VDN Ch 162
by STAR“Our love?”
Nam-woon’s pupils trembled. What is he talking about now? Feeling uncomfortable, Nam-woon gently pushed his chest and tried to escape. However, Seo-oh hugged Nam-woon closely and continued to rub his lower abdomen.
“Your belly is already sticking out, Hyung.”
“Well, that’s because I’ve been eating a lot.”
“I’m glad to hear you’ve been eating well. Hope ate a lot too.”
“Hope?”
Nam-woon raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar name. What is it? Although there was clearly a conversation happening, it felt like they were talking about different things. Sensing something strange, Nam-woon furrowed his brows and opened his mouth to speak.
“Hope? Who is that?”
“Who else? Our baby.”
“……”
His mouth fell open in shock at the unexpected answer. Has this guy really lost his mind? A baby? Whose baby? Could it be mine and Kwon Seo-oh’s? When did I ever have a baby…? While Nam-woon was in a state of panic, his mouth moving without a sound, Seo-oh met his eyes with a serious expression.
“I’m going to protect you and Hope as the head of our family from now on.”
He then wrapped his arms around Nam-woon’s shoulders again and caressed his stomach affectionately. Nam-woon was shocked and couldn’t say anything for a while, but finally came to his senses and shouted.
“Are you crazy? I’m not pregnant!”
“No. I don’t trust you anymore. And there’s solid evidence right in front of me, so stop denying it, Hyung.”
What is going on? Is this some kind of pregnancy prank or something like that? Nam-woon, flustered, stammered his question.
“What are you even looking at…?”
Seo-oh’s large palm touched the area around Nam-woon’s belly button. Nam-woon also lowered his gaze. He noticed that his belly looked slightly rounder than before. Seo-oh spoke with a tender expression, caressing the plump belly.
“I’ve never seen your belly this big since we started living together. You’re saying this isn’t pregnancy even with this belly? Do you want me to believe that lie?”
“……”
“That’s because Hope is in here.”
Now, Nam-woon was starting to get a bit angry. He couldn’t tell if Kwon Seo-oh genuinely believed in Hope’s existence or if he was just being teased to an extreme degree. With a puzzled expression, Nam-woon repeatedly denied his words.
“Are you doing this on purpose? This is my pot belly!”
“Hope, it’s Daddy.”
“This is driving me crazy…. Kwon Seo-oh, you’re greeting my pot belly right now!”
“Don’t worry, Daddy will protect you. Let’s go home, Hope.”
“Ugh, shit… this doesn’t make any sense.”
Nam-woon was on the verge of fainting. Is this kid really blind? How can he think this belly is pregnant? I’m a man! When he tried to say all the words building up inside him, the serious look in Seo-oh’s eyes scared him. It didn’t seem like Seo-oh was even listening to his explanation. Ignoring Nam-woon’s words of denial, Seo-oh maintained a resolute attitude.
“Ah… I knew this would happen. Sure, play dumb like that. Do you think I’m going to believe that? I won’t believe anything until we go to the hospital together and get it checked.”
“Why would we test that? It’s a waste of money!”
At that, Seo-oh pressed his jaw tightly with a hurt look in his eyes.
“I know you don’t want my baby—no, our baby. But… denying it even in this situation is just wrong, isn’t it? Hope is probably listening from inside.”
“No, that’s not it… fuck, really.”
“Hyung, watch your language.”
Seo-oh warned Nam-woon in a stern tone. Frustrated, Nam-woon punched his chest. It felt like he was talking to a wall. Shaking his shoulders and breathing hard, he felt a gentle pat on his back from Seo-oh, who then spoke in a sweet voice.
“Let’s go home first. Is there anything you want to eat?”
“……”
Nam-woon didn’t respond, his face showing frustration. He thought that continuing the conversation would only hurt him more. What could he do if Seo-oh didn’t believe him? Let’s just leave it alone. I didn’t do anything wrong and I told the truth, so even if you find out the truth later, you can’t get angry with me.
Despite his bad attitude, Seo-oh smiled warmly and held his hand affectionately. Nam-woon let out a small sigh as he watched Seo-oh’s large back leading him back to the break room. Suddenly, he remembered something he had forgotten—the reason he came here today.
“Hey, wait a minute!”
Because of the nonsensical conversation with Kwon Seo-oh, he nearly forgot that important matter. Nam-woon grabbed Seo-oh’s arm and said quickly.
“Seo-oh, let me ask you something. It’s about an Alpha perfume. Have you seen one with a round gold decoration in the middle of the bottle? I checked in front when I came in, and it seems like it wasn’t there.”
“Why are you looking for Alpha perfume? I’m right here.”
Seo-oh’s eyes narrowed immediately. He had an expression on his face that seemed to dislike what Nam-woon was asking. Since he had no time to argue over trivial matters anymore, Nam-woon hurried him on his way.
“Think quickly. It’s really important to me.”
Seeing the urgency on Nam-woon’s face, Seo-oh realized he was serious and furrowed his brow in thought. After a moment, Seo-oh shook his head.
“When the shop gets new perfumes, I check the entire list and display them. But I’ve never seen the kind of perfume you mentioned.”
“Ha…”
“What’s going on?”
As Nam-woon stood there with his shoulders slumped, Seo-oh placed a hand on his shoulder, looking at him with concern. Then, as if recalling something, he spoke again.
“Speaking of which, there’s one place I haven’t checked.”
“Where is that?”
“…There’s Chairman Seok’s safe here, Hyung.”
Nam-woon’s eyes widened at Seo-oh’s words. At that moment, a small noise was heard from somewhere.
Soon after, a strange voice echoed loudly in the perfume shop’s lobby.
“Of course. Ah, one bottle won’t be enough. That’s a thief’s mindset…Huh, why is the door open?”
Could it be a customer? Nam-woon quickly pulled Seo-oh into the break room. He didn’t want to show an unfamiliar person the sight of himself wearing a collar, and he thought that loosening this cumbersome thing would make it easier to find the perfume.
Nam-woon searched the sofa diligently, concentrating on finding the key Seo-oh had thrown away. In the meantime, the man’s voice was getting closer to them. The door was slightly open, perhaps because it hadn’t closed properly when they entered the break room, and the man’s rough voice continued through the gap.
“Ah, it’s nothing. Ugh, the boss is really something. You need to drink at least five bottles to see the effects.”
Huh? Nam-woon’s eyes widened at the man’s words. You need to drink it to see any effects?
Nam-woon fixed his gaze on the door while feeling his heart pounding. After a while, a pair of worn-out sneakers quickly passed under the crack in the door. There was only one door after passing the break room. It was the perfume warehouse that Nam-woon had visited.
While Nam-woon was distracted by the man, Seo-oh, who had been carefully observing the change in his expression, took the opportunity to remove the gag from Mr. Park’s mouth.
“Boss, did you call the manager today?”
“Ma… Manager? No? I didn’t call the manager.”
Having been gagged for so long, Mr. Park’s speech was slurred, and he answered slowly. Seo-oh continued, removing the blindfold from Mr. Park’s eyes.
“I think the manager just arrived. Boss, please stay here for a moment. I’ll go check.”
Seo-oh moved closely beside Nam-woon. As if waiting for the moment, Nam-woon locked eyes with him and whispered urgently,
“Let’s go quickly.”
Nam-woon held the iron chain connected to his neck tightly in his hand so as not to make a loud noise and moved while making quiet steps. Seo-oh followed him quietly. A faint fluorescent light was leaking out from inside the warehouse. Nam-woon peeked his head through the gap of the open door.
The man was making his way deeper into the storage area, passing numerous boxes. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, moving forward without hesitation.
Seo-oh, who was behind him, pressed his lips close to Nam-woon’s ear and whispered,
“There’s a supply room inside.”
They quietly entered the warehouse and followed the man’s direction. Soon, an iron door that seemed to be the supplies room came into view. When they carefully tilted their heads and looked inside, they saw the man’s back. He was searching around as if he were looking for something. He looked no different from when Nam-woon was looking for perfume earlier.
“Ugh… Where did I put it?”
After rummaging around frantically for a while, the man finally grabbed something with both hands and chuckled to himself.
“Dammit, I can’t believe I forgot to bring this out, and now I have to make two trips.”
“……!”
Nam-woon’s eyes widened in shock. It was the safe! The safe that Nam-woon had tried to open without Chairman Seok knowing and was almost beaten to death.
His throat tightened and sweat began to drip down his hands. The man pressed the safe’s keypad skillfully, as if he had opened it more than once or twice.
“3801.”
Nam-woon had guessed it, but the password was the same as the secret code for the safe he used at his taiyaki shop. Could it be that everything was synchronized because the world was connected? In any case, the man pressed the familiar number and pulled something out of the safe.
Nam-woon covered his mouth with one hand to stifle the breath that was about to escape. The voice of Ju-ham echoed in his ears like a hallucination.
– It was a red perfume with a round gold decoration in the middle of the bottle.
Nam-woon was certain. Whatever the man was holding in his hand, whether he was a manager or a thief, it was definitely the perfume he had been searching for.
The man pulled out two perfume bottles, put one in his pocket, and twisted the cap off the other in his hand. At that moment, quick and heavy footsteps echoed from outside the storage area. The man instinctively froze, bringing the bottle closer to his lips.
Is it Mr. Park? Who else could be coming in?
Nam-woon turned to look at Seo-oh, his face showing nervous anxiety. Seo-oh patted his shoulder reassuringly, but he still felt uneasy. As he turned his head, staying alert for the unfamiliar footsteps, he locked eyes directly with the manager.
“……!”
“What, what is it?”
The manager briefly wore a surprised expression but quickly recognized Seo-oh’s face and pretended everything was normal as he concealed the perfume inside his pocket.
“What brings you here at this hour, Seo-oh? And who is that person next to you?”
Seo-oh looked only at Nam-woon without answering the manager. Then he suddenly asked,
“Should I catch him?”
“Catch him.”
At the unwavering response, Seo-oh quickly moved his body. His long legs rushed toward the target right in front of him.
But they had momentarily forgotten for a moment that they were connected to each other by a chain.