VDN Ch 128

Nam-woon swallowed a laugh that was about to burst out, nodding his head even though there was no one to see it.

“Yeah. It was delicious. Make it again.”

– Got it. How about a cucumber salad next time?

“That sounds good. But why do you always make it with cucumbers?”

– I heard cucumbers are good for omega stamina and… they’re healthy.

Nam-woon thought he heard a strange word for a moment. Then Seo-oh quickly added, as if making an excuse.

– It’s hot these days. They say cucumbers are good for hydration. Hyung, you don’t usually drink much water….

Listening to Seo-oh’s low voice, Nam-woon unintentionally blurted out,

“I miss you.”

“……”

“No, I mean, it’s just that you’ve been coming home late lately, so I feel like I haven’t seen your face much…”

As he stammered, surprised by his own words, he heard a quiet voice on the other end of the phone.

– I’ll stop by home later, depending on the situation.

The two continued their conversation without hanging up for a while. As silence flowed between them, the call time passed away quickly. The first to speak was Seo-oh.

– I have to go now.

“…Oh, okay. See you later.”

Nam-woon pressed the end call button and absentmindedly rubbed his chest with his palm. Ever since Seo-oh had rejected his kiss, he had ignored his calls and hadn’t answered them. Perhaps that was why it felt like it had been a long time since he had heard his voice.

Standing in the middle of the street, he stared blankly at the short call log when Detective Jang’s name popped up on the screen. When he picked up the phone, a gruff voice flowed out.

– Neither you nor Seo-oh have anyone following you. We’ve already been discovered, so things might be quiet for a while…. Tsk, we’ll have to wait and see how that bastard Chairman Seok reacts. For now, do you remember the place I mentioned you to before? Get there right now.”

The place he mentioned was a small park about a 20-minute bus ride from Seo-oh’s house. Nam-woon stopped by his home to grab the yellow supplement he had secretly taken from Chairman Seok’s office before heading to the location Detective Jang had instructed him to go.

Arriving at the park, Nam-woon walked towards a statue of a small child located in one corner. He scanned the nearby bench and noticed a crumpled piece of paper that looked like trash. He sat down next to it and opened the small booklet he had received a while ago. After skimming through the interesting contents, he placed it down on the bench and quietly crumpled the paper into his fist. Then, pretending nothing was amiss, he stood up and headed toward the park entrance. Between the book he left behind was the yellow supplement.

Once he arrived at a location far from the park, he cautiously unfolded the paper. Inside was a small recording device. The paper had a clear handwriting note explaining how to use the recorder.

[Take it with you when your father calls. Don’t forget to turn it on before you meet.]

Nam-woon tucked it deep into his pocket and headed home.

*** 

As soon as he entered his house, he cleaned up the messy living room and scooped some leftover rice from the rice cooker, taking out side dishes from the fridge for a meal. Although he had eaten enough at the wedding venue, after talking to Seo-oh, he found himself craving the side dishes he had made. The cucumber kimchi tasted much better than the first time Seo-oh had made it.

Afterward, he leisurely finished washing the dishes and sat down on the living room floor. Nam-woon took out the recorder he had put in his pocket and rolled it around in his hands. The recorder was so small that it didn’t seem like it would be easily discovered.

“But when will Chairman Seok call… Seeing that he even hired someone to observe me, it must be soon, right?” 

As he gazed at the recorder, Nam-woon’s expression grew serious. While it was a relief that the surveillance had stopped, he couldn’t feel at ease thinking about meeting Chairman Seok. He was anxious about what he would say when he called him and how he would react to him living with Seo-oh.

The mention of the “Dominant Alpha” he heard at the wedding also lingered in his mind. Surely, they wouldn’t ask them to bring Seo-oh in, right? Detective Jang had reassured him that everything would be fine, but a sense of unease crept in. He suddenly felt the urge to see Seo-oh’s face in person and confirm his safety.

“Can I really trust Detective Jang? Surely he didn’t just get a vague understanding of the situation?” 

Nam-woon anxiously scrolled through the messages exchanged with Detective Jang multiple times. During this, he accidentally discovered a new profile that had popped up in his messaging app. 

[Prosecutor] 

It was the match partner of Jin Hae-geon he had encountered at the wedding. He couldn’t remember her name, so he had saved it as “Prosecutor” for now. Come to think of it, he had made a considerable effort to disrupt the date, but he wasn’t sure if he had succeeded. Nam-woon called up the system after a long time. 

“Status window.” 

[Yes, you called?] 

“Did I fail to interfere with Jin Hae-geon’s matchmaking date?” 

[The results haven’t been confirmed yet.]

He didn’t even know if the prosecutor was going to try to persuade her grandfather. Nam-woon asked about other missions.

“What was that gauge from before? You should at least tell me what the question mark means.” 

[?? Gauge cannot be disclosed yet. It will be revealed once the gauge reaches 99%. The current gauge is at 3%.]  

As always, he found it ridiculous. How could he achieve something without even knowing its name when given a mission? With a sense of injustice, Nam-woon spoke up. 

“Then how the hell am I supposed to fill the gauge? Shouldn’t you at least give me a hint?”

[Seok Nam-woon, would you like to use a lottery ticket for a hint?] 

“Uh. I’ll use it.” 

As soon as Nam-woon finished his reply, five small brown boxes suddenly floated in mid-air. The boxes were numbered from 1 to 5. 

[The treasure boxes you see now contain hints about the ?? gauge. What is Seok Nam-woon’s lucky number? Please choose your desired box!]  

[Remaining lottery tickets: 1] 

Nam-woon focused intently on the floating boxes, pondering for a while before finally speaking up. 

“I’ll pick….box 4?”

The lid of the box suddenly popped open, and a sparkling golden effect appeared around it. Accompanied by lively music, a parchment-like paper emerged from within, and neat writing began to appear on it.

[Something that Kwon Seo-oh used to do but doesn’t do recently these days.]

“What is that?” 

Nam-woon was at a loss. Just this one clue wasn’t even close to the answer. He furrowed his brows, expressing his dissatisfaction. 

Then, unexpectedly, a small ticket popped out. 

[Congratulations! You have won ‘One More Time’!]  

[Would you like to use ‘One More Time’ to see another hint? 

▶ Yes] 

Nam-woon quickly pressed the ‘Yes’ button and looked at the box with a cautious gaze. 

“Box 3.” 

[?? Related word: Excitement] 

Nam-woon frowned. Excitement…? At that moment, something suddenly popped into his mind. What Kwon Seo-oh hasn’t been doing lately and something related to excitement. Honestly, the only thing that came to mind was something inappropriate. 

“Hey, it’s not something weird, right?” 

[I cannot interpret what you mean.] 

“Ah, I mean… isn’t it related to physical contact?” 

[I cannot interpret what you mean.] 

Damn. The system spat out meaningless responses as if refusing to provide any more hints. Despite the system’s uncooperative attitude, Nam-woon was almost 99% sure of the answer. 

“No matter how I look at it, it can only be…s*x.” 

It was a word that felt embarrassing to say or even think about. Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since he had any physical contact with Seo-oh. It wasn’t just that. These days, Seo-oh had been coming home late and seemed to be avoiding him, so he hadn’t even been able to catch a whiff of his pheromones. Not so long ago, he’d been embarrassed because his lower body would react to Seo-oh’s pheromones, but now he was embarrassed because he wanted to smell his pheromones more.

Kwon Seo-oh smells so f*cking good.

Having thought that far, Nam-woon lowered his head deeply. The tips of his ears turned red. What am I thinking right now? It had been quite a while since they had done anything, and yet his mind was already swimming in lewd fantasies. This wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things, especially with the uncertainty of when Chairman Seok might call him. Am I really crazy?

However, the lewd thoughts that had once started to come to mind showed no sign of stopping. If he had never experienced pleasure before, it might have been easier to ignore, but having tasted it even once, the intensity was too strong, and just thinking about it made his body tingle a bit.

“But did Kwon Seo-oh not enjoy being with me? At first, he wouldn’t listen when I told him not to, and now…”

A few days ago, Nam-woon had been rejected even for a kiss. Naturally, negative thoughts began to rise. Looking back now, the story about Haeng-won’s love advice which he had forgotten seemed to hold some truth. Perhaps after tasting something, the interest fades, leading one to seek something new. Lost in his gloomy thoughts, Nam-woon suddenly sprang to his feet. Checking the time, he realized there were still 30 minutes left until Seo-oh was supposed to arrive. Instead of sulking alone, he could just check for himself.

How? With his own body. With a determined expression, Nam-woon pulled the neatly folded futon from one side of the room. It was still late afternoon, and the sun had not yet set, but he spread the futon perfectly on the floor. After perfectly arranging two floral-patterned pillows, he opened the wardrobe drawer. He spotted a new pair of underwear that still hadn’t been unwrapped. Nam-woon picked it up and hurriedly made his way to the bathroom.

Yes, the s*x… gauge had to be raised. The system even said it would reward him, so I couldn’t give it up. To be honest, his body was about to burst. He also had a little desire to see if Seo-oh was still reacting to his body.

“Ah, I don’t know. Let’s just take a shower first.”

Nam-woon took off his clothes and turned on the water. He scrubbed his skin, taking a more thorough shower than ever before, then turned off the water. Drip, drip. Water droplets slowly fell from his wet bangs. He glanced around, wiping the droplets off his straight nose with the back of his hand. The aloe gel that Se-han had bought to make slime came into view.

I’m sorry, Se-han, but should I try using that for now? Hesitantly, he took some gel on his finger and awkwardly reached behind.