The Unbelievers

Chapter 43

“What should we do about Eunseong’s private tutor?”

“He said he doesn’t want one.”

“You’re planning to send him to a foreign school, right?”

It was impossible here. There was a limit to how long they could keep Eunseong’s existence hidden. His original goal was to wash away Eunseong’s identity and send him abroad where no one could find him.

Eunseong had wanted to leave home to escape his violent father. Given his independent nature, he would likely be eager to go overseas if given the opportunity, even without being given a valid reason.

Yoo Siwoon hadn’t brought it up yet. He planned not to until after the college entrance exam. Whether he studied or not, Eunseong was still a sensitive high school senior and a minor. It didn’t seem like the right time to send him off alone without a guardian.

“When do you plan to tell Eunseong?”

“I’ll have to find the right moment after the college entrance exam. Anyway, looking at how he’s doing, his scores probably won’t be good. Pushing for studying abroad would be more convincing.”

“You’re going to tell him that late? It’s already late to start preparing if he’s to enter a school next year. If he’s not going to a domestic university, there’s no need to take the college entrance exam. Instead, he should focus on getting language scores. I was planning to get him a native English tutor.”

Director Nam’s words made sense, but it wasn’t that urgent. Yoo Siwoon, not wanting to reveal his inner desire to keep Eunseong close, agreed with Director Nam but didn’t commit to doing so.

“I’m not sure if I’m worrying unnecessarily, but…”

Director Nam hesitated, struggling to speak his mind.

“Go ahead and say it.”

Yoo Siwoon, who had been facing his computer, turned his gaze towards him.

“It seemed like Eunseong likes you, CEO.”

“…What?”

“It looks like Eunseong has feelings for you.”

“…That’s nonsense.”

It might be hard to believe, but that’s how it appeared to Director Nam. Eunseong talked about Yoo Siwoon every time he opened his mouth. He kept asking why Yoo Siwoon didn’t have a partner, if Director Nam really knew about his private life, whether he had ever been in a serious relationship before. Unlike before when he asked about the company or succession issues, now he showed no interest in those matters and was only curious about Yoo Siwoon himself.

“You haven’t noticed?”

“No, not at all. If anything, he dislikes me.”

Yoo Siwoon looked at him with a bewildered expression, as if he had heard something completely out of the blue.

“Dislikes you? Does someone who dislikes a person talk about them that often?”

“I thought there was something going on between him and that friend Jungeon. They talk on the phone often… and he seems affectionate with him.”

Director Nam spent more time with Eunseong. Yoo Siwoon, without realizing it, subtly inquired about Choi Jungeon as if testing Director Nam. The idea that Eunseong might like him seemed absurd, and while thinking it shouldn’t happen, Yoo Siwoon’s desire to confirm this fact grew stronger than his feelings of denial.

“No, that friend is just a real friend. It’s that friend who likes Eunseong. Eunseong isn’t interested in him.”

“Aren’t you misunderstanding something? Aren’t you just thinking in that direction unnecessarily?”

“You mentioned something about resonance, so I thought… I’m sorry.”

Director Nam quickly apologized.

He had heard that the ‘Great Rift’ only resonates with specific bloodlines like Yoo Siwoon, who is a ‘being with opened spiritual eyes.’ If Eunseong was the ‘Great Rift,’ resonating with Yoo Siwoon would be the beginning of the prophecy. Although he didn’t know exactly how the resonance occurred, if Eunseong was indeed that being, the resonance might not be simple arousal but a movement of emotions.

“That’s ridiculous.”

Eunseong believed Yoo Siwoon to be his father’s cousin, a relative uncle. The idea that he would like someone he thought was blood-related, and talk of resonance – it all sounded absurd to Yoo Siwoon, who didn’t even believe in the prophecy.

Yoo Siwoon sharply turned his gaze back to the monitor screen. Feeling guilty for bringing up such an unnecessary topic and unsettling him, Director Nam bowed his head and left the office.

The sound of the door closing was heard from beyond the monitor. Yoo Siwoon paused his hands that were about to type on the keyboard.

He hadn’t thought about it in that way.

Rather, Yoo Siwoon felt like he had just realized his own feelings through Director Nam’s words.

Is that why I haven’t moved him out and keep holding onto him…?

I… I, that child…

He shook his head. It was not only implausible but also something that shouldn’t happen.

If Eunseong liked anyone, he had thought it would be that friend Choi Jungeon. He had overheard their phone conversation while passing by the door. When Jungeon complained about missing him, Eunseong replied that he missed him too. He even casually suggested going on a trip together after the college entrance exam.

He had never said such things to Yoo Siwoon. Every time Eunseong opened his mouth, he only got angry as if everything was Yoo Siwoon’s fault, as if Yoo Siwoon was to blame for everything. Eunseong had even run away to Jungeon’s house because he disliked Yoo Siwoon, and had never shown a smiling face in front of him. He only pouted with sulky lips and gazed resentfully at Yoo Siwoon who tried to keep him confined at home.

Yoo Siwoon’s hand rubbed his forehead. He was deeply worried.

He likes me…?

It can’t be. He shook his head, erasing Eunseong’s face that was filling his mind.

Yoo Siwoon picked up the phone.

“I received the contract by email. Please tell the person in charge and the director to come up to my room.”

Yoo Siwoon, who had broken his promise to go exercising together due to work despite having agreed to leave early, returned home with tteokbokki packed as a gesture of apology, even though Eunseong hadn’t mentioned it.

Holding the bag containing the tteokbokki, Yoo Siwoon stood hesitantly in front of Eunseong’s room, raising and lowering his hand, unsure whether to knock or not.

“…”

It was because of the unnecessary conversation Director Nam had earlier in the day. He had said that Eunseong seemed to like him, that it might be the resonance mentioned in the prophecy. Director Nam was a perceptive person. He had good insight and was quick-witted. He wasn’t someone who would say such things without any basis.

While thinking it couldn’t be true, Yoo Siwoon was subtly concerned. No, he was openly concerned. He retraced each of Eunseong’s actions. The image of him counting and numbering the times they had touched was particularly troubling. However, counting and numbering the times they touched might not be because Eunseong liked him, but rather his own way of trying to figure out if Yoo Siwoon’s obsessive-compulsive disorder was real or a lie.

Moreover, Eunseong had run away because he disliked Yoo Siwoon. He had openly said in front of Yoo Siwoon that he left home because he disliked him so much and didn’t want to live with him.

Unlike before when he lived freely, Eunseong now had to live with restrictions on his every action. Yoo Siwoon had considered Eunseong’s previous runaway as his own form of protest against feeling stifled and uncomfortable.

Reflecting on Eunseong’s honest personality that couldn’t hide emotions, it was more likely that he had acted that way not because he liked him, but because he really disliked him and wanted to escape. It was an undeniable fact that Yoo Siwoon was keeping Eunseong at home as if imprisoning him, not allowing him to go out, and having someone watch over him.

But to say he likes me… that’s nonsense.

As he was standing in front of Eunseong’s room door thinking these thoughts, the door suddenly opened, startling Yoo Siwoon.

“…What are you doing?”

Eunseong looked at him grumpily, asking what he was doing in front of someone else’s room door. Yoo Siwoon, who had been lost in thoughts about Eunseong, hid his expression and slightly raised the bag in his hand.

“Oh, this. I bought tteokbokki.”

“When did I say I wanted tteokbokki?”

“You didn’t say that.”

“Did you buy it because you’re sorry for breaking your promise and coming home late?”

“Yeah, that’s part of it.”

Eunseong pursed his lips, looking alternately at the bag in Yoo Siwoon’s hand and at him. His sulky face gradually softened, showing a faint smile.

“…Looks delicious. I was just about to get something to eat because I was hungry. I wasn’t waiting for you though.”

“That’s good.”

“Do you want to eat together?”

“I’m okay. I can’t eat spicy food.”

“What flavor did you buy?”

“Just regular?”

He hadn’t bought any specific flavor. He just brought what the shop gave him.

“Regular flavor isn’t that spicy. Try it. I don’t want to eat alone.”

Without waiting for Yoo Siwoon’s hesitant answer, Eunseong took the bag from his hand. Unlike usual when he would have taken it to his room, Eunseong headed to the dining room first. Yoo Siwoon quietly watched his back before following.

He took off his jacket and hung it on the dining chair, then washed his hands. Eunseong set out dishes and forks on the table and placed the tteokbokki in separate dishes across from each other, far apart as they usually sat during meals.

He felt a bit hurt seeing Eunseong now naturally accepting and being cautious of the fact that he had first distanced himself from Eunseong, mentioning his obsessive-compulsive disorder. Surely, Director Nam must have misunderstood something. If Eunseong really liked him, he would have tried to sit closer, making up some excuse.

Yoo Siwoon sat where Eunseong had placed the tteokbokki. Eunseong also sat down far from him and picked up his fork.