The Unbelievers Chapter 19

Eunseong’s body was perfectly fine. He was so healthy it was almost a problem. Lately, perhaps because he was eating well, sleeping well, and had no one harassing him, he had even filled out with a healthy glow. His skin seemed to have become softer and smoother than before. It was because he slept in a clean place, woke up to the chirping of birds, ate and wore good things, and breathed filtered air. It was an environment unimaginable in his previous house where liquor bottles rolled around.

“But do you always cover your tattoos when you go to work?”

“Hmm?”

“The tattoos. On your neck and the back of your hand…”

Eunseong stroked the nape of his own neck and the back of his hand. Yoo Siun’s eyes followed Eunseong’s hand, staring as if licking his neck and the clear-colored back of his hand.

“It has nothing to do with the company; I just thought it wouldn’t be good for your moral education.”

“…You’re saying you’re covering them up because of me?”

“Is that not obvious? If you see bad things, you learn bad things.”

He spoke as if it were no big deal. Dressing bandages meant to hide the tattoos were meticulously applied to the nape of his neck and the back of his hand, but they couldn’t hide everything. The pointedly rising ears of a wolf peeked out from both sides.

It was a completely unexpected answer.

Eunseong had never even imagined it was because of him.

“They aren’t bad.”

“What isn’t?”

“The tattoos. I… thought they suited you well.”

“…”

The wolf figure on the nape of his neck made his appearance even more mysterious, and the cross on the back of his hand, with the knuckles protruding, looked as if a real cross had been embedded there. If seen from a distance, one might have mistaken it for him wearing an accessory on his hand.

Eunseong’s face flushed because the man was staring so intently. Eunseong quickly changed the subject.

“I want to do a part-time job; is that okay? I used to work constantly after school.”

“Is there a particular need for that? It seems you’re making money by selling things off diligently.”

“…”

Eunseong flinched and jerked his head up. Yoo Siun was continuing his meal with his usual indifferent expression.

“Selling even the things you need for studying is a bit…”

“…”

As he muttered to himself, he lifted his gaze at Eunseong’s silent reaction. Startled eyes were looking at him blankly.

Yoo Siun knew all of Eunseong’s schemes. He saw right through him. The face that had been proud of perfectly deceiving him turned bright red. He felt ashamed, as if his private flaws had been exposed. His heart throbbed with panic, like a thief caught by the wrist on the spot.

“Why are you collecting money?”

“…Because it’s necessary for living. Because I don’t know what might happen.”

“There shouldn’t be anything uncomfortable about your life here.”

“How can I trust you, Mister?”

Eunseong looked him straight in the eye. It wasn’t just a matter of life not being uncomfortable; Yoo Siun was providing everything in excess. Eunseong was receiving more than enough from him. Materially and environmentally, everything was perfect. However, emotionally, nothing was being filled.

His father hadn’t filled anything emotionally either, but even if it was negative, there had been an exchange of emotions. But Yoo Siun was excessively silent, and there wasn’t even time to see his face except for a brief moment in the morning. When he asked Manager Nam anything, only selective answers returned. Eunseong was thoroughly alone here.

“I don’t think I am failing you so much that I cannot even earn that much trust.”

“Providing food and a place to sleep is something even my dad did.”

“…”

“No one will tell me straight who you are or what you do, so how am I supposed to trust anyone? When I ask about you and the company, everyone pretends not to hear. They only talk about other things. No matter how much I search the internet, nothing comes up. I want to ask my dad, but he changed his phone number and vanished. No matter how many times I try, all I get is the message that the number is not in service!”

“…”

“Everything you say, 5th cousin, could be a lie. You might be deceiving me. If not, why would my father give everything up and run away with me? Aren’t you hiding me because you’re afraid I’ll become the heir? Because I might take your place? You say you’re protecting me, you say you’re guarding me, but aren’t you actually hiding me to keep me from doing anything?”

“…”

Yoo Siun did not scold him for saying such nonsensical things when he was doing everything requested and granting every wish; instead, he quietly set down his utensils.

He wiped his hand over his face once. After rubbing his face troubledly, he stared back at Eunseong.

For some reason, Eunseong’s eyes were wet with sorrow.

“Look at you even now. You can’t say anything. No one explains anything to me! If it were me, I’d speak up just because it’s unfair, just because I’d want to clear up the misunderstanding.”

“…”

It seemed he had trusted Yoo Siun after all—the man who provided milk instead of coffee in the morning and tried to satisfy his needs through others, even if he didn’t do it personally. No, he had wanted to trust him.

Because the man only stared at him troubledly without being able to offer any retort to the statement that he wasn’t trusted, Eunseong’s interior crumbled down. It was a feeling like betrayal. He would have preferred to be scolded for being ungrateful, but the man remained silent. Eunseong bit his lip hard to keep from crying at the surging sorrow.

“That is… as I mentioned before, becoming the heir is a task so painful you wouldn’t be able to handle it. That is why your father ran away with you and lived in hiding.”

“…”

“My intention to protect you is sincere. I plan to do so no matter what happens.”

“Why protect me? From whom?”

“…From me.”

“…”

He was only saying things that didn’t make sense. And yet, that was his sincere truth. Eunseong’s heart sank as he instinctively realized the man’s words were not a lie.

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It is better that you don’t know.”

“No. I want to know. It’s my business, so it’s only natural that I know.”

“I will explain later. Later… you will find out the details gradually.”

“When is that? Just when are you going to explain!”

He failed to answer this time as well. There was a sense of fastidiousness that suggested he would rather not speak than tell a lie.

Eunseong irritably set his spoon down with a loud noise. The man did not point out Eunseong’s arrogant attitude. Instead, he picked up the utensils he had set down and added while trying to continue his meal normally.

“Later.”

“…”

“Perhaps soon.”

“…”

“Just not now.”

Beyond the window draped with blackout curtains, the sound of rain falling in heavy thuds could be heard. Yoo Siun was looking down at the sleeping Eunseong. He was a man who had been wary of even encountering Eunseong frequently or entering this room.

“…”

He was reflecting on the words Eunseong had said during dinner. Eunseong had poured out sorrowful resentment, as if he knew Yoo Siun was intentionally avoiding him. He had said he was collecting money because he couldn’t trust Yoo Siun, and that he couldn’t lean on him because he didn’t believe in him. Eunseong had confronted him with suspicions that were quite plausible from his perspective—asking if he was being used. Yoo Siun should have soothed the child and made him trust him somehow, but he couldn’t do that.

I don’t know why those words slipped out.

I shouldn’t have said I need to protect him from me; I should have said I need to protect him from them.

With his father gone, he was the only one who could protect Eunseong now, yet Yoo Siun had pointed at himself instead of them.

That he would protect him from himself.

Yoo Siun was confused. Even while rubbing his face and stroking the nape of his neck, he couldn’t take his eyes off the sleeping Eunseong.

Standing still in the shroud of darkness, he gazed blankly at Eunseong.

To think they intend to do such a thing to a child like this…

It was a deed he couldn’t even dare to imagine. The more he thought about it, the more disgusting it felt. He couldn’t even tolerate such a thought passing through his mind. He shook his head violently. He had to stop it somehow. Erasing Eunseong’s existence from this world so that such a thing wouldn’t happen in the first place could also be a method.

Just keeping him hidden in his private space like this was not a good choice for either Yoo Siun or Eunseong. As time passed, Eunseong’s presence was stimulating his nerves to a bothersome degree. It made him keep seeing that face and thinking of him when he wasn’t visible.

It was just past midnight. Yoo Siun took his phone out of his back pocket and, while watching Eunseong, made a call somewhere. Perhaps Manager Nam was also awake until this hour, as his voice was heard before the connection tone could ring more than a few times.

“Did I wake you?”

―No, not yet. What is the matter?

Even though he called at such a late hour, there wasn’t even a hint of hesitation in Manager Nam’s voice. He was a person who trusted Yoo Siun and was prepared to follow him. He had never once been conscious of it, but hearing Manager Nam’s trust-filled voice while facing Eunseong made Yoo Siun feel burdened, as if a thin cord were tightening around his neck.

“It is about the matter of Eunseong’s identity laundering.”

―Are you thinking of going in that direction after all?

“I think it’s better to go the safe route.”

―I will prepare for it.

“Yes.”

He ended the call after the brief conversation. Yoo Siun looked at the screen of the disconnected phone before putting it in his pocket.

Just then, Eunseong let out a painful groan as if he were having a bad dream. Yoo Siun approached Eunseong without realizing it.

“…Ugh, ugh, no… head, watch your head… don’t hit me.”