If you asked Lee Hyukjae what he never ever thought he would be doing at the age of 25, then shopping for a Pilate’s ball would rank right up there on the top of the list. He would also have never imagined ordering a soya latte and telling the barista to make sure it was de caffeinated, or taking midday runs to the drugstore to buy tampons. But then again he had definitely not planned to work as a personal assistant for a famous actress turned close friend which had catapulted his life into something far, far away from his teenage dreams of becoming a professional basketball player. The fact that he was short had nothing to do with the change in career choices.

Hyukjae wasn't even all that sure what Pilates entailed and certainly not why his boss would need a big ball to do it with. But being the very adapt assistant that he was he was sure to figure out a solution to his newest task. With the help of Google he had found several pictures of women reclining belly up on what looked like a huge bath ball. Deciding not to dwell on the matter of weird ways to stay in shape, (wasn't it perfectly fine to just run and lift some weights?), he clicked on a link for a local sporting goods store.

'Blegh!' Came from behind him and he spun around on his chair from where he had been trying to decide between pink and purple. 'You don't honestly expect me to work out with one of those do you!?'

Clearly a rhetorical question that would bring him nothing but pain for answering, Hyukjae instead decided to get straight to the point.

'What did you have in mind Sora? This is completely new to me.'

Instead of answering him, Sora spun him back around to face the screen before leaning forward and over him, letting her bosom rest on his back as she typed something into the search engine. Hyukjae relaxed into the half hug, the gesture already familiar to him from the year long friendship he shared with the woman. She was affectionate and sometimes downright clingy and even though part of him might be inclined to enjoy curves and a soft body, strangely no part of him had ever been interested in Sora's.

As the web browser worked he could see several new pictures loading and honestly he should have known that Sora didn’t do normal.

'Oh...' was the only logical response his brain gave him. He was in fact staring, not at latex balls in bright colours, but at big spheres covered in fur.

'Aren't they Awesome? The girls at the gym will be so jealous' Came a happy voice next to his ear. 'Now go buy me one!' Sora told him and with a slap on his shoulder she strutted away into her office leaving Hyukjae to search for a place to buy the thing.

So here he was, an hour later, standing outside a furniture store in the middle of Gangnam, double checking the address on his phone. The place was fancy to say the least, the only odd thing was the fact that it was a furniture store. According to the website he had checked, this was the place to buy what he needed. From what he had gathered from the comments online the furry things were a big hit not only for working out but also as decoration for people who wanted it to appear as if they worked out. Realizing that he was attracting more than a couple of weird glances from standing still in the middle of the pavements staring at the sign in front of him, he decided to venture inside.

The first thing he noticed when he entered was how quiet it was. The store was big and it had been carefully divided and decorated into different settings, showing of different styles of furniture. It looked nice he thought, there was a warm feeling to the place, even in the glass and stainless steel dining area that was on show just to the right of the entrance. Whoever decorated the place sure had taste.

He barely had a chance to scan his surroundings before his eyes landed on a man walking his way with determined steps. The man was short, probably shorter than Hyukjae himself, but he seemed to be in really good shape if the way his navy shirt that clung to his broad chest was anything to go by. Presumably he worked there as he was giving Hyukjae a look, like he was sizing him up, checking to see if he really belonged in a classy place like this. Apparently Hyukjae passed because the clerk’s previous frown was replaced by a warm smile and an inquiry as to how he might help? Honestly it made Hyukjae’s skin crawl. He may be dressed the part of a snooty secretary and he was well used to behaving like he belonged, but deep down he was still the poor kid who struggled growing up and just happened to land a well-paid job. He was hit by an urgent need to bring this man down and make him squirm.  

He did a quick assessment of the store, noticing that he was the only one there. The worst that could happen would be that he got thrown out. He let his eyes trail over the other man in a slow deliberate way, blatantly checking him out. The clerk didn’t seem that taken back by it and given the almost unnoticeable shift in his hip, Hyukjae would say he was even showing himself off and enjoying it. Hyukjae might as well just dive right in.

'Yes, hi. I'm here to touch your balls.' He said.

Watching the man’s eyes widen and hearing him splutter out an incomprehensible “w-what?” made for an amusing sight and Hyukjae fought to keep a straight face.

‘Your Pilates balls? You do sell them, don’t you?’ he continued.

It took a few seconds for his words to reach the other and the clerk gave a slight shake of his head as if he was trying to chase away strange images from his mind.

‘Um, yes.’ He gave a small still somewhat befuddled smile. ‘We have them over here.’ He gestured towards the back of the shop, waiting for Hyukjae to start moving before turning around to lead the way. Hyukjae pretty much enjoyed the view of the clerk’s backside all the way.

‘Here we are. These exercise…um...balls are very popular, not just for exercising, but also for decoration and as an additional seat. You can see here we have mounted some of them on the special metal stands which allows for them to stay in one place, making them the perfect place to sit.’

Hyukjae tried to listen intently to the man’s words, feigning interest while planning what his next step would be. The other was still off his game from before and Hyukjae wanted to ruffle his feathers up some more. The man had looked utterly adorable when he was speechless.

‘Well I am mainly interested in using them for exercising...’ Hyukjae gave him a shy smile

‘…although I'm not quite sure how to use them.'

'Well....they're Pilate’s balls.’ Donghae gave him a strange look. ‘You use them for doing Pilates exercises. Like stretching and stuff.' He explained.

'How do you do that though?' Hyukjae said, tilting his head to one side in true innocence. ‘I hadn’t even heard of Pilates until today.’

The man in front of him seemed to weight his options, not sure if Hyukjae was being serious in his question. It seemed strange that a man knowing nothing of the subject would buy himself a furry exercise sphere.

'Well in one exercise you sit down on it and balance.......' his voice trailed off as Hyukjae promptly sat down on leopard print ball, letting his hands roam through the fur of a longhaired ball next to him while bouncing up and down contemplatively.

'Wow, your balls are really soft! I could just sit on them .' he exclaimed while deviously rolling his hip in a circle with the ball underneath him.

'Am I doing it right?' he asked, shamelessly looking up at the man in front of him from under his lashes. ‘I think I saw people doing this in pictures.’

He proceeded to bite his full lower lip in mock concentration.

Hyukjae could see when it happened. The tell-tale signs of the man in front of him snapping back and realizing he was being played with, quite severely at that. His posture seemed to straighten again and slowly but surely a small smirk crept over his face. The snobbish clerk exterior gave way to a whole new man and Hyukjae almost fell off his ball.

'Your back should be straighter and you should do bigger circles that alternates in direction.' The man said and watched as Hyukjae instantly complied, rotating his hips in wider circles while pushing his chest forward.

'Yeah...you’re getting there…'

The clerk stepped closer to Hyukjae gesturing for him to continue with his exercise, tentatively putting a hand on his back. He was close enough for Hyukjae to feel his warmth and smell his aftershave and his voice was low but steady when he spoke.

'Actually when you do it correctly it can improve flexibility...'

A firm hand guided Hyukjae's arms to place his hands behind his head.

'...as well as develop control and endurance in the body.'  

It was official, Hyukjae was no longer in charge of the situation. He had his hands clasped behind his head as he slowly kept swinging his hips around while the man next to him kept him steady by supporting his lower back.

‘Sometimes…’ the man next to him spoke again. '…you don’t even use the balls. You do stretching exercises with the body only and in some cases it helps having someone to train with you to help you keep your form during.'

Hyukjae was sure the man was really a ert in disguise from how quickly he had managed to turn the tables on him. He liked it.

‘Yes, I can see the appeal in having an exercise partner.’ He said, looking up at the clerk. His smirk was still there and it made Hyukjae want nothing more than to see how much endurance he already possessed. If this was Pilates then he was all for it.

A small bell chimed somewhere in the distance and Hyukjae was pulled out of his thoughts as the clerks hand left his back and uttering a “excuse me for a minute” the man went to greet the new customer that had entered the store. The woman seemed to know him as she greeted him by his name, Donghae. Hyukjae was left where he was sitting on the leopard skin covered piece of inflated plastic, staring after him while trying out his name on his lips.

When after ten minutes the clerk returned to find him reclining in a comfortable sofa, Hyukjae had made up his mind. Before the other had a chance to say anything Hyukjae had risen from the sofa and walked up to man.

'So… Donghae!’ he started, stepping close enough to be well within the others comfort zone. ‘I would like to buy one of your furry balls. And also take you out to dinner.'

Half an hour later Hyukjae left the store with an order placed on a long haired Pilates ball and a date for the next evening. And for the first time in a long time, Hyukjae thought he might just have fallen helplessly in love.