Snake Venom Ch 15

Chapter 15

‘…….’

Just as Lee Yeonwoo was about to burst into tears, he bit the inside of his lip so hard it drew blood. At that moment, his grandmother straightened her back.

‘Your words… are rather excessive. Bringing up matters unrelated to the current situation makes you seem a little ignorant.’

Her tone was calm and composed, so the young mother only realized it was an insult a moment later. As she watched the corners of the woman’s eyes slowly rise, the grandmother continued speaking.

‘I’ve never even struck my grandson with a flower.’

Her voice, poised yet sharp, was completely different from before. Lee Yeonwoo looked up at his grandmother’s back, eyes wide.

‘If that method is right, why don’t you demonstrate it first?’

She pointed at the troublemaker. Her usually gentle eyes shone with a piercing intensity just for that moment.

‘If a group bullies a weaker friend, then they deserve to be hit. Since you didn’t understand even when my grandson explained it, it’s time for you, as his mother, to teach him yourself.’

The young mother’s face flushed red and blue in turns. She was so overwhelmed by her emotions it looked as if her triangular ears might pop up at any second.

‘W-what did you say?’

‘Exactly what you heard. And now, child.’

The grandmother looked directly at the child hiding behind the young mother. Though his expression wasn’t visible, the child immediately grew fearful. Without taking her eyes off him, the grandmother spoke slowly and clearly.

‘Just pretend you don’t know our Yeonwoo. I’ll tell Yeonwoo to do the same. But if something like this happens again, I’ll absolutely blame you for it.’

“Th-this old woman has no filter!”

Ignoring the young mother’s provocation with ease, the grandmother gently took Yeonwoo’s hand.

‘Let’s go, Yeonwoo.’

Instead of going straight home, they headed to the park. It was a place they walked together two or three times a week.

At the park entrance, the grandmother bought a drink she rarely allowed herself—fresh and sweet, but expensive. It was a smoothie made of green apple and kiwi, which Yeonwoo liked. Without a word, she placed it in his hand and began walking. Yeonwoo quietly followed beside her.

After walking for a while, they arrived at the bench where they often lingered. The grandmother sat down first and patted her thigh.

But Yeonwoo only kept glancing at her face. Her expression made it impossible to tell whether she was angry, calm, or thinking something else. Though his throat was dry with anxiety, he couldn’t bring himself to drink the juice. The words the troublemaker had said kept swirling in his head.

‘Come on now.’

Had the grandmother not pulled him to lie down, he might have turned to stone right there. Yielding, Yeonwoo rested his head on her thigh.

At some point, she had prepared ointment. Her hand gently searched for wounds and carefully applied the medicine. Yeonwoo said nothing, only blinking up at the sky.

‘All done.’

Her wrinkled hand stroked his head. It felt as though it soothed not only the scratches on his skin but also the wounds in his heart, and Yeonwoo squeezed his eyes shut.

The wind blew, and the trees rustled, sending cool sounds through the air. In the park, now painted by sunset, only the grandmother and Yeonwoo remained. A shadow of her hand wavered over his face. With his eyes still closed, Yeonwoo murmured. At last, he had the courage to ask for forgiveness.

‘I was wrong.’

‘No, you did well.’

Her praise made his heart ache even more. As Yeonwoo began to fidget, she gently stroked the space between his brows.

‘You should’ve hit him more.’

Yeonwoo looked up at his grandmother. The dignified air she had when facing the young mother was gone, replaced by her usual cheerful and kind demeanor.

‘Live with confidence like you did today. Don’t let yourself be defeated.’

She smiled brightly.

‘Being kind on top of that is the best, but you don’t always have to be.’

He had once overheard the neighborhood gossip. They said his grandmother was living proof of the saying, “Never take in a black-haired beast.” They gossiped about how even her son, who’d been raised with such grace, left her behind, and now she was raising the grandson he abandoned—worse still, a manifested mosaic half-blood. At her age, what was she thinking, keeping such a ticking time bomb? Wouldn’t it be better to leave him in a facility?

A beast taken in by a human. A bond not formed by blood. A relationship that could be discarded the moment one side let go. Even with her unwavering love, a part of Yeonwoo’s heart was always filled with anxiety.

‘Grandma….’

Unable to finish his sentence, Yeonwoo clasped his hands tightly over his chest. He always wanted to ask why she had raised his half-blood father, and then even taken him in after being abandoned—but fear of the answer was greater than curiosity. As Yeonwoo stared off at the distant sky, his grandmother spoke.

‘I raised him because he was lovely.’

‘…….’

‘And you’re even lovelier, that’s why I raised you.’

Finally, Yeonwoo’s eyes welled with tears, and he burrowed into his grandmother’s embrace. As she slowly patted the back of his head, she spoke.

‘Don’t dwell on what you heard earlier. Mosaic half-bloods, just as the name implies, mean we don’t know yet. Who knows what kind of gem might be hidden inside you? People can be so awful, don’t you think?’

But it was hard to call it a gem. There were far more dangerous aspects. Although it was currently suppressed by inhibitors, no one knew when or how the unidentified wild species’ blood within him would erupt. Unlike half-bloods, mosaic half-bloods had unpredictable mutation stages—meaning they were either to be shot on sight or sent to research facilities.

‘Even if that thing inside you bursts out someday, don’t hate it too much. It’s still part of you, so you need to embrace it. Right, just be its friend.’

A friend? Absurd as it sounded, her words had a magical power that instantly lightened the terrifying weight of the term “mosaic half-blood.” It was a power only she possessed. As Yeonwoo smiled, so did she.

The grandmother who had always comforted and sheltered Yeonwoo began to rapidly lose her memory and cognitive function from the year he turned nineteen. Her clarity and judgment faded swiftly. Eventually, even her love for Yeonwoo did.

As her illness progressed, Yeonwoo learned that the reason she had taken him and his father in was simply because they resembled her deceased biological son. A tinge of disappointment, a larger sense of betrayal, and an even greater sorrow disturbed him for days—but Yeonwoo soon found peace again. He visited her constantly, as if he didn’t know the truth.

‘Could you help me find my son? He’s about this tall. Looks a lot like you.’

At some point, she began to distinguish between Yeonwoo and her real son. And because of their resemblance, she began to push Yeonwoo away.

‘Why are you always here? You’re such a bother. I wish you’d just leave.’

She treated Yeonwoo like he didn’t exist. Sometimes she was even uncomfortable with his presence. Her gaze always denied his identity.

As time went on, she became further detached from life. She was no longer lucid. Her dazed eyes often stared into empty space. One by one, she lost the ability to do simple things. All that remained in her memory was her dead son.

One moonlit night, Yeonwoo whispered beside his grandmother as she slept soundly. Holding her hand—now inching ever closer to death—he looked at her dreamily, even though she no longer looked at him.

‘But I’m still okay.’

Even if he had only been a substitute for her son, he had lived because of her. He had grown up. He had been happy.

‘I love you… and I’m grateful….’

Though the direction had been different, he believed without doubt that her affection had been genuine.

‘I still love you.’

Yeonwoo had no intention of pulling back the love he had already extended.

When he opened his eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view. The clean, white ceiling reminded him—even in his hazy state—that this wasn’t Sodom.

He had dreamed of his grandmother for the first time in a while. The bittersweet emotions lingered near his heart. Yeonwoo casually wiped the moisture from the corner of his eye and sat up.

“Ugh…”

A groan escaped his lips. His body ached, as though he hadn’t moved in a long time. His head throbbed heavily too.

How long had he been asleep? The sky, once filled with stars, now had a sun hanging high. Just as he blinked to gather his senses, a clinking sound came from below. His cuffed hands were chained to the head of the bed. Yeonwoo looked down at them in silence, then slowly shook his head.

They must have restrained him simply because they didn’t know yet. He didn’t want to fall into negative thoughts. With heavy eyelids, he slowly raised his gaze to look around.