Lessons in Proximity
Yeong-a drove the car along the map, her voice carrying the stories of her childhood.
“There wasn’t a single thing around there. So when I was little and my fever was burning up on a cold morning, Grandma picked me up and crossed the mountains. ‘Hey, little one, wake up. You’ve lived this long, you know?’ She’d say. ‘But there was no driver that night—Mr. Park.’”
Yeong-a kept talking about the grandmother who had raised her, her tone full of fond memory.
“When I was in kindergarten, the kids who bullied me in kindergarten kept doing it even after I went to elementary school. One time I faked illness to skip school, and they… smacked my back.”
She tried to make it sound so real, changing her voice dramatically and even adding a hearty laugh.
“Get up right now! If you bring me the medicine to freeze to death with, you better say ‘thank you’ and leave! I’ll go to school and turn those kids upside down!”
Yeong-a laughed, rubbing her back where she had been hit. “Good grandma. I’m really lucky.”
“Right? If it wasn’t for someone saving me, I’d be dead. Sister Josefa, Grandma Jangmi, and Suho-oppa, too.”
The way she deliberately left out the current him made Hwigyeom’s insides twist faintly at the sound of Suho’s name.
“But you wanted to sleep at my house?”
“My grandmother said there were guests all month. She does that—prepares meals for the visitors coming to the hermitage and takes care of the temple’s daily life.”
Hwigyeom had heard from Jeong-hye that she had stayed at the hermitage the entire time he was missing, praying day and night. There were also temples where she would perform rites, so he knew something about it.
“But why do we have to find her in Yanggu?”
“First, I’m meeting the site director and the mayor to talk.”
“But if it’s someone like Park Ki, wouldn’t you have to negotiate money?”
Yeong-a said it was just about money, so Grandma Jangmi hadn’t met anyone. Even the local influential people only knew him by rumor.
“Do you know Yeonwol Temple?”
“Yes.”
Yeonwol Temple—using the characters for lotus and moon—was famous for its vast land in Seoul’s prime district, but it was also the main branch of Mukwol Hermitage. That was why Yeong-a had known it well since childhood.
“Yeonwol Temple was built on the land donated by Grandma Jangmi to the Buddhist community. She donated all her fortune except for that one plot in Yanggu.”
“What was the story behind it?”
“I don’t know. That’s why it’s so hard.”
After talking for about thirty minutes, they arrived at the Yanggu resort plot. It looked worse than the Sahan Hotel in Sokcho. The people they met only wore awkward expressions the whole time.
“You have to push straight back here to get the parking lot and the land, but they’ve sealed it off so tightly you can’t even see the back alley.”
His words made Hwigyeom’s spine tingle sharply as he looked around. Suddenly, Jeong-hye’s words came back to him.
“How did your aunt manage to buy there? There’s no consideration at all.”
Jeong-hye seemed to know something, but he hadn’t asked at the time. He thought he’d ask later and finished up with Yanggu.
At the Sahan Hotel in Sokcho, two family suites reserved for the owner were kept empty. Hwigyeom had already booked one of the suites with two bedrooms.
When they arrived at the hotel it was already night, so they ate a simple dinner at the hotel restaurant and went straight to their room.
When Hwigyeom came out of the shower, Yeong-a was already there, sitting half-sprawled on the living-room sofa with her hair wrapped in a towel.
“Where did you even get that outfit?”
Hwigyeom asked, staring at the strange purple tracksuit Yeong-a was wearing. The word “높은” was printed in large letters on the chest area.
“It’s my favorite loungewear. I’ll never give it up.”
Hwigyeom couldn’t help but smile in disbelief.
“Yeah. Wear it for a thousand years.”
“I will.”
Picking up the papers he needed to review, he headed toward the table when Yeong-a whispered something.
“Hey, Manager. Don’t we have lessons today?”
She had asked several times in the company when the next lesson would be. But Hwigyeom always refused.
He had barely calmed the sudden storm that had hit the calm lake. The water was sloshing wildly from the fierce waves, and now… what was this?
“I told you it was just once. The advanced stuff is for you to figure out on your own.”
But he turned around without taking even a few steps. It was because of Yeong-a’s mumbled words behind him.
“It’s a shame. The effect was really good.”
“......Effect?”
“I used it the moment I woke up.”
Yeong-a smiled cheekily and fiddled with the pouch beside her. It was the logo of a fairly expensive jewelry brand.
It should have been satisfying and proud that she had achieved the purpose of the lesson…
Suddenly, the auction from last time popped into his mind—the one where he had played tug-of-war with a European collector. It had been a piece he had wanted with a desperation unlike anything else.
“So, did you receive the confession?”
Because he had hesitated, the memory of almost losing it made his heart flutter even now.
“Huh? No, that’s not it…”
“You got the ring?”
“Oh, someone just gave me this because he thought it might be useful for me.”
The memory of the moment the bidder suddenly dropped out and the phone rang in the auction hall flashed through his mind. That strange flutter in his chest.
Hwigyeom looked up into empty space. Even though it was his, he couldn’t understand the flow of his own consciousness at all.
Trying to trace the root of that consciousness, he saw Yeong-a sprawled on the sofa suddenly flop over.
“But Manager, you know this brand too. I only heard the name, so I should search to see if there are pretty things.”
Yeong-a tapped on her phone, dangling her bare foot in the air. Her gaze was irresistibly drawn to the small feet that were so different from his.
Watching her walk with such ease, he stared fixedly until the loose purple pants slipped down.
“........!”
A slender ankle and smooth calf were suddenly revealed in front of his eyes.
An odd impulse rose up—wanting to suck the soft flesh on her white skin and leave a mark. At the same time, his hand, which had extended on its own, was about to touch her ankle.
The being that had been blurring his consciousness with a sway suddenly vanished. Yeong-a felt the presence and quickly sat up.
“Are you teaching me?”
“Huh?”
Hwigyeom was dazed, unable to process her question right away.
What the hell was this…?
Had the side effect of the elixir penetrated all the way to his brain? Hwigyeom sat down on the sofa in a daze.
Thinking that was the start of the lesson, Yeong-a sat up straight and said with gusto,
“Today I learned the technique to induce kisses, Teacher.”
The word “kisses” made Hwigyeom sigh.
Perhaps Yu Yeong-a wasn’t his savior totem that would break his long trauma, but a final black-masked boss that pretended to be one and threw the greatest trauma instead.
These days she was like a booster, exploding the side effect of the elixir!
Thinking about it, Yu Yeong-a had the baby face and the body that didn’t match, along with naive reactions contrasting her obvious curiosity. She had all the conditions to become the black-masked boss.
“Shall we advance the curriculum?”
The fastest way to eliminate the black-masked boss inside her was to satisfy her desire. Then only purity would remain.
“Yes, Teacher! What’s the curriculum today?”
When Hwigyeom spoke, the black-masked boss zipped up the purple tracksuit all the way to the neck, showing strong will. With the bare skin that had been distracting him gone from view, Hwigyeom felt his mind settle a little.
He looked at the Yeong-a beside him and improvised.
“Natural skinship. Nothing shakes a man’s heart like that. Sitting next to her like this is the perfect chance.”
He had never tried it, but nothing was easier in the world than seducing a woman, right?
Pressing against her body, brushing her subtly, shooting a glance, and smiling a little… game over. At least from what he saw of his friends, it was always like that.
“Oh, Manager’s experience story?”
Hwigyeom didn’t bother correcting her. She didn’t need to like him, so misunderstanding was fine.
“First, act like you’re adjusting your posture while pressing your body close, as if you’re about to touch.”
Hwigyeom sat up a little and sat right next to Yeong-a’s left side.
“Want to say anything random?”
“If you ask suddenly, I can’t think of anything…”
Yeong-a fiddled with her pouch and tilted her head.
“Tell me why that thing is so good.”
After thinking for a moment, Yeong-a brightened up with an “Ah” and a big smile.
“Do you remember the day we first met, Manager? The sky was really high and blue. The clouds were really white.”
“Hmm.”
Actually, Hwigyeom hadn’t forgotten. He just didn’t want to say it. There were days when the crystal-clear sky made him feel chills. That day had been exactly like that.
“How can you not remember?”
Hwigyeom pulled Yeong-a’s wrist, which was now bouncing with indignation.
“Right now.”
And he placed her hand on his thigh. Yeong-a’s eyes, watching him, grew wide, then slowly curved.
“Surprised, right? To naturally put your hand on my thigh like this?”
Yeong-a laughed and pressed his thigh firmly.
For a moment, Hwigyeom’s brows furrowed. Dammit, today’s—wait, pocket?
“Huh? What are you putting in your pocket?”
Right side.