***

Ahead of the practical class, the practice room was a mess. A few cars were placed in the wide room, and we gathered in groups in front of them. We all wore the same coveralls, stowed our equipment under our feet, and waited for the professor.

Lee Cheolwoo, who was standing next to me, pulled up the sleeves of his coverall and squeezed his arm. Tendons stood up on his forearm. He put it in front of me and shook his forearm.

“How do I look?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t I look cool?”

“…”

Sometimes, Lee Cheolwoo was obsessed with looking cool. I looked at the arm bigger than mine and asked.

“Do you work out often?”

“Yeah. I go to the gym every day. Men are all about muscles.”

His arm muscles were bigger than Yeon Woojeong’s, but it didn’t particularly make him look good. Shouldn’t Yeon Woojeong’s size be just right? I thought of the arms that felt hard when I squeezed it, but soft when I ran my fingertips across it, and Lee Cheolwoo suddenly handed me his phone.

“Take a picture of me.”

While I opened the camera app, Lee Cheolwoo held the equipment in his hands and pretended to disassemble the engine. People around him teased him about what he was doing, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. Instead, he put on a cool face, furrowing his brows. What an amazing guy. I took a few pictures and handed them to him. He was happy with them and said he would use them as his profile picture.

“Jiho, I’ll take yours, too.”

“It’s fine.”

“Why? You should upload some pictures too. You always use the basic profile picture, right?”

Originally, I didn’t use a messenger app, but when I entered the training institute, I had to join a group chat room. I found it annoying that it kept ringing unexpectedly, so I turned off all notifications and only checked the chat room when Yeon Woojeong texted me. He didn’t have a profile picture, so I didn’t post one either. 

It reminded me that Yeon Woojeong would often send me pictures after I installed the app. The food he ate at the cafeteria, flowers on the streets, and other trivial things. After seeing them, I would send a reply like, eat a lot, that’s a flower, and he would call me with a smile.

“You can take some and send them to your brother, no? Show him that you’re working hard.”

“He knows even if I don’t send him.”

“Ay, knowing and seeing are different.”

We saw each other every day, so there was no need to send him my pictures. As I listened to Lee Cheolwoo, who quickly changed the subject, the professor walked in.

I certainly seemed to fit in better and easier with my body than with my head. I felt like my head was going to explode when I was sitting at the desk learning the theory, but I could easily focus on the practice and it was fun. As I watched the professor demonstrate, he suddenly turned his head and pointed at me.

“Mr. Jiho, why don’t you try?”

This professor unusually asked me to do something. I nodded my head, and as the professor continued to do what he was doing, I saw Lee Cheolwoo slip behind and take a picture of me with his phone. It was annoying, but I couldn’t say anything during the practice, so I ignored him and focused on what I was doing.

.

.

.

After the practical class, I went out to the sports field. I still had some time until the next lecture, so I sat down on the stairs with a drink the professor had bought for me. It was getting colder, but the sky was clear. As I looked up at the sunny sky, Lee Cheolwoo said he had to go to the restroom and left.

I sipped my drink and pulled out my phone. I opened the messenger app and saw a message from Lee Cheolwoo. It was pictures of me from earlier. It was strange to see my face like this. But it was okay because it didn’t show my face too much.

“You can take some and send them to your brother, no? Show him that you’re working hard.”

Even if it wasn’t for that reason, it still felt weird to send a picture of myself. I fiddled with my phone, put my drink on the stairs, took a picture of it, and then sent it to Yeon Woojeong. After waiting for a while, it marked as read, but there was no reply. Just as I was about to put my phone away, I got a reply.

It was a picture of his desk. There was coffee in a cup and papers on the desk. I realized that the photo was taken with his right hand, his left hand was visible in the corner of the picture. I looked closely at the hand that took a little space in the picture, but then I noticed a presence.

“What are you looking at? Let me join you in laughing.”

Lee Cheolwoo grabbed my shoulder and pushed his face, so I immediately turned off the screen. He then whined about how I was keeping something funny to myself.

It wasn’t hot, but Lee Cheolwoo rolled up his sleeves again, saying he felt hot after doing the practice. I looked at his rough arms and then asked.

“Is it fun working out?”

“Of course it is! Do you want to join me?”

“…”

“I’m almost as good as a trainer. I’ll teach you well. With the way you’re now, you’ll get very popular if you build up your body.”

Lee Cheolwoo pestered me that it would be fun to work out together. Work out… I had never done it, so I didn’t know if it was fun. In gym class, I had never been included because I was too small and unmotivated, and running was something I did a lot when I was stealing stuff. When boys talked about soccer or baseball, I didn’t feel much interest, so I thought maybe I didn’t like sports.

About Yeon Woojeong… Suddenly, I thought, why don’t I join Yeon Woojeong when he works out? That way, I wouldn’t have to wait for him and we could spend time together. That was a really good idea. 

“What kind of exercise can two people do together?”

“Two people? Do you hate going to the gym?”

“It’s not that. I mean an exercise that can be done while facing each other.”

“Face to face? Hmm… Maybe badminton?”

Badminton. I thought that would be a good idea. I nodded, trying to think of other exercises that two people could do together, and suddenly, Lee Cheolwoo put his arm over my shoulders.

“I like badminton!”

***

“Workout?”

Yeon Woojeong took off his suit jacket, put it on a hanger, and looked back at me. I approached him, unbuttoned his shirt, and nodded.

“Why the sudden interest?”

“Just because. It’d be nice doing it together, don’t you think?”

Avoiding my hands, he began to unfasten his button from below. Our hands met in the middle. I looked at him, his eyes were cast down, then I kissed his cheek and took a step back. Yeon Woojeong took off his shirt with a smile on his face.

“Yeah, that sounds good. Shall I register you for membership in the gym I’m in now?”

“Is there no other workout?”

“Other workout? Erm… Swimming?”

Yeon Woojeong, his shirt hanging on his arms, glanced at me down there.

“That’s a no. What’s good?”

“How about badminton?”

I had thought of many things, but there weren’t many that could be done while looking face-to-face. I had played badminton a few times in middle school, so I thought I could handle it.

“Hmm, how about tennis?”

“Tennis?”

“Yes. I think there should be rackets somewhere here.”

“Have you tried it?”

“Years ago. I had a senior who was a tennis maniac.”

“You’ve done a lot of things.”

Yeon Woojeong changed his pants and then tapped on my cheek while smiling before walking out of his room. He sat on the sofa and patted next to him. When I sat there, he laid down using my thighs as a pillow.

“I’ve never tried tennis.”

“I’ll teach you. It’s not that hard. I’m sure you’ll learn fast.”

“Yeah.”

“We should also buy some clothes.”

“Why clothes?”

“We need outfits that are easy to move in.”

I nodded. Yeon Woojeong knew a lot, so I just needed to follow what he said. Tennis was a new exercise to me, but wouldn’t it be similar to badminton? I didn’t think it would be hard.

“What was with that picture?”

“Picture?”

“The drink.”

“That one? A professor bought it for me.”

“I was wondering why you suddenly sent me one.”

“Lee Cheolwoo told me to…”

“What a good friend.”

Yeon Woojeong reached out to take my phone on the table. He opened the gallery to look at the picture of the drink and swiped the screen to the side, revealing a photo of me taken by Lee Cheolwoo. He zoomed in on my face and asked.

“Who took this?”

“Lee Cheolwoo.”

“Why didn’t you send this to me?”

“We’re seeing each other at home anyway.”

“But I don’t see you like this at home, do I?”

He sent all the pictures taken by Lee Cheolwoo to his phone. I watched what Yeon Woojeong was doing quietly for a while, and then I took his phone and opened the gallery.

I frowned as soon as I opened it. All he had were my pictures. There were pictures of us together in between, but no picture of Yeon Woojeong alone.

“Why don’t you have any pictures of yourself?”

“You don’t have any either.”

“…”

“Shall we exchange one by one? If you send me your picture, I will send you mine.”

“That’s too…”

“Too?”

“Calculative.”

Yeon Woojeong opened his eyes wide and looked up at me at my words. The widened eyes drew beautiful curves as if melting down in no time.

“That’s calculative?”

“Yeah.”

“Uh-huh, so you won’t send yours, but I have to send mine?”

“Yeah.”

At my insistence, Yeon Woojeong hid his face against my stomach and laughed. I stiffened as he rubbed his forehead against my stomach. Yeon Woojeong exhaled heavily and then slowly closed and opened his eyes.

“It’s annoying to wash up.”

“Want me to wash you?”

He laughed flatly like he’d heard a joke. I was serious, though. I touched his soft hair, which was free of any product. Yeon Woojeong let my hand caress his hair and closed his eyes.

I lowered my hand from stroking his hair and ran my fingertips along the nape of his neck. It was warm. He seemed to be a little warmer than everyone else. But I was probably the only one who knew his temperature. Not just his temperature, but also his personality. No matter how kind Yeon Woojeong was to others, it wouldn’t be the same way he was to me. It sometimes made me feel my chest tighten and almost explode when I thought about it.

The corners of Yeon Woojeong’s mouth turned up slightly as I rubbed his neck, which must have been stiff from working all day. Suddenly, I felt happy. It was amazing that a word so ticklish and unfamiliar could pop into my head. I couldn’t help but feel something surging through me, and it wasn’t anger or sadness.

If I appeared happy in someone’s eyes, it was all thanks to Yeon Woojeong. I ducked my head and planted my lips on his forehead.