The Unbelievers

Chapter 42

“Are you listening to me? Why should I be trapped here all summer vacation? Let me at least earn my tuition. I really don’t like depending on others.”

“…Tuition.”

After taking a sip of coffee, he put down the cup and suddenly left the dining room. When Yoo Siwoon returned shortly after, he was holding Eunseong’s book bag, which he used as a money bag. He inexplicably placed the bag he brought on the island table, opened it, and checked inside.

“This seems like more than enough for tuition. Are you a bit greedy for money?”

“Ah, why are you messing with someone else’s bag!”

Eunseong quickly took the bag he was looking into, zipped it closed, and hastily put it on his back.

“I’m not taking it.”

Yoo Siwoon showed no interest in the money. He calmly returned to his seat and drank his coffee.

“Director Nam says you’re an extremely busy and tired person. He says you don’t have the energy to worry about me, so I shouldn’t bother you. That’s why I’m trying to live my own life by going somewhere you can’t see me, whether I work or attend an academy.”

Eunseong frequently entered his study without permission. He even slept in his bed sometimes. When he was late coming home, Eunseong would call and complain about how inconvenient it was to live in a house where delivery wasn’t available, saying he wanted tteokbokki today or a hamburger tomorrow. Then Yoo Siwoon would bring the food Eunseong mentioned, packaged on his way home. Eunseong was clearly bothering him. When Yoo Siwoon accommodated him, Eunseong would get angry at him for doing so.

“If it’s because of me, you don’t need to do that. It’s not bothersome.”

“…”

After making eye contact with Eunseong as he spoke, Yoo Siwoon casually lowered his gaze to the newspaper.

Eunseong gulped down his milk. He wanted to scold Yoo Siwoon, telling him not to speak like that, not to look at him with those eyes, not to touch him four times, and not to act like he was taking medication for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

To avoid revealing his feelings to Yoo Siwoon, Eunseong needed to leave this house. However, Yoo Siwoon, who had said he would help find a place to live, seemed to have forgotten about it and didn’t mention it. Eunseong, who had initially said he would leave, also didn’t bring up moving out, as if it had never happened. He didn’t mention it out loud, as if regretting words spoken in anger.

“This is confinement.”

“Ha.”

Yoo Siwoon tried not to laugh, but he couldn’t help but chuckle, finding it too absurd and amusing. However, the person in question seemed to be taking this situation quite seriously, as he was unable to do as he pleased. Eunseong looked at Yoo Siwoon with an expression like a puppy about to bare its teeth and growl, as if protesting not to laugh.

He might even bite at this rate, Yoo Siwoon muttered to himself.

“Confinement? I’m worried about you. It’s also an issue for the security staff.”

“So you’re saying you’re just going to keep me locked up at home because it’s troublesome and expensive for the employees?”

“Don’t you like the house?”

“…It’s not that I don’t like it.”

It seemed that Seo Jeong-gi had done well in raising Eunseong to express his emotions honestly without hiding them, even if he had beaten him. Eunseong wasn’t good at concealing his true feelings.

“That’s good to hear.”

“Just because I like it doesn’t mean it’s always good, you know?”

“I suppose people can’t always do only what they like.”

“I’m someone who knows how to read the room too.”

“…”

Yoo Siwoon didn’t quite understand what Eunseong meant. While Yoo Siwoon was pondering Eunseong’s words, Eunseong, seemingly tired of Yoo Siwoon’s refusal to allow him to go out no matter what he said, sighed loudly as if to be heard.

“Then is it okay if I go out with you, ahjussi?”

“Me?”

He didn’t understand this time either.

“I want to go with you when you go out for exercise in the evening.”

Yoo Siwoon would go out for a run after dinner if he got off work early, dressed all in black like a crow.

“You won’t be able to keep up.”

“I’m good at exercise.”

“Exercise is good. It makes your body strong.”

Eunseong’s expression brightened at his casual permission.

“That’s a relief. I was about to get really annoyed if you said no to that too. Director Nam has been nagging me a lot lately. I guess my running away before really hurt him.”

After escaping once through a careless gap, the surveillance around him had indeed become more stringent. Especially when going outside, Director Nam’s persistent gaze sticking to his back was enough to make his skin tingle. Not stopping at just surveillance, Director Nam would constantly warn him. He asked Eunseong not to bother his company’s CEO anymore, who was already busy, tired, and had no energy to spare for him.

“You left the only blemish on someone who’s perfect at their job. He must have been angry since he’s only ever been praised for his abilities.”

“Did he scold you?”

“He doesn’t scold for things like that.”

“…Were you very angry with me that day?”

Eunseong asked cautiously, after taking a small bite of the red, round apple. He glanced up at Yoo Siwoon’s face. Yoo Siwoon shook his head as he took a sip of coffee.

“Really?”

“I was worried.”

“…Ah, I see.”

Eunseong’s tense expression relaxed as he carefully observed Yoo Siwoon.

That emotion was impossible to express with just the cliché word “worried.” Yoo Siwoon had been shocked that day. The sensation of his heart sinking made his fingertips cold. He had never even imagined the possibility of losing Eunseong to the other side. It wasn’t just about losing Eunseong’s existence. It was a matter directly linked to his life.

Only Yoo Siwoon, Seo Jeong-gi, and Director Nam knew of Eunseong’s existence. So he didn’t even think of it as running away. He naturally assumed it was a kidnapping. He never dreamed it could be a runaway attempt because Eunseong disliked him or didn’t want to live with him.

It seemed that his overly fastidious behavior in trying to keep distance from Eunseong had hurt the boy. Yoo Siwoon no longer flinched and retreated when Eunseong suddenly approached him like before. Instead, he calmly created distance without Eunseong noticing.

Moreover, Eunseong couldn’t understand Yoo Siwoon’s compulsion even more because of the active behavior of a boy who said he liked him. That boy wanted to touch Eunseong, wanted to kiss him, wanted to meet him. Yoo Siwoon had accidentally overheard a phone call before, where the boy was constantly telling Eunseong he was pretty.

“Hey, you’re fucking pretty. Our Eunseong is fucking pretty, right? Shit. But I’m so pissed off I can’t see you anymore because you transferred schools.”

Eunseong agreed with his words nonchalantly even after hearing such things.

“Right? Objectively, I’m really good-looking, aren’t I? You see it too, right? Everyone in the neighborhood knows how popular I was.”

Eunseong had considerable confidence in his appearance. Just as he craved the affection he couldn’t get from Seo Jeong-gi from Yoo Siwoon, he acted like a cat pushing its head forward to be petted, as if Yoo Siwoon, who wasn’t born with such a disposition, should naturally find him pretty.

…Fucking pretty.

He rubbed his face roughly. He ran his large hand coarsely over his face.

“CEO, it’s time for you to leave now.”

Director Nam came in and reminded Yoo Siwoon, who was chatting with Eunseong, of the time. Yoo Siwoon moved the coffee cup he had drunk from into the sink and picked up his phone, turning around.

“I’m off.”

Eunseong crunched into the apple and said goodbye.

“…Alright.”

Trying not to look at Eunseong as much as possible, he awkwardly said goodbye and left with Director Nam.

Seongha Momentum was located about a thirty-minute drive from Yoo Siwoon’s residence. Since he became the CEO of the affiliate company, they had moved out of the Seongha Group affiliate building and were renting one floor of a separate building.

As soon as he arrived at his private office and sat at his desk, Director Nam handed him an envelope of documents.

“This is the list we requested from Seongha Trading’s audit office. It includes the log records of those who accessed that day and a shortlist of suspicious individuals from the employee roster.”

“Was there anything strange?”

Yoo Siwoon asked Director Nam, who looked somewhat uneasy, as he hung his jacket on the coat rack and turned around.

“…There’s a record of accessing internal documents from a new marketing team employee’s position, but when we checked, the responsible employee was on leave that day. We checked the CCTV for employees who came and went during that time, and Executive Director Kwon Junho from Seongha Trading…”

“One of the elders’ council members, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“A reactionary.”

Yoo Siwoon threw the thick envelope of documents on the desk as if there was no need to look at it anymore.

“I’ve edited the CCTV footage to remove the parts where Executive Director Kwon appears, without making it obvious.”

“Please set up an appointment.”

“Understood.”

“Avoid this evening. I’m going home early today.”

“Yes, I’ll arrange it as soon as possible, avoiding this evening.”

Yoo Siwoon gave these instructions and sat down. He turned on the computer and looked at the monitor. When he logged into the intranet, there were accumulated emails to be processed.

As he started working, Director Nam asked,

“How would you like to handle next week’s Seongha headquarters meeting?”

“There’s no need to stand out by attending,” he replied while checking a contract submitted by the sales department. Since taking over Seongha Momentum, the company’s sales and profits were growing in a clear curve, slowly but surely, in line with his preference for not standing out. Yoo Siwoon was a cautious person. He even deliberately fabricated ridiculous mistakes to make it look like he had lost major contracts to competitors. He was skilled at hiding his claws and concealing himself in the undergrowth, appearing to lack business acumen or ambition.