The Unbelievers Chapter 55

Recalling Eunseong, who had turned pale and was unable to speak properly from the shock, Manager Nam got off the elevator and headed toward the parking lot. Inside the car on the way back to the company, he placed a call to Yoo Siun.

“CEO, it is me.”

—Did you drop him off safely? What about the exam?

Despite saying he didn’t care, it seemed he had been secretly worried. Yoo Siun asked about Eunseong’s exam right away.

“It seems he did reasonably well on the exam. I am on my way out after dropping him off at home just now. I brought up the talk about studying abroad as you mentioned.”

After a moment of silence, he asked if the boy had accepted it easily. Manager Nam let out a frustrated breath.

“He said he understood… but he seemed shocked. It looked like he still has you on his mind, CEO.”

—Was he disappointed?

“It would be a relief if he were only disappointed. To my eyes, it looked as if he felt almost a sense of betrayal. If you had told him directly, he wouldn’t have been this shocked. What I say and what you say, CEO, are different things.”

—Will it be alright to leave him alone?

While saying he would never see him again and that they must not meet, Yoo Siun asked with concern.

“He said a friend was supposed to come over. In fact, I was going to stay with him, but I’m coming out now because he said his friend was coming.”

—I see. You worked hard.

Ending the call with Yoo Siun after telling him to head in for the day, Manager Nam increased the speed of the car.

Yoo Siun was holding a box containing a cake, hesitating continuously in front of the penthouse door where Eunseong lived. After bringing the boy here with a promise to his father that he would take responsibility, he had left the child alone while he was passing through a major turning point. At a time when the help of an adult was absolutely necessary, Yoo Siun had neglected Eunseong. He had caused Eunseong to resonate with him and then left him to handle the aftermath of those emotions all by himself. It was a cowardly thing to do.

Regret rushed in late, making him wish he had at least given the boy a phone call on the morning of the exam. Standing there fumbling with a single cake, unable to bring himself to enter while making up flimsy excuses, his own appearance felt pathetic.

“…What on earth am I doing? Haa.”

A heavy sigh escaped him naturally.

Meeting face-to-face would only make things harder for both of them; though he considered himself an adult, Eunseong was still at an age where emotional processing was immature, and Yoo Siun had already rejected him.

He had scolded the confused Eunseong, telling him it was a wrong feeling or some kind of misunderstanding, and separated the boy from himself. They were of a relationship that absolutely had to be that way. They were in a relationship where they must never become something, and must not even try to become something.

While hesitating and about to turn away after just leaving the cake in front of the door, the elevator doors opened. There were no other units on that floor besides Yoo Siun’s penthouse.

Two police officers stepped out of the elevator. They flinched upon discovering Yoo Siun standing in front of the door and immediately took a wary stance. Yoo Siun, standing face-to-face with them, was similarly tense. He mentally traced the location of the weapon he kept hidden in his clothes. He had a dagger at his waist, and the police had Tasers.

Yoo Siun asked the police.

“What is the matter?”

“We received a report that there is a strange person in front of the house. Are you a resident here?”

“Pardon?”

“A report came in. That there is a strange person in front of the house.”

The police pointed at the door, saying the owner of the house where Yoo Siun was standing had reported it. One officer was staring intently at the tattoo that began on the back of Yoo Siun’s hand. Yoo Siun’s eyes turned toward the camera mounted in front of the entrance. He let out a breath of disbelief.

“I am the owner of this house.”

“If you are the owner, why are you loitering here instead of going inside?”

It seemed Eunseong had reported him to the police. Realizing this, Yoo Siun gave an absurd laugh.

“I was just about to go in.”

“Then please open the door and enter.”

With a wary air until the end, the police watched as if telling Yoo Siun to enter the code on the keypad and go in if he truly was the owner.

Yoo Siun turned around, activated the keypad, and entered the code. A warning sound rang out, indicating it was the wrong code. He furrowed one brow. He entered the code he knew once more. Again, the warning beep for an incorrect code sounded. It was clearly the wrong number.

Realizing late that Eunseong had changed the door lock code, he turned back toward the police. The two officers were extremely tense, looking ready to take him into custody immediately.

“My nephew lives here, and it seems he has changed the code.”

“You will have to come to the station with us. I understand the security in this building is thorough, so how did you get all the way up here?”

The more Yoo Siun tried to explain, the more suspicious they became.

“You can verify it with the security staff. The employees know who I am.”

“Since a report was made, we have no choice. Please come with us.”

While Yoo Siun was in a difficult standoff with the police, the front door opened. Eunseong poked his head out through the slightly opened door.

The police asked Eunseong, who had finally appeared.

“Are you the one who made the report?”

“Yes, I reported it.”

“This person here, is he someone you know? He says he is the owner here; is that correct?”

At the policeman’s question, Eunseong, with only his face showing outside the door, stared vacantly at Yoo Siun as if looking at a total stranger. A smile was etched on Siun’s lips as he took in the absurdity of the situation itself. He gazed fixedly at Eunseong and asked.

“Shall we be strangers to each other now?”

“…”

Seeing that sorrowful smile that grated on his nerves, Eunseong felt a surge of emotion. This was the man who had ignored all his calls and messages until now, treating him like a non-person. Now, he was also the person trying to kick him out by telling him to go study abroad, to go to an entirely different country.

“Is it true that he is a relative?”

The police asked again. Eunseong barely managed a nod.

“If he is someone you know, why did you report him?”

“Manager Nam said Mister went on a business trip, but someone who looked like Mister showed up on the CCTV. And if you dress all in black like that, you can’t tell from the screen if it’s a gangster or what. It just looks like something pitch black is there.”

“…”

Yoo Siun turned back to the police officers and made an exhausted expression, explaining that this was how things had turned out. His attire did indeed look threatening, like a dark shadow. His black jacket and the turtleneck knit pulled right up to his jaw were both black, and his watch, pants, and shoes were all black as well.

The dispatched police officers exchanged displeased glances. For one final confirmation, they asked Eunseong.

“He said he is the owner here; is that correct? Is it true that you reside here?”

“He doesn’t reside here, but it is true that this is my first cousin once removed’s apartment.”

“So it is true that he is your relative?”

Eunseong answered “yes” to the policeman’s question.

“Then everything is fine, right? May we head back?”

The police, who had been wary of Yoo Siun without letting go of their suspicions, only disappeared into the elevator after several more rounds of verification.

The area in front of the entrance soon became chilly.

Even when the sensor light turned off, the surroundings did not fall into instant darkness because Eunseong had left the door halfway open. Eunseong stood holding the door and asked.

“…Is the business trip all finished?”

It seemed he had told a lie in his defense, though Yoo Siun had never told Manager Nam to do so. Yoo Siun did not answer and simply stared at Eunseong.

It had already been over three months since he left his house, and since this was the first time facing him since that day, it had been nearly three months.

Another period of silence flowed by helplessly. Because of a complex heart that both resented and liked him, hated and was glad to see him, Eunseong’s expression was subtle but constantly changing.

Looking down at Eunseong, who stood awkwardly staring only at his feet, Yoo Siun spoke first.

“The exam.”

“What about the exam.”

“Did you do well?”

“You didn’t come here to talk about that.”

“I did come to talk about that.”

“You came to tell me to go abroad. Isn’t that right?”

Eunseong, overcome with emotion, asked accusingly. Because of the talk of studying abroad, Eunseong was already hostile toward him. He was glad to see him, but he could not bring himself to show it prematurely, struggling instead to lock the door of his heart that had been rejected many times.

Even though he was the one who made it that way, Yoo Siun felt his chest tighten. He knew Eunseong’s heart better than anyone—how the boy had no choice but to set his thorns even more sharply because he was beyond disappointed and into the realm of being hurt—and even though this was the direction he intended, his chest ached. If anything, the one in pain was him, not Eunseong.

“That was meant in the sense of something to consider… it isn’t something that needs to be decided immediately.”

“…”

“While you’re studying anyway, it would be better to choose a path where your horizons can expand. It’s only right that you should master one or two languages as a basic requirement.”

“…”

“Did that make you feel hurt?”

Eunseong’s body had almost fully emerged outside the door now, fidgeting. He was holding the front doorknob with his arm stretched out to keep the door from closing.

“No, I wasn’t hurt. I wanted to learn English, too.”

He said with pouting lips. They weren’t empty words. Unlike his father, who had slumped down helplessly and done nothing, Eunseong had many things he wanted to do. He had many dreams. It was true that he wanted to do this and that, go to this country, and visit that country. However, that was a story for the distant future, not for right now.