Days went on like this.
Kian would get to the gym early in the morning, do a morning run and continue to school after changing.
He would then come back and hang out in the afternoons, mostly observing the others and get to know some of the people who trained daily.
He had been able to avoid chad and his group, expecting them to be loitering around in the area close to his home, but he had made sure to come home late every evening, they had given up and was gone by then.
He found himself looking at Jaiel more.
Impressed with the constant training every day morning and afternoon like some sort of robot repeating the same cycles of training regimen without fail.
They didn't talk much, mostly Jaiel was training and Kian didn't disturb him, but had started his own practice on his form and stance while punching.
He tried not to bother Jaiel too much. He knew Jaiel's pro license match was coming up.
It was Friday morning and he had just finished his run at the gym and was now walking into class ignoring the people around him as he sat down at his seat.
The classroom soon filled up, his classmates rummaging about to find their seats before the beginning of the first lesson.
He looked around half asleep, noticing a few gazes staring back at him.
He ignored them, it was probably some new rumors or something that suddenly made him interesting to stare at again, and he really did not care.
The bell rang and he looked up from his seat, finding his view obscured by two female classmates who had hurried over to stand in front of his desk. They looked at him eagerly, and he gave them a confused nod.
"What.. what is it?" he was a bit wary.
He had never spoken to these two girls specifically and was unsure as to why they would even need to talk to him.
"Um," one of the girls nervously fidgeted her fingers , and the other girl resolutely place her palm on the shy girl's hands to calm her.
"It is ok Sabine, just ask him."
Kian widened his eyes, was this what he had heard about, the nervous-looking girl could barely look him back in the eyes, and handed him a note together with a small squeal.
"Was this a confession?"
He took the note and looked at them still confused, there were only numbers written on the paper.
The other girl leaned forward.
"It's her number, she wants you to give it to Jaiel."
The girl looked slightly annoyed at Kian's delayed response to the situation and clicked her tongue
"I saw you two go into someplace together the other day, are you his friend or something?"
She flicked her hair back and waited.
"Yeah. I mean maybe."
Kian had a range of emotions go through him, the situation dawning on him quickly.
"Yeah we hang out after school, why, how do you know him."
The squealing girl finally looked up at him. "You don't know? He is in class 2 down the hall, if you could just ask him to share his number with me, i'd appreciate it"
'Jaiel went to this school?'
He realized he barely knew anything at all about Jaiel, besides his name and that he was dedicated to becoming a pro boxer.
It had only been a week, but he felt a small knot forming in his stomach when he replied "Sure ill give it to him."
'Is this some kind of fangirl thing?'
Sure Jaiel was handsome, he had even stolen a few glances at him.
He shrugged and just put the note in his pocket haphazardly.
'I guess I can always relay the message.' He thought.
He saw no reason not to, it was not really his decision anyway, he could just relay the message and leave it up to Jaiel.
He groaned, the pain in his legs felt worse than ever, and the girls saw it as him annoyingly glancing at them and left.
He watched them leave.
'Would Jaiel accept it?' He was suddenly curious and recalled the training Jaiel had been doing in the gym.
Would a guy like that even care about girls swooning over him, he had seemed very focused on his own goals.
Kian sighed and leaned back against the chair, the bell for the next class rang and he took out his notebook. He should at least try and study now, he had been too drowsy the whole morning.
He left school and steered towards the gym as he had done the past week. He touched the note in his pocket and thought it was just a silly thing at this point.
Why had he even cared about it, it was not like he knew Jaiel that much, could they even be considered friends at this point?
He paused in front of the door to the gym, there were loud yells coming from the inside, and in an instant something came flying towards him through the door, feeling himself land on the ground with something heavy on top.
A raging old man came through the doorway cursing loudly at a person that was now on top of Kian, followed by more people from the gym, all eager to squeeze past the doorway to get a hold of the person.
Kian pushed and got out from under the guy on top of him, the fancy-looking guy seeming oddly familiar.
"Get out of here!" The coach was launching profanities like a sailor and the guy got on his feet brushing his clothes, giving Kian an annoyed look. The guy then walked off, followed by angry stares.
A big arm grabbed a hold of Kian, bringing him to his feet with ease, the big muscles of Arnie kept him standing.
"Thank you," he said and started dusting himself off, suddenly noticing how the entire angry crowd looked at him, like he had just suddenly appeared in front of them out of nowhere.
He was rushed inside by several hands and the people had turned their frowns up at the sight of him, treating him like a VIP guest.
"How is training going?" The coach gave him a broad smile and smacked his back hard, letting out some deep chuckle that could barely be called laughter.
"I hear you have kept up the footwork every morning, not bad kid, on Monday I will start showing you some things you can practice on."
The old man looked at him proudly, making Kian feel a bit nervous, he had technically already been taught a few things by Jaiel throughout the week, but did not mention it.
"Yes," he replied and nodded enthusiastically.
He was curious what had just happened, but the atmosphere had turned for the better, and he was unsure if it was his business to ask, he felt like he was more of a mascot they all smiled at than an equal person in training.
He was in his thoughts when he was trying to put on his sweatpants, the muscles in his legs screaming at him, and he stumbled, the slow-motion view of the floor eminent in front of him.
A set of arms wrapped around his abdomen, and he was strangely lifted in a state of hanging over a pair of arms and pulled back up to his feet.
"Thank you," he gulped, letting go of the breath he had held.
He had gotten more used to accepting obstacles than trying to prevent them at this point.
He looked back up into a pair of blue eyes making him hold his breath all over again. Why... again, why was it always this guy?
"You sure do get in a lot of unfortunate events, don't you?"
Jaiel still held him, almost as if letting go could cause Kian to have another close encounter with a hard surface.
"I am just tired."
Kian retorted back fast and in a harsher tone than he had wanted, the arms around him felt hot but not uncomfortable, and he turned to look down at the floor, he had been prevented from hitting by these arms.
Why did this guy always show up?
Jaiel pulled at Kian making him stumble back against him, and he felt the warm chest on his back.
"Why?" Kian looked back up again in confusion only to see Jaiel look over at the entrance.
The arms tightened harder around his stomach, and Kian had trouble moving in the hold.
This guy has some serious strength he grimaced as he followed the look to the door.
Kian's face turned a sickened pale white, his insides felt like they had been punched by one of Jaiel's straight punches as he saw the equally surprised face of Chad standing in the door, his face quickly distorted into one of anger and resentment as his eyes laid on Jaiel and Kian.
"Chad" Kian exclaimed surprised, then quickly looked around for an escape, till he noticed Jaiel had still not let go, and the spot right here with him was probably the safest place he could be at, in this moment.
"What are you two doing, no, what are you doing here?"
Chad pierced the air with his cold voice his equally cold gaze staring holes through Kian.
"Training," was all Jaiel replied, and Chad's focused back on him and froze.
"Yes, training" Kian confirmed and proceeded to brush Jaiels arms off him, and continue to change his clothes, then grabbed the water bottle he had prepared and after a brief hesitation, walked past Chad to the training room.
He had nothing to be afraid of here, he knew the people here would not let anything happen to him, and for the first time, he was happy he felt like some sort of mascot to this place and its people.
At least he felt like they would protect him.
His back was turned to Chad, something he had never dared before, and the surge of new bravery kept him walking straight to the sandbag area, turning to wait for Jaiel, who was leisurely following him from behind, like a trained puppy. Just a tall strong handsome one.
"Tsk," he heard Chad who went into the changing room, grabbed something, and then ignored them completely as he left the place.
The coach came up to them with an annoyed look.
"He came to pick something up that other guy left behind earlier."
He had his hands on his sides, showing obvious anger at the young man that was leaving the gym.
"I see," Kian just replied, his mind in chaos of the possible repercussions to this when he felt something heavy on his head.
Jaiel had placed his hand on Kian's hair, ruffling it like you would a younger sibling. It was just for a brief moment and he didn't say anything, just ran his hand over Kian's hair for barely a few seconds before retracting it.
Kian had his back to him, and was happy as the coach walked away to leave them to themselves, cause he knew his face was flushed.
'What is this feeling?'
He sighed, something he thought he had been doing way too much lately, and turned around to join in on the session, observing and practicing to Jaiels words, who was only ever focused on training, form, and practice.
Now that Chad knew what he was up to, and where he had been going. He needed to be ready. He needed to work on changing himself. A week wasn't much but just the feel of actively doing something to change his situation had been positive.
Kian and Jaiel excited the Gym together, somehow Kian felt Jaiel was sticking to him like glue after the encounter with Chad, and they walked together towards Kian's place.
He couldn't be sure if the shadows he saw here and there were Chad and his posse, but they were left alone and they finally reached his place.
Kian felt bad from all the help Jaiel had given him
"Would you like to have dinner with me?"
Kian asked, then suddenly burst out " I mean, as thank you for all the help and it is already late." He started instantly excusing himself, but Jaiel just replied, "Sure," and followed Kian up the apartment complex.