Chapter 115
“The peak season is over, and there really aren’t many people around at this time on a Monday.”
“Yeah… that’s right. It’s nice and quiet.”
That feeling again. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but my heart sank the moment I saw him. It wasn’t particularly pleasant to feel this way about my lover. I looked at his face more intently, trying to shake off the unpleasant aftertaste left by Yoon Juho’s message.
“Aren’t you tired from driving? I shouldn’t have drunk alcohol even using the advertisement as an excuse.”
The smile on his cheek deepened.
“Why are you looking at me so intensely while saying that? When such a picture-perfect handsome man looks at me like that, it’s breathtaking.”
Resting his arms on the plastic table, he bent his waist and put the straw in his mouth. His eyes were still looking at me and smiling.
Since he had near-perfect elegant etiquette completely ingrained in his body, it was interesting whenever he showed such relaxed behavior. It felt like he was shedding his public role as a member of Hanseo Group’s owner family and revealing his natural self in front of me, which gave me even a childish sense of satisfaction.
Not even touching the bread that was giving off a sweet smell, I stirred the ice in my cup with the straw and continued his words in a not-so-serious tone.
“Do you… like handsome men?”
“Are you asking if I’m gay?”
Startled by the direct expression, I slowly nodded.
While tearing open the packaging of disposable wet wipes he’d gotten from the cafe, he rolled his eyes as if searching his memory.
“There was a period in college when I seriously thought about it… but I’m not sure.”
Then he pulled over my hand that had been fiddling with the coffee cup and started wiping my palm with the wet wipe. Without realizing it, I reflexively looked around while trying to pull my hand back. Not missing my wrist, he pulled it close and looked across at me with a chuckle.
“I already checked all that.”
Looking down at his large hands meticulously wiping even my fingertips, I laughed along.
“I wanted to date, sleep together, possess, share life… hyung is the only person I’ve ever liked in that way. Even though I know what kind of sex I like, I’m not really sure what my sexual identity is.”
After wiping my right hand, he didn’t pull my left hand over but quietly held out his hand. I hesitated, then placed my left hand on his palm.
With a satisfied smile, he wiped my left hand.
“I don’t feel any particular aversion to men or women. Though I’m not particularly attracted to either.”
“That’s done,” he said as he let go of my hand and pushed the paper bag toward me, telling me to try one.
Watching him tear open the remaining wet wipe package, I pondered for a moment. Since I’d received this service, should I wipe his hands now too?
While I was glancing at him who seemed oblivious, a couple who appeared to be in their mid-twenties was approaching from over there behind his back. I lowered my face, pretending to drink coffee. But from the woman’s expression I’d glimpsed, it seemed she’d already recognized me.
“Try one.”
Following his recommendation, I put my hand into the bag opening and picked one at random.
The man and woman, carrying various snacks like tteokbokki, squid, and whole potatoes in their arms, had settled at the table behind me. As soon as they sat down, the woman’s voice was heard.
“Hey, hey… behind me… did you see? Isn’t that Jung Jiin? Amazing…”
“What are you saying, why would Jung Jiin be here at this time…! Crazy, it really is Jung Jiin?”
It was impossible not to hear at that distance. They seemed to be keeping their voices down in their own way, but because their voices were suppressed from trying to contain their excitement, it caught my hearing even more clearly.
He must have heard it too, because while biting a corner of a small bread and chewing, he looked at me and smiled silently. Unlike me, who wished we’d move to another seat, he was finding the situation amusing.
I chewed on the bread I’d just been holding, but aside from the cream inside being hotter than expected, I couldn’t really taste anything.
This time the man behind me whispered with more interest.
“What about the guy next to him? Is that his manager? The manager is totally handsome too. Wow, look at those shoulders. I’d be too scared to even go near.”
“For a manager, his aura is too high-class, isn’t it?”
“What, managers can’t have a high-class aura?”
This time I felt like I might burst out laughing. He playfully frowned and stuffed the last piece of bread remaining in his hand into his mouth.
I hid my laughter by pretending to clear my throat and stirred inside my cup with the straw as I spoke.
“Should we eat the rest in the car?”
“……”
His eyes looking at me momentarily showed a light so disappointed it was almost like feeling wronged. My heart sank for a moment, wondering if I’d made some big mistake.
“Why? This place is fun and nice.”
I grabbed the arm of him who was being stubborn with a sulky face and stood up from my chair first.
As we left the table and went down toward the parking lot, only then did the mechanical sound of a phone camera come from behind us. It was quick to reach his SUV parked in the second row.
At this time, even the front seats were tinted dark enough that it would be difficult to distinguish who was sitting inside, so the moment the car door closed, the tension was relieved.
“Are you angry because I used formal speech?”
I slyly asked him after getting into the passenger seat. He didn’t answer while putting his coffee in the cup holder and fastening his seatbelt, only looking at me after gripping the steering wheel.
“Are you planning to use formal speech whenever there are other people around from now on?”
It wasn’t an accusatory tone. Probably he felt slightly hurt rather than angry.
I gently wrapped my hand around his wrist gripping the steering wheel.
“Informal speech isn’t completely natural to me yet… it just comes out unconsciously in awkward moments. It doesn’t mean anything special. Cheer up, okay?”
Looking down thoughtfully at his wrist wrapped by my hand, he said something unexpected.
“To be honest, the fact that I’m younger than hyung… is a complex for me.”
“……”
“So I really don’t want to act childishly. But as we spend more time together and my greed shows, it’s getting harder to control.”
I was about to say there was no need to shrink back just because he was younger. But I changed my mind. Thinking about it briefly, I felt I could fully understand the emotions he might be feeling.
The anxiety of feeling like there was an insurmountable distance that could never be closed. The unease of feeling like he would always remain in a more lacking state.
Even if I had been the younger one, I probably would have suffered from that kind of impatience to some degree.
While gently massaging his wrist that I was holding, I swallowed dry saliva and parted my lips.
“Should I also say something honestly?”
I felt his gaze turning toward my profile. Suddenly looking ahead, the man and woman from earlier were still looking this way. Since it was night and his car was heavily tinted, there was no way the interior could be seen from that distance, but it bothered me. I let go of his wrist and patted his shoulder instead.
“But first, let’s start the car.”
The car that rejoined the highway began heading toward Mokpo. Only after raising and lowering my coffee cup several times did I manage to speak with difficulty.
“It bothers me a bit when you let other people touch your belongings. I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
“……”
A puzzled face that had no idea what I meant glanced at me.
He called his behavior of revealing unstable emotions childish, but in some sense it was self-expression that required tremendous courage. At least for me it was.
It was fortunate that it was nighttime now. At least my reddened face wouldn’t be caught. I fixed my gaze on the rear ends of the few vehicles ahead and added as calmly as possible.
“At that ‘Creep’ event… you just let the person next to you try on your glasses as they pleased?”
“……”
He still had no reaction.
But this time he rested his elbow on the window frame and covered his mouth with his left hand. Though he was pretending to focus on driving while watching ahead, I could tell at a glance what he was hiding inside that large hand.
We repeatedly became serious and then happy over trivial matters that would be embarrassing to tell others about. We regarded each other’s jealousy as interest rather than restraint and tasted thrilling joy within it.
No matter how you looked at it, we were a couple who had just started dating.
If Taeyoon found out about this situation, he probably wouldn’t be able to say I was too indifferent when it came to romance anymore. At the same time, I felt a chill down my spine.
If Taeyoon caught a scene like this, instead of being called indifferent, I’d have to prepare for worse teasing for the rest of my life.
My face reflected on the dark scenery outside the car window rushing by was also smiling foolishly, no different from his current state.
■
After stopping at one more rest area along the way, we arrived at the resort just past midnight. Most of the grounds were swallowed by darkness, making it impossible to even gauge their size. I could only guess that the sea was very close by from the distance of the wave sounds I could hear.
Passing the huge sculpture at the entrance, the car headed straight to the guest building. His stay today had been notified to the resort in advance. Along with the requirement that since he would arrive late, they should not disturb him in any way unless specifically requested.
“Beach course hole 6 is Haenam’s signature hole. The ocean view with rocky cliffs you see from the tee toward the hole direction is unparalleled. The filming will also take place there. These days, even if you want to build a course in a location like this, you can’t get permits. It’s probably the only perfect links¹ course in Korea, so it’ll probably come out beautifully even if we just shoot randomly.”
As we entered the underground parking garage of the guest building, he showed subtle pride. My eyes were momentarily dazzled by the parking garage lighting because it had been so dark outside.
“The background will certainly be beautiful, but I need to do well.”
“That’s why we came a day early. Hyung is flexible and has good muscle strength, so you’ll do well. And even if it doesn’t go as planned, we can use a stunt double for the posture shots, so don’t feel too pressured about that.”
At Knox Resort Haenam, filming was scheduled to take place mainly with the golf course as the background. The director had made a prior request to include a driver shot scene with the rocky cliffs that symbolize Haenam Golf Course as the background.
Initially, I planned to find an instructor in Seoul and take crash course lessons. But unexpectedly, he had stepped forward to give me lessons himself.
“Instead of that, shall we go down a day early? We could work on your posture for two or three hours in the morning, then eat something delicious in the afternoon and take our time exploring the resort beforehand. Wouldn’t it be better to practice at the actual filming location?”
His busy schedule was the issue, but I had no reason to refuse.
¹ Links: Links. A golf course built in coastal areas. Also called a seaside course, play is quite challenging due to the influence of the sea, such as sudden weather changes or strong winds.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
