Chapter Text
Seokju Ko braces his hands on his knees and looks around the training room, letting out an explosive sigh.
A thick fog of exhaustion hangs over the training room. A few of the team 3 men have scampered to the sides, falling down on the benches. Wet towels slung across their necks. Others have already heaved their broken bodies into the locker room for a shower. Even the trainer has to take a moment to catch his breath before commending them all on a good day of training.
The last 7 laps of the day have beat and spent all of them. Beads of sweat trickle down his temples, and he resists the urge to wipe at them furiously. His eyes fall on Ijin Yu, who’s taking his sweet time gathering all the equipment they used, and putting it back where it belongs.
He’s not fazed at all, of course. Those 7 laps were no issue for him. Neither was the rope course they had to do, or the sparring sessions they had. He took it all like a champ, barely breaking a sweat.
It’s pretty frustrating. Seokju was a prodigy. Always expected to be the best. His goals were drilled into him from a young age, as was his training. It helped him develop into a strong young man with quick reflexes and thinking, but it was no match for Ijin’s cat-like reflexes. Sometimes, when Ijin moved, it looked like he did so at the speed of light.
Even now, just wandering through the training room and tidying up, he looks like a lion crossing the steppe. A disinterested, lazy look on his face. But the strength is visible behind his eyes.
It’s a ridiculous comparison, and he feels his ears warm slightly at the thought of it. He averts his eyes back to the rest of the men.
They’re chatting about their evening plans. Beomseok is eating at a restaurant with his girlfriend, and they’ll visit the cinema after. He receives a playful shove from one of the others, which he counters with a punch to the arm. He catches Seokju’s eye and waves him over.
Seokju gets up hesitantly and walks over. His teammates are good men, but they tend to take things a little less seriously. Not a bad thing, per se. Not everyone can be as stoic as Ijin and him. It just gets tiring sometimes, when they rag on him for spending so much of his free time training.
He can barely finish the thought before Seong-min slaps him on the back and pulls him into their circle.
“Seokju!” He exclaims. “You doing anything fun tonight?”
The others look at him in silence, inquiring.
He thinks of the training room at his house. The bright lights and the floor to ceiling mirrors. That’s where he’ll be spending most of his time tonight.
“Heh,” He gives a quiet laugh. “You know me. I’ll be training.”
Another slap on the back from Seong-min, whose booming laughter reverberates around the room.
“That’s my boy.”
The conversation moves on to other things quickly. A bit about the weather, a bit about the game this weekend, and a lot about the newly hired secretary, Sujin, at the front door of the SW building.
Apparently, her blonde hair is as beautiful as sunlight hitting clean sand, and her lips are as plump as freshly plucked peaches. Seokju has to keep himself from zoning out while the men rave about her stationary choices. She wrote an address down for Hyunwoo once, and her handwriting is so beautiful that he stuck the pale pink note up above his bed. Now the men ask her to write things down all the time. Seokju scoffs internally. She’s beautiful, all right, but this is kind of ridiculous. She must be getting sick of it.
Over Beomseok’s shoulder, he catches Ijin staring at him. They lock eyes for a few seconds, before Ijin looks away calmly.
The conversation continues into the locker room, where Seokju’s mind flits through all the fighting styles he’s tried over the years. He mastered Taekwondo and Jujitsu at a young age, well before high school. He spent countless hours doing drills. Trying, failing, and trying again until he could do them in his sleep. Getting taught by professionals who worked in the field for decades. Learning everything there is to know about the work.
All his instructors said the same thing.
Seokju is a natural and has a very bright future in the field.
And he did, he does. It’s just that… Ever since Ijin came along, he’s no longer the promising young trainee. That spot has been taken by a newbie who just showed up one day and turned out to be everything Seokju thought he was.
He remembers the first time Ijin overtook him when they ran laps. He was ahead of the others, as always. For them, the first laps of the day were a warm-up. Something to ease into the training. For Seokju, it was the moment a normal high schooler turned into a prodigy.
Feet hitting the ground in a steady rhythm. The rest of the gym passing by in flashes. But then Ijin’s light hair appeared in his peripheral vision, and he’d passed him by before he registered what was happening. He’d pushed himself into overdrive and caught up within seconds. Ijin spared him one bored glance and increased speed.
Seokju fell back instantly. The pang of fear at Ijin’s speed slowed him to a near stop, resulting in Beomseok bumping into his back with a loud ‘oomph’.
The older man had laughed and given him a knowing smile.
“You can’t always be the best, huh.”
And that was a hard thing to realize. He had seen Ijin fight when Yeona was kidnapped, and he was truly formidable. Compared to him, Seokju felt like nothing more than a fly getting in his way. Even Yeona, who had always said he was the only one she felt truly safe with, had warmed up to Ijin and let him escort her. It pains him to admit it, but he has a lot to learn from the other boy.
He barely catches Beomseok’s greeting as the older man leaves the locker room.
He shakes himself out of his trance and gets up. The locker room is empty. The others must’ve left without him noticing.
He wonders if Ijin’s still in the training room. Usually, he’s the first one in, last one out. He seems to dislike changing with the others. Seokju hurries into his regular clothes, not wanting Ijin to have to wait any longer. He reaches for the handle and lets his side fall into the door, pushing the heavy door open with his weight.
It gives way far easier than normal, and he’s met with the hard chest of a slightly taller Ijin, who looks down at him with the tiniest hint of bemusement in his eyes, before schooling his face into his usual stoic demeanor.
Why does he have to be so clumsy? Did he really have to stumble into Ijin, of all people? Beomseok he could handle, Seong-min, even. But Ijin? He feels small enough as it is. He lifts his chin a tiny but to meet the other boy at eye level, but it doesn’t go unnoticed. Ijin scans his face quickly, eyes landing on his tightly closed mouth for a split second before meeting his own again.
The tension is palpable, and Seakju opens his mouth quickly to apologize. Before he can get anything out, he’s stopped in his tracks:
“Seokju.” The tall blonde greets him. His voice is as monotone as always. His face shows no hostility. He steps aside to let him through.
Seokju hesitates for a second before nodding and stepping through. When he passes by, he lets out a quiet sigh of relief. He curses himself inwardly for his foolish behavior when the locker room door creaks. The noise catches him off guard, and he whirls around to find Ijin already looking back at him. His hand on the handle of the door still, his black eyes seeming to bore Seokju’s skull.
He can’t figure out if it’s scrutiny, curiosity, or indifference. And before he can find an answer, a question rolls off his tongue:
“Do you have plans tonight?”
It stays silent for a few seconds as he watches Ijin’s eyes widen ever so slightly. They glint golden in the sunlight coming in through the window. A vision of a deer caught in headlights enters his mind, and he quickly scolds himself internally.
Then, he watches Ijin’s eyebrows furrow just a bit in what seems to be genuine confusion. Another beat of silence passes, before Seokju catches up to what he’d said and moves to explain himself.
Heat explodes in his cheeks. One hand rises to the back of his head, and he looks everywhere but at Ijin when he explains his intentions.
“I wanted to ask if you wanted to train together.”
The question hangs in the air. He feels the blonds eyes boring into him still. It’s starting to feel a lot like scrutiny, and he scrambles to explain further.
“Uh, I feel like I could learn a lot from you.” He continues.
When he finally dares to meet his eyes, Ijin’s face has turned back into its usual, emotionless state.
“Sure.” He says.
“Oh, cool!”
Right. Played that off well.
A small bit of excitement swells in him at the prospect of training with Ijin.
Then, it’s quickly snuffed out by the reality of training with Ijin, who asks:
“Now?”
Seokju swallows down his nerves. He can already feel the bruises forming on his body. It might suck, but it’s going to be worth it. He’ll learn a lot.
“Yes.” He nods in assurance. “I brought my car. We can go to my place.”
Ijin considers it for a second, before nodding in confirmation. He throws his hand over his shoulder and thumbs in the direction of the locker room.
“I’m going to change.”
Seokju expects him to just go in, but another few moments of silence passes. He jumps into action when Ijin slowly begins to turn around.
“Right. Uh, I’ll wait for you downstairs. I have a note to give to Sujin.”
He turns on his heel and walks to the door faster than would be considered normal.