Chapter 162
The enforcer sensed why Eunseong was saying such things, so he turned away without adding anything more.
As the enforcer disappeared, completely ignoring what he had said, Eunseong sighed. No matter what he said, their attitude of treating him as a living god remained unchanged. They weren’t just devout believers; they seemed brainwashed, showing absolute obedience to Eunseong.
There were some advantages—they fulfilled Eunseong’s requests promptly without questioning. Even when he said something absurd, they never doubted him, and instead became even more dedicated to hiding him from Yoo Siwoon.
Eunseong connected his phone to the charger. There was still no contact from Detective Lee Joon-seung, who apparently didn’t know yet that he had escaped. Having fled from Yoo Siwoon but unsure what to do next, Eunseong somehow didn’t want to contact the detective first.
Lying on the bed with his phone charging, Eunseong stared blankly at the screen.
It had already been five days since he left Yoo Siwoon’s house.
The more Eunseong recalled what Yoo Siwoon had done to him, the more his chest tightened. Just remembering Yoo Siwoon’s expression when he asked if he was just a breeding vessel sent tremors throughout his body.
With eyes reddened as if holding back tears, he had cupped Eunseong’s cheek and said:
“…You are my partner. You are my wife. The one I’ve waited for my entire life…”
Eunseong felt choked up at the memory of Yoo Siwoon’s trembling voice.
Everything about him had been a lie, a fabrication, a calculated conspiracy—so why did his throat feel constricted? Why did his throat sting as if he had swallowed chemicals? He couldn’t understand.
Yoo Siwoon had seen Eunseong as a breeding vessel. He had caused the deaths of Eunseong’s biological parents and adoptive father so he could impregnate Eunseong and have him give birth to a child—supposedly a god.
Everything had been planned. Even their first meeting had been staged.
Though they were neither relatives nor blood relations, when Eunseong was infatuated with him, Yoo Siwoon had stimulated Eunseong’s guilt and fundamental disgust by saying he was attracted because of their blood ties. Even that had been a deception. This made Eunseong’s relationship with Yoo Siwoon necessarily more secretive, and more alluring because it was forbidden. The man had calculated even that sense of sin from committing a forbidden act.
Each time Eunseong recalled what Yoo Siwoon had done to him, he was shocked as if it were the first time. Rather than becoming numb, each revelation struck him with new impact, hitting the back of his head with painful force.
Eunseong would have liked him even without those manipulations. Yet Yoo Siwoon had meticulously and systematically drawn Eunseong to himself.
When Eunseong was trying desperately to forget him, Yoo Siwoon had even come to the penthouse. He had made Eunseong smell that strange scent, aroused his body, made him feel guilt and the sweet taste of corruption, and ensured he couldn’t forget.
Though he had told Lee Joon-seung he knew nothing about that herb, Eunseong knew it better than anyone—its smell, its taste, how the lingering scent of Yoo Siwoon’s skin infused with that fragrance drove him crazy with excitement.
Not wanting to recall it, Eunseong buried his face in the bedding and shook his head violently, pressing his flesh hard against the surface.
“Uwub… uoooo!”
After writhing in agony like this, he exhaled rapidly, wheezing. His eyes had become red and wet.
With the partially charged phone in hand, Eunseong got off the bed. He opened a drawer to put away the cord and paused. Surprisingly, in this apostle’s winter villa, every drawer he opened contained carelessly discarded jewelry or cash.
He picked up a gold bar from the side table drawer. The gold reflected sunlight, scattering bright gleams. It seemed unlikely to be fake.
Fortunately, it seemed he wouldn’t starve to death for lack of money.
Eunseong put the gold bar back in the drawer. Leaving the room, he went down the classical but somewhat rustic-looking staircase.
Several enforcers were resting in the living room. Upon seeing Eunseong, they immediately stood and greeted him respectfully. On his first day here, one enforcer who had seen Eunseong for the first time knelt before him, greatly embarrassing Eunseong.
“…I’m not what you think. You’re all misunderstanding.”
“Yes, understood.”
“It’s true… don’t blame me later when you find out I’m not. I clearly told you I’m not.”
“Yes, I see. Understood.”
Even when Eunseong insisted he absolutely wasn’t some divine being, that he had no such abilities, no power, truly nothing special, they pretended to listen. They merely changed the subject and urged him to eat.
“Would you like to eat? I’ll reheat the food.”
“Could you look at this for me? Do you know where this is?”
Eunseong handed his phone to the enforcer who was trying to arrange his meal. He showed him a part of the video that Detective Lee Joon-seung had sent.
It was a scene showing an abandoned building overgrown with unkempt trees and Yoo Siwoon’s back as he entered it. It was also where Seo Jeong-gi’s body was kept in a freezer.
After carefully examining the building and its surroundings in the video, the enforcer shook his head.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen this place before.”
“I see…”
Eunseong disappointedly put the phone back in his pocket. Only Yoo Siwoon and Lee Joon-seung, who had sent this video, knew where Seo Jeong-gi was. Director Nam had seemed unaware that Seo Jeong-gi was supposedly interred in a columbarium.
This meant that to find out where this place was, he would have to either ask Yoo Siwoon or contact Lee Joon-seung.
“You skipped meals yesterday too. You should eat something.”
“Why is everyone trying to feed me? Is it because I need to get pregnant?”
Whenever they insisted he eat something, Eunseong felt a surge of resistance. No matter how hungry he was, he didn’t want to put anything in his mouth.
“…Director Nam said that Eunseong-nim knew nothing, and our first instruction was to treat Eunseong-nim normally, like an ordinary person. Have you now come to understand the reason for your birth in this world and the mission bestowed upon you by God?”
The enforcer asked cautiously. When he mentioned the reason for his birth and the mission bestowed by God, his tone rippled with emotion. In dealing with the enforcers, Eunseong was gradually realizing what the “The Great Crevice” meant to them and what kind of being they thought he was. Something inside him slowly chilled, as if freezing.
“Conceiving ‘the God who came through the byway’ is a sacred and joyous duty. Such a destiny should not be taken lightly.”
“…Yes, I intend to. But I’m not in the mood for that right now.”
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to teach you about The Great Crevice. Please forgive me if I’ve displeased you.”
“Yes, I am a bit displeased. It’s my body, after all. Why… do as you please… why, as you all please… ordering me around… why are you playing with me?”
If Yoo Siwoon had been honest from the beginning, would Eunseong have been able to accept it?
If he had told the truth, would Eunseong still have been attracted to him?
Did Yoo Siwoon really make him smell that grass scent with malicious intent?
With the purpose of impregnating him with his child…
It was still hard to believe that all of this had been a scheme set in motion from the moment Eunseong was born, and equally difficult to believe that despite his father changing their surname and living on the run, they had never once escaped Yoo Siwoon’s reach. Yoo Siwoon had all the addresses where Eunseong had lived since childhood. They had been that thorough.
“It’s not like I chose to be born this way, so why do you all do as you please!”
Eunseong shouted at the enforcer as if he were Yoo Siwoon. The enforcer quickly knelt down. Other enforcers who were watching also simultaneously dropped to their knees with a thud.
“No, that wasn’t my intention when I said… ah, I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t tell me what to eat anymore.”
Eunseong spoke in an angry voice and fled upstairs. He locked the bedroom door, climbed onto the bed, pulled the blanket over his head, and buried his face in his knees.
“Did Eunseong-nim skip his meal again?”
Dohyeonja Cheon Gwanghangja asked as he placed food he had bought from the town market on the dining table. Cheon Gwanghangja was the highest-ranking among the enforcers who had brought Eunseong to the apostle’s winter villa.
“No, he ate a little earlier. Just porridge. He seemed to have regained some strength compared to earlier in the day.”
“Ah, that’s a relief. I was planning to force him to take vitamins if he didn’t eat again.”
“I heard that The Great Crevice doesn’t know he’s a vessel for the god… but it seems he knows now? Judging by what he said earlier.”
Muguk cautiously asked, though everyone had already sensed this situation. As he spoke, he glanced upward, as if checking on Eunseong who was holed up on the second floor.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
