The Unbelievers

Chapter 51

Yoo Siwoon got up, finished his shower, and prepared for work. He changed his clothes and stood in front of the mirror, running his fingers through his wet hair. He habitually reached for the dressing band to cover the tattoo on his neck but hesitated.

“…”

There was no need to cover it anymore. Eunseong was no longer in this house, and after taking the college entrance exam, he would leave this land for a place unknown even to Siwoon. They would never meet or see each other again.

Siwoon turned away from the dressing band and left the room with his jacket.

The house, which had always been empty and was meant to be empty, felt chilly despite the summer. He passed through the living room, where his footsteps seemed unusually loud and hollow, and entered the dining area.

He took out the coffee beans and drip equipment he used every morning for the island table. As he ground the beans and brewed the coffee, Siwoon glanced at the seat where Eunseong usually sat.

Director Nam had said it seemed like resonance…

Such a thing couldn’t exist. There was no such thing as the ‘Great Rift’ mentioned in the prophecy. If there was no ‘Great Rift’, there could be no ‘Those with Opened Spiritual Eyes’, and the ‘God Who Came by a Side Path’ couldn’t exist either. It was false propaganda and foolish belief.

Siwoon had heard about the prophecy since childhood but never believed it. He thought it was nonsense and deliberately thought of other things during ancestral rites and worship services, not listening to the words of the apostle.

But resonance?

There was a way to confirm it, faster than undressing Eunseong and looking for the mark. It was a method known to the Seongha bloodline and the few crossbreeds, though Director Nam didn’t know about it.

The clear meaning of ‘Those with Opened Spiritual Eyes’ referred to the consumption of an herb passed down through generations of the family. When the ‘Great Rift’ smells this herb, it shows a resonance reaction, and the crossbreed who consumes the herb also has their spiritual eyes opened, allowing them to recognize the Great Rift.

Despite having a sure way to confirm if Eunseong was the prophesied being, Siwoon hesitated.

He sincerely hoped Eunseong wasn’t that being. He had to not be. If he wasn’t, there would be no need to deny his own feelings of attraction to Eunseong, or Eunseong’s feelings for him.

Without worrying about prophecies or marks, he could simply follow his desires, touch as he wanted, embrace as he wished, follow where his heart led.

If Eunseong showed a reaction, it would be undeniable proof that he was the ‘Great Rift’, which would mean Siwoon could never see him again.

Siwoon abruptly stopped brewing coffee, put down the kettle, and hurriedly left the dining room. He crossed the living room, left the house, and walked straight to the glass greenhouse opposite the garden.

The greenhouse on one side of the garden had quite high temperature and humidity, reminiscent of sticky summer weather outside.

He walked to the flower bed inside the greenhouse, which he had been growing out of a sense of duty.

If he ate this, if he made Eunseong smell this… if Eunseong was the ‘Great Rift’, he would show the true appearance of resonance, the appearance Director Nam suspected.

He just needed to confirm that Eunseong wasn’t that being.

If he confirmed that Eunseong wasn’t that being, Siwoon would have no reason to distance himself from Eunseong. No reason to hurt him. No need to cause him pain.

He could tell Eunseong the truth that they weren’t blood-related, simply follow his heart and hold his hand, kiss the back of it… press his lips against Eunseong’s, against those lovely lips. He could smell the scent of that boy’s body that he hadn’t dared to get close to before, pull him tightly into his arms and tell him that he felt the same way.

How long had he been standing there? Siwoon stared at the herb for a long time. Then his hand plucked a blade of grass about a finger’s length long and brought it to his mouth. He put the grass in his mouth and chewed. A fishy, pale green scent close to yellow spread throughout his mouth. It tasted neither bitter, sweet, nor salty. It was a plant without any taste.

Siwoon plucked and put more grass into his mouth, chewing and swallowing like a starving person. As he was about to put another root into his mouth:

“So this is where you were?”

Siwoon startled and turned his head at the sound. Director Nam’s voice, having apparently searched for him everywhere in the mansion except here, called out to Siwoon with a hint of exasperation.

“Ah… yes. You’re here.”

Siwoon hurriedly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and swallowed what remained in his mouth. Pretending he hadn’t put anything in his mouth, he unnecessarily picked up a hose and started spraying water on a group of flowers on the opposite side. Director Nam approached Siwoon and recognized the herb, asking:

“Ah, is this… the herb called Jeokdan? I heard it costs tens of millions of won per root. They say even wild ginseng can’t compare.”

He looked at the flower bed in the corner with curious eyes.

“I only grow it because it’s my duty. I’ve never eaten it.”

Siwoon, who had been standing there all along, gave a fresh look at the flower bed as if seeing it for the first time, offering unnecessary excuses even though Director Nam hadn’t asked.

Male descendants of the Seongha bloodline are required to cultivate and consume this herb as a rite of passage into adulthood. The family believed that by taking this herb regularly, one would qualify as a person with opened spiritual eyes and be able to have sons. His cousins who were qualified to produce offspring also ate this herb daily after turning twenty. In contrast, Siwoon only grew it out of duty and had never tasted it.

Until just now.

Siwoon had just eaten the herb for the first time in his life. He hadn’t eaten just one or two roots, but had chewed and swallowed more than five. The fishy smell still lingered in his mouth. A shivering, fishy sensation was running down his spine.

“You haven’t called Eunseong, have you? I told him you went on a business trip. He seems uncomfortable living alone.”

“Yes.”

“We’ve been sending him to the cram school we looked into before, with security since yesterday. You don’t need to worry. He’s managing well, quite bravely.”

“…I see.”

Siwoon responded half-heartedly to Director Nam’s words, lost in other thoughts. Director Nam looked at him curiously as he stood there, staring intently at the herb.

∞ ∞ ∞

Eunseong, who had just finished setting the now-familiar security system, stopped as he turned around, touching his lonely shoulder. Something dark appeared on the CCTV screen showing the front door on the living room wall monitor. Having received only warnings from Director Nam since living alone, with nothing actually appearing on the screen before, Eunseong froze in shock.

“…What? Who is it?”

As he watched the screen with bated breath, his hand, moving to grab the receiver directly connected to Director Nam, slowly stopped.

It was Yoo Siwoon.

It had been five days. Confirming the identity of the dark figure, a sense of relief washed over him, making his knees weak.

Dressed in all-black suit, he stood in front of the penthouse entrance. He hadn’t unlocked the door to come in, nor had he rung the bell.

He just stood there, a dark shadow, staring at the door.

Eunseong also stared at him on the screen for a long time.

“…”

Even now…

If he had kicked him out of the house, he should have pretended not to know and not shown up, but he appeared anyway, showing himself and confusing Eunseong.

It must have been a really embarrassing situation for him. Though he didn’t want to understand, Eunseong could read the bewilderment and difficult feelings of the man standing motionless on the screen.

His second cousin had confessed to liking him. Not just a simple liking, but with romantic feelings. He liked him enough to dream about him while sleeping.

Even after coming this far, he stood there silently, unable to do this or that. Although it might not be the same feeling of liking as Eunseong’s, but merely a sense of responsibility, his concern for Eunseong was sincere from beginning to end.

Sighing, Eunseong disabled the security system. He shuffled across the living room in his slippers with heavy steps towards the entrance. After hesitating for a moment in front of the door, he flung it open.

Surprised by the sudden opening of the door, Yoo Siwoon raised his head. Their eyes met. Eunseong pursed his lips sullenly. Without looking at him, fixing his gaze somewhere at his feet, he asked:

“I guess you’re back from your business trip? Though I don’t know if you really went or not.”

“…”

“…Why?”

“…”

“Why did you come? Did you come to check how I’m doing after kicking me out?”

“…”

“If you were so concerned, you shouldn’t have kicked me out in the first place.”

Despite his sharp words, there was no response, so Eunseong raised his eyes that had been defiantly avoiding looking at him. Their eyes met. Yoo Siwoon, who always maintained a physical distance of more than two meters when dealing with him, was now standing just a step or two away. It was the distance he was wary of, where if he moved a little closer, he could feel his body heat and smell.

Eunseong was actually the one caught off guard by Yoo Siwoon standing unexpectedly close. Eunseong had nowhere to retreat. He looked at him while holding onto the doorknob.

“Why did you come, I asked.”

“I thought you were sleeping.”

After a long silence, he finally responded coolly. His soft baritone resonated in the quiet space devoid of anyone else. Eunseong pouted at his bland words.

“I was just about to go to sleep.”

“The move… went well?”

“It’s been days since I moved. You’re asking about that now?”

“…”

“It didn’t go well. I just shoved everything in randomly.”

“Do you like the house?”