Double Meaning

1.1

Smash! Smash!

As the racket swung harder, the ball rebounded off the wall even faster. The man caught the ball in his hand as it bounced off the corner. His forehead was dripping with sweat.

His tennis shoes squeaked against the wooden floor. His panting breaths were heated, almost as if he was forcing his body beyond its limits. The man hadn't let go of his racket for 45 minutes. Only when his timer alarm went off did he stride out of the high-ceilinged room.

"Wow. You must have a lot of stress."

The man had been wiping his sweat with a towel. he turned his head towards the person speaking to him. A woman with her hair slicked back into a long ponytail clapped her hands as she spoke. She seemed quite excited.

"I'm sorry if I'm being rude. It's just that your play was so amazing. I couldn't take my eyes off you."

The man didn't reply and merely drank his water as he stared at her. He had long eyes. His dark eyebrows were slightly furrowed. The faint wrinkles between his brows suggested that he often frowned like this. All this seemed to be proof of his prickly personality.

"There are only two reasons why I'd be working out at the crack of dawn."

When Lisa had first seen him in a photograph, the first thought she had was that he had an incredible figure. However, after seeing him in person, the man's features were even more amazing. It was as if he had been cut from stone. His facial features seemed to enhance this impression. However, that wasn't what she noticed first. His incredibly fit physique gave off an intimidating aura that drew the eyes of every person there. He was definitely going to be a difficult target.

"......"

The man continued to stare at Lisa as he drank the rest of the water in his water bottle. He didn't even seem to blink.

He looked unusually calm for someone who had just finished an intense workout, and his face wasn't flushed. It actually looked rather pale. Lisa flashed her white teeth and gave him a pretty smile.

"Either I feel frustrated because a lot of stress has piled up, or I'm really nervous about something. I feel so tense that I want to let out some sweat."

As she chatted with a stranger, she didn't give off a dangerous vibe. Wearing a short, white athletic outfit, she looked like a young, bubbly college student. Seeing that the man in front of her wasn't responding, she gave a small shrug.

"I only asked because I was a bit curious. You were hitting that ball so violently."

"There's a lot piled up."

After finishing his water, Jungkook spoke for the first time. His baritone voice wasn't loud, but it dominated the entire room. His calm way of speaking also seemed to suit him. SungHo had a thin voice that didn't seem to suit someone like him. He managed to cover it up and make it huskier by smoking cigarettes, but it still sounded funny whenever he spoke. She didn't have to worry about that with this man, though. At this thought, Lisa nodded.

"Aah, like I thought. It was stress after all."

"...I guess you can call it that."

He was still staring at her. His gaze made Liss feel awkward. Since she'd only seen him in secretly-taken photographs, meeting him in person was a lot more intense than she expected. She thought that she had gotten used to the gazes of men, but her palms were currently damp with sweat.

"You must have a stressful job."

"Is that the case for you?"

He slightly tilted his head as his long eyes looked at her. She felt as if he was looking at her like a predator would look at its prey.