Chapter 69.1: It’s not like we’re in Africa (1)

After Anne headed out of the building, the three of them walked to the first hole.

Kyung-Seoul had a concrete road on one side of the golf course for the people to drive their golf carts on.

“Hello,” the three caddies waiting for them greeted them as soon as the caddies saw them.

The weather was nice, and it didn’t feel that hot since it was still 7 am.

“You should go first, Mr. Kang Chan,” said Lanok.

“Should I?”

Kang Chan held the driver that the caddie handed to him. After lightly warming up and taking the proper stance, he glared at the ball as if he was going to destroy it.

‘Damn it!’

Bang!

The white ball curved to the right side like a banana, then disappeared beyond the mountain.

‘What happened?’

When Kang Chan looked behind him because he felt awkward, everyone looked flustered.

Anne had been trying hard to hold in her laughter. Her eyes then met Kang Chan’s. She looked awkward, but it was at least better than her crying.

.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect anyone to come out here with dad would play golf like that,” Anne said.

“You can just smile,” Kang Chan replied.

“You really haven’t played golf,” Lanok butted in, perhaps because he thought that Anne was being impolite. However, his expression wasn’t any different from Anne’s.

“I think the ball flew out straight last time, but this is a bit different,” Kang Chan replied. He turned his gaze, and from there Seok Kang-Ho shrugged.

It was Lanok’s turn.

He comfortably put the ball on top of the tee. After swinging two to three times to practice, he struck the ball in a cool way.

“Nice shot!” The shot was worthy of getting praised by the caddies.

“Please try again, Mr. Kang Chan,” said Lanok.

“It’s okay. This is how I normally play golf, so trying again won’t make much of a difference.”

Anne’s turn came next.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

“Can I walk to the next hole?” Anne asked.

What’s she saying? Don’t people hit the ball first before heading to the next hole?

But Anne looked serious.

“Mr. Kang Chan, around what time do we have to finish golfing?” Lanok asked.

“One moment please,” Kang Chan asked Kim Hyung-Jung about their golf club reservation’s duration.

“The golf club has been completely emptied for today. You two can enjoy golfing in comfort,” Kang Chan relayed what he heard.

“You heard that, right? You’ll be able to walk without worries due to how thoughtful Mr. Kang Chan is,” Lanok told Anne.

“Thank you, dad. Thank you, Mr. Kang Chan.”

“You’re welcome. And please call me Channy if that’s okay with you, Anne.”

Anne smiled brightly and walked forward.

Kang Chan looked around their surroundings, then positioned himself on Anne’s right. Seok Kang-Ho and the French agents stood guard over Lanok’s right side.

Walking through an open and unsheltered golf course increased the risk of being shot far more than riding a cart.

There was a mountain to the right of the golf course, and the security guards intended to hide Lanok and Anne from its vantage points as much as possible for now.

‘This was what Kim Tae-Jin meant.’

They walked about twenty meters down the golf course, finding a separate tee box for women. Anne received a driver that was as tall as her and swung it a few times. Afterward, she struck the ball skillfully.

The caddies at the back clapped.

“Mr. Ambassador, my abilities are not as good as you two in all respects. I’d rather stay by your side like this instead. Is that alright?” Kang Chan asked.

He truly did feel that way.

Anne handed over the driver to a caddie, and the three of them walked side by side.

“Mr. Kang Chan said that he’s going to withdraw. Why don’t we continue playing golf with just the two of us?” asked Lanok.

Anne looked upset but soon nodded. It seemed she had judged that Kang Chan wasn’t skilled enough to play with them no matter how much she thought about it.

After Kang Chan told a caddie to exclude him from that point onward, he gave Seok Kang-Ho and Kim Tae-Jin a hand signal.

Lanok and Anne took turns hitting golf balls. It was amazing to witness them joyously dropping the ball into the cup.

Meanwhile, the French agents wordlessly followed Kang Chan’s eye gestures. Among them were the two agents that fought with Kang Chan in the hotel. They seemed to be waiting for Kang Chan’s orders.

Soon, they arrived at the sixth hole on the green that was beyond the big artificial lake.

Behind the hole was a mountain, which a sniper could use as a good vantage point and take unavoidable shots from.. Moreover, Lanok and Anne also had to fix their posture for about three to five seconds before they hit the ball.

Kang Chan sent a morse code with the mic button that was on his sleeve, to which his men replied that there were no problems.

“Is everything around the sixth hole in order?” asked Kang Chan.

Chkk.

“All clear up to now.”

Everybody’s nerves were on edge.

Lanok went up to the tee box first.

At times like this, Kang Chan had nothing else to trust but his senses.

‘Will it be okay? Is there nothing wrong?’

Kang Chan looked at the mountain that was behind the hole.

Tak!

As Lanok’s iron shot made the white ball fly straight, Seok Kang-Ho and Kim Tae-Jin’s eyes looked around in every direction without resting for even a moment.

Anne’s turn came.

When she went on the top of the tee box, Kang Chan looked at the mountain while repeating the same thing over and over to himself.

‘Hit it quickly. Quickly.’

However, despite Kang Chan’s wishes, Anne carefully hit the ball.

Tak.

Kang Chan quickly went to the front to receive the golf club, which put him in a position that covered Anne.

Their eyes met.

The look in Anne’s eyes asked,

‘why are you guarding me yourself?’

“We should go,” said Kang Chan.

He stuck close to Anne as they walked. If someone on top of the mountain was looking for an opportunity, then being below it was dangerous.

“Channy, are you a security guard?” asked Anne.

“No, I’m not. Please just consider my actions as driven by worry that something unfortunate would happen to the ambassador or you. I arranged this golf session, after all.”

Lanok walked in front of them, which left the two of them walking side by side.

“I noticed dad’s security guards were receiving orders from you. Both of us were a little bit surprised because even Louis, who’s really prideful, is following your orders.”

Kang Chan just smiled.

“When I come out to play golf, I feel like I’m in my mother’s arms,” Anne continued.

They walked around the artificial lake and headed toward the green.

Kang Chan wanted to recommend to Anne to use the cart since she had trouble walking, and it was also a much more excellent choice in terms of her security.

“My dad has been always busy, so I frequently went on a picnic with my mom,” Anne continued.

Almost all French people frequently went out for a picnic. This was especially the case when their child was young. Since restaurants rarely accepted young children, families had no choice but to go on picnics.

“Playing golf reminds me of the smell of the grass at that time, which makes me feel like I’m in my mother’s arms.”

It felt like sadness had tightly coiled around her and was never going away. Anne couldn’t cry to her heart's content, but she was thinking that her inability to cry was a sign that she had overcome her emotions.

About one or two out of ten guys that applied to be a mercenary were like her.

They pretended to be strong and tough, but when Kang Chan beat them up over and over again until just before they died, most of them cried their hearts out at the end.

The memory of them being abused in an orphanage or a foster home, of their mother dying at their father’s cruel hands, and of their sister suffering a horrible death. Unable to overcome all of those memories and emotions, which they had thoroughly locked inside them, they burst out the mercenaries as tears of rage.

The mercenaries then followed Kang Chan around after he beat them up.

Should I beat Anne up until she’s nearly dead?

No, I shouldn’t think about this. How am I going to cope with the aftermath?

Kang Chan smiled, and Anne also smiled at him with deep-set eyes.

When they arrived at the green, Kim Tae-Jin looked around their surroundings as if he was insane.

Whenever someone assumed a posture to putt, they had to stand in the same spot for a long time. The security guards couldn’t rashly go close to them since doing so would disturb the game.

With Kang Chan’s nerves now on edge, choosing the security guards’ positions became almost like a war of nerves., Nevertheless, all of the agents from Yoo Bi-Corp and France followed Kang Chan’s eye gestures without complaints.

“Whew!” When they went around the sixth hole and were walking on the corner of the mountain, Kang Chan sighed loudly.

“What’s wrong?” Anne asked Kang Chan.

“The sixth hole is the section where the security guards become the most on edge. Especially when people take a long time in the tee box or during their last putting, they feel like they’re going to go crazy from worry.”

“So you really are a security guard.”

“I said I’m not!”

While Lanok examined Kang Chan and Anne with a gaze that asked ‘What are you guys doing?’ They arrived at the halfway house.

“Mr. Ambassador, how about we smoke a cigarette first before heading to the next hole?” Kang Chan asked.

“We should do that, dad.”

Lanok smiled widely like a European mask and nodded.

With an iced drink in front of them, they smoked inside the halfway house. The building was a no-smoking area, but no one could stop them anyway.

Yoo-Bi Corp’s employees encircled the halfway house’s perimeters.

While they were resting for a moment, Seok Kang–Ho, Kim Hyung-Jung, and Kim Tae-Jin made use of that time to drink water from bottles.

“The lady should get ready to go out to the hole,” Lanok said.

Anne headed to the bathroom at Lanok’s recommendation.

“We should stop around here for your sake, but I can’t do that after seeing Anne’s face,” Lanok told Kang Chan.

Kang Chan just smiled and took a sip of his drink.

“I don’t know how long it has been since I saw her talk to someone that comfortably,” Lanok continued.

“Does she not talk to other people?”

“She only has formal conversations, and I also acted similarly after my wife died. I also thought about retiring for Anne.”

Anne came out of the bathroom as Lanok finished his sentence.

1. A driver is a type of golf club

2. a tee box refers to the start of each hole, where golfers take their first swing

3. The green is the area at the far end of the golf course that is nearest to the hole. The grass is the shortest in this area and easiest to putt.

4. an iron shot refers to hitting the ball with an iron club

5. The Korean text was written as ‘shadow house’, but we used ‘halfway house’ as it’s commonly used in English. The ‘halfway house’ refers to a comfort station where golfers can get light snacks or refreshments during their rounds. In Korea, it’s called the ‘shadow house’ since it was built to create a shadow, which is especially welcomed by golfers on a sunny or windy day.

6. The author used the word employee for the Yoo-Bi Corp’s agents