Snake Venom Ch 18

Chapter 18

“Haa…”

Lee Yeonwoo couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped him as he rested his forehead on his raised knee, staring into the shadow he had created. Just a few hours ago, he had been humming a tune while enjoying a warm shower. He felt both pity and envy for his past self, who had been so blissfully happy, calling it paradise, completely unaware of what was to come.

“Are you sick?”

A stranger’s voice pierced through from nearby. Startled, Yeonwoo turned his head and saw a young man suddenly stick his face into view.

“Why are you wearing patient clothes?”

The first to react was his unintentionally trained sense of smell. Beneath the artificial scent of body wash, he could detect faint pheromones carefully suppressed by inhibitors. The scent was so light that unless one had a sense of smell as acute as Yeonwoo’s, one might easily believe the man was entirely human.

He was a bat. Yeonwoo recognized it easily, having lived above a nameless actor who was a bat hybrid.

His hair looked like it had been bleached and dyed so many times that it resembled steel wool, yet his face was delicate. Separate from the controlled pheromones, a faint medicinal smell drifted from him. Yeonwoo had smelled it often in Sodom, and it was as familiar in the back alleys of his old neighborhood as the stench of garbage.

Normally, if someone used drugs, the odor would be strong enough to mask their pheromones. Since his wasn’t, he might be a distributor. Maybe that’s why he ended up here.

Having reached that thought, Yeonwoo let out a short scoff. It wasn’t even his profession, yet he was trying to scrape together information about someone he had just met—clearly, an old habit from Sodom that he hadn’t shaken off. The man stared curiously at Yeonwoo, who was shaking his head.

“I’m sure this is our first time meeting…”

The man’s red lips, pierced with a ring, pouted and twisted. He seemed to be racking his memory.

“This is my first time here.”

At Yeonwoo’s indifferent reply, the man’s narrow eyes curved as he grinned.

“For a first-timer, you don’t seem scared. The cops here are infamous for being rough. Though, I guess that goes for people like us who come and go from this place too.”

The man chuckled and glanced outside.

“I do come in here pretty often, but I also make it out just fine. Look over there. Especially that one.”

He proceeded to point out several men, each steeped in listlessness.

“That one looks normal, but he’s a pervert among perverts. Not easy to manipulate, either.”

Perhaps he sensed it or just had a good instinct, but the last guard he pointed to looked over. More precisely, he looked at Yeonwoo—and his gaze was strangely sticky.

“You’re pretty. If you gave it up once, you could be out of here in no time.”

“……”

Even though they had just met, Yeonwoo didn’t have the energy to curse the man’s rudeness for making such a crude assumption. Without replying, he turned his gaze away. There, he saw a half-blood wearing a collar. Following Yeonwoo’s eyes, the man whispered into his ear.

“He’s back again. Heard he got dragged off last time for catching an STD while selling his body.”

He seemed familiar with the person, given how detailed the explanation was.

“Is he also a high-risk classification?”

Yeonwoo’s question made the man widen his eyes in surprise.

“He doesn’t look it… You must’ve lived a rough life.”

“It’s not like that.”

His excuse came out in a small voice. How should he describe this feeling? More than anger or resentment… Yeonwoo frowned slightly.

The feeling that surfaced so vividly was, unexpectedly, loneliness. To feel lonely after being treated like this—it was clear something had broken inside him during those three months in Sodom.

Watching Yeonwoo with intrigued eyes, the man spoke again.

“Collars can be put on for any reason, so it doesn’t necessarily reflect the severity of the crime.”

His words didn’t offer much comfort. Not long after removing President Park’s collar, now another was about to be placed on him. Yeonwoo’s temple throbbed, and he rubbed it hard.

“Got a headache? Is that why you’re wearing the patient outfit?”

Why was this guy so fixated on the patient clothes? Yeonwoo shook his head.

“My other clothes were dirty, so I wore this.”

“Ahh, then that’s good. Don’t get sick. Being sick is a pain.”

A shadow briefly passed over the man’s face as he muttered this obvious statement, but then he brightened up and leaned in to whisper.

“There’s actually a surprising flaw in that thing. Its range is about ten meters, and height doesn’t matter. That’s how most tracking devices work. And hey—”

He lowered his voice further.

“If you want, you can even disable it temporarily. It’s expensive, but if you need help, I can hook you up.”

“Thanks.”

Even if he didn’t intend to use it, sharing information—legal or not—was something to be grateful for. Yeonwoo habitually expressed thanks, but the man blinked at him in surprise.

“You’re really classified as high-risk? What the hell did you do?”

“It’s not like that. I didn’t do anything wrong…”

There was a long explanation behind it, and telling it wouldn’t help. Yeonwoo shut his mouth with a gloomy expression, and the man didn’t press further. Instead, he rubbed his stomach and stretched wide.

“Ah, I’m starving… Haven’t eaten in two meals. That damn weasel says no food until he’s done. Says I’ve got nerve for causing trouble a week after getting out.”

He was probably talking about the strict-looking guard. Tying that with the musky pheromone scent he smelled when first arriving, Yeonwoo rummaged in his pocket. Along with his suppressants, he pulled out something caught between his fingers.

It was a piece of chocolate he had taken from the hospital. Yeonwoo held it out to the man who had been singing about being hungry in a strange tune. Unaware, the man continued crooning until Yeonwoo pressed on his shoulder. Finally noticing the chocolate, the man stared blankly at Yeonwoo’s hand.

“It’s better than nothing.”

At those words, the man’s eyes locked onto Yeonwoo’s pale cheek. It wasn’t anything fancy he was offering, but the intensity of the gaze made Yeonwoo uncomfortable, and he looked away. Then the man, eyes as big as Yeonwoo’s, suddenly blurted out:

“My pretty little sister in the hospital.”

His chaotic personality made the conversation zigzag all over the place. Without reacting, Yeonwoo waved his hand. If the man refused, he would simply put the chocolate back. Just then, the man grasped the chocolate and muttered softly.

“When I see soft-looking kids like you, I think of my sister.”

“……”

One of the guards opened the iron door and shouted.

“Shio, come out!”

“Finally! Yes!”

The man, who had been staring at Yeonwoo, quickly stood up.

“I’m Shio. I dropped my last name, and I gave myself this name. My sister’s Shiyoon. You?”

Every time he mentioned his sister, the sharpness in his expression softened in a way that was almost innocent. Looking up at him, Yeonwoo replied.

“Lee Yeonwoo. I’ll pray that your sister gets better soon.”

Shio beamed, as if receiving an unexpected gift.

“Hurry up!”

“Yes, yes, coming!”

He looked ready to leave, but then he snapped his fingers and tossed something. It landed squarely in Yeonwoo’s hand like he had done it a hundred times.

“Contact me anytime. I can hook you up with something good. There’s lots of people who like pretty kids like you. But even if not that, I handle pretty much everything. You’re always welcome.”

Shio waved the chocolate cutely and walked off. As he exited, another half-blood was shoved inside, grabbing the bars and yelling. He seemed to be shouting about being wrongly accused. Letting the noise wash over him, Yeonwoo looked down at what Shio had given him.

[We do everything except the impossible.

Call Veteran Errand Boy ♡Shio♥.

Human or hybrid—no problem. Absolute confidentiality.

Price discussed after consultation. Best rates guaranteed.

Phone: XXX-XXX-XXX]

He just pitched me, didn’t he. The business card, looking hand-written and lovingly copied, was as eccentric and energetic as Shio himself. Yeonwoo tucked it into his pocket and returned to the present moment.

Even after a couple of hours, there was no word. When he asked a guard about the situation, the expected response was to just wait.

Another hour passed in boredom. As Yeonwoo leaned against the bars, a guard met his gaze with cold eyes. It was as if to say: “If you’re going to ask the same question, I have nothing more to say.” Yeonwoo turned away, getting nothing out of it.

How much longer had passed? Most of the people who had come in had already left. It had been about an hour since the last half-blood had stormed out, cursing.

Yeonwoo sniffed at the damp air coming from the exit. It must be raining outside. He huddled away from the increasingly cold wall. As the sun set, the temperature dropped to the point of chills. He rubbed his shoulders, trying to generate heat, but it wasn’t enough.

From a nearby desk, a guard who had been working on paperwork stretched his neck and scanned the holding cell. Seeing Yeonwoo huddled alone, he frowned and pulled out a blanket from a cabinet, sliding it through the bars.

The blanket was meant to help him endure the night. It looked like he would have to wait until at least tomorrow. Yeonwoo, silently staring at it, slowly began to wrap himself in the cloth. Just then, the light on his back went out.