THANK YOU // DEX ✔️

8.

She kept her promise. Even though she didn't want to and felt her whole body starting to sweat as the gym came closer, she was also happy. She tried to unlearn her fear, and what could be better than a gym with a guy, especially with someone who obviously had an interest in her.

It was exactly five o'clock when Siyoung emerged from the changing room. Dex was already waiting for her outside the door. The smile on his face – it somewhat calmed Siyoung down because suddenly he didn't look as tough. He looked handsome and nice.

"Hi," he greeted her.

"Hello," Siyoung greeted back. She felt her voice start to shake, and maybe her whole body was shaking too, but after a few years, she had stopped noticing that.

"I'm glad you came," Dex still smiled. He was truly glad that Siyoung didn't bail on him, because he had been afraid that's exactly what the singer would do. But she didn't. She really stood in front of him, wearing exactly what she had worn at the gym the last time – it suited her very well.

"We haven't had a proper introduction yet. I'm Kang Siyoung, you can call me Si, Siyoung, Young or whatever you want," she introduced herself. She didn't extend her hand to him, she didn't feel ready for that yet. And Dex probably understood that, because when he introduced himself, he didn't offer his hand either.

"Kim Jinyoung," he continued smiling, "call me however you want. Jin, Jinyoung, Young, Dex. Even 'hey you' works," he tried to joke. It worked, because suddenly Siyoung felt less nervous. The sweating in her palms was almost gone, and her breathing wasn't as erratic.

"Shall we start with warm-up?" Siyoung asked. Jinyoung nodded. "I'd like to see how a former UDT soldier works out. What if we try your training routine?" she asked as they walked side by side towards the mirrors.

"Do you think you can handle it?" he asked her.

"No, but you never know until you try," she laughed, "my dad was your commanding officer, so maybe I'll manage some basics."

"What?" Jinyoung stopped in his tracks, "your father is Kang Joonwoo?"

"Yeah. He used to talk about you sometimes," Siyoung nodded, "he liked you. He was sad when you got discharged and left."

"He was a great commander. I didn't know he had a daughter. And that daughter is you," Jinyoung continued walking. He didn't know what to think about the fact that the girl he liked was the daughter of his former commanding officer. The commander was great, but did that mean he would have to attend some family gatherings if things worked out? He was glad he had finally left the army, and now he was finding out that the military was still somewhat close to him.

"Just because I'm a soldier's daughter doesn't mean much. Now, on the ground and show me the UDT soldier training," she ordered him. Jinyoung smiled at her behavior and truly showed her the tough UDT unit training.

~•~

"You couldn't stop me when I was coming up with this crazy idea, could you?" she asked, still catching her breath. Jinyoung, who was sitting about two meters away, was also catching his breath, but not as much as Siyoung. After all, he was used to this kind of workout. Or maybe he was good at pretending he was fine. Something Siyoung wasn't capable of. She was struggling, and she didn't mind if everyone saw it.

"I asked you if you could handle it, and you said yes. I believed you, and look at you now. You've done it," he smiled and handed Siyoung her water. "You're doing better than most rookies. They usually puke after the first five minutes. Look at yourself. You've lasted two hours and haven't thrown up once."

"Do you want me to throw up? I'll gladly do it!" she threatened him. Jinyoung laughed – Siyoung was truly adorable, and now, with her hair glued to her forehead with sweat, she looked even cuter and, at the same time, sexy.

"That's alright," Jinyoung chuckled and sat up. He noticed that Siyoung's shoelace was untied.

"Can I?" he pointed at the shoelace. Siyoung raised her head to see where he was pointing. When she saw her untied shoelace, she nodded. She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. Did Jinyoung really ask her if he could tie her shoelace? He didn't want to make her nervous by getting closer, so he decided to ask instead?

At that moment, Siyoung made up her mind.

"Pass me your phone, I'll give you my number."