VDN Ch 135

A guy wearing a hat? Seo-oh suddenly recalled the side profile of Nam-woon, who was wearing a blue baseball cap.

“At first glance, it looks like a sponsor relationship, doesn’t it? Something like that?” 

The staff lowered their voices, whispering among themselves. 

“The guy in the suit is a company representative, and the one in the hat is probably a trainee or an aspiring celebrity, right? His clothes were pretty plain. Different from the usual crowd here.”

“Now that you mention it, it does kind of feel like that.”

Seo-oh, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, suddenly interrupted. 

“That person who was wearing the hat, was it a blue hat?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Did you see him too, Seo-oh? He’s pretty good-looking, isn’t he?”

“……”

Seo-oh slowly closed the locker in the changing room. His stomach churned uncomfortably. He walked past the staff towards the door and said, 

“I’ll head out first.”

“Okay. Serve and let us know how it goes.” 

He walked to the front of the kitchen and waited for the food to come out. After a moment, when the food was ready, he placed a tray on the cart, grabbed the handle, and slowly pushed it forward. 

When he arrived in front of the Moran Hall, an elderly-looking man entered the room. Seo-oh glanced at him and positioned the cart near the open door, lifting the tray filled with dishes. Just as he turned his body towards the room, his face stiffened at the voice coming out from inside. 

“Hae-geon.”

“​Welcome.”

Seo-oh slowly raised his head. A pale, smiling face appeared before him. Seeing Jin Hae-geon in a suit, Seo-oh’s grip tightened fiercely. The plates slid slightly to one side because of it. Seo-oh quickly composed himself and readjusted his hold on the tray.

His lips set in a hard line as he stepped up onto the threshold. Once inside the room, he quickly began setting down the food. Noticing Seo-oh, Hae-geon’s eyes widened in surprise before curving into a smile.

“It’s been a while. Are you working here?” 

Seo-oh didn’t respond and just moved his hands. The one who reacted to Hae-geon’s words was a middle-aged man. He alternated his gaze between Seo-oh and Hae-geon and asked, 

“Is this someone you know, Hae-geon?”

“He’s a classmate from school.”

“Oh, really? What a coincidence.”

The man smiled at Seo-oh and said,

“Nice to meet you. I’m Hae-geon’s uncle.”

“……”

But Seo-oh, once again, said nothing, only lifting his eyes to glance at the man. Then he resumed setting the table. Despite his rude behavior, the man didn’t lose his easy smile. He turned back to Hae-geon and asked casually,

“By the way, where is Nam-woon?”

“Ah, he had to leave early. Something came up.”

“Oh dear… I even brought a nice bottle of liquor for Nam-woon.”

“We’ll arrange another time. You can give it to him yourself then, Uncle.”

At that moment, the small pitcher in Seo-oh’s hand tipped over. Chilled sujeonggwa^[1] spilled across the table, spreading its rich aroma. Hae-geon and his uncle stopped their conversation, their eyes turning to Seo-oh.

As if nothing had happened, Seo-oh fetched a clean cloth from the cart and silently began to wipe the table. He should have apologized immediately since it was his mistake, but his lips felt glued shut. Hae-geon’s uncle, looking somewhat displeased, cleared his throat and resumed the conversation.

“After you introduced us to Nam-woon at the wedding venue, I talked a lot with my wife. Your aunt said it’s hard to find a young man like Nam-woon these days, so you should hold onto him tightly.” 

“Haha, really?” 

“I think the same. Speaking of which, Hae-geon, when do you plan to get married? You are thinking about it, right? It seems like your grandfather has no idea that you’re seeing someone.”

At those words, Seo-oh’s hands, which were wiping the table, came to a sudden stop. The uncle continued without noticing. 

“Is Nam-woon’s trait a Beta? If you’re worried because of his trait, I’ll try to persuade my father. Anyway, for you, an Omega is… Ahem! In any case, unlike my father, I don’t care about traits. Oh, but don’t misunderstand. I’m absolutely not trying to make Jung-hoon the successor.”

“It doesn’t matter to me if Jung-hoon takes over the company.” 

“Don’t even joke about that. I want Jung-hoon to do whatever he really wants. Lately he’s gotten so into music I’m thinking of sending him to an academy… No, I shouldn’t even be telling you this. Have you ever talked about marriage with Nam-woon?”

“Actually, we did just have a similar conversation…”

Hae-geon stopped his words and glanced to the side. Seo-oh was still in the same posture as before. However, his eyes were shaking uncontrollably. Hae-geon fixed his gaze on Seo-oh and continued speaking. 

“Nam-woon has some things to sort out.” 

“Sort out? What do you mean by that? I heard he’d sort out all the bad stuff from his past.”

“Not that kind of sorting. I mean sorting out people.” 

At those words, Seo-oh slowly turned his body. With a deep smile on his lips, Hae-geon looked into Seo-oh’s eyes and said calmly,

“There’s some leech clinging to Nam-woon. It’s about time he was cut off.”

In an instant, Seo-oh shot up and grabbed Hae-geon by the collar. The uncle, who was startled by the sudden action by the employee, yelled in confusion.

“What the hell are you doing!”

Seo-oh didn’t care about his surprised voice and glared at Hae-geon with piercing eyes. 

“You fucking bastard, what did you just say?”

“I didn’t say anything much. Why are you suddenly getting so worked up and making a scene?”

Hae-geon grabbed Seo-oh’s wrist and roughly shook it off. Straightening his rumpled collar, he sneered at Seo-oh.

“Why, did that hit a nerve? Because I said ‘leech’?”

“Say it again, you bastard.”

Once again, Seo-oh lunged forward and pushed Hae-geon against the wall with enough force to make a loud ‘thud!’ The sudden action caused Hae-geon’s uncle to shout. The loud noise drew the manager and several other employees rushing into the room. 

“Gentlemen, what’s going on… Seo-oh!” 

“What are you doing!?” The manager screamed in a shrill voice, urgently grabbing Seo-oh. The other employees also joined in and tried to pull him away from Hae-geon. However, Seo-oh didn’t budge at all and glared at Hae-geon with hostile eyes and spoke coldly.

“I told you to stay away from him. You filthy bastard.”

“Isn’t it about time you let Nam-woon go? He needs to leave this miserable life behind now.”

At those words, Seo-oh’s grip tightened. Hae-geon maintained a bright smile and continued.

“I feel sorry for you, so I’ll give you a heads-up this once.” 

Hae-geon whispered, looking into Seo-oh’s intense eyes.

“Nam-woon is going to get rid of you soon.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Seo-oh tackled Hae-geon to the ground and climbed on top of him. This was followed by screams from the employees and the uncle’s furious shouts. The manager desperately tried to intervene, scratching and hitting Seo-oh anywhere he could. 

“Seo-oh, let go of him this instant! You’re fired! Seo-oh, you’re fired!”

“Have you lost your mind! Why are you doing this to Hae-geon!”

In the midst of the chaos, Seo-oh focused solely on Hae-geon’s pale-colored eyes. 

“You’re wrong. He’s not leaving my side.”

Never. Seo-oh’s face was ferocious as he spoke, yet there was an undeniable trace of desperation in his expression.

***

“Is it raining?”

He got out of the taxi and was walking up the alley. Just as he thought the raindrops were falling lightly, they suddenly started pouring down. Caught in the unexpected downpour, Nam-woon covered his head with his hands and ran uphill. 

He barely managed to avoid getting drenched in the rain. Nam-woon went into the bathroom and quickly took off the clothes that were stuck to his body. After that, he washed up and started to pack the things he had left behind in the morning. He stuffed the clothes he had taken out of the closet and the small stuff into a sports bag without thinking. Since there weren’t many things, it didn’t take that long.

“I think I’ve packed everything.” 

He looked around the room to see if there was anything else he needed to take. Since it was the last day, memories of the times spent with Seo-oh and Se-han surfaced in his mind at every glance. 

To be honest, every day spent with them felt like a dream to Nam-woon. It was a peaceful and warm daily life that he could never have imagined in his previous world. Just that alone made him feel that coming to this world had meaning.

“Yeah…I’ve had a good time so far, so that’s enough.” 

It wasn’t that I didn’t feel regret, but his heart was calmer than he thought. Perhaps he had subconsciously thought that he would have to leave this house someday from the moment he set foot in it. He didn’t expect my feelings for Seo-oh to grow this much.

If he had been just a little later, Nam-woon might not have been able to pack his things with such a bittersweet feeling. He might have been crying and denying reality, not wanting to part from Seo-oh and Se-han. Imagining that version of himself, he felt relieved that he was able to leave now. However, he couldn’t shake off his concern about Seo-oh’s reaction.

What if he feels bad about me leaving suddenly? 

What would he say when he suddenly packed his bags after showing no signs of leaving? If it were before, he would have gotten angry and asked what I was talking about all of a sudden, but these days, it felt like his interest in me had waned significantly, so I couldn’t figure it out at all.

And then there was Se-han, who weighed on his mind as well. 

Just until dawn, Nam-woon was going to say that he probably wouldn’t be able to come back to this house anymore, but when faced with Se-han’s face, he couldn’t bring himself to say it and ended up lying that he was going on a business trip. When Se-han said he would call me every day, I told him that I might not be able to answer because I was too busy, and the boy pouted his lips and made a sullen expression.

If I don’t answer the phone, Se-han would be really disappointed.

Nam-woon’s expression darkened. Before heading to the Taekwondo, Se-han picked up a sticker he had left on the table and fiddled with it. On the sticker was a yellow bul-kong that had a discontented look on its face.

“Stick it on your phone, Hyung! We’re matching! I stuck one on my pencil case.”

Recalling Se-han’s bright voice, Nam-woon carefully placed the bul-kong sticker on his phone. 

That was then, he heard a click. The sound of the front door handle turning reached his ears. Turning his head toward the noise, he saw Kwon Seo-oh standing in the doorway, water dripping all over his body.

He wiped the rainwater off his face and looked at Nam-woon.