VDN Ch 42

Nam-woon hesitated at those words, then sighed and said,

“Let me know in advance what’s going on next time. I’ll be early.”

“…You will?”

Those words instantly put Nam-woon in a bad mood.

“Ah, what’s with you today.”

“……”

“If you’re going to be like this, just tell me not to come in the first place!”

Bark, bark, bark! Bark, bark!

As their voices rose, a dog barked outside the gate. This caused the fight to subside for a moment, but the two were still glaring at each other. Nam-woon was the first to turn around. He walked past Seo-oh, not towards the room but towards the gate, and Seo-oh, following him quickly, grabbed one of Nam-woon’s arms and turned him around.

With an angry face, Kwon Seo-oh pushed Nam-woon against the low gray wall next to the gate.

“Ah!”

Nam-woon grimaced as he hit his back against the hard wall. Seo-oh, putting his hand against the wall, looked down at Nam-woon with a serious face. Unintentionally, an apology burst out.

“Ah, I said I’m sorry!”

“You crazy bastard.”

Seo-oh cursed in a low voice and suddenly lowered his head.

“..…!”

After pressing his face close to Nam-woon’s ear and taking a deep breath, he stepped back and quietly asked,

“Did you come here with that bastard?”

“No.”

The atmosphere was very tense. Nam-woon, seeing Seo-oh’s sunken face, asked with an anxious expression,

“Why, what is it?”

“I told you.”

“What.”

“The smell.”

Nam-woon remembered spilling the drink that Jin-sang had given him on his waistband. It seemed that the smell of alcohol was emanating from his body. That Jin-sang claimed it was non-alcoholic, but it must have been just alcohol.

“I told you to behave well.”

Nam-woon made an excuse in response to Kwon Seo-oh’s angry voice.

“No, I didn’t know it would get this bad.”

“Shut up.”

His mouth snapped shut at the threatening tone. But suddenly, a hot and thick finger touched the back of Nam-woon’s hand. It was Seo-oh’s hand.

Nam-woon was surprised, as he had never had this kind of contact with Seo-oh before. Nam-woon raised his head abruptly. Kwon Seo-oh also seemed to be avoiding his gaze awkwardly. But in contrast to his gaze, his strong hand intertwined with Nam-woon’s fingers.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

He shook his hand away and tried to escape, but there was a hard wall behind him and Kwon Seo-oh in front of him. There was no way to escape. He had no choice but to lower his body and try to slip out underneath, but the nape of his neck was grabbed.

“Come here.”

Forcing him back against the wall again, Nam-woon looked at the man in front of him with trembling eyes. As Seo-oh took a step closer and lowered his head, his cheek seemed to brush against Nam-woon’s ear.

“This is my first time doing it.”

A clear fragrance that he had once smelled somewhere wafted up faintly.

“I might be clumsy.”

Seo-oh’s quiet voice echoed loudly like thunder. “You wouldn’t know since you’re a beta anyway.” With those words, the faint scent filled the surroundings. At the same time, with a small noise, letters floated in the air.

Ding!

[Sub-mission Get hit by “??? Shower!” begins!]

[Due to the ??? shower effect, pheromone sensitivity temporarily increases.]

[Pheromone Sensitivity: 50%]

Every time Kwon Seo-oh moved, his cheek brushed lightly against Nam-woon’s ear. He felt strange. Nam-woon leaned his head back, but Kwon Seo-oh followed immediately and closed the distance. Then, they got close enough for their breaths to touch, and at the same time, Nam-woon’s body stiffened.

Thump thump thump.

A loud pounding sound, the source of which he couldn’t identify, echoed in his ears. Was it the sound coming from Kwon Seo-oh? Or maybe it was coming from him.

In the quiet stillness filled only with the chirping of crickets, Nam-woon couldn’t even swallow properly for fear that it might reach Kwon Seo-oh’s ears.

How long had they been standing there, bodies pressed together? Feeling more and more intoxcated by the scent, Nam-woon lost his strength in his body and leaned against the wall. While feeling a sense of comfort, he also felt a tingling sensation of faint excitement rising all over his body.

As Nam-woon’s body began to sink, Kwon Seo-oh’s large hand came up to his waist and firmly supported him. Nam-woon felt a mix of extreme emotions, wanting to hide in a mouse hole because it was too embarrassing to be like this with Kwon Seo-oh, and on the other hand, wishing this would continue.

“Hey, let’s stop now…”

Just as Nam-woon, who had overcome the temptation, placed his hand on Kwon Seo-oh’s shoulder.

Creak

“Ah, you startled me!”

Startled by the sound at the gate, Seo-oh turned his head to see a dark figure standing there. Recognizing the stranger, Seo-oh pulled away from Nam-woon and blocked his front.

“What are you two doing now?”

Nam-woon tiptoed to look over Seo-oh’s shoulder at the stranger. It was Grandfather Namnam. The grandfather looked back and forth between Seo-oh and Nam-woon’s faces, mumbling.

“No, seriously, at this hour of the early morning, oh my goodness.”

Then he looked Seo-oh up and down.

“I thought something was wrong with young man Kwon, but now that I see it, oh wow.”

“Why did you come?”

“I was patrolling around because Sundol kept barking at this hour, thinking something was wrong! But I saw the front door was wide open, so I came in to check! But now this kid is glaring at an elder with sharp eyes.”

“Get out quickly.”

“Ugh, such bad manners. I’m leaving, I’m leaving!”

Grandpa Namnam clicked his tongue and left through the gate. After taking a few steps down, he turned around again and stared at the green door.

So, Kwon was telling the truth?’

Before Kwon Sang-moon went missing, there was a casual mention of Seo-oh’s traits, and at that time, he shyly said that Seo-oh was a dominant alpha. However, since he had never smelled the pheromones of the eldest son, who was supposedly a dominant alpha, Namnam just vaguely thought, Maybe he misspoke and meant recessive alpha.

But now that I see it…

“Geez, I thought that kid was a pheromone dud.”

Namnam wrinkled his nose.

“The smell is everywhere. Oh. He’s giving young Woon a pheromone shower!”

Grandpa Namnam carefully went down the slope, looking as if he saw something odd.

“Oh, wait a minute. Maybe I should bring some condoms to the store soon.”

He muttered quickly and headed to the supermarket.

After Grandpa Namnam left, the two avoided each other’s gaze and stood turning their heads. Then, sparkling letters caught Nam-woon’s eye.

[Sub-mission success! Your adaptation to the Omegaverse is improving rapidly!]

[As a reward, you will receive 1 ticket.]

[Level up due to sub-mission success!]

[In progress…]

Already leveling up? A bit of life returned to Nam-woon’s eyes as he sneakily glanced at the air.

[Congratulations! Level 2!]

Huh? Why level 2? I’m sure it was level 3 last time.

[The current system level is 2.]

“……”

[New features will be added due to the system leveling up.]

[Whisper function: The system reads Seok Nam-woon’s inner thoughts! Shout “Status Window” in your mind to activate it.]

Why are you leveling up? He was flabbergasted. Still, the whisper function was pretty cool. Now he didn’t have to shout into thin air like he’d seen a ghost.

Meanwhile, Seo-oh turned away first. Nam-woon quickly grabbed the floral pillow and followed him. He was worried that Seo-oh, who had entered first, might lock the door, but fortunately, Seo-oh went inside with the door open. Nam-woon hurried into the room, placed the pillow next to Se-han, and headed for the bathroom when a quiet voice came from behind.

“Se-han is sleeping, so wash quietly.”

“Okay.”

Nam-woon glanced at Seo-oh and closed the bathroom door with a thud, which didn’t close well. Seo-oh clenched his fist as he looked at the closed door.

***

The next day, Nam-woon woke up to Se-han’s scolding in the morning.

Se-han shouted as he put the rice bowl he was holding with both hands on the table.

“Wooni Hyung! I was really worried about you yesterday!”

“Sorry…”

Following Se-han, Nam-woon weakly placed two rice bowls on the table. Se-han looked at Nam-woon with his eyebrows raised and his hands on his hips.

“I can’t live because of Wooni Hyung, really!”

His fierce shouting seemed to mimic the drama that Mrs. Soon-i’s family was currently watching. Se-han rarely looked angry, but Nam-woon bit his lip secretly at the sight of the cute child.

“Wooni Hyung, why do you really like alcohol?”

“I don’t really like alcohol.”

“I guess when I grow up and drink a lot, Wooni Hyung, you won’t be able to say anything!”

“What? Se-han, don’t drink alcohol. It’s bad for your body and brain.”

Se-han snorted softly at Nam-woon’s hurried response and scampered over to Seo-oh by the sink.

“Hyung, just put down the water cup.”

As Seo-oh picked up Se-han’s yellow water cup and headed to the dining table, Se-han followed him closely. Nam-woon quickly sat at the dining table and said softly,

“I’ll eat well.”

Se-han, with a large piece of seaweed stuck to the side of his lips, squirmed beside him and stood up while Nam-woon was watching Seo-oh’s reaction. He took a bite of his food and chewed.

“Wooni Hyung! Guess what happened to me yesterday~?’”

When I turned around, Se-han’s expression was incredibly cheerful, as if his earlier anger had quickly disappeared. Nam-woon swallowed his food and pretended to think seriously.

“Um… Did you drink Dal-kong’s soda-flavored drink?”

“Wrong!”

“Did you get caught by your brother for skipping Taekwondo class?”

“No, wrong!”

“Did you find the answer sheet for the math worksheets that Kwon Seo-oh hid? Oh right, you found it last time.”

“.….!”

Se-han covered Nam-woon’s mouth with his small hand and shouted, “No, not that!” Then, Kwon Seo-oh suddenly got up, rummaged through the bottom drawer of the wardrobe, and took out Se-han’s sticker book, stuffing it into his bag. Seeing this, Se-han’s face turned gloomy.