Wei Lun's Workout Karma

Part 1

At the bustling downtown gym, Wei-Lun prided himself on being the strongest, fastest, and most “masculine” guy around. Today, however, he had decided on a little joke: a rainbow-colored pride singlet he wore over his workout gear. “Just for laughs,” he muttered, flexing in the mirror, unaware of the dozen eyes following him, men who weren’t laughing, but watching.

He finished his sets, wiped the sweat from his brow, and headed to the showers. After gulping water, a dizzy warmth made him sit on a bench for a moment, letting the hum of the gym fade. The next thing he knew, the world went black.

When he came to, he was seated on the bench, still in his pride singlet, his eyes covered with a blindfold, his mask still on. Confused and disoriented, he fumbled with his restraints, only to hear a calm voice:

“You wanted to joke. Now, you’re learning what it’s like when people make assumptions about others.”

Shivers ran through him as he realized the needles rolling across the bench weren’t harmful, they were tiny massage rollers, tickling, prodding, making him squirm. His own laughter echoed behind the blindfold as the “lesson” continued: stretches he couldn’t see, strange sensations, and the awareness that he was completely at the mercy of a gym full of amused onlookers.

Hours, or maybe minutes, later, they left him there, still tied, still blindfolded, feeling every bit the object of his own joke. The lesson was simple: humility can be uncomfortable, and sometimes, the joke’s on the joker.