VDN Ch 127

Nam-woon answered, “Pink” and then put down his phone. He had felt a gaze on him from the side for some time. Nam-woon glanced at Hae-geon, relaxed his body, and asked the question that had been on his mind.

“Hey, what’s the trait of the son of Jonghwang Pharmaceutical?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Quickly.”

“He’s an Alpha.”

Why is Jonghwang Pharmaceutical’s son so desperately listening to Chairman Seok’s orders? Judging from the situation earlier, it must be because Chairman Seok knows Jonghwang Pharmaceutical’s son’s weakness, that is, his true trait.

But is he really so afraid of this exposure that he follows Seok’s orders? From Hae-geon’s words, not everyone is aware of this.

“Who do you think is the most desperate right now? I wouldn’t dare deceive the Chairman!”

For a man who has hidden his genetic trait to cling so desperately, there must be something he really needs… As Nam-woon fell into deep thought for a moment, Hae-geon, who had been tapping the steering wheel with his finger, asked,

“Where did you go earlier that you’re asking about the druggie’s trait?”

“…To the bathroom.”

“And why were you trying to leave through the back door instead of the front? You didn’t even want to go to the parking lot. Like a scared little rat.”

“Where I go is my own business.”

Hmm….Hae-geon let out a sound with a blank expression and muttered.

“It wasn’t me, it was you.”

Nam-woon turned his head at the words that he couldn’t understand. From the perfectly angled profile of the man, another incomprehensible sentence came out.

“You’re being followed, Nam-woon-ah.”

“…What?”

At Hae-geon’s words, Nam-woon’s body shot up from where he had been leaning against the seat. He checked the rearview mirror and side mirrors to see if any cars were following them. Seeing him flustered, Hae-geon asked,

“Did you do something to make someone hold a grudge against you?”

Nam-woon quickly turned his head to examine the car trailing behind them. A seemingly ordinary taxi driver in his 50s was yawning. A tail? That couldn’t be the case. Chairman Seok had come to the wedding to punish the son of Jonghwang Pharmaceutical for his failure. Moreover, even if someone was following him, Detective Jang would have given him a heads-up. After all, he had spoken with Detective Jang after meeting with the Chairman.

Nam-woon straightened his posture again, trying to calm down.

“I’m not the one being followed.” 

“Yes, you are.” 

“What makes you so sure?”

“They’ve been following you since this morning. To be precise, since the moment you got into my car. I didn’t realize at the time.”

Nam-woon’s eyes widened. They had been following him since he got into the car? He hadn’t noticed at all.

“Manager Jung saw them messing with my car in the parking lot. He tried to catch them but missed them. At first I thought they were after me… but their actions were suspicious. So I had the camera footage reviewed, and I confirmed earlier that they were people connected to Chairman Seok. They were filming the area where you’re sitting right now.”

Hae-geon fiddled with his phone and slightly tilted it toward Nam-woon. A dark video was playing on the small screen. A man wearing a cap was grinning as he filmed the passenger seat where Nam-woon had been sitting.

“……”

“I thought you knew you were being followed and wanted to go home because of that. Was I wrong?”

Nam-woon raised one hand and slowly covered his mouth. The voice of the son of Jonghwang Pharmaceutical suddenly came to mind.

“No, one of them couldn’t get inside.”

If it was true that they were really following him, it was a huge problem. All the times he had been going in and out of Seo-oh’s house and living with him would be discovered. The only good thing was that he hadn’t met Detective Jang in person recently.

Then, was Seo-oh being followed as well? The moment he realized the situation, chills ran down his spine. He urgently grabbed the car door handle.

“Let me out right now. Quickly.”

His heart raced. He needed to get out and call Detective Jang right away. However, Hae-geon pretended not to hear and continued driving silently. In his impatience, Nam-woon raised his voice.

“Can’t you hear me? Let me out!”

“Come on, that’s too much. We’re in the same boat here.”

“What do you mean we’re in the same boat?”

“Isn’t it true? Chairman Seok must have seen us going to the wedding.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Everyone at the wedding knows that you’re my lover. Since my lover is connected with Chairman Seok, I’m also in trouble. I didn’t have any choice in the matter.”

Hae-geon tossed his phone onto Nam-woon’s thigh. Nam-woon frowned and looked at the fallen phone. His anxious face was clearly reflected on the black screen. Hae-geon continued to speak affectionately and soothingly.

“Nam-woon, honestly, I despise people like Chairman Seok, who don’t know their place and act all high and mighty. There’s no way I’m going to give them any information on my lover to someone like that.”

A low voice flowed into Nam-woon’s ears.

“No matter what call you make, this car is safe. The real problem is the moment you step outside this car.”

That was definitely true. If Chairman Seok had indeed sent someone to follow him, it was highly likely that all his movements would be reported. There wasn’t a safer place than this car that he had just changed into. Nam-woon bit his lip and finally spoke up.

“…You, step outside for a moment.” 

“Where would I go when my boyfriend is here?”

I told you, I’ll keep it a secret. Don’t you trust me? Hae-geon replied slyly. It was as expected. He wanted to hear Nam-woon’s phone conversation.

Nam-woon watched him closely before picking up the phone that was resting on his thigh. He then dialed Detective Jang’s number. After a few rings, a tired voice came through the line.

– Hello?

“It’s Seok Nam-woon.”

Detective Jang responded, “Oh, why?” Nam-woon got straight to the point, just like before.

“Have you checked if Chairman Seok has someone following me?”

– Of course. There’s no one following you.

Nam-woon grated his teeth and spoke.

“Shit, there’s definitely someone following me.”

– What?

“I’m telling you, someone is following me.”

Nam-woon said, his anger rising as he spoke. The thought that Chairman Seok might be targeting Seo-oh had made him sensitive, leading him to spill all the words he had been holding back.

“Are you doing your job or not? Isn’t it because of people like you, detective, that all civil servants get cursed at!”

He yelled in frustration, his chest heaving. Detective Jang asked in a low voice,

– Calm down and tell me properly. What happened?

Nam-woon briefly explained what happened today. From attending the wedding at the request from the detective agency, Chairman Seok’s subordinates followed Hae-geon’s car as soon as Nam-woon got in, meeting the son of Jonghwang Pharmaceutical and the camera footage.

Detective Jang listened quietly without replying. There were sounds of rustling on the other end of the line, as if he were moving somewhere, and then a loud bang of a door hitting the wall. Along with that, a voice shouted angrily, “Who was in charge of monitoring Kwon Seo-oh? Get that bastard here right now!…What the hell, it’s not the time for writing a love letter!”

Detective Jang, furious, said he would call back later and tried to hang up. Just before he did, Nam-woon quickly added,

“One more thing. Chairman Seok isn’t targeting Seo-oh, right?”

“……”

Detective Jang was silent for a moment. It felt as if he were caught off guard and unable to respond, causing Nam-woon’s heart to drop. After a brief pause, a soft sigh was heard, followed by a question.

– Where did you hear such nonsense?

“Forget that and just answer me. Is it true or not? That’s all I need to know.”

Detective Jang took a long time to respond.

– Don’t worry. Chairman Seok isn’t going after Seo-oh. He’s looking for another Alpha. Kwon Seo-oh is fine.

“Are you sure?”

Nam-woon stopped questioning only after hearing Detective Jang assure him several times that Seo-oh was safe. However, his heart was still pounding. He couldn’t shake the suspicion that Chairman Seok, with his personality, wouldn’t hesitate to reach out to an Alpha that was right around the corner. Perhaps recognizing Nam-woon’s turmoil, Detective Jang shifted the topic to distract him.

– By the way, the Jonghwang Pharmaceutical you met today is originally famous for their trait drugs.

Nam-woon’s eyes widened. The only thing that came to mind when he heard “trait drugs” was one thing.

“Are you talking about changing traits?”

Detective Jang responded to Nam-woon’s words as if they were ridiculous. 

“That’s impossible. If they had developed such a drug, they wouldn’t need to cling to Chairman Seok. I’m talking about drugs for pheromone side effects. Those sold quite well. But I heard the company suddenly started to decline recently.”

“Why did the company suddenly start to decline?”

– It’s a common case of talent poaching. According to rumors, major researchers were offered large sums of money and left for other research institutes, but I don’t know if it’s true. Nothing has been confirmed so far.

Nam-woon, who heard that far, thought that it might just be his wild imagination, but maybe all of this was connected to Chairman Seok. In fact, Chairman Seok was trying to develop a drug that changes traits. That’s why he kidnapped Kwon Sang-moon to extract pheromones and even had his eyes on dominant alphas. It wouldn’t have been strange at all if he had stolen a researcher from a pharmaceutical company because he was so greedy.

Detective Jang seemed to think along similar lines and added softly,

– If we catch your father, everything will be revealed.

With that, Detective Jang said he would contact him again later and hung up. Nam-woon slowly lowered his phone from his ear with a troubled expression. Next to him, Hae-geon asked,

“Are you worried about Kwon Seo-oh? Are you afraid that Chairman Seok will touch him?”

“Shut up.”

“…You’re prickly. Well, sometimes waiting is necessary to get what you want.” 

Hae-geon reached out to the phone in Nam-Woon’s hand. His long fingertips touched the back of Nam-woon’s cold hand.

“You have to wait for the perfect opportunity. That’s what my grandfather always said when he was about to do something big.”

Hae-geon spoke lightly, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. 

“Nam-woon……”

Nam-woon frowned at the next words that came out of his mouth.

***

Nam-woon walked the streets alone, sorting out his complicated thoughts. He tried to leave Seo-oh’s house right away, but Detective Jang told him to act naturally like usual, saying doing that suddenly would be too obvious and would only provoke Chairman Seok. He also told him that if a report has already been made about him, Chairman Seok might make the first move sooner or later.

One comforting thing was that before all this happened earlier today, Detective Jang’s subordinate had visited Seo-oh’s house, pretending to be a gas inspector, to check for any hidden devices. They also checked Nam-woon’s phone, and fortunately, there were no issues.

Nam-woon hid his anxious feelings and called Seo-oh. A calm yet pleasant voice echoed in his ear.

– Hello, Hyung.

“Uh… What are you doing?”

– I’m working.

It was the same answer as usual. Nam-woon brought the phone closer to his ear.

– What are you doing, Hyung? Have you eaten? 

“I’m working too. And yes, I’ve eaten.”

– What did you eat? 

“Just rice with some tasty side dishes.”

He couldn’t exactly tell Seo-oh that he had attended a stranger’s wedding and had eaten a lavish course meal, so he made up an answer. Seo-oh then asked, slightly raising his voice as if he were happy.

– Did you like the cucumber kimchi I made? This time, Auntie Sooni told me to add more pear juice drink this time, so I tried that.

A smile formed on Nam-woon’s lips. Ah, he thinks the side dishes he made are delicious. It was a little funny, but it was also adorable.