I Know It Is My Father's First Time On This Earth, Too. And I Know He Had It Worse When He Was Little.

I know it is my father's first time on this Earth, too. And I know He had it worse when he was little.

But I was little too.

— Franz Kafka, from letters to his father

sororité vintage -

La Perla bra & Blumarine silk blouse corset

| you can do it, love | (dokyeom)

"babe, please please just come to the gym with me?" dokyeom asks, batting his best puppy dog eyes at you.

you're bundled under the comforter in the hotel bed, the mattress having been molded perfectly to your body. you are incredibly comfy and leaving doesn't seem in the cards for you. you've never understood how your boyfriend could always have so much energy. he had a busy schedule all day and within the first hour we are back in the hotel room he wants to go down to the gym.

"i don't think you understand how comfortable this bed is" you speak back, digging your head into the fluffy pillow. you see him huff and cross his arms from the corner of your eye, pouting like a little kid not getting his way.

he juts his bottom lip out even further, really pushing the puppy thing "i want to spend time with you. i barely got to see you today" he says, pulling at your heartstrings.

it was true, after all. and you did miss him too. you sigh, giving in to his request. "fine, i'll come. but i'm staying in my pajamas" you pout, mimicking his crossed arms.

"you're the best" he smiles, getting up from his spot and coming over to leave a soft kiss on your nose.

"i know" you mumble, dragging yourself out of the comfort of your bed. you giggle as he takes your arm and pulls you out of the door, bringing you down the hallway to the elevator. 

he skips down the hallway, clearly letting out his sudden burst of energy. once you reach the elevator he steps back behind you, saying "after you malady", extending his arm and bowing like a gentleman. you turn around to face him, doing your most exquisite curtsy along with a "thank you, sir". as you are down in the curtsy, fully committed to the bit you hear the elevator ding and the doors open. you hear dokyeom snort, and you look up at him to see him looking past you. you turn around to see a woman in the elevator, confused as to why a weird girl was in a curtsy right in front of the doors. 

"sorry, she's a werido" he mumbles, slipping past you and into the elevator. you stumble in before the doors close, and to your surprise the woman isn't getting off yet. you back into the corner and bring your hoodie over your head in embarrassment, elbowing dokyeom as you blame him for the situation. he shrugs innocently, looking forward as you both stand in an awkward silence until your stop. once the doors open to the lobby you quickly walk out. 

"you are an idiot" you state matter of factly, pushing his chest playfully and walking ahead of him. you don't make it very far before you feel his arms wrap around you from behind. he gets a good grip on you and turns you around in his arms, pulling your hoodie down so he can see your face. your cheeks are still red from the attention, and he kisses each one.

"i'm sorry baby" he chuckles, still obviously amused. you don't care anymore though, mirroring his infectious smile. he takes your hand in his as you walk to the gym, swinging them back and forth. he opens the door for you, letting you walk in first, a habit he never forgets no matter where you guys are. as you walk in you hear him yell from behind,

"wooo lets go!!" his voice echoing off the walls. you facepalm your forehead as you notice someone is in here before he does. 

"hi!" the person calls out, having a friendly answer to your loud, disruptive boyfriend. 

"hi" dokyeom calls out, getting shy after he realizes you guys weren't alone. 

"that was awkward" he mumbles to you, his cheeks getting flushed as he walks to the other side of the gym.

"now we're even babe" you joke. 

he sits down on one of the machines, smiling at you as you sit down on the ground in front of him. he knows you have no intention of doing anything here, but he just wanted your company. you watch him as he gets comfortable, wondering if he's really going to get any working out done or if he's just going to joke around the whole time. you see him looking down at you and smiling, as if theres been some joke that you're not a part of.

"what?" you ask innocently, confused. your eyebrows furrow as you wait for his response. 

"nothin" he smiles with a shrug. "i just really missed you today" he admits. 

"oh" you blush shyly, "i missed you too" you smile back at him. 

"good" he answers, leaning back to lift the weights. 

you watch him intently as his arm muscles flex with the weight, being fully exposed in his sleeveless shirt. he's gained a lot of muscle over the last couple of months, and it's been driving you wild. he does a few reps, sitting back up fully once he's finished. you always love spending time with him like this. you guys don't always need to be talking, and you can sit in a comfortable silence. it's just nice to know the other person is there. 

"i wanna try" you say, curious as to if you could do it. 

"yeah?" he asks amusingly, raising an eyebrow. 

you nod rapidly, genuinely excited to try. he smiles at you endearingly as he notices the ambition in your eyes. he gets up from the machine and lets you trade places with him. he's not underestimating you, knowing that you should be able to do at least one or two reps with the weight he has on. he knows how you can do anything you put your mind to. he loves that about you. 

he stands in front of you, helping you position your arms in the correct way. you use all your strength to push up the weights, feeling the tension in your arms. you manage to do one rep, but know you can do more. you make it to two reps before having to give up, feeling a little embarrassed as you thought you could do more. but dokyeom is standing there smiling at you like an idiot, finding you amazing. you could do anything and he would be proud of you, something that is hard to find now and days.

"good job, baby girl" he says encouragingly, the pet name rolling of his tongue and giving you butterflies with the way he said it. you smile back, and he leans down to peck your lips. after you pull away you place your hands on his shoulders, and he squats down so he's at your height. he raises an eyebrow at your serious face before you say,

"oh god, are we one of those weird gym couples?"

he laughs, throwing his head back at your words. you smile as the corner of his eyes crinkle.

"yes" he says, placing his hands on your shoulders as well. you giggle back at him, knowing that it's the truth.

"what now?" you ask, shrugging. he stays squatting before you, putting his hands on your thighs. he just thinks you look so adorable right now, not being able to pinpoint why in particular. he loves the way you are wearing his hoodie, and how it's way too big for you. he loves that you really did in fact wear your pajama pants down here; Christmas ones in the middle of the summer nonetheless. he taps your thigh before surprising you and picking you up. you squeal and wrap your legs around his waist, making sure you don't fall. he walks over to the mirror and the mats and places you down on one gently. 

"push ups" he replies, getting on the floor as well. 

"ooo yay" you reply, liking the idea of watching that. he goes to get in position but you stop him.

"wait!" you say touching his arm, "as a weird gym couple you already know what has to be done" you say devilishly. you slide underneath him and lay on the ground. he shakes his head at you with a chuckle, understanding what you mean. he removes his knees from the ground and gets in a plank position. he slowly lowers himself down into a push up, hovering over you with his lips millimeters away.

"if you wanted a kiss, you could have just said so baby" he smirks against your lips, giving you butterflies as he connects his with yours. 

he pulls himself back up into a plank, watching you as your cheeks turn red. he does another pushup, this time leaving a kiss on your forehead. as he rises back up, you cup his face, wanting a real kiss. you pull him back down and kiss him, feeling him smile into the kiss. he sits on the ground next to you when you pull away.

"my turn" you say happily, feeling confident you can do a good pushup. 

"alright show me what you've got baby" he says, laying down in the same position you were previously. 

you position yourself over him, getting in a plank. you know it's not looking good for you when your arms are already shaking, making you noticeably wobble. he smiles up at you as he studies your face of concentration. your tongue is sticking out slightly, and your eyebrows are furrowed and tight. he knows you can do it, wanting to help you out.

"you can do it, love" he says sweetly, reaching up to hold your hips lightly, giving you some relief from holding yourself up. he keeps his hands on your hips as you lower your arms and do a push up the best you can.

he knows that he was holding up most of the weight for you, but he doesn't want you to know. he just wants to see your smile as you come back up, proud of yourself for how well you did. god, he would frame that smile if he could. you push back up, smiling just as he predicted. he smiles back at you, knowing already that you are going to try for a second one. you lower yourself down for another one, but once you get down you know theres no chance in hell you're getting back up. your arms shake one last time before you just let yourself collapse onto him. he chuckles at you, wrapping his arms around you. 

"i swear i could have done it" you whine grumpily into his chest, suddenly very tired. he brings his hand up to your head and cradles it, rubbing your back with his other hand.

"i know you could have, sweetheart" he replies. you both just stay there laying on the gym floor. as you predicted, not very much working out went on, but you think you both needed this much more.

Advice for writing relationships

Ship Dynamics

How to create quick chemistry

How to write a polyamorous relationship

How to write a wedding

How to write found family

How to write forbidden love

Introducing partner(s) to family

Honeymoon

Date gone wrong

Fluffy Kiss Scene

Love Language - Showing, not telling

Love Language - Showing you care

Affections without touching

Giving the reader butterflies with your characters

Reasons a couple would divorce on good terms

Reasons for breaking up while still loving each other

Relationship Problems

Relationship Changes

Milestones in a relationship

Platonic activities for friends

Settings for conversations

How to write a love-hate relationship

How to write enemies to lovers

How to write lovers to enemies to lovers

How to write academic rivals to lovers

How to write age difference

Reasons a couple would divorce on good terms

Reasons for having a crush on someone

Ways a wedding could go wrong

Arranged matrimony for royalty

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A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is the book everyone is crying about.