VDN Ch 100

Nam-woon quickly lowered the leg he had lifted and pretended nothing had happened when he saw Seo-oh coming towards the yard. However, Seo-oh had already witnessed the entire sequence of events. He then started hitting Nam-woon’s arm with his one good hand.

“What if Se-han tries to copy you? He might break his back!”

“A-Ah…! I was just joking!”

It was Se-han who broke up the fight between the two, as if it were a routine occurrence. The child spoke calmly, as though he was used to it.

“Hyung, we need to eat. Stop hitting him.”

“Phew.”

Seo-oh let out a deep breath and shot a cold glare at Nam-woon. Then he ordered both of them to come inside, saying it was time to prepare breakfast. Nam-woon rolled up his sleeve and checked the large handprint on his arm. “Ouch, that hurts,” he muttered, making it clear he was in pain as he headed inside.

The three of them bustled around as they set the table. Before sitting down, Seo-oh held out his hand to Se-han, asking him to put a band-aid on the wound. After receiving Se-han’s attentive care, Seo-oh was the last to sit down at the table. Only then did Nam-woon and Se-han pick up their chopsticks.

As they were eating earnestly, there was suddenly an unusual silence from the side. When Nam-woon glanced over, he saw that Seo-oh was sitting still with both hands down, not picking up his chopsticks. Nam-woon’s pace slowed as he wondered why Seo-oh wasn’t eating.

Just then, Se-han, who was twirling his chopsticks like he was practicing spinning a pencil, accidentally dropped one. It flew off and landed far away in a corner.

“Oh!”

Se-han glanced at his brother nervously, worried that he might get scolded, and peeked at where the chopstick had landed. But Seo-oh, without saying a word, simply got up and walked towards the sink.

In the meantime, Nam-woon lowered his voice and asked Se-han,

“Why isn’t Kwon Seo-oh eating?”

Se-han widened his eyes as he looked down at Seo-oh’s bowl of rice. The multi-grain rice remained untouched, just as it had been served. “Hmm…” The child, with his big eyes scanning the table, suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!” as if he had figured something out, and then he turned to Nam-woon.

“He wants you to feed him!”

“What?”

“Look over there.”

Se-han pointed with his tiny hand at Seo-oh’s spoon and chopsticks lying on the table. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly unusual about them. When Nam-woon still looked puzzled, Se-han explained.

“Look at the handle part of the spoon! It’s pointing towards you, Hyung.”

“Huh, so?”

“He’s asking you to feed him.”

“What?”

Nam-woon looked down at Seo-oh’s spoon with a surprised expression. Sure enough, the handle was pointed in his direction. Meanwhile, Seo-oh, who had fetched Se-han’s cup along with new chopsticks, sat back down on the floor. Nam-woon glanced at him and asked,

“Is your hand hurting?”

“Yes.”

The answer came without a moment’s hesitation. Nam-woon lowered his gaze. Every one of Seo’s fingers was sloppily bandaged.

But he didn’t mention anything until just before we started eating, and suddenly he’s putting on band-aids right before the meal…

“Your left hand seems fine. You can eat with that.”

“When I woke up this morning, both of my hands started hurting.”

“……”

But my arm that got hit earlier hurts too much for that to be true..

As Nam-woon was taken aback by Seo-oh’s sudden act, Se-han chimed in to support his brother.

“Remember when Hyung helped you before? Hurry up and feed him.”

Urged by Se-han, Nam-woon hesitantly picked up a new spoonful of rice. He started to add some side dishes on top but paused to ask Seo-oh.

“What do you want?”

“Egg roll.”

The poorly made egg roll was Nam-woon’s creation.

“Uh…alright.”

With a reluctant expression, Nam-woon placed the egg roll on the spoon and brought it to Seo-oh’s mouth. Seo-oh accepted the food without any sign of discomfort. If you looked closely, you could see that his ears were turning red, but Nam-woon was too focused on picking the next side dish to notice.

Chewing slowly, Seo-oh’s lips moved deliberately. It seemed as though Seo-oh was planning to have Nam-woon repay the favor from when he had fed Nam-woon while he was injured. At first, Nam-woon was embarrassed about feeding Seo-oh, but after about four spoonfuls, he quickly got used to it. Soon, he was able to eat his own meal while comfortably feeding Seo-oh at the same time.

A little later, Nam-woon adjusted his clothes as he prepared to go out. Seo-oh and Se-han were sitting on the floor, doing something together. From a distance, it seemed like Se-han was tying Seo-oh’s hair into the same apple hairstyle that he had.

Seeing this, Nam-woon quickly headed to the shoe rack and hastily slipped on his shoes. They’re definitely going to ask me to do something again. Just as he was about to rush out the door, he heard Se-han’s loud voice.

“Wooni Hyung, where are you going? You need to bathe Hyung!”

Why hasn’t he bathed yet? Nam-woon quickly grabbed his phone and replied,

“I can’t. I have to go to work now.”

“Are you going to the office?”

Seo-oh, with his hair tied up in an apple-like style, looked up at Nam-woon from where he was sitting on the floor and asked. Nam-woon barely managed to avoid his puppy-like black eyes as he replied.

“Yeah. I’ll be back, so stay home today. You’re not feeling well, so don’t go out and cause trouble. If you want something to eat, just text me, and I’ll bring it when I come back.”

With that, Nam-woon firmly instructed Seo-oh and left the house.

***

The office wasn’t as quiet as usual. They had just received word that the flyers they had ordered from the print shop for the detective agency had been printed.

Today, they had planned to distribute flyers in different areas. Since they had decided that running a detective agency, which skirts the line between legal and illegal activities, would be better than continuing with loan sharking, they intended to promote the agency properly. So, they even hired an extra part-timer for the day.

“Ugh, why did I have to be on the same team as the boss?”

“It’s to make sure you don’t run away. If you do a good job, I’ll cut down your debt, so do it right.”

“Fuck, what debt? And I’d only run away because I don’t want to be stuck with the boss!”

The employee grumbled as he kicked a stone lying on the ground. Nam-woon didn’t respond further, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand as he carefully observed where the foot traffic was the heaviest. Since the flyers were all left with the employee, his hands were free.

“But it’s so hot. Can’t you buy me something to drink?”

“Did you come here to eat or to work?”

Despite his gruff response, Nam-woon’s steps were already heading toward a nearby convenience store. The employee trailed behind him.

Ding.

“Welcome.”

“What do you want to drink?”

“……”

“What do you want to drink?”

However, the employee didn’t respond, instead staring blankly in one direction—toward the counter. Nam-woon called out to him again.

“Hey, Kim Haeng-won!”

Only then did the employee snap out of it and slowly move toward the beverage fridge. Nam-woon, who had been watching him with a puzzled expression, soon went over to the hot drinks section and pulled out a bottle of Ssanghwa tea. Seeing this, the employee grimaced.

“Why are you getting Ssanghwa tea in this heat?”

“I’m drained because of you. I’ll pay, so wait outside.”

“You’re acting like a total old man.”

Nam-woon placed the can of cola that Haeng-won had chosen on the counter along with the Ssanghwa tea. For some reason, despite being told to go ahead and wait outside, Haeng-won remained glued to Nam-woon’s side, glancing occasionally at the counter. As Nam-woon took out his wallet to find his card, the cashier suddenly spoke up.

“Um, you smoke these, right?”

What the cashier held out was a pack of cigarettes. Nam-woon finally looked up at the cashier. She was a beauty who would make you turn around for a second glance if you passed her on the street. She was about a head shorter than Nam-woon, with a slender frame and an oval face. Her slightly long hair gently fell to the side whenever she tilted her head.

Ah, so that’s why this guy, Haeng-won, didn’t go outside.

But…

Nam-woon scrutinized the cashier. Isn’t this a guy? Could it be that Kim Haeng-won likes men?

Just as Nam-woon was pondering this, he noticed Haeng-won fiddling with his phone as if he was about to ask for the cashier’s number. Sensing the stare from beside him, Haeng-won turned his head and scowled.

What? He mouthed the words without his usual cursing, probably trying to make a good impression, which Nam-woon found somewhat amusing.

When he thought about it, it wasn’t too strange. This was a world where there were trait-holders, and people often mistook two men walking together for a newlywed couple. It wasn’t unusual for someone to be entranced by a pretty person, even if that person turned out to be a man.

Having finished his thoughts, Nam-woon turned his gaze away from Haeng-won and pushed the pack of cigarettes back toward the cashier.

“I don’t smoke.”

The cashier’s eyes widened slightly at this action. Beyond surprise, there was a hint of something else in his gaze, but Nam-woon, oblivious to it, simply took out his card from his wallet. Suddenly, a pale, slender hand reached out.

“I-I’ll do it for you.”

The cashier smoothly took the card from Nam-woon’s hand, and in the process, their thumbs briefly brushed against each other. Ding—there was a faint sound, like a notification from somewhere. While Nam-woon checked his phone to see if he had received a new message, the cashier kept stealing glances at his face.

After completing the transaction, Nam-woon opened the bottle of Ssanghwa tea right there and took a big gulp.

“Ahh.”

“You look like you’re dying of heat.”

Despite Haeng-won’s sarcastic comment, Nam-woon paid no attention and emptied the bottle in one go. He was looking around for a trash can inside the store when the soft voice rang out again.

“I’ll throw it away for you….”

“Thank you.”

Nam-woon, still dragging Haeng-won, who couldn’t take his eyes off the cashier, headed towards the door. Just as they were about to step outside, a voice from inside the store called out.

“Bong-nam, I’ll take over the counter, so could you please organize the boxes in the storage room?”

Bong-nam? That name sounds familiar.

He felt like he was on the verge of remembering something, but the thought quickly vanished as Haeng-won started whining about wanting to buy another snack. Nam-woon grabbed the back of Haeng-won’s collar and quickly exited the store.