VDN Ch 35

Seo-oh looked at Nam-woon with a sullen expression, then soon sat down and started rummaging through his bag to pull out a book. 

It had been a while since the rut incident. Nam-woon felt embarrassed as he remembered that day, but he was also glad to see Kwon Seo-oh after not seeing him for a few days. 

“Was it you who’s the new guy in the office?” 

As Nam-woon tried to approach Seo-oh, Yong-deuk frowned next to him and said, 

“Young master, we might need to spray some air freshener.”

Yong-deuk sniffed and opened the office window. Ah, does it smell like pizza? At Yong-deuk’s words, Nam-woon sniffed his sleeve, and suddenly there was a loud bang! Seo-oh, who had thrown a thick book on the floor, was glaring at Nam-woon. 

“Have you been at that acquaintance’s house until now?” 

“So what if I was?” 

Seo-oh suddenly kicked his chair away and approached Nam-woon. Then Yong-deuk, frowning even more than before, opened all the windows.

Seo-oh, still glaring at Nam-woon, spat out bitterly, 

“It stinks like hell.” 

“Does it smell that bad?” 

“What the hell did you do to come back smelling like that?” 

“I was just there for a bit…” 

Nam-woon stepped back from Seo-oh, trailing off his words. It was a disaster. After delivering five pizzas, it seemed the smell was lingering. Even though he smelled of food, he didn’t expect such an oversensitive reaction. Seo-oh was quite fussy in a lot of ways. 

“It looks like we’re out of air freshener, should I go buy some?” 

“I’ll go get it.” 

Nam-woon was about to head to the door when someone beat him to it. It was Seo-oh. He grabbed Nam-woon’s wrist and strode towards the door. Suddenly, Nam-woon looked like a little kid being dragged away by an angry mother in front of all his subordinates. 

Once outside the building, Seo-oh let go of Nam-woon’s hand and said in a low voice, 

“Damn, what have you been rolling in to smell like that?” 

“Do you hate pizza?” 

“Pizza? Why are we talking about pizza now? Do I look like I’m joking?” 

“No, why are you getting angry over something like this?” 

“Something like this…” 

Seo-oh closed his eyes and sighed deeply, causing his bangs to flutter slightly.

Nam-woon was dumbfounded. He had been sending messages and even calling for him for days, so he thought Seo-oh might have opened up a bit to him, but today it seemed that wasn’t the case at all. Nam-woon was also getting a bit annoyed. 

“Hey, you say it stinks, but I’m worse off about it than you, right?” 

“Then you should behave better.” 

“Why are you talking about behavior here? I behave just fine!” 

Too well, in fact. So much so that his first kiss had been with Kwon Seo-oh. 

Hearing Nam-woon’s words, Seo-oh’s face showed a sneer, as if he were hearing something ridiculous. 

“Even a passing dog would laugh.” 

“What?” 

“Do you think I don’t know you’ve been hopping from house to house like a slut? How many houses do you visit other than ours?” 

“Slut? Did you just call me a slut?” 

Nam-woon focused on the word that struck him directly more than Seo-oh’s harsh words. The word ‘slut’ was too powerful to ignore. He now understood how Jin-sang must have felt earlier. 

“Yeah, a slut.” 

“How could you call me as a slut? Hey, why are you being like this? It’s normal for people to pick up different smells as they live, why are you so sensitive?” 

“Sensitive, me?” 

“Yes!” 

“……”

Kwon Seo-oh had no response. Nam-woon took the opportunity to say what he had been wanting to say. 

“Honestly, haven’t we been pretty good lately? Why are you acting like this after meeting for the first time in a while?” 

“You’ve been acting weird since…!” 

Seo-oh started to say something but then shut his mouth again. It was Nam-woon who was getting furious. Why did he stop talking mid-sentence? 

“What is it? Say it quickly.” 

“You’ve been acting strange since that day.” 

“Which day are you talking about?” 

“The day we… slept together at my house.” 

“……”

Uh. He was at a loss for words. Because it was true. 

Since that incident, Nam-woon hasn’t been able to look Seo-oh in the face properly, especially his lips. When he looked at Seo-oh’s face, he remembered Seo-oh gasping in heat and his bulging “center.” Even the sensation of the soft touch where their tongues met. 

The perfect combination of sight, touch, and hearing made Nam-woon’s heart race so fast that he had to calm down to not think about that day again. 

As Nam-woon avoided Seo-oh’s intense gaze and remained silent, Seo-oh said quietly, 

“See. It’s like that even now.” 

“……”

“Do you hate looking at my face now?” 

“It’s not that.”

Nam-woon suddenly looked up and met Seo-oh’s flawless face. Seo-oh was gazing at him intently with his characteristic black eyes. 

“Or did I do something wrong that night?” 

“…No.” 

Although it was an unavoidable situation, Nam-woon had been the one to initiate the artificial respiration. Seo-oh had made a mistake too, but Nam-woon wasn’t entirely proud of himself either. If caught, the strong-willed and stubborn man before him might destroy him and his lineage.

While Nam-woon hesitated, Seo-oh spoke in a calm voice. 

“You still hate me, don’t you? You’ve been trying all this time because of Chairman Seok, right?” 

“That’s really not it.” 

Nam-woon strongly denied it. And then he said, 

“I like big things!” 

Seo-oh’s eyes widened slightly. 

“I told you then. Remember?” 

Someone as smart as Seo-oh couldn’t have forgotten it. Sure enough, Seo-oh slowly nodded his head. Nam-woon patted him on the shoulder to soothe him.

“Hey, if I was trying because of Chairman Seok, I would have been annoyed from the moment I saw your face in the office earlier.” 

“……”

“But look, did I seem to dislike you earlier?” 

Kwon-Seo-oh shook his head. 

Nam-woon reached out to pat the obedient Seo-oh’s head. But Seo-oh dodged Nam-woon’s touch and pulled his head back. The hair that Nam-woon’s fingertips barely touched was a bit… stiff. 

“See? That’s not the case. I was really happy when I heard you were working here. 

Nam-woon suddenly stared into the air. 

“I was… I was happy, but were you not?”

Seo-oh caught one of Nam-woon’s hands that was reaching for his head and made eye contact with him. Just as Nam-woon was about to feel awkward under the intense stare, Kwon-Seo-oh opened his mouth. 

“No.” 

“……”

“I was happy.” 

“I was happy, too.”

Nam-woon was as frozen as ice. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. Just a few moments ago, they were clearly fighting. It felt like one of those awkward relationships where a small, trival issue leads to a heated argument, only to be resolved with a single word of affection. 

Seo-oh adjusted Nam-woon’s hand in his and spoke softly. 

“Hyung, can’t you stay at our house tonight?” 

“……”

Nam-woon couldn’t answer rashly. Seo-oh’s intense gaze was staring at him. Even though he was just looking, that alone was enough to make Nam-woon feel pressured. 

“Se-han is waiting for Hyung too.” 

“Oh, that’s…” 

As Se-han mentioned, Nam-woon lost his morale. He strangely couldn’t resist Seo-oh’s usual attitude. 

“I’ll go.” 

Was it an illusion to see a strangely relieved expression along with fiery eyes in response to that answer? Anyway, that ended the bickering completely. But there was something warm about the atmosphere between them. Nam-woon, feeling awkward, looked around and then glanced at Seo-oh’s hair. 

“What did you put in your hair?” 

“……”

“Kuh, did you put it on because it’s your first day at work?” 

Nam-woon couldn’t help but giggle. 

“Are you nervous because it’s your first day? You really look like a new employee. It’s not even noticeable, why did you put it on? Did you have wax at home or did you buy a new one?” As Nam-woon continued to tease, Seo-oh quietly said, 

“Shut up.” 

At that time, the three subordinates peeking out from the second-floor window were shocked. They were arguing fiercely and suddenly they stopped talking, and eventually they were touching each other’s heads and hands and laughing. Jang-mi, who was looking down at Nam-woon and Seo-oh, spoke first. 

“Oh my, when did the two of them get so close?” 

Then, next to him, Deok-chil said, 

“Why the hell is that guy holding the young master’s hand? I want to cut off his wrist, where the hell is my axe!?” 

He whined as he looked around the office. Lastly, Yong-deuk muttered, 

“The mood is kind of strange.” 

***

After Nam-woon returned to Seo-oh’s house for the first time in a while, it wasn’t long before Se-han, who had returned from taekwondo practice, greeted him cheerfully. 

“Wooni Hyung!” 

Se-han hugged Nam-woon tightly. Nam-woon also embraced Se-han’s small body and lifted him up. Se-han burst out into laughter, wrapped his arms around Nam-woon’s neck and said, 

“I missed you so much Hyung. What about you?” 

His eyes wide, looking at Nam-woon, there was a ticklish feeling somewhere in his heart. “Yeah. I missed you a lot,” Nam-woon replied, and Se-han asked, 

“But why didn’t you come? Were you away on a business trip to make money?” 

At Se-han’s question, Nam-woon answered awkwardly, 

“Uh, well…” 

“Did you make a lot of money?” 

“Of course. I made a lot of money.” 

“Shall we go eat something delicious?” 

Nam-woon said with a grin, and Se-han shouted, “I’d love to!” 

“Hyung, I’ll go to the supermarket!” 

“I’ll be back.” 

“No sweets.” 

Seo-oh said and Nam-woon agreed, holding Se-han’s small hand.