He was shy, he could not dispute that. He was just always been shy around girls but he always had girlfriends. One after another, so he could say he was popular, so because of that, no one knew about his shyness, maybe he was known as a flirt. Maybe he was, if a girl asked him to be her boyfriend, he will agree. Therefore he had no end of girlfriends, people even thought he was always the one who left the relationship, but in fact, his girlfriends all left him, saying he was boring. Maybe he was.

He sighed, he was really a boring person.His love of  exercise, therefore he revolve his life around that. Even in his work, he had chosen to be an exercise instructor, he got great pay and doing something he love, and of course, the stream of girl fans. He had stopped agreeing to requests of been their boyfriend, and now he’s gay! He felt unbelievable, so he decide to ignore all those people.

He was giving his trainee some advice on the right way to exercise, a girl walked in. She caught his eyes because she was totally unsure of what to do. Some other trainers went over to help her, she still looked hopeless. He couldn’t hide his smile, she was a cute one. The trainers started to crowd around her, the more people the more hopeless she looked. After he finished his lesson, she was still looking hopeless lost, he can recognise her helplessness, so he decided to help her.

“Hi Guys, how about letting the lady have a break.” He suggested, the instructors nodded and left. Soon he was the only one left. “Hi, I am Kim Jong Kook, an instructor here, if you needed help, you are welcome to look for me.” This was one of the rare time he initiated to talk to a female.

She nodded and smile, “Hi, I am Cheon Seong-Im.” Her brown doe-like eyes looked less worried now. “I needed to keep fit but i don't know how.” She looked a bit embarrassed, “I need to slim down by 5kg by May.”

He raised his brows, maybe she was getting married and he felt  a pang of sadness. “Oh, i see, you can join an aerobics classes and also worked on the treadmill.” He suggested.

“I cant keep up with the aerobic classes, i tried. Maybe i can work on the treadmill.” She still looked worried.

“You could engage my services, and we can do it together.” Jong Kook offered, he had long gave up instructing female, but for her, he made an exception.

“You would? that’s great!” she broke into a smile.

“But I happened to be one of the most costly instructor here, so ..”

“It’s ok,” she interrupted him, “i am fine with that, getting a good instructor is more important. I don’t have much time till May.”

He agreed with her in silence, they planned their first session, then he sent her to the treadmill and asked her to run for 45 minutes. He had another lesson, so he left her. But all throughout his lesson, he could see her running, trying her best to keep up with the machine, he couldn’t help but smile.After his lesson, he walked past her and stopped the machine. “You could get off earlier you know?” She nodded, panting heavily and couldn't utter a word.

He passed her a bottle of water and helped her to the side bench. She fell into the bench, trying to catch her breath, she took a mouth of the water and it felt heavenly. “T….h……..nn...kk..sss..” She finally could throw out a word.

“Take a rest,” he said. “I have another student.” He went of teaching the trainee how to get leaner. His lesson ended in half an hour, and she was still sitting there. He walked towards her for the third time today. “How are you feeling,” he asked out of concern.

“I am ok, I am just observing you teaching the trainee.” She said, slightly embarrassed. “Of course and the other instructors too, but its late time for me to leave. See you next time”

“Yeah, see you.” They bid farewell. Jong Kook watched her left the room. He was surprised that he felt so at ease with her, even more than with her previous girlfriends. He couldn't believe that he was already looking forward to their next meeting.

The day came finally, he was counting it and felt it came too slowly.

“Morning. Jong Kook shii.” She greeted him.

“Morning.. Cheon-Im shii.” He could felt the tip of his ears getting hot. He gave her one of his smile, the smile that people say could kill girls. She seemed to be dazzled by it.

“How about some warm up?” And he started to show some basic warm up exercises, then he took her to the treadmill again, “5 minute run ok” he stood there observing her, correcting her posture, teaching her how to run correctly. Then he started walking through the different machine.He timed it perfectly, by the time she finished the last machine, he had 2 minutes left of the training time. “You should come and practise on some of these machines at least two time a week for an hour. You could run some more on the treadmill and do some exercise that would tighten the shoulder area. When you are done, you could come over here and do some cooling off exercise.” He concluded his lesson. “I will be around, if you have question, you could come and ask me.” She nodded. He felt his heart slowly down, after he left her, he never felt such feeling before, his heart beating uncontrollably around her. Maybe it a coincidence,

He now have a new activity, anticipating her arrival to the gym, she came almost everyday after work, twice per week he would instruct her, the rest, they would greet and sometimes, if he didnt have lesson, he would stop to instruct her and they would make some small talk. He couldnt believe while the days she didn't arrive, he felt that time went slowly but when she was around, time flies. It had been a month and she had reached her target but she still came to gym every day, their session also cut down by 1, he sort of missed the time they spent together so he would try to find more time to talked to her. Soon it was May, the day she was waiting for,... he didnt know whether he would get to see her after that day, he hoped he could, the next day he kept glancing at the door, hoping she would walked in but she didnt. Yeah, why would a bride came to gym right after her marriage, and he felt a stab through his heart. He tried to wave away the feeling but it didn't go away, that day, he couldn't really focus on his trainees. He kept waiting, waiting for her to come through that door, but every day, he was disappointed, he felt a void when he went back home, the void seem to be getting bigger everyday, devouring him…

Two weeks later, she turned up, left leg in cast, he just finished his session and saw her hopping in. He couldn't hide his surprise and quickly went over to her, “Cheon-Im shii, what happened?” He asked.

“Haha, i fell down the steps after i attended my best friend wedding as her bridesmaid and ended up in hospital. I didn't have the number here so i could only come here after i can manage.”

He could felt his heart soar, “yeah, i also didn't have your number,” they sat down on the bench. “How about we exchange our numbers?” She nodded. He passed his mobile and she keyed in her numbers, her phone rang and she took out and slient it. “Now you can inform me if you coming back again. How was the wedding?”

“My friend had asked me to be accompanied her to a wedding, one of her ex, she wanted us to look fabulous to make her ex regret his decisions, so she got us this super small clothes, she could fit in it but i couldnt. So i was trying hard to get into the dress, i finally did it! Here my photo!”

He had to agree she looked very pretty,he would regret it too. “You looked pretty ok.” He said. “I don’t think you need to exercise anymore.” He was full of regret, he wanted to see her very much again.

“This few weeks i had felt so healthy, i wanted to continue!” She smiled, “but i need to get well soon.” Raising her legs.

“Yeah, it would inconvenient for you to  run around.” He had to acknowledge that fact, then he had a good idea! “How about this, i send you some exercise clip you could do everyday”

“You would? That great. I hope to get well soon.’

“Mm, i dont have anymore classes today, how about i bring you back in my car, but you need to wait for me to go for a shower.:”

“There is no need to trouble you, i could take a cab back.”

“But you came all the way here to inform me of your condition, that is the least i can do!” He insisted. “Wait for me, i just need 5 minutes.” He jumped over the bench and rushed to the shower room.

He was fast, he came out looking refresh and happy. “Let me help you,” he held out his hand, she gladly took it and accepted his help. He drove her back and he found they could talk about anything, he felt so comfortable with her and his heart would even beat faster for her, to be around her. Different from the weeks that he couldnt see her, his heart was beating at an accelerated speed. He love this feeling, to be around her, to feel her warmth around him, to be able to listen to her voice and see her smile.

He decided that he would take the initiative, to message her, it started with a how are you feeling today and he sent her a clip to exercise upper body. He personally took the video, hoping she could see him more and developed some feeling for him. During breaks, he would message her, she was great, she would reply and continue the conversation. He did that everyday and he slowly found out more and more about her, he would listen to her days at work. Some weekdays when he would ask her out for breakfast before he took her to work. On weekends, sometimes she would make lunch and they would meet near the gym. On his day off, they would meet for dinner and do something at night. This went on for a few weeks, finally he gathered enough courage, courage to ask her to be his girlfriend. From their interaction, he found she was the perfect girl for him.

He chose his off day, he could make the perfect preparation, he wanted to ask for her permission in a place he liked most, he really hoped she would say yes.  He picked her up from work. He drove them to the riverside restaurant, it was not a fancy one, but one had family warmth. They sat at the corner seat, they ordered barbecue set, she prepared the food and looked him into the eyes, “Ahh” she said. He was a little taken back but he still opened his mouth and received the food she placed into his mouth, he felt very fortunate. He felt her make the food and feed her too.

After their dinner, he held her hands and they walked along the river, “Cheon-Im, we had knew each other for a very long time, i had many girlfriends before, but none of them made me felt so at ease, so fortunate. When i with you, i knew everything would work out fine. Cheon-Im, i love you, i love you very much, would you like to be my girl friend?”

He looked into her eyes, her eyes were twinkling, “I thought i already was, Jong Kook, I love you too. I had waited so long to hear it from you.” They stopped, he gently held up her head and his lips met hers.