“Not, nothing!” Jun Yang answered a bit too hurriedly. Unfortunately, it was already too late for him to take that back. Under his gaze, he watched Feng Qi’s left eyebrow slowly moved up into an arch. It was apparent that the latter did not buy his answer and knew that he was hiding something.

Knowing that Feng Qi was reading his face to try to get as much information as he could, Jun Yang made a conscious effort to control his expression. He made it as flat as he humanly could, hoping that Feng Qi would not be psychic enough to still siphon the shameful thoughts out of his mind.

After enough time had passed, Feng Qi shrugged and said, “Sure, if you say so. Let’s carry on with the training then.”

Jun Yang sighed a surreptitious breath of relief. In any case, he did not dare to let his guard down too much. He was familiar with Feng Qi enough to know that this could be a front to let him to put down his shield. But ultimately, what he did was to follow Feng Qi’s instruction. He zeroed in on the command that Feng Qi provided and threw himself into the training.

“Alright, channel your breathing. Breathe in and now, breathe out…”

“Make sure you do not bend your back too much, cause then you wouldn’t be training your core but instead is relying on your back. Not to mention, it is easy to suffer from exercise injury this way.”

“Jun Yang, try not to bend your legs. Use your abs to apply the force, not your back nor your legs.”

“Wonderful, you are doing it perfectly. Keep this up!”

Jun Yang had to admit that Feng Qi was a wonderful coach, he was firm but friendly. He knew how far to push and where Jun Yang’s limit was. He was encouraging when he saw the strain on Jun Yang’s face and knew that the idea of giving up was creeping up on the young man’s mind, furthermore, he was ready with praises whenever Jun Yang accomplished a breakthrough.

Jun Yang had the impression of a good personal coach from Feng Qi and that was exactly what he told his boyfriend, “Feng Qi, you know what…” He took a great gasp of air before continuing as he pulled through another set of push-up, “I think you should be able to look into becoming a personal trainer. You are seriously talented at this.”

Feng Qi accepted the compliment with a smile. “That’s only because I have a good candidate to coach. You’ll notice I’m not as patient if it’s someone else, because my boyfriend naturally deserves special treatment.”

Jun Yang blushed from the sudden compliment. He intended to lift Feng Qi up with the words but somehow the latter managed to smoothly turn the compliment back to him.

“But try not to speak while we’re in the middle of a session. It’s going to ruin the rhythm of your breathing and the pace that we’ve set up,” Feng Qi warned as they continued.

…

Jun Yang collapsed to the ground, completely beaten. He looked up into the sky and his breath came fast. “Feng Qi… I’m beat.” He was at his limit, there was no way he was able to go any further. His shirt was drenched with sweat and Jun Yang felt like just falling into sleep right there on the ground. Every inch of his body was sore.

Feng Qi did not say anything. From the corner of his eyes, Jun Yang spotted his boyfriend reach into his pocket. He pulled out his phone and then worked something on it. Jun Yang wondered what he was doing. Just as he was about to ask, Feng Qi accounted in a grim tone, “That’s only around 3 minutes and I’ve been counting the push-ups that you’ve done since you started. It’s only around 100 push-ups. Unfortunately, I don’t think that is enough to score you a good result during the test.”

Jun Yang was disappointed when he heard that assessment. He thought for sure he would succeed this time because he had given it his all. Looks like there were certain limits in the world that could not be broken through no matter how hard one tried. After all, he was blessed with a brilliant mind that enabled him to score in every written test, perhaps it was not meant for a student to be the first at everything, that was against the rule of nature itself. These fatalistic thought was going through Jun Yang’s mind when Feng Qi broke through his thoughts by asking, “Jun Yang, do you think you’ll be able to give me more? To push through a few more push-ups?”

Jun Yang shook his head weakly, like the effort of enunciating the words out loud would take up too much energy that he did not have. To be clear, Jun Yang was not devastated. He was not one to beat himself up over the failure to achieve an impossibly high standard. He knew he had given it his best and if he fell short of the target under that condition, he was fine with it.

Jun Yang was about to suggest they end the session when Feng Qi suddenly came out to say, “Jun Yang, have you heard of the story of the mule and the carrot?”

Enough time had passed by then for Jun Yang to rest and gain a second wind. Even though he had an inkling what Feng Qi was referencing, he felt playful in that moment and he narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend and shot back in mock anger, “Are you trying to insinuate that I’m a mule?”

Feng Qi chuckled because he was sure Jun Yang was not going to take offense for something as frivolous as that. It was just not like his personality. He explained, “Nah, it’s about the different motivation strategies and styles.” [If you like my work, I would really appreciate a cup of joe as donation. Thank you. Donate here: ko-fi.com/lonelytree]