VDN Ch 23

Standing in front of the office building, Seo-oh looked down at the shopping bag in his hand.

A baseball player puzzle.

He remembered Nam-woon playing with Se-han while putting together a puzzle. And the voice that playfully answered,

“Even adults have something they are bad at.”

Then, other images of Seok Nam-woon came to mind. The one that came to mind the most was the image of him covered in blood, collapsed on the asphalt.

Stop thinking about it.

Seo-oh tried to erase Nam-woon’s face, which had dominated his thoughts for days, and looked up. The office windows were dark, suggesting everyone had left for the day. He must be resting at home by now. I’ll just leave it at the door. Seo-oh climbed the stairs.

Creak.

The office interior was very dark with all the lights off. It seemed empty, but the door wasn’t locked. After a few steps inside, he saw a figure curled up on the sofa. A man’s foot was sticking out from under the blanket. He paused for a moment, then quietly approached the sofa.

“.……”

The man lying on his side with a thin gauze on his forehead was sleeping deeply. The gauze was soaked with blood, as if the wound hadn’t been properly disinfected. His complexion seemed a bit better than at the hospital, but he still didn’t look healthy. The thin blanket covering him was too small to fully cover his long body.

Why is he sleeping so miserably like this? He couldn’t understand why he would choose to doze off in this musty office when his own home was surely more comfortable.

Still, it allowed him to check on one thing that had been bothering him. Seo-oh bent down close to Seok Nam-woon’s face. He wanted to examine the wound on his forehead.

Just before his fingers touched Nam-woon’s bangs, Seo-oh suddenly stopped moving.

Had I ever seen Seok Nam-woon’s face this close up before?

His eyes, which usually looked cold, folded playfully when he smiled, and beneath them he had a straight nose and slightly parted lips. Seo-oh could understand why Mr. Park had wanted to contact him separately. The man did look quite decent up close.

But contrary to his thoughts, Kwon Seo-oh blurted out,

“You’re an idiot.”

Seo-oh straightened up without touching him. He’d heal on his own; what was the point of him examining this man’s wound? He tossed the shopping bag onto the table in front of the sofa and turned to leave.

Thud.

However, his foot hit a heavy object. Seo-oh bent down and picked up the object.

It was an axe.

Seo-oh’s brow furrowed. It was like they were showing off to everyone that this was a gangster’s office. If something like this was on the floor, it could cause Nam-woon to trip over it and fall when he woke up later. And he was already injured. Seo-oh turned to place the axe on the table.

Just then, in the darkness, their eyes met.

“.……”

“.……”

Nam-woon was staring at Seo-oh with wide eyes. He seemed to have woken up from the thud of Seo-oh hitting the axe with his foot. Nam-woon, who had fully woken up, slowly sat up without blinking. Then he wrapped the old blanket around himself as if it were a shield and said, crouching his body as much as possible.

“…Who are you?”

“.……”

It must have been too dark for him to see Seo-oh’s face. While Seo-oh pondered where to start explaining, Nam-woon spoke again.

“Please, spare me.”

“.……”

“If you spare me, I’ll, I’ll do anything you say.”

Seo-oh couldn’t believe it. Was this guy crazy? What made him think he could say such things to a stranger? Seo-oh chuckled and replied,

“You’ll do anything I say?”

“…Yes.”

“Then take off your clothes.”

“U-uh?”

Seok Nam-woon’s eyes widened. Seo-oh, holding the axe, said quietly,

“Take them off.”

“T-take them off?”

Who is this perverted bastard?

Nam-woon’s pupils shook. He swallowed hard, then cautiously observed the intruder. Even just by his silhouette, he could tell the figure was tall and well built. Moreover, the opponent was holding an axe, and he himself was injured. Anyone could see that he was at a disadvantage.

I have no choice.

First, he would do as the intruder said to get through this crisis, then he’d look for an opportunity to call Yong-deuk for help. Nam-woon now believed Yong-deuk would be faster than the police. Nam-woon, with a determined expression, placed his hand on the top of his shirt.

Click.

As he unbuttoned each button, he could see the intruder flinch slightly, even in the dark. He’s completely insane, that guy.

Click, click.

Nam-woon paused with his hand at the middle of his shirt and asked in a trembling voice,

“But do I have to take off my pants too?”

“.……”

The intruder was silent for a moment, then let out a huff of air and asked back,

“Are you confident?”

The man’s voice asking that seemed familiar to Nam-woon, but he was too overwhelmed with fear to pay attention to such things. Nam-woon mumbled in a voice as small as an ant’s crawl,

“It’s not that I’m not confident, but I can’t just take off my pants in front of someone I’m meeting for the first time…”

“What are you saying?”

Perhaps because Nam-woon’s voice was too soft, the intruder let out an exasperated sound and threw the axe onto the floor.

Thunk, clang.

Then he began to stride forward.

He seems really excited.

Nam-woon scrambled on the sofa in terror, and the white shirt that had been draped over his shoulder slipped down his arm. This exposed Nam-woon’s neatly formed shoulder, and the intruder reached out a hand.

“Oh, oh, wait…!”

The intruder, who had approached before he could even evade, began to gently caress his exposed shoulder. It happened to be the spot where Chairman Seok had hit him. As a dull pain flared up, Nam-woon, in a panic, squeezed his eyes shut and shouted,

“I-I have a wife and son! Don’t do this!”

At his words, the intruder paused his hand as if startled. Nam-woon continued with his eyes closed

“I have a wife and son waiting for me at home!

“…Really?”

“Yes? Yes. My son is an elementary school student, and he’s good at puzzles and good at baseball…”

It was a hasty story he made up, hoping that if he mentioned he was a married man with a family, the scoundrel might have a sliver of conscience and back off. From the reaction, it seemed to be working. The only child that came to Nam-woon’s mind right now was Se-han. And naturally, another person’s face came to mind.

“And, uh, my wife is pretty, but she curses a lot.”

“Fuck.”

Yeah, she’s really good at cursing like that. Wait what?

Nam-woon, hearing the very familiar voice, slowly opened one eye that he had been closed. Recognizing the man’s face, Nam-woon’s eyes widened as he pointed his finger.

“What! Why are you here, huh?”

“Who were you talking about earlier?”

“What are you talking about?”

Nam-woon deflected, looking down. Now he had to be more cautious of the man in front of him than the unknown assailant. If he got caught, it would be another mess. There was even an axe on the table.

Seo-oh growled with a suppressed voice.

“That thing earlier, with Se-han… that wasn’t about me… was it?”

“Haha, you’re funny. It’s my forehead that’s hurt, not like I got shot in the head.”

“You don’t have to get shot in the head to say things like that, Hyung.”

“.……”

This bastard… He’s sharp, as expected.

That guy… as expected, is sharp. To improvise, I could even make Seo-oh out to be my wife.

However, Kwon Seo-oh soon seemed to realize that it didn’t make sense either, so he didn’t pick any further quarrels. Instead, another question popped out.

“Then who were you talking about?”

To answer, “I just made it up,” felt like he had described Se-han’s characteristics too clearly. After a moment of thought, Nam-woon chose to answer half-honestly and half-falsely. All of this was a choice for his own survival.

“The son, I was talking about Se-han, but the wife is someone else, not you.”

“So if it’s not me, then who is it?”

“Would you know if I told you? Why are you asking?”

Nam-woon added nonchalantly.

“It’s not like you’re curious.”

Kwon Seo-oh, who had opened his mouth as if to say something, gave no reply to Nam-woon’s words. Then, without taking his hand off Nam-woon’s shoulder, he spoke in a low voice.

“But Hyung takes off his clothes in front of strangers.”

“Well… sometimes.”

Facing the crisis of being axed to death, taking off this one shirt was nothing. Seo-oh let out a low ha sound, then threw out a nonsensical remark.

“You seem used to taking them off?”

“Of course. It’s a daily routine to put on and take off clothes, how could I not be used to it?”

At that, Seo-oh’s expression tightened.

Nam-woon was dumbfounded. It’s natural for people to change clothes, so why did he have to make a good reason? Wasn’t it all because Seo-oh had sneaked into the office at night, wielding an axe?

Even though all misunderstandings should have been cleared up, Kwon Seo-oh still stood still in front of Nam-woon. Then he bent down and placed his hand back on Nam-woon’s injured shoulder. His fingers gently touching the wound felt ticklish. Nam-woon, flustered, pulled back.

“Why have you been doing this since earlier?”

“Gauze.”

“Gauze?”

“There was cotton and gauze attached here, why did you remove it?”

“Oh. It was too uncomfortable to sleep with.”

“The bandage?”

“That was also hot and uncomfortable.”

Seo-oh sighed at Nam-woon’s explanation as he touched his forehead. Nam-woon slowly lifted the shirt that had slipped down his arm as soon as Seo-oh moved away.

Come to think of it, I heard that Seo-oh took me to the hospital when I collapsed. I don’t remember well, but I vaguely recall a broad, swaying back. Nam-woon scratched one eyebrow and spoke.

“You were the one who took me to the hospital, right?”

“.……”

“Thanks.”

Seo-oh chuckled sarcastically and said,

“Hyung, you have a lot of things to be thankful and sorry for.”

“Well…”

It was true, so there wasn’t much he could say. Then Kwon Seo-oh looked down at him with a blank expression.

“I’m neither thankful nor sorry for you, Hyung.”

“That’s not surprising. I know.”

After hesitating for a moment, Kwon Seo-oh turned as if to leave.

What is he doing here at this hour? Looking for trouble?

Nam-woon, bewildered, buttoned up his shirt and lay back on the sofa. Suddenly, something flew into his abdomen. He sat up to check and found a shopping bag containing the puzzle he had bought. Nam-woon was delighted and asked Seo-oh.

“Oh? Where did you find this? I thought I lost it.”

Seo-oh didn’t answer Nam-woon’s question and instead said something out of the blue.

“You said you’d do everything I told you to, right?”

“That was…”

When you were an intruder, As his words trailed off, Seo-oh suddenly said,

“Pack your things.”

Nam-woon looked at Seo-oh’s face in confusion, and he spoke again.

“Pack your things and let’s go.”