," I replied. "I wanted the part so badly that I probably practiced 10 hours a day."

We got on the elevator as it arrived. After pressing the button for the correct floor, Lee JiHan became lost in thought and stood quietly.

Only after the door opened on the first floor did he speak. "If you learned it properly, it wouldn't have taken so long."