Too Close for Comfort

The players who had gone ahead were lightly jogging around the field. Cha Seok-young pulled Hyun towards the center of their group.

“Hey, why in the middle…!”

Despite Hyun’s bewildered whisper, Cha Seok-young didn’t hesitate. He pulled Hyun even harder, cutting into the middle of the jogging group.

“Oh, what the… Cha Seok-young?”

“Why does this guy run here when he should be at the back?”

“Hey, get away from me. You’re making me look bad! And you even brought Hyun-ssi along.”

Surprised by the sudden intrusion, the players complained loudly. Hyun, forced to share the resentful glances, smiled awkwardly. ‘I’m sorry,’ he mumbled, trying to apologize and step back, but Cha Seok-young didn’t budge at all.

“I brought the straggler.”

He replied gruffly, only patting Hyun’s chest with his arm around his shoulder.

“Don’t get lost, just keep running well. I’ll be back after I change.”

He whispered, looking at Hyun as if to admonish him. His persistent gaze lingered, and Hyun’s heart began to pound rapidly. He felt out of breath already, even though the running had just begun.

Cha Seok-young seemed unwilling to leave until he got an answer. His expression, twisting his head slightly to demand a reply, was stubborn. Hyun barely managed to move his stiff neck and nodded.

Only then did the shoulder embrace, which had been tormenting his heart, release. Cha Seok-young jogged lightly, moving away towards the dugout. He kept turning back to check on Hyun, like a surveillance officer.

“Why is he like that? Hyun-ssi isn’t a child or anything.”

Seon Dae-gyu poked Hyun’s arm and laughed. Hyun shook his head with an awkward smile.

“I’m not sure.”

As he mumbled his reply, Shim Sang-jin and Jeong Hye-seong joined the running group. Jeong Hye-seong naturally stayed at the very back, but Shim Sang-jin, more brazen than Cha Seok-young, cut in directly in front of the camera. He was two rows ahead of Hyun.

“What were you talking about with Hye-seong for so long?”

Captain Baek Sung-joon nudged Shim Sang-jin and asked. Shim Sang-jin subtly checked the camera and bluffed loudly.

“Oh, he was asking for some advice, I guess. Must be because he’s an idol. He’s a passionate friend. He just wouldn’t let go, you know?”

His cackling, ‘good senior’ smile was artificial. Hyun, unconsciously narrowing his brows, glanced back.

Jeong Hye-seong was forcing a smile to agree with Shim Sang-jin’s words. But his usually clear face, even when expressionless, now looked darker despite smiling.

Feeling uneasy, Hyun cautiously slowed his pace. It was the moment he subtly adjusted his stride, stepping a foot away from the group.

“Whoa there, don’t fall behind.”

Seon Dae-gyu grabbed his arm and pulled him. Hyun turned with surprised eyes, and he grinned.

“Our Hyun-ssi shouldn’t get lost again.”

He had criticized Cha Seok-young for treating Hyun like a child, but now he was even worse. Hyun, unable to resist the strong pull, had no choice but to run beside him.

“Alright, now we’re officially starting our warm-up. We’ll begin with static stretching.”

A break finally came after the running ended. The players, who had been closely packed, scattered to make space for stretching, and Hyun quickly headed to the back. For better or worse, Jeong Hye-seong was standing alone.

Hyun approached him and asked softly.

“Are you okay?”

Jeong Hye-seong, glancing towards the front, also mumbled in a low voice.

“I’m fine. Though I did think, ‘there are people who act territorial at that age…’”

With a purely innocent face, Jeong Hye-seong was surprisingly honest. Hyun thought it was actually a good thing and nodded.

“Don’t let it get to you, just shake it off.”

“Yes, thank you for caring.”

“Thank you, my senior.”

When Hyun deliberately teased him to lighten the mood, Jeong Hye-seong jumped up and waved his hands. ‘Senior? No matter what, that title isn’t right,’ he thought, recoiling, when the trainer shouted loudly.

“To get acquainted, we’ll start with pair stretching. Pair up with the person in front of you, back to back, and we’ll start with extension!”

Jeong Hye-seong, whose words were cut off, approached with a reluctant look. Hyun smiled and stood back-to-back with him, intertwining their arms. Beyond them, Seon Dae-gyu and the Captain were already noisily carrying each other on their backs and being carried.

“Captain, settle down. Everyone, you need to take this seriously. Because minor injuries are frequent these days, we’re going over the basics slowly. Alright, we’ll do this five times each. Start.”

Hyun and Jeong Hye-seong moved slowly to the coach’s count. They repeated the motion of curving their backs to pull their partner up, then leaning against their back to stretch their entire body.

“Next is shoulders. One person clasps their hands behind their head and stands, and the other person…”

The training coach grabbed Seon Dae-gyu and turned him around. Seon Dae-gyu, who suddenly became the demo model, raised his arms with a bewildered expression. As he took the pose according to the coach’s explanation, the coach moved closely behind Seon Dae-gyu.

“Like this, you trap both of your partner’s arms like a safety bar and gently pull.”

“Ugh! Ah, time, time!”

“Rather than pulling hard, apply force slowly, feeling it stretch all the way to your pectorals and armpits.”

Jeong Hye-seong nodded and raised his arms first. Hyun approached and stood behind him, who had clasped his hands behind his head. He carefully pulled Jeong Hye-seong’s arms in a back-hug posture.

“Huck, this is too much, ugh! Please be gentle.”

“Oh, sorry. Did it hurt?”

It looked like a simple movement, but screams were erupting from everywhere. Just as the surprised Hyun quickly tried to lessen his strength, a large figure approached from somewhere.

“Jung Hyun.”

With a low voice, his arm was sharply pulled. Cha Seok-young, whom he turned to face, had a chilling expression.

“Isn’t it basic to train pitchers and fielders separately?”

He asked irritably, looking at Jeong Hye-seong. Jeong Hye-seong, with an expression as if he didn’t know the obvious, nodded silently in embarrassment and slowly moved away. His disheartened back, as he left to find a new partner, made Hyun feel uneasy again about what had just happened.

“Why are you being so mean again? We can do warm-ups together, can’t we?”

‘He could have said it nicely, but his temper.’ Hyun grumbled and looked around, and indeed, Cha Seok-young was right. Fielders were with fielders, and pitchers were closely entangled with pitchers. Hyun, observing this, suddenly had an ‘Oh no’ moment.

‘I have to do that intertwined stretching with Cha Seok-young!’

The posture he had done so casually with Jeong Hye-seong just a moment ago suddenly seemed strange. It felt too embarrassing to adopt such a suggestive posture recklessly in such a bright outdoor setting.

Cha Seok-young grabbed Hyun, who instinctively tried to back away, and pulled him in. He hugged him from behind, like a back-hug, and said in a low voice close to his ear.

“Raise your arms.”

Goosebumps pricked his earlobe. Cha Seok-young personally lifted Hyun’s stiff arms and placed them behind his head, then pressed even closer. Hyun held his breath at the feeling of his large, firm body touching him without any gaps.

Cha Seok-young slowly pulled Hyun’s arms. It wasn’t a painful intensity, but it was enough to impact his body, which was stiff with tension. His clasped hands strained so much they turned white.

“How can your shoulder rotate when your muscles are this stiff?”

Cha Seok-young clucked his tongue and released one arm. Then he fiddled with the area below Hyun’s collarbone on the side he was still holding. His softly pressing hand gradually moved downwards. Each time his large, beautifully jointed hand rubbed the tense muscles, Hyun’s toes curled.

It felt like they were doing something strange in the sacred baseball field. Cha Seok-young’s breath, touching his earlobe, was excessively close, and the body heat transferred through their touching bodies felt lewd. If it continued, something truly dangerous seemed about to happen.

“Hey, that’s enough.”

“Stay still. You need to loosen up to pitch.”

“It’s fine. I’ll loosen up myself, just, ah!”

‘Crazy.’ The horrified Hyun bit his lip tightly. Cha Seok-young’s hand, which had been pressing his chest near his armpit, also stopped for a moment.

But he soon moved his hand again. The muscles, so sensitive that his body would twist just from a touch, were pressed repeatedly.

“What do you mean ‘enough’ when your muscles are this stiff?”

‘This isn’t a muscle problem!’ Hyun wanted to shout, but if he opened his mouth, a strange sound would surely come out again. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure.

Hyun knocked on the CEO’s office door, managing his ragged breath. Knock, knock, before the sound even finished, the door burst open. Kwon Hyuk-won, who appeared as if he was about to burst out of the room, had the expression of someone opening a surprise party.

“You rascal, what did I tell you? I told you you’d definitely make it big.”

He grinned widely and held up a bundle of papers. They were clearly a stack of at least six or seven heavy scenarios.

“Actually, half of these are web dramas with no proper investors, so I’ll filter them out. Still, this much in just half a month after the first broadcast is a huge hit. As for variety show offers, there are too many to even mention, but I’ll put them on hold for now. Your main job is an actor, so you shouldn’t let your image get too fixed on variety shows.”

When had he become someone who could choose and put works on hold? Hyun awkwardly rubbed his sweaty neck and stepped inside. Even on the short path to the sofa, Kwon Hyuk-won followed closely, nagging.

“But what do you keep your manager for? Why do you keep running around? More people will start recognizing you now, so take the van. I bought you an expensive one, after all…”

“I need to get in shape. And not many people recognize me yet.”

Smiling, Hyun examined the scripts Kwon Hyuk-won had placed on the table. Most were dramas, ranging widely in genre from romantic comedy to noir, sports, and fantasy.

Hyun picked up the script titled <First Love Even If I Hate It> first. As he read the synopsis attached to the front, the aroma of coffee brewed by Kwon Hyuk-won himself filled the room.

“I just skimmed it, but that script was my favorite.”

He placed his cup beside the stack of scripts and bounced, saying they were on the same page. Hyun chuckled briefly and continued reading the script. He had only intended to glance at it, but it was quite engaging from the start.

“But why do you keep touching your shoulder since earlier? Is it hurting, by any chance?”

Hyun, who had been deeply engrossed in reading the script, looked up. Only upon seeing Kwon Hyuk-won’s wrinkled face did he realize he had been massaging one shoulder.

“It’s because I slept badly.”

As he subtly lowered his hand, Kwon Hyuk-won narrowed his eyes. Then he asked a sharp question.

“Isn’t training hard?”

“It’s manageable.”

“No one bothering you?”

“What kind of question is that? I’m not a child.”

Hyun deliberately dispersed a laugh, avoiding his gaze. As he looked down at the script again, Kwon Hyuk-won, who had been quiet for a while, asked insinuatingly.

“What about Cha Seok-young?”

It was a question that felt as if his innermost thoughts had been exposed.