The door opened and the boys waited in anticipation. It was a petite young girl, in her sports leggings and top, her hair bundled up on top. Her shoes were the latest Nike design, and so were her attire.
So, this was the talked about Coach Shen Yue nicknamed "Ice Queen." Some called her the "coach from hell." Others said she was a man-hater, torture master and they overheard the girls calling her "The Psychic Coach", as she was rumored to read people's minds. Why on earth did their boss request her to train their friend?
"But she is cute." Kuan whispered and put on his best smile. He likes cute petite girls. "Well, at least she looks fitter than the last trainer he had." Kang reminded. They all nodded. That trainer was all talk and could not even run a 5km with them.
They turned to look at their friend, whom they half-dragged to the gym, to meet the person who would soon change his life. Fingers-crossed.
Her big brown eyes bored into theirs with expectation and coolness.
"Good morning, boys. My name is Shen Yue. Your boss had briefed me that this is a very important assignment." They nodded in silence.
"I would like to know how important is this assignment. And which one of you is the person I need to train?" She said eyeing the boys in front of her. She had their profiles memorized before the appointment.
The four of them debuted as models after a supermodel contest in China about 3 years ago. Since then, they were fondly known as F4, with F stands for 'friend.'
Liang Jin Kang, the tallest among the four, was a store promoter (he is most fond of promoting the popcorn machine and other household items) before he joined the contest for fun. His honest, boyish looks earned him popularity among the young and the older housewives who frequent the store to catch a glimpse of his promoting 'performance'. Because of his height, they called him 'Long' Jin Kang. Or 'Long Kang'.
(In Bahasa Melayu, my country language, longkang means drain. I promise it is just a coincidence 😂)
Chen Kuan Hoong was doing some advertisements and worked part-time as a beach lifeguard when someone scouted him after he had saved his son from drowning. On weekends, young girls would flock to the beach to get an eye on him who was popular for his boy-next-door smile. Some of them even pretended to drown to get his attention.
Wu Xi Ze, was a handsome but bored junior engineer when he was tricked by his friend, to join the contest. He was told that if he joined, he would have gotten a lifetime of free vouchers to the local supermarket. Xi Ze could be that frugal and gullible. But he was known in the industry for his diligence and professionalism.
And the last F4 member, the friend who tricked Xi Ze was Wang He Di, former athlete from a sports university, reputed to be most shuai since he won the first place. He was also rumoured as a 'woman killer'. All he needed to charm anyone was to give his piercing stare or his signature smile. Wang was versatile, he could be the cool guy or the boy next door. When he won, almost overnight, his Weibo account reached 1 million followers. But where is he today?
Xi Ze smiled. "Coach...this is important for us as we have a proposed contract renewal with an international company but they wanted to sign all four of us....The problem is....."
Kuan then chipped in..."our friend Wang He Di is unfit at this moment."
"Define unfit, Kuan" Shen Yue asked. How did she know my name? thought Kuan. He cleared his throat. "When you see him, you will know. We need your help to fix him."
Shen Yue smiled. "I don't fix people, Kuan. God does. I merely aid." The boys thought she should smile often. She looked less scary that way.
"Maybe we should tell her the situation," Kang suggested.
"Wang He Di had an injury 9 months ago during his basketball game. He was bedridden for few months and ended up binge eating. He...ahem gained almost 20kgs. Our boss had given him warning. If he does not get in shape, he loses his job." Xi Ze explained.
"The worse is he used to be so confident with himself. He had changed completely. We.... we really want the old Wang He Di back." Kuan said. "So, we signed him up to enter the upcoming China Model Search contest in 6 months time."
"But Coach Shen, the prelim round is in 4 months....." Kang explained.
"He needs to lose his weight by then. Can you help him?" Xi Ze asked.
"Does he want it? That's the most important point." Shen Yue asked, looking deep into their eyes.
"He didn't say otherwise."
"I want to meet him before deciding to take him in. I choose my clients." She said calmly. They looked at her, confused. "But, we were told that you have agreed to coach him. That is the reason why we brought him here."
"I work with people who wants to work. Where is he?" She asked unperturbed by the boys' concern.
"Hmm....you are looking at him right now, Coach Shen," Kuan said, pointing to Wang He Di who was drooling in his sleep at the nearest bench.
"Get him coffee, Kang. Wake him up, Xi Ze." She commanded. Kang hurriedly went to the vending machine and Xi Ze shook his friend's arm furiously. "Wake up, idiot!"
When his eyes finally opened, his friends straightened him up and gave him coffee. He took a sip and looked around.
"Are we late for the appointment?" He asked groggily. "Sorry I had too much of League of Legends, slept this morning." He yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"Didi, she's here." Kuan whispered.
"Who?"
"Your coach."
"Where?"
"Here, you dummy. In front of us."
When they finally made eye contact, Yue thought he had attractive brown eyes and sharp nose, despite the weight he put on around his face. There was no question why he was the top model. She had seen his photos and now being overweight, he looked heavier especially around his belly. Honestly, Yue thought he would look much better with some extra weight but she kept quiet. Models live in separate world. An ideal weight for them may not be ideal for their profession.
"Hello Wang He Di, I'm Shen Yue. I'm assigned to coach you."
His eyes widened and then he laughed, looking at his friends "Oh, but she is just a girl."
"Not more than you are a boy. I'm one year older than you, Wang."
"You look really young, coach. I'm sorry where are my manners? I'm Wang He Di, please call me Didi." He extended his hand and shook hers firmly.
"I think Wang would be good. Your friends told me that you had issues with eating."
"Always and forever! I love eating. I'm also a good cook. Would you like to try my cooking, coach?" he smiled. His smile is one of his greatest asset, Yue would agree. But she had no time nor interest to analyze his looks. She needed answers.
"Wang, why are you serious to lose weight now? Do you want to? I want hear it personally from you."
"Of course! Look at me! I'm like a panda now. My friends are going to disown me soon from F4 if I don't do this." He laughed.
Yue narrowed her eyes. Sunshine boy is all surface about losing weight but she needed more.
"And what will it cost you if you didn't?"
"What do you mean, coach?" He turned to look at his friends. "Did you tell her about the contract?" They nodded.
"Just like what they said, we will lose the contract."
"It's just another job, isn't it? You can get a new deal elsewhere or change jobs maybe? There's a whole new world out there besides modelling." she challenged him.
His face changed. His brows furrowed. He did not look sleepy now. "Coach Shen, modelling is my passion. It's what I always wanted to do. I worked hard to be here. And I want to be playing basketball again. I hope you are not bias against models. We are not just handsome faces only."
Yue looked at him slowly, nodded slightly and smiled. "Thank you, Wang. That is good enough for me. We can start our training tomorrow 8am."
His friends cheered and patted Didi's shoulder. He honestly did not know what just happened.
"Oh, I have a request. Wang He Di will train with either one of you once a week. I have informed your boss." They groaned.
"I take that as a yes. Oh boys, please wear your sports attire with proper shoes but no sleeveless tops."
"Why?" Didi asked.
"I'm allergic to armpit hair." she answered nonchalantly.
"Oh don't worry coach! I have shaved mine ages ago!" Kang exclaimed lifting his arm up. "Why would you do that?" Xi Ze asked, looking flabbergasted. Kang scratched his head "Didn't you guys do it? What if we get a swimsuit shoot? Or a topless assignment?"
The boys started debating why they should keep their armpit hair and Kuan was siding Kang and seeing he had a point and might get an appointment with the wax parlour too.
Yue cleared her throat, very loudly. The boys suddenly remembered a female was still in the room with them. They looked away embarrassed except for Wang He Di.
"Wang He Di, last question, do you have any scary wife or girlfriend?"
Kuan chuckled. Kang blurted out "His girlfriend left him when he was nursing from his injury."
"Kang!" scolded Didi, giving him a murderous glare.
Kang looked at him innocently. "Isn't that a fact? And coach, she walked out because she said he was overweight."
"Actually, she could not accept it. I think she gave up on me," he said quietly.
Yue saw how Didi's shoulders dropped. Something moved inside her heart.
"Wang, don't feel bad. I will help you get back what you lost."
Didi looked up when she spoke. She did not smile but there was a light in her eyes that comforted him.
She continued. "I asked because my last client's wife thought I was sleeping with her husband. It's better to be safe than sorry. See you boys tomorrow. DO NOT BE LATE." She glanced at all of them, coolly before turning to leave the room.
Once she was gone, the boys breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is she classic or what?"
"Didi, you are gonna be 'frozen' by Ice Queen!"
"Did you see how she scrutinize him?"
All Wang He Di said, while staring at her lean back and endless legs, was "She is cool."
______________
Author's note:
Hi everyone! This is a preview of a new fanfic. It will be my new year present to all of you. If there are resolutions that you have not fulfilled in 2019, NOW is the right time to start! Why wait for 2020 to come and go through the motion again?
This story will have many character flaws, (maybe writing flaws😝) some far-fetched ideas, hopefully funny and definitely romantic moments. It's a new challenge for me and I'm planning to enjoy it as I write.
I hope to see you in the new fanfic soon!
💛💜 Hsien
5.11.2019