The Unbelievers Chapter 80

“What do you mean, just pouncing on him because you like him? You have to consider the other person’s position too. You can think of the CEO as being as upright and stoic as a piece of a Buddha statue in that regard.”

Manager Nam didn’t know how it was recorded that a man could get pregnant and give birth, since he had never actually seen it, but Eunseong’s behavior was clearly that of a person in love, not a physical reaction for the purpose of species reproduction.

Manager Nam was someone who knew Yoo Siun’s personality better than anyone. Yoo Siun would not reciprocate Eunseong’s feelings even if a knife were held to his throat. That was that man’s personality and his essence. Though he looked rough on the outside, he was a moralist who constantly sought the right path internally, and a rare person with a conscience within the Seongha family. Of course, any human with their head screwed on straight ought to loathe the things a cult group did.

“Mister…, was there no one like that he dated before?”

“I think he met a few people in passing during college, but he never talks about that sort of thing at all, and he tends to have no interest in that area anyway. He’s very plain and stoic when it comes to romance. He’s a workaholic who knows nothing but work.”

“….”

“The CEO doesn’t dislike you, Mr. Eunseong. No, he probably cherishes you a lot. I’m not just saying this to make you feel good; I know it well because I serve the CEO by his side. The CEO thinks of you as truly precious, Mr. Eunseong. You’d be surprised if you knew what kind of effort the CEO is making. Even I get surprised sometimes.”

“… Mister does? How?”

“I can’t tell you the details, but I can tell you this one thing. The CEO might feel the same way.”

“If Mister likes me. If we like each other together. What do you think, Manager?”

Eunseong asked hesitantly.

“Even so, what can’t be, can’t be. It’s true the CEO cherishes you, but he cannot give you what you expect. That is the CEO’s conviction.”

“I see….”

Manager Nam shook his head solemnly, telling him not to expect much. He explained that unfortunately, those feelings wouldn’t be returned because his CEO had such strong convictions that he was an unparalleled scholar and as stoic as a piece of a Buddha statue, so it would be hard to receive the kind of affection Eunseong expected. However, he added that there was no need to feel hurt; the man’s heart for cherishing him was sincere, but his opinion was that it would be difficult for the two to be together given various realistic issues.

“You’ll come to understand how the CEO feels once you have something precious of your own later, Mr. Eunseong. You know what I mean, right? He absolutely isn’t doing this because he dislikes you, so you mustn’t get hurt and run away. You have to live your own life, Mr. Eunseong. Why would you leave home just because you’re hurt by a Mister who is fourteen years older than you? It’s only a loss for you.”

“….”

Sitting on the sofa where he had been tangled up with the man just a few days ago, sucking on each other’s lips for hours, Eunseong felt uncomfortable listening to Manager Nam work so hard to make excuses for Yoo Siun. He felt like he was deceiving Manager Nam. He hesitated, feeling like he should tell him the truth.

That CEO had laid down his convictions that night and showered Eunseong with kisses, calling himself trash.

“Why is your face turning red all of a sudden? Well, you are at that age. I understand.”

“Um, Manager.”

“Now you really have to study. If you go abroad and can’t say a word, you might end up starving because you can’t even buy food. I don’t ask for much. Just do the basics, the basics.”

Even though he said he wouldn’t go study abroad, Manager Nam kept urging him to study English. Eunseong closed the conversation book the man had opened and continued speaking.

“But there’s somewhere I want to go.”

“Where?”

“Can I use Mister’s money?”

“You have plenty of money, Mr. Eunseong. Did you use up all the money from selling off every single thing I bought you?”

Manager Nam asked back with an expression that said Eunseong was asking all sorts of questions now just because he didn’t want to study.

“I lost that.”

“What?”

Manager Nam frowned deeply.

“So that’s why, can I use Mister’s money? I have a place to use it.”

“I suppose you’ve had some self-reflection now that you’ve earned money yourself and realized how precious money is and how hard labor can be? Using money that someone else earned for you is the best. Originally, the one who uses the money and the one who earns it are separate people. Do as you please.”

Manager Nam, who had been staring at him as if wondering why he was saying such a thing out of the blue, soon agreed with an “Ah.” His expression looked as if he thought Eunseong was trying to get some compensation for his heart by at least using Yoo Siun’s money, since his feelings wouldn’t be returned anyway.

“Even if I spend it recklessly?”

“To the point of reckless spending?”

“Yes, can I spend it recklessly?”

He let out a sigh and answered as if it were no big deal.

“The CEO is someone who doesn’t even have time to spend money, so it would be good if someone spent it for him.”

If that provided some comfort for his heart, it was a relief. It was a hundred times better than an outburst like leaving home without a word and hiding somewhere. Manager Nam gave his permission to do as he pleased.

“I clearly said ‘recklessly’.”

Eunseong was only twenty years old, and because his previous life of living in hardship was ingrained in him, he tended to be frugal.

Without worrying at all about the ‘reckless spending’ Eunseong warned of, Manager Nam replied.

“I don’t know how you plan to spend recklessly, but it won’t even make a dent. Don’t worry and try spending recklessly. I’m actually curious to see what happens when that limitless card actually reaches its limit.”

∞ ∞ ∞

“Ha, I’ve seen all sorts of pathetic losers, but that guy. Even his name was fake. I knew something was off. He asked for his wages in cash and couldn’t even open a bank account. He acted like he had something major to hide.”

“Whoa, for real? Seriously?”

“Everyone looked at him kindly because he just had a decent, pretty face. Even the restaurant lady favored only him. But he wasn’t just some petty thief; he was a wanted man! In the end, it was an ending where he got dragged away by the police.”

“That must have been super scary. You worked with a criminal for over a month. Without knowing anything.”

“It still gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Living with a guy like that for a month.”

Kim Dongjun shuddered and rubbed the goosebumps on his arms with his palms. The new part-timer hired after Eunseong quit pretended to tremble, saying the world was a scary place and that it gave them the creeps too.

Since the theft incident, he had bullied Eunseong on purpose to make him quit, but Kim Dongjun was inwardly relieved that Eunseong had left this place in such an unexpected way. Thinking of the lump sum of money he had moved to his bank account just a few days ago, he smirked. Now that Eunseong had been caught, that blind money was entirely his. The person who would question that money was now in prison and they would never meet again.

After chatting about this and that, the new part-timer stood up, saying they would go grab a meal.

“Uh, yeah. Don’t take a smoke break again and come back right away. Five minutes becomes ten, ten becomes twenty.”

“Hey, when was I ever that late. I’ll be back in a flash.”

The new part-timer was openly slacking off from the start. Whenever they had a chance, they tried to leave their post on the pretext of having a cigarette, and they pulled tricks like delaying things that needed to be handled right away to dump them on him, the next shift.

“Ah, that guy is no good either, that one. I’ll have to kick him out soon.”

Kim Dongjun didn’t like the new part-timer either. He set up the motel work so it would revolve around him, and he made any part-timer he didn’t like quit by bullying them however possible.

The owner, who owned and managed buildings here and there, considered Kim Dongjun—who had been working for over a year—to be diligent and trusted him over the impatient employees who couldn’t even last a month or two before quitting. Since the owner couldn’t drop by the motel often and mostly followed Kim Dongjun’s opinions, the motel was practically a world where Kim Dongjun could do as he pleased.

Looking back, it was goosebump-inducingly surprising that Eunseong, who was so easy to deceive and use, turned out to be a real criminal on the wanted list. It was just like the old saying: you can know the depth of ten fathoms of water, but you can’t know the heart of a person.

Eunseong had an appearance that made it impossible to even imagine such a thing. He seemed to have run away due to family discord, and he acted like a fugitive living in hiding because he was being chased by loan sharks. Kim Dongjun had actively taken advantage of Eunseong’s situation, where he couldn’t deal with things proactively and had no one to help him.

It was just as Kim Dongjun’s face was twitching to give the new part-timer a piece of his mind for coming back ten minutes late despite being told to return immediately after eating.

“Whoa, insane! Whoa, crazy!”

“What is it?”

The part-timer was making a huge fuss as if they had seen some famous celebrity right in front of them.

“No, you know that restaurant we go to? A customer who used to come to that restaurant often apparently gave the owner and all the working ladies luxury bags and puffer jackets as gifts. All of them are Moncler longs. It’s chaos right now. Everyone is busy looking at them.”

“What? Who?”

“I don’t really know who. They said it was a customer who used to come to the restaurant often. Oh, there was a Bentley parked in front; I guess it must be that car’s owner?”

Having seen a car that wasn’t even easy to catch a glimpse of in a neighborhood like this, the part-timer’s face was flushed with excitement as they made a scene.

“Really? Who is it? I might have seen them since I go there often. It might be someone I know.”

Kim Dongjun also felt curious and was about to follow him out of the counter to at least get a look.

“Ah, was it Eunseong? The lady was greeting him so warmly. I think she said it was Eunseong.”

“What?”