VDN Ch 46

He was gasping for breath. His heart was pounding as if it would burst and sweat broke out all over his body. The breaths he couldn’t swallow were exhaled heavily. Red afterimages flashed through Nam-woon’s closed eyes.

Cars stopped on the road—an overturned black car and a man covered in blood inside.

“Oh my, it looks like there was a big accident.”

The murmuring voices of the people and

“That car… It looks like my dad’s car.”

His own voice was muttering softly.

“Ugh.”

Nam-woon clutched his chest in agony.

“Hyung, what’s wrong!?”

Seo-oh immediately opened the car door. He couldn’t leave Nam-woon in the car like this.

He opened the driver’s side door and practically carried Nam-woon out of the car. Looking around, Seo-oh spotted a convenience store with parasols nearby. The parasol was soaked, but there was no time to worry about that. He sat Nam-woon down on a plastic chair, wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and let him lean against his chest.

“Hyung, Nam-woon Hyung, look at me.”

“Sugh…”

“It’s okay, Hyung.”

Even in his dazed state, Nam-woon could feel Seo-oh’s high body temperature against him. He could sense Seo-oh’s steady breathing right beside him. Even as he struggled to breathe, he listened to Seo-oh’s voice and slowly matched his breathing to his. Seo-oh kept holding him and soothing him with a constant stream of comforting words.

Lean on me. You’ll be okay soon. I’m right here.

The hot body temperature, the warm voice in his ears, the large hands wrapped around his shoulder and his solid chest.

The soothing touch, as if comforting a child, was warm. Nam-woon held Seo-oh’s hand tightly, his fingertips turning pale. Then Seo-oh also held Nam-woon’s hand tightly.

Nam-woon returned to reality more quickly than usual. As he leaned against Seo-oh’s body and caught his breath, his anxiety gradually faded, and he really felt better in no time

“Are you feeling a bit better now?”

Nam-woon didn’t answer but just nodded his head.

The first feeling that came to him as he regained his senses was embarrassment. He couldn’t lift his face. Experience points about temporary sickness or something accumulated in the air, but he couldn’t check properly.

“Are you still not feeling well?”

“…No, I’m okay now.”

Nam-woon was secretly nervous, thinking that Seo-oh would ask him why he suddenly had such symptoms and when they started. But Kwon Seo-oh didn’t ask anything, just told him to wait a moment, and then sat Nam-woon back in the chair.

A moment later, Seo-oh emerged from the convenience store with something in his hand. It was three raincoats.

They were both completely soaked from hugging each other in the rain. Seo-oh unfolded the folded raincoat and began putting it on Nam-woon’s body. 

“Hey, I’ll do it.”

“Hyung, you’re not feeling well. Just stay still.”

“Give it to me.”

“Raise your arm.”

“Raise your arms.”

Feeling like Se-han, Nam-woon sniffled for no reason and raised his arms. Even though he said he could do it himself, Seo-oh didn’t let him and buttoned up the raincoat one button at a time. Embarrassed, Nam-woon just kept sniffling.

Seo-oh quickly put on his own raincoat and pulled Nam-woon along. Naturally, their hands were clasped together. Nam-woon fidgeted with his fingers and said,

“Se-han will be waiting. You go ahead. I’ll stay here a bit and then go.”

“What are you talking about? How are you going to stay here alone?”

“I’m fine now.”

Seo-oh didn’t even bother to respond and walked over to the front of the convenience store.

“I left my ID with the convenience store owner and got permission.”

In front of Seo-oh and Nam-woon was a bicycle with a rear seat attached. Seo-oh got on the bike and stared at Nam-woon. Not wanting to make Se-han wait any longer by arguing, Nam-woon quickly got in the back seat. As he grabbed the edge of the seat, Kwon Seo-oh said,

“Hold onto my waist.”

“It’s fine.”

“Come on.”

Nam-woon hesitantly grabbed the hem of Seo-oh’s raincoat around his waist. Then Seo-oh pulled Nam-woon’s hand to wrap it around his waist.

“I’m going to go fast, so hold on tight. Don’t grab the back.”

Nam-woon’s body pressed against Seo-oh’s broad back. Despite saying he’d go fast, Seo-oh pedaled slowly. The rain had eased to a gentle drizzle, and Nam-woon turned his head to quietly watch the rainy scenery.

Maybe because of Seo-oh’s warm body, he didn’t feel cold anymore. From time to time, Seo-oh would ask, “Are you holding on tight? Are you feeling okay? Should we take a break?” and answering him didn’t feel so bad.

“Hey. I’m fine, so stop asking.”

Even as he replied gruffly on purpose, Nam-woon carefully leaned his body against Seo-oh’s back so he wouldn’t notice. The soft sound of rain on their raincoats filled the air.

***

“Hyung!”

Se-han, who had been waiting for his brother at school, saw Nam-woon and Seo-oh walking up with the bike and ran over, eyes sparkling, and hugged him tightly. Two of Se-han’s friends, whom Nam-woon had met before while playing baseball, ran up to him.

“Oh, it’s Nam-woon Hyung!” The children approached with happy expressions and bombarded Nam-woon with various questions.

“You’re wearing a raincoat too? I’m wearing one too!”

“Good job. Did you bring an umbrella?”

“Yes, here it is!”

The child who showed his umbrella was surprised when he looked at the bicycle Nam-woon had brought along.

“But did you come on the bicycle in the rain?”

“Well…”

“Wow, that’s awesome. You didn’t fall? My dad says not to ride bikes when it’s raining.”

“I don’t fall. I can even go downstairs on a unicycle.”

Nam-woon grinned as he boasted, and the kid gasped in amazement. Nam-woon quickly added that they shouldn’t try to copy him. The kid with glasses looked back and forth between Seo-oh and Se-han, then pointed at Seo-oh and asked who he was. When Nam-woon said, “Actually, he’s Se-han’s real brother,” the kid stared at Seo-oh, thinking hard, and then suddenly asked,

“Are you a celebrity? I think I saw you on TV last night.”

At that, Nam-woon burst out laughing. Seo-oh shook his head slightly with an awkward expression, then buttoned up Se-han’s raincoat tightly. Se-han’s face was all smiles, clearly excited that his Hyungs had come to pick him up.

The three of them, all wearing raincoats, said goodbye to Se-han’s friends and then they took Se-han’s hands as they headed home.

The three of them, all in raincoats, said goodbye to Se-han’s friends, then took Se-han’s hands and headed home.

“We’re home!”

“I’m home.”

“Se-han, you go in and wash up first. Here, Hyung.”

Seo-oh handed Nam-woon a dry towel. Nam-woon took off his raincoat and wiped his wet face and hair with the towel. Se-han, who finished washing up quickly, came out of the bathroom showing off his round belly, and then Seo-oh pushed Nam-woon into the bathroom for his turn and closed the door.

“Se-han, I think Hyung is a bit tired today.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I think he’s been working a lot lately. Let’s let him rest well today.”

“Uh… okay…”

When Nam-woon came out after washing up, he roughly dried his hair and put the towel down, but Seo-oh said,

“Your hair’s still wet.”

“It’ll dry on its own.”

Then Se-han quickly picked up the towel Nam-woon had put down and came over to ask,

“Shall I dry it for you?”

“Sure.”

Nam-woon held back a laugh and sat on the floor with his legs crossed. Se-han covered Nam-woon’s head with the towel and rubbed the top of his head with his small hands. Nam-woon could feel the little hands moving. Regardless of whether his hair was getting properly dried, Nam-woon felt a bit better.

After rubbing with the towel, Se-han checked several times to see if the hair was dry and then seemed to give up and ask his brother for help.

“Hyung! Please dry Wooni Hyung’s hair!”

“Se-han, it’s okay. My hair is all dry now.”

Nam-woon spoke urgently, but Seo-oh, already holding a hairdryer, had stepped forward. Se-han moved aside as a warm breeze swept through Nam-woon’s hair, accompanied by the steady hum of the dryer and Seo-oh’s large hand.

Apart from the time Deok-chil had introduced him to a hair salon, Nam-woon had never experienced someone else drying his hair. Seo-oh’s fingers glided gently over his scalp. Several times, Nam-woon turned his head, insisting he was fine, only to be met with hot air blowing directly into his face each time. Resigned, he looked straight ahead again, thinking,

Why are they like this today?

Ever since they entered the house, they have both been strangely kind. Next to him, Se-han was feeding Nam-woon jelly, one bite at a time.

“Is it delicious?”

“Yeah. Super delicious.”

“This has vitamins in it!”

“That’s really good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It relieves fatigue. It says so right here!”

Nam-woon smiled at the jelly bag Se-han showed him and slightly closed his eyes in the warm wind.

[Nam-woon]

[You need to run an errand.]

It’s because of that he didn’t immediately check the message on his phone.