The Unbelievers

Chapter 97

He had lived thinking rationally and considered himself a reasonable person. Despite what his family said, he believed in nothing and rather mocked them. He regarded Chairman Yoo and the Council of Elders’ blindness as irrational and harbored ambitions to eliminate them and take the group for himself—he was a nonbeliever.

Yet this same man betrayed Kwon Junho and nailed Yoo Oseon alive. He pushed Master Manpo into the dark blue sea.

Zafarmshal—the fate that kills others and oneself, leading to destruction.

Yoo Siwoon kept contemplating the being asleep beyond the window. The honey-sweet lips, the lily-fair eyes were real. No longer a lie. A living miracle and proof of faith. It was real after all.

Yeosinyeosiseongui (汝信如是成矣)

“As you believe, so shall it be.”

Eyes that sincerely believed in and acknowledged “the Great Gap” reflected in the window, quietly gleaming.

∞ ∞ ∞

Eunseong smiled at the sight beyond the window as soon as he opened his eyes. He usually closed the curtains at night because the dark outside was scary and eerie, as if something might jump out, but he hadn’t drawn them these past few days since the snowfall made it not so dark outside. At night, the accumulated snow created a beautiful silver landscape reflecting the soft moonlight.

As he took a refreshing breath, the familiar scent of coffee wafted strongly. Eunseong got up, rubbing the corners of his still drowsy eyes with the back of his hand. He found it fascinating and pleasant how this man revealed his presence through scent.

After washing his face and changing clothes, he looked at his neck in the mirror. The bruise from the kiss mark Yoo Siwoon had left on his neck last night had darkened.

“…”

Yoo Siwoon wasn’t himself last night. He wasn’t the type to be so explicit as to do something like this. Rather, he would stiffen and just avoid Eunseong when they were together. Director Nam had called him a piece of a Buddha statue. Telling Eunseong not to expect anything in that regard. That he would never get what he wanted.

It wasn’t quite that extreme, but it was true that he was definitely not someone who would do such things. Yet Yoo Siwoon had boldly left this kiss mark, which Eunseong touched before finding a bandage to cover it.

If Yoo Siwoon saw it, he would be troubled by what he did last night, and if Director Nam saw it, all hell would break loose. It was a mark that didn’t look ordinary even to the inexperienced Eunseong, not to mention it would be awkward to claim it was a mosquito or insect bite in this season.

After covering the mark, Eunseong went to the living room. The path to the dining room felt especially long today.

Yoo Siwoon was brewing coffee. However, he wasn’t dressed in his usual office attire but was comfortably wearing loungewear. His all-black outfit really suited his appearance.

“Huh?”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Aren’t you going to work? Today’s a weekday… You even went to the office on weekends to avoid meeting me.”

Eunseong asked as he sat down. A glass of milk and neatly sliced apple pieces were placed at his usual spot, waiting for him. Eunseong picked up an apple piece first.

“I’m planning to rest for a while.”

“Why so suddenly?”

“I have a headache.”

“Are you sick?”

Eunseong, about to eat the apple, half-rose from his seat. Yoo Siwoon gestured that he was fine as Eunseong approached, and continued pouring the coffee into cups.

“I’m not feeling well. I’ll be fine after resting for a few days.”

“Shouldn’t you go to the hospital?”

“It’s not that serious.”

As he took a sip of coffee, his handsome face did look pale and gaunt now that Eunseong noticed. Perhaps because of this, he looked even more melancholy, like someone with a sad past.

Eunseong worriedly examined his sensitive complexion. With his unkempt hair covering his forehead, Yoo Siwoon looked much younger than his age. His image and tension changed depending on whether his hair was up or down.

“What kind of medicine is that?”

Now that he looked, there was another cup beside Yoo Siwoon’s coffee. Green tea with blue leaves floating on top. It wasn’t the green tea Eunseong was used to seeing.

“…Yes. It’s medicine. They say it’s better to take it this way.”

“Ah, I see. You must really not be feeling well.”

“I’m not.”

He had been strange since last night, and still was this morning. If he were his usual self, even if he wasn’t feeling well, he wouldn’t have admitted it straightforwardly. Not wanting to cause Eunseong unnecessary worry, he was the type who would endure even if stabbed with a knife, rather than openly advertising that he was in pain. At least, that was the Yoo Siwoon Eunseong knew.

While eating the apple, Eunseong looked at him suspiciously.

Yoo Siwoon was just staring at the green tea he called medicine without touching it. He seemed to be debating whether to drink it or not. With a slight frown, as if the taste was fishy and bitter, he just kept staring at it, causing Eunseong’s face to wrinkle in sympathy.

“Aren’t you going to drink it? Does it taste bad?”

“One doesn’t take medicine for its taste.”

“…But that medicine smells like alcohol. I’ve smelled that kind of alcohol before.”

“Really? It’s just a herbal smell.”

He replied as he lifted the cup with the blue leaves swirling and smelled it. Eunseong suddenly felt a tightness in his chest and shortness of breath. He expanded his chest as if taking a deep breath, inhaled, and then slowly exhaled. This spacious room suddenly felt cramped.

“Want to smell it?”

“What?”

“Smell it. See if it smells like alcohol or not.”

“…No thanks. I don’t think it’s a smell I like.”

Rubbing his constricted chest, Eunseong declined his offer. Yoo Siwoon, who had been watching Eunseong quietly, turned his gaze and picked up his coffee cup.

“So what are you going to do today, ahjussi?”

“I’ll be staying home.”

“Do you want to go running with me later? My body feels stiff since I haven’t exercised lately. Ah… I think the ventilation isn’t good in here. It’s strange. Why is it like this?”

Eunseong, who had been making casual conversation, frowned as if trapped in an unpleasant smell. He said he needed to ventilate and staggered slightly as he got up. Yoo Siwoon neither supported Eunseong nor opened the window for ventilation, but calmly drank his coffee while watching Eunseong sway.

“I slept well… went to bed early yesterday…”

Thinking the reason for his staggering was lack of sleep, as if he had low blood pressure, Eunseong held onto the table for support. With unsteady steps, he finally opened the window and drove out the fishy smell that filled the dining room. The cold wind rushed toward Yoo Siwoon’s face.

“Haah… the winter smell is so nice. What season do you like, ahjussi?”

As the stagnant smell somewhat disappeared, Eunseong’s complexion immediately brightened. After taking a sip of coffee and putting it down, Yoo Siwoon thought for a moment and answered spring.

“I like autumn. Summer is too hot, winter is too cold, and spring is too short. I like autumn the best.”

Eunseong, who said he liked autumn, opened the window wide and inhaled the chilly wind, with his upper body almost outside.

“You’ll catch a cold.”

At Yoo Siwoon’s remark, Eunseong said “Ah” and quickly closed the window. He had said his condition wasn’t good. He must have been coming down with a cold. As the window closed, a prominent silence began to pervade the surroundings.

When Yoo Siwoon put down his coffee cup with a clack, only the sound of clear glass hitting rang out.

“There’s a branch office in New York.”

Returning to his seat, Eunseong looked at him while holding his cup of milk. Perhaps because of the cold air, his complexion looked even more wan. It was an unfamiliar sight to see a person with a healthy build looking so pale and ill. Eunseong was fixated on Yoo Siwoon, not so much out of pity but with a sense of curiosity.

“New York is where your school was, right?”

“Yes, there.”

“And?”

“If you’re coming with me… would you like to study abroad?”

“…”

“If you don’t want to go alone, I’ll be doing the same work there anyway. And I’d like to take a break for a year or two.”

“I’ll go.”

Eunseong answered promptly without thinking twice. There was no reason not to go if it meant going with Yoo Siwoon. Rather, Eunseong wanted to go quickly if it meant going with him. For whatever reason, since returning home, he had been living in what was called protection but was little different from confinement, and he hadn’t been outside since the day he splurged on cards with Director Nam. Even when walking in the garden, security guards always watched.

Contacting Choi Jung-eon was also impossible. Director Nam initially used college entrance exams as an excuse, but now subtly blocked communication between Choi Jung-eon and Eunseong, saying it would only make parting more painful since he was going to study abroad anyway.

“…Will you come with me?”

“Yes, I’ll go with you. If it’s with you, I want to go together. I want to go with you.”

“…Alright. New York has a really beautiful autumn too.”

Despite Eunseong’s excited appearance, eager to go right away, Yoo Siwoon murmured coldly with eyes showing no reaction. Rather than thinking it was good, he seemed to be painfully accepting Eunseong’s agreement.

“Isn’t Director Nam coming today?”

“I told him not to come. He needs to handle company matters in my place.”

Yoo Siwoon put down his coffee cup and approached Eunseong. The innocent Eunseong met his eyes naively. Standing behind Eunseong, Yoo Siwoon reached for the neck wound he had made last night. He tore off the bandage Eunseong had put on.