VDN Ch 155

Bong-nam quickly scanned the man’s attire. The lightly worn black shirt was anything but ordinary. It didn’t have any logos, but the simple yet uniquely shaped buttons were clearly the signature of a renowned luxury brand. Just that shirt alone would surely cost well into the hundreds.

The pants he wore underneath also seemed to be from a high-end brand that was rapidly rising in popularity among young entrepreneurs these days. If the man had worn a watch today, it would have been like carrying the cost of an apartment on his body.

Was he a chaebol, not a gangster? Which group is he from?’

Bong-nam, who had worked at the upscale restaurant Peachy Peachy, was quite familiar with this attire. While Bong-nam was flustered by the completely different appearance from what he had imagined, the man’s dry lips opened.

“Where is he?”

There was an inexplicable look of fatigue on his face. But he did not appear to be emaciated. It was because his eyes seemed to be filled with a strange excitement. The man exuded a dark and decadent aura that could belong in a R-rated movie.

“Hey, please sit down first.”

Bong-nam avoided the man’s eyes and looked at the chair across from him. However, the man ignored his words and asked again.

“Where is Hyung?”

“……”

After hesitating, Bong-nam slowly raised his eyes, made eye contact with the man and cautiously spoke.

“…Before I tell you where Nam-woon is, there’s one thing I need to confirm. What is your relationship with Nam-woon?”

“……”

The man stared down at Bong-nam without answering. If a person could kill with just a look, Bong-nam would have already been in another world. That’s how fierce his gaze was.

After he stood for a while in that state, the man suddenly placed one hand on the back of the chair in front of him. His hand was as large as the lid of a pot, and his veiny forearms caught Bong-nam’s eye. Bong-nam swallowed hard in tension.

At that moment, a commanding voice was heard. Although he hadn’t physically harmed him, the scene before his eyes was threatening enough on its own.

“Lover.”

“What?”

“I’m dating Seok Nam-woon.”

Bong-nam frowned at the man’s words. What was going on? Mr. Seok clearly said he wasn’t in a relationship. Their statements contradict each other. Suppressing his doubts, Bong-nam asked again.

“Does that mean you are officially dating Seok Nam-woon?”

“Yes.”

The answer came without a trace of hesitation. Bong-nam lowered his head and thought. It’s true that Mr. Seok wasn’t the brightest, but could he have forgotten something as important as confirming their relationship? The expression on Mr. Seok’s face when he said he didn’t have a lover seemed so sincere… Could it be that the man is lying?

Bong-nam narrowed his eyes sharply. 

“Are you telling me such a lie because you think I know nothing about Nam-woon? Nam-woon has already told me that he has no relationship with you.”

In that moment, one of the man’s eyes twitched. Bong-nam could see the joints on the large hand gripping the back of the chair, flinching. It was the first noticeable change since the man had entered the café.

Bong-nam was sure that it was the man who was lying.

Bong-nam let out a sigh at the man’s brazen behavior. He felt foolish for being so tense just based on the man’s appearance and clothing. Regardless of how he looked, he was just an alpha who had done something terrible to someone who had feelings for him. Why had he been so on edge?

If the man had honestly said he had no relationship with Nam-woon, Bong-nam might have cautiously considered whether he had feelings for Nam-woon. Instead, the man was lying for some unknown reason. If he knew Mr. Seok’s feelings and still chose to spat out lies like that…

Bong-nam grabbed the bag he had placed on the chair’s backrest and got up from his seat. There was nothing more to see. The man was the worst kind of person, someone who deceived and exploited others’s genuine feelings.

“I had Nam-woon living with me for a short while, but he left days ago. The reason I called you today was that I wanted to see for myself what kind of person made Nam-woon like that. I was worried that I might be wrong, but it turns out I was right. I have nothing more to say to someone like you.”

As Bong-nam passed by the man, who stood there with a dark look in his eyes. Bong-nam walked toward the entrance of the cafe. However, not long after, he was grabbed by the back of the neck by a strong hand.

Thud.

“Ah…! Wh-what are you, what are you doing right now?!”

Holding Bong-nam’s slender nape with one hand, Seo-oh stepped out of the café. As Seo-oh roughly released his grip, Bong-nam’s body fell to the floor.

“Ugh, why…?”

“What is your relationship with Seok Nam-woon?”

A sinister voice flowed through his tightly clenched teeth. The man’s entire body radiated ferocious energy.

“Why are you suddenly doing this…?!”

Seo-oh bent down and grabbed Bong-nam by the collar. At that hold, Bong-nam was held up helplessly, flailing like a paper doll.

“Say it.”

“Ugh!”

“Why was Hyung with you?”

“Uh… I, Nam-woon…”

“Speak!”

An angry voice pierced his ears sharply. At that moment, Nam-woon’s small voice calling for Hope overlapped in Bong-nam’s mind like an auditory hallucination.

Seok Nam-woon lowered his head in embarrassment as he said he was worried about the man. The exposed nape of his neck and the awkward side profile. Anyone could tell that it was the face of someone who had fallen in love.

Bong-nam’s eyes narrowed. He hoped the man would suffer a little because of Nam-woon. He wanted the man to feel at least as anxious as Nam-woon’s toes and that he would think of Nam-woon sincerely. With a surge of anger, Bong-nam impulsively spoke.

“I like Nam-woon! Not too long ago, he had feelings for me and even suggested we date first! Rather than sending Nam-woon off to someone like you, I’d rather date him myself. Ugh…”

His whole body stung. He felt like being pricked by invisible thorns. Bong-nam slowly raised his gaze at the strange sensation. The man’s pitch-black pupils flickered creepily in front of his eyes.

“He is mine. He won’t be taken by anyone else.”

“Argh..”

“Do you think a brat like you could possibly satisfy him?”

As soon as the man finished speaking, his airway tightened. At the same time, his fingers trembled. It felt as if all the nerves in his body were blocked. Bong-nam struggled to breathe, unable to think of any defense against the man’s overwhelming presence. It wasn’t just the man’s brute strength. It was the horribly violent pheromones that pressed down on him.

Is he dominant?

The average alpha couldn’t suppress Bong-nam, who was a dominant omega, with pheromones. This was why, despite the countless advances people had made to him, he could maintain his composure without blinking an eye. Bong-nam considered that one of the few advantages of being dominant.

However, this didn’t work on people with the same dominant trait. Pheromones worked very differently between dominants.

Nam-woon must have felt this way too. Being grabbed like this by this man and being suppressed by his pheromones…

The violence the man exerted on Bong-nam was as natural as flowing water. Since he wouldn’t succumb to physical violence, the man resorted to suppressing Bong-nam with pheromones. It didn’t seem like a skill he had practiced in a day or two. Bong-nam shouted in an agitated tone.

“Of all people, Nam-woon had to get caught up with trash like you…! Nam-woon deserves better!”

“Don’t you have any sense of the situation? Who do you think you are speaking for him? If you don’t want to die, tell me where Seok Nam-woon is.”

Bong-nam ignored the man’s voice with one ear and lamented about his and Nam-woon’s lives.

“Because of alphas like you, omegas like us have to suffer like this! Nam-woon… ugh.”

With every mention of Nam-woon’s name, the hand gripping his collar tightened. However, Bong-nam did not give in and continued to sob.

“I feel bad for Nam-woon and Hope…”

In that moment, Seo-oh paused, his body stiffening. He raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar name.

“Hope?”

He didn’t notice that Seo-oh’s eyes had changed strangely, and Bong-nam continued to sob. The sound of his wailing was so loud and heartbreaking that passersby would glance at him. Then, upon seeing Seo-oh’s ominous expression, he would hurriedly avert his gaze.

“Nam-woon, Hope… ugh…”

“Who?”

“Someone like you has no right to be involved in Hope’s life…”

“Who is Hope?”

“Who do you think it is?!”

Bong-nam shot a glare at Seo-oh and yelled.

“It’s your baby, you bastard!”

“…What?”

Seo-oh looked at Bong-nam with a stunned expression. Bong-nam scowled.

“You trash! It’s because of you that Nam-woon is pregnant!”

“……”

Shock washed over Seo-oh’s face, which had been cold the whole time. He stared at Bong-nam, his mouth agape. A moment later, the large hand that had been gripping Bong-nam’s neck released with a thud. His lips moved, but no sound came out, and his pitch-black pupils shook back and forth in a state of panic.

Meanwhile, Bong-nam’s strength vanished, and he sat down on the floor, continuing to cry and lament. Perhaps because he had been swallowing his sorrow alone for so long, his emotions that had burst out were hard to control.

“Nam-woon said he’d raise the child alone, he is already thinking of getting alpha perfume.”

Alpha perfume…? Seo-oh, who had been absent-minded for a moment, grabbed the fabric of his clothes in a hurry at the familiar word.

“Perfume? Did you say that Hyung is going to the perfume shop?”

“Don’t ask me any more about Nam-woon! You have no right to ask where he is. You have no idea how hard it is for single-parent families, do you? Of course you don’t know. What would a rich bastard like you know?”

Bong-nam glared at Seo-oh with eyes full of animosity.

Perfume shop, single-parent families, Hope… pregnancy.

“Hyung…”

Seo-oh called Nam-woon’s name like a groan. There was no color left in his face.