5

"Mr. Kim?", I called out in a soft voice intertwining my fingers behind my back and peeking from his side. he inhaled sharply and turned back with a blank expression.

"Are you upset?", I ask him even though it was a very lame conversation starter since I was already aware of that. He didn't reply, he just shrugged and stretched before dropping to the ground on his knees, taking a stance for pushups.

"Sir," I called out again as sweetly as I could and he hummed starting with his push-ups, completely ignoring that I was trying to talk to him. I silently stomped my feet and frowned.

"Mr. Kim, why are you ignoring me?", I asked a little louder and he gave me a side glance but faced forward again. I whined and walked across sitting in front of him with my legs crossed so he wouldn't be able to avoid me since I was right in front of his eyes. He closed his clenching his jaw as his neck and body were strained due to working out.

I jutted my legs out straight under him so he would stop but he just continued doing his reps a little above my legs with his eyes closed shut, irritating me beyond belief. With another sigh and my lip clamped between my teeth, I placed my phone to the side and slid down as soon as he pushed himself upward and before he could come down.

His eyes widened and he sucked in his breath out of surprise. I too could feel my cheeks burn as I realized what a big mistake I just made. He breathed heavily looking directly at me and the urge to pull him closer to end this tenacious gap between our bodies increased. With a shaky hand and eyes locked onto those gorgeous dragon ones that had never seemed this beautiful before, I grasped the fabric of his top and harshly pulled him closer to myself.

"Soph," he whispered out breathless and braced his arms from beside my head to one of them near my shoulder and the other one almost touching my waist. I felt intimidated by the very visible size difference between the two of us and with his lips just a few bloody inches away from mine, my thought process was frozen, over and over, playing a kiss from the figments of my imagination.

"Why can't you just listen to me, Mr. Kim? Are you upset?", I asked gulping. My hand was still tightly fisting his top almost flushing our chests together. His hot breath fanned over my lips and neck causing a shivering tingle through my spine till the end of my toes.

"Yes, Sophie, I am indeed upset but I'm not upset because of you. I'm just upset with life," he mumbled closing his eyes as a drop of sweat trickled from his silver locks onto the side of his forehead. I hummed softly and grabbed the towel from his side. I had no idea why this was all so comfortable for me and I didn't think he had any intentions of protesting.

"I know it must be hard, I know and I'm sorry," I whispered sliding my palm under his wet bangs pushing them upwards. He wasted no time in slithering his arm under me and around my waist. With one swift movement, he had picked me up leaning back and sitting with his back against one of the leather benches of the gym and me on his right thigh.

"It's not your fault, it never was. It's just", he paused for a moment closing his eyes as I wiped the sweat off his forehead before continuing, "me, it's just me," he finished with a soft exhale.

"It's not you either, that's just how life is, sir. It's gonna be fine with time. Time heals everything," I said as I threw the towel to the side placing my hands on his shoulders while his hands hesitantly crawled onto my waist. The largeness of his palms consumed the whole of my waist making me feel smaller than I already was but there was one problem.

It turned me on at the wrong time.

"Oh Sophie, Can I do something?", He asked with a strained expression and I quickly nodded my head up and down without hesitation. "Forgive me if I make you uncomfortable," he mumbled before enclosing his muscular arms around my waist and pulling me into him in a tight hug, his face pressed into the crook of my neck.

He squeezed me strongly and nuzzled deeper into my neck. I gasped loudly not knowing where to put my hands while simultaneously melting at the sight of such a tough guy acting like a big baby as he whined softly guiding my wrist to his back. A silent request for me to hug him back.

"Oh you poor little thing," I cooed softly rubbing his back with one hand and caressing his hair with the other one. I was amused with the way he slowly melted in my arms, the thoughts of being in a public place or our relationship being a little too formal for all this were long forgotten.

"Just for the record, I'm not poor and neither am I 'little thing'. That would be you," he mumbled in a sleepy tone and I scoffed before gripping his hair tighter than before but not enough to hurt him. He hissed slightly but chuckled shifting his chin to lean the side of his face on my shoulder instead. I looked down at him, my heart aching at the sight of his exhaustion.

It wasn't new, my heart always ached for him. Every day for the past four years.

"Let's go out tonight after you sleep for a while," I mumbled more to myself than to him since he was pretty much already asleep but surprisingly he hummed pulling his phone out of his pocket and handing it to me.

"Mr. Kim I think your bad boy image is about to be ruined. I can see a few girls at the entrance of the gym," I teased side-eyeing him and he quickly shot up causing me to tumble down with his phone in my grasp and the driver on speaker.

"If anybody asks, this never happened." He warned, dusting himself.

"Mr. Kim! That was rude but don't worry I don't wanna embarrass myself either!", I huffed out with irritation and he cleared his throat rolling his shoulders back. I switched the speaker button off and placed the phone against my ear, glaring at him. I sprung up to my feet, stumbling for a moment, and enticed a soft chuckle from him.

I walked past him shoving my shoulder against his bicep as I told the driver to be across the road but he didn't even budge, instead, I almost fell again. He laughed loudly throwing his head back and grabbed my phone, following me. He lightly pushed me against the back wall of the elevator once we had gotten in. It would've been light if I was him but I winced and my shoulder collided with the mirror in the elevator.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry, Oh god, It must hurt," he quickly mumbled apologies, panicking. I snapped my neck towards him squinting my eyes playfully because I knew he would laugh which he did. And he did it so beautifully that my heart almost sunk with the fear of not being able to see him laugh just like that again, super clear dimples popping out graciously and his eyes crinkling around the corners as he threw his head back in ecstasy.

The sound of his giggle filled the small elevator in such a way that unknowingly, my lips curled up too and I laughed along with him. Mocking myself with no regrets whatsoever.

"I don't know if you'd want to but I'll ask anyway. Sophie, would you perhaps be interested in watching a match with me at my place? It airs at two, we can pick your clothes up on the way and reach home by one," he asked as the elevator dinged open and I walked ahead of him looking around for any cameras.

"Mr. Kim, is it Trevor's match today?", I glanced back at him to find him nodding with a very faint smile. Trevor and Mr. Kim were cousins, not too far apart in age but Trevor really looked up to him just like me. Unfortunately, he was too busy and also married so he had moved out of the Villa both of them shared.

"Sure, let's watch it but only if you promise not to yell every time something happens. Just watch it silently, you yelling from home isn't gonna change who wins eventually," I mumbled as I opened the door to the car after we had crossed the street.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me what to do, you're not my boss, I am!", he exclaimed jumping in and settling into his seat across mine. I scowled at his back and hopped in myself.

"You're too loud, I can't be fighting with you all the time. We've had about three fights already today," I said with my arms crossed across my chest and slid down in my seat to be comfortable.

"That's not even called a real fight."

"Excuse me? What do you mean by 'not a real fight'? What do you want me to do sir? Start boxing with you so you can break me into two?", I asked waving my hands in the air.

"There are other ways to do that," he whispered with a sly smirk and I gasped hitting his knee repeatedly. A hoarse laugh erupted from his throat but I didn't laugh this time. It wasn't something to be joking about! One should think about others too!

"Oh for god's sake, you guys fight like a married couple, just stop, I can't drive like this!", the unnamed driver screamed in a frustrated tone and both of our eyes widened.

"No, we don't!", My voice overlapped with Mr. Kim, immediately shutting us both up, silence blanketed the whole car for a few minutes both of us just trying to stay without arguing but Nathan chose violence today. His legs propped up on the empty area next to me and his intention was pretty clear. He knew I hated shoes anywhere near me so he shot me a competitive look and slowly shifted his feet closer to me a few inches.

I groaned in frustration and stomped my feet against the floor of the car quickly jumping on his seat side. He puffed his chest out in victory and crossed his arms arrogantly.

"Mr. Kim, honestly, you're one of the most annoying people on earth."

"I know it must be hard, I know and I'm sorry," he said mocking my tone from before. My cheeks darkened in shyness and I stomped harder.

"It was decided we weren't gonna speak of that again!" 

The ride back home was accompanied by heavy teasing and a little laughter from my side about how I always get too soft and then regret it in presence of others. Regardless, I stood my point that I couldn't control it anyway. 

"I'm gonna take a shower, won't take too long," he sighed, placing his water bottle on the kitchen counter next to me and I had to do a double-take to realize that he almost leaned in to say something before rushing off to his room upstairs. With a chuckle of amusement, I took out a packet of chips from above the shelf and then settled down on the couch, waiting for him to return. 

When Mr. Kim did return, he was dressed quite scantily in just a pair of shorts that hung slightly low on his waist and I almost choked. "Oh, want me to put on a shirt?", he smirked softly, cocking his head back to his bedroom to punctuate his challenge. 

"I don't care either way, sir, the match's about to be on again in barely a minute," I shrugged, totally ignoring the way his eyes lingered on my reddened cheeks. Regardless, Mr. Kim took a seat next to me on the couch, a safe distance between the two of us as we concentrated on the fight. Trevor was, as usual, amazing at what he did and it was showing right then. 

It was silent for a few minutes and I thought my eyes could almost droop shut due to exhaustion but suddenly Mr. Kim's loud voice boomed through the rather empty house and I jumped in my seat. "That ref is a freaking cheater! Did you see how he-" 

"Yes I did," I groaned, rolling my eyes to emphasize how tired I was, and Mr. Kim mimicked me before continuing his screams about how unfairly Trevor was being treated. "He's an adult, Mr. Kim, I'm sure he'll take care of it on his own, Just worry about yourself," I mumbled. 

"No! Can't you see it? He's definitely-" 

I closed my eyes, knowing that he probably wasn't even sparing me a glance but before I could nap happily, Mr. Kim sprung up to his feet, furious about something absolutely meaningless. 

"Oh come on! I'm going home!" I yelled slamming the door shut behind me and stomped out to the main entrance but before I could, the door opened again revealing none other than our beloved Mr. Boxer. He sighed ruffling his hair and took a step towards me resulting in me taking one back. 

"Sophie, I'm sorry, come back in, I promise I'll behave," he said in a calm voice holding his hand out for me to take. Short huffs and pants that were erupting out of my nostrils gradually slowed down and I flipped my hair sassing him as I rounded him to go back inside. 

"One, you don't yell. Two, we're not watching a fucking match now," I growled out with a heaving chest. I had no idea where the confidence came from but I didn't mind cursing or being rude to him right now. I had enough of his attitude and anger since morning. Five fights in a day? He was just begging me to resign. 

"Okay, we'll watch a movie instead but just stay here," the last part wasn't probably meant for me to hear but I did. He took two long strides and stood right in front of me, boring his eyes into me causing very unnecessary eye contact and flips of my stomach in just a few seconds. 

"Stop fighting with me Sophie, you know I'm not myself around you."