The Unbelievers

Chapter 15

The morning, free from his father’s violence, was peaceful. Eunseong woke up to the sound of birds after a good night’s sleep. He pressed a button he had found the night before next to the bed, and the blackout curtains covering the floor-to-ceiling windows automatically opened. Like a large painting in an art museum, a beautiful scene of blue sky and lush green grass in the garden appeared.

“Wow… amazing.”

His voice cracked, having just woken up. Even in his half-asleep state, Eunseong marveled at the picturesque scene visible through the windows.

Getting up from bed, he checked the time and saw it was just past eight in the morning.

As he sat crouched in front of the window, staring blankly outside, sprinklers started working on the fresh greenery. Water droplets scattered, sparkling in the sunlight.

“So pretty.”

The dance of transparent water droplets was refreshing. It brightened his mood and moistened his vision.

Eunseong liked the garden of this house. He also liked that there were many trees. Yesterday, he had even found a birdhouse in the garden.

After admiring the garden for a while, he felt a strange urge to tell his father about how well he was eating, sleeping, and living in this nice place. Even though his father probably wouldn’t worry, he wanted to tell him not to be concerned about him and to live his own life well. That his son wouldn’t starve to death anywhere.

He called his father on his new gifted phone, just in case. Once again, he heard the automated message saying the number didn’t exist. Although he had resolved to cut ties with him before, he didn’t expect it to be so sudden. The fact that Eunseong had suddenly become wealthy on the surface, while his father had left to escape the family, made it impossible for him to simply enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes with the back of his hand, he opened the room door. The deep aroma of coffee filled the living room.

Drawn by the scent, Eunseong headed to the dining room. He could faintly hear Yoo Siwoon’s voice talking to Director Nam about something. Yoo Siwoon was asking Director Nam something.

“So Chairman Yoo’s side hasn’t noticed anything at all?”

“There’s been no movement so far. We’ve been very discreet. But we’ll keep monitoring.”

“We need to keep them unaware until we proceed with the next plan.”

Yoo Siwoon replied in a low voice.

“Yes, understood. I heard that Director Yoo has been frequenting the chairman’s office lately. Do you think he’s started the succession process? Is there a possibility that Chairman Yoo or others might present a fake ‘Seongha Momentum’?”

“If they claim to have found someone, it would be fake. ‘Seongha Momentum’ isn’t something that can be found just by looking, and such a thing can’t exist. If they’ve created a fake, they’re probably working behind the scenes with the council of elders. They’ll try to make it real, either by bribing or threatening.”

“Then I’ll keep a closer eye on the council of elders as well.”

Eunseong was unintentionally eavesdropping on their conversation, standing quietly behind the dining room wall where they couldn’t see him. He couldn’t make any sense of what they were saying. It seemed to be work-related talk.

Habitually used to walking quietly to avoid waking his drunken father, Eunseong’s presence went unnoticed by them, leading to his unintended eavesdropping.

Eunseong quietly walked backward, then opened and closed his room door loudly. He walked to the dining room, deliberately making footsteps.

Yoo Siwoon was standing in front of the wooden island table, and Director Nam had retreated into the kitchen at some point, pretending to look inside the refrigerator.

They seemed to have quickly wrapped up their private conversation when Eunseong appeared.

“You’re up?”

Yoo Siwoon, who was brewing coffee, glanced at Eunseong while tilting the kettle to moisten the coffee grounds.

“…Good morning. Good morning to you too, Director.”

Eunseong greeted Yoo Siwoon first and then nodded to Director Nam.

Yoo Siwoon’s attire was not much different from when Eunseong first met him. He wore a black suit that looked like a bodyguard’s, with a matching tie and a black shirt underneath, reminiscent of a priest’s outfit at first glance.

His hair was closer to ash-gray than black, making him look less like a priest and more like a modern grim reaper waiting to summon someone. At night, he might look like the color of a crow.

Yet, something seemed different, and Eunseong, who had been staring at him, soon changed his expression in confusion. There were skin-colored dressing bandages on his nape and the back of his hands. The tattoos were completely covered.

With the eye-catching tattoos gone, Ahjussi’s face seemed particularly clear today. His dignified aura was more pronounced, but the absence of tattoos didn’t diminish his dangerous aura.

“Does the school uniform fit well?”

“I haven’t tried it on yet.”

“Try it on. We need to change it if it doesn’t fit.”

“It’ll probably fit. If it doesn’t, I can just squeeze into it.”

“…”

A smile that only moved the corners of his lips briefly appeared and disappeared on Yoo Siwoon’s face. Director Nam, who had taken something out of the refrigerator, exchanged a glance with Yoo Siwoon and left the dining room.

Eunseong followed him with his eyes, then pulled out a long chair at the island table and sat down. There was nothing on the wide table except the drip coffee equipment.

“By the way, is that the only clothes you have, ahjussi?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

Yoo Siwoon looked down at his own clothes.

“You always wear black… I think you’d look like a real crow at night. It’s crow-colored.”

“A crow…”

He muttered softly and looked at the color of his jacket as if seeing it anew. Looking at it that way, it wasn’t just a black suit, but a deep black color truly reminiscent of a crow.

“…You seem to like coffee.”

“Yes.”

“I like the smell of coffee. Can I have a cup too?”

“You’re still a kid. Is it okay for you to drink this?”

“…What?”

Eunseong frowned as if he had heard something absurd.

A kid… If he saw a high school senior classroom, he wouldn’t say such a thing. The reality of all-boys high school classrooms was full of guys like Choi Jung-eon with dark stubble growing sparsely under their noses.

Yoo Siwoon, not understanding Eunseong’s bewilderment at being called a kid, continued brewing coffee while staring at him. After setting down his own coffee, he ground new beans in the grinder, seemingly to make some for Eunseong.

He moistened a white filter paper with hot water and filled it with ground coffee. His calm adherence to the procedure looked as orderly as a tea ceremony. In the seemingly solemn atmosphere, Eunseong asked:

“Does it taste different when you drink it like that? Everyone uses machines to grind it, right? Some people even drink from capsules.”

“It’s not just a little different, it’s significantly different. The taste is completely different.”

Yoo Siwoon asserted that there was no comparison. It seemed that his refined taste and preferences were separate issues from potentially having to kill people. Eunseong thought it was a contradiction.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.”

“Is your body okay?”

“…My body?”

He looked up at Eunseong as he poured hot water from the drip kettle in circular motions over the coffee grounds. His eyes were observant.

“I thought you might have been uncomfortable since your sleeping environment changed.”

“I’ve been sleeping deeply since I came here. When I was with my father, I couldn’t sleep properly because I was always anxious about when he might get drunk and hit me.”

“I see.”

“Thanks to that, I’ve only gotten tougher. I’m actually really strong, unlike how I look.”

“…”

Yoo Siwoon smiled bitterly as Eunseong spoke as if it was a good thing, even an advantage. He chose a particularly pretty cup from the display cabinet and poured coffee from the drip pot.

The island table was so wide that there was quite a distance between him and Eunseong. Yoo Siwoon stretched his arm far to push the coffee towards the middle, and Eunseong also had to half-rise and extend his arm uncomfortably to bring the coffee cup in front of him.

Suddenly, Eunseong realized that since getting out of the car, the distance between them had not narrowed beyond that specific gap. Yoo Siwoon deliberately maintained a physical distance from Eunseong, as if standing a few steps back.

As this thought struck him, Eunseong stood up from the chair he had been sitting on.

Yoo Siwoon, who had been carefully sipping the meticulously brewed coffee to not miss its taste and aroma, put down his cup and stepped back, maintaining that same distance, as if he had other business when Eunseong approached him.

“…”

Like a game of tag with a large obstacle in the middle, whenever Eunseong moved closer, Yoo Siwoon stepped back. His distancing movement, like opposing magnets, wasn’t just Eunseong’s imagination. Watching him continually retreat with a subtle distance, Eunseong returned to his original seat, biting into an apple he had taken from the refrigerator.

“You’d be better off eating bread. Coffee and apples don’t go well together.”

He looked quite bothered by Eunseong eating coffee and an apple together. Eunseong ignored his words.

“It’s not like I can taste the coffee anyway.”

He took a big bite of the apple and then a sip of coffee. He couldn’t properly taste either. Eunseong watched as Yoo Siwoon’s brow furrowed in disapproval.

Staring at the apple in Eunseong’s hand, he averted his displeased gaze, took a sip of coffee, and asked:

“What about breakfast? I only drink coffee in the morning, so the housekeeper doesn’t come at this time.”

“This is fine for me. I usually just eat an apple or banana. I’m going to eat it with coffee from now on.”

“Milk would be better, I think.”

He said, as if he couldn’t bear to watch this strange diet.

“No, apple and coffee go well together. Would you like to try?”

“I’ll pass.”