— … Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty! Okay, enough!

At the command of the coach, Yoo Jae-kyung released the TRX loops [1].

"Well done. Rest for a while," the man added, patting him on the shoulder approvingly.

And Jaekyung sat down on the floor, catching his breath. Noticing that he had finished the exercise, Lucas briskly jumped off the stationary bike and grabbed the isotonic.

"Do you want it?" He mumbled.

Jaekyung stared silently at Lucas's drink for a while, and then thanked him in English. This happened for the first time - for a stubborn person to accept something from him. Which made the young man's face light up with joy. But, unfortunately, it did not last long. After all, Jaekyung immediately handed the isotonic to Mr. Yu with the words: "Here.

Because of this, Lucas's eyes reflected an all-encompassing longing.

"Didn't Lucas give it to you?" The coach asked.

"Yes, yes, help yourself," Lucas replied cheerfully, and folding his hands together, he wished him a good rest.

Mr. Yu, as if looking at his little nephew, who had just begun to speak, began to tell him something with a satisfied look. And while they were chatting, Jaekyung got to his feet and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the hem of his T-shirt. And then, approaching the cooler, he filled a paper cup with water. And, lowering his voice slightly so that only Jihon, who was sitting at the next table, could hear it, he whispered: "I didn't refuse," subtly hinting that there was nothing to reproach him for.

"Oh, yes," Jihon muttered.

"Giving it away right in front of the donor is like refusing in a rude form. Then it's better not to take it at all." Jihon's tongue itched to challenge all the arguments of the impudent man, but he only sighed from helplessness, waving his hand.

Why, as if he had caught the message, Jaekyung frowned: "Well, what again? I took the drink, and also treated the coach. I was kind to both of them, wasn't I?

Judging by his serious tone, he really thought so.

"yes... Well done," Jihon hummed with a slight hint of doubt.

Glancing at his lover, Jaekyung threw the crumpled glass into the trash can and said, "Then praise me later.

The firmly spoken demand left Jihon no time to respond, as he was literally speechless. And the bulldozer turned sharply and headed towards the coach.

Watching the retreating figure, Jihong cursed in his mind: "What kind of praise. You should first understand what true kindness is."

But if we turn a blind eye to such fundamental issues, the very fact that Kwon Jaekyung thought about being more lenient towards others, and even tried to act in that direction, was a significant achievement. So there is still a reason for a little encouragement.

In addition, Jihong initially did not expect that Jaekyung would immediately start behaving courteously with everyone. In fact, it all started with Lucas. Jihong, as a passing remark, advised him not to be so harsh with him and not to ignore him so demonstratively.

"Why on earth?" Jaekyung immediately objected. "I'm the same with everyone. What happens if I show him special favor and he misinterprets it? Do I need it?

Jihon was forced to admit that he was right. Jaekyung's indifference and indifference to others is a well-known standard. And if he suddenly started singling out Lucas, it would surprise everyone. And then the unfortunate young man suffering from unrequited love would be given empty hope, which would certainly prompt him to more decisive action. Well, then there would have been an obviously not the most pleasant ending. However, Jaekyung's behavior towards Lucas, which at times looked like cold disdain, was clearly a problem. When Jae-kyung spewed another rudeness, Ji-heon had to turn around, watching Oliver and Dr. Gleeson's reactions.

So, half-jokingly, Jihon said to him one day, "If you're worried that someone might think you're only kind to Lucas, then be the same to the others.

Puzzled and indignant, Jaekyung naturally flared up: "What? Because of Lucas, do I have to change my behavior?!

Seeing that his anger might be directed at an innocent guy, Jihon hurried to smooth things out: "Not because of Lucas, but because I don't like it when people say you're rude.

"But it's true, so what do you want me to do?"

— Yes, really. Who would have doubted.

In response, Jaekyung fell silent and just stared at Jihon.

Paradoxically, Kwon Jaekyung, who had admitted his coldness more than once, was slightly offended when Jihong pointed out this flaw. And now, hurt by another remark, the bulldozer frowned.

Noticing this, Jihong hurried to calm him down: "Still, I get upset when people talk badly about my boyfriend. Everyone likes to be praised. Isn't it? I like it.

The words "my boyfriend" made Jaekyung's ears twitch slightly. He fell silent, looking down at the floor, and finally clicked his tongue briefly, throwing his bangs back.

"All right. I'll try to try at least somehow.

Jihong sincerely believed that almost nothing would change between them. After all, they already behaved like a couple. However, surprisingly, the difference was significant. Previously, Jaekyung mentioned their deal at every opportunity: "You have to do it, even if you don't want to, these are the conditions."

But since they started dating, this has not happened again. As he had promised, if Jihong was against it, then Jaekyung, although upset, no longer insisted. On the contrary, he became more attentive to Jihon's words, especially when he used expressions such as "boyfriend" or "boyfriend." At that time, the stubborn bulldozer almost always agreed with everything without additional bickering. In the end, with this method, Jihong even solved some of the issues that had been bothering him for the past few months.

"By the way, Jaekyung, why do you keep calling Mina Minho?" Jihon asked one day.

And Jaekyung found a very dubious, but banal, explanation: "At first, I thought he was Minho, but then I got used to the name.

"Well, start calling him by his first name now, Minu."

Why did Jaekyung frown, as if asking, "Why?"

"Minho won't pay attention to it anyway, so why not?" he added.

"How do you know if Mina cares about it or not?" Imagine how it looks from the outside. You may be reproached for not remembering the name of the manager with whom you spent more than one month.

"Let them think what they want. Well, or I will say that I call him that in a friendly way.

"Really?" So it's a nickname? But then why do you call your boyfriend by name, and nothing else.

— … All right, I'll call him Mina.

After a few situations like this, Jaekyung seemed to start to guess that something was wrong. Once in the car on the way home, he gave out the following:

"Do you happen to meet me to make an episode of Our Child Has Changed?"

Although the remark sounded joking, it was clear from his tone and expression that it was not exactly a joke. Therefore, Jihong, immediately parking in a quiet place, did something to Jaekyung that he would definitely not do to a "child". After that, the issue was no longer raised.

If you think about it, the changes affected not only Jaekyung, but also himself. Jihon became more courageous and determined. Perhaps that's why he broke his rule of never having sex in the car. Moreover, the feelings, which, it would seem, could not become even greater, grew every day. Which was really surprising. As if neither love nor passion has any boundaries or ultimate values.

At every opportunity, when left alone, they naturally moved on to intimacy. Previously, Jihong could at least restrain himself a little, thinking that full sex was only appropriate on weekends, or convincing himself that they shouldn't go so far if they weren't a formal couple. But now they both had lost their brakes.

A fleeting kiss made him want to hug, and after hugging, he immediately wanted to accept Jaekyung. But it was no longer just lust. Jihong felt something more: the desire to truly possess Jaekyung. And now sex is not enough for him, he wanted to become one with it.

Weekdays and weekends - everything is mixed. Returning from work, Jihong began by pulling Jaekyung to him and, after kissing him, immediately impatiently pulled off his clothes. He used to waste time in the shower on purpose, knowing that Jaekyung would immediately start pawing at him in all places. Now he could not wait and called him to the shower himself. And although Jaekyung had already come clean from training, he never refused. Of course, "wash together" was a veiled invitation.

In addition to the increased tactile activity, another factor has been added - the side effects of inhibitors. As they say, all good things have a downside. Usually this was accompanied by mood swings for about ten days, and then a slight deterioration in physical condition, but this time it all happened at the same time. The emotional background was constantly changing, and the general state of health was consistently bad. Jihong suffered from headaches and stomach pains, but most of all he was tormented by severe nausea, because of which he was afraid to eat anything for the last days. And the drugs prescribed by the doctor did not help for long. Sometimes it was easier to induce vomiting and live in peace until the next meal.

But despite all the ailments, when he saw Jaekyung, he thought that everything was fine. He felt that he was able to endure even more. In return, he wanted to touch Jaekyung even more often and spend more time with him. After all, it was for this reason that he took such a step to stay close. Taking Jaekyung's hand, kissing him, and then gently stroking his hair was a kind of compensation for all the torment that Jihong faced.

The irony was that the worse his physical condition was, the lighter his soul became. After all, the side effects indicated that now there was an excessive amount of inhibitor in the body. And the release of pheromones will definitely not occur.

Indeed, once Jihong increased the dosage, Jaekyung's lactic acid levels returned to normal and have remained below 2 mmol/L ever since. On the sixth day after the start of the new program, Jaekyung set a time in the 400-meter individual medley - 4 minutes 5.22 seconds. Which was just under the 4 minutes 5.18 seconds with which Noah won gold at the last Pan-Pacific Championship.

– Okay, let's reduce the time by another 1.5 seconds by the Olympics. Oliver dropped the phrase calmly, though his words were very bold. The world record in the men's 400-meter individual medley was 4 minutes 3.84 seconds. Reducing the time by 1.5 seconds meant setting a new world record.

But Kwon Jaekyung decided to finally raise the bar: "For 2 seconds.

[1] TRX (Total Resistance eXercise) loops are a multifunctional bodyweight training equipment designed to improve strength, flexibility, endurance, and coordination.

TRX loops consist of: two sturdy straps, adjustable in length, handles for gripping hands, leg loops, fasteners (usually a door mount, an anchor for fastening on a horizontal bar or any other stable structure).