Chapter 120
This morning, he was awake before me. The face I encountered as soon as I opened my eyes was already alert without any sleepy look, as if he had been awake for a long time. He had been lying on his side facing me, watching me sleep.
Waking up in the same bed, enjoying a slightly naughty morning shower together, leisurely awakening the day with a cup of coffee, exchanging stories that filled the gaps of time spent apart—the morning hours.
What he felt during that process. What he wanted to say to me. I thought I vaguely understood.
The buggy was just passing the last hole of the first course, with the coastal cliff embedded with large rocks to our left. The pleasant sea breeze, not too hot given the date, lightly tousled his and my hair as it crossed through the heavenly landscaped scenery.
The secret I must carry to the end, the possibility that I might encounter Lee Seogyeong while with him, the blood relations I want to find and meet but am also afraid of… even Yoon Juho, who makes me worry because I can’t tell what he’s thinking.
It was a moment when I had the illusion of moving to a peaceful dimension where complex problems had been completely incinerated.
“……”
“……”
I loosely leaned my temple against his right shoulder as he gripped the buggy’s steering wheel. It was something I did unconsciously.
He seemed to stiffen for a moment, then soon tilted his head to lean against the top of my head. And he turned his face to press his lips firmly against my hair.
I pulled my lips in a soundless smile at the thought that it would be nice if we could abandon everything together and run away to some distant place where no one knew us. It was such an unrealistically beautiful morning that such foolish thoughts seemed like quite decent ideas.
I remained leaning against his shoulder until we passed by the third course of the beach course where a team of golfers was playing their round.
“From this hole on, it’s all ocean views. Among them, the 6th hole includes cliffs that extend long toward the sea, and it’s a long figure-8 structure where the tee shot must cross the ocean, so the view is more thrilling and the play difficulty is quite high.”
He was right.
It was composed of a steep downhill slope toward the sea, and from the road side you couldn’t see the end well, but after driving a bit past the 5th hole, the 6th hole was revealed, offering a refreshing panoramic view of the sea touching the field below the hill and the archipelago beyond.
Even during our journey here, I could tell that the maintenance of the grass and landscaping was quite excellent, even to an outsider like me.
The sheep grass that looked smooth as velvet carpet, the sparsely placed bunkers, the evergreen trees that had grown despite the sea winds. The scenery where artificial nature implemented with capital power harmonized with nature as it was evoked quite a unique appreciation.
We got off the buggy and admired the scenery for a moment. When I took off the sunglasses I was wearing under my cap and looked, admiration naturally flowed out.
“What did you say the golf course area was?”
“About 7,500 square yards¹.”
“What does it feel like to own such land and scenery?”
I heard light laughter from him standing beside me.
“Sorry to disappoint, but it’s not my property.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Well… my father, or maybe my current noona might know. I just grew up thinking of myself as a manager to maintain and grow Hanseo Group since childhood.”
Even though he uses the facilities relatively freely and receives special treatment different from regular employees or executives when coming and going, it would seem natural to think of it as his own. But when I looked at him, his expression seemed truly uninterested, like someone who felt no attachment at all.
『I’ve lived without desire for the throne or secrets. But if hyung tells me to bring it, I think I’d steal it.』
I recalled what he had said in the bathroom last night. At the time, I didn’t even have the leisure to consider the meaning of his words in the pleasure before climax. Though he probably also spoke meaninglessly in the excitement during sex, it was also words that let me guess what position he had maintained within his family or the group. Without desire. He must have focused only on faithfully fulfilling his assigned role. To be recognized.
He had returned to the buggy before me and was directly rummaging through the golf bag to prepare for the lesson. This was a golf course where you couldn’t play rounds without a caddy, but we had received special permission.
Having skillfully inserted a tee at the appropriate position on the tee box, he handed me a club.
“This is a driver I used before and don’t use anymore, so I asked them to send it from home. The sweet spot² is wide so you’ll be able to hit more comfortably.”
“You went to that much trouble? I’m so grateful?”
Since he said it was a club he had used before, I felt a bit curious and examined the club I received with fresh eyes.
“Only if we were just ordinary acquaintances. This much is nothing.”
Looking at him shrugging, I chuckled and adjusted my gloves unnecessarily, feeling awkward with the club I seemed to be holding for the first time in about 12-13 years.
“Scenes of the ball flying or the back view of the finish pose can easily be done with a double. Our model’s face is most important anyway.”
Standing face to face, he placed his chin on my shoulder and spoke. When I reflexively looked up at his face, he smiled refreshingly, his face covered with sunglasses and a cap just like mine.
“If we just create a clean posture, it doesn’t matter whether you hit well or not, so let’s hurry and go eat something delicious. Well, if the posture is clean, you’re bound to hit it right anyway.”
Having adjusted his cap once, he stepped back a couple of steps with his hands on his waist.
“First, can you show me a swing?”
“Without teaching me anything first?”
“You said you learned the basics at school.”
“That was so long ago. And I really only learned the very basics…”
During my international school days, I had learned recreational golf as one of the physical activities conducted within the school. Though I learned basic theory and practice, the class had a different real purpose. The main event was a short trip where students who got along well during summer vacation would go to golf courses in Eastern Europe together under the excuse of playing rounds.
But like him, who found basketball or skiing more suited to his personality, I also wasn’t particularly interested in golf. Still, I had conscientiously learned the theory. Golf was one of the essential accomplishments to learn for conversations with guests who frequented ‘Mio Palazzo.’
He glanced down at my hands gripping the club.
“First, the way you grip it is proper, though? They say 90% of golf is grip and address. I won’t make fun of you for being bad, so try it first. That way I can see what to correct.”
I had no choice but to set up my address, fumbling through old memories. The moment I swung the club and the head hit the ball, vibrations spread from my palm to my shoulder, and down to the soles of my feet planted on the ground.
The distance wasn’t very long. Unable to land on the green, the ball fell into the sea. Nevertheless, the thrill of the impact³ moment was a more exhilarating experience than the scenery before my eyes. I heard applause from behind and turned around.
“Wow… what do you mean you’re really bad at this?”
He was laughing with pleasure. The moment I saw his smile against the backdrop of the clean blue sky and green grass, I thought that smile was more thrilling than the sensation of impact just before. Perhaps even more than the pleasure of climax he had given me last night.
“Just rotate your shoulders and hips during the backswing… and just fix keeping your right knee from deviating from the address position a bit, and it would be much better. Maybe because you’re flexible, your rotational power is no joke.”
Like most sports, but especially because it was a sport where posture was so important, physical contact was constant during the lesson.
To show me which point to lift the club to during the top of swing stage, he stood close behind me and overlapped his hands over mine gripping the club. His chin was on my shoulder, and his lips touched my ear. Though he probably pressed closer on purpose.
“Now you understand why I said I’d teach you directly?”
“If it had been another teacher, they probably wouldn’t have taught like this?”
“Honestly, I can’t ignore that this is more efficient. I learned from my father like this too. Though it wasn’t as enjoyable as now.”
Laughter burst out at his voice full of complaints. Because of that, my posture shook, and the completely mis-hit ball couldn’t even lift off the ground and rolled down the hill. Though there were still only us at the 6th hole, we still couldn’t make loud noises and had a hard time composing our laughter while chuckling.
Even though we hadn’t played seriously and had only corrected postures, after about 40 minutes, the back part of my top was dampily wet. Meanwhile, the sun that had moved to a higher position blazed intensely. Rest was needed.
The rest center called a shade house was visible in the middle of the cart road leading to the hole, but we decided to simply replenish fluids in the buggy.
The ice water from the small cooler bag prepared by the resort was cold enough to make my head ring. After sitting in the buggy seat, feeling the wind and drinking some ice water, I quickly cooled down.
“It wasn’t a problem with golf itself, but who you play with was important. Ah… I didn’t know golf was such a fun sport.”
I laughed out loud watching him shake his head while speaking exaggeratedly.
Actually, rather than the fun of golf itself, it was the time we spent fooling around together that was enjoyable, but I too couldn’t help but agree with his words.
“Should we come out like this sometimes? Two-person play without a caddy like today. If we time the dates and hours well, it seems like a good way to date outdoors without thinking about other people’s gazes.”
“Mm… shall we? After learning a bit more.”
“There are several golf courses that Knox operates in Southeast Asia and China. If we make time to go there, we can enjoy it more comfortably.”
—
Footnotes:
¹ 7,500 square yards: approximately 6,300 square meters, about 1,900 pyeong
² Sweet spot: In golf, refers to the center of the club head face. The closer you hit the ball to this part, the higher the probability that the ball will fly far and fast in the right direction
³ Impact: The moment the club head strikes the ball
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
