The Unbelievers

Chapter 63

“Why don’t you go get it yourself?”

Kim Dongjun asked curiously, as it seemed like a simple task of just going and retrieving it.

“…Actually, I didn’t run away from home, I escaped.”

“What?”

“My family situation is really messed up…”

Eunseong lowered his head dejectedly. Kim Dongjun’s expression also fell. A sigh escaped his lips, indicating that he could guess the situation without further explanation.

“What, is it like loan sharks or something? Is that why you asked for your salary in cash?”

Instead of answering, Eunseong just nodded once. Kim Dongjun, who had said that every minute and second was money to him and that anyone wasting his time was causing him financial loss, offered to bring the bag whenever he had time. Of course, he also declared in advance that he wouldn’t charge for it, considering Eunseong’s unfortunate circumstances.

Even though Eunseong closed his mouth glumly, Kim Dongjun didn’t pry further into his situation. Like the Choi Jung-eon family had misunderstood, he also made his own assumptions and sympathized with Eunseong. That’s why he wanted to treat him even better.

∞ ∞ ∞

“This is the bag Eunseong hid in the subway station bathroom. He changed clothes and slipped away. You said nothing came up on the clone phone either, so it seems he moved carefully this time, as you expected. But still, he’s in the palm of our hand.”

“…”

“Thinking he might come back for it, we put an identical one there and stationed employees. We’re narrowing down people suspected to be Eunseong on CCTV and searching the surrounding area. We’re also continuously monitoring that friend of his. We’ll find him soon.”

Yoo Siwoon opened the heavy bag Director Nam had placed on the table. It was a bag of someone going on a trip. It contained clothes, underwear, socks, a well-worn book, and even small items like a toothbrush. Moreover, there was a neatly folded zip-up shirt of Yoo Siwoon’s from somewhere. He held onto his shirt for a long time.

It seemed he had taken valuable items with him. Anyway, it was a bag containing necessities. It would be inconvenient without them, and with the weather this cold, he hadn’t even properly packed a coat to take with him. On top of that, the freezing weather continued with snowflakes falling.

Apart from the anxiety of fearing that Eunseong might be taken by someone else, Yoo Siwoon’s face darkened more and more at the foolishness of the child who had run away in this cold winter and the hardships he would face.

Should he not have rejected him like that?

Yoo Siwoon was flustered because Eunseong had said such brazen things. He was preoccupied with suppressing his own feelings.

As Director Nam said, should he have said something soothing like he’d think about it, or they’d talk later, or that he wanted to but knew it was wrong and it was painful?

How could an adult be so irresponsible?

Saying he wanted to but knew it was wrong and it was painful? If he had said that, Eunseong would have misunderstood and harbored vain hope that would never be fulfilled. That would have been playing with Eunseong’s feelings. He had promised Eunseong’s father that he would take responsibility for him. That he would protect him no matter what.

Director Nam observed Yoo Siwoon’s darkening complexion.

“Don’t worry too much. He’ll show up to get the bag.”

“The contents are things he could throw away…”

“No. They’re things Eunseong cherishes. I know.”

“…”

Director Nam was confident. Yoo Siwoon silently gazed at the worn and shabby but well-used personal belongings. He was the one who wanted to believe and hope it was true. He rubbed his rough face with his hand.

“Why don’t we ask the monk?”

“If he could really see, he wouldn’t be so obsessed with money.”

Yoo Siwoon’s eyes were particularly cynical, showing no expectation in that direction.

“He looked like he had something to say when we met on the memorial day. At least check on their movements.”

Yoo Siwoon had also frequently made eye contact with Master Manpo that day. He was a person who never missed an opportunity to make money. It meant he had information.

“CEO.”

Director Nam, who had been watching his legs trembling nervously under the table, called him again. It was an urge to take action. Yoo Siwoon suppressed the rising anxiety and stood up.

As the car entered the yard and stopped, there was a sharp scraping sound of gravel. Director Nam got out of the car first and opened the trunk. Yoo Siwoon, who had become gaunt in just a few days, also got out of the back seat. Director Nam took out a box wrapped in an expensive cloth suitable for a bribe from the trunk.

The inner part of the temple building became noisy as if sensing someone’s arrival, and the door of the living quarters suddenly opened. A middle-aged woman in a long skirt was hurriedly straightening her clothes as she rushed out.

The woman, fixing her disheveled hair, hid her embarrassed expression and disappeared, fleeing along the wooden porch towards the kitchen.

Director Nam cleared his throat with a “Ahem.” Soon after, Master Manpo’s voice was heard along with hurried sounds.

“Come in.”

Yoo Siwoon paused for a moment, giving time to compose himself, then took off his shoes and stepped onto the wooden floor. Director Nam handed him the cloth-wrapped box.

In the warm living quarters, a pile of bedding was rolled up in one corner. Master Manpo was in the process of buttoning up the vest he wore over his monk’s robe. One sock was pulled up to his ankle, while the other was in an ambiguous state, unclear whether it was on or off.

“I should have called before coming.”

“Ah, well, that was our caretaker, she was cleaning the room and taking out the trash and such.”

Even though he was a monk, Master Manpo seemed embarrassed as he rambled on without making eye contact with Yoo Siwoon, pulling up his other sock.

Yoo Siwoon, neither curious nor wanting to know more about the monk’s private life, sat on a cushion and pushed the box towards him.

“What have you brought again?”

“You have something to give me, don’t you?”

A faint irritation, not wanting to talk much due to fatigue, shadowed the cold face that had been hiding his feelings all along. Master Manpo’s eyes narrowed, seeing Yoo Siwoon fail to hide his emotions for the first time. He had an exceptional ability to read people’s hearts through their expressions.

“New information, there’s always an abundance of new information.”

Yoo Siwoon realized his mistake as he saw Master Manpo, who had been flustered by the unexpected visitor, quickly regain his composure. Although Yoo Siwoon’s face soon returned to normal, he had already revealed his true agitated state. Despite only a few words being exchanged, there was an intense reading of each other’s intentions through expressions alone.

“Let’s get straight to the point. I thought this was a place for spiritual practice, does a layman need to know all the details of a monk’s affairs?”

He tried to disguise it as the fastidiousness of a well-bred member of the chaebol power class, expressing disgust at sitting face-to-face in a space where such acts took place, but Master Manpo had already noticed that something had happened to make Yoo Siwoon agitated.

“It seems the ritual I performed for one payment has been effective, and Seongha Construction has found something.”

“…Found? Are you talking about the prophesied being?”

“Yes, the ‘great rift’ that you all are so desperate to find.”

This time too, Yoo Siwoon failed to hide his true feelings. Consternation flashed across his eyes. The anxiety that Eunseong’s existence might have been discovered by them sharply clawed at his heart.

He should have sent him abroad immediately without delay. He should have changed his name and age, hiding him where no one could find him. He had kept Eunseong until winter under the pretext of the college entrance exam. Without giving him anything he wanted. Without being able to get close or touch him.

“There’s a reason I generously provide perks to that house’s attendant.”

Master Manpo’s hand was placed on top of the cloth-wrapped box Yoo Siwoon had pushed towards him. He roughly gauged the size of the box with his hand. Soon, his hand was blatantly fondling the bundle of money.

“Where and what did they find?”

“Whether it’s the prophesied being or not, it seems they’ve found someone. Here.”

He wrote down an address he had only memorized and handed it to Yoo Siwoon. As if that was payment for the information, he blatantly unwrapped the cloth in front of Yoo Siwoon and took out bundles of 50,000 won bills to check how much was there.

It was Taebaek, Gangwon Province.

He had thought Eunseong’s location, wandering somewhere in Seoul, had been discovered. Yoo Siwoon’s eyes showed confusion at the completely unexpected location. Master Manpo, who had been counting the money, glanced at him.

“Not where you expected?”

“No. It’s a place I never even considered.”

“Seongha Construction would have already been there, so I’m not sure what might be left. Still, you should go and see. Who knows, you might find some scraps of information.”

“Then I’ll take my leave now.”

“Yes, and please forget about the embarrassing situation you saw today.”

Yoo Siwoon smiled at Master Manpo’s words. He tried his best to smile, but he doubted whether the smile had formed properly.

As Yoo Siwoon, who had received the address, came out of the living quarters, Director Nam turned his shoes for easy wearing. He slipped his feet into the shoes and stepped down into the yard. The mountainside was dry with bare branches and fallen leaves.

As soon as he got into the car, Yoo Siwoon passed the address to Director Nam.

“It’s Taebaek.”

Director Nam entered the address into the navigation system. There was a small medical center right near the address. Seeing that there was nothing else around, it seemed the medical center was the place where something had been found.

“It shows a medical center.”

What could possibly be at the medical center?