February 9th. Friday, 11:06 PM.
Malakai sat hunched forward on a bench, his head lowered as the glow of his phone lit up the shadow beneath his hood. The hood of his hoodie covered most of his hair, his usual look when he didn't want to talk to anyone.
However, this wasn't a normal bench. It was a bench press bench. Malakai was at the gym.
Going to the gym alone at eleven was part of his schedule. He liked going to the gym around eleven or twelve, as it had fewer people. He wasn't a fan of going during the day when his friends went. Sometimes he would join them for vibes, but he preferred working out alone. This time was perfect for him. He loved coming back from the gym at around half twelve or one, hopping in the shower, then chilling a bit before going to bed.
His friends all went to the gym at different times anyway. David and Ray went together around five or six. Benjamin went around seven. Lucas and William were less consistent, but they'd join Benjamin most of the time if they went. Malakai was the only one who went late. He had company from his friends a couple of times, but they valued their sleep more, so it wasn't a regular motive.
Malakai had just finished his second set of bench press and was taking his two-minute rest before going for his final set.
His earphones were in, music playing as he scrolled his phone. Then something entered his peripheral vision.
Shoes.
Someone was walking towards him.
Malakai lifted his head slightly, his hood shifting as he glanced up at the person's body. The person stopped directly in front of Malakai. Malakai had to fully tilt his head up to see the person's face. He frowned as soon as he saw their face.
Malakai saw the person's mouth move, but didn't hear them. He had to pause the song he was listening to.
"What?".
"Hey Malakai", Ryan said, with a calm smile, standing over him.
Malakai stared at him for a second, his brows knitted together.
"Why're you here?" Malakai asked, keeping his earphones in but putting his phone in his pocket.
"I'm working out", Ryan replied, shrugging innocently. "We're at the gym", he gestured around.
"Nah", Malakai shook his head. "This is the first time I've seen you here", he said, barely blinking.
"Just because you haven't seen me doesn't mean I don't come to the gym", Ryan replied, his lips curling into a smug smile.
Malakai straightened his back. "Nah, I meant you don't come at this time", he said, feeling like something was off, glancing around. "Are you stalking me or something?"
"Heh", Ryan let out an amused breath. "I'm not stalking you. I'd never want to stalk you", he said, emphasising the last sentence. "I did want to talk to you though".
"You want to talk to me?" Malakai said, confused, finding it hard to believe. "You hate me. Why do you wanna talk to me?"
"I do hate you", Ryan replied, not hesitant to deny it. "You hate me as well. But we haven't had a proper conversation yet. It's been five months".
"So? I could not speak to you for the entire three years we're here, and I'd be fine with that", Malakai said, lifting his shoulders, unbothered. "You wanna make up and be friends?".
"No", Ryan replied, his face twisting in disgust. "Make up? You were the one who started it. I wanted to talk to you normally back then".
"Normally? You were scheming back then", Malakai said, narrowing his eyes, pointing a finger at him. "I saw through you as soon as you came up to me. I don't know what you were planning, but I could tell you were a bitch by how you were acting".
Ryan smirked, "I fucked up approaching you that day. I got ahead of myself", he admitted. "I thought you were an idiot. I didn't think you would be that intuitive".
"Aryt whatever man. What do you want?" Malakai asked, not caring and wanting him to leave him alone. "You don't wanna apologise or be friends. I don't know what else you wanna talk about. I have nothing I wanna talk to you about".
"What did you tell Melody?".
Malakai let that question settle in his brain first before answering.
"What?" he asked, scrunching his face, confused, even though he gave his brain time.
Ryan, straight-faced, stared at him. "You told her about me", he continued, his tone lowering despite no one even being close by. "What did you tell her?".
"What you on about?" Malakai asked, even more confused. "I haven't told her anything".
"Don't lie", Ryan coldly said, staring at him. "I know you have".
Malakai stared back at him. The confusion stayed on his face. "Bro, I haven't", he replied, shaking his head.
Ryan barely blinked. He kept his straight face, not believing him.
"There's no point in lying", he said, containing his frustration. "I know you've said something. It's obvious".
"What's obvious?" Malakai asked, lifting his hands. "Has she told you something?".
"No, she hasn't said anything to me", Ryan immediately replied. "That's why I know. She hasn't talked to me at all since the challenge".
Malakai's eyes drifted to the side momentarily and then back to Ryan.
"Is that it?" he asked, his tone making it seem like it wasn't a big deal. "How does that prove I told her something?".
Ryan shifted his stance, clearly getting irritated.
"Because she used to be around me all the time", he said. "Whenever she had the chance, she'd come up and talk to me".
A small smirk appeared on Malakai's face.
"Do you like her?" he asked. "Are you sad she's ignoring you?".
"No", Ryan strongly refused. "All I want to know is what you told her?"
Malakai's smirk grew. He didn't even know what he did, but it was making Ryan mad, so he was enjoying this.
"Why're you that shook (scared)? You scared everyone will see how fake you are?".
Ryan slowly exhaled. "Tell me what you did to her", he coldly said.
Malakai chuckled under his breath. "Or what?" he said, smiling with all his teeth out, finally getting up from the bench.
Ryan edged a step closer, "I'll ruin your life".
"Heh. I'm not scared of you, you know", Malakai replied, his eyes not leaving Ryan's, finding his response corny. "You won't do shit to me".
"See how stupid you are", Ryan scoffed. "You automatically thought I was talking about violence".
Some tension left after that. Malakai thought Ryan was about it, but it was clear he wasn't going to throw a punch.
"What? You're gonna ruin my reputation?" Malakai asked, relaxing. "No one likes me here, it don't matter. Plus, you don't have anything on me".
Ryan held his stare. "There's always the future. Don't get too comfortable".
"Move man", Malakai said, shaking his head dismissively, not taking him seriously, stepping back.
Ryan took a step back. The hatred painted over his eyes, not leaving.
Malakai sat back down on the bench, "I didn't tell her anything", he calmly said. "All we did was make music".
Ryan frowned, "You expect me to believe that?".
"Haven't you seen the TikToks?" Malakai asked, looking at him. "You're in her class. You've deffo seen it".
"I have", Ryan replied, nodding. "Wasn't that a joke?".
"She's releasing the song. How can it be a joke?" Malakai asked.
"I know she's releasing it", Ryan firmly replied, making it clear. "But it's just a song. It can't be that big of a deal".
"Her biggest vid got 60k views. That's kinda a big deal", Malakai said.
"That's nothing", Ryan frowned. "Just because she's making music, she's stopped talking to me. That doesn't correlate".
Malakai lightly shook his head.
"I'm telling the truth", he shrugged. "Melody loves music. That's all she's doing. She don't care about anyone else. If you don't believe me ask her yourself when you see her next".
Ryan heard what he said, but didn't completely believe him. He still felt like he was hiding something.
"You don't need to be paranoid", Malakai said with a little smirk, seeing him tense. "She doesn't know what a shit person you are. I haven't told anyone that".
Ryan inhaled through his nose. "Okay", he said. "I'll ask her". His eyes stayed fixed on Malakai. "If she acts weird, then I know you lied".
"Aryt", Malakai nonchalantly said, lifting his shoulders. "I don't care if you think I lied cuz I know I didn't say shit".
A tense silence settled between them. Neither of them moved. Ryan stood there, watching him, while Malakai sat on the bench, looking around the gym.
"You finished your workout?" Malakai randomly asked.
"Yeah", Ryan replied shortly.
"Do you bench?"
"Sometimes".
"Aryt, try bench this", Malakai said, standing up, offering him to try it.
"What's the weight?" Ryan asked, not hesitating, stepping forward and peering at the plates.
"65kg".
"What's that?" Ryan asked, taking a closer look at the plates.
"Tch. I forgot you Americans use pounds", Malakai said. "It's 143 pounds".
"Oh", Ryan casually said.
He sat down on the bench and adjusted his position beneath the bar, sliding his shoulders into place.
"You want me to spot you?" Malakai asked.
"Fuck no", Ryan replied, offended, putting his hands in position on the bar.
"Why?" Malakai smirked. "I know I don't like you, but I'm not gonna try kill you".
"143 pounds isn't going to kill me", Ryan flatly said. "I don't need your help".
Ryan took a slow breath, tightening his grip on the bar before lifting it off the rack. He slowly let down the bar to his chest, his arms still in control. When the bar kissed his chest, he cleanly pushed it back up.
Malakai's eyelids flashed up after seeing that clean rep.
Ryan lowered the bar again, going for another rep.
Then another.
Then another
Then another.
Clang!
Ryan guided the bar back to the rack and sat up, taking a moment to catch his breath.
Malakai clenched his jaw and grinned. "You can actually bench?".
Ryan slightly turned his head to him, "You didn't think I could do that?".
"I thought you had the face of a K-pop idol, that's it", Malakai replied. "Didn't expect you to have muscle".
Malakai didn't regularly look at Ryan's body, so he had no clue how strong he was. Even now, as he glanced at it, he couldn't exactly see anything, as he had a hoodie on covering his body shape.
"This is light. Increase the weight", Ryan said. "Is this the highest you can go?" he asked, judgmentally looking at Malakai.
"I can do 70kg, but I rather do more reps of 65 than one or two of 70", Malakai replied.
"Put more on", Ryan said, standing up, disregarding what he said.
"How much?" Malakai asked, seeing him walk to find plates.
"175".
"What's that?" Malakai asked, standing still, not helping him. He took a second and calculated it in his head. "What? 80kg?".
Ryan noticed his tone. "Why do you sound surprised?" he asked, bringing plates back. "Is that too heavy for you?".
Malakai watched as he slid the plates on, "Nah, I'll be calm", he said, playing it cool with a smirk.
In actuality, Malakai had never attempted 80 kg. His PR (personal record) was 75 kg. He didn't know if he could lift it. Deep down, he felt like he had a chance, but he didn't know for sure.
Ryan finished putting the plates on and tightened the clips.
"Okay".
Ryan sat back down and rolled his shoulders.
"Want me to spot you?" Malakai offered.
"Stay over there", Ryan said, rudely waving his hand at him, without looking.
Malakai put his hands in his pockets and stepped back. There was nothing more he wanted for the bar to crush Ryan.
Ryan lowered himself back onto the bench and stared up at the bar for a moment. He took a slow breath through his nose before placing his hands on the bar.
He didn't rush. For a few seconds, he lay there, tightening his grip, adjusting his shoulder and planting his feet.
Once he was locked in, he lifted the bar off the rack. He brought it down softly with control. Ryan let it touch his chest before bringing it back up with the same smooth control.
He wasn't done there. He did it again. Slowly bringing it down, then pushing it up.
He did it again and again and again.
Each repetition looked the same. Steady, smooth, controlled. Only the final rep was a little shaky.
Clang!
Malakai clenched his jaw tighter than before.
He realised he might've underestimated Ryan a little too much. He thought the pretty face was all Ryan had, but seeing how effortlessly he did this made him realise that there's levels to this. And life might not be fair.
Ryan sat up and exhaled. He looked up at Malakai, who had quickly put on a smirk.
"Your turn", Ryan said, getting up with a cocky grin.
Malakai picked up his water bottle and took a slow sip. "Aryt", he replied, putting down his water bottle.
He sat down on the bench and lay down.
"How am I gonna do this?" he thought. "I might die...".
He stared up at the bar for a couple of seconds and noticed.
"Aren't you gonna spot me?" he asked, lifting his head to look at Ryan.
Ryan frowned slightly, then a mocking grin slowly spread across his face.
"You need me to spot you?" he arrogantly asked.
"Just in case innit", Malakai replied, sitting back up. "I don't do this regularly".
Ryan didn't expect Malakai to ask.
"You trust me?" Ryan seriously asked, raising a brow.
"Bro, we're in a public gym", Malakai replied, gesturing around. "You ain't gonna let it drop on me".
Ryan smirked, "I might let it crush you for a couple of seconds before helping you", he sinisterly said.
"You won't do that", Malakai replied, fed up, lying back down.
Ryan walked over and stepped behind the bar to take his spotting position.
"You underestimated me and this", Ryan said, tapping the bar. "Don't make it a habit".
Malakai looked at Ryan's expression. He couldn't read him. He was mostly confident he was bluffing, but his eyes had that seriousness in them.
"Aryt", Malakai mumbled to himself.
Malakai put his hands in position, wrapped his fingers around the bar, tucked in his legs and shoulders, and firmly planted his feet. He exhaled and counted in his head to three before lifting the bar.
Lifting the bar was the easy part. He did that relatively easily. It didn't feel heavy.
Then he brought it down. Now he felt the weight.
Malakai let the bar tap his chest before pushing upward.
Immediately, he felt the difference.
The bar hovered over Malakai's chest, barely moving as the resistance pushed back against him. His arms slightly shook as he pushed the bar millimetres up. He arched his back and tried pushing with his legs. The bar slowly and shakily crept up.
Eventually, it reached halfway. Then it stopped.
Malakai couldn't push the bar. He could hold it, but it wouldn't go up. His arms vibrating, trying to push.
Ryan stood above, watching silently, arms side by side, nowhere near the bar. If Malakai dropped the bar, you can probably guess the outcome.
Malakai pressed his lips together. He felt like he could do it. It was heavy, but it wasn't impossible. He was already halfway there. There was still strength in his arms. Just one more push.
Malakai tucked his feet in as much as he could and arched his back more, readying himself for one big push. He let the bar drop a touch before putting everything into one push. His legs drove into the floor, his back arched harder, and his arms shook as he forced the bar up inch by inch.
Clang!
The bar slammed back into the rack.
Malakai sat up and huffed with his head tilted down. His ears felt like they were burning.
"Well done", Ryan said. The tone didn't sound too congratulatory.
Malakai picked up his water bottle by his side and started sipping.
"At one point, I thought you were going to give up", Ryan continued. "Fair play to you. I didn't think you would do it". His tone still didn't sound sincere.
Malakai closed his water bottle and stood up, "I told you I would be calm", he said, playing it off.
"Yeah, your expression looked very calm", Ryan sarcastically replied.
He took a glance around the gym and saw it was emptier than before. It was getting late.
"I'm done here", he said, brushing his hands together. "I'll see if you lied on Monday".
"Monday?" Malakai repeated, frowning. "We have a challenge on Monday. Just ask her tomorrow".
"I want to ask her in person", Ryan replied. "And I don't want to meet her over the weekend. I'd rather prepare for the challenge".
"What do you mean prepare?" Malakai asked with his hands out. "You don't even know what the challenge is. How can you prepare?".
Ryan started walking away, "There's different ways to prepare", he said without looking back. "Idiot".
Malakai smirked and wiped his face, "Everyone loves calling me an idiot".
He reached into his pocket and got his phone to resume the song he had paused.
"Ryan is actually strong", he thought. "That's pissed me off. He's good looking, smart, everyone loves him, and he's strong".
Malakai silently laughed through his nose, shaking his head, eyes stuck to the floor.
"I'm useless man".