"Ready?" Li Hao asked.
Yuhan nodded, and Li Hao pushed open the gym doors. The heavy noise of clanking weights, grunts, and chatter immediately hit them. With his hands shoved casually into his pockets, Li Hao strolled in with Yuhan at his side.
They wandered toward the weight section.
"He's here. He's here," Li Hao whispered.
Yuhan instantly dropped the dumbbell in his hand and spun around. Chen Zixuan had just entered with Wang Lai, chatting as a few other gym members greeted them on their way in.
"That's Chen Zixuan, and his shadow, Wang Lai," Li Hao explained. "Now, this is where I come in. Wang Lai sticks to him like glue, but I'll handle him so you can… do whatever you want to make Zixuan notice you."
"They're coming, they're coming," Yuhan muttered, standing up straighter and smoothing down his shirt.
Zixuan and Wang Lai walked right past them and headed toward the elevator.
"They're leaving," Yuhan said, craning his neck to watch.
Before he could follow, Li Hao quickly turned his head back. "Calm down. We follow them."
The moment the elevator doors closed behind Zixuan and Wang Lai, Li Hao and Yuhan rushed after them. They were about to slip inside when a gym staff member stepped in front of them.
"Sorry, this area is restricted. Only top-level members are allowed upstairs," she said firmly.
"What?" Yuhan exclaimed. "We have to pay more just for access?"
The staff member nodded.
"Can't we just… have a free trial before paying?" Yuhan pleaded, clutching at her hand with exaggerated desperation.
Li Hao covered his face, embarrassed, while Yuhan kept begging. Finally, with a heavy sigh, the lady relented.
"Just once," she warned with a stern look.
Grinning, Yuhan and Li Hao darted into the elevator.
When the doors opened upstairs, Yuhan froze in awe. The atmosphere was completely different. Quiet. Spacious. Fresh. People were exercising with headphones on, some even watching dramas on tablets while using the machines. It was a different world entirely.
"If I could steal one of these machines, how much do you think I'd be worth?" Yuhan whispered dreamily.
Li Hao smacked the back of his head. "Focus."
Across the floor, Wang Lai jogged steadily on a treadmill while Zixuan worked the lat pull-down machine, muscles flexing with each motion.
Li Hao smirked. "Time to showcase one of my best talents—seducing alpha males. Watch and learn."
With that, he strode confidently toward Wang Lai.
Li Hao strutted toward the treadmill section and hopped onto the machine right beside Wang Lai. He started at an easy jog, casual but deliberate, then, with a little flourish, slipped off his jacket. The cropped tee underneath clung perfectly, framing his chest and thin waist like a painter's brushstroke.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Wang Lai slowing his pace, sneaking a glance. Bingo.
Smirking, Li Hao tied his sweater around his waist and shifted to a walk, hips swaying in exaggerated rhythm. Every step whispered look at me. He stretched his arms overhead, letting his shirt ride up just enough to reveal more than his already visible toned abs before dropping them back down. A tease, nothing more.
Meanwhile, Yuhan clenched his fists. If Li Hao can seduce Wang Lai, then I can seduce Chen Zixuan. Determination burned in his eyes as he marched toward the lat pull-down machine.
Halfway there, panic struck.
What do I even use? Waist? No. Hips? Double no. Lips? God, no. Butt? … Butt? Maybe butt!
By the time he reached Zixuan, his brain was scrambled. He bent forward abruptly, thrusting his backside down in front of him—
—and a loud, slow fart betrayed him.
The silence of the elite gym shattered.
Li Hao, mid-strut, tripped in sheer horror and slid off his treadmill in a heap. Wang Lai immediately rushed to his side.
Yuhan froze, still bent over, mortified. He straightened stiffly, slapped his own butt with a weak laugh, and muttered, "Paaa!" like it was part of some routine.
Zixuan rose from the machine, his expression unreadable. He used his knee to nudge Yuhan aside, then walked off.
But just before turning away completely, Yuhan caught it, the faintest curl of a smirk at the corner of Zixuan's lips.
Offended, confused, and utterly humiliated, Yuhan's heart hammered. In his head, he wasn't sure which stung more, the fart… or whatever Zixuan is thinking in head about it.
"Day one...DAY ONE!" Yuhan shouted, dragging out his Chinese accent as they collapsed onto the bed.
Li Hao stared at the ceiling, looking like reality had betrayed him.
"I saw it," he whispered, eyes wide, repeating it over and over as if stuck in a loop.
"What did you see?!" Yuhan demanded, shaking his arm.
Li Hao suddenly grabbed Yuhan by the collar, his voice breaking with panic. "It's because of you! Because of you, I saw it!"
"Saw what?" Yuhan barked, exasperated.
Li Hao shoved him away and flopped back down dramatically, whining like a scolded child. "Don't worry about it! I'm not going with you to the gym again. Don't involve me in your stupid plans ever again! I brought this upon myself!" He buried his face in the sheets.
Yuhan blinked, stunned. "What are you saying? I paid for the membership, my money!" His voice cracked like he was coming back to his senses.
Then he leaned closer, tone softening. "But really, if you don't tell me what happened, how will we fix it together? Come on, tell me."
Li Hao peeked out from the sheets, lips trembling. His weakness always cracked under Yuhan's persistence.
"Really?" he asked cautiously.
Yuhan nodded firmly.
Li Hao sighed, then crooked his finger, beckoning Yuhan to lean closer.