The Unbelievers

Chapter 3

Someone sat down next to Eunseong, whose tired body was slumped over, making a clattering noise. They immediately wrapped their arms around Eunseong’s back. Eunseong twisted his upper body to try to break free from the arms holding him.

“What, you don’t like your big brother hugging you? Why not? I’m feeling good about it.”

“Haa, let go.”

“I get more turned on when our Eunseong makes that frowning face. Eunseong, someone said they saw you at Seongundong?”

“…”

“Wow, shit. How can Mija work at a bar? But I heard you got beaten up badly there too? See, I was right, wasn’t I? Look, his face is swollen. I don’t know if he got beaten by his dad or if it was from yesterday.”

Choi Jung-eon, who was tightly hugging Eunseong with both arms, said with a grin. He was watching Eunseong’s annoyed reaction. Although Jung-eon and his gang from another class were causing trouble in Eunseong’s classroom, no one intervened. Everyone pretended not to notice and focused on their studies with their heads down at their desks.

“Eunseong, want me to tell you something interesting?”

“Don’t. It’s already not funny.”

Eunseong said with disgust. Even though Eunseong was frowning at him, Jung-eon didn’t care. No matter what kind of scolding or unpleasant words Eunseong used, Jung-eon was an unshakeable weirdo.

Before settling here, Eunseong had moved frequently, so he never had time to make close friends. But he became friends with Jung-eon right from the start. However, at some point, he became aware of how different their living situations were, and since last year, a natural distance had formed between them. Jung-eon’s parents were affectionate, and both worked at banks, making them the wealthiest family in the area. It was very different from Eunseong, who had already experienced hardship at a young age.

“Don’t be like that, just listen. I’ll tell you something really interesting.”

“Go back to your own class! Can’t you see everyone’s studying?”

Eunseong snapped angrily, but Jung-eon just kept grinning, unbothered.

“Even if they study to death, they can’t beat me, and they know it.”

“Let go, it’s almost time for roll call. This… let go, let go.”

Jung-eon wouldn’t release Eunseong. Even when Eunseong twisted his upper body and tried to pry off the arms holding him tightly one by one, Jung-eon clung to him like a leech, literally hugging Eunseong tightly.

Eunseong, who had been struggling to shake him off, let out an exhausted sigh and gave up, relaxing his upper body. As if he had been waiting for this, Jung-eon lifted Eunseong and sat him between his legs.

Jung-eon’s gang snickered at the sight of them. When one of them reached out to touch Eunseong’s disheveled hair, Jung-eon sharply slapped the hand away.

“Hey, you bastard. Where do you think you’re touching?”

“No, I just… because you said he got hit. I wanted to see if he really got hit. Sorry, I’m sorry.”

When Jung-eon reacted sharply with fierce eyes, the guy quickly backed off and apologized.

“Shit, Choi Jung-eon! I told you not to do this, really.”

Eunseong repeatedly elbowed Jung-eon in the solar plexus. Jung-eon’s minions looked at him with surprised eyes. Eunseong was the only one who treated Jung-eon carelessly in this school. However, it was impossible for Eunseong, who was so tired he could fall asleep right there, to physically shake off Jung-eon, who had grown to the size of an adult man in both height and body.

“Hey, what’s going on there? What are you doing?”

The homeroom teacher entered through the front door. Jung-eon let go of Eunseong when he saw the teacher. As he stood up, he put his lips close to Eunseong’s ear and hissed.

“Crawl to the gym at lunchtime. Try to run away again. I won’t let it slide next time.”

“Do whatever you want, you bastard.”

After making a crude threat that wouldn’t work, Jung-eon quickly licked around Eunseong’s cheek like a snake’s tongue.

“Shit! I told you not to do that!”

Eunseong cursed at him, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand in disgust. Jung-eon, whose voice had been grating on Eunseong, quickly changed to a cheerful student and greeted the teacher.

“Got it, Eunseong? See you later. Hello, teacher. I had something to tell Eunseong. Well then, take care!”

The skin where his tongue had touched felt clammy. Eunseong punched his shoulder.

After being hit once, Jung-eon smiled slyly as if nothing had happened, greeted the homeroom teacher, and disappeared. The teacher, who had been looking at Jung-eon’s group leaving with a suspicious gaze, looked at Eunseong for a moment before returning to the indifferent face typical of adults who don’t want to get involved in troublesome matters.

“Alright, don’t be disorderly. Keep to your class schedules and be in your seats before the bell rings. You’re preparing well for the mock exam, right? Anyone whose grades drop this time will have individual counseling, so keep that in mind. Who still hasn’t gotten their act together?”

The homeroom teacher started the routine roll call. Eunseong let out a tired sigh inwardly.

He understood that Jung-eon might feel hurt by his sudden distancing since they had been quite close since middle school, but as time passed, Jung-eon was clinging to him like a leech, making Eunseong’s already difficult life even harder.

It wasn’t that Eunseong disliked Jung-eon, but seeing him made Eunseong uncomfortable. Jung-eon’s parents provided him with unlimited support. His phone was always the latest model, and if he wanted expensive items, they readily gave them to him. He was the only one around Eunseong who had separate iPads for online lectures, YouTube, and gaming.

They didn’t just support him materially; they also gave him love. Although he was stronger than his peers and did as he pleased without considering others, Jung-eon had grown up loved and without any bitterness.

For various reasons that constantly reminded Eunseong of the reality that he had no mother and his father was a practically non-existent presence, Eunseong didn’t want to hang out with Jung-eon.

He wondered why Jung-eon was interested in him, who just slept with his head down, when he could just play with his own friends.

Jung-eon’s persistent attempts to close the gap between them were child’s play compared to the violence his drunken father inflicted, but it was making Eunseong increasingly tired. Moreover, Jung-eon’s growing roughness and manner of speaking as he hung out with unsavory characters also bothered Eunseong.

Eunseong had been beaten so much since childhood that he had quite a high pain tolerance. He knew well which parts hurt more when hit and which parts hurt less. Also, having already learned how to deal with such human types through his father, dealing with Jung-eon wasn’t as difficult as dealing with his father.

Whether Jung-eon tormented or hated him, he was still an outsider. Jung-eon’s actions weren’t as painful as the violence inflicted by his own blood.

But lately, his behavior wasn’t like before. Instead of just bullying, he kept touching, hugging, and sitting Eunseong between his legs, acting as if he was harassing him, which made Eunseong feel uncomfortable.

Eunseong lowered his head, letting the homeroom teacher’s words go in one ear and out the other. He rested his chin on one hand and closed his eyes.

No teacher liked students sleeping openly. He skillfully propped his chin with one arm and held the elbow of that arm with his other hand. Eunseong started dozing off in a stable position where the support for his heavy head wouldn’t wobble.

After eating lunch in the cafeteria, Eunseong trudged to the gym. While everywhere else in the school was noisy during lunchtime, the gym was an exception. In the gym, where the lonely sound of a basketball bouncing echoed loudly, Jung-eon was lying on the floor looking at something on his phone, while his group was playing with the ball.

Jung-eon, spotting Eunseong, sat up and beckoned him to come over. Eunseong approached with a weary sigh.

“You’re here now? I was about to go look for you if you didn’t show up in five more minutes.”

Talking nonsense about how fortunate it was that Eunseong came before that, Jung-eon patted the floor next to him, indicating for Eunseong to sit. Eunseong, tired even just from breathing and living, sat down where he pointed without making any unpleasant remarks.

“What is it this time?”

“What do you mean ‘what is it’? I called you because I missed you.”

“Why are you being so damn annoying?”

Jung-eon sat close to Eunseong and placed his heavy arm on Eunseong’s shoulder. Jung-eon, wearing a black t-shirt under his summer uniform, smelled of sour sweat. The smell bothered Eunseong every time they sat close.

“Ah, take a shower sometimes.”

“Why? Do I smell?”

“You smell of sweat.”

“Should I go take a shower then?”

“Never mind. Just don’t put your smelly arm on me.”

Eunseong frowned at the smell and pushed Jung-eon’s heavy arm off his shoulder. No matter how Eunseong acted towards him, Jung-eon just kept grinning. This was another reason why Eunseong found Jung-eon even more obnoxious.

Although he was an outcast at school, Eunseong was vaguely aware that Jung-eon’s reputation was quite bad. When Jung-eon appeared, the other students in the class wouldn’t even raise their heads, afraid of making eye contact with him.

“Eunseong, by the way. Guess what I was watching?”

“What were you watching?”

“Want to watch together?”

He held his latest iPhone model in front of Eunseong’s eyes. Eunseong sat with his knees up and shifted his gaze to the screen Jung-eon was holding out. Jung-eon’s arm, which Eunseong had pushed away earlier, slyly crept back onto his shoulder. Eunseong muttered a curse under his breath and shook his back once. He explicitly and actively pushed away Jung-eon’s arm and avoided his body odor.

“I told you it smells.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll stay like this then.”

Jung-eon grinned. Instead of going back up Eunseong’s back, his arm wrapped around Eunseong’s waist. It would have been better if it had stayed on his shoulder. This position was the worst. It was already unbearably hot, and Eunseong uncomfortably stared at the screen where the video had started, gradually hunching his shoulders and curling his body, wondering why Jung-eon was being so clingy.

Soon, Eunseong’s eyes widened in surprise. Jung-eon, who had been intently staring at Eunseong’s face, grinned, showing his white teeth.

“This is the bastard who beat you up yesterday, right?”