VDN Ch 48

Nam-woon, shocked quickly lowered his head and hurried towards the back door. As soon as he was outside, he ran down the empty hallway as if running away. Then, someone grabbed his wrist from behind.

“……!”

“It seems you really do know each other.”

Thinking it was Kwon Seo-oh, Nam-woon turned around in surprise, but fortunately or unfortunately, it was Jin-sang.

“We’re strangers.”

He answered shortly and was about to walk away when he saw men coming from the opposite direction and quickly lowered his head again.

“That bastard really does know Kwon Seo-oh?”

“Yeah. I saw them talking last time.”

“Kwon Seo-oh is a crazy bastard, he’s a real mess.”

“Na Dae-yeol, you didn’t do something weird, did you? That guy is handsome, why would he do such a thing?”

The man named Na Dae-yeol was a man he met when he first came to the university to pick up Seo-oh. Nam-woon had looked into his eyes and spouted nonsense about corneas and eyesight and he performed a performance about organ trafficking.

It was truly a minefield everywhere.

They hadn’t seen Nam-woon yet. Quickly, Nam-woon entered the restroom in front of him, with Jin-sang following him like a leech. About ten seconds later, Na Dae-yeol’s loud voice was heard right in front of the restroom.

“Huh? Hey! Kwon Seo-oh!”

As soon as Nam-woon heard that voice, he squeezed himself into a restroom stall. Then Jin-sang tried to follow him in, so Nam-woon shouted quietly.

“Ah, why are you coming in!”

“Then what am I supposed to do here alone?”

Nam-woon looked at his pretty eyes, like clear brown marbles, and immediately brought Jin-sang inside the room. This guy is a nutcase, it’s dangerous to leave him alone.

“Have you seen a man come this way?”

It was Kwon Seo-oh’s voice.

“Hey, do you know that bastard with the pink helmet?”

“I’m asking if you have seen him?”

“Damn it, are there only one or two men here?! Hey, you know the guy with the pink helmet, the delivery guy!”

Nam-woon’s face crumpled. Ah, that cornea guy, why is he talking about delivery? At Na Dae-yeol’s words, Kwon Seo-oh spoke in a low voice.

“Delivery?”

“Hey, you know who I’m talking about. Is he really a gangster?”

Seo-oh seemed to think it wasn’t worth answering and was about to leave when Na Dae-yeol shouted, “Where do you think you’re going!” and grabbed him to continue speaking.

“He’s a gangster, right? He must be, damn it. That’s why he’s saying he’ll take my eyeballs.”

“Eyeballs…?”

“Yes! He’s a crazy asshole. I heard him on the phone talking about organ trafficking to someone named Jang-mi or Ji-won or whatever!”

Nam-woon was in trouble. Kwon Seo-oh had told him not to bother the school kids. Frowning, Nam-woon brought his face close to the bathroom door. He could hear the conversation well enough, but he instinctively wanted to catch even the smallest reaction from Seo-oh.

But suddenly, Nam-woon’s cheeks were grabbed. Jin-sang, with his long fingers holding Nam-woon’s cheeks, pulled Nam-woon’s face back to his own with an expressionless face.

Outside, Kwon Seo-oh remained silent. Na Dae-yeol, gathering momentum, shouted.

“You hang out with those gangster bastards, so you always act so high and mighty.

“He’s not a gangster.”

“What?”

“He’s not a gangster.”

Seo-oh added in a low voice.

“No matter how foolish that guy is, he wouldn’t go around taking someone else’s eye out.”

Nam-woon’s lips parted slightly upon hearing Seo-oh’s words. Na Dae-yeol scoffed at Seo-oh for a while before speaking.

“How the fuck do you know that? Are you best friends with a gangster? Are you really close?” 

“We are close.”

Kwon Seo-oh answered without hesitation. Nam-woon’s eyes widened. Seo-oh had never said they were close before. Even when Se-han asked if they were close, Seo-oh firmly said they weren’t. But now, in his absence, Seo-oh was saying they were close. Even though admitting to being close to a gangster could cause trouble at school.

“This is seriously messed up. But why have you been talking down to me and using informal language? Am I your friend?”

“Are you his friend?”

“What…?”

“Don’t talk informally to Hyung.”

Thud!

Following Kwon Seo-oh’s low warning, a loud noise was heard, and then Na Dae-yeol screamed.

“Is there a fight?”

Nam-woon reached for the doorknob, and a large white hand covered his. Turning around, Jin-sang mouthed, “Are you going out?” Nam-woon calmed down a bit when he saw him. If he went out now, Jin-sang would follow, and that seemed to be more of a problem.

“Hey, Kwon Seo-oh! What’s wrong with you, all of a sudden!”

The other man next to them suddenly stopped Seo-oh, who had grabbed Na Dae-yeol by the collar. Na Dae-yeol was still squawking.

“Shit, your so fucking weird! That gangster. Do you like him or something?”

Kwon Seo-oh remained silent.

“What’s with this guy? Why doesn’t he answer? Do you really like him?”

“…….”

Kwon Seo-oh still didn’t answer. Nam-woon listened intently to the voices outside, forgetting to breathe. Jin-sang quietly observed Nam-woon’s face. Na Dae-yeol’s friend muttered in a bewildered voice.

“What? I was going to ask you for that guy’s number.”

“No.”

Seo-oh answered firmly, letting go of Na Dae-yeol’s collar, and headed for the door, then stopped.

“He’s kind.”

Nam-woon’s grip on the doorknob of the bathroom tightened. Seo-oh’s voice continued.

“So don’t go around spreading strange rumors, senior.”

The calm footsteps gradually faded away. Then, Na Dae-yeol’s voice, spewing curses without pause, and his friend asking if he was okay were heard. After a while, they left, and there was silence over the once noisy restroom.

Nam-woon looked down, lost in thought. Why would Kwon Seo-oh defend him like that? Especially when he wasn’t there. It would be simple to just say they didn’t know each other.

“Nam-woon-ah.”

He hadn’t really done anything for Seo-oh. At first, he had just clung to him because the system forced him to.

“Nam-woon-ah.”

Kwon Seo-oh had said things to Nam-woon, he had never heard of or received in his life. What was he? Just a loan shark with nothing. It was a very strange feeling.

“Nam-woon-ah.”

“Ah, why.” 

Earlier, Jin-sang had been calling Nam-woon’s name so much that it would wear out. Even though the stall was already cramped, Jin-sang kept leaning on Nam-woon. Then he buried his face in the nape of his neck and sniffed like a pervert, which made the skin on his arm have goosebumps.

You bastard whats wrong with you. Nam-woon struggled against Jin-sang’s grip and barely managed to pull away. But he almost fainted at the words that popped out of his mouth.

“I think it stood up a little.”

Nam-woon looked down at his crotch. One of his legs was between his groin. No, why is this here? It seems like he got into the wrong position as he rushed him into the restroom stall. He pulled out his leg right away, and Jin-sang’s next word almost knocked him out.

“It doesn’t usually stand like this, I think I’m going into rut.”

“What?”

Nam-woon stuttered. Nam-woon quickly stepped back and grabbed the doorknob. Then Jin-sang grabbed him.

“Lend me your hand.”

“What are you doing?”

“This is also an errand.”

Nam-woon then thought of the solutions 1, 2, and 3 that the system had once proposed.

“I’ll go buy some suppressants. Give me the money.”

“Don’t bother buying anything. Just use your hand.”

Nam-woon couldn’t hold back any longer. He grabbed Jin-sang by the shoulders and pushed him against the bathroom wall. Startled by the sudden action, Jin-sang opened his eyes wide and stared at Nam-woon.

“I’m your personal delivery guy. I’ll go buy them.”

With that, he slammed the bathroom door shut and stormed out.

After watching Nam-woon’s hurried retreated figure, Jin-sang slowly pushed himself away from the bathroom wall.

“Damn, this bathroom is dirty.”

But still, he have to endure it. Because it’s Nam-woon.

Hae-geon recalled a man whose face and name he couldn’t remember well, who was said to be acquainted with Nam-woon.

For the first time, Hae-geon tried to release his own scent to remove someone else’s pheromones. But he failed. Even though the pheromones surrounding Nam-woon were very faint, they were solid as if they wouldn’t allow any other scent. He could feel his own pheromones, which couldn’t mix, floating weakly around. He thought he might be able to remove it if it were an ordinary alpha’s pheromone shower but is it difficult to remove a pheromone shower even with a dominant trait? If that’s not the case, then the other person is also…

“Dominant.”

Hmmm, Hae-geon, who was making meaningless sounds, remembered Nam-woon’s expression that he saw today.

A face mixed with emotions that changed every moment. It seemed they hadn’t met each other yet. Someone was by Nam-woon’s side. But well.

“That’s not bad either.”

Hae-geon muttered indifferently.

***

Nam-woon stopped by a convenience store for a moment on his way to the pharmacy.

“‘Hyung also said that it would be nice if there was something like a bench!’

Recalling Se-han’s whisper, Nam-woon picked up a pair of work gloves. The ones at Seo-oh’s house had a big hole in the thumb.

As he left the convenience store and headed to the pharmacy, Nam-woon’s mind was filled with Seo-oh’s voice from school. He was worried that Seo-oh would get a bad reputation at school for answering that he was close to him but on the other hand, he was also glad that he had gone to school today. If he hadn’t gone to school, he wouldn’t have heard Seo-oh talk about him in that way.

Nam-woon had a strange thought that he wouldn’t be able to forget Seo-oh’s voice for a long time.

Arriving at the pharmacy, Nam-woon hesitated.

“One rut suppressant, please.”

“Is it for you?”

“Ah… No, it’s for a friend.”

As Nam-woon awkwardly answered, the pharmacist, who had been observing him closely, put a white box in a paper bag.

“It’s a new one, and it’s good. It also comes with a gel.”

“Oh, okay.”

Does he need the gel? Anyway, the pharmacist would know better than him. Nam-woon handed over his card to complete the payment and grabbed the door handle. Then, suddenly thinking of something, he turned back to the counter.

“One more rut suppressant, please.”