The Unbelievers

Chapter 52

Eunseong wanted to confront him, asking why he was behaving this way after driving him out. He fixed him with a sharp gaze. Unlike his usual wariness, he was standing close, his eyes looking at Eunseong vacantly. The young Eunseong couldn’t possibly guess what was on his mind or what he was thinking.

“I don’t like it.”

“Ah… you don’t like it. Should I move you somewhere else?”

He seemed to have come straight from the company, showing signs of accumulated fatigue. He must have had a lot on his mind.

His tie wasn’t straight. His entire outfit wasn’t as stiff as usual, as if it hadn’t been starched. He looked somewhat disheveled.

“You want me to move again?”

“If you don’t like it, you should move. Do as you wish.”

“…As I wish?”

“Yes, whatever you want.”

Eunseong couldn’t understand why he was saying such contradictory things after driving him out of the house to prevent him from doing as he wished.

Eunseong finally noticed an unfamiliar smell coming from him. It was like the fishy grass smell he had encountered when passing by the glass greenhouse he wasn’t supposed to enter, or it could have been the smell of alcohol. He had never seen him drink or appear drunk during their time living together.

“Ahjussi, have you been drinking?”

“…Can you smell it?”

He covered his mouth and smelled his own breath. The distance that had been making Eunseong feel hurt seemed to have disappeared, possibly due to the alcohol. However, he didn’t appear relaxed. His expression was distant, and he was staring intently at Eunseong, as if trying to probe the depths of his soul. Eunseong felt like Yoo Siwoon was observing him.

“Are you drunk?”

“No. I didn’t drink that much.”

“Why… why did you drink?”

“Because it was hard to stay in my right mind. No, because I needed to not be in my right mind.”

“…”

Eunseong didn’t understand what he meant, but he stepped aside to let him in. Yoo Siwoon didn’t move. It seemed like he had no intention of coming inside from the beginning.

A surge of sorrow welled up. Eunseong wondered why he had appeared if he was going to be like this. He had just managed to pull himself together, but seeing him again stirred up his emotions.

“Is it harder for you to stay in your right mind than it is for me?”

“Yes.”

Yoo Siwoon quickly agreed to Eunseong’s accusatory question. Eunseong was dumbfounded. He looked up at him reproachfully.

“…Isn’t it cheating to kick someone out and then come looking for them like this? And while drunk too?”

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be doing this.”

“…”

“I shouldn’t be doing this. What am I trying to confirm…”

Although he smelled of alcohol, he didn’t look drunk at all. He did look a bit worn out, as if his emotions had been eating away at him. It seemed that his nephew’s feelings for him weren’t something he could easily ignore. Moreover, Yoo Siwoon had brought Eunseong here under the pretext of protecting him from his father. He had a responsibility to take care of him until the end.

“…”

“…”

Seeing Yoo Siwoon troubled and struggling because of him, Eunseong regretted blurting out that he liked him. He just stared at the ground, shuffling his feet.

At that moment, Yoo Siwoon’s hand cupped Eunseong’s cheek, tilting his head up. Surprised, Eunseong looked up at him.

Yoo Siwoon had come close enough to torment Eunseong, who had confessed to liking him. He stepped even closer, holding Eunseong’s cheek as if about to kiss him, staring at him with intense eyes.

Eunseong’s heart began to race. His confused eyes darted around, trapped within Yoo Siwoon’s gaze, unable to escape.

“…Did you take your mysophobia medication?”

“I did.”

“Are you cured? Is that why you’re so close… Ahjussi, you usually can’t come near me.”

“I think I’m cured.”

Though it wasn’t a sexual touch, his thumb caressed Eunseong’s cheek tenderly. It felt like an apologetic gesture, as if he was sorry for hurting him, for leaving him alone after bringing him here to protect him.

“You’ve been having a hard time because of me, haven’t you?”

“…It’s okay. I wanted to be independent anyway. It had to happen someday, right? I can’t stay with you forever.”

“…”

“And I shouldn’t like you either.”

“…”

“…Is it okay if I like you?”

“No.”

“I can’t like you?”

“No.”

While still caressing Eunseong’s cheek with his thumb, he said quietly but firmly that it wasn’t allowed. Eunseong’s hand grasped Yoo Siwoon’s hand. They could feel each other’s body heat where their skin touched. Eunseong felt his breath becoming slightly labored. Even his breathing became cautious in front of him.

“…Does my breath smell strongly of alcohol?”

“Yes… it smells strong. Very strong.”

“Want to smell it?”

“What?”

“Smell it.”

Yoo Siwoon moved even closer. Eunseong’s eyes widened, his pupils dilating. He was close enough that Eunseong could smell his breath, his scent, and feel the warmth radiating from his skin. Eunseong froze, pressed against the door, unable to step back.

He wanted to ask what on earth Yoo Siwoon was saying. He had told him not to like him, coldly answered that it wasn’t allowed, hurting his feelings, and now he was toying with him. He was manipulating him, thinking he was naive because he was younger.

Eunseong tried to avoid him. He tried to remove the warmth cupping his cheek, but Yoo Siwoon’s strength wouldn’t let him go. It was a clearly intentional use of force.

“…Why are you doing this?”

“Smell it.”

“What smell… What, don’t do this. Why are you doing this? You said I can’t like you!”

He struggled to push him away forcefully, but Eunseong was trapped as if against an invisible wall. He felt a heat rising in his body, making his vision blur.

He felt a real, dull pain somewhere in his heart. The more he smelled the man’s scent so close to him, the more his breathing quickened, and suddenly his chest felt constricted.

Eunseong’s grip on Yoo Siwoon’s hand weakened as strength left his body. His eyes grew tired as if overcome by sleepiness, and his limbs felt heavy, a feeling of helplessness weighing down his entire body.

“…Are you okay? You’re fine, right? Hm?”

Yoo Siwoon asked. He asked as if pleading, desperately hoping that Eunseong would be fine.

However, contrary to his wishes, Eunseong’s knees buckled as his head seemed to go blank with anemia. Alarmed, Yoo Siwoon caught Eunseong as he was about to collapse. With one hand, he held the door that was about to close, and with the other, he wrapped his arm around Eunseong’s waist.

Eunseong’s face fell against his chest. The smell he had asked Eunseong to smell, whether it was alcohol or grass, an unfamiliar yet pungent scent, spread throughout his entire body.

While his mind was bewildered, his limbs wouldn’t listen, and Yoo Siwoon was holding Eunseong gently but firmly in his arms. He held him tightly so he wouldn’t slide down.

“…”

Yoo Siwoon’s expression, as he looked down at the swaying Eunseong, was contorted with pain as if he had been dragged into hell. Eunseong had never seen such a sad face, such a pained expression.

Words swirled in his mouth. He needed to move his vocal cords and expel air, but no words came out. His lips moved slightly as he panted heavily.

“Are you dizzy?”

“I… I don’t know. Suddenly… hah, suddenly.”

“Does your body feel strange?”

He had come hoping it wouldn’t be the case. His arm around Eunseong’s waist tightened with an irresistible force.

Eunseong couldn’t answer properly and just mumbled softly. Yoo Siwoon closed his eyes tightly and then opened them.

He knew what he had to do.

He led the panting Eunseong into the house. The door closed behind them. Yoo Siwoon propped Eunseong, whose knees kept buckling, against the wall and examined him with observant eyes.

“…”

Without asking anything, he kept staring at Eunseong intently. He fixedly observed Eunseong’s condition, who was gasping like a fish thrown out of water, unable to breathe.

Eunseong’s legs were so weak he could barely stand straight. Instead, his senses became extremely sensitive, to the point where he could feel the dull throbbing of his pulse behind his ears, on his wrists, and inside his knees with each beat. The sweet body heat vibrated between them, melting his nostrils.

“…Why… why am I like this…?”

“…”

“I feel… strange.”

He didn’t understand why his body was suddenly reacting this way. His limbs were sinking as if he had been given an injection that made him lose track of his pulse.

Eunseong opened his eyes, which were closing weakly. He didn’t know why he did it himself.

Eunseong hurriedly wrapped his arms around the neck of the man who was so close. He rubbed his lips against the man’s neck where his pulse was beating.

“Ahjussi… Ahjussi.”

He clung to the startled and frozen Yoo Siwoon, caressing his wolf. He rubbed his lips and nose against him until they were sore. The sensation that was melting into his bones made his spine tingle. Yoo Siwoon’s back stiffened.

“Eunseong.”

“Just a moment, Ahjussi… just a moment, just a moment.”

As Yoo Siwoon tried to detach him, Eunseong clung desperately, pressing his heated lower body against him and fidgeting. The man’s intoxicated breath made his entire pulse throb. His pounding heartbeat painfully hammered his blood vessels.

Without anyone teaching him, Eunseong rubbed his sensitive parts against Yoo Siwoon, pressing their abdomens together.

“Ah, I feel strange… Ahjussi, Ahjussi. Ah, ah…”

“…”

Yoo Siwoon, who had been glaring at a dark corner while hugging the recklessly clinging Eunseong, raised his hand and pressed Eunseong’s pulse point. As he applied sudden, strong pressure, Eunseong’s body stopped all movement as if the power had been cut off, and he collapsed. Eunseong crumpled in his arms.

“…”

Yoo Siwoon just stared blankly at the limp body.