VDN Ch 130

“…I won’t say it again. Don’t do it.”

Nam-woon’s hand froze at the unexpectedly stern tone. It was a slightly different reaction than he expected. Even though Seo-oh had been avoiding him lately, he thought that if he actively approached him, he would reluctantly respond to him. Was I wrong? His excitement subsided slightly.

However, Nam-woon didn’t show it and mischievously put his hand inside Seo-oh’s T-shirt and stroked his abs. He exclaimed in an old man-like tone.

“Wow, you don’t even work out, so how is your body like this?”

“I told you not to!”

Seo-oh jumped up and grabbed Nam-woon’s hand, throwing it to the side. Nam-woon’s eyes widened at that intense reaction and he stared at Seo-oh. Avoiding his gaze, Seo-oh spoke quietly again.

“Se-han will be here soon. Stop playing around like this. It’s not funny.”

“Playing around? I’m just…!”

At that moment, before Nam-woon could even finish his sentence, Seo-oh’s previously calm pheromones suddenly intensified. The scent became so strong it was suffocating, and Nam-woon felt dizzy for a moment. He held onto Seo-oh’s arm, his body trembling slightly. The pheromones were thick and powerful, but unlike before, they weren’t laced with excitement. Seo-oh was genuinely rejecting him.

It didn’t seem like the right time to push further, but Nam-woon felt that if he didn’t back off now, he wouldn’t be able to approach Seo-oh again. Overcome with anxiety and frustration, he unconsciously tightened his grip on Seo-oh’s arm.

“Ow…!”

Suddenly, Seo-oh shot up from his seat and grabbed the edge of the blanket, flinging it up into the air. The force of the motion caused Nam-woon to roll over and crash into the sink. A bottle of gel that had been hidden under a pillow was flung far away, landing near the fan.

“Ow! What the hell? That hurt. What’s with you all of a sudden?”

“What’s with you? It’s the middle of the day!”

“Well, sometimes things like this happen. But why are you getting mad? You’re always doing this too.”

“Haah… You’re so carefree. You have no idea what I’m holding back right now, do you?”

Seo-oh exhaled with frustration, his face flushed. His front bangs fluttered slightly from his breath.

Nam-woon grimaced as he looked down at his arm. His bare skin had been scraped against the floor, leaving it a bit red. Feeling a bit dejected, he opened and closed his mouth as if he wanted to say something but ultimately stayed silent, in a gloomy expression. The bottle of gel lying in front of the fan looked as pathetic as he felt. With a defeated look, Nam-woon lifted his head, staring blankly at the scene before him.

“…What are you doing right now?”

Seo-oh quickly changed into his outdoor clothes and strode toward the door. Seeing him pick up the black bag he had left in the corner and sling it over one shoulder, Nam-woon, startled, abruptly lifted his upper body.

“I haven’t finished my part-time job yet. I’ll be back later.”

Without even making eye contact with Nam-woon, Seo-oh hurriedly shoved his feet into his sneakers by the shoe rack. He looked just like a debtor being chased by a loan shark. As Nam-woon watched Seo-oh grab the door handle, he just lay on the floor like a merman prince, clutching the underwear that had slipped down a bit, forgetting to pull it up, and shouted.

“Hey, hey…! Where are you going? Are you really leaving?”

“I have the night shift today, so I won’t be back home.”

“Ah, okay. I won’t do this anymore, all right? Don’t go!”

“Hurry up and put some clothes on. What if Auntie Soon-i comes in?”

Seo-oh left without turning back, ignoring Nam-woon’s desperate plea. A loud bang echoed as the door slammed shut. Left alone in the room, practically naked, Nam-woon’s face twisted in frustration.

“Damn it, what the hell?”

He had practically thrown himself at Seo-oh, almost completely undressed, only to be coldly rejected. To make matters worse, Seo-oh had left the house entirely. Overwhelmed by embarrassment, Nam-woon buried his face in a pillow and thrashed around on top of the futon.

“Ah, seriously…”

Honestly, the shock was greater than the embarrassment. If someone he liked took off his pants and rushed at him like this, he would usually be unable to hold back and accept it. Even he himself would always say no but whenever Kwon Seo-oh wanted him to do it, he ended up accepting it. That’s how cute Kwon Seo-oh was.

But today, Seo-oh hadn’t even so much as touched Nam-woon and had outright avoided him.

It wasn’t just a rejection—he had fled. Nam-woon couldn’t even talk about this to anyone because it was too humiliating. Was Seo-oh really just tired? Or… Nam-woon recalled the message he had seen on Seo-oh’s phone, saying, “I’ll wait for you.” Could it be… cheating? As his thoughts spiraled, he suddenly realized something important. In the first place, Seo-oh and I… aren’t even dating!

As soon as he realized it, Nam-woon was overcome with frustration. If Seo-oh really had feelings for him, he would have confessed by now. Though Seo-oh could be shy at times, he was also surprisingly impulsive and liked to come to clear conclusions. With that kind of personality, if Seo-oh had been sure of his feelings, he would have confessed long ago.

“Well, I haven’t confessed either.”

When you think about it, he’s the same way. But he couldn’t help feeling depressed. And in his case, there was a reason for that. He had never even dreamed of confessing, and he couldn’t be certain about his own feelings or Kwon Seo-oh’s feelings.

The original story also weighed on his mind. Right now, Kwon Seo-oh and Jin Hae-geon were showing some unknown interest in him, but they were the main characters in the novel. It meant that they might turn their attention to each other at any moment. The two of them were the true-fate couple brought together by the author. It seemed like the system also hoped for the original ending.

After they met at school, where do they meet again next?

Nam-woon’s face turned pale as he recalled the original content. He suddenly realized that their second meeting would take place at the Korean restaurant where Seo-oh was working part-time. Moreover, there would be a major event that day “Jin Hae-geon’s matchmaking date.”

Suddenly, the role fulfillment clause of the system that he had seen not long ago came to mind.

[Seok Nam-woon interferes with Jin Hae-geon’s matchmaking date.]

Now that he thought about it, wasn’t Seo-oh working at the restaurant right now?

When he had casually asked about it before, Seo-oh said it was just an ordinary restaurant. But if it turned out to be a fairly upscale Korean restaurant, it wouldn’t be strange for Jin Hae-geon to have a date there.

“Hah…”

Having thought that far, Nam-woon let out a deep sigh and collapsed back onto the futon. He stared blankly at the ceiling, which was stained with watermarks. If Kwon Seo-oh had lost interest in him and was about to meet Jin Hae-geon, what should I do?

When he first came to this place, he thought about quickly bringing the two together and leaving, but now that the time was approaching, his feelings of depression wouldn’t go away. With a dark expression, Nam-woon looked down at his new underwear, then slowly got up and rummaged through the wardrobe. He was looking for his tracksuit pants.

But suddenly, the door burst open, and a small figure rushed into the room.

“I’m back!”

“Oh, Se-han’s here?”

Se-han came in, fanning himself with a fan that had a picture of an apartment building on it, which he always carried. He quickly took off his sandals at the shoe rack, tossed them aside, put down his backpack, and looked at Nam-woon. His short index finger pointed at Nam-woon’s body.

“Why did you take off all your clothes, Wooni Hyung?”

“…It’s too hot.”

“Sigh. But you still must maintain your dignity…”

Se-han said, imitating a historical drama actor he’d seen somewhere. Nam-woon looked at the energetic Se-han and tried to push his sinking feelings aside. If I showed myself being gloomy, Se-han would definitely get depressed too.

Let’s get it together. If something is meant to happen, it will happen somehow.

He was not the main character here, he was just the supporting character in this place. I just need to play my role well. Nam-woon reassured himself and stood up abruptly, pretending that nothing was wrong. He confidently placed his hands on his hips.

“You look really hot too. Come here.” 

“Ahhhh.”

Nam-woon rushed in to play a prank, but Se-han slapped him across the face with the fan he was holding. “Ah.” Nam-woon’s eyes rolled back as he was hit squarely in the face with the small but sturdy rib of the fan.

Se-han, who had been running away from Nam-woon, circled the room and arrived at the shoe rack again. Then he took something out of his bag.

“Wooni, look at this!”

Se-han took out two water guns. Se-han, holding the larger one in his hand, closed one eye as if winking and started shooting water straight at Nam-woon. Nam-woon, who had both eyes tightly shut from the sudden attack, raised his arm and blocked the water shower shooting on his face.

“Ah!”

“I’m going to cool you down, Wooni Hyung. It’s cold, isn’t it?”

As Se-han sprayed water on Nam-woon’s face and body, giggling playfully, the once clean floor quickly turned into a puddle, and even the blanket got wet. The advantage of the cold water bombs was that, for a moment, they washed away Nam-woon’s unnecessary thoughts. Se-han’s relentless water gun assault stopped after Nam-woon jokingly said that his house might get flooded.

After wiping his face dry with his palm, Nam-woon pointed at the water gun in Se-han’s small hand.

“Where did you get that?”

“Grandpa Namnam lent it to me. I’m going to survival training tomorrow!”

“Survival training?”

Nam-woon’s eyes widened in surprise as Se-han nodded strongly.

“Yeah! I’m going to a Taekwondo gym for a two-day, one-night survival training. We’re going to do courage training, a jump rope competition, and play dodgeball and soccer!” 

“Really?” 

Nam-woon’s eyes grew even wider.

“Does Seo-oh know?” 

“Uh… I ran into him on my way home earlier. But he seemed a bit strange.” 

Se-han said, widening his already big eyes even more. Nam-woon quickly asked,

“What was strange?” 

“His face was really, really red… Hmmm, so I thought he might have a cold. But he said that wasn’t it….And his walking was a little weird too.” 

Nam-woon tilted his head at Se-han’s words. There hadn’t been any signs of sickness when he left the house. Seeing the worried expression on Nam-woon’s face, Se-han added,

“Don’t worry, Wooni. He said he was just hot. He talked to me just fine!” 

“So, Seo-oh knows?” 

“Yes! He also said he has to work late tonight, so he’ll come home tomorrow. He asked me to gather the supplies and he told me to be careful!” 

“I see…” 

Tomorrow, he said? Nam-woon’s gaze darkened again at Se-han’s words. Se-han, holding his larger hand confidently, said,

“Wooni, about the supplies!” 

“Ah, yes. What do you need?” 

“Well, for now…” 

Se-han tossed the sturdy fan he had been holding onto the floor.

“Please buy me a handheld fan! The one I got from the Taekwondo gym broke.” 

At the balance beam fast walking competition organized by the Taekwondo gym, Se-han received a prize for coming in 1st place in his grade. It was a tiny fan, but it broke the next day while he was playing with Sundol. He had accidentally thrown the fan instead of the ball he was holding in his left hand. 

Se-han was the only second grader who attended the competition that day.