Pushing the door of her apartment open, Ari tossed pretty much everything in their respective places and changed into a loose white T-shirt. Work had been quite taxing that day and all she wanted to do was spend the evening with a bottle of wine and no pants.

Dancing around the empty apartment, she walked past the window towards the wine cabinet. Reaching to yank the curtains shut, she caught sight of something across the window which caused her to freeze.What the was Kim Jongin doing lounging around in the balcony wearing sweats and a tank top looking into the distance?

She spun around quickly only to stub her toe and help loudly causing Jongin's attention to switch towards her instantly. Ari bit her lip as he gaped at her half figure only to meet her eyes with wide eyes of his own. She grabbed the curtain to cover herself, shot him a coy smile before yanking the fabric shut.  

She really needed that wine now.

Heading over to the cabinet, she reached for her phone and sent Minah a text with a detailed description of what had happened, only to receive a cheeky message in response.
 

"Time for a booty call, don’t you think? ;)”
 

Ari gaped at her phone and wondered why she was friends with Minah, who was so awkward in real life and so erse on text. She chose to stay far away from the window as her mind churned and plotted on how to deal with this situation.

Except she hadn't thought through how Jongin would be shooting her knowing looks through their dance class. She hadn't had the opportunity to speak to him before the class having delayed herself by spending the last few minutes spazzing over her situation with Minah, who had also been sending her knowing looks right before entering the gym. Ari had noticed a little less hesitance to enter the gym now that she had spoken to Taekwoon for a little while in the cafe. Not that she knew what they spoke about.

The day's class was not very intense, Jongin had kept it simple working more on their coordination and balance rather than teaching them something new. Ari went about it with not much difficulty and managed to get through class without much problem. When she looked around for her phone after her class she noticed Jongin sliding over to her with a smug grin on his face.

“So, I should be offering you a ride home.” he said, leaning against the wall as she wiped her sweat off with a little towel. Ari’s brain panicked, this was her teacher...her young teacher who wanted to drop her off home. Beside which he lived.

“Uh, I have plans with Minah…” she began, standing up only to have him follow her in the general direction of the locker room. Minah stepped out of the gym right then and turned towards Ari with a huge grin.

“So, you ready to leave?” Ari asked as Minah eyed Jongin and her. Jongin looked back at her and back at Ari.

“Uh, so. Actually, remember how I said I'd start boxing today? Yeah… so they finally installed the punching bag today and I might take longer. So you can go ahead, is that alright?”

“Yeah, I'll drop her off.” Jongin replied instantly as Minah smiled.

“Excellent! Now that that is solved, I'll see you guys!” She waved before entering the gym again and leaving Ari and Jongin alone in the corridor.

“Well then, shall we get going?” Jongin smirked as Ari gulped.

Minah on the other hand, wrapped her hands with bandages for today since she didn't bring her boxing gloves. She was excited. The adrenaline that she would feel from boxing was enticing her.

“Why are you here?” Minah turned around to see Taekwoon walk towards the punching bag. She knew better than to be insulted this time, as it seemed like the way he normally spoke.

“Same reason you are, I think?” She replied.

“No I mean, your ankle. You shouldn't be exerting any pressure on it.” He told her, like she was a child. Minah fought the urge to roll her eyes.

“I'm good, really. I've had the weekend to heal.”

Before she knew what was happening, she was being pulled onto the floor and leg drawn away.

Taekwoon grabbed her foot and pulled off her shoe and sock to observe her foot in concentration.

“What are you-” She began but only to be cut off by him.

“I'm a football player. These kinds of injuries are second nature to me. But I also understand that if neglected, does not end very well.” He let go of her foot and stood up.

“You were right it healed up well.”

“Of course I was,” Minah mumbled. She had been an athlete before after all. These kinds of injuries wereShe had been an athlete before after all. Maybe not a football player, but she had dabbled in many sports and had scraped her knees and sprained her ankles a sufficient number of times.

Taekwoon grabbed the bag from one end and stared at Minah while she slipped her sock and shoe back on. How does he turn from hot to adorable in just a few seconds?

“What?” She voiced out.

All she got was a point blank expression and a nod towards the bag.

“You want me to punch?”

“Isn't that why you're here?”

“Yeah….”

“Then punch,” Taekwoon said and planted his feet firmly on the ground.

Minah put out her left foot and lunged forward to punch the bag.

She knew she wasn't that great but she wasn't awful either. Or at least she hoped she wasn't.She caught Taekwoon trying to bite his lip from smiling. Minah huffed, annoyed. She wasn’t the type to give up that easily, but Taekwoon’s presence made her nervous and the number of ups she had had  the previous week had finally made her realise that her athlete life was far behind her. Looking down, her fingers picked at the bandage wrapped around her hands. “That's it. I give up. I don't think I'm cut out to be doing something like this. I'll just go back to my sedentary lifestyle and forget about my athlete dreams .”

She began to turn around to walk away.

“I can teach you,” She heard him say.

“What? So you're suddenly a boxing expert too?”

He steadied the punching bag and threw a few strategic punches, which were far from amateur.

“ Boxing champion throughout college. I've been playing football ever since I could remember, but I've always had some interest in boxing,” Taekwoon told her.

“Any other hidden talents I should know about?” Minah asked, now slightly irritated that while she was a total klutz lately, this man seemed to be good at absolutely everything.

“Um Tae Kwon Do and I did swim for a bit.”

“You're kidding right? Okay I can't be around someone with so much talent. It's bad for my self esteem. Kay, goodbye Jung Taekwoon, the footballer, boxer, swimmer, and martial artist.” She wasn't really going to leave but she was curious to see whether he'd call after her.

She kept walking and walking only to realise that he didn't call for her. What just happened? She thought they were getting along just fine. Maybe he didn't care. She sighed and walked out of the gym.

Taekwoon on the other hand was trying to deal with his extreme shyness when it came to compliments. He genuinely did not know what to say to the dejected girl who was unwinding the bandages on her hands as she walked towards the door. He noticed her towel and iPod lay on the mat beside him were he had seen her stretching and he picked it up.

Things like this made him very very awkward and now this, he was certain, was going to make it worse. He noted the gym door flying open again and Minah rushing back in to retrieve her things. He stood stalk still as she headed towards him, looking for her stuff.

He stuck his hand out, holding out her towel and iPod.

“Oh thank God,’ She breathed a sigh of relief reaching out to take it from his hands “thank you,” she said, only to look at him with an almost analytical gaze which piqued his curiosity, she looked down again before shyly meeting his gaze “do you think you can teach me?” She mumbled, “if it isn't too much of a bother.”

She had just made an awkward situation better and Taekwoon couldn't be more thankful.

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