Chapter 155
“Yoo Siwoon’s father must have known your identity and tried to take you away. In the Yongse Pacheon Church, you are… as you know, equivalent to a god. Yoo Siwoon’s father was part of the opposition trying to destroy the Yongse Pacheon Church, so for them, you were an existence that absolutely shouldn’t emerge and couldn’t emerge.”
“…The opposition?”
“Yes, as far as I know, Yoo Siwoon’s father was a non-believer. At first, I thought Yoo Siwoon was the same. Yoo Siwoon called it protection, but thinking about it now, it was something deliberately planned and committed. Yoo Siwoon would have already calculated that Seo Jeong-gi wouldn’t easily let you go. That means he pretended to help and protect for over twenty years. To gain trust.”
“…”
Lee Joon-seung kept talking, saying negative things about Yoo Siwoon, but Eunseong had no energy to listen and kept losing strength, unable to even sit up straight.
The ground beneath him seemed to collapse. His body was being dragged into an endless void, a dark abyss, and Lee Joon-seung’s voice was like the buzzing noise of insects in his ears, persistently holding onto Eunseong’s consciousness that was trying to fade away, to dissolve into nothing.
“Yoo Siwoon said he couldn’t tolerate what Seongha Group was doing. He gathered people and asked us to join forces, saying he would take care of it and eliminate the heretics. He told us that you were being mistaken for the ‘great crevice,’ and that he would help you escape abroad so the family wouldn’t find out, that he would hide you forever.”
“…What… are you saying?”
“Do you know about Seongha Group? Seongha Group is also called the Yongse Pacheon Church, a heretic cult. They commit murders without batting an eye, and my friend… died while investigating their case. Eaten by dogs, they said. They kill anyone who gets in their way. They don’t just kill; they make an example by setting a memorial day and performing rituals while killing.”
Lee Joon-seung’s fist clenched fiercely, trembling with rage as he spoke about the Yongse Pacheon Church.
Eunseong suddenly recalled a day when he went with Yoo Siwoon to a large temple, saying they were going to pay respects to the elders. Siwoon had said it was an important memorial day, a gathering where all family members would be present. Everyone there seemed as if they had no mouths, making no sound, and they all stared at Eunseong with penetrating eyes.
Realizing now what that place was, Eunseong felt goosebumps rising along his arms.
“Those bastards’ goal is to find a boy born with markings like you. They do all sorts of things to find the ‘great crevice.’ There have been similar cases in reality. And when they find that boy, they rape him. They believe that whatever is born from that will be their savior, their absolute being.”
“…”
Eunseong’s eyes were stained with shock.
“There’s something called Jeokdan, like a kind of marijuana, that only a few in the family are allowed to consume, so those without qualifications can’t even see it. Haven’t you seen Yoo Siwoon eating some strange plants? I heard they grow them separately.”
“…”
“I heard that burning incense stimulates the nervous system. Haven’t you seen Yoo Siwoon eating some herb-like thing? Smelling or burning incense?”
“…”
“That bastard must have consumed it. Haven’t you really seen it? I heard it has an aphrodisiac effect, especially on you, that can incapacitate you.”
“…No. Nothing like that. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That plant. The one I said I didn’t like the smell of.”
“Why’s that?”
“That… could you burn it for me?”
“…Really?”
Lee Joon-seung stared at Eunseong with suspicious eyes, an uncomfortable gaze that suggested he couldn’t believe him but wouldn’t press further.
Eunseong was clearly showing symptoms of Stockholm syndrome, where despite being a victim, he couldn’t believe what he was saying and instead defended and sided with his abuser, Yoo Siwoon, who had treated him exceptionally well until now.
Lee Joon-seung insisted that Eunseong should believe what he was saying, that they were indeed the ones who killed his biological parents, and continued speaking as he returned the wedding photo.
“He told us that you weren’t the ‘great crevice,’ that he would help you escape. Haven’t you heard anything like that?”
“…We’re going to New York soon. We have a house there.”
“Then why haven’t you gone yet? If you were going to go, you should have left long ago. He kept you hidden and then revealed your identity to the family when the time was right, according to his plan. You know what that means, right?”
“…”
“Seongha Momentum is one of the Seongha Group affiliates, and Yoo Siwoon has a separate job. Chairman Yoo has been using Yoo Siwoon as a useful trash cart all this time. Have you ever met Chairman Yoo?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Do you know that Chairman Yoo was executed according to the Yongse Pacheon Church doctrine?”
“Executed?”
Eunseong remembered who Chairman Yoo was. He guessed it was the person who had been with someone from the Council of Elders.
“He’s dead. Probably Yoo Siwoon arranged it. He wants to take everything. He wants to devour Seongha Group and you too… If he becomes the father of the ‘god who came through the side path,’ Yoo Siwoon will be deified. No one can object to that. It’s hard to believe, and of course I don’t believe it either, but… if you give birth to a child, Yoo Siwoon will become the leader among those people. He’ll further encourage the things they do.”
“Did you say it was a crazy family?”
“They’re not in their right minds, I was told. I’m not sure exactly what’s wrong with them, though.”
“They’re not in their right minds, indeed. But did he tell you that I’m the one who will protect you there?”
“If you don’t believe me, check it out. The major shareholder of Seongha Trading should have changed to Yoo Siwoon. If he produces an heir, he qualifies to take over the entire group. That’s why those people have been desperately searching for you. Seo Jeong-gi lived as a fugitive because he was afraid you would suffer such a fate.”
“…What?”
Eunseong asked back as if he found it truly absurd.
With blank eyes, he stared at Lee Joon-seung as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and then suddenly snickered. Lee Joon-seung, who had been leaning forward while explaining the situation seriously, straightened his back.
Eunseong snickered while looking at Lee Joon-seung’s furrowed brow as he continued his serious explanation. He laughed like a madman, giggling.
“There are too many crazy people in this world.”
As he said this, he glanced at the man who claimed to be a police officer, the head of the special investigation team, giggling as if he found it ridiculous, as if it was hilarious.
“I must have watched too many movies… no, too many anime. To hear such crazy talk, I came all the way here… hah, I even used Jung-eon to come all the way here with difficulty. You should at least say something that makes sense so I can listen with some interest.”
“…”
“You’re saying things that make no sense at all… it’s really pissing me off that I’m even laughing. You’re really a strange man.”
“Seo Eunseong. It’s hard to believe, but everything I’m saying is true. I can prove it.”
“Are you really a police officer?”
Lee Joon-seung was scrolling through his photo gallery to show Eunseong the case records of the Yongse Pacheon Church he had photographed when he looked up at Eunseong’s question. Eunseong was frowning. He was looking at him with contempt and disdain, as if asking how someone who looked normal, who had a respectable job, who claimed to be a police officer, could be saying such nonsense, telling him to come to his senses.
“Hah, shit. I knew this would happen, but it’s really maddening.”
Lee Joon-seung felt so frustrated he thought he might go crazy. He had anticipated this reaction. He too hadn’t believed it at first when he was investigating Seongha Group.
“I wanted to believe in Yoo Siwoon at first too. Personally, I disliked him, but whether I liked him or not, we just needed to achieve our goal. I thought that among the crazy cult members, there was at least one sane person. Yoo Siwoon was someone who wanted Seongha Group to be normalized more than anyone. His father was the same. According to Director Nam, he intentionally announced you for that purpose, but however you look at it, what that person is doing now is reaching a level we cannot tolerate.”
“So what are you saying, detective? That my uncle killed both my biological parents and the father who raised me? To take me away and rape me? Because he can have the whole company if he has me? What, because he can become a god in their religion? I know what that is. It’s like a cult, right?”
Eunseong was so incredulous that as he spoke, a laugh of disbelief escaped, accompanied by choked sobs.
It would be painful to accept, but that was the truth. Lee Joon-seung painfully nodded as if to say that although it was difficult for him to say these things, the truth was the truth.
“My uncle, Yoo Siwoon, did all that to become that? He killed my parents… whom I’ve never seen, whose faces I’ve never seen, and even the father who raised me… killed, killed everyone… All to take me away?”
Eunseong’s eyes filled with misty tears. He couldn’t even finish his words properly. His throat choked up. The pain felt like being scorched by flames in his respiratory organs, making it impossible to continue speaking.
“…Yes. He claims that’s not the case, but that’s how it looks to me. How does it look to you?”
“…”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
