The Unbelievers Chapter 3

Someone sat down beside Eunseong, whose exhausted body was slumped like a soggy mess, with a loud thud. They immediately wrapped their arms around Eunseong’s back in a sudden embrace. Eunseong twisted his upper body and rose, trying to loosen the arms holding him.

“Why, do you hate Hyung hugging you? Why do you hate it? Hyung feels great, though.”

“Sigh, let go already.”

“I get even more turned on when our Eunseong makes a face like that. Hey Eunseong, someone said they saw you in Seongun-dong?”

“…”

“Wow, fuck. Does it make sense for a minor to work at a bar? But I heard you got beat to shit there too? See, was I right or what? Your face is swollen here. I don’t know if you got thrashed by your dad or if you got beat up yesterday.”

Choi Jungeon, who was holding Eunseong tightly with both arms, spoke with a smirk. He was watching Eunseong’s irritated reaction. Choi Jungeon’s crew, who were from a different class, had come into Eunseong’s classroom to cause trouble, but no one stopped them. Everyone pretended not to notice, keeping their heads down over their desks and focusing on their studies.

“Eunseong, want me to tell you something interesting?”

“Don’t. It’s already boring.”

Eunseong spoke out of sheer disgust. Even though he stared with a heavy scowl, Choi Jungeon was unbothered. No matter what kind of embarrassment or harsh words he was given, Choi Jungeon was an unwavering lunatic.

Before settling here, Eunseong had moved frequently, so he never had the chance to get close to anyone. However, he had become close with Choi Jungeon right from the start. It was just that, at some point, he became conscious of how vastly different their living situations were, and since last year, a distance had naturally formed. Choi Jungeon’s parents were affectionate, and since both parents worked at a bank, they were the wealthiest family in the neighborhood. He was very different from Eunseong, who had already learned the hardships of life at a young age.

“Don’t be like that and just listen. I’ll tell you something really interesting.”

“Just go to your own class! Can’t you see everyone is studying?”

Eunseong snapped at him, but Choi Jungeon just kept snickering without a care.

“Knowing full well those guys can’t beat me even if they study to death.”

“Let go, it’s almost time for homeroom. This… let go, let go of me.”

Choi Jungeon did not let Eunseong go. Even when Eunseong twisted his torso and tried to pry off the arms hugging him tight by pulling them away one by one, he stuck like a leech, literally clutching Eunseong in a sudden embrace.

Eunseong, who had been grunting while trying to push him off, let out a tired, giving-up breath and went limp in his upper body. As if he had been waiting for this, Choi Jungeon hoisted Eunseong up and sat him down between his legs.

Choi Jungeon’s crew snickered and laughed at the sight of them. When one fellow reached out to touch and fiddle with Eunseong’s disheveled hair, Choi Jungeon fiercely slapped the hand away.

“Hey, you bastard. Where do you think you’re putting your hands?”

“No, I just heard he got hit. I wanted to see if he really did. Sorry, I’m sorry.”

When Choi Jungeon glared with cold, fierce eyes and reacted sharply, the guy backed off and apologized quickly.

“Fuck, Choi Jungeon! I told you not to do that, seriously.”

Eunseong pounded Choi Jungeon’s solar plexus several times with his elbows. Choi Jungeon’s lackeys stared at him with surprised eyes. Eunseong was the only person in this school who treated Choi Jungeon carelessly. However, shaking off Choi Jungeon—whose height and frame had grown beyond those of an adult man—with pure strength was impossible for Eunseong, whose body was tired enough to want to collapse and sleep right away.

“There, what is it. What are you guys doing?”

The homeroom teacher walked through the front door. Seeing the teacher, Choi Jungeon let go of Eunseong. As he stood up, he pressed his lips close to Eunseong’s ear and threatened him.

“Crawl over to the gym during lunch. Try running away again. I won’t leave you alone then, seriously.”

“Whatever, you piece of shit.”

After giving a vulgar threat that wouldn’t even work, Choi Jungeon quickly licked the area near Eunseong’s cheek like a snake’s tongue.

“Fuck! I told you not to do that!”

Terrified, Eunseong wiped his cheek with the back of his hand and hurled an oath at him. Choi Jungeon, whose voice—which had been scratching at Eunseong like sandpaper—instantly shifted into that of a cheerful student, gave a greeting to the teacher.

“Got it, Eunseong? See you later. Hello, Teacher. I just had something to say to Eunseong. Well, have a good one!”

The skin where the tongue had touched felt cold. Eunseong struck his shoulder hard with a fist.

Choi Jungeon, having been hit once, smiled slyly as if nothing had happened, greeted the homeroom teacher, and disappeared. The teacher, who had been watching the crew following Choi Jungeon out with an uncomfortable gaze, looked at Eunseong for a moment before returning to the indifferent face typical of an adult who doesn’t want to get involved in troublesome matters.

“Now then, don’t be restless. Be on time for your moving classes and be in your seats before the bell rings. You’re all preparing well for the mock exams, right? Any guy whose grades drop this time will have an individual interview, so keep that in mind. What’s with you guys who still haven’t gathered your senses?”

The homeroom teacher began the routine announcements. Eunseong let out a tired sigh internally.

Since they had been quite close since middle school, he understood the feeling of disappointment toward him for suddenly trying to distance himself, but as time passed, Choi Jungeon was sticking like a blood-sucking leech and making Eunseong’s already difficult life even harder.

It wasn’t that Eunseong disliked Choi Jungeon; it was more that looking at him made him feel uncomfortable. His parents gave Choi Jungeon unsparing support. His phone was always the latest model, and if he said he wanted expensive items, they were handed to him just like that. Choi Jungeon was the only one around him who had separate iPads for lectures, YouTube, and gaming.

They didn’t just support him materially, they loved him too. Because he was stronger than his peers, he was self-indulgent and didn’t care what others thought, but Choi Jungeon grew up loved and had no shadows or hang-ups.

For various reasons that constantly reminded him of the reality that he had no mother and his father was a useless existence, Eunseong did not want to hang out with Choi Jungeon.

He wondered why he was interested in someone who just lay face-down and slept, rather than playing with kids he was close to.

Choi Jungeon’s behavior of trying to obsessively fill the gap that had opened up was child’s play compared to the violence swung by his drunken father, but it was making Eunseong increasingly tired as time went on. Furthermore, Choi Jungeon’s physical strength and manner of speaking—which were gradually becoming rougher as he hung out with bad types—weighed on his mind.

Since he was used to being hit from a young age, Eunseong had a fairly good physical endurance. He knew well where it hurt more and where it hurt less to be hit. Also, because Eunseong had already learned how to handle that type of human through his father, dealing with Choi Jungeon was not as difficult as dealing with his father.

Whether he tormented him or hated him, Choi Jungeon was a stranger anyway. Choi Jungeon’s actions were not as painful as the violence suffered from a blood relative.

Lately, however, his actions were not like before. He wasn’t just tormenting him; he kept touching him, hugging him, and sitting him between his legs, acting as if he were harrassing him, which made Eunseong feel unpleasant.

Eunseong let whatever the teacher was saying go in one ear and out the other as he lowered his head. He propped his chin on one hand and closed his eyes.

No teacher liked it when a student slept openly. He propped his chin on one arm and technically grasped the elbow of the propped arm with the other hand. Eunseong began to doze in a stable posture where the support holding his heavy head would not waver.

After eating lunch in the cafeteria, Eunseong trudged toward the gym. Every corner inside the school during lunch was noisy beyond belief, but the gym was the exception. In the gym, where the lonely sound of a basketball bouncing—thump, thump—could be heard exceptionally loud, Choi Jungeon was lying on the floor looking at something on his phone, and the crew he hung out with was playing by bouncing the ball.

Spotting Eunseong, Choi Jungeon sat up and beckoned with his hand to come over. Eunseong approached with a weary sigh.

“You’re coming now? I was going to go catch you if you didn’t show up in five more minutes.”

Saying some bullshit about how it was a relief he came before then, Choi Jungeon patted the floor as if telling him to sit beside him. Eunseong, for whom merely breathing and living was tiring, sat in the spot indicated without saying anything particularly disagreeable.

“Now what.”

“What do you mean ‘now what.’ I called you because I missed you.”

“Why are you being so fucking annoying.”

Choi Jungeon sat right up against Eunseong and plopped a heavy-feeling arm over his shoulder. A sour smell of sweat came from the body of Choi Jungeon, who wore a black T-shirt under his summer uniform. Every time they sat together, the smell coming from him was offensive.

“Ah, go wash up or something.”

“Why? Do I smell?”

“You smell like sweat.”

“Then should I go take a shower and come back?”

“Forget it. Just don’t put that sweaty arm on me.”

Eunseong frowned at the smell and brushed Choi Jungeon’s heavy arm off his shoulder. No matter how Eunseong acted toward him, Choi Jungeon only smirked. That was also why Eunseong found Choi Jungeon easier to deal with.

Although he was an outcast at school, Eunseong knew roughly through intuition that the rumors about him were quite bad. When Choi Jungeon appeared, his classmates wouldn’t even lift their heads, nervously worrying they might make eye contact.

“Eunseong, but you know what. Guess what I was watching?”

“What were you watching?”

“Want to watch together?”

He shoved the latest iPhone in front of Eunseong’s eyes. Eunseong sat with his knees up and moved his gaze to the screen Choi Jungeon held out. Choi Jungeon’s arm, which had been pushed away, stealthily made its way back onto his shoulder. Eunseong muttered a small curse and shook his back once. He pushed the arm away overtly and actively, avoiding Choi Jungeon’s body odor.

“I told you that you smell.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll just stay like this then.”

Choi Jungeon grinned. The arm that had slid down Eunseong’s back did not come back up, but instead wrapped around his waist. It was actually better to have it resting on his shoulder. This posture was the worst. Just when Eunseong was shrinking his shoulders and crouching his body, staring uncomfortably at the screen where the video had started, wondering why he was being so clingy when it was already hot enough to die.

Soon, Eunseong’s eyes widened in surprise. Choi Jungeon, who had been staring obsessively only at Eunseong’s face, grinned and bared his white teeth.

“This is the bastard who hit you yesterday, right?”