ALL BARK NO BITE | SADISTIC BEAUTY SPINOFF

Chapter 43

3 DAYS LATER

~ Zen Community Fitness Centre, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul

"Grrrgh... 97" Minho hissed through his gritted teeth, the muscles in his arms, chest and back bulged as he hoisted himself up and nearly over the monkey bar, hands holding tight onto the metal rod as finished the final set of his chin-ups. "Hnngh... 98" his jaw clenched harder, sweat dripping down his forehead, chin and down on his chest. "Hnnngh... 99..." hauled himself up again, a steady growl at the back of his throat.

His white, t-shirt rose higher and higher up his navel, exposing the smooth skin of his lower abs, hip cuts and back muscles, giving glimpses of the strap of his underwear. A woman walking down the treadmill aisle dropped her bottle on the floor, slipping in the mess as many others side-eyed him, trying hard to focus on the gym equipment of their choice. "Hnnnngggh... 100" Minho gave a last roar, finishing his final set and descended down in one agile leap.

"Haaah" he gripped his sides as he doubled over in recovery. It had been a while since he had come to the gym but now that his paid membership was about to run out, it made sense to make the best of it. He felt footsteps approach him "Good morning, nice to see you c-coming back to the gym" the trainer said, pushing her ponytail back on her shoulder and fanning her the side of her face and neck "Um..."

Minho was trying to wipe the sweat off his face with the end of his t-shirt so he could speak to the trainer properly. However, in his attempts to do so, he could feel the gaze of every man and woman in the vicinity fix intently on his glazed, exposed abs, watching as the telltale happy trail of hair trickled down to his... "Nice to see you too" he straightened up, pulling his t-shirt back down and saw her raise her brows "Aah, how have you been??" she exclaimed.

He had been busy writing the draft of the first chapter that Wang Hangyeol had asked for but she didn't need to know that. The world was still under the impression that he was serving as an instructor at Hanguk University as he had for so long before, therefore he went along with it "I've been, well... busy as usual... work... here and there..." he trailed and she nodded, he could see several heads behind her turning and looking.

"You should renew your gym membership, it's such a refreshing sight to see strong, healthy men in the gym" she said and Minho nodded. He didn't like that she was taking up his time. Moreover, he didn't have money to renew anything at the moment. Maybe once the manuscript was submitted... he'd be able to negotiate some deal with Mr. Wang. But until then "We'll see about it... I can barely find time to come here but I'll renew it once I'm able to" he reckoned.

He saw that she was still staring at his chest and felt greatly uncomfortable. "Ahem..." he cleared his throat but she seemed oddly affixed "Don't you realise how disgusting you're being?" he finally said and the trainer snapped out of her daze, looking up at him in shock "I'm sorry but I was just looking" she stuttered and Minho glared at her with disgust "Is your staring supposed to flatter me?" he asked her and she burned red.

"Look, be decent. You don't have to be rude. You should take it as a compliment" she said, nervously looking around the gym at those watching and Minho rolled his eyes "I was about to ask if it would be a compliment if we switched places but on second thought, I'm certain no broke dude would approach you, even though you're built like an ATM machine" he told the trainer.

"I suggest you focus on your own gym routine and stay the hell out of mine" he walked off.

*

After finishing all his exercises, Minho decided to shower at the gym. He always felt uncomfortable in closed locker rooms because of the stench and steam but mainly because he would it was embarrassing to be in the presence of naked men. That said, it now made sense to freshen up here, because bathing at Eunyeong's meant that it would add to her bills. She wasn't asking for anything in return and was already paying for his food, water and electricity.