Actor/model Kim Woobin hated going to the gym. Back when he was just a model (no slash) and had a girlfriend, working out was a pleasure. He hadn’t been quite so famous then, in consequence, he had been left alone more often. The bonus was, he had a girlfriend he could use as a barrier between the chaebol daughters at the gym and himself. He had taken to going at a different time every day so that some of the more persistent socialites couldn’t figure out his schedule and lay in wait.

    He walked into the equipment room and looked around. There was a duo of trophy wives on the treadmill who eyed him like he was made of grade A beef. No treadmills today, he thought. A turn to the stationary bikes and he saw a giggling trio of chaebol daughters in skimpy spandex who waved and simpered at him. No stationary bikes today, he thought. He turned his head and gazed toward the ellipticals. The only one in use was occupied by a chubby girl in her twenties. She was wearing a baggy t-shirt and a pair of men’s basketball shorts. Her hair was up in a ponytail and her earbuds were in place. She didn’t look around. Woo Bin decided she looked harmless and walked to the elliptical next to her.

    Haneul sensed a presence next to her in the gym but didn’t look up. She had put all of Super Junior’s songs on a playlist and decided to work out for two hours of it. She was an hour and a half into it and was running low on stamina. She only had to think of Krystal’s words and Siwon’s lack of affection to keep herself on the machine.

    Suddenly her phone buzzed and her music cut out. “Hello,” Haneul answered. “Oh Unicorn, what’s up?”

    “Me? Oh, I'm at that gym that Di Di recommended. In an hour and a half they have a dance workout class I plan on taking.”

    “Really?! You and Hunnie are?”

    “That’s awesome! Why don’t the two of you meet me at the smoothie bar and Jie Jie will buy you two drinks.”

    “See you then! Bye Unicorn.” Haneul hung up and looked down at the timer on the machine. “One hour and forty minutes. Twenty minutes more. I can do it! Fighting!” Haneul fist pumped.

    Woo Bin chuckled and shook his head. This girl really was different. She planned on working out for two hours and then doing the dance class later. That takes some dedication. He suddenly decided that maybe he wanted to do the dance class today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Haneul looked up when Woo Bin walked into the Smoothie Bar trailed by the chaebol daughters from the equipment room. She shrugged since it wasn’t the boys she was waiting for and looked back down at the scarf she was knitting. With 27 men to have gifts for at Christmas time, August is the best time to start.

    “Here I am, Noona,” Woo Bin said, sitting down at Haneul’s table. “Your favorite cousin is here!” Haneul looked at him with confusion but stayed silent. The girls that were following him lingered but left after several seconds.

    “I’m sorry for that,” Woo Bin said quietly after the girls were gone. “I just couldn’t figure out how to get rid of them.”

    “I understand,” Haneul said. “I’m just glad you said cousin. If you had claimed to be my boyfriend, I’d have had a hard time explaining that to my husband.” Haneul smiled at him as if at a precocious child she was indulging.

    Woo Bin went to order a smoothie and Haneul returned to her knitting. The two sat quietly at the table for twenty minutes until Yixing & Sehun arrived. The two entered the Smoothie Bar boisterously and looked around for their noona. The two boys stopped short when they saw Woo Bin sitting with Haneul. THey shared a look and rushed over to the table.

    “Jie Jie!” Yixing said as he sat down. “You’re going to join our dance class, right?”

    “That’s what I told you on the phone Unicorn,” Haneul rolled her eyes. “Now, tell noona what you two want to drink and I’ll get it for you.”

    “Why are you sitting with noona?” Sehun questioned Woo Bin as soon as Haneul was out of earshot.

    Woo Bin looked at the much younger boy who had his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed, his lips pursed in a childish pout. “Well,” he said, suddenly feeling nervous. “I claimed she was my cousin and sat here so I could get rid of some clingy girls.” He chuckled slightly. “As members of EXO I’m sure you understand how difficult that situation can be.”

    “So,” Yixing said coolly. “You decided to use Jie Jie to save yourself. It didn’t matter whether it would put her in an awkward position, with her husband perhaps.” Yixing appraised Woo Bin with a raised eyebrow.

    “Look,” Woo Bin leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I get that you're worried about your noona but I’m not your concern. You should be more worried about two other things. First,” He held up one finger. “Noona has already worked out for two hours and now plans to take your dance class.”

    Yixing sat back in shock. “That’s a lot of exercising! Why on earth…”

    “Hey, that’s not your biggest worry,” Woo Bin shrugged. “After she hung up with you, she got  a call from some guy she called Squishy. Her side of the conversation basically consisted of her trying to convince him not to tell her husband that she got slapped by some girl.”

    Yixing & Sehun exchanged a look. After several moments of eye contact, Sehun nodded and got up to leave. He grabbed his phone and stepped outside to make a phone call.

    “Thanks for your information,” Yixing said. “We’ll look into your concerns. There is no more need for you to be worried about Jie. You can go about your normal life.

    Woo Bin could tell he had been dismissed. He got up and walked away. This wasn’t the time to cause a scene. He’d just come back tomorrow. Something told him that she would be there again.

    Woo Bin was right. Haneul was at the gym the next day. In fact, she was there every day for the rest of the week. She came and worked out for two hours on the elliptical and then did the dance class. He would grab the machine next to hers and just talk. He told her all about his life and the weird surge in popularity after his stint in Heirs.

    By the time a week had passed, Haneul had come to the conclusion that she now had a thirteenth little brother.

Author's Note: The amount of exercising described in this chapter and the weight loss described in the following chapters is unrealistic and unhealthy. I just needed the time line to fit! Do not try this at home!