Journey 11

If it wasn't for the guiltiness she felt from not replying on Joonmyeon's text message three days ago, Jinri would never make a rash decision like this. Crap, she told herself that as long as the issue concerns Mrs. Kim, she would decide things thoroughly first before ending up with a conclusion.

Not this time though.

"I'm really glad that you agreed to come with us today Jinri." Joonmyeon exclaimed.

Jinri doesn't know what to reply so she forced a smile instead. But it seems for Joonmyeon that he doesn't needs her response already, because as soon as he saw Jinri's smile, he nodded in content.

"The weather's in favor for our activity as well. I'm sure we'll enjoy this weekend."

*I hope so.* Jinri thought glumly.

After an hour of travel they soon reached Metro Park, a place where only the elites can enter because of its highly pricey membership fee.

"Hi, I'm Kim Joonmyeon and she's my invited guest, Choi Jinri." he said at the lady receptionist.
"This way please Ma'am, Sir." the receptionist said, leading the way inside the lounge.

They were asked to wait for Joonmyeon's parents at the Kim's private parlor room (every members had their own parlor rooms). After the receptionist left the two alone, the door opened again and a waiter went inside, preparing two glasses of cocktail drinks and appetizers to start with.

"Brownie?" Joonmyeon offered.

Jinri took the small brownie and ate in one chew. Joonmyeon seemed surprise at it which made Jinri wonder.

"Why?" she asked.
"It's supposed to be chewed little by little, that's why it was small.... never mind."
"Oh". was all Jinri replied. She did not now that brownies have a way on how to eat them, but she guessed it was a practice that only rich people do. Well, for one: she's not rich. And another: the brownie was too small to eat bit by bit.

The door opened for the 2nd time. Jinri's heart plummeted as she stared directly at Mrs. Kim's eyes, which show the same look of disapproval she reserved for Jinri alone.

"Jinri!" Mr. Kim greeted happily, pulling Jinri into a tight hug. "It's been a while since we saw each other, how are you?"
"I'm fine sir." Jinri responded shyly.
"Oh please!" Mr. Kim waved an impatient hand at her and laughed. "Don't 'sir' me, just call me uncle, okay?"

Jinri nodded at Mr. Kim then faced Mrs. Kim. She bowed politely at her before saying,

"How are you... um.... auntie?"

Mrs. Kim winced at Jinri's last word but was able to make her face calm nevertheless.

"I'm fine." she said shortly and turned to her son. "So she's the surprise that you're talking to Joonmyeon?" 
"Well I'm definitely surprised!" Mr. Kim butted in.

Joonmyeon beamed at his dad and nodded. "Yes Mom."

Mrs. Kim's lips pursed into a thin line and averted her eyes. She picked her golfing bag and picked one club, then she handed it on Jinri.

"I assume you know how to play golf?" she asked.

Jinri gulped. Golf was the last sports that she has any interest on because she has the impression that it was an activity done by rich people only. With that, Jinri shook and bowed her head in response.

"Don't worry, it's easy. I can teach you." Joonmyeon said, lacing his fingers on Jinri's hand.
"Hmpft." Mrs. Kim huffed and walked away with another golfing club in her hands.

Jinri, Joonmyeon and Mr. Kim followed Mrs. Kim outside the parlor room to the golf course. It was a sea of green field, where newly-pruned grass swayed through the mild breeze that wafted around the area. Jinri can see nine to eighteen holes on different areas, water hazards, and pins surrounding them; and at the first section of the golf course stood Mrs. Kim getting ready with her first strike.

They watched Mrs. Kim gripped the club that showed years of practice; she placed her fingers on the right place of the handle and adjusted her shoulders to her most comfortable position first. Then she jabbed the ball with the slightest touch of the club's tip that made the ball roll up to the first hole.

Joonmyeon and Mr. Kim clapped loudly although Jinri did not understand why. The ball just rolled for a few meters and dropped in the hole, what was the big deal?

"Your turn." Mrs. Kim told her.
"M-me?" she asked in surprise.

Mrs. Kim smirked and passed the club to Jinri. "Let's see what starters can do." she said.

Jinri took the club and walked towards the spot where Mrs. Kim was minutes ago. She placed the ball on the tee box, then concentrated hard on the ball. *It was just a jab, what's so hard with that?*

And as she consoled herself, Jinri jabbed the ball with the tip of the club just like what Mrs. Kim did. The ball rolled forwards - which made Jinri smile too early - then diverted its way to the left, missing the hole where it was meant to drop.

"That's too bad" Mrs. Kim commented although she did not sound like one.

Joonmyeon aided on Jinri's side immediately and thought her the best way he can. Jinri tried to learn but failed, because sometimes, there are things that you can't learn when you don't have any interest on.

Soon the teaching session bored Jinri to death. While Joonmyeon showed her how to sway a club properly, her mind wandered off on things like breakfast to cook for Chanyeol, or what would be Kyungsoo and Chanyeol were doing right now, or if Chanyeol already took his bath.

"So there, go it? Try it again." Joonmyeon encouraged.

Jinri's mind went back to earth and nodded. She positioned herself again and paused... she forgot Joonmyeon's lessons.

"Go on." Joonmyeon prompted.

The target cup was farther than where Jinri attempted earlier. She tried to remember what Joonmyeon told her but she can't recall any. Therefore, she decided to just mimic those golfers she saw on televison: one, wild sway of the club.

*One... Two.... Here goes nothing!*

Jinri lunged forwards with one big sway. Chunks of dirt bid farewell to the ground as the tip of the club kissed them goodbye. The club slipped on Jinri's grip - flying it backwards - and to Jinri's horror, it landed in between Mrs. Kim's legs that made her topple on the ground.

"Mom!" Joonmyeon shouted and ran towards Mrs. Kim who was cursing under her breath.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry Mrs. Kim!" Jinri followed and knelt beside Joonmyeon's mom.

Joonmyeon and Mr. Kim helped Mrs. Kim up and brushed her sides. Mrs. Kim shot a glare at the shame-red Jinri.

"You should have think twice before you go launching yourself here. This day is a disaster, I want to go home!" and she stormed away, leaving the boys and Jinri awkward with each other.

The ball remained still on the ground.

* * *

"I'm really sorry on how Mom acted Jinri. She's usually not that type of person." Joonmyeon apologized for the umpteenth time.
"It's okay." Jinri responded again.

Truth be told, it was not okay for Jinri. She felt terrible in fact, that she made a disastrous weekend both for her and Mrs. Kim.

"Mom's really sweet and understanding, maybe she just had a bad day at the office." Joonmyeon continued.

In Jinri's opinion, Mrs. Kim had a bad day because of her presence. Joonmyeon was clearly unaware of Mrs. Kim's dislike on her, but Jinri was no fool.

"At least we get to play golf, right?" he consoled.

Play was not the right term to define golf. For Jinri, the word 'play' means having fun, enjoying the activity, and laughing out loud. But Jinri did not have fun, did not enjoy golf, and did not laughed out loud.

"Let's just go home." she said weakly.

They arrived at Jinri's apartment after another hour. It was already dusk and Jinri's stomach ached with hunger. Due to her depression earlier she forgot to eat her lunch, and now she has no appetite for dinner as well.

"Go straight home and take care of Mrs. Kim, okay? Drive safely." Jinri said and went outside the car.
"Good night." Joonmyeon bade.

Jinri gave him a swift smile before going inside the dingy apartment. When she opened the door, the familiar warmth of home welcomed her with Kyungsoo's usual "Hiya!"

"Hey" Jinri responded although restlessly.

Kyungsoo noticed Jinri's glum mood and attempted to cheer her.

"I'll cook you dinner, what do you want my bestest friend?" he asked, pulling Jinri to him with one arm around her shoulders.
"I'm not hungry." Jinri lied and shook Kyungsoo's arm off. "I need to rest Kyungsoo, you can go home now... and thank you for watching at Chanyeol."

Kyungsoo sighed defeatedly. "Okay, rest well then." he said, poking her forehead first before leaving the room.

"Hungry?" Jinri asked Chanyeol. She went to the kitchen and prepared the cooking utensils, and after minutes of attempted preparation, Jinri realized that she was not in the mood to cook. "I changed my mind. How about we grab some dinner at the 7/11 instead?"

And so Jinri, together with Chanyeol, walked towards the convenience store near their apartment. They ordered frozen pasta, breaded ham, and hot chocolate; after they were full, Jinri was still not in the mood so she decided to wander the streets first.

"You haven't seen the playground yet right?" Jinri asked Chanyeol. "I knew it's just somewhere here... it'll be my first time too, you know."

They searched the almost empty streets for several minutes until they found what they were looking for. The playground was wide and spacious with swings, slides, seesaws, sandboxes and benches placed on different corners. Chanyeol ran towards the swing like an excited dog, and kicked hard on the ground.

"Weeeeeeeeee!!!" the kid shouted happily as he soared on a few meters off the ground.

Jinri snorted and followed Chanyeol. Although physically he was an alien creature, Chanyeol was still a kid and she was afraid that he would fall if not careful. She positioned herself at Chanyeol's back and when the swing came towards her, she stopped the swing with her hands.

"More! More!" Chanyeol repeated.

Jinri pushed Chanyeol's swing and he started soaring in the air again. Chanyeol closed his eyes while he laughed and giggled, then he ordered Jinri to stop.

"Why?" Jinri asked.
"Noona, your turn." he said.

Jinri sat at Chanyeol's swing. Chanyeol positioned himself behind Jinri then he pushed her as hard as he can, which made a little effort to lift the girl.

"Well this is exciting" Jinri commented sarcastically.

Chanyeol pushed the swing again and Jinri swayed for a few inches only. The continuous and fruitless effort of Chanyeol soon gave in to Jinri which made her laughed out loud.

"Admit it kid, you're not strong enough for me." she said amusedly and stood up. "How about the slide?"

Fortunately, the slide was meant both for kids and adults so Jinri was able to have some fun with it. She and Chanyeol took in turns on the slide, with the latter enjoying the part better than Jinri does.

Then they went to the seesaw, where Jinri placed Chanyeol carefully and instructed him not to lose grip on the handle.

"...or you'll fall." she warned.

Then she sat at the other end of the seesaw which made Chanyeol lift in the air again.

Chanyeol was laughing as Jinri squatted up and down to make some movements on the seesaw.

"I'll tell you a trivia." she suddenly said and stopped. Chanyeol remained high in the air. "Do you know why the lever of the seesaw was placed at the middle?"

When Chanyeol shook his head, Jinri continued. "Because it was meant for two people. But I can see it is meant for you only, since you can't lift me."

Then she brought down Chanyeol from the seesaw and they rested on the bench for a while.

Jinri hummed softly while she stared at the bright moon above. She guessed it was almost midnight, but she doesn't mind to stay outside for a few more minutes. Then she surveyed the playground in front of her; Jinri couldn't deny that at least she enjoyed the activity she and Chanyeol did earlier.

Well that is what she means by playing.