Chapter 329: Let’s just pretend
The air immediately felt tense and what was that? Jin-Yeok was smirking as if this whole situation were a game to him.
How can he hold someone else in front of me and expect me to stay calm? He... He was hurting me and he didn’t even realize it.
I wanted to throw the crumpled can at both of them.
I wanted her gone. My inner thoughts screamed. All it would take was one word from me. One word and this whole thing would stop.
But no. If I said that, if I complained now, Jin-Yeok would smirk, tilt his head, and say something like,
"Ah, so you were jealous after all."
And I’d rather eat dumbbells for breakfast than hand him that victory. Yes, I’m petty and pained. Leave me alone.
So I persevered.
I clenched my teeth and pushed through the planks, the stretches, the endless reps over and over even as I felt her gaze drifting back and forth, far too often that it seemed like she honestly wanted to provoke me.
She wasn’t even hiding it anymore.
Her tone would soften when speaking to him, but then sharpen when correcting me and my dumb stances.
And then she would ’accidentally’ brush his arm while passing the resistance bands, blushing and saying soft words like,
"Ops, my bad. I hope you don’t mind."
And each time, Jin-Yeok would smile back and shake it off.
"It’s no problem."
But it was a problem. It was a huge problem for me.
Each time all this happened, the fire in my chest grew hotter, and the space tightened, making me uncomfortable, as if I couldn’t breathe.
I told myself to let it go. That I could endure. That I wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of thinking I was jealous.
They may just be doing this on purpose, Jin-Yeok was. And he was using the trainer’s feelings to his advantage.
I bit my lip. Let’s just not look at them.
Let’s just pretend what was in front of me was a movie being acted out and I was one of the side characters that didn’t matter.
But just as I was finally calming the fuse in my head, she did it again.
Right in front of me, her hand lingered too long on his shoulder, her eyes glittering with something that had nothing to do with professionalism, and her lips curving softly.
It looked like she wanted to say something and this very important something just had to be said directly in his ear.
Oh, so they’re keeping secrets now.
As I watched her lean in to whisper in his ear, that awfully close proximity finally made me lose it and my thread of patience finally snapped.
"Get your filthy hands off him!" I barked, shocking both of them, and they turned to me.
I was fuming. Like literally fuming with steam gushing out of my ears and my face burned in rage.
"Are you here to train me," I barked, my voice ringing louder than I’d ever heard it, "Or are you here to flirt with my man?!"
At that moment, the room felt frozen.
The trainer straightened her back at once, her eyes darting away and she coughed a mon existing cough.
My chest rose and fell heavily, fury vibrating through every muscle like I could boil a kettle with the sheer heat alone.
"This is my training session," I continued, my voice sharp, and unyielding, and my fingers pointed at them. "I came here to exercise not watch this shit show you two are putting up, Master." I faced Jin-Yeok. "If you came here to entertain the trainer who’s acting like some schoolgirl with a crush, then you can get out. Now. Both of you. I don’t need your help if that’s it."
Her lips parted, but no sound came out. She looked caught between shock and indignation. She tried again, wanting to say something, but ended up putting her hand on the back of her neck, awkwardly looking over at Jin-Yeok.
And Jin-Yeok... My master, who was apparently a gentleman outside, looked at me, shocked.
That amused smile he once had was gone and had been replaced by a perplexed expression.
He was my master and I didn’t have the right to speak so harshly towards him. Even if he did love me but I felt he had gone too far this time.
I don’t know what he was trying to show me or what he was trying to achieve by entertaining Trainer Kim’s flirting in front of me but he definitely crossed the line. There was just so much I could handle.
If he was going to punish me then I didn’t care. He could do whatever but was this the extent of the affection he had towards me?
Was he trying to say that anyone has access to him as long as they don’t have eyes for me? Then what was I supposed to feel from this?
I gritted my teeth and turned away,
"Whatever," I said. "I’ve had enough. It was definitely a mistake to come here today and I... I don’t think I’ll want to see you for the time being, Master."
Jin-Yeok’s eyes immediately widened. A sense of abandonment filled him, and his heart was struck by a rod.
I knew I said I would never abandon him but this... This time... He should just give me my space.
It seems the planned outing for later won’t work out this time, either.
I don’t know. I’m just tired. Let’s just go back, have a nice bath, and sleep.
But as I headed for the door, rushed and heavy footsteps landing on the polished floors approached and before I knew it, Jin-Yeok had wrapped his arms around me, locking me in position.
What in the world was he doing?
Did he think doing this would fix the mess? With the same arms he used to hold up the trainer and act like a knight in shining armor?
"Let go," I said, barely struggling and hoping he’d listen to my words.
"No,"
"I said let go," I repeated but he squeezed tightly.
"No."
I got so angry that I used the back of my head to wound his chin, hitting him hard.
He could’ve avoided it but he didn’t. He took the hot and that made me feel bad but I still wanted to get out of his hold.