VDN Ch 61

Nam-woon barely suppressed the urge to curse out loud. Why give him a mission now when he actually had a home? If the system were a physical entity, Nam-woon would have likely destroyed it on the spot.

Nam-woon awkwardly smiled at Seo-oh who was looking at him with concerned eyes from the side.

“Um, just kidding, it was a joke. Actually, I do have a house.”

“…….”

Seo-oh remained silent. Normally, he would have received remarks like, “Are you kidding me with that joke right now? Did you take some drugs?” But Nam-woon could see that he was holding back, probably because it hadn’t been long since they reconciled. Nam-woon was relieved.

“Are we close to your place?”

Seo-oh began walking towards the door. Nam-woon grabbed his forearm and pulled him towards the sofa.

“Let’s watch this before we go.”

[Top 10 Funniest Variety Show Videos That Will Make You Lose Track of Time]

“…….”

Seo-oh completely lost his smile. He couldn’t understand why they weren’t leaving and why Nam-woon was showing him some strange video. Not only was it not funny, but Nam-woon also made odd noises, trying to suppress his own laughter. He kept glancing at Seo-oh and carefully checking his expression.

“You’re not finding this funny?”

“No.”

When Seo-oh answered, Nam-woon, looking troubled, continued watching the video, trying to suppress his laughter several times. It wasn’t until a man on the show unexpectedly spewed water from his mouth that Nam-woon burst into laughter.

Seo-oh stared silently at Nam-woon’s face. It was the same expression he had seen during Se-han’s baseball game, with slightly narrowed eyes and smooth lips revealing his white teeth. Nam-woon nudged Seo-oh’s body slightly. His firm, warm forearm brushed against Seo-oh’s arm.

Nam-woon wasn’t someone who laughed easily. He always seemed hesitant to laugh, and Seo-oh hadn’t seen him laugh heartily before. 

It might have been because of his personality—not funny, not inclined to laugh, not particularly affectionate, just blunt.

Yet, as Nam-woon’s face appeared in front of him after so long, Seo-oh felt something welling up inside him.

When Nam-woon laughed, he looked like a high school student. He seemed younger than Seo-oh. But if he stared so intently, wouldn’t Nam-woon notice?

What’s so funny? I don’t find it funny at all.

However, there was a small smile on Seo-oh’s face as he looked at Nam-woon.

Then it happened. Nam-woon suddenly stopped laughing and turned his head to look at Seo-oh. Seo-oh, whose expression had quickly returned to blank, averted his gaze from Nam-woon’s face.

“Why?”

With a pounding heart, he managed to utter a word, and Nam-woon asked Seo-oh with a puzzled look.

“Did you just laugh?”

“No.”

“Huh? But then why?”

Nam-woon stared into space once and then looked at Seo-oh face again. Then he thrust his cell phone in front of his eyes and asked.

“Did this make you laugh? You pretended like it wasn’t funny at all.”

With a subtle brightness of his expression compared to earlier, Seo-oh suddenly stood up from his seat and said,

“Let’s go home now!”

Nam-woon stared at Seo-oh with a satisfied expression.

As they left the office, they headed towards the parking lot. He approached the driver seat with the car keys shaking in his hand, but Seo-oh was slightly faster.

“Go to the passenger seat.”

“Huh? Why?”

Pushing Nam-woon aside, Seo-oh took the driver’s seat. As Nam-woon hesitantly held the car door, the engine suddenly started. Huh? What’s going on? As he hurriedly opened the door and moved to the passenger seat, Seo-oh said, 

“Fasten your seatbelt.”

Seo-oh was sitting in the driver’s seat and holding the steering wheel, it looked quite convincing. Nam-woon, with surprised eyes, fastened his seatbelt.

“Did you get your driver’s license?”

Seo-oh turned the steering wheel without saying a word. Easily leaving the parking lot and smoothly turning onto the road, Seo-oh looked like he knew what he was doing. Nam-woon looked at him with admiration.

“You’re a good driver.”

“Better than you.”

Nam-woon chuckled at the blunt retort.

“…….”

“…….”

Within five minutes, the inside of the car fell into silence. Turning his head amidst the awkward silence, Nam-woon looked out the window and watched Seo-oh driving. Damn, he’s so fucking handsome. He always thought so, but seeing him like this again, he can’t help but admire him. Nam-woon softly brushed his left cheek with his hand. Maybe I’m not that bad myself…

“Hyung.”

Nam-woon, who was lost in his subjective comments, turned his head when he heard a voice suddenly call out to him. Seo-oh said keeping his eyes on the rear view mirror.

“Mark the address of your home.”

“Oh, just a moment.”

Nam-woon tapped the navigation system and then hesitated. What was the rest?

Status window, remind me of the address again.

After briefly glancing at the air, Nam-woon finished typing the address. Seo-oh looked at Nam-Woon, who didn’t seem to remember his home address, and suggested.

“Should we stop by the grocery store on the way?”

While considering whether there would be any groceries at home, Seo-oh added, 

“Let’s make soybean paste stew today.”

“Should we?”

At the mention of soybean paste stew, Nam-woon’s face turned pale. He hadn’t thought about what to eat all this time and had lost his appetite, surviving only on instant ramen for three meals a day, which was quite strange.

Fortunately, there was a large supermarket on the way. As Nam-woon fiddled with his phone, he suddenly remembered and asked Seo-oh, 

“When did you get your driver’s license?”

“Recently.”

“Why suddenly?”

“…….”

Seo-oh who hadn’t answered for a while, opened his mouth.

“Because I might need it later when I get a job. It’s good to have it in advance.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? It’s expensive.”

The cost of a driver’s license isn’t a penny or two. Nam-woon furrowed his brows slightly.

“A friend of Auntie Soon-i got it for me cheap.”

“Oh, I see.”

Nam-woon’s words trailed off. Suddenly, he remembered a person who had come out of the main gate with Seo-oh earlier. Seeing Seo-oh unexpectedly get a driver’s license, he had a random thought. He had said it wasn’t his girlfriend, but when the ex-employee at his tayaki shop got a girlfriend, he suddenly got a driver’s license to rent a car.

Nam-woon cleared his throat unnecessarily to clear his thoughts and turned his head back to the window. Was it because he hadn’t seen Seo-oh’s face and had a conversation in a while that he kept feeling strange?

The car entered the supermarket parking lot. Though he was a new driver, Seo-oh turned the steering wheel a few times and parked perfectly.

Dragging a cart, Nam-woon entered the market with Seo-oh. Even though it was his own house, Nam-woon was also going to a place he had never been before, so it seemed like a good idea to buy the basic necessities.

As Seo-oh looked at the vegetables, he picked up some green peppers and said, 

“Should we put in some peppers?”

“Yeah, you like them.”

“You like them more.”

While wandering around, Nam-woon suddenly noticed something.

“Beer on sale. It’s cheap! Hurry, hurry and get some!”

He pulled the cart as if he were possessed and headed for the beer. Then, a staff member shook a bundle of beer bottles in front of Nam-woon.

“Can I get you one?”

“What the hell.”

At that moment, Seo-oh, holding a pumpkin and tofu in each hand, approached from behind and called out to him. Surprised, Nam-woon turned around, and Seo-oh looking at the beer display furrowed his eyebrows. Then he tilted his head slightly. Then the staff member, who had been alternating between looking at them, set down the beer and snapped his fingers, saying,

“Newlyweds?”

“What?”

The words that shouldn’t have been heard suddenly caught Nam-woon’s ears, making him startled. Seo-oh also paused, casting a glance at the staff member. The staff member, now with a smile on his face, quickly changed the sales pitch to newlywed mode.

“Oh my, if you’re newlyweds, you should have a drink together at night! Order some chicken with it, okay? Wow, now that I see you both, you’re so handsome! My eyesight has been poor lately, but I think I can throw away my glasses now!”

Nam-woon couldn’t regain his composure. Newlyweds? Both of us are men, though? Then he suddenly realized. Ah, it’s normal here. Then he glanced at Seo-oh. He must be feeling offended and furrowing his brows… huh?

“But you two really look so good together. What should I do? Seriously. How long have you been married? Do you have any kids?”

Seo-oh suddenly grabbed one of the beer bundles. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. His face was expressionless, but his ears were strangely red. Startled, Nam-woon pointed at the beer and asked.

“Are you buying?”

“…….”

“You don’t usually drink beer.”

“I’m drinking this one.”

Seo-oh put a bundle of beer into the cart. Then he nodded to the staff member and turned away first. Nam-woon also nodded to the staff member in surprise and followed him, dragging the cart. Was he allowing it just for today because they made up? Anyway, it was a good thing for him.