VDN Ch 42

Nam-woon hesitated at those words, then sighed and said,

“Next time, let me know what’s going on beforehand. I’ll come early then.”

“…You will?”

That one comment instantly soured Nam-woon’s mood.

“Ugh, what’s with you today?”

“……”

“Why aren’t you saying anything again? If you’re going to be like this, you should’ve just told me not to come home at all!”

Woof woof! Woof woof!

As their voices rose, a dog started barking outside the gate. The fight paused for a moment, but the two still glared at each other. Nam-woon was the first to turn away. He walked past Seo-oh, not toward his room but toward the gate, but Seo-oh quickly followed, grabbed Nam-woon’s arm, and spun him around.

With a face full of anger, Kwon Seo-oh shoved Nam-woon hard against the low gray wall next to the gate.

“Ah!”

Nam-woon grimaced as he hit his back against the hard wall. Seo-oh, putting his hand against the wall, looked down at Nam-woon with a serious face. Unintentionally, an apology burst out.

“Ah, I said I was sorry!”

“You crazy bastard.”

Seo-oh cursed in a low voice and suddenly lowered his head.

“..…!”

He brought his face close to Nam-woon’s ear and took a deep breath. After a moment, he pulled back and quietly asked,

“Did you come all the way here with that bastard?”

“No.”

The air was thick with tension. Nam-woon looked at Seo-oh’s darkened face, anxiety in his eyes.

“Why? What is it?”

“It’s on you.”

“What is?”

“The smell.”

Nam-woon remembered spilling the drink that jerk had poured on his pants. He must reek of alcohol. That jerk, claiming it was non-alcoholic, but it was definitely just regular alcohol.

“I told you to behave yourself.”

At Seo-oh’s angry tone, Nam-woon tried to explain.

“I didn’t know it would smell that much…”

“Shut up.”

The threatening tone made Nam-woon clamp his mouth shut. Suddenly, hot, thick fingers touched the back of Nam-woon’s hand. It was Seo-oh’s hand.

Nam-woon was startled. He’d never had this kind of contact with Seo-oh before and quickly looked up. Seo-oh also looked away, as if embarrassed, but his strong hand wove between Nam-woon’s fingers.

“W-what are you doing?”

Nam-woon tried to shake him off and run, but behind him was the hard wall, and in front of him was Kwon Seo-oh. There was nowhere to escape. He tried to duck down and slip away, but Seo-oh grabbed him by the nape of the neck.

“Come here.”

Forced back against the wall, Nam-woon looked at the man in front of him with trembling eyes. Seo-oh stepped closer, lowering his head until his cheek was almost touching Nam-woon’s ear.

“This is my first time doing it.”

A familiar, clean scent began to waft up.

“I might be clumsy.”

Seo-oh’s quiet voice echoed loudly like thunder. “You wouldn’t know since you’re a beta anyway.” With those words, the faint scent filled the surroundings. At the same time, with a small noise, letters floated in the air.

Ding!

[Sub-mission Get hit by “??? Shower!” begins!]

[Due to the ??? shower effect, pheromone sensitivity temporarily increases.]

[Pheromone Sensitivity: 50%]

Every time Seo-oh moved, his cheek brushed lightly against Nam-woon’s ear. Feeling strange, Nam-woon tried to pull his head back, but Seo-oh immediately closed the distance. Soon, they were so close their breaths mingled, and Nam-woon’s body froze.

Thump, thump thump.

A loud pounding sound, the source of which he couldn’t identify, echoed in his ears. Was it the sound coming from Kwon Seo-oh? Or maybe it was coming from him.

In the quiet, with only the sound of insects outside, Nam-woon couldn’t even swallow, afraid Seo-oh might hear it.

How long did they stay pressed together like that? As the scent grew stronger, Nam-woon relaxed and leaned against the wall. He felt comfortable, but at the same time, his whole body tingled with a faint excitement.

As Nam-woon’s body started to go limp, Seo-oh’s large hand slid to his waist, holding him firmly. Nam-woon felt so embarrassed to be like this with Seo-oh that he wanted to crawl into a hole, but at the same time, he had the contradictory feeling that he wanted this moment to last.

“Hey, that’s enough now…”

Just as Nam-woon, having resisted temptation, put his hand on Seo-oh’s shoulder—

Creak—

“Ah, you startled me!”

Startled by the sound at the gate, Nam-woon turned his head and saw a dark figure standing there. Seo-oh, seeing the stranger, quickly stepped away and blocked Nam-woon from view.

“What are you two doing out here at this hour?”

Nam-woon stood on tiptoe to look over Seo-oh’s shoulder at the stranger. It was Grandpa Nam-nam. The old man looked back and forth between Seo-oh and Nam-woon, his mouth running nonstop.

“Goodness, what are you two up to at this hour, really…”

Then he looked Seo-oh up and down.

“I thought something was wrong with young Kwon, but now that I see… oh my, wow.”

“Why are you here?” Seo-oh asked.

“I kept hearing Sundol barking in the middle of the night, so I came out to patrol! Then I saw the gate wide open, so I stopped by! But look at you, glaring at your elder like that!”

“Hurry up and go.”

“Tsk, such bad manners. Fine, I’m leaving! Disgraceful, really.”

Grandpa Nam-nam clicked his tongue and left through the gate. After a few steps, he turned back and stared at the green door.

“So it was true about the Kwon boy?”

Before Kwon Sang-moon went missing, there had been talk about Seo-oh’s secondary gender, and at the time, he’d shyly said Seo-oh was a dominant alpha. But since he’d never once smelled the dominant alpha pheromones from the eldest son, Grandpa Nam-nam had just assumed he’d gotten it wrong and that Seo-oh was a recessive alpha. But now, seeing this—

“I thought the boy was pheromone-deficient or something.”

Nam-nam wrinkled his nose.

“The smell is everywhere… He’s practically giving young Woon a pheromone shower!”

Shaking his head at the spectacle, Grandpa Nam-nam carefully made his way down the hill.

“Wait, I’d better stock up on, uh, rubber at the store soon.”

He muttered quickly as he headed toward the supermarket.

After Grandpa Nam-nam left, the two avoided each other’s gaze and stood turning their heads. Then, sparkling letters caught Nam-woon’s eye.

[Sub-mission success! Your adaptation to the Omegaverse is improving rapidly!]

[You have received 1 usage ticket as a reward.]

[Level up due to sub-mission success!]

[In progress…]

Level up already? Nam-woon glanced at the air, careful not to let Seo-oh notice, and his eyes brightened a little.

[Congratulations! Level 2!]

Huh? Why level 2? Last time, I’m sure it was level 3….

[The current system level is 2.]

“……”

[New features will be added due to the system leveling up.]

[Whisper function: The system reads Seok Nam-woon’s inner thoughts! Shout “Status Window” in your mind to activate it.]

Why are you leveling up? He was flabbergasted. Still, the whisper function was pretty cool. Now he didn’t have to shout into thin air like he’d seen a ghost.

Just then, Seo-oh turned and started walking away. Nam-woon hurriedly clutched his floral pillow and followed. He was worried Seo-oh might lock the door before he got in, but thankfully, Seo-oh left the door open as he went inside. Nam-woon quickly slipped into the room, set his pillow down next to Se-han, and headed for the bathroom. From behind, a quiet voice called out.

“Se-han is sleeping, so wash quietly.”

“Okay.”

Nam-woon glanced at Seo-oh and closed the bathroom door with a clatter, which didn’t close well. Seo-oh clenched his fist as he looked at the closed door.

***

The next morning, as soon as Nam-woon woke up, he had to endure Se-han’s scolding.

Se-han shouted as he put the rice bowl he was holding with both hands on the table.

“Wooni Hyung! I was really worried about you yesterday!”

“Sorry…”

Following Se-han, Nam-woon weakly placed two rice bowls on the table. Se-han looked at Nam-woon with his eyebrows raised and his hands on his hips.

“I can’t live because of Wooni Hyung, really!”

His fierce shouting seemed like he was imitating the drama she was currently watching at Auntie Sooni’s house. Se-han had a rare angry expression, but Nam Woon bit his lips secretly at the sight of the cute child.

“Wooni Hyung, why do you really like alcohol?”

“I don’t really like alcohol.”

“I guess when I grow up and drink a lot, Wooni Hyung, you won’t be able to say anything!”

“What? Se-han, don’t drink alcohol. It’s bad for your body and brain.”

Se-han snorted softly at Nam-woon’s hurried response and scampered over to Seo-oh by the sink.

“Hyung, just put down the water cup.”

As Seo-oh picked up Se-han’s yellow water cup and headed to the dining table, Se-han followed him closely. Nam-woon quickly sat at the dining table and said softly,

“I’ll eat well.”

Se-han, with a large piece of seaweed stuck to the side of his lips, squirmed beside him and stood up while Nam-woon was watching Seo-oh’s reaction. He took a bite of his food and chewed.

“Wooni Hyung! Guess what happened to me yesterday~?’”

When I turned around, Se-han’s expression was incredibly cheerful, as if his earlier anger had quickly disappeared. Nam-woon swallowed his food and pretended to think seriously.

“Um… Did you drink Dal-kong’s soda-flavored drink?”

“Wrong!”

“Did you get caught by your brother for skipping Taekwondo class?”

“No, wrong!”

“Did you find the answer sheet for the math worksheets that Kwon Seo-oh hid? Oh right, you found it last time.”

“.….!”

Se-han covered Nam-woon’s mouth with his small hand and shouted, “No, not that!” Then, Kwon Seo-oh suddenly got up, rummaged through the bottom drawer of the wardrobe, and took out Se-han’s sticker book, stuffing it into his bag. Seeing this, Se-han’s face turned gloomy.