VDN Ch 107

“….!”

Nam-woon opened his eyes wide.

“…It was a dream.”

Startled, Nam-woon woke up, but once he was awake, he couldn’t remember the details of the dream. It was probably just a meaningless dream.

Nam-woon blinked. A solid chest was right in front of his nose. It felt like he had experienced this before. He wriggled, trying to get out of the embrace, but suddenly his body was pulled in tightly. Strong forearms were hugging him as if squeezing him.

When he looked up, he saw a face that looked even more radiant in the morning sunlight. Seo-oh had just woken up and was looking down at him with half-open eyes. In the past, when he had opened his eyes in Seo-oh’s arms, he didn’t received such a defenseless gaze as he did now. Nam-woon felt a little awkward at the completely different appearance from then.

Seo-oh, who had been carefully examining Nam-woon’s face, suddenly narrowed the distance. His soft lips lightly touched his forehead before silently falling away.

“Did you sleep well?”

His eyes were affectionate. Nam-woon, embarrassed by the unfamiliar tone of speech, replied bluntly for no reason.

“When did you wake up?”

As he tried to get up, an indescribable discomfort surged from his lower body. As he stopped moving and frowned, Seo-oh gently hugged Nam-woon again and asked.

“Are you okay?”

“What?”

“…Here.”

The hand that had been resting on his back slid down and settled to his firm buttocks. Nam-woon jumped up in surprise and quickly scanned the surroundings.

“Se-han went out to play baseball.”

His shoulders dropped and a sigh of relief escaped him.

Yesterday was really dizzying. If by chance, Se-han had opened the bathroom door….

Nam-woon narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the man in front of him. The memory of what had happened made his anger flare up again. He was about to say something, but the man’s face, looking up at him, caught his attention once more.

His jet-black hair was tousled on the pillow. The slightly tousled hair on his forehead added a natural charm to his perfect face. His skin, which was always good, seemed even more radiant today. It was as if he had taken someone’s vitality.

His calm eyes looked straight at Nam-woon. It was a calm appearance that contrasted to yesterday when he had been moving his waist fiercely in lust.

His gaze traveled down past his protruding adam’s apple, the straight collarbone, the nipples on his chest, and even the well-defined muscles below. Without realizing it, Nam-woon glanced over Seo-oh’s body. Then suddenly, out of thirst, he stuck his tongue out and licked his lips once.

So I….did that kind of ‘thing’ with him yesterday?

Were his complicated emotions written all over his face? Seo-oh, who had raised his upper body, gently hugged Nam-woon’s shoulders and stroked his shoulder blade. He stared blankly at Nam-woon, who was furrowing his eyebrows, and lightly touched their foreheads together. Then, he whispered softly, as if sharing a secret.

“Can I kiss you?”

It felt like moisture was gathering in his ears.

It was ridiculous. Yesterday, he had stubbornly done as he pleased without listening to a word Nam-woon said, but now he was asking for permission for a simple kiss. Who was he kidding with this? Nam-woon felt a surge of dissatisfaction at the contrasting attitudes, but as he looked into those eyes, glistening with anticipation, he found himself strangely unable to be angry. Instead, his heart thumped in his chest.

Seeing Seo-oh’s slightly parted lips, Nam-woon narrowed his eyes and captured them with his own. Then Seo-oh gently licked and s*cked on the surface of his lips. His warm palm wrapped around the back of his head.

Their tongues slowly mingled. There was no intensity as the same from yesterday, but the slow and lingering kiss continued for a while. With a slight pop, Nam-woon pulled back first, releasing Seo-oh’s lips. Seo-oh’s eyelids fluttered open, revealing the eyes that had been hidden underneath. Nam-woon wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

“I need to take a shower.”

“Shall we shower together?”

“I’m never going into the bathroom with you again.”

At the firm response, Seo-oh chuckled and then gave a faint smile. His mischievous, long eyes curled into pretty crescent moon shapes. Just as Nam-woon was about to get angry, ready to say that he had almost lost his mind because of him yesterday, he stopped mid-sentence and stared intently at that face.

It was because he had never seen Kwon Seo-oh smile so brightly before. He looked extremely happy. Faced with this rare sight, Nam-woon had to calm his racing heart once again.

Seo-oh followed him all the way to the bathroom door, squeezed toothpaste onto Nam-woon’s toothbrush, and handed it to him. If the office staff or Umpyeong employees saw this, they would have fainted.

“Wash up and come out. I’ll tidy up the room in the meantime.”

Nam-woon scratched the back of his neck as he watched Seo-oh leave, then started brushing his teeth.

When he came out of the bathroom, he saw a blanket rolled up in his Seo-oh’s arms. Nam-woon looked puzzled.

“Why the blanket?”

“To wash it.”

“But didn’t we just wash it the other day…”

Nam-woon stopped mid-sentence. Now that he thought about it, the blanket he had carelessly touched while doing something naughty with Seo-oh last night had been quite damp. Nam-woon’s face stiffened with embarrassment. He quickly strode over, snatched the blanket from Seo-oh’s hands, and headed outside.

There was a large basin filled with water already prepared in the yard. Nam-woon roughly tossed the blanket into the basin and poured out some detergent. He then climbed into the basin and began stomping on the blanket with both feet. Seo-oh, who had followed him out a bit later, tried to stop him.

“Hyung, I’ll do it. Just sit down.”

“It’s fine.”

“You’re not feeling well… because of me.”

At the mention of “because of me,” Seo-oh shyly turned his head to the side. The side of his face that was slightly visible was tinged with redness.

As I stared at him with a frown, Seo-oh suddenly came over with a pair of slippers. He grabbed Nam-woon’s arm, pulled him out of the basin, and carefully helped him put on the slippers. He even brought over a small farming chair and made Nam-woon sit.

His butt was a bit sore from last night, but Nam-woon didn’t show it and confidently declared,

“Hey, I’m not a patient.”

“I know.”

Seo-oh crouched down by Nam-woon’s feet, dragging over a long hose connected to the faucet in the corner of the yard.

“Give me your foot.”

When Nam-woon extended his foamy leg, a refreshing stream of water flowed over it from the hose. But suddenly, Seo-oh’s hand brushed against Nam-woon’s toes. Though it was just a small touch, Nam-woon was startled and quickly pulled his foot back.

“What are you doing? Why are you touching it?”

“I’m trying to wash you.”

“You can just spray water on them.”

Oh, don’t do that! As he continued to avoid Seo-oh’s hand, which kept trying to touch his feet, Seo-oh said calmly.

“What’s the big deal? It’s just this. I touched more yesterday.”

Nam-woon, flustered by Seo-oh’s words, spat out a lie.

“I have… I have athlete’s foot^[1].”

“Really? I kind of figured you would, Hyung.”

“What?”

Seeing Nam-woon’s bewildered expression, Seo-oh suddenly burst into laughter. Straightening his back, he continued to hold the hose with water trickling out of it. His laughter grew louder as he kept looking at Nam-woon, the corners of his mouth raised in a happy smile.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like that before.

Kwon Seo-oh is smiling a lot more than usual today. Nam-woon stared blankly at Seo-oh’s bright face. An unnamed emotion seemed to tighten his heart.

Suddenly, a ridiculous thought crossed his mind. What if the place he originally came from wasn’t real, and this place was reality?

That’s how hard it was for him to believe that the Seo-oh in front of him was just a character in a novel. Nam-woon was feeling this moment more vividly than ever before. Seo-oh’s expression…his playful tone…the affectionate look in his eyes.

Before he knew it, Nam-woon had stepped deeply into Kwon Seo-oh’s world, enough to see his happy face right in front of him.

If he were to return to his original world, would he be able to remember Seo-oh like this? Would he be able to recall it all vividly? He selfishly wished that his own space, connected to reality, could hold memories of him and Seo-oh.

Nam-woon gazed at silently Seo-oh for a while before speaking.

“Seo-oh, do you want to go somewhere with me today?”

Under the blazing sun, Seo-oh asked with a smile on his face,

“Where?”

***

[World Tteoksoontwi]

He raised his head and looked up at the signboard. Seo-oh, standing beside Nam-woon, followed his gaze. As they approached the store, they were greeted by the sight of deliciously displayed food. Spicy tteokbokki covered in red sauce, hot fish cakes that seemed perfect for winter, various fried foods, and a large steamer filled with what looked like sundae. The shop was filled with authentic Korean street food that matched the name of the store perfectly.

“Welcome! What can I get for you?”

The busy shop owner, who was working alone inside, asked them. Nam-woon greeted the owner and turned to speak to Seo-oh.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Tteokbokki^[2], sundae^[3] and fried food

After thinking about it for a moment, Seo-oh gave his straightforward answer. Nam-woon smiled faintly and looked at the menu.

“Shall we get the regular spicy tteokbokki? How about that?”

“Okay.”

“Ma’am, we’ll have three servings of regular spicy tteokbokki and… Are you going to eat all the sundae?”

Seo-oh seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering.

“I’ll eat the sundae.”

“The sundae then. And for the fried food… Seo-oh, pick what you want from here.””

“You pick something too, Hyung.”

Nam-woon casually pointed to a gimbap roll^[4]. While Seo-oh ordered the rest of the fried food, Nam-woon glanced around the inside of the store.

A small space with a cramped kitchen. The layout of the refrigerator and shelves was exactly the same as the work environment at Seok’s Taiyaki, where he used to work. Although the menu were different, the feeling was the same as before.