VDN Ch 169

The reason Nam-woon posted the items for sale on the second-hand marketplace was simple. If he threw them away in the neighborhood recycling area, they would likely be discovered by Grandfather Nam-nam and Sundol.

Then, the merciless residents of the neighborhood would undoubtedly find out who owned these obscene items, destroy his social standing, and reduce him to mere gossip. That’s why Nam-woon swallowed his embarrassment and uploaded the sales post on the used goods app.

Because of this, Nam-woon took the risk of embarrassment and posted the sale on the second-hand trading app.

He felt bad about selling Seo-oh’s belongings without a word, but Nam-woon had no choice. If he kept them in the house, he felt like Seo-oh would eventually take them out and use them again.

That guy has an unexpectedly weird side to him.

He had to get rid of them quickly before Kwon Seo-oh picked up any bad habits. He planned to give the money from the sale back to Seo-oh. For some reason, there were surprisingly many people interested in buying the items, so fortunately, he was able to schedule a meet-up quickly.

He needed to complete the transaction before 6 o’clock, and he began to worry because the buyer seemed to be running late. Nam-woon sent a message through the app asking where they were. Then, as he stood there blankly waiting for the buyer, the phone in his hand vibrated. He checked it; it was a call from Yong-deuk.

“Oh, hey, Yong-deuk.” 

– Young master, where are you right now? 

“I’m outside.” 

– I’m sorry, but could you come with me for a moment? We need to go to a debtor’s house.

“What? Why?” 

– You know the check you received from your debtor a few months ago? It turns out that check was counterfeit.

“What?”

Startled, Nam-woon raised his voice. Counterfeit money? It felt like he had experienced every kind of crime since coming to this world. Yong-deuk’s tone was also flustered, as if this were the first time he had encountered such a situation.

– We don’t normally accept checks. So, I went to find the guy to try and handle it myself, but the bastard insisted he’d paid you back in full and basically told me to ‘sue him’. So, young master, can you come with me for a minute?

Nam-woon quickly checked the time. It seemed a bit tight to go take care of this and come back… But since it happened because of his mistake, it was only right for him to resolve it. Just then, Yong-deuk added.

– It won’t take long. It’s nearby.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Nam-woon shared his current location with Yong-deuk, who said he would come pick him up and canceled the goods transaction. A short while later, a familiar-looking car pulled up in front of him. As he got into the passenger seat, Yong-deuk frowned apologetically.

“I’m sorry, young master. I should have handled this myself…”

“It’s fine, I’m the one who mistakenly accepted it. But damn, do I have to check for counterfeits now, too? At this rate, I should have become a cop.”

Nam-woon grumbled as he picked up his phone. He was in the middle of watching a YouTube video on how to identify counterfeit money when a notification popped up at the top of the screen.

[Send me the prosecutor’s contact information.]

It was a message from Detective Jang. Oh right, he had promised to send the prosecutor’s contact information but had forgotten. Nam-woon quickly searched for the contact. Just as he was about to press the call button, he hesitated and glanced sideways.

Even if it’s just Yong-deuk, it’s probably not a good idea to talk to the prosecutor right here, is it?

In the end, Nam-woon decided to give up on the call and opened the messaging app. However, before he could send a message, his phone rang. As soon as he answered, the other person shouted.

– If you saw the message, you need to send it quickly! 

“Wait, you should talk to them directly first!”

– Talk? No time for that. Send me the number now. I’ll decide whether or not Chairman Seok actually paid her off after I look into it myself.”

The call hung up right away, as if it was really urgent. Nam-woon, who was getting impatient, gave the number to Detective Jang first and then left a message for the prosecutor.

[Hello, this is Seok Nam-woon.]

[Sorry for the sudden message, but you might be receiving a call from Detective Jang.]

[And I didn’t mention it earlier, but my name is Seok Nam-woon, not Seo.]

[If you see this, please call me.]

After that, he thought for a moment and sent a text to Seo-oh as well. 

[Gotta go do something with Yong-deuk quick.]

[If I’m late, go ahead and eat with Se-han first.]

Then, for the first time in his life, he pressed the emoticon button. There were a ton of different pictures. All the basic emojis were cute and adorable. If a big guy sent something like this, it would be embarrassing, right? In the end, Nam-woon gave up on the emojis and just sent a simple “haha” before putting his phone down.

Just then, as if he had been waiting, Yong-deuk handed him a takeout coffee. 

“Here, have this. I just bought it.” 

Receiving the coffee from Yong-deuk’s hand, Nam-woon took a sip through the straw, and the cool drink flowed into his throat. Gulp. After a few sips of coffee, Nam-woon asked, 

“By the way, is Deok-chil going to be okay?”

“…Of course. How tough do you think that guy is?”

That’s a relief. Nam-woon nodded lightly as he looked out the front windshield. Suddenly, he felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him. He leaned back deeply into the seat. Yong-deuk carefully observed Nam-woon’s face, which was growing relaxed and asked, 

“Young master, are you tired?” 

“Huh, a little…” 

“Then go ahead and take a nap. I’ll wake you when we get there.”

Nam-woon drifted off into a deep sleep without even managing to reply.

***

Beep—beep—

“Hyung’s not answering…”

He checked the time on his phone again. 6:14. It had been almost 15 minutes since he sent the text, but there was no reply. When he tried calling, it went straight to the voicemail message. Fortunately, the restaurant they planned to go to didn’t have a reservation system, so being late wasn’t an issue, but he was getting worried since he couldn’t reach him.

Is Se-han on his way? He said he would come directly here after hanging out with his friends. He kept looking around in front of the restaurant, wondering if familiar faces would show up.

At that moment, a group of office workers poured out of a building. Seo-oh stared at them and thought, 

“I’ll be able to go to work like that soon.” 

He had told Nam-woon that he was dressed in a suit for a school presentation, but in reality, he had just come back from a job interview. It was an interview arranged through a professor’s recommendation. 

Although it was just an internship, it was a valuable opportunity where a good evaluation within the company could lead to a full-time position after graduation. If he passed the final interview, he could save up a lot of money over the next six months. That way, Hyung could rely on him a bit more. 

Even though they were not far apart in age, Nam-woon often treated him like a child. Of course, it wasn’t bad to see Nam-woon treat him cutely. After all, who would hate the affectionate attention of someone they liked?

However, it wasn’t always satisfying. He wanted to appeal more to his masculine and mature charm rather than just being seen as cute. Although he often ended up showing a clumsy side because things didn’t go as he wished… 

Last night was the same. After hearing Nam-woon’s anxious and gloomy words, Seo-oh realized that he had been greatly mistaken. 

“What if there’s no Hope?”

He had made those words come out of Hyung’s mouth. Looking back, Nam-woon’s words had been consistent from the beginning. He had repeatedly said that he was not pregnant, and it was all a misunderstanding, but Seo-oh had only viewed this as a defense mechanism to avoid the fact of his pregnancy. 

He had his reasons. According to what he had found out, adult omegas who had lived as betas for a long time, especially male omegas, often had a strong aversion to pregnancy. Therefore, when they actually became pregnant, it was common for them to hide or deny the fact. 

Moreover, Nam-woon tended to raise his voice or strongly deny things whenever he felt embarrassed or wanted to hide something. So he thought it was the same this time.

I feel like such an idiot. What must Hyung have thought of me? He probably thought I was being affectionate because of the baby. He wanted to slap himself hard out of self-loathing.

Seo-oh stared blankly at Nam-woon’s sleeping profile, unable to sleep himself that night. He couldn’t shake the image of Nam-woon’s anxious face from his mind. Although he had said it wasn’t because of the baby that he was being nice, but rather because he was Hyung, he wasn’t sure if his feelings had been conveyed well.

I don’t mind if I don’t have hope. If only Hyung were by my side, I would have nothing more to wish for.

Throughout the early morning, he reflected on his past actions and vowed never to instill such anxiety in Nam-woon again. 

To do that, it seemed he needed to make a clear confession, but when and how should he do it? Should he wait until he receives the results of the interview? 

Seo-oh imagined how Nam-woon would react upon hearing his confession. He would probably be really surprised, right? If his face turned red, it would be so cute. The overwhelming excitement surged within him, causing his heart to race painfully fast.

Just as he was lost in these happy thoughts, his phone vibrated. A familiar name appeared on the screen. 

“Hello?” 

– Hello, Seo-oh Hyung. This is Min-chan, Se-han’s friend. Did you call me by chance? 

“Yes. Min-chan, is Se-han with you right now?” 

– Se-han? No, he isn’t. We all went home this afternoon. 

“…Really?” 

Didn’t he say he’d come straight here after hanging out with friends? That didn’t add up. When he called home earlier today, no one had answered the phone…