Chapter 39

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.”

“What wouldn’t? Oh, the dance?”

Lee JiHan nodded and he pulled me out of the elevator. “Starting from today, let’s learn dance also. That will definitely help your acting career.”

“What? Starting today? Do what? Dance?” I asked.

“Well, first we’ll find a dance studio, get a consultation, and enroll since you probably don’t have any energy left from working out with me,” he said.

Lee JiHan quickly outlined the plan and looked toward the hotel door. He was matching the pace of my footsteps, so it was slow going. He looked as if he had already ran outside it.

Ah, are we really leaving the hotel like this? You must be tired, so let’s rest here a while. Nothing like that? Should we eat some ramen at the guest room? Nothing like that?

I kept looking back disappointedly at the disappearing hotel behind me.

***

Only after I was seated in the car returning home did I remember JiKyung and pull out my phone. Not only did the sudden enrollment in a dance academy get me off guard, but I additionally had to enroll for English classes, piano classes, and vocal lessons. Like a fervent parent, Lee JiHan found any class that would help my acting career and took me around to enroll in all of them, which led me to completely forget about JiKyung.

Due to that, I was only able to check my phone at a late hour. However, JiKyung had still not called or contacted me. “Why hasn’t JiKyung contacted me yet?”

Thinking it strange, I called JiKyung. I checked Lee JiHan’s reaction at this, but he only looked forward, driving as if this didn’t concern him at all.

I wondered if his phone was still off. Finally, I heard the connecting ringtone in my ear.

“Ah! His phone is on!” I yelled in surprise. I chewed my fingernails waiting for him to answer.

However long I waited, I could not hear JiKyung’s voice. Instead I heard Lee JiHan’s. “What are you going to do about that nervous habit of biting your nails?”

“What?” I asked.

“Not only do your fingernails get messed up, but it’s bad for your jaw,” he said. “You should find a new habit to replace that.”

He isn’t going to find another class to help me fix this, is he...

I lowered my hands away from my mouth.

“When you’re nervous, look for me,” Lee JiHan said. “If I’m not next to you, call me. If I am next to you, find me with your body.”

“How exactly do I find you with my body?” I asked.

“Either hold my hand or bite my lips instead of your fingernails,” Lee JiHan coolly said.

Lips instead of fingernails...

I bit my lower lip as Lee JiHan had instructed. The phone ringtone disconnected. The message that no one was available started to play. Thus, I continued to now chew my lips over and over again.

Why is Lee JiKyung not answering his phone? If his phone is on, then he must have seen my missed calls and messages. He’s not calling or texting me, and he’s not answering...

“Not you. Here.” Lee JiHan interrupted my panic.

I turned my head to look at Lee JiHan, but he was still resolutely looking forward and driving.

He glanced over at me and pointed towards his lips. “I didn’t mean for you to bite your own lips. I wanted you to bite these lips.”

“Oh...Ohh!” When understanding hit, I became so embarrassed that I shook my head vigorously with my cheeks turning red. “Oh, how could I do that. That’s so embarrassing.”

“It’s not embarrassing,” Lee JiHan sternly said. “When I kissed you, I, from time to time, bit yours, so I am sure. It’s not embarrassing but good. Although you were the one being bitten then, so you might not know it.”

How can he say such things without a single change in expression? Without blushing? I fanned at my further reddening face. But, I am curious as to how it feels for lips to bite lips... It will be different from being bitten... Should I...

“Why don’t you try it?” he asked.

“Now, now?” I had been thinking it only a few seconds before, so I jumped thinking that I had been caught in action.

“I’m driving, so not now. We’ll do it when we arrive.” Lee JiHan pressed on the accelerator and increased his speed to the highest speed the law allowed.

His speed remained the same until we reached the apartment. The moment we arrived at the parking lot, Lee JiHan swiftly got out of the car. I usually waited for him to open the passenger door for me, but I was in a hurry. So, I opened the door and got out. I ran toward the fast approaching Lee JiHan.

As if I was being reunited with a lost family member, Lee JiHan and I embraced each other as our paths crossed in front of the car. He lifted me up and placed me on top of car hood. Now at eye level, he leaned in to kiss me.

Before our lips met, Lee JiHan stopped. With our lips inches away from each other he whispered, “If it hurts me when you bite, I won’t let you get off quietly.”

With a trembling heart, I lowered my eyes and bit Lee JiHan’s lips slightly.

Oh.. That’s why this is good.

I closed my eyes at the realization. I leaned in for a deeper kiss, slowly swallowing his lips. I felt Lee JiHan’s hands around my waist pulling me in closer.

I must not be the only one enjoying this. At this assumption, I went to bite his upper lip, but I heard a car drive past us. Realizing that this was probably not the best place to be doing this, I backed away. However, Lee JiHan grabbed my face with his hands. At the same time, his lips bit mine.

The hands holding my face felt hot, but it might have just been my face that was actually hot. No, it could be both of us. Losing myself in the moment, I grabbed Lee JiHan’s waist.

Out of nowhere, a loud sound that could have rendered us deaf rang from the distance. Jumping in surprise, I took my lips off of Lee JiHan’s and turned toward the noise. From a small distance away, I could see a car driving toward us in reverse.

I’m sure it was the car that had passed us earlier. As I was thinking that, the car stopped in front of us. When the car door opened, I felt like I had been struck by lightning. The person who exited the car was none other than Lee JiKyung, who was glaring quite viciously at the both of us.