The Unbelievers Chapter 44

“Try a bite. If it’s too spicy, you can drink some milk. Oh, no, actually, drink the milk first and then eat the tteokbokki.”

Rather than being unable to eat spicy food, Yoo Siun was someone who simply hadn’t eaten it much, and Eunseong, seemingly excited for Siun’s first tteokbokki challenge, made a fuss as he poured milk and handed it to him.

Facing Eunseong, who was looking at him with high expectations, Yoo Siun picked up a fork and stabbed a piece of tteokbokki heavily coated in red sauce.

“Drink the milk first.”

“I’m not so bad with spice that I can’t handle this. I just don’t like it.”

Yoo Siun gallantly put the tteokbokki into his mouth, insisting there was no need to drink milk beforehand.

“It’s good, right?”

“….”

Yoo Siun, who was quietly chewing the rice cake, suddenly had his expression contort violently, and a cough burst out at the same time. He stood up in a fluster, coughing and covering his mouth. A startled Eunseong quickly grabbed a tissue and held it out to him.

Yoo Siun spat what was in his mouth into the tissue and kept coughing until his face turned red.

“Quick, hurry and drink some milk.”

He gulped down the milk exactly as Eunseong told him to. Even so, the spiciness wouldn’t fade, and he eventually got up and disappeared after coughing intermittently.

“…Mister relative was a total weakling with spice.”

Eunseong muttered to himself as he put tteokbokki in his mouth, but when Siun didn’t return, he put down his fork and stood up. He left the dining area and headed toward Siun’s room. He knocked and opened the door.

The sound of someone brushing their teeth in the bathroom could be heard faintly. Eunseong walked toward the bathroom and asked.

“Mister, are you okay?”

“…I’m fine.”

“But that tteokbokki, I tasted it and it was just the ‘beginner’ flavor. You must really be unable to eat spicy things.”

“To call that food is a bit much.”

Yoo Siun tilted his head as if he found it hard to agree and rinsed his mouth again. His lips were swollen red. Yoo Siun emerged from the bathroom while drying his wet face with a towel.

“That can happen if you suddenly eat spicy food when you aren’t used to it.”

“Do you usually eat things like that?”

“They’re delicious.”

“…I couldn’t feel any flavor.”

Yoo Siun fiddled with his swollen lips.

“It’ll sting more if you keep touching them with your hands.”

Eunseong caught his hand and, in its place, pressed the back of his own hand against Siun’s lips. A hot fever was rising from Yoo Siun’s lips.

“…They’ve become hot.”

“….”

Yoo Siun’s startled eyes looked down at Eunseong, who had stepped right up to his side to press the cool back of his hand to his lips. Eunseong also raised his head toward him. Eunseong was looking at him with a gaze that suggested Manager Nam’s words might actually be true.

“It’s fine now.”

Yoo Siun turned his head away, avoiding Eunseong’s hand. Eunseong awkwardly lowered his hand and naturally stepped back a couple of paces, even though Siun hadn’t made a show of it.

“…I’m sorry for touching you suddenly. I forgot you have mysophobia, Mister.”

“I have some work piled up.”

“Yes…. I’ll finish eating alone.”

“….”

“Are you late tomorrow too?”

“I’ll really come home early tomorrow.”

“Then we can definitely go exercise together tomorrow, right?”

“Right.”

“Because you always make promises and don’t keep them, Mister. I can’t trust you.”

“I will definitely keep my promise tomorrow.”

“If you don’t keep your promise tomorrow too, I’m going to pour tteokbokki sauce into your coffee.”

“…Don’t do such a thing.”

He said it looked like he liked me, that it seemed that way. Now, even in Yoo Siun’s eyes, it looked as if Eunseong liked him. He was conscious of him and couldn’t keep his eyes off him.

“Then I’m going to go finish the rest of the tteokbokki. You get to work, Mister. It wasn’t even that spicy. Like a dummy who doesn’t even know how to eat spicy food.”

Watching the back of the boy disappearing while grumbling something, Yoo Siun let out a low sigh, telling himself it couldn’t be, that it was some kind of misunderstanding. The cold sensation that had touched his lips left him lost in deep thought. Yoo Siun raised his hand and pressed the back of it against his hotly swollen lips, just as Eunseong had done. The flesh of his lips was sensitively flushed. It was a hot body heat.

∞ ∞ ∞

Eunseong was sitting on the living room sofa with the TV on, anxiously checking the wall clock every minute. Yoo Siun had promised yesterday that he would really come home early today. He said that while it was impossible for Eunseong to go out alone, it was possible to go out with him—to exercise together.

On days when Yoo Siun left work early, he would change into clothes that were all black from top to bottom, like a crow, after eating dinner. He wore a black ball cap and black sneakers. Whether it rained or the day was sunny, his attire remained unchanged.

Dressed in black, he would go out for a run with two bodyguards wearing similar training suits. He used to return wiping his sweat-drenched face by pulling up his shirt. At those times, one could steal a glance at his stomach and chest, which were packed with solid muscle.

He was of a sturdy build that couldn’t even be compared to Choi Jungeon, who could be considered large for his age. Yoo Siun’s frame felt like a different race entirely. His upper body was thick, but rather than feeling dull, he was agile; his arms were as thick and large as his hands were big, looking like tree trunks.

If he’s any later than this, there won’t be time to exercise after dinner.

Is he coming home late again today?

As time continued to pass, he let out anxious breaths. Not a single variety show on the TV registered in his eyes. He was watching only the ticking clock hands with a pitiful heart when he saw the flash of car headlights through the window.

Eunseong, who had been twisting his upper body to look toward the door, quickly sat straight on the sofa. He grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. Staring at the TV he hadn’t even been watching, he laughed out loud—”Hahaha”—pretending to follow along with them. He was laughing and clapping his hands as if he were dying of laughter when he heard the sign of the door opening, and a moment later, Yoo Siun appeared.

“Ah, seriously. Daebak. That is so funny. Hahaha.”

The high school senior, who had been laughing while watching TV in a posture that was one with the sofa, stood up upon discovering Yoo Siun.

“You’re coming home now?”

“Were you watching TV?”

“Yes, well, just…”

He glanced at the TV screen as if wondering what was so funny. Eunseong, who had been evasive, quickly turned the TV off. As the noise that had been loudly echoing in the living room vanished, the surroundings grew quiet with a familiar silence.

Yoo Siun felt as if it was the first time in his life he had heard the sound of a TV in this house. He had no memory of ever sitting on the sofa and watching TV himself.

“Did you eat dinner?”

“Not yet.”

“I haven’t eaten either. Then let’s eat together. You’re going to exercise today, right?”

“I should.”

While he was washing his hands, Eunseong sat at the end of the dining table and waited for Yoo Siun. The helper, who had been waiting in advance, set the table.

As Yoo Siun sat down, Manager Nam, who had left work with him, approached and whispered something quietly into his ear. Whether it was because he was taking mysophobia medicine lately and was fine, or whether he had been fine originally, he whispered with Manager Nam frequently.

Eunseong tensed up while holding his spoon. He watched the two whispering people anxiously, worrying that they might say some urgent matter had come up and he had to go out, or that it seemed he wouldn’t be able to go exercise.

“Then will you meet tomorrow?”

“Let’s do that.”

He didn’t know what it was about, but at any rate, it seemed it wasn’t a matter that had to be resolved immediately today. Eunseong, who was letting out a sigh of relief, suddenly thought, Uh-oh. It was only proper to keep a distance from Yoo Siun. Yet Eunseong was anxious to do something together with him. If they couldn’t do it together, it felt like it would go beyond being disappointed and his heart would actually hurt.

If they had been in a relationship where their blood wasn’t mixed, he wouldn’t have felt this kind of guilt. Eunseong stared blankly at his distant relative with an uneasy heart.

Yoo Siun, who was about to start his meal, felt the gaze and raised his head, meeting Eunseong’s eyes.

“Is the food not to your liking? If that’s not good, should I buy you that… spicy tteokbokki you like?”

“Tteokbokki?”

“Right, tteokbokki. But eating a lot of stimulating things isn’t good for the body. Even for spicy food, there’s a limit.”

He spoke with a look of disgust as if he didn’t even want to remember the name.

“…Whew.”

Eunseong let out a sigh as if his chest were collapsing. Yesterday, as soon as Yoo Siun took one bite of tteokbokki, he had a storm of coughing.

What do I even like about a mister like that… Why am I… While thinking that inside, he couldn’t take his eyes off his distant relative.

He was the possessor of a wonderful appearance that didn’t match his old-fashioned way of speaking, and on top of that, he was capable. To Eunseong, who had lived his whole life disappointed by the sight of his lethargic and self-loathing father, the competence Yoo Siun possessed and his social status where he bowed his head to no one stood out exceptionally, which was perhaps natural.

Above all, the point that bothered Eunseong the most was the awkward words he offered after agonizing over how to handle him. It was awkward, boring, and like an old man… yet the sight of his unskillful self, not knowing how to treat him at all, strangely made his heart flutter.

“Is the food not to your liking? Should I ask them to make something else?”

“No. It’s delicious.”

Eunseong ate diligently as if to clarify that he hadn’t sighed because there was a problem with the food. Nothing was as precious to Eunseong as the dinner time he spent with him.

“Vacation has started, so go meet some friends.”

“Friends? Am I allowed to go out?”

“It’ll be fine if it’s a place confirmed by the Manager. Don’t just stay cooped up in the house being so frustrated; go out and meet friends. It’s not imprisonment.”

He spoke as if the “imprisonment” talk from this morning was weighing on his mind.

“Later.”

“That… who is it? Is it Choi Jungeon? Your friend.”

“Jungeon?”

“Right, that boy.”

“He actually asked to see me; then is it okay to meet Jungeon?”

“Is he a friend you like?”