The Unbelievers

Chapter 78

From Eunseong’s perspective, Yoo Siwoon and his family were synonymous with mortal enemies. Since Eunseong was born when Yoo Siwoon was still young, he doesn’t know the detailed circumstances.

Yoo Siwoon’s father was involved. Like Yoo Siwoon, his father was also a rare non-believer in the Seongha family with a sound mind.

He did menial tasks, stayed away from the center of power, and didn’t covet it. It was to this father that Seo Jeong-gi came, requesting help and informing him that a target had been found, that the prophesied being had been born.

Traitors were hiding everywhere. Eunseong’s existence was quickly discovered. His biological parents died on the spot in a car accident while fleeing from forces trying to kidnap Eunseong. All of this started from Seo Jeong-gi’s mouth.

Yoo Siwoon’s father tried to protect Seo Jeong-gi and the baby somehow, but when Eunseong’s parents died, Seo Jeong-gi couldn’t trust anyone. He hid with the child. Yoo Siwoon’s father created new identities for them, watched over them from afar, and provided appropriate help without Seo Jeong-gi noticing whenever danger arose.

Like Yoo Siwoon, his late father also had to handle all sorts of dirty work as his uncle’s underling from the fringes of the family, and he hated the family.

He feared that Yoo Siwoon would end up living like him, following in his footsteps. He hoped that Yoo Siwoon would someday be able to control the Seongha Group, and had been working behind the scenes for a long time to make it happen. He cherished Yoo Siwoon, his hard-earned son, and taught him to grow up with a sound mind, not brainwashed.

The sense of responsibility his father bore naturally passed on to Yoo Siwoon.

When Yoo Siwoon returned to Korea at age 24 after graduating from university in the United States, he saw Eunseong for the first time. Eunseong was ten years old.

Eunseong was playing with friends in the playground. As dusk fell and his playmates went home one by one at their mothers’ calls, Eunseong remained alone in the playground, the last to leave.

Eunseong had been waiting for the drunken Seo Jeong-gi to fall asleep. Yoo Siwoon still vividly remembered the heavy emotion that pressed on his chest at that time.

He felt a similar emotion now. He never imagined he would become this close to Eunseong, who was playing alone earnestly in the darkened playground back then, let alone develop this kind of relationship.

Eunseong, who had seemed so precious even then, now felt even more dear to him.

Eunseong, who had been nuzzling his nose and forehead against Yoo Siwoon’s chest for a while, rested his chin on that chest and looked up at him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I thought you were just independent, I didn’t know you were such a clingy person.”

“Can’t you not go to work today?”

“…And what would we do if I didn’t?”

“Can’t you just stay with me?”

“Not going to work and doing what, just the two of us?”

“We don’t have to do anything. Just being together is enough.”

Eunseong’s chatter tickled Yoo Siwoon’s ear. He twisted his shoulder and neck as if actually stimulated.

When kissing Eunseong, Yoo Siwoon fell into an illusion of his entire body melting with an indescribable sensation. He wasn’t in his right mind, in a state of ecstasy. If he entered such a state again, he feared he might really do something to Eunseong.

He just looked down at Eunseong as if facing a cicada clinging to a log, enduring. The weight leaning on his chest felt welcome and warm. Yoo Siwoon’s hands, wanting to touch Eunseong’s warm back, clenched and unclenched behind that back, struggling on their own.

For the first time in his life, he had something he cherished, but it happened to be the prophesied being destined to conceive the breeder’s seed. Yoo Siwoon couldn’t distinguish whether the prophesied being came first, or the twenty-year-old boy named Seo Eunseong. While he hated and despised those who pursued that unrealistic prophecy, he himself had come to harbor that being in his heart.

Moreover, it wasn’t as if Yoo Siwoon had suddenly come to know Eunseong; he had watched Eunseong’s growth process from afar for over ten years. He had complete memories of how Eunseong grew up, how much he had grown, and how those small hands and feet had become what they were now. Perhaps because of this, Eunseong felt even more precious and dear to him.

“They say kids these days are scary, and it’s really true.”

“Am I scary to you?”

“Yes, you are.”

“…”

“Very much so.”

Yoo Siwoon said this to Eunseong’s face, which was looking at him blankly, pretending not to notice Eunseong’s persistent advances.

“Is this a secret from Director Nam?”

“I’ll tell him later. Not now.”

Eunseong nodded against Yoo Siwoon’s chest. His chin tickled that chest.

Eunseong tried to understand Yoo Siwoon’s position. Although their kinship was distant, they were still clearly blood-related.

If it became known that these two desired each other, it would be an emotion incomprehensible to others. Still, if Director Nam were to find out, Eunseong could make excuses for Yoo Siwoon. It was all his doing. Clinging to him and demanding emotions when he said no, leaving home and causing worry when hurt by his rejection, shaking his resolve when he was being careful – it all started with Eunseong.

Yoo Siwoon, who had been staring intently, lowered his head and overlapped their lips. Eunseong raised his chin and swallowed the overlapping lips and his breath. It matched the lips he had tasted for the first time last night.

Intertwining his tongue with the deeply enveloping one, Eunseong tasted the flavor of the coffee he drank. He could fully understand why Yoo Siwoon insisted on grinding beans fresh each day.

As they were desperately exploring each other’s lips, Eunseong startled at the distant sound of a door and stepped back as if pushing Yoo Siwoon away. Yoo Siwoon’s thumb wiped Eunseong’s lips, which were thoroughly wet with saliva. His startled heart pounded. Patting Eunseong’s shoulder, Yoo Siwoon moved first and informed Director Nam, who had just entered, that he was leaving for work.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Why aren’t you going to work? Are you really not going to work?”

Eunseong asked, glancing at Director Nam, who was monitoring and following him, wondering why he was here like this.

“Why do you keep asking the same question since yesterday? I came here to work.”

“No… I mean, why aren’t you going to the company?”

Eunseong asked in a small voice.

“The CEO went, didn’t he? The CEO and I have a good division of labor. When one is missing, the other fills in, so the company runs well even if I don’t go in. There’s no need for pointless worry.”

“This is clearly surveillance.”

“Who told you to leave home? You made a big mistake. From now on, I’ll stick to you like a leech, so be aware of that. Twenty-four-hour dedicated security.”

“That’s why I had a reason to leave.”

“That mindset is the problem. If you have another reason to leave, will you leave again?”

Director Nam furrowed his brow even more severely than before and stared at Eunseong. Eunseong was exasperated by the expression that seemed to renew the pledge to follow, chase, and monitor him everywhere except for bathroom visits.

“I said I won’t leave.”

“You had a hard time, didn’t you?”

“Yes… I had a really hard time. That’s why I won’t leave.”

“You said you wouldn’t leave before, too.”

Director Nam was unwavering, seeming to indicate that he wouldn’t believe anything Eunseong said. Eunseong let out a small sigh.

Feeling that he might have pressured too scarily, Director Nam asked in a lighter tone, partly to change the atmosphere.

“What was the hardest part? When you left home.”

“…My heart.”

“…”

Director Nam thought he understood why Yoo Siwoon was attracted to Eunseong. It wasn’t because of the bloodline destined to be drawn to the ‘great gap’. Apart from that, Eunseong was honest and pure in himself. If he was like this with Director Nam, he must have been even more open with Yoo Siwoon, approaching with a dazzling speed and bright appearance like light. Someone like Eunseong would have clung to Yoo Siwoon, asking for kisses, even though Yoo Siwoon never opened his heart, and perhaps Director Nam could understand why Yoo Siwoon had pushed Eunseong away with such cruel words.

At that moment, Director Nam’s phone vibrated. He went out briefly to answer the call and came back in. Director Nam had an envelope in his hand. He placed papers from the envelope on Eunseong’s desk.

“What is this?”

“It’s paperwork. The study abroad documents we were preparing.”

“…Am I going to study abroad? Didn’t ahjussi say he wouldn’t send me?”

“Who, the CEO?”

“Ahjussi said if I didn’t want to go, I didn’t have to.”

“When did he say that?”

“The day I came home.”

Eunseong raised defiant eyes to Director Nam, who was urging him to sign several documents spread out on the desk. It seemed that when asked to appease and humor Eunseong to prevent him from leaving home again, Yoo Siwoon had just said to let him do whatever he wanted.

“I’ll confirm that with the CEO later, but for now, just sign.”

“I’m not going.”

“Did the CEO really say you don’t have to go?”

He was told to humor him, not to lie. The plan was to proceed with Eunseong’s overseas escape more quickly.

Seo Jeong-gi, who had been interrogated about Eunseong’s existence, was murdered. They already knew who had taken Eunseong and who had identified the deceased Seo Jeong-gi. They were buying time by placing a stand-in for Eunseong, but it was unclear when they would be discovered, or if they had already been found out. It meant there was no time to delay any further.