The Unbelievers Chapter 5

Choi Jungeon, who had his hand shoved insolently into one pants pocket, bobbed his chin. He shrugged his eyebrows as if he were too annoyed to even speak anymore, signaling for him to move right now.

When he still didn’t take a step, the group that received Choi Jungeon’s glance rushed over in a swarm, swiftly seized Eunseong as he tried to flee, and dragged him away by force. Like a criminal being caught and dragged off by the police, they unceremoniously dropped Eunseong in front of Choi Jungeon.

“I don’t have much time. Eunseong. Bring the money. There’s no one at your house right now, right? Is your dad there?”

Choi Jungeon asked while looking around the multi-unit villa where Eunseong lived. Eunseong had no way of knowing whether his father was there right now or not. Although he was a father who wasn’t of any help—a father he wanted to run away from and never see again—Eunseong lied, sincerely hoping that he was home right now.

“He was drinking all night and fell asleep this morning, so he should be awake by now.”

“Ah, really? I wanted to see Eunseong’s room, what a shame. What should we do? Is there anywhere else we can go? Somewhere the two of us can talk quietly.”

Choi Jungeon crinkled his eyes, saying he was sincerely disappointed. It was impossible to know what on earth he wanted to say that made him look for a place where they could be alone. Somehow, there was a strong feeling that he hadn’t come just to take money.

Eunseong’s eyes moved busily, checking his surroundings. He glanced back at Choi Jungeon’s group, who were checking the area like lookouts while spitting phlegm into the alleyway, hack, hack, and checked if there was a gap to escape through. As his eyes rolled around like that, he met the gaze of Choi Jungeon, who had been staring intently at him for who knows how long.

Choi Jungeon smirked.

“Going to run away?”

Choi Jungeon shrugged his eyebrows as if to firmly ensure that such a thing would never happen. As if on cue, several people snickered and suddenly hooked their arms into the arms of Eunseong, who had frozen in surprise, holding him tightly from both sides.

Eunseong’s legs stumbled from the forced pressure.

“Who said they’d let you run away? I came all the way here by splitting up this precious time when I should be at the academy, so shouldn’t we see to our business and go quickly?”

It seemed like he was ready to drag him off somewhere right this second. Eunseong made a rough struggle to repel the brute force binding him. The strength in the arms on both sides, which had just been holding him firmly, instantly hardened like unshakeable stones and gripped Eunseong even tighter. Giving up on the struggle to twist away somehow, he sharply jerked his head up toward Choi Jungeon. He spoke while letting out ragged breaths.

“…Choi Jungeon.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you a pervert?”

“Huh?”

“You’re gay, right? Like a homo or something?”

“Huuuh?”

Choi Jungeon’s lackey, who was holding Eunseong, looked back and forth between them with eyes that asked what kind of bizarre nonsense this was. The eyes of Choi Jungeon, who had been staring at Eunseong, hardened.

“Move in together when we go to college? Let’s be independent, just the two of us? Why would I be independent with you? Do you like me? Say what you said earlier in front of these guys again! You told me to just bring myself! To live together!”

Eunseong intended to embarrass Choi Jungeon in front of his lackeys. If he exposed the reality of Choi Jungeon clinging pathetically to a loser like himself, the guy who valued acting tough in front of those punks more than his own life might get angry and beat Eunseong up instead, asking when he ever said such a thing. And it was actually better to get beaten up once than to be continuously bullied by Choi Jungeon.

“Well, I said I’d live with you because I felt sorry for you getting beaten up by your old man every day, but fuck, did I tell you to get pregnant with my kid or give birth? Did I ask for some difficult favor? Eunseong? I said that with a spirit of sacrifice so you’d stop getting hit.”

He had tried to blatantly embarrass him, but Choi Jungeon went even further. He had no sense of shame whatsoever. On the contrary, he even asked his friends where else they could find such a kind person.

Eunseong looked back at the guys holding him. They had lukewarm expressions about the fact that he had made such an offer to Eunseong, but none of them had the guts to turn against Choi Jungeon immediately. Instead, they took Choi Jungeon’s side.

“This brat should just do as Jungeon tells him to. Where does he get off talking back so cheekily?”

Birds of a feather flocked together. The level of the guys hanging around Choi Jungeon was lower than Choi Jungeon’s, if anything; not a single one of them was normal.

“So, is your dad at home or not?”

“I told you he’d be sleeping after drinking! Don’t do this! Let go! I said let go!”

Eunseong started throwing a fit. Even when his feet, which were stomping wildly, were lifted into the air, he struggled. At that moment, Choi Jungeon suddenly grabbed Eunseong by the collar.

His upper body was violently pulled toward him. Even though his body was used to it from being hit so much by his father, for a moment, Choi Jungeon’s physical strength felt incomparably stronger than his father’s, who was always soaked in booze. His neck was squeezed hard, making his vision bleach white and making it impossible to breathe.

Eunseong let out a dry cough, wheezing.

“You… you son of a bitch.”

When he glared at him with bloodshot eyes, Choi Jungeon made an exaggerated fuss, stroking his own arms and saying things like, ohh, how scary, or that he was getting goosebumps.

“Look at that glare. Fuck, you’re pretty, so no matter what you do, no matter what stunt you pull, it’s all pretty.”

“Dad! Dad! Help me here! Please report this! Someone please report this to the police! Help me! Is anyone there?!”

Eunseong suddenly started screaming at the top of his lungs. The sound spread through the quiet alleyway like a siren wailing. The group, including Choi Jungeon, became flustered and scrambled. Choi Jungeon hurriedly gagged the screaming mouth.

“Is this bitch crazy? Shut up!”

“Mmph! Mmmph!”

Choi Jungeon covered his mouth so he couldn’t even breathe and pressed Eunseong’s head between his arm and his side.

“Shut up. Unless you want to die. Shut up, you brat?!”

Even as he pulled his head down, Eunseong resisted and screamed even more violently, so Choi Jungeon covered his mouth forcefully. Only then did Eunseong’s screams stop.

“Mmph, ugh! Mmmph!”

“You can’t understand a damn thing when I’m talking nicely. You want to get beaten up?”

Choi Jungeon let go of Eunseong as if throwing him, huffing and puffing. Eunseong’s body fell, crashing into a corner of the alley.

“Ha, why is this brat making me lose my cool so much today? You fucker, do you hate living with me that much? Am I saying I’m going to slit your throat right now? Ha, fuck, seriously. You’re making me pissed off.”

Choi Jungeon, flustered and excited, yelled out curses with his face flushed red.

The surroundings became quiet again, and from somewhere, the rattling sound of a window closing was heard. At that sound, Eunseong became devastated, as if he had lost his last hope. Choi Jungeon must have also heard the sound of people ignoring the victim, as he looked around the empty alley and pulled up the fallen body.

“It seems like none of the humans living in this neighborhood have any desire to help you. Heaven is helping me, though? Well, I’m sure a good day will come eventually for our Eunseong. Right? The problem is just that today isn’t that day.”

Choi Jungeon suddenly grabbed Eunseong by the scruff of the neck and led the way. Spitting out intermittent coughs from the pain in his abdomen injured during the fall, Eunseong raised his disheveled head. No sooner had he swallowed a breath to scream again than a rough hand gagged his mouth this time as well.

“You’re persistent, seriously? I told you I don’t have time. Bring the money you saved up. If you run away with that, I think I’ll completely lose my mind. So leave it with me. I’ll give it back to you when we graduate.”

He guaranteed he would return it, but they both knew it was a promise that wouldn’t be kept.

“…Fuck, you crazy bastard.”

As soon as he let go of the gagged mouth, he spat a disgusting insult along with a curse onto Choi Jungeon’s face. Choi Jungeon’s group froze simultaneously. They looked at Eunseong as if asking why he did that, with eyes that said he was dead now, or at least would go to the brink of death.

“….”

Choi Jungeon slowly wiped the saliva splattered on his face with the back of his hand. It wasn’t a look of anger or dislike. He looked at Eunseong’s distorted face with a strange gaze that had made crude and blatant contact, and indifferently wiped the spit onto his thigh on his school uniform pants.

With his hand still gripping Eunseong’s scruff, Choi Jungeon began to walk up the stairs leading to the third floor.

“Ugh, let go! I said let go! Hey! You’re really crazy, you madman!”

He was dragged along easily by the brutal strength, to the point where he couldn’t even feel his own weight.

Facing the door lock, Choi Jungeon turned a threatening gaze toward Eunseong to open the door, scowling fiercely as if he didn’t want to say much. When Eunseong stood his ground, refusing to open it, Choi Jungeon raised his hand menacingly.

“This guy is wasting time here again. You’re really asking for it. Do you really want to get beaten to death?”

Eunseong squeezed his eyes shut.

Whether he was hit on the cheek or struck hard on the head, out of fear that he would be hit somewhere, Eunseong squeezed his eyes shut and tried to endure Choi Jungeon’s blow.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

At the unfamiliar voice heard from behind his back, both Eunseong and Choi Jungeon flinched.

When they looked back, an adult male in a black suit was coming up the stairs, pushing past Choi Jungeon’s group with a heavily furrowed brow. It was an atmosphere that instantly overpowered the shabbiness of this area. The punks were hesitating and making way for him. The grip that had been clutching the back of Eunseong’s neck also lost its strength.

Eunseong didn’t know who he was, but he blindly ran to him and hid behind the man. At the appearance of an adult male with an unfamiliar aura of intimidation that couldn’t possibly exist and had never been seen around here, even the notorious Choi Jungeon seemed to hesitate. A sharp, questioning look as to who he was pierced into Eunseong. Eunseong avoided Choi Jungeon’s eyes and stood behind the man he didn’t even know.

“You’re Mr. Seo Eunseong, right?”