VDN Ch 120

Nam-woon’s face was grim as he stared at the system window. Role fulfillment clause No. 6 gave him a headache just looking at it, and he couldn’t even begin to guess what the mysterious?? Gauge was. On top of that, the constant talking of Haeng-won next to him was irritating.

Ah, this is really chaotic. Nam-woon couldn’t stand it any longer and furrowed his brows.

“Hey, Haeng-won. Look at Deok-chil’s expression. Don’t you think he looks pitiful?”

Only then did Haeng-won glance at Deok-chil’s face. His eyes were red, and there was a walnut-sized lump on the chin. While the Haeng-won was taken aback, Nam-woon continued.

“How do you know if he’s being ghosted or not? You shouldn’t speak carelessly like that. Have you thought about how the person involved feels?”

“No… I just said that because I’ve seen a lot of cases like that around me.”

“Deok-chil might not be like that. Don’t say unnecessary things that might lead him to think negatively.”

As Nam-woon quietly scolded him, Haeng-won hesitated and apologized.

“Sorry, Deok-chil. I just said it without thinking…”

Sniff. With a gloomy face, Deok-chil sniffed back tears.

“Deok-chil, you should go ask and ask yourself. There must be some reason for it.”

Deok-chil rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and nodded slowly. Nam-woon patted his shoulder with a sympathetic look. Yes, there must definitely be some reason.

Seo-oh had been tired lately, saying that he had a lot of work because of his part-time job. They used to have quiet conversations every night before bed, sharing their daily experiences, so it was perhaps even more difficult for him to manage that, and he moved his sleeping space next to Se-han. When the body is tired, it’s natural to feel irritable and not want to talk.

But he had to be patient and not let it get to him. It seemed like today was the day to bring up the topic. So today, he decided not to fall asleep until Seo-oh arrived.

Hopefully, it won’t be complete ghosting. Haeng-won, who was glancing at Nam-woon and Deok-chil with a troubled expression, quietly handed over the pants he was holding.

“You should hurry up and put this on. The store employee is giving us looks.”

“…Does this fit?”

“I told you it does. How many times do I have to say it? I’ll help you, so just try it on quickly.”

Reluctantly, he headed to the fitting room, pushed by the hand on his back. Nam-woon spoke hesitantly to Haeng-won, who followed him in.

“But the pants are all torn.”

“Don’t be such an old man. This is the trend these days. I barely found these since they were out of stock. Take off what you’re wearing now. You might need to wear a belt… Oh, just give them to me.”

Haeng-won squatted down and took the torn pants from the thigh to the calf, folding the hems and pushing them in front of Nam-woon’s feet. It looked as if he was dressing a child. Nam-woon stood there awkwardly, moving as instructed.

“Can’t I wear something like those hiking clothes from earlier?”

“That brand doesn’t allow for airflow in summer, you’ll be dripping with sweat and getting heat rash.”

“But this is just as hot!”

As Nam-woon continued to complain, Haeng-won sighed with a look of helplessness and left the fitting room. A short while later, he returned with a completely different pair of loose-fitting pants made of a different material. He squatted down again and spread out the hems of the pants. Nam-woon, as if waiting for this, quickly pulled down the pants he was wearing. Haeng-won, who had been close to Nam-woon’s center, let out a scream.

“What kind of underwear is that?!”

Nam-woon did not care about Haeng-won’s reaction and hurriedly changed his pants. However, at Haeng-won’s insistence that he should buy new underwear too, he ended up having to buy his underwear, which cost a whopping 100,000 won. At first, he grumbled about why he needed to buy new underwear, but upon hearing the price, he quickly complied with Haeng-won’s request. After all, there are times when you have to show your underwear to others, so it seemed reasonable to take this opportunity to get at least one new pair.

It was when Nam-woon, dressed in loose-fitting clothes both on top and bottom, stepped out of the fitting room and stood blankly in front of the mirror. Suddenly, the store door opened, and a man with flamboyant bleached hair walked in. Nam-woon instinctively turned his head toward him, his eyes widening.

“Huh?”

“Huh? You…”

The man who approached him seemed pleased to see him.

“Aren’t you, Nam-woon?”

“It’s been a while.”

The man was the orange-haired tooth jeweler Nam-woon had met at the club before. Today, his hair was blond, almost white. With his thin, broom-like hair, the man looked Nam-woon up and down in admiration.

“I came to see this too. It suits you well.”

“Uh…thanks.”

“But what happened in the meantime?”

The blond man, bringing his face close to Nam-woon’s, narrowed his eyes as if trying to gauge something.

“Your vibe feels different from before, did you lose some weight? You seem a bit more dangerous… No, it’s more like an adult charm… You have a more mature vibe now.”

Nam-woon frowned at the strange words that came out of his mouth. What the hell is he talking about? But then he noticed something dangling from the man’s face that he hadn’t seen before. The blonde man, who noticed Nam-woon’s gaze, touched his nose and smiled proudly. The jewel embedded in his tooth was still sparkling.

“I just got this pierced a little while ago. What do you think?”

“…It looks like a calf.”

“A calf? What do you mean by that? Oh! You mean it’s cute like a calf?”

The blonde-haired man had a small ring on his nose, making it look like a bull with a nose ring.

Why would he wear earrings on his nose? It looks really uncomfortable.

Nam-woon couldn’t be honest under the blonde’s expectant gaze, so he added that it was cute. The blonde smiled with satisfaction.

“I thought about it for two weeks, and I think I made a good choice.”

“If you wear that, how would you pick your nose?”

In response to Nam-woon’s question, the blonde-haired man casually inserted his index finger into his nose and sniffed.

“It digs just fine.”

Nam-woon nodded along but suddenly looked up sharply.

“Hey, that’s hip-hop, right?”

“Huh? Even if it’s not hip-hop, a lot of people do it, right?”

Nam-woon’s eyes lit up as he glanced at Haeng-won and Deok-chil. They looked back at him with anxious eyes. The blonde man, oblivious to the tension, patted Nam-woon’s shoulder and said,

“Do you want to go to the club together today? I found a good place. Oh, by the way, do you think that boyfriend of yours will try to follow you again? …I hate to say this, but can’t you stop seeing him? He’s handsome, but he seems like a total stalker.”

Ignoring the blonde man’s words, Nam-woon pointed to the nose piercing with a serious expression.

“Where did you get that pierced?”

***

It’s already half past eleven. Se-han is still sleeping at Aunt Soon-i’s place.

After finishing preparations for the wedding, he had a late-night snack with the office staff, Haeng-won, and the blonde-haired guy. By the time he left the office, it was already quite late.

After discussing various things with the blonde-haired guy, the wedding outfit was mostly ready. He had intended to get a piercing to make it even more perfect, but he chickened out and couldn’t bring himself to get his nose pierced. He ended up postponing the nose piercing until the day before the wedding and just bought clothes and accessories on his way home.

At this hour, he could probably head home with Kwon Seo-oh. There were some things he wanted to ask him. He strolled along the main road and pulled out his phone to dial a familiar number. When the ringing tone started, his heart skipped a beat.

It wasn’t long before he heard a pleasant, deep voice on the other end of the line.

– Hello?

“Are you done with work?”

– Why?

“I’m done now and I’m on my way….”

Just then, he spotted a familiar silhouette in his line of sight. In front of the convenience store, a tall man was sitting on a bench. It was Kwon Seo-oh. He was shoving something into his mouth and gulping down a bottle of water.

If you’re done, you should hurry home. What are you doing there? He grumbled inwardly, but a smile he couldn’t hide crept onto his face.

I should surprise him. Nam-woon silently walked toward the convenience store, pretending everything was normal as he continued the conversation.

“If you’re done, I thought I met up with you and we can go home together.”

– Ah… Sorry Hyung. You go ahead. I’m not done with work yet.

“…….”

The corners of Nam-woon’s mouth, which had been upturned in a playful grin, instantly stiffened. His playful tone became serious in an instant.

“…Where are you right now?”

– Still at the restaurant. I haven’t finished my work yet.

“That restaurant is open ridiculously late.”

From afar, Kwon Seo-oh’s face looked the same as usual. It made his blood boil seeing him lie without any change in his expression. Nam-woon pressed his lips tightly together.

– For now, I have a lot of work to do.

“Ah, really? But it seems like your restaurant is a convenience store?”

“…….”

Seo-oh looked up in bewilderment and looked around. This only irritated Nam-woon more. Nam-woon turned his back and walked in the opposite direction. After a few steps, he heard the sound of someone running urgently towards him.

“Hyung.”

Nam-woon didn’t respond and walked forward with long strides. Seo-oh hurrendly blocked Nam-woon’s way. The calm expression he had just moments ago now looked anxious, as if he were being chased by something.

“Hyung, it’s not like that…”

“It’s not what?”

Nam-woon looked at Seo-oh. His eyes were usually his cold. Seo-oh nervously wet his lips with his tongue and continued.

“I was just planning to rest here for a bit, I thought I might make you go in later because of me. So…”

At that, Nam-woon ran his hand through his hair and let out an annoyed sigh.

“You call that an explanation? That excuse is crap. At least make it somewhat sincere.”

As Nam-woon tried to walk past him, Seo-oh hurriedly walked closely beside him, shaking his head.

“It’s really not like that.”

“What do you mean it’s not like that? Are you avoiding me?”

Seo-oh took a shallow breath. Looking at him not saying a word, Nam-woon forced a twisted smile.

“Why are you acting like this lately? If you have complaints, just say them. Don’t make me feel like shit like this.”

“…I don’t have any complaints.”

“None? So what, just because we did it once, you’re done now?”

Oh, shit. I wasn’t going to say this. Nam-woon lowered his gaze with a complicated expression. He didn’t want to say such words out of his mouth, but the seed of doubt had taken root in his mind. He couldn’t forget the words he heard from Haeng-won today.

“Was it just a hookup and then throwing me away..fuck…”

“What? Hyung. Why are you saying things like that?”

Seo-oh looked surprised as he came closer to Nam-woon. Usually, he would have grabbed his hand and clung to him, but today, he didn’t do anything like that and just frowned.

“That’s exactly what you’re doing right now.”

“Do I look like trash to you?”

“You’re acting like trash right now.”

“No way! How could I do that? I haven’t even finished eating Hyung yet.”

“…….”

The unexpected words left him speechless. On the other hand, Seo-oh still looked frighteningly serious, as if he were fully aware of what he had just said. He fidgeted with his lips a few times before finally speaking softly.

“My body…”

The word “body” came out of Seo-oh’s mouth and Nam-woon’s eyes changed. Is something wrong? Nam-woon’s tone turned serious in an instant.

“What about your body?”

“My body is… tired from everything.”

“…….”

“How could I eat Hyung and throw you away? I really wouldn’t do something like that.”

Seo-oh added in a firm tone,

“So, don’t have strange thoughts.”