hyejung was a girl who wasn’t raised to live by the right morals. she was never taught things directly, only picking up some lessons from the people she clung to as a child. for her, that was her mother and father, and then her father when her mother passed away. for whatever reason, her father had disowned hyejung and stopped caring for her, so, that’s how she viewed the world.
she only nods her head, knowing that yes indeed that was his name. a sigh slips out of her lips. oh how goddamn difficult this situation was for her. stepping out of her own boundaries just to talk to others– wait. is that how people felt towards her? she clears her throat, rubbing the back of her neck. “what was i saying..” she mumbles at one point before finishing her sentence. right, right. she wanted help because it looked like– well he offered to help her in the first place. and hopefully the offer would still be up for takes.
“yeah.” she answers, not like she would lie about it. whatever. just help, please. her eyes basically begged for it. she was strong, yes, but she wasn’t strong enough to carry the weight herself. for some reason, she had gotten it there in the first place, though. she overestimated her strength, maybe she was only strong to a certain extent.
her eyes watched how his left hand gripped around his wrist on his right hand, copying the actions. “ah..” she listens to him intently, jotting down mental notes for a later use. gloves. got it. buy a pair. she looks at the bandages she had used several times, woops. not reusable but it was possibly the only thing she could wrap her hands in for them not to be scraped up. second.. she walks behind him, walking over to the weights. hyejung realized (when she should have a long time ago) that the weights she chose were way too heavy for her. “mm. okay.” can you help me on that, too? she asks in her head, unable to form the words.
She was young but Jaehwa was becoming certain that she would ruin her body if she continued with how she was treating it. Even with only a small glimpse he could see her straining herself, starting off too strong rather than easing herself in. Perhaps over-eager was the right word.
“When you get the gloves, be sure that you wash them too.” He didn’t look back at her, instead picking out a few smaller weights for now. She could probably lift them with ease, but that wasn’t the point. “Otherwise they will grow funguses.” It was something he felt necessary to share, because if she was willing to wear bandages and get them raggedy surely she would need a head’s up on taking care of the gloves. He walked back to where she was, setting the smaller weights on the floor and then carefully removing the ones she had on the bar. Jaehwa was already taking the initiative, fearing that she’d hurt herself beyond repair.
He placed the smaller weights onto the bar, making sure they were secure before turning to her. “This shouldn’t be too difficult for you, but the repetitions and holding it might be a bit harder as time goes on.” If anything, it’d give her an easier time if she had poor form… at least for today, anyway. “Be sure to rely not on your neck and shoulders, otherwise you might strain them. You want to work out your arms for this one.” It was a basic strength training exercise, so she should be able to manage the equipment on her own next time. “Sit down and I’ll spot you. Then we’ll see how you can do on your own.” Looking at her expression, he paused just a bit. This was just some strange kid that he was helping—where were her parents?
“Maybe we’ll consider getting you a handout, too.”
