Chapter Text
Jihoon pats around his night stand trying to get his alarm to stop blaring this loud, his eyelids sticking together which means it’s too fucking early. He always needs an alarm to wake up, but usually his body lets him know he’s gotten just enough hours of sleep to make it through the day. Today that is certainly not the case, he has to make a monumental effort to keep his eyes two percent open and for a moment he doesn’t get it, when his phone screen comes into focus he realizes it’s 6:30 in the morning, which means he got three hours of sleep, and also that it’s Saturday so why is he awake at the crack of dawn?
The universe provides an answer when his phone starts making noise again, except this time it’s not his alarm, he notices as he looks at the picture of Jeonghan blowing a kiss at the camera that fills his screen. He takes the time to breathe in and out a couple of times only because he knows Jeonghan is impatient and Jihoon might as well annoy him a little bit in return.
“Hello?” he finally picks up, voice with a texture that resembles sandpaper.
“Jihoonie! Did I wake you?” Jihoon hears laughter in his voice and it truly shocks him how Jeonghan can sound so awake this early, then he realizes it’s the promise of being able to make Jihoon miserable that’s giving him this much energy before noon.
“Yes,” he says. It’s not true, but he might as well try to make Jeonghan feel a smidgen of remorse for what he’s making Jihoon go through.
“Good! Just wanted to remind you that you owe me and I’m expecting my due today,” Jeonghan tells him.
“Yes, Jeonghan, I know. I’m getting dressed,” he’s actually barely managed to sit up in bed, but Jeonghan doesn’t have to know that.
“Aw, really? I thought you wouldn’t follow through with it,” Jeonghan laughs at him, and Jihoon knows for a fact that he’s lying, he would never pass up a chance to claim his reward after winning a bet.
“Jeonghan, did you call to make sure I’d wake up? ‘Cause I’m up.”
“Just making sure,” Jeonghan hums into the speaker.
“You’re still coming, right?” Jihoon says after a beat, trying not to let the doubt that he feels creep into his voice. Jeonghan notices anyway.
“I said I’d go down there with you, didn’t I?”
“Just making sure. I’m gonna finish getting ready.”
“Okay. I’ll be there in like twenty minutes, is that okay?”
“Yeah, fine.”
The conversation ends with Jeonghan telling Jihoon he loves him and making Jihoon say it back before hanging up. Jihoon has enough time to wash his face, put on gym clothes, make himself coffee, and think about how the hell he got himself into this situation.
It was actually extremely stupid. They were all hanging out the day before and Jihoon’s hubris made him believe he was capable of winning a bet against Jeonghan, which of course he didn’t. No one ever wins against Jeonghan, it’s just common knowledge, another of the general laws of physics or something. Jeonghan had come up with a good amount of different ways to embarrass Jihoon and he had refused them all, until Jeonghan told him to come with him to a 7:30 group workout session at the gym, and Jihoon told him he knew Jeonghan didn’t even go to the gym, and Jeonghan said he’d come with him. Just for the sake of this punishment. Jihoon decided that waking up early after a night out was better than having to go to ask for the manager at the bar and confess his love to him, so he accepted. And now here he is, pouring coffee into a travel mug for Jeonghan because he’s nice like that. And because he’s thankful that Jeonghan allowed him to skip out on the confession to the bar manager.
All positive feelings towards Jeonghan go down the drain once he stops the car in front of the gym and waits for Jihoon to get out before locking the doors and yelling through the passenger seat’s window.
“Okay! I’ll pick you up in two hours!”
“What? No, Jeonghan, no, you said you’d come with me,” Jihoon replies, eyes wide.
“And I did, didn’t I? I’m here! What I did not say was that I’d take the class with you… anyway have fun!” he says, and drives away laughing his cartoon character laugh. Asshole.
Honestly, Jihoon could leave. He has his phone, could easily call a cab, go back home and sleep for another eight hours, but he doesn’t for two reasons. First, he’s stubborn. He doesn’t want to give up, doesn’t want to make this seem like a double victory for Jeonghan. Hell, Jeonghan could make him do one thousand embarrassing things and Jihoon would do them because Jeonghan is incredibly persuasive, and he’d do them well because that’s just who he is, he doesn’t half-ass anything. The second reason is that Jeonghan would know, because Jeonghan always fucking knows, and he’d come up with a worse punishment for him. And anyway, it’s just a group workout. Jihoon goes to the gym every day. At night when there are fewer people and when he’s slept and when he doesn’t have one of his friends on his ass pressuring him to do it, but still. He can do this.
He walks into the fancier than expected gym and approaches what seems to be a both a reception and a cashier for the gym shop. There’s a fucking gym shop, christ. The guy behind the counter is taller - like everyone else where Jihoon is concerned - and so stupidly pretty he almost seems out of place among the protein shakes and vitamin supplements, or whatever the hell they sell at gym shops. Jihoon thinks he’d look better surrounded by flowers and pastels or something. His skin is tan, his eyes stretch out like a cat’s and his lips are plump, and his delicate features stand out in contrast to his broad shoulders and toned arms. He’s not Jihoon’s type, but he could be. Jihoon is sure he could be anyone’s type if he wanted to.
“Hi, welcome,” the guy says when Jihoon steps further in, and his voice is soft and sweet, on top of everything else. “I’m Joshua, how can I help you?”
Jihoon takes a deep breath to steel himself. For what, he doesn’t know.
“Hi, uh. My friend signed me up for the 7:30 class.”
Joshua frowns a bit. “We have a few classes happening at 7:30, do you know which one you’re taking?”
Jihoon does not know which one he’s taking. He didn’t think to ask since he assumed Jeonghan was going to be doing the talking for them, since he assumed Jeonghan was going to join him. Joshua seems to catch on to the fact that Jihoon doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, so he turns the screen on the counter around for Jihoon to see.
“These are the three classes we have today,” he says, pointing at Intermediate Zumba, Pregnancy Aerobics, and Couple Fitness Challenge. All of them seem entirely not like classes Jihoon wants to be taking.
“Well it’s for sure not Pregnancy Aerobics,” he grunts, making Joshua laugh at how utterly lost he is. “You know what, I’ll just ask my friend, give me a second.”
He pulls out his phone and tries to visualize the gif of an animated cat that he’s seen people use to stabilize their breathing, just to prevent himself from breaking his screen by pressing it too hard or from cursing at Jeonghan once he picks up. The phone keeps ringing, and Jihoon is about to give up when Joshua’s eyes widen and he stretches across the counter to tap Jihoon’s arm. He hangs up and looks up at the other.
“Sorry, is your friend’s name Jeonghan?” Joshua asks.
Jihoon feels relief wash through him. “Yeah. You know him?”
Joshua starts tapping on the screen in front of him, like he finally knows what to do with Jihoon. The corners of his lips curve upwards and he flushes when he replies, “We’ve met.”
And oh, Jihoon knows that look, the glow and the pink ears and the sparkle in the eyes, he knows what boys look like when they’re under Jeonghan’s spell. Suddenly it makes sense why Jeonghan even knows a gym exists in town. Jihoon should’ve known, Jeonghan doesn’t fucking work out and Jihoon is an idiot for ever believing him. The only thing that’s backwards is it’s usually guys chasing Jeonghan around, craving his attention, not Jeonghan crafting elaborate plans so he can talk to a guy on the phone, nevermind calling only to sign his idiot friend up for a group class at the gym said boy works at. Either way, he’s gonna kill Jeonghan the next time he sees him, but for now he settles on shooting him a text.
(7:20) Jihoon: signing me up for a class just to get to talk to a boy on the phone for 2 mins is a new low for u
(7:21) Jeonghan: tell shua i said hi :*
(7:21) Jihoon: dont text and drive
(7:22) Jeonghan: then stop texting me <3
“You’re all set,” Joshua pulls him out of his thoughts. “Are you going to need a locker?”
“No, I’m good. Um, do I have to fill anything in?” he asks. Don’t gyms ask for like, personal information all the time? Jihoon doesn’t know.
“Normally I’d ask you to, but Jeonghan sent in all your info already,” Joshua tells him, sheepish smile on his face.
“Of course he did,” sighs Jihoon.
“It’s the room on the far right, if you wanna get going,” Joshua says. It’s not dismissive, just feels like he’s genuinely giving Jihoon an out in case he’s tired of talking to his friend’s crush.
Jihoon thanks him and walks all the way down the corridor. The last door to the right has a schedule taped onto it, which Jihoon assumes has the information about all the classes that are going to take place in the room for the rest of the day. He doesn’t bother, Joshua’s indications had been pretty clear, so he just walks in the room and sits in the corner. There is no equipment in the room, only a pile of what seem to be yoga mats to one side and a few people who also arrived early sitting down and engaging in conversation. They probably all know each other, which makes Jihoon feel even more out of place. Only five minutes until the class.
Jihoon is about to start sending his friends and acquaintances good morning texts just to look like he's doing something because everyone else seems to be sitting with at least one other person, when he feels someone sit next to him.
“Hi! Are you new?” Jihoon turns to the guy sitting next to him. He seems friendly enough.
“Uh, yeah, sort of? It’s my first time here.”
“Oh, fun. You know, most people find it complicated the first few times, but I think you’ll be okay,” he says, eyeing Jihoon’s arms from his wrist up to the start of his muscle tee.
“Thanks?” Jihoon says, deciding not to dwell on it. “How long have you been coming?”
“To Seungcheol’s class? A few months. My girlfriend suggested it and we’ve been hooked ever since.”
“Sweet,” Jihoon says, not knowing what else to say to keep the conversation going. Can the class just start?
“There he is,” the guy says, nodding at the man who just walked into the room. He looks exactly like someone who would teach a class at the gym, broad, whole body toned and big, wearing a hat backwards. The room keeps filling up more and more, to the point where Jihoon loses sight of him. The guy sitting next to him speaks up again, “The class is about to start, you should probably tell your girlfriend to hurry.”
“My what?”
“Sorry, boyfriend? Either way, you don’t want them to miss the beginning of Couple Fitness Challenge,” he finishes, wiggling his eyebrows like the name is some inside joke before standing up and walking towards a girl hovering on the other side of the room.
Jihoon’s no longer paying attention, though, because he had been preoccupied trying to curse Jeonghan mentally and hadn’t asked what the class he signed him up for was, and now he’s realizing it’s a class for couples and Jihoon is most definitely here all by himself. He takes his phone, sends Jeonghan a text that says “ur dead,” and walks up to the man who had been pointed out as the instructor.
“Hello,” he says. The man turns around and offers him a smile. Jihoon just doesn’t want to be an inconvenience, especially because this dude seems nice. “Um, I’m sorry. My friend signed me up for this class but he, uh, couldn’t come. Is it okay if I just take the class by myself?”
It shouldn’t be a problem, right? Whatever the couples do, he’ll just find a way to do it on his own. He will look pathetic, he’s aware, but he’s already been through so much to get to this point, it almost feels like a personal goal to get through the class. Fuck you, Jeonghan.
“Oh, that’s perfect, actually!” the man smiles at him. “What’s your name? There’s someone else who’s here alone, if it doesn’t bother you he can be your partner for the day. I’m Seungcheol, by the way.”
Jihoon sighs in relief. That shouldn’t be too bad, right? He won’t look pathetic doing things on his own, and no matter how much he embarrasses himself in front of this stranger, he’s never coming back here ever again so it won’t really be a problem. Besides, despite his intimidating image Seungcheol seems like the nicest dude out there, so he’s not too worried.
“It’s Jihoon,” he answers, and watches as Seungcheol disappears among the people filling the room, only to come back dragging a guy by the wrist. They stop in front of him, and god, if all of today’s events hadn’t managed to give Jihoon a headache, this one definitely does. He can’t believe the universe is punishing him this early in the goddamn morning. When Seungcheol speaks again, it’s not directed at Jihoon, but at the guy he dragged across the room.
“Soonyoung, this is Jihoon. He’s also alone, so he’ll be your partner for the day,” he finishes, smiles while he pats both of them on the shoulder once, and then yells at the class to start getting in place.
And Jihoon hates his life, he really does, because he can’t run away. He feels like he’s compromised with too many people already; his friend from hell Jeonghan, the trainer with pretty eyes Seungcheol, fucking Joshua the gym shop guy, the other class attendee he spoke to before, himself, and now Kwon Soonyoung, his ex-boyfriend who he hasn’t seen in years and who is now standing directly in front of him.