“Twenty six, twenty seven,” Duan counted proudly, “twenty eight, twenty nine, twenty ten-”
“Thirty?” Gao Yu huffed.
“What do you mean thirty?” Duan inquired cutely.
“Thirty comes after twenty nine.”
“Oh.” Duan said, “Well then how come we don’t just keep going up in ten like instead of saying thirty we say three ten’s.” He shifted his position, forgetting the fact that he was on Gao Yu’s back while Gao Yu was doing push ups.
“Babe, you’re hurting me.” Gao Yu informed him.
“What? Oh!” Duan stood up when Gao Yu lowered himself. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, and to your question, that’s actually a good idea. Except for all of the math, baby you couldn’t even count to thirty. Why would you be able to have to add and multiply to count to twenty two?
“Gosh, you didn’t have to be so mean.” Duan pouted.
“Sorry.” Gao Yu apologized. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt.
He gave Duan a peck and dragged him towards the weight bench.
He laid him down and rubbed his flat tummy.
Duan giggled. “I thought we weren’t going to get busy until we got home.”
“We aren’t.” Gao Yu said and pinned him down.
Duan finally figured out what his lover was doing.
“No! I don’t want to!” Duan screamed when Gao Yu placed the weight bar over Duan’s chest.
“C’mon babe, it’s forty five pounds.” Gao Yu said as soothingly as he could.
Duan screamed in terror.
“I’ll help you.” Gao Yu offered.
Duan thought about it for a moment. “You have to promise that you will not let go.”
Gao Yu nodded and put his hand on his chest. “I promise.”
Duan closed his eyes and put his tiny hands on the weight bar. Gao Yu released it a little putting pressure on Duan’s delicate arms. Duan lowered it to his chest and pushed up. It wasn’t as hard as it seemed.
After about ten lifts Gao Yu added five pounds on each side.
“55 pounds.” He announced. “And I’m letting go, is that okay?”
Duan nodded.
Duan took a deep breath and lifted as easily as he previously had.
Gao Yu nodded and added another thirty pounds.
Duan pushed as hard as he could, but it didn’t budge.
“Gao Yu! Help!” He yelled.
“Baby, just push a little harder.”
“I can’t!” Duan cried.
Gao Yu immediately lifted the bar with ease, hurting Duan’s pride just a little more.
Gao Yu sighed as he put the weights away, he turned around when he heard a choked sob.
“Duan?” He said sweetly and walked up behind him to rub his back.
“What?” Duan replied quietly.
“It’s okay.”
“How much can you bench?” Duan asked venomously.
Gao Yu sighed. “Seventy six.”
That was a lie. He could bench around two hundred pounds. He benched seventy six when he was a freshman in high school. But Duan didn’t have to know that.
“Really?” Duan asked.
“Really.” Gao Yu assured him. “Now, let’s go out. To eat”
“Yay!” Duan said cutely. “Where to?”
“Juice!” Gao Yu replied just as enthusiastically.
“Yay- wait, isn’t that where tough, super buff guys go to eat?” Gao Yu nodded. “Damn you!”
“Fine, McDonald’s?”
“Now you are calling me fat?”
“Fine! Planet smoothie.”