VDN Ch 102

He kept asking questions, but the system kept repeating the same responses like a parrot, telling him he would have to wait for the next update. In the end, Nam-woon gave up on getting an answer and hung his head in despair.

“Why did you do it to Kwon Seo-oh? You could’ve just done this to me….”

At that moment, as if responding to Nam-woon’s muttering, the system displayed the notification window he had seen earlier once more.

[Due to the system update, the scope of penalties will be expanded if necessary.]

[Main quests are important for story progression. Therefore, responsibility for failing a main quest has been analyzed.]

[As a result, Seok Nam-woon is excluded from this penalty. The remaining penalty targets were selected by random draw.]

So, that meant that out of Kwon Seo-oh and Jin Hae-geon, Seo-oh had been randomly chosen. Nam-woon sighed in frustration, running a hand through his hair.

Why did it have to be Kwon Seo-oh? At least Nam-woon knew the cause and could try to find a solution, but Kwon Seo-oh was being punished without even knowing what was going on. It would have been better if Nam-woon had taken the penalty himself.

While Nam-woon was lost in his deep thoughts, the taxi continued to drive along the road. Before he knew it, a familiar building appeared through the windshield.

“Please stop here.”

The taxi came to a halt at the entrance to an alleyway. Nam-woon quickly got out and climbed the uphill path in one breath, arriving at the old gate. Creak. The sound he always heard felt ominous today for some reason. As the gate creaked open, a small figure burst out from inside the house.

“Wooni hyung…! I went to look at bugs and then came home, but…hic…”

Se-han, rushing over to Nam-woon, had his lips trembling with the corners of his mouth turned down. Tears were welling up in his eyes. Nam-woon wrapped an arm around Se-han’s shoulders and asked in a low voice.

“Seo-oh.”

“In the room… But, Hyung, I think he’s sick…Hic…”

Tears began to fall from Se-han’s eyes. Nam-woon gently stopped Se-han’s small hands from roughly rubbing his reddened eyes, worried that he might hurt himself. Instead, Nam-woon softly wiped away the tears pooling in Se-han’s lower eyelids with his large hand and then held the small hands in his own. Se-han curled his fingers around Nam-woon’s hand in return.

As they entered the room, Nam-woon saw Seo-oh lying on the bed with his eyes closed, covered with a thick quilt instead of the usual thin blanket he and Nam-woon would share. Because of it, his bangs were slightly damp with sweat. Nam-woon sat down close to Seo-oh, with Se-han by his side.

“Seo-oh.”

Seo-oh’s eyelids fluttered slightly at Nam-woon’s call. Thankfully, it seemed he was conscious. His long eyelashes fluttered, revealing his two dark pupils, focusing on Nam-woon. Without hesitation, Nam-woon grabbed the edge of the blanket covering Seo-oh.

“Get on my back. We’re going to the hospital.”

“When did you get here?”

His voice was low. Hearing the slightly hoarse reply, Nam-woon’s face hardened. He reached for Seo-oh’s wrist, peeking out from under the blanket, and slowly pulled at it. Seo-oh mumbled.

“I’m fine,” 

“Fine? How are you fine when you’re sweating like this? Se-han, go grab Hyung’s phone.”

Se-han scrambled to his feet and retrieved Seo-oh’s phone, half-buried between the dresser and the floor, stuffing it into the front pocket of his overalls. Meanwhile, Nam-woon tried to pull the blanket away to help Seo-oh up, but a firm hand stopped him.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital.”

“No, try to put some strength in your body. I can’t carry you because you’re too heavy. And why are you covering yourself with a blanket when you’re sweating like this? Are you cold?”

Seo-oh slowly shook his head. He was conscious and speaking well. Placing a hand on his forehead, Nam-woon confirmed he didn’t seem to have a fever. The situation wasn’t as dire as he had imagined, which was a relief. But…Nam-woon tugged at the blanket again, this time with more force. It wouldn’t budge. Seo-oh was holding onto it and refusing to let go.

What’s gotten into him?

“Hey, I’m serious. Let go.”

Nam-woon’s face gradually crumpled in frustration at his stubbornness. Se-han, who had finally stopped crying, stood beside Nam-woon and began to explain his brother’s strange behavior.

“Hyung is acting really weird… He keeps holding onto the blanket even though it’s hot. And he has a fever.”

“He has a fever?”

Se-han nodded and quickly scurried to a small cabinet in the corner. He retrieved the thermometer they used whenever he coughed and brought it back to Nam-woon. It read 37.8 degrees Celsius. With a fever like that, Seo-oh should be burning up, but he didn’t feel hot at all.

This is strange. What’s going on?

Could Seo-oh be emitting an excessive amount of pheromones? Honestly, Nam-woon couldn’t tell. As a Beta, he couldn’t perceive pheromones without the system’s intervention. Usually, the system would alert him with a notification whenever Seo-oh’s pheromones exceeded the normal threshold, but now there was no such thing.

This made it even more necessary to get a professional opinion. Even though the root cause was likely the system’s penalty, there was a chance it could lead to serious health complications. It didn’t make sense not to go to the hospital.

Feeling anxious, Nam-woon sent an SOS request to Se-han.

“Se-han-ah, come here. Let’s pull this together.”

Nam-woon patted the space beside him, and together, they pulled the blanket with all their might. He heard Se-han’s voice say, “Ugh.” They pulled so hard that Se-han’s cheeks twitched, but even their combined strength was no match for Kwon Seo-oh.

At this point, Nam-woon was genuinely getting angry. After shouting at Seo-oh, he headed to the sink. He filled a cup with water and gulped it down, then suddenly spun around and grabbed the blanket at the foot of the bed, lifting it up. Se-han cheered Nam-woon on in a high-pitched voice.

“Good job, Wooni Hyung! Hurry, take it away!”

But Nam-woon didn’t succeed. Or, more accurately, he realized he shouldn’t have. Under the blanket he’d lifted, Seo-oh’s center stood tall and proud.

Nam-woon stared wide-eyed at the bulging pants. Se-han, who had been shifting side to side to see what was hidden inside the blanket, spoke in an uneasy voice.

“What’s wrong, Wooni Hyung? Is there something inside?”

Seo-oh bluntly said to Nam-woon.

“Cover it.”

With a sigh, Nam-woon relaxed his hands. The fluffy quilt settled once more over Seo-oh’s center. He wondered why Seo-oh was covering himself with a thick quilt in the middle of summer, but now he understood.

Seo-oh pulled the edges of the quilt and tucked it under his back so he couldn’t look any further. Se-han became impatient as he saw his brother’s strange appearance, resembling a caterpillar.

“Why, why? Why is Hyung covering himself with a blanket? Is it an illness?”

“It’s not an illness it’s just, um…”

As Nam-woon struggled to answer Se-han’s question, Seo-oh, who was wrapped up like a caterpillar with only his head poking out, spoke in a gentle voice.

“Se-han, don’t worry. I’ll be fine after a night’s sleep.”

Watching Seo-oh reassure his younger brother, Nam-woon bit his lip. In hindsight, it was basically his fault that Seo-oh ended up with this “illness.”

Even though the system had assigned responsibility, if Nam-woon had completed the main quest more quickly or better yet, if he hadn’t been burdened by something as strange as the system. None of this would have happened.

Noticing Nam-woon’s expression suddenly darken, Seo-oh assigned Se-han a task.

“Se-han, could you wet a towel with cold water and put it on my forehead?”

“Okay, I got it.”

With a quick “ta-da,” Se-han jumped up and hurried to the bathroom. Once Se-han was out of sight, Seo-oh lowered his voice.

“Hyung, tonight, you and Se-han should go sleep at your place.”

“What? Why all of a sudden?”

But he didn’t have that place anymore. He held back his words, feeling it wasn’t right to bring it up when someone was sick. It would have caused unnecessary worry and definitely led to a longer conversation.

Seo-oh, avoiding Nam-woon’s gaze, turned his head to the side and mumbled.

“I think I’m about to go into rut.”

The visible part of his ear was very red. Nam-woon’s mouth fell open.

That’s right!

Seo-oh didn’t know that he had gone through a forced rut because of the system in the past. He probably still thought it was just a dream. So it was understandable that he might confuse his current symptoms with a rut.

But Nam-woon, who knew the truth, couldn’t tell him that his current state was different from a rut. He vividly remembered Seo-oh’s rut, when he had been so blinded by s*xual desire that he couldn’t see or hear anything around him. Nam-woon hesitated as he spoke.

“…If it’s not a rut, what are you going to do?”

“Then we can go to the hospital then.”

“…….”

Seo-oh looked up at Nam-woon’s silent face. Feeling his gaze, Nam-woon looked back at him. Because of the sweat, Seo-oh’s dark eyes glistened, and his lips appeared redder and more moist than usual. They held each other’s gaze for a while until Seo-oh’s large hand covered the back of Nam-woon’s.

Without breaking eye contact, Seo-oh spoke in a low voice.

“Actually, I want you to stay with me.”

“…….”

“Rut, I want to spend it with you. Not just this time, but every time in the future.”

The sincerity in Seo-oh’s voice made Nam-woon’s hand tremble slightly. Sensing this, Seo-oh tightened his grip, and Nam-woon could feel every callus in Seo-oh’s firm palm.

Maybe it was because he had become too familiar with this world, but Nam-woon understood exactly what Seo-oh meant. It was even more straightforward than saying, “Do you want to come over for ramen?” The sudden sense of urgency made Nam-woon glance down at himself. His lower body started to pulse as if it had a heartbeat of its own, reacting to Seo-oh’s sweet temptation.

At that moment, Seo-oh’s thick thumb slowly stroked the back of Nam-woon’s hand, lightly grazing it with his nail. Nam-woon gulped nervously.

Fuck….Because of you, I think I’m going to go into rut too, Kwon Seo-oh.