VDN Ch 14

Ugh… But why do I feel like I’m getting drunk so quickly today?

Nam-woon touched his cheek. It was too hot. He also felt somewhat sick to his stomach. It seemed like his condition wasn’t great today. Seo-oh, watching Nam-woon with concern, asked,

“You don’t want to be a celebrity, Hyung?”

“Why would I want that agency to go bankrupt?”

“It’s not like that, but why have you suddenly become so…”

Seo-oh stopped mid-sentence.

Nice, what?

“No, that’s not the case” he muttered. Nam-woon looked at his face and said,

“To be a celebrity, you need to have an aura like you. Guys like me don’t have that. Anyone can see I’m just a street-life person.”

“By your standards, I would be a street-life person too.”

“Hey, don’t say things like that.”

Suddenly, Nam-woon spoke seriously and added,

“Street life is a term you use when there’s not a single person around you.”

Nam-woon emphasized not a single person particularly strongly.

“You have people who like you.”

“…….”

“You have a younger sibling who loves you very much, and surely your father is somewhere safe, so you’re not living a street life.”

After drinking a little alcohol and feeling tipsy, Nam-woon found the term “street life” somewhat amusing for some reason. It was because there was no term that fit him better. Was it someone who felt sorry for him with nowhere to attach his heart that sent him here? But even here, he was the same. Wherever he went, he was alone.

It’s funny. Nam-woon just stared blankly at the glass, all its foam gone.

Seo-oh, who had been quietly watching him, blurted out,

“You’re really strange.”

Seo-oh stared intently at Nam-woon. Coincidentally, Nam-woon was thinking the same thing.

Yeah, I’m really strange today. Is the alcohol affecting me?

After shaking his head a few times, Nam-woon soon buried his face in the rice bowl.

“…Seok Nam-woon.”

Nam-woon buried his face in the table and then stopped moving. There was no sign of him getting up, so Seo-oh nudged Nam-woon’s shoulder with an empty soju bottle. There was no response. Seo-oh thought this was his chance to leave, but his escape was blocked by an unexpected opponent.

“Hey, handsome customer, you have to pay for what you ate before you leave, right?”

The store owner, with his eyes wide open, called out to Seo-oh.

Seo-oh hesitated. He didn’t know what kind of fuss that crazy guy would make if he touched his wallet. Reluctantly, Seo-oh pulled out four crumpled ten-thousand-won notes from his pocket and handed them to the owner. As expected, nothing good ever happened when he was with that guy.

As he was about to leave after paying, the owner’s plump hand landed on Seo-oh’s shoulder.

“Hey, customer, aren’t you going to take that?”

Looking back, the owner was pointing at the incomprehensible trash that had been following him around lately.

“…Damn it.”

Seo-oh hoisted the man’s body up again, cursing under his breath. Nam-woon was lighter than his tall frame suggested, but like most drunk people, he couldn’t hold himself up and kept sliding off Seo-oh’s back.

Thud.

Seo-oh dumped the grown man he had been carrying on the side of the road.

“Ugh.”

A groan came from Nam-woon below, but Seo-oh ignored it and rummaged through his pockets. The caller was Mrs. Soon-i from next door.

“Yes, ma’am.”

– Seo-oh, where are you now?

“I’m on my way.”

– Where from?

She seemed to be in a hurry to know his location.

“Why? Is Se-han looking for me?”

– Uh, Se-han says he has a headache?

Seo-oh’s face turned serious.

“A headache? Does he have a fever?”

– Hold on.

There was a faint sound of shoes being put on and someone going outside, then Mrs. Soon-i whispered in a hushed voice.

– It seems like a headache, but… that’s not it.

Seo-oh wanted to urge her to continue, but he patiently waited. She finally spoke with difficulty.

– It doesn’t seem like he’s sick, but he’s been crying so much. He’s been sobbing since earlier, saying he misses his Hyung.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be there soon.”

Seo-oh hung up the phone and let out a deep breath. Yes, Se-han was the only one who truly loved him.

Seo-oh looked at the drunken person sprawled on the roadside. A street-life person. No matter how much Seok Nam-woon wrapped himself in expensive things, his life remained the same.

I’m not like that. Seo-oh walked past the man lying on the ground.