Boundless

제 28 장

"Athena, this is my physical therapist Woo Sungwon. Sungwon this is my wife Athena" He bowed politely and I followed him. " Hello" He waved at me with a smile. Jae Eun lay on the mat on the floor and started stretching his legs. I crossed my hands over my chest. I felt his eyes on me. " Are you here to train as well, or for support?" He joked and I smiled tightly. I rested my arms around my stomach.

"She is pregnant" Jae chuckles. Sungwon sends me a wink, " I'm only kidding, and honestly I don't understand why you still come here Jae Eun, you are mostly healed. If you want to bulk I suggest a better gym with better equipment" Jae shakes his head as he begun stretching.
" I don't want to get ripped, I want to become stronger. I have a baby on the way, an a new wife, I have to protect my family" He says and I bit my lips.

Jae was clearly pushing himself. His abs were hard like steel already, and his muscles were tight. Jae Eun was already visibly stronger. His body structure had become defined. " That's why you brought your wife? To gloat?" He asked motioning towards me.

" Actually, I was a little curious about what Jae does when he's here"

" What? You don't see him sweaty and grunting enough?" Sungwon asks, and Jae erupted in laughter from the mat, and I rolled my eyes. " Hey look, we can stretch together babe, let's get down" She stands and takes my hands, lowering me on the mat. " Alright let's get started" Jae spreads my leg, and begins messaging my knees.

"Let's start with basic head to knee crunches." sungwon says as he gets down as well. " Are we ready?" He asks us and Jae nods getting in position. I laid down on the mat next to Jae, and they start right away. Ever so often, Jae shirt inched up, exposing just a peek of his abs. I found it very distracting. At first, the sets were quite difficult, exhausting due to the growing watermelon on my body. Jae and Sungwon took this opportunity to laugh at this. So I decided to give up,  scooting against the equipment to rest my back.

Jae on the other hand, he was like a beast. When Sungwon took a breath, Jae Eun kept at it. Sungwon smirked and shook his head at this. " Don't over work yourself, you are still human, you'll pass out at this rate" He says and I became very concerned. He must do this regularly, and not just for my enjoyment. " Jae , take a break. Here's a water" I held out the bottle for him, and he panted heavily, his chest heaving up and down.

He walked over to me and took the water bottle, only drinking a sip, before pouring it over his head. " Jae!" I gasped and he smiles. " I'm fine love, I promise" He says and I frowned, something catching my eyes. " Jae, your nose is bleeding" He touches his nose and inspects it on his fingers. Suddenly, his eyes roll back and he collapses on the floor.

*.                                 *.                           *

          I open the front door and two complete strangers stood infront of me. I recognized one actually. He badmouthed me back in Georgia. The other was a girl, she looked surprised to see me. " Athena, I told you this already, let me open the door. I don't feel safe letting you do it" He says appearing next to me. He smiled once he saw who was at the door.

" Minhyuk, Soo Young, You are here?" He ushered them in and they shuffled past me uncomfortably. " Minhyuk, you have met Athena. But let me properly reintroduce her. Minhyuk, Sooyoung, this is Mrs. Athena Min, my beautiful pregnant wife" I was flustered, how could he put me on the spot like this. Minhyuk and Soo young bowed politely and I did the same.  " My love this is Minhyuk, and this is Soo young"

" Nice to formally meet me" I smiled shyly , and Soo young smiles at me warmly. " I have heard so much about you" She says and Minhyuk smiles embarrassingly. " I'm sorry for what I said Athena, I was afraid that Jae would get his heart hurt" He apologizes and I laugh at this. " It is alright, I am glad Jae has good friends" I assure him.

" Do you know if you are having a boy or a girl?" Soo young asks us. " We are having a son, his name is Pierre" Jae tells her and she gasps. Jae smiles with pride and wraps his arm around me. " We came by to see the place" Minhyuk says taking a seat on the sofa. " Now that we are aquatinted, let's drop the honorifics, and get cozy" He says reaching for the remote and Jae smacks his hand.

" You little shit" Jae hisses and I laughed, Soo young joins me , as they continued on with their playful banter. " Hey! Don't you think you're being a little stingy! This was my idea, I helped!" Minhyuk whines, earning a glare from Jae. " Do you want to die?"

" That's enough" I say holding my sore back. Jae notices this and places a firm hand on my arm and sits me down on the  couch. " I never thought Jae would be someone's daddy, or husband any time soon. All the girls liked him, but he shot them all down. I was beginning to think he was g—-

——Hey? Do you want to die?" Jae asks this time with a laugh. " That's funny, Jae was basically my stalker" I teased and he gasped. He groans and sits down dramatically. " I'm being attacked in my own home" He says and Minhyuk cackles . Jae Eun grabbed the couch cushion and smacked him with it. Minhyuk was stunned, his cackling coming to a halt. They played like brothers, it was very warm to see.

Knowing that there were brighter days coming gave me a sense of anticipation. I smelled the after aroma of rain. The morning was dewy. It was everything that I could have possibly dreamed of. " Athena , are you ok?" Jae was in front of my knees with a worried look and I hadn't even noticed. I shook my head and wiped my tears. " I'm very happy" I tell him and he smiles warmly with his beautiful smile.

This was the calm after the storm. Better days were coming, I awaited it.