The Unbelievers

Chapter 11

Eunseong replied cheekily to the man who was looking at him intently, resting his chin on his arm leaning against the car window.

“Ah, right. That’s sensible.”

The ahjussi named Siwoon nodded once, as if finally understanding.

When Eunseong ignored him and started walking again, the car began to move too. Two black sedans following slowly, matching his pace, irritated Eunseong’s nerves as he tried to ignore them.

Eunseong planned to escape into a narrow alley where cars couldn’t enter when he reached a fork in the road. He thought he could stay at his workplace for a few days if he explained the situation, and after that, he could find a job that provided room and board.

When a side street barely wide enough for a motorcycle appeared, he quickly turned. The pursuing cars soon stopped. As he looked back, mocking ahjussi as if daring him to follow, he saw the man getting out of the car and walking towards him. Eunseong, who hadn’t expected this, turned his gaze forward in confusion.

The man caught up with Eunseong in just a few strides.

“It seems your father didn’t explain properly earlier.”

“What? That your family is crazy?”

“Did he say we’re a crazy family?”

“He said you’re not in your right mind. I don’t know exactly how you’re not in your right mind, though.”

“We’re not in our right mind, that’s true. But didn’t he tell you that I’m the one who will protect you there?”

The main road was just a little further ahead. From there, he could take a bus directly to his workplace.

Eunseong stopped walking and turned towards him, telling him not to follow. The man, who had been walking with his hands in his suit pockets like a bored office worker, also stopped in front of Eunseong.

“He didn’t say that. He just said your family is crazy and not in their right mind. And he’s telling me to go live in that house that’s not in its right mind. What do you think I should do? Please answer sensibly.”

“…Hmm.”

He just looked thoughtful and didn’t answer Eunseong’s question. Seeing his inability to respond promptly, Eunseong became even more agitated, as if to say ‘See?’

“I’ve done a lot of part-time jobs, so I’m not naive about the world. In fact, I’m often called cunning. Don’t underestimate me.”

“I’m not underestimating you. You don’t seem that way either.”

He didn’t seem annoyed or displeased with Eunseong’s disobedience. He didn’t particularly consider Eunseong’s brazen behavior as disrespectful. It was as if Eunseong’s personality didn’t matter to him.

“You understand what I mean, right? There’s no need for a distant relative to take responsibility for my life, so don’t feel burdened and go on your way.”

“That’s a bit difficult.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do. I’m not interested in your family, and I have zero interest in being some kind of heir. I heard something about male heirs being precious. What era do you think this is, taking someone’s son because you don’t have one? You don’t need to protect me or anything, I can take care of myself just fine. Okay?”

“Then why did you leave home?”

“I was planning to leave anyway. It just happened earlier than expected. How can I continue living with a father who tells me to follow someone I’ve never met before?”

“…”

Eunseong retorted sharply that he would abandon such a father first. There was no particular emotion on ahjussi’s face. No annoyance at having to persuade a child, no curiosity or expectation towards someone who could potentially become the family heir.

Rather, he was businesslike, as if handling a task, and his expression was impassive. Only an intensely inorganic sense of responsibility, as if carrying out a mission, was visible.

He took his left arm out of his pocket to check the watch on his wrist. There were tattoos on both the back of his left and right hands, and while they had seemed mysterious at first, perfectly matching his appearance, now they just felt creepy and scary like a gangster’s tattoos.

“As you said, male heirs are precious in our family. Especially boys like you… very, very precious. More than words can express.”

He seemed very bitter about this fact.

“So what?”

“It means there are quite a few people who want you. They’re looking for you even now. Ah, I’m not sure if your father mentioned this, but your surname isn’t Seo, it’s Yoo.”

“…”

“Your name isn’t Seo Eunseong, it’s Yoo Eunseong. Though you’ll have to go by Seo Eunseong for a while.”

This meant the man’s name was Yoo Siwoon.

The more Yoo Siwoon explained, the less Eunseong understood why his father had run away from the family, even changing their surname, and the more he didn’t want to go to such a family.

“Now that I’ve found you, the family will find you soon too. It’s just a matter of time now, and you might be forcibly taken away. If you’re taken by them, you’ll end up doing things you don’t want to do.”

“So what? How is your side any different from theirs?”

“…So it’s better for you to come with me than with those people.”

“Is it really better?”

“…”

“I’m asking if it’s really better.”

His eyes finally changed their gaze and looked at Eunseong. It wasn’t annoyance or the boring sense of responsibility for a assigned task. He was contemplating Eunseong’s question for a long time. Seeing his inability to answer hastily, Eunseong glared at him sharply.

“Seems like your side isn’t any better than theirs.”

“…It is better. I promise that.”

“Forget it. I’ll take care of myself. I’m almost twenty. I’m practically an adult.”

“…”

“I’m not stupid enough to follow someone I don’t even know. I’ve been working part-time jobs for years.”

“…Right, you’ll be twenty next year.”

His passionate arguments seemed to fall on deaf ears. Only Eunseong’s age, soon to be twenty, seemed to remind Yoo Siwoon of something, drawing a bitter smile on his lips. Emotions could be read in the subtle but clear distortion – it was responsibility again, that someone had to bear and handle this.

“Then let’s each go our own way. Goodbye.”

As Eunseong was about to turn around after telling him to keep working hard at whatever he was doing, Yoo Siwoon grabbed the top of Eunseong’s bag. The weight that had been heavily pressing down on his shoulders suddenly disappeared, and his body was lifted along with it. Eunseong stood on his tiptoes and looked up at Yoo Siwoon.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m sorry for suddenly involving you in this. But we don’t have much time right now. Director Nam will explain the details to you.”

Eunseong couldn’t even struggle. His bag and body were lifted simultaneously like a package in Yoo Siwoon’s hand. Rather than dragging a person, he lifted Eunseong as if carrying dirty trash at arm’s length and took him to the car.

“What is this? Let go! Don’t touch my bag! Let go of me! I said let go!”

His legs dangled in the air as he struggled. It was an overwhelming force incomparable to Choi Jung-eon’s grip that wouldn’t let him go. As he was lifted and moved so easily that it seemed unbelievable, Eunseong tried to take off his bag, but the car door opened and his subordinates joined in, quickly loading Eunseong into the back seat.

Yoo Siwoon also went around the car and got in next to him.

“Let’s depart now.”

“What are you doing! I’m going to report this to the police! I’m going to report all of you to the police!”

Eunseong roughly shook his body, venting his anger on the bag that had been so unsightly grabbed by him, and took out his phone. The driver looked at Eunseong, who was breathing heavily and trying to dial 112, through the rearview mirror. Before Eunseong could finish dialing the number, Yoo Siwoon took the phone away.

“Being qualified as the heir to the Seongha Group means being able to control numerous vested interests.”

“Give me back my phone!”

“There will be many people who want you, and none of them will be as gentlemanly as I am.”

A faint irritation tinged Yoo Siwoon’s voice, which had only shown emotionless responsibility before. His eyebrows were subtly but unpleasantly distorted. The wolf-shaped tattoo on his nape seemed to frown along with him.

“Shi…”

“Do you want to be dragged away like a dog?”

“…”

“You’re not old enough to go through such things, and there’s no need for you to experience them either.”

“…”

Though he didn’t say much, Eunseong’s heart sank.

The eyes that had been staring intently at Eunseong now glanced at him as if to say ‘Shall we go quietly now?’ and turned away, handing back the phone obediently. Eunseong turned on the screen again, breathing heavily, intending to call the police. The hand about to dial the numbers stopped in mid-air.

Like a dog, he said he’d be dragged away, that there was no need to go through such things, unnecessarily.

Eunseong, who had only worked part-time jobs for a few years, was quick to catch on. It was an undoubted threat. It meant that if he didn’t listen further, he might lose a limb. The man before him seemed like someone who could do such things without blinking an eye. He was pretending to be polite, kind, and gentlemanly on the surface, but it was clear he was holding back with great patience.

Judging from his father, who had run away even changing their surname, it was obvious that whatever this man would do if his patience ran out would be far more terrible and cruel than Eunseong could imagine.

“…”

Calming his heavy breathing, Eunseong put away his phone. He took off the bag he had been carrying on his back and brought it to his front. He hugged the bag tightly with both arms as if it was the only thing he could rely on.

He could feel Yoo Siwoon’s gaze looking at him in this state, but he didn’t lift his face from the bag. Yoo Siwoon didn’t comfort him or say any more soothing words, he just kept quiet.

The car, with four people inside, soon fell silent.