The Unbelievers

Chapter 73

Eunseong, who had run away and endured all sorts of hardships, suddenly burst into tears. Director Nam, startled, glanced at Yoo Siwoon’s face. Siwoon raised one eyebrow.

“He says he missed you the most.”

“That probably means he realized how essential a secretary is after running away, not that he literally missed me the most.”

Director Nam patted Eunseong’s crying shoulder, gently scolding him for leaving home. Siwoon took Eunseong’s hand. Eunseong stopped crying and turned to look at him.

Siwoon looked at his wristwatch and said to Director Nam:

“It’s quite late, you should go in. I’ll stay with him, so don’t worry.”

Though Director Nam had many questions for Eunseong about where he had been hiding, he simply bowed in response to Siwoon’s instruction. Eunseong, seemingly caught by Siwoon, said goodbye to Director Nam and started walking.

Only after they went inside did Director Nam exhale a deep, exhausted sigh.

The house felt unfamiliar to Eunseong after returning through two seasons. Still holding Eunseong’s hand, Siwoon loosened his tie, his face relaxing in the space he fully trusted. When Eunseong grasped his hand back, Siwoon met his gaze.

“Do you want to wash up?”

“…”

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

“I had your things brought back and arranged. You can use your room as before.”

“…Did you move out the apartment stuff because I’m going to England anyway?”

“Don’t you want to study abroad?”

“…”

Eunseong answered with silence that he didn’t want to go. His hesitant movements seemed to say that he really didn’t want to go if permission was granted. However, his bowed head also acknowledged his position that he would have to go if Siwoon told him to.

“Then don’t go.”

Surprised, Eunseong looked up. His eyes questioning this unexpected permission.

“If you don’t want to go, don’t.”

“Really? I don’t have to go?”

“That’s right. Don’t go.”

“But before… you said I had to go, like it was absolutely necessary…”

Eunseong was confused. If he didn’t leave for England, if he wasn’t separated and sent far away, Eunseong would continue to have improper feelings. Liking him was not allowed. The man in front of him was the one who had reminded him of this.

So Eunseong desperately wanted to know why he was saying this now. The words that he didn’t have to leave for a distant place sounded like it was okay to like him.

“If you disliked it enough to run away, you should have said something.”

“…You said not to make you into trash… What should I have done then?”

Siwoon watched as Eunseong’s eyes filled with tears. With reddening eyes, Eunseong stared at him endlessly.

“You said it wasn’t allowed. You said not to make you a bad person.”

“Go wash up. I had the bath filled. Wash and get some sleep. Let’s talk tomorrow.”

“…”

Siwoon let go of Eunseong’s hand. The hand that had been firmly held somewhere now floated awkwardly in the air. Siwoon turned away first and entered his own space, and Eunseong, watching his back, headed to his room.

His belongings from the penthouse had been neatly arranged as if he had been staying in this room until yesterday. The bag he had hidden in the subway station bathroom and asked Kim Dongjun to retrieve was also placed on the table.

Eunseong touched the bag briefly. A Minions keyring dangled from the zipper end.

He took off the clothes he had bought for a few thousand won at a secondhand shop and threw them in the trash before entering the bathroom.

As Siwoon had said, the large bathtub was filled with warm water. He took out a bath bomb, which was always stocked but rarely used, and threw it into the tub. Sky blue foam spread over the water like a whirlpool. A sweet soap scent filled the air.

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

Exhaling like an old man with sore ribs, he submerged his entire body in the tub. A sweet and hot sensation penetrated his whole body.

“Ahh… this feels good.”

Unable to even think of a public bathhouse, it felt like ages since he had bathed like this. The penthouse did have a great view. Beyond the window where the bathtub was placed, the opposite side of the city spread out like a panorama.

The dissolving bath bomb mixed like sky blue and purple watercolors. He splashed water, rubbing his arms and face. The fatigue that had accumulated melted away as if dissolving in the hot water.

Brushing back his wet hair, Eunseong rested his chin on the tub and blinked blankly, recalling Siwoon turning away earlier.

He also remembered Siwoon’s fist clenching tightly when he saw Eunseong get out of the car. The cross standing out over his veins and tendons showed its contours as if about to pop out, and the wolf shape on his neck writhed along with it.

His handsome face had become gaunt. His under-eyes were dark as if he hadn’t slept, and there were blue beard marks below his chin and nose. He looked tired, as if he had been suffering from something for a long time. And he hugged Eunseong tightly, really tightly. So strongly it was almost suffocating.

The sensation of burying his face in Siwoon’s chest and hugging his waist back, which was amply encircled by his arms, was still vivid. Siwoon’s rapidly beating pulse seemed to be thanking that Eunseong was alive.

He scooped up the purple and sky blue mixed water with both hands and thoroughly wet his face.

Siwoon had mumbled something small while hugging him, but Eunseong couldn’t hear it because he burst into tears.

Did he say… “Found you”? It was three syllables.

Found you.

“Found you…”

His heart swelled. Maybe it was because he was soaking in hot water, but heat rushed to his cheeks too. When he moved his buttocks resting on the bottom of the tub, the skin lesion that had formed below his perineum reacted more sensitively than his dick.

Eunseong’s hand slid between his legs as he sat leaning against the tub. With only his nose above water, Eunseong gently rubbed below. His eyebrows twitched and his eyes flinched.

He didn’t know because he had never been hugged so tightly before. He didn’t know his chest was so broad, or that it was so firm. Before, it was all just delusions and Eunseong’s imagination.

The physical sensation of having hugged him once made Eunseong’s body hot. The skin lesion extending to the embarrassing area rose slightly like sexual sensation. His lower part twitched as if someone else was touching it.

“…Ah, really. Really… I really hate this.”

He hated himself for masturbating over his uncle, and he hated his body for getting so excited just from being hugged once. Soon, even Eunseong’s dick stood up stiffly in the water.

Every small movement of his body created ripples that stimulated his sensitive areas. Touching the sensations protruding like veins over his skin brought Eunseong to climax faster than touching his dick. He remembered the feeling of the firm chest where he had buried his face and rubbed his cheek, and the grip strength that had suddenly hugged his back.

“Hnn… nngh, mmh…”

His lips tingled. Eunseong rubbed his lips with the back of his hand until the flesh of his lips was grazed, then tilted his head back and ejaculated.

“Haa… haa, ah…”

His hair was soaked. Eunseong, who had submerged completely before raising his head, caught his rapid breathing. A sweet scent emanated from his entire body. He stuck out his tongue and lightly licked the surface of his wet arm. Not just the smell, but the taste was sweet too.

After finishing a long, leisurely bath without worrying about anyone, he came out and put on pajamas. Not secondhand clothes worn by others, but all brand new that no one had touched.

Drying his wet hair with a towel, he sat on the bed with soft, thick bedding spread out. The seating sensation itself was different from the cheap springs that had sunk deeply. It supported Eunseong’s weight softly but stably.

Eunseong, who had been looking around his room quietly as if it were someone else’s while removing moisture from his hair, got up without lying down to sleep.

Even though he had returned to his room, he still couldn’t quite believe it and wanted to confirm with Siwoon. He felt that if he drank coffee that Siwoon poured for him, it would make his return here feel real.

He headed to Siwoon’s room and knocked softly, but there was no response from inside. He pushed open the slightly opened door further and entered, looking for signs of Siwoon.

Hearing a sound from inside the dressing room, Eunseong was drawn there and stopped abruptly upon discovering him standing naked in the dim space with no lights on.

The muscular body, wet with moisture, turned towards Eunseong and he also flinched. The man’s lower body was buried in darkness, but the thickly grown body hair and the volume of his hanging dick were eerily clear. It looked like it would feel heavy if held in hand.

“…”

“…”

The wolf he had longed to see so much was draped over his arm onto his shoulder, and though just a shape, it was engraved on his neck like a living creature.

The wolf somewhat resembled him. It was rough and wild. The cross on the back of his hand soon overlapped with the gun muzzle on his wrist, covering his entire arm. It was a shape Eunseong couldn’t have imagined when it was covered by clothes.