“Ah, I missed it. Should I take a different class?”

I’ve been completely hooked on Pilates lately. I’m not particularly fond of strength training, but since I didn’t think my body looked great, I chose Pilates instead of the gym. 

Even though it’s pretty tough, working out with several people makes it bearable enough that I go two or three times a week.

Today, like always, my preferred instructor’s class is fiercely competitive. While I slacked off for a bit, the class filled up. Even though multiple classes run simultaneously by time slot and equipment type, I’d usually skip my workout for the day if I missed that instructor’s class. But…

“My neck and shoulders are k＊lling me, and I really want to stretch out my back…”

I sit all day at work, and since I haven’t exercised once this week, I feel stiff and heavy. Ugh! In the brief moment I spent deliberating, even the other classes filled up completely.

“I guess I’ll have to take this one.”

I reluctantly selected the last remaining class. I hesitated a bit since it was an instructor whose classes always had empty spots—clearly not popular—but I headed to the center thinking I’d at least get some stretching in.

In the “Reformer Room” designated for today’s class, a member was already lying on the equipment in the middle of the seven stations, twisting her waist. I set up right next to her. 

While I was doing some simple stretches, an instructor wearing a black disposable mask slid the door open and entered.

‘…Huh?’

This is a bit different from what I expected?

“Hello, members, this is your first time in my class, right? We’ll start with breathing exercises and then warm up.”

When you’re working out, you can hear the instructors’ voices from other rooms pretty well, but this male instructor in particular always had a gentle, smooth mid-to-low voice.

His tone was completely different from the female instructor with her high-pitched voice who counted numbers like she was keeping time for aerobics, trying to squeeze every muscle out of the aunties. 

So I guess I had some prejudice… It’s not like it’s an exercise only women do, but somehow I’d assumed this male instructor would be somewhat feminine.

However, the instructor standing in front of the equipment calling out instructions had a pretty large build. Thanks to his tight-fitting workout shirt, his solid muscles stood out, and below his short sleeves, his arms stretched out with particularly eye-catching s＊xy forearms. 

They weren’t bulky muscles like a gym trainer’s, but even without flexing, his body had a nice shape to it.

“Lie on the reformer facing the ceiling. Position is tabletop, spine is neutral.”

There were definitely three registrants, but one person never came in—either late or canceled—so I had to take the class with just the auntie next to me.

“Articulate down through the spine. Scoop the abs! Pelvis and lower back touch first, then each vertebra one by one…”

The soft, low voice made me feel like I was doing yoga rather than strength training, but before I knew it, muscles throughout my body were being squeezed repeatedly and crying out in protest.

I could hear groaning sounds from the seat next to me. Then—thud—the auntie who couldn’t finish articulating her spine dropped from her shoulders, making a heavy sound.

“Are you okay?”

The instructor moved toward her head. I turned my head to follow, only to come face-to-face with the instructor’s b＊tt. The curves of his perky, round b＊tt in leggings were laid bare. I quickly straightened my head and looked at the ceiling.

“Let’s work on core strengthening a bit more. Extend your legs diagonally. Yes, a bit higher. Point your toes.”

Following the instructions, I stretched my arms and slowly lifted from my head to my chest to my lower back. Seeing my lower belly trembling as I moved, the instructor grabbed my fingertips and guided them in the direction they should extend. Unlike my cool hands, his body temperature was warm. Once my position formed a V-shape, the counting began.

“Ugh!”

He suddenly poked my stomach.

“More, you need to squeeze more. It shouldn’t sink in like this. Put strength in your lower belly, not your chest.”

As I hurriedly put strength in my lower belly as instructed, this time he pinched and released the top of my thigh.

“Your thigh is loose. Stretch more. Keep your toes together. Focus so they don’t separate.”

Seeing that I’d barely completed the position after his relentless corrections, he immediately let go of my fingertips and turned around to adjust the other member’s form. My lower belly trembled. Soon the trembling spread throughout my body, and at some point, he’d stopped counting. A short moan came from beside me, then quickly disappeared.

While he was focused on the auntie, I briefly relaxed my body. Otherwise, I really felt like I might die. However, seemingly with eyes in the back of his head, he immediately turned around and this time grabbed my toes.

“You can do it. Don’t give up. Just hold for 5 seconds. Five, four…”

I really want to give up. But with his unforgiving touch, I forced myself to hold the position. My foot was curved with the sole deeply concave, and the instructor pressed down firmly on that spot.

The area being pressed by his fingertips sizzled. It felt ticklish, and I had the strange feeling that I wanted him to press harder with his nails. 

Before he removed his hand, he traced the length of my curved sole with his thumb. Instantly, a tingling sensation shot up from that spot through my leg like electricity, and I fluttered and trembled.

“Haah!”

“Abdominal trembling is normal. It means the exercise is working, so don’t worry about it.”

Movements that were normally completely fine felt strangely awkward today, and every action kept leading to lewd thoughts.

While lying down, I hooked straps onto my feet and spread my legs as wide as possible. It was supposed to be a hip exercise, but instead of muscles rising in my b＊tt, every time I spread my legs, I just felt… strange.

The instructor shoved his large palm under my lower back.

“Imprint. Press down more. Press with your obliques. Until my hand can’t get in. Good.”

After pulling his hand from my waist, the instructor firmly pressed both inner thighs, pushing them to spread outward, then turned toward the member next to me. The sensation of his fingers lingered on my briefly touched inner thighs in their exact shape before gradually fading.

Why specifically the inner thighs… Far from being uncomfortable with him directly spreading my legs, I found myself curious about what it would feel like if he grabbed and shook that lingering area more roughly.

Why do these strange thoughts keep coming? Just because he’s a man? Or because his body seems nice? 

I’m not sure myself. But what’s certain is that every time he pressed down on my body, down there twitched, and right now I felt an impulse to rub that wet place against his forearms.

When I brought my legs back together and raised them to center, the instructor wedged a rubber ball between my feet.

“Don’t let it drop. You need a lot of strength in your adductors. Lower to 5cm from the floor, yes. Good. Back up! Down again!”

Did he notice me having filthy thoughts? The speed of raising and lowering my legs kept getting faster. The voice I’d thought was gentle had become a demon’s voice. 

The number count kept stopping whenever he adjusted my or the other member’s form, and when he said to hold for just 5 seconds, it felt like 50 seconds passed.

Instantly exhausted, my mind was hazy even during the final stretching and breathing exercises. Do we really need to squeeze the muscles this much? 

The lewd thoughts had disappeared at some point, and I closed my eyes and focused on the sensation of my body relaxing. Until the instructor’s hand slipped under my neck.

Finding the hollow below my neck, he pressed firmly, moving up to the back of my head, then descended again, pressing firmly below my shoulders before lifting away. Those few short seconds felt endlessly long. 

It seemed like his breath was pouring down onto my closed-eyed face. I know, I know it’s an illusion. He was wearing a mask, and there’s no way his breath could be pouring out.

The sticky touch landed again on my heated skin. Mmm, mmm—with each forceful pressure, that spot felt branded in the shape of the man’s fingers. The heat that swept down my collarbone as he pressed my shoulders and gradually moved lower left me breathless.

Haaah, I shouldn’t. If he does more, I won’t be able to hold back a moan. Hnngh, but just a little more…

Thinking that the instructor must be watching my chest rise and fall with each breath made my n*pples tingle, and they stood er*ect all on their own inside my tight crop top.

“Haah!”

Suddenly, a dizzying pressure squeezed my entire br*ast. The stinging pain crushing my n*pple made down there flutter on its own. Haah, a little harder…

“Good work.”

“Huk!”

At the instructor’s farewell, I snapped back to reality. To think I’d gone so far as to imagine him actually touching me! 

Not wanting to reveal my embarrassment, I headed to the changing room without looking back. 

The member from the next station who followed me into the changing room immediately stripped off her leggings and changed into pants.

“Aigoo, I’m dying. I can’t take this class twice!”

Since the other classes were just as hard anyway, I glanced at her. The auntie pinched her thick belly above the sleeve she was wearing.

“Showing off all this folded flesh. I’m so embarrassed I could die!”

Ah, I finally understood a bit why this class never filled up. The instructor was wearing a mask so I couldn’t be sure about his looks, but the high bridge of his nose visible above the black mask couldn’t be hidden.