VDN Ch 78
by STAR“You smell delicious.”
It seemed the scent of taiyaki still hadn’t completely faded away. Nam-woon secretly felt alarmed but didn’t show it, stepping back slightly from Seo-oh.
“Oh, there was a birthday cake for the kid who was sitting beside me earlier. I guess it’s from there.”
“No, it’s not that smell, it’s something richer.”
Suddenly, Seo-oh thrust his face near Nam-woon’s ear, inhaling deeply. A strange tension prickled down Nam-woon’s neck, sending chills racing along his spine. Startled, Nam-woon instinctively covered his neck and stepped back again, bumping into Kwon Sang-moon, who had been standing behind him. Shocked as well, Sang-moon grabbed the hem of his own son’s clothes tightly before cautiously watching Nam-woon’s reaction.
“Seo-oh, what are you doing? You’re making the young master uncomfortable…”
Nam-woon avoided Kwon Sang-moon’s gaze that seemed to view him as a ticking time bomb while wiping the sweat from his neck.
An awkward silence hung in the air when his phone suddenly buzzed in his hand. Checking the screen, it was a call from Mr. Umpyeong.
– Where are you? I just arrived at the parking lot.
Nam-woon looked at Seo-oh with relief.
“They’ve arrived. Let’s go.”
***
“On the way here, I saw a kickboard, so I rode it.”
The Umpyeong employee opened the driver’s side door and got in. The Umpyeong boss took the passenger seat, while Nam-woon, Seo-oh, and Kwon Sang-moon settled into the back.
“Uh, could you please take us to the Prajium apartments…”
After the arrival of the boss and the employee of Umpyeong, Kwon Sang-moon looked tense and remained silent after giving the apartment address. Seo-oh tightly held his father’s hand.
Wow, I’m going crazy.
In the quiet car, Nam-woon was breaking out in a cold sweat. It was already uncomfortable sitting next to Kwon Seo-oh because the smell of taiyaki hadn’t completely dissipated and now he was stuck sitting so close in such a cramped space.
To make matters worse, a pleasant scent began to waft up from beside him. It was unmistakably Kwon Seo-oh’s scent.
Could it be that Kwon Seo-oh was also smelling his taiyaki scent?
Nam-woon folded his arms in front of him and turned his head to look out the window, trying not to touch Seo-oh and to ignore the scent coming from beside him as much as possible. But suddenly, Seo-oh’s large, hot palm pressed down gently on Nam-woon’s right knee.
“You said you didn’t feel well. Are you okay?”
“…I’m okay.”
Heat surged in the knee where his palm touched. And from there, a faint tingling began to spread throughout his body. Nam-woon tightly closed his legs and pushed away the hand that was on his knee. Seo-oh stared at that awkward movement.
He was in big trouble. Nam-woon felt a strange excitement building up inside him. And besides that, he might end up getting an erection in front of Kwon Seo-oh’s father.
His image has already hit rock bottom with his disgraceful behavior at the club but if he were to get an erection out here, it would only be a matter of time before he was branded as an irredeemable pervert.
Unable to bear the smell filling the car, Nam-woon finally rolled down the window. Next to him, Seo-oh quietly stopped him.
“I think my father is cold.”
“Ah.”
Nam-woon said a short word and rolled up the window again. Chewing his lip in nervousness, he stubbornly kept his gaze fixed on the scenery outside the car window when a yellow text appeared with a “Ding!”
[Taiyaki (Red Bean) Pheromone Experience +15
Promiscuity +15 Experience
Creating a chaotic mess +20 Experience
Modern setting, Age gap, Bleak, Loan shark, Handsome main character, Ordinary main character, Submissive Male Lead, Timid Male Lead, Morally Ambiguous, Poverty
After the death of his wife, Kwon Sang-moon lived in a small one-room apartment… (See more)]
Nam-woon narrowed his eyes. What is all that about? The system brought a bunch of strange new words he had never seen before.
[Your previous “Experience” plus (Marking Experience +25, Short-term sickness Experience +25) has reached a total of 100%, resulting in leveling up!]
[Which one do you want to level up?
1. Kwon Seo-oh 2. Jin Hae-geon]
Are you kidding me, asking something like that? Nam-woon’s hands trembled as he focused on one spot and stabbed with his finger.
Jin Hae-geonjinHae-geonjinHae-geonjinHae-geon!
Seeing him frantically poking at the window like a madman, Seo-oh frowned and grabbed his hand. When asked what he was doing, Nam-woon made up an excuse about catching a bug stuck on the window before slipping his hand away. Then he quickly read the new block of yellow text.
[The character understanding level for Jin Hae-geon is currently 2.]
I’m glad I’m out of level one, but now what?
In the novel, Seok Nam-woon always treated Jin Hae-geon with starry-eyed admiration. But now, when faced with Jin Hae-geon, his eyes automatically dimmed like a dead fish. If he wanted to avoid being buried alive, he needed to impress Jin Hae-geon, but he wasn’t sure if he could pull it off. Both the fictional and real-life Jin Hae-geon lacked humanity. And now he had to hand Seo-oh over to that guy? As Nam-woon rolled his eyes, he noticed Seo-oh’s pretty, melancholic face, which seemed full of thoughts. Nam-woon suddenly thought of a glimmer of hope.
Now that he has found Kwon Sang-moon, Seo-oh doesn’t need Jin Hae-geon anymore, does he?
It might have just been wishful thinking, but either way, it lifted his mood slightly. Finally relaxing, Nam-woon leaned back against the seat, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes.
Let’s think about Jin Hae-geon later.
Right now, getting rid of the dang taiyaki smell coming off his body was priority one, especially so Seo-oh wouldn’t notice anything strange.
How far had they driven? The car stopped in front of a large building. Seo-oh got out first and looked back at Nam-woon, who was still sitting inside.
“Aren’t you getting out?”
“I’m just going straight home.”
Hearing that, Seo-oh gave him a serious look and carefully studied Nam-woon’s face, scrutinizing every detail. Though Nam-woon tried hard to keep a neutral expression, Seo-oh’s persistent gaze lingered, as if trying to figure something out. Furrowing his brow slightly, Seo-oh stared at him for a while before finally speaking.
“Don’t leave. Wait here. I’ll drop Dad off and come back down.”
“Why? You can just stay here tonight.”
Then, Kwon Sang-moon cautiously addressed them both.
“Young master, could you wait here? I’ll just have a brief conversation and send him down.”
Kwon Sang-moon looked alternately between Nam-woon and the driver, the Umpyeong, who sat silently behind the wheel. He could feel the driver’s questioning gaze asking What should we do? It felt awkward to refuse when the uncle had asked so politely.
Reluctantly nodding, he watched Seo-oh sling an arm around his father’s shoulder, guiding him into the building.
***
Click. The front door opened, and as soon as they entered, Kwon Sang-moon hugged Seo-oh tightly.
“My son… Sniff… Have you been okay all this time? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Seo-oh’s eyes reddened with tears as he looked at his father’s shoulders, which had become even thinner and smaller since the last time he had seen them.
“Dad, where have you been all this time? Do you know how hard I’ve searched for you…?”
Unable to finish his sentence, Seo-oh bit his lip. Kwon Sang-moon continued to pat his son’s cheek, apologizing.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve contacted you sooner…”
Kwon Sang-moon said, his lips trembling as he looked at his son, who was holding back tears with reddened eyes.
“Leaving you with those last words… I’ve regretted it every single day since then… Huhuk. I’m sorry. I’m just not good enough, Seo-oh… I’m sorry…”
Seo-oh wrapped his arms around his father, who sobbed silently into his shoulder. “I’m fine,” he murmured, hugging the frail frame tighter, breathing in the long-missed scent.
But something was off, his father’s pheromones were barely detectable. Even someone skilled at suppressing their scent should’ve leaked some trace in this emotionally charged moment.
Gently pushing his father back, Seo-oh’s expression turned serious.
“Dad, what happened? Why can’t I sense your pheromones…? Was it that man? Did Chairman Seok do this to you?
He gripped his father’s bony hand tightly, pressing further but oddly, there was no response. Sang-moon simply wiped away his flowing tears and changed the subject abruptly.
“Seo-oh, are you still treating your pheromone insensitivity? Have you been going to the hospital? How’s your body holding up?”
It was a question about Seo-oh’s pheromone insensitivity disorder, which had first manifested back in middle school. In truth, ever since his father disappeared, it had become difficult to afford medical expenses, and Seo-oh hadn’t been attending regularly for years now.
“I’m going to the hospital regularly. Don’t worry about me.”
“It must’ve been tough not having money from me to support you all these years…”
Then, suddenly, as if something came to his mind, Kwon Sang-moon abruptly raised his head and shouted in an agitated voice,
“Seo-oh, tell me you didn’t take out a loan!”
He was so anxious that he didn’t give Seo-oh a chance to answer. He grabbed his son’s broad shoulders and shook them frantically.
“It’s the young master, isn’t it? You borrowed a large sum of money from the young master…that’s why the young master has been following you around, isn’t it? No wonder your behavior seemed off…Clinging to the young master like a lover, Oh, Seo-oh, you’ve been flattering the young master you hate so much…I’m sorry. I should’ve saved up more money…”