The Unbelievers

Chapter 28

Jung-eon’s eyes were bloodshot as he questioned whether it was all a lie that Eunseong had disappeared and wasn’t living in his right mind.

“Did you come all the way here to torment me?”

“Of course.”

“…Thank you.”

“What?”

“Thank you. For coming after me, at least.”

Whether Jung-eon had come to torment him or beat him, if Eunseong hadn’t met him today, he would have been caught by Director Nam after wandering aimlessly since leaving the school gates, not knowing where to go or who to turn to. He had left home impulsively without any plan. It didn’t matter where he went. As long as Siwoon wasn’t there. As long as it was a place where he couldn’t see Siwoon again.

“Don’t try to charm me. I was seriously going crazy with anger for a whole month.”

Jung-eon replied gruffly, scratching his head as if embarrassed. Eunseong stared at him blankly before turning his gaze to his bag.

“Are you in contact with your dad?”

“No… not since that day. The number doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Where are you going to go? It’s not like you can find a job with room and board right away. What can a high school student do in a uniform?”

“…You’re right. I should buy some clothes first.”

Jung-eon had a point. Wandering the streets in a school uniform would be conspicuous no matter where he went. Eunseong looked down at his brightly colored uniform and muttered weakly.

“Don’t do that. Let’s go to my house. For now.”

When Eunseong looked at him, Jung-eon spoke with his head deliberately stiff, facing forward.

“That won’t work. It could cause trouble for your family. Who knows what those people might do. You just said it yourself. They’re not ordinary people. Not to be taken lightly.”

Hiding at Jung-eon’s house wouldn’t simply solve the problem. It could also cause trouble for his parents.

“Think about it. Have we been in contact at all? How would those bastards know you’re with me?”

“Still…”

“There’s no logical way for them to find out, right? Even the National Intelligence Service would have a hard time with that.”

“…”

As Jung-eon said, Eunseong hadn’t been in contact with him since moving, nor had he mentioned Jung-eon’s existence to Siwoon or Director Nam. Of course, on the first day he went to Siwoon’s house, when asked if Jung-eon was a friend, Eunseong had tattled that he was a bully, but Siwoon probably didn’t even remember that by now.

Even if Siwoon were to investigate all of Eunseong’s former classmates, Jung-eon wasn’t in the same class, and even if he remembered, Jung-eon was unlikely to be a suspect since he was a bully. After entering high school, Jung-eon would have been the first person Eunseong would have cut ties with and never wanted to see again, having been constantly bullied.

“Stay at our house for a while. I’ll explain it well to my mom and dad.”

“Be realistic. If your parents find out, they’ll try to contact my dad right away. Since my dad can’t be reached, they might even report it to the police.”

“I told you I’ll take care of explaining. Don’t worry about it. My mom’s on vacation today and tomorrow, but don’t worry about that either.”

“…”

Jung-eon retorted harshly, telling Eunseong not to argue with him. It wasn’t that Eunseong was pretending to agree; he did have some desire to rely on Jung-eon for a while. He hadn’t left with any plan. It had been an impulsive action.

At first, Eunseong had been wary of trusting his uncle, determined to leave at the first sign of anything strange. Not knowing when he might need it, he had been carefully selling off the things Siwoon gave him.

But from some point, his suspicions that Siwoon might be trying to use him, and his feelings, began to erode and fade like wind-worn stone. Later, he found himself wanting to settle into the shelter of that person he shouldn’t give his heart to, into his arms.

Eunseong began to want physical contact with the man who wouldn’t even come close to him. He wanted to kiss the lips of the one who avoided him as if touching would make him sick. He dreamed of him while sleeping, made him the object of sexual desire, and reached climax.

He hugged his bag and buried his face in it despairingly. Eunseong asked in a tired voice:

“How much further do we have to go?”

“Twenty-four more stops.”

“Okay…”

As he anxiously hugged his bag, he felt a weight settle on his shoulder. When he slightly raised his face, his eyes met Jung-eon’s, who had put his arm around Eunseong’s shoulders.

“I’m fucking exhausted from chasing you around since morning to catch you. Let me sleep a bit.”

With that, he leaned his arm and face fully on Eunseong’s shoulder. The sudden weight of half his body made Eunseong tilt. Jung-eon’s face came very close to Eunseong’s neck and ear. His skin tingled at the inhaled breath smelling him.

“…Don’t I smell?”

“What?”

“I’m asking if I don’t smell to you.”

“What smell?”

“Just… a bad smell.”

“You don’t smell like that at all.”

Jung-eon noisily sniffed, burying his nose in Eunseong’s neck and smelling him like a dog. An elderly woman sitting across from them smiled, thinking they were just playing around.

“My dad used to tell me often… that I was dirty. Lately, I sometimes think I might really be dirty.”

“What kind of father is that? Is that something you say to your son? Even if you did smell, which you don’t. Fuck, how many times do I have to say it? You don’t smell at all, or rather, you smell good. Even though you were sweating from running earlier, you smell good. Don’t do this in public. I’m not that crazy.”

Jung-eon, who had jumped up excitedly and started shouting, soon lowered his head back to Eunseong’s neck and muttered quietly.

“…Don’t you dislike it?”

“What?”

“Nothing, never mind.”

Guys doing this… don’t you dislike it?

Though he couldn’t bring himself to ask, Jung-eon seemed to understand what Eunseong was trying to say. As if to emphatically deny it, he kept pretending to sleep while inhaling Eunseong’s scent with his nose pressed against him. His arm around Eunseong’s shoulder tightened its grip, soon grasping Eunseong’s forearm firmly.

Guys should dislike doing this with each other…

Especially with an uncle who’s a relative…

Eunseong was thinking of Siwoon instead of Jung-eon, who was sitting closely next to him with his arm around Eunseong’s shoulder, smelling him.

Eunseong and Jung-eon got off the subway and transferred to a local bus. They paid the fare only in cash. Jung-eon seemed to have noticed that there was money in the bag, but he didn’t try to take it like he would have in the past. For Eunseong, the money in the bag was as good as his life now.

They headed to the apartment where Jung-eon lived. In the elevator, Eunseong bit his lip nervously. It was clearly a runaway situation to anyone who saw it. No matter what legitimate reason was given, any sensible parent would naturally contact Eunseong’s guardian first.

Jung-eon abruptly told Eunseong the door lock password and told him to memorize it. When Eunseong entered the numbers Jung-eon had given, the lock opened. Jung-eon opened the front door and went in first. Eunseong followed him hesitantly.

“I’m home from school.”

Jung-eon, who acted like a model student at home despite being a bully at school, greeted in a casual voice that gave no hint he had rushed to Seoul right after the test with information secretly obtained from the teacher’s office to look for someone.

“Jung-eon, you’re home now? The test should have ended early, why are you so late?”

The ordinary three-bedroom apartment was neatly organized. Jung-eon’s mother, dressed comfortably, came out of the master bedroom and paused when she saw Jung-eon and Eunseong standing next to him. Eunseong bowed his head in greeting.

“Hello.”

“Oh, Jung-eon’s friend came. Are you going to study together?”

“Yeah, ah, I’m hungry. Go wait in my room. It’s that room over there.”

Jung-eon pointed to the door visible from the entrance. Eunseong nodded to Jung-eon’s mother again and went into the room.

Jung-eon’s room was messy, typical of a boy his age. Clothes were carelessly thrown on the floor like shed skin, and the bed was a jumble of blankets mixed with leftover snack wrappers.

Eunseong sat on the edge of the bed. At least the desk showed clear signs of studying.

After some muffled conversation outside, the door opened and Jung-eon came in. Seeing the state of his room, he suddenly realized and started cleaning up the scattered items.

“Ah, shit, that scared me.”

He noticed the existence of underwear stuffed under the bed because of his own cursing. He hastily gathered up the crumpled laundry, rushed out, and came back with a vacuum cleaner, quickly cleaning up the trash on the bed. While Jung-eon was cleaning, Eunseong stood in the corner, still wearing his bag.

After opening the window for ventilation and finishing a rough cleanup of the room, Jung-eon finally stopped his frantic movements.

“…What did you tell your mom? About me.”

“I told her the truth. That your father ran away after racking up gambling debts, and loan sharks are chasing you. That you have nowhere to go, so we need to let you stay at our house for a few days. I said I’m the kind of friend who has that loyalty.”

“Didn’t she say she’d report it to the police?”