The Unbelievers

Chapter 71

The restaurant owner served a fried egg to Eunseong, who was forcing himself to eat.

“I’m not giving any to Dongjun. I absolutely won’t give him two. This is just for you.”

“Thank you.”

She thought Eunseong must have some untold circumstances. With a sympathetic smile on her aged face, she stood up.

After finishing dinner, Eunseong felt uncomfortable in his chest, as if he had indigestion. He stopped by a nearby pharmacy to buy digestive medicine and returned to the motel.

Going to work felt like being a cow dragged to the slaughterhouse. He wanted to run away right then. The urge to contact Choi Jung-eon kept surging.

He dragged his heavy feet. Seeing a police car with flashing lights in front of the motel, it seemed like another troublesome guest was causing a scene.

By now, even this routine had become tiresome and evoked no reaction. Eunseong headed to the counter. The owner, a familiar policeman, and Kim Dongjun all turned to look at him simultaneously. As he awkwardly bowed his head in greeting and tried to head to his position, the owner said with disgust:

“See? I told you he’d cause trouble. Someone who causes trouble once never stops at just once. They do it twice, three times, I’m telling you.”

Is he talking about me?

Eunseong was confused. The owner’s displeased tone and unpleasant gaze flew at him menacingly.

“Mr. Lee Doyun?”

“…Yes?”

“You are Lee Doyun, right?”

“Who… me?”

Even the policeman he was usually on friendly terms with had a cold, hostile look. He was holding some kind of paper. He looked down at the paper in his hand and then turned to Eunseong to confirm his face.

“Mr. Lee Doyun, right? A wanted thief.”

“Me?”

“This person is you, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know that person. My name is Seo Eunseong, not Lee Doyun.”

“When I asked for his ID, he said he lost it. He also asked for all his wages in cash, and here he even accused Dongjun of stealing ten million won from him.”

The owner, exasperated, rattled off to the police about what had happened.

“Eunseong, are you really Lee Doyun?”

“Who, who is that? It’s not me. Isn’t there some misunderstanding? I don’t even know such a person.”

Of all the things that could happen, this was truly unbelievable. The one who was truly exasperated and dumbfounded was not the owner, but Eunseong. He didn’t know anyone named Lee Doyun, and it was a name he had never heard before. Theft? Wanted? Eunseong was so flustered and confused that he even stammered.

“Whether it’s true or not, we can confirm at the police station.”

“I’m telling you it’s not me! I don’t even know who Lee Doyun is!”

“That’s why let’s go to the station together for now. We’ll talk in detail there.”

The whole world seemed to be oppressing him. Things were so messed up, it was hard to believe how it had come to this. A person he had never seen or heard of was impersonating him and was a wanted thief.

The policeman, who couldn’t believe Eunseong’s claims of innocence, pushed him into the police car, still double-checking Eunseong’s face against the wanted person’s photo. The fondness he had for Eunseong until now had turned into disgust, as if he had been betrayed.

“…I really don’t know who Lee Doyun is. It’s a name I’m hearing for the first time.”

Eunseong kept muttering the same words like someone in a daze. No one listened to him or believed him. It felt like his words were just echoing in empty space, not reaching anyone.

“I’ve heard people say they didn’t do it, but I’ve never heard anyone lie about not knowing their own name. Mr. Lee Doyun. Did you think you wouldn’t be found if you hid like this? Did you think you’d never be caught? The world is smaller than you think.”

The policeman was angry that he had been fooled all this time by Eunseong, who had been casually serving coffee and greeting people without knowing he was a wanted person. He was even more upset by Eunseong’s natural demeanor that had deceived him, a police officer.

“…Haa.”

Words weren’t getting through. Eunseong sighed and leaned his head back on the seat.

The police car carrying Eunseong departed. After about twenty minutes of driving, near the local police station, the officer called the detective in charge.

“We’ve apprehended Lee Doyun. Yes, we’re almost there, waiting to turn left at the intersection in front of the police station.”

It hit Eunseong with a shocking sense of reality that this wasn’t some show, but he had really been falsely accused, as they arrived at the police station. As if he was going crazy, Eunseong rubbed his face until his cheeks turned red.

“Aren’t we going inside? Can I hand him over here? Yes, ah, I understand. Yes.”

The officer ended the call. Eunseong grabbed the front seat urgently and said:

“Please let me make a phone call. Just one call.”

“We’re going to hand you over to the detective in charge right here, so tell him there.”

“I’ll just make one call. I’m really not that person. I don’t even know who Lee Doyun is. It’s not me!”

“Everyone says that. Everyone says it’s not them. It’s amazing how they all say the same thing.”

The officer turned to look at the shouting Eunseong with a chillingly cold gaze and responded indifferently.

The police car, having received the signal, turned left and entered the police station parking lot.

Someone was waiting for them. The officer got out first, greeted him, and reported the situation. With a nod, he pointed to the wanted person, Lee Doyun, sitting in the back seat. The police car was structured so that the doors couldn’t be opened from the inside unless opened from the outside.

A detective, looking tired from work, approached and opened the car door. He bent down to look inside and said to the trembling Eunseong:

“Get out.”

“Please let me make just one call. Or, contact CEO Yoo Siwoon of Seongha Momentum. He’s my fifth uncle. Let me call my uncle. I’m telling you, I didn’t do it! I don’t even know who Lee Doyun is! My identity has been stolen!”

As if things weren’t hard enough already, Eunseong had tried to escape from the comfortable protection of someone who said they would become human trash if they liked each other, trying to somehow survive on his own, and now this was happening. Eunseong was on the verge of anger. The injustice made his eyes hot with tears.

“Alright, just get out for now. I’ll let you make a call when we get to the jurisdiction station.”

The detective urged Eunseong to get out quickly with his hand while constantly looking around. Promised that he would be allowed to talk to Yoo Siwoon, Eunseong got out of the car and moved to the car the detective was pointing at.

The officer saluted the detective and glanced at Eunseong. As Eunseong got into the car, the detective thanked the officer for his hard work and got into the driver’s seat.

The detective looked at Eunseong, who couldn’t hide his nervousness and anxiety, through the rearview mirror. His gaze in the mirror carefully scanned Eunseong, who was unaware of being watched, as he sat awkwardly on the seat, biting his nails.

“Mr. Seo Eunseong?”

“Yes?”

“Want to fasten your seatbelt?”

“What? Oh, yes.”

Eunseong, caught off guard, sat back deeply in the seat and searched for the seatbelt, fastening it across his chest.

The car driven by the detective left the police station parking lot and merged with the traffic on the road. A line of vehicles with red taillights was crossing the city center.

Eunseong, who had been looking out the window with anxious and nervous eyes, suddenly seemed to realize something and stared at the back of the detective’s head with an ‘oh no’ expression.

“What is it?”

The sharp detective quickly sensed the gaze and met Eunseong’s eyes in the rearview mirror. Eunseong stared at his face for a moment and then shook his head.

“Nothing. But I’m really not Lee Doyun. I’m not that person.”

“We’ll find out everything when we get there.”

“…About the call you said I could make earlier. Can I do it now?”

“I don’t think you’re in a position to make such requests.”

“…”

“Let’s go quietly.”

Eunseong quietly stretched out his hand and fiddled with the buckle of the seatbelt. He lowered his gaze to look for the door handle. The detective’s modified car, like a police car, couldn’t be opened from the inside. There was no door handle at all.

How did he know my name?

The detective had called him Seo Eunseong earlier. If it was about the crimes of Lee Doyun who had stolen his identity, they shouldn’t have known about the existence of Seo Eunseong.

A chill ran down Eunseong’s spine. Although he didn’t know what was wrong, he instinctively felt that something was very wrong.

“Where are we going now?”

“Didn’t I say earlier that we’re going to the jurisdiction station?”

“…”

Since the officer had handed him over without any problems, this person must be a real detective. Eunseong swallowed dryly while fiddling with the buckle and asked:

“Where is the jurisdiction station?”

“The Serious Crime Squad.”

“Where is the Serious Crime Squad?”

“…Um, shall we just go quietly?”

At the polite tone that clearly meant ‘shut up,’ Eunseong closed his mouth. His throat kept getting dry. His heart was beating so fast that he breathed carefully, afraid the detective might hear it.

He couldn’t even open the window. Eunseong sat quietly, holding his breath. There was nothing that could be used as a weapon. He had once seen on TV how to escape from a submerged car. It involved removing the detachable headrest and using its sharp supports to break the window and escape.

Eunseong fiddled with the front seat, ready to detach the headrest if necessary. The detective just glanced at Eunseong doing this but didn’t stop him.