The Unbelievers Chapter 73

Eunseong, who had run away from home and suffered all sorts of hardships, went “Ugh,” and suddenly burst into a sorrowful cry. Flustered, Manager Nam stole a glance at Yoo Siun’s face. Yoo Siun shrugged one shoulder.

“He says he missed you the most.”

“That doesn’t mean it in that way; it probably means that after running away, he realized how desperate he was for the existence of a secretary.”

Manager Nam gave a light scolding while patting the crying Eunseong on the shoulder, asking why on earth he had left home in the first place. Yoo Siun took Eunseong’s hand. Eunseong, who had been making a weeping face, stopped crying and looked back at him.

He looked down at the watch on his wrist and spoke to Manager Nam.

“It’s very late, so please head in. Don’t worry, as I’ll be with him.”

There were many things he wanted to ask Eunseong, like where he had been hiding all this time, but Manager Nam simply bowed his head in response to Yoo Siun’s instructions. As if caught dangling by Yoo Siun, Eunseong said goodbye to Manager Nam, telling him he would see him tomorrow, and began to walk.

Only after they went inside did Manager Nam let out a pained sigh that felt as if his entire body were melting.

Returning to his home after two seasons, Eunseong felt it was unfamiliar. Still holding Eunseong’s hand, Yoo Siun loosened his tie and wore a relaxed expression that he only showed in a space he fully trusted. When Eunseong squeezed his hand back, their eyes met.

“Do you want to wash up?”

“…”

Without letting go of the hand being held, Eunseong nodded silently.

“I’ve packed up your things and brought them back. You can use your room just as it was.”

“…Did you clear out the apartment since I’m going to England anyway?”

“Don’t you want to go study abroad?”

“…”

Eunseong answered with silence, indicating he didn’t want to go. His hesitant movement was saying that if only he were allowed, he really didn’t want to go. However, the curve of his neck also showed his acceptance of his situation—that if Yoo Siun told him to go, he would have no choice but to go.

“Then don’t go.”

Startled, Eunseong lifted his face. The eyes looking up at him were filled with wonder at that breezy permission.

“If you don’t want to go, don’t go.”

“Really? I don’t have to go?”

“Yeah. Don’t go.”

“Before, you said I had to…, you spoke as if I absolutely had to go.”

Eunseong was confused. If he didn’t leave for England, if he didn’t go somewhere far away to be separated from him, Eunseong would continue to have improper feelings. Loving him was not permitted. The one who had reminded him of that was the man standing before him.

And yet, Eunseong desperately wanted to know the true intention behind why he was saying this now. The words saying he didn’t have to leave for a far-off place sounded like it was okay to love him.

“If you hated it enough to run away from home, you should have told me.”

“…You told me not to make you into trash. …Then what was I supposed to do?”

Yoo Siun watched as moisture filled Eunseong’s two eyes. With his reddening eyes wide open, Eunseong gazed at him endlessly.

“You said it wasn’t allowed. You told me not to make you into a bad person, Mister.”

“Wash up. I told them to draw water in the tub. Wash up and get some sleep. Let’s talk tomorrow.”

“…”

Yoo Siun let go of Eunseong’s hand. The hand, which had been held tightly somewhere and then released, hovered awkwardly in the air. He turned away first and entered his own space, and Eunseong, watching his receding back, also headed to his own room.

He didn’t know when they had been moved, but his belongings from the penthouse were arranged neatly as if he had lived in this room until yesterday. On the table lay the bag he had hidden in the subway station restroom, which he had asked Kim Dongjun to retrieve.

Eunseong touched the bag for a moment. A Minions keychain dangled from the end of the zipper.

He took off the clothes he had bought for a few thousand won at a second-hand shop, threw them in the trash, and entered the bathroom.

In the spacious bathroom, just as Yoo Siun had said, warm water was rippling in the tub. He took out a bath bomb—something he had rarely used but was always kept in stock—and tossed it into the tub; light blue bubbles spread across the surface like a whirlpool. A sweet scent of soap filled the air.

Eunseong slid his feet into the tub first. He melted his flesh and joints, which had been tense as if frozen, in the hot water.

Letting out a sigh like an old man with aching ribs, he immersed his whole body in the tub. A sweet and hot sensation seeped through his entire body.

“Phew… this is nice.”

Since he couldn’t even dream of a public bathhouse, having a bath like this felt as distant as an ancient memory. The penthouse really did have a great view. Beyond the window where the tub was placed, the other side of the city unfolded like a panorama.

The dissolving bath bomb blended together as if light blue and purple paints had been released. He rubbed his arms and face while splashing the water. His accumulated fatigue seemed to dissolve away, melting into the hot water.

Brushing back his wet hair, Eunseong rested his chin on the edge of the tub, blinking blankly while thinking of Yoo Siun turning away a moment ago.

He also remembered how Yoo Siun’s fists were tightly clenched when he saw Eunseong get out of the car. The cross, prominent over his veins and tendons, stood out in silhouette as if it were about to pop out, and the wolf figure on his neck writhed along with it.

His handsome face had become haggard. There were dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept, and a shadow of blue stubble appeared on his chin and under his nose. Fatigue from suffering something for a long time had accumulated. And he had hugged him tightly, really tightly. So strongly that it took his breath away.

The sensation of burying his face in Yoo Siun’s chest and hugging his waist, which was amply wrapped by his two arms, was still vivid. His thumping pulse was thanking God that Eunseong was alive.

He scooped up the water mixed with purple and light blue with both hands and drenched his face.

He had muttered something small while hugging him, but Eunseong hadn’t heard it because he had burst into tears.

Was it… “I found you”? It was three syllables.

I found you.

“I found you…”

His heart swelled. Perhaps because he was soaked in hot water, heat also rushed to his cheeks. When he moved his hips against the bottom of the tub, the skin lesions that had formed below the perineum reacted more sensitively than his genitals.

Sitting with his back against the tub, Eunseong’s hand slid between his legs. Eunseong rubbed his underside slightly while keeping only his nose above the water. His eyebrows twitched, and his eyes flickered.

He hadn’t known because he had never been hugged so hard. He hadn’t known his chest was that broad, nor had he known before that it was that firm. Before, it was all just a delusion and existed only in Eunseong’s imagination.

The physical sensation of having hugged him once made Eunseong’s body burn. The skin lesions following the sensitive areas rose slightly plump like a sexual sensation. His underside twitched as if someone else were touching him there.

“…Ugh, seriously. Really…, I really hate this.”

He hated himself for masturbating while thinking of his relative, and he hated his body for becoming so elevated just from being hugged once. Soon, even Eunseong’s penis stood up straight in the water.

Every time he moved his body slightly, the rippling waves stimulated the sensitive area. Rather than touching his genitals, touching the sensations that stood out like veins on his skin led Eunseong to a climax more quickly. He remembered the grip that had suddenly pulled his back close, recalling the scent and the feel of the hard chest he had buried his face in and rubbed his cheek against.

“Hn…, ngh, mmgh…”

His lips felt ticklish. Eunseong, rubbing his lips against the back of his hand until the flesh was chafed, threw his head back and spilled his ejaculation.

“Haah…, haah, ah…”

His hair had become completely drenched. After submerging himself and lifting his head, Eunseong caught the breath that was bursting out rapidly. A sweet scent radiated from his entire body. He stuck out his tongue and lightly licked the surface of his wet arm. It didn’t just smell like it; it tasted sweet too.

After leisurely finishing a long bath without worrying about anyone, he came out and put on pajamas. They weren’t clothes someone else had worn from a second-hand shop, but were all brand new, untouched by anyone.

Drying his wet hair with a towel, he sat on the bed where soft and thick bedding was spread. The sitting sensation was entirely different from the cheap springs that would sag deeply. It was soft yet supported Eunseong’s weight with a sense of stability.

Eunseong, who was removing the moisture from his hair while quietly looking around his room as if it belonged to a stranger, stood up instead of lying down to sleep.

Even though he had returned to his room, he still couldn’t quite believe it and wanted confirmation from Yoo Siun. He felt like a sense of reality about returning to this place would only truly set in if they drank the coffee he made together.

He knocked lightly toward Yoo Siun’s room, but there was no reaction from inside. He pushed the door, which he had opened slightly, further and went inside to find a sign of his presence.

He heard a sound from inside the dressing room and, drawn to it, headed there. Eunseong came to a dead stop as he discovered him standing completely naked in the dim space where the lights weren’t even on.

The muscular, moisture-drenched whole body flinched as it turned toward Eunseong. Although the man’s lower body was buried in darkness, the thick growth of hair and the volume of his hanging penis were vividly clear to a chilling degree. It felt as if he could feel the weight of it if he held it in his hand.

“…”

“…”

The wolf he had missed so much was draped over his shoulder along his forearm, and that face—though only a form—was etched on his neck like a living creature.

The wolf vaguely resembled him. It was rough and wild. The cross on the back of his hand soon overlapped with the muzzle on his wrist, covering the entirety of one of his arms. It was a shape he could never have imagined when it was hidden by clothes.