OFF OF THE DEEP END | CHANGLIX ✔️

15. gym day two

new cover :)

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don't you worry about a thing // stevie wonder

Even though Changbin had already been through the extravagant security to get inside the building before, it's still threatening to walk through the doors plastered with cameras and the intimidating man dressed in black glaring down at him. Not to mention he got mistaken for a celebrity— someone called Jongho? The fangirls milling around the garden had flocked him, to the point where Changbin had to pull down his mask, apologize and explain how he was not an idol, much to the fans' disappointment. The security guard didn't do shit either, probably due to the expendability of Changbin not being anyone famous. He made sure to give the guard an extra long glare, but then felt guilty as he imagined the sheer boredom waiting by a door for hours upon hours must cause.

The sizable walk through jagged corridors and glass elevators is easier today. During the ride in the glass cage, Changbin ran over the lesson he planned last night. After seeing the vast supply of materials in the gym, he was able to make more of an accurate plan based on what's available.

It had been several days of the same routine, Changbin declaring the focus and gives a simple layout of the plan, Felix nodding in agreement. Warmups, stretches, working out until they collapse and sweat drips onto the floor, lunch with the incredible cafeteria food, working out for the next hour and a half. Once done, Changbin would always in the locker room, which was still insanely luxurious— shower heads with multiple changing settings, the softest imaginable towels, even fucking LED lights lining the shower walls— and when he emerged, Felix was always gone. It scared him the first time, but after a text from the idol thanking him and the repetition of such an act, Changbin grew to get used to the sudden disappearance.

He'd planned a pool day today, taking advantage of the probably immense pool situated in the backrooms to plan a day filled with workouts swim-related. Changbin had always dreamed of having a pool as a child— though, who hadn't— and  the pool at the gym he currently had a membership to was either broken for the sixteenth time this year or stank of sweat and had suspiciously green water.

Felix waited near the door as normal, greeting Changbin with one of his trademark smiles full of straight, pearly white teeth. The pair settled on the opposite sides of a bench in the locker room, Changbin unloading his hoodie into the designated locker Felix had secured for him. He'd worn a random t-shirt and swim trunks today, preparing for the swim.

"What's our plan for today?" Felix asked in his usual cheery tone.

"Swimming."

"Great! I think I have swim gear... somewhere around here? Hopefully?"

He waited in silence as Felix dug through his locker, throwing aside bundles of clothes that Changbin caught and placed neatly on the bench. Eventually, after flinging around ten different sets of the same black designer sportswear, Felix emerged from the depths of the metal cage presenting itself as a gym locker, triumphantly cawing in glee.

"I found it! Knew I had it somewhere."

"Congrats?"

The two stood there, awkwardly staying in their respective places: Felix clutching the trunks with a smile still plastered on his face with the light in his eyes quickly dying out, Changbin still sitting on the wooden bench. It takes a minute longer than it should for Changbin's realization that Felix is waiting for him to leave so that he can have privacy when he changes.

Trying desperately to regain some of his dignity, Changbin spluttered, "I'll go check out the pool, let me know when you're ready!"

Anxious to leave the haze of discomforting silence, Changbin hurried out of the locker room, shutting the door behind him. Outside and back in the gym, he quickly walks the passage emitting the comforting smell of chlorine. It ends at an unlocked door, the small window showing a picture-perfect view of sparkling blue waters.