Warning : unedited

Nearly a week had passed since Taekwoon was helping Minah out with her boxing. And over this week, it seems that our awkward couple have gotten somewhat relaxed around each other.

Minah ran across the road towards the entrance as she looked at her phone. Not really seeing where she was going, she crashed into someone. Again.

“Minah? Are you okay? Why are you running? You're half an hour early, aren't you?” It was Jongin whom she crashed into. He rubbed his shoulder, where her head collided.

Minah huffed, as she tried to catch her breath. “Sorry!” She gasped out. “We were going to practice before gymming today and I overslept and I'm so late…”

Jongin smirked as he looked at her standing a few inches below with her hands on her hips as she quirked her eyebrow at him.

“What?” She asked him.

“Our poor awkward turtles are moving forward, aren't they? Dear Taekwoon in there is in there lying on the floor looking like he's having an existential life crisis. I guess I understand why now.” he said smugly.

Minah rolled her eyes. “I should go save him then, shouldn't I?” She said as she turned towards to run towards her destination. Jongin noticed the usual figure that accompanied her to the gym not there, his eyes searched around for Ari who hadn’t turned up yet.

“Wait! When's Ari coming?” Jongin yelled after her.

“Um I'm not sure if she's coming today,” Minah told him.

Jongin eyes widened considerably. “What, why? Is she okay? Did she find a better dance instructor?”

It was Minah’s turn to smirk. “Look who's having an existential life crisis now? Relax, she has some work stuff, also it’s too early for her to turn up” She hitched her bag onto her shoulder. “Okay I really have to go now,” She said while running off.

Minah ran into the training room, she beheld a rather red faced Taekwoon as he was upside down, doing a handstand. All of the sudden, her eyes were graced with flashes of bare skin which was a view she wasn’t sure she should be privy to. his chest was toned. Shaking her head at his embarrassment (and trying to shake off her thoughts) she let out a breath.

“What are you-” Minah began but Taekwoon toppled over, but was up on his feet in an instant, as though he meant for it to go that way. He gaped at her composed face and hoped that he looked at composed as she did. Fixing his workout shirt, he fixed his eyes back on her.

“I beginning to think you weren't coming,” He said.

“I overslept and -” she began sheepishly, but he waved her off before she could provide any reason. He was a little too embarassed by his previous actions to hold a sane conversation.

“Let's just start,” He said as he held the bag for her to punch.

Minah punched once and upon seeing Taekwoon’s face telling her to proceed, she landed another, and another till she could feel her arms burn. He watched a smile creep onto her lips as she felt the adrenaline slowly build in her body. It was a private smile, something he liked to keep to himself because she was absolutely unaware of it and it made her efforts even more endearing. But Taekwoon held his own smile back, he wanted to push her into doing better. That smart mouth of her’s pursed as she concentrated on landing her punches right.

“Hold on,” his voice halted her actions as her deep brown eyes flickered to meet his. He let go of the punching bag and took a step towards her as he watched her eyes switch to confused as she mentally analysed her movements. “You’re doing fine… it’s your arm.” he said.

“My arm?”

“Yeah, it’s not turning completely,” he ended lamely, watched her confusion increase and mentally asking himself as to why his vocabulary had died that morning.Sighing and steeling himself, he caught hold of her gloved hand causing her to freeze in position. “Your arm needs to turn as you punch.” he said, guiding her hand in the right position. He shifted yet again and asked her to repeat the action and looking at her thoughtfully.

Minah froze as Taekwoon’s fingers glided over the skin of her arm in an attempt to position it right. Taekwoon didn’t miss the goosebumps that rose on the soft skin under his fingers. Maybe he was enjoying this a little too much, like she did with his hand stand. He had noticed her unabashed staring for those brief seconds.

“That’s it.” he said as she punched the punching bag, causing it to swing. They practiced  for nearly an hour and a half and Taekwoon kept pushing her to go on. They went over everything that he had taught her over the week but something was still bugging him.

“No, no. You still seem far too nervous,” He told her.

Minah stifled a scoff. Boy, if he only knew how nervous.

He studied her for a moment before walking behind her. She felt his large hands, warm against her waist.

“Your body shouldn't be this stiff,” He said so softly it was nearly a whisper.

Minah could feel his breath on her neck as he moved forward so that her back touched his chest. His hand moved up her stomach so high that another centimeter and he would've touched the underside of her . She swallowed, trying to block her thoughts from going to places she really didn't need in the current situation.

“Feel that? Let go of this pressure. It'll allow you to move more freely,” He murmured, his voice now vibrating against her body. He felt her tense against his body before he whispered into her ear “relax.”

Something about her pressed up against him flared his nerves. She was tiny next to him, but it was how firey and smart she was wherever she went that made him not want to move even an inch. He felt her relax against his palms as her core tightened sufficiently for her to deliver a blow to the punching bag. Taekwoon sighed, this woman was causing all kinds of trouble for him - especially by being extremely attractive to a man as awkward as him. Apparently it wasn’t just his vocabulary that was failing him that morning, but his filter system as well.

“How about coffee after this?” he mumbled to her as she landed a punch on the punching bag, he felt her core muscles flexing under his hands before he shifted away and she looked at him with twinkling eyes.

“Coffee sounds great!” she grinned as he looked down and mentally berated an congratulated himself.

“Shall we go?” he asked as she nodded only to have her legs wobble with the sudden movement. Sensing her fall, Taekwoon’s arm flew around her waist, instantly stabilizing her. The two exchanged a long look as her fingers gripped at his muscular arm and she gulped. The moment was saved when the door of the gym flew open.

“Uhhhh guys?” Ari asked wearily from the door. As if they were brought back to the moment, Minah stepped away as Taekwoon withdrew his hands from her body.

“Jongin and I were about to get something at the cafe and we wanted to know if you wanted to join us,” Ari's eyes darted between Taekwoon and Minah after which they finally landed on Minah’s as she gave her a meaningful look saying ‘I saw whatever just happened’.

Minah fumbled for words.

“Yeah we'd love to, we’re heading there anyway.” Apparently she was answering for the both of them now, but Taekwoon didn't mind.

-------

"Lee Donghae is amazing alright?" Minah crossed her arms at Jongin and Ari as Ari shook her head and Jongin looked at Minah with amusement glinting in his eyes at the secret fangirl in her "I really wish I had the money to go for the Super Show this year." she looked down at the table of the cafe at the recreation centre as Taekwoon approached with two coffees, a tea, and a mug of hot chocolate.

"I would prefer to say that I'm Neymar fangirl, but we're talking two different fields here." Ari mumbled at Taekwoon shot her a look.

"You're into football?"

"Yeah," Ari grinned looking at her friend who was not-so-discreetly checking the man next to her out "you'll be surprised to know that Minah was on her school football team even if she doesn't watch it." Ari grinned proudly as Minah gaped at her and Taekwoon was now looking at Minah with unobscured interest.

"Uh, yeah." Minah mumbled as she cursed Ari for drawing attention to her and attempting to promote her romance with a man who seemed to share a romantic relationship with the gym and sports.

"Nice!" Jongin grinned at the awkwardness at the table as Taekwoon silently settled down.

"But that died when I shifted schools along with every other sport I played," Minah mourned "on the other hand, I did meet Ari in the school I moved to and she was in the theatre club with me, why I think we even performed somewhat of a musical together." Minah grinned as Jongin turned to Ari and gaped.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Ari replied, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Ari is a brilliant singer." Minah nodded as Jongin looked at Ari with interest. He had told her about landing a role in a musical and she had been very excited about it.  Looking down, he noticed how close their hands were to each other on the table and something about that made him feel very warm.

"We should have her perform." He said as Minah nodded in agreement. Her hand reaching across Taekwoon's to grab a spoon only to brush against the man's arm as a blush flared across his cheeks in the memory of the morning's boxing lesson.

"Minah is not so bad herself." Ari mumbled as Minah turned to glare at her for returning the attention to her.
"Taekwoon is a bathroom singer and a good one at that." Jongin laughed as Taekwoon nearly choked on his coffee as Minah and Ari turned to him.
 

"Listen, is there anything you can't do?" Minah asked him seriously and Taekwoon lowered his head on the table.

“He can’t draw.” Jongin nodded to which Minah grinned.

“Ah so you are human,” she chuckled “Ari on the other hand is a top notch graphic artist. Make her make posters for your showcases and stuff, she’s great.” Minah felt like a salesperson marketing Ari to Jongin who was already sold on everything Ari did. It was obvious that the man was terribly attracted to her and Minah felt that promoting that romance would give her satisfaction, since the romance on her side was kind of one-sided by the looks of it.

Ari shot Minah a look as she turned to the silent Taekwoon and analysed him. Jongin on the other hand looked at Minah, who he had noticed was nearly as awkward as Taekwoon in her own odd way.

“So Minah, I saw one of your college readings…” he began as Ari let out a short laugh that the memory. Minah looked up at Ari and her eyes shifted to Jongin.

“Is this the gods reading?” she asked bluntly as Taekwoon choked yet again on his coffee. Minah was quick to pat his back almost as if it was second nature.

“Yeah, is there any way I could borrow your readings? Ari has told me they’re quite interesting.” Jongin asked as Ari nodded.

“You should read her research paper on textbook writing. Isn’t that the one you presented in that conference?” Ari asked as Minah nodded. Taekwoon was intrigued,this attractive woman was smart too by the looks of it as she turned to him with a smile.

“Well, it looks like I’m a library resource for these two now.”

Taekwoon nodded dumbly as he gazed at her. Ari cleared , catching his attention.

“Are you watching the South Korea and Brazil match? Please tell me you are, Minah is so useless when it comes to this - she’ll watch the match with me and support the team that has good technique according to her.”  

“Yes, I am.” Taekwoon replied, taking a sip of his coffee trying to ignore Jongin eagerly chatting with Minah about whatever readings she could possibly give him. Her hand kept brushing against his and that made talking to Ari even more distracting. Except Ari was in the midst of a very interesting player analysis mode that had Taekwoon's attention as well.

How he wished he had more ears to listen to everything at the table.

“Honestly, Brazil's offence is very strong, so I'm expecting a heavy defense line up from our side.” He responded to Ari’s question about what he thought the team strategy would be this time. He could hear the two next to him exchanging phone numbers, how come he didn't have Minah's number on his phone yet?

Ari, on the other hand was glad she had found herself someone who she could discuss football with. Taekwoon was glad too, Ari seemed as dedicated to the sport as he was even if she didn't play it.

“I have two tickets to the match, do you want to go?”

There was a silence on the table as Ari's eye widened while Minah and Jongin spun around to gape at Taekwoon. Ari grinned at Taekwoon and excitedly responded with

“Of course I would! I wouldn't like anything better than that!”

Jongin gaped at Ari. The match was on the same day as his role in the musical and he had intended on asking her to come and watch. It was a minor role in a major musical and if he nailed it, he'd be called for more auditions for more musicals. He looked around to see Minah also look at Ari and Taekwoon with a similar look of surprise before lapsing back into a poker face. He admired her for just a second as she turned to Ari with a tight smile.

“Well, your dream is coming true!” She said, before sipping on her coffee. Jongin noticed Taekwoon look at her, oblivious to how he could have possibly hurt her. Jongin rolled his eyes.

Ari on the other hand was ecstatic “So, how are we getting there? What seats do you have? You know what, just give me your number and we'll figure it out.”

Minah watched the telephone number exchange suspiciously. She didn't know what to make of Taekwoon's blank expression, she knew Ari was very excited about the game for a fact.

Apparently it was in her fate that all the men she was ever attracted to, were attracted to her friends. Sighing, she finished her coffee before drawing her chair back causing everyone at the table to turn and look at her. Feigning confusion, she looked right back at them.

“I have to leave?” She said, holding her phone up, showing the time that she wasn't even sure of. Jongin drew his chair back too, with a determined expression.

“I need to submit the attendance forms. Just give me a second. Ari, I don't think I can go back with you today, need to talk to the admin here.”

Taekwoon and Ari watched the two march out of the room, completely confused. Ari shrugged before turning to Taekwoon.

“So, about the match...”

Jongin and Minah on the other hand stood outside bewildered and a little upset. Jongin looked at her as she took a deep breath looking up at him.

“So we're stuck on the same boat it seems.” She grinned.

That was when the light bulb glowed in Jongin's head.

“Hey, you like musicals right?”

“Of course I do!” Minah's eyes lit up.

"What if I told you I can get you tickets to one and a backstage pass too?” Jongin shot her a smug look “with Eunhyuk as the lead?”

“That would be brilliant.” Minah gaped at Jongin. It wasn't Donghae, but Eunhyuk was another one of her favourite band members in Super Junior, and meeting him would be an amazing experience.

“So are you game?” Jongin asked earnestly “it is a musical I landed a role in, and I would love some feedback from someone who has studied theatre.”

Minah considered it, it was a chance of a lifetime “well, it's too good an offer to say no to. So, of course!”

Jongin grinned as Minah's brain wandered off into lala land of meeting Eunhyuk.