Snake Venom Ch 19

Chapter 19

A dark holding cell. Lee Yeonwoo lay down, relying on a thin blanket, and closed his eyes. But the cold seeping in from the floor and walls was unbearable to ignore and fall asleep. The heating must have been turned off too— even the slight warmth that used to drift in had stopped.

Lee Yeonwoo curled up like a shrimp and stared into a corner. Why is it so cold? It felt even colder than Sodom. Had the season suddenly taken a drastic turn in a single day? Or perhaps, because he had carelessly let down his guard, he had weakened in just one day.

“Three years…”

Muttering quietly, Lee Yeonwoo pulled the blanket over his eyes. Among the mixed-bloods, one’s danger level was a word that determined the difficulty of their life. Level 1 was considered equivalent to falling into the abyss. Lee Yeonwoo had to endure that for as long as three years.

Even though the term was set, he had never felt this hopeless before. The expression and tone in Jung Gisik’s eyes—something he would have easily ignored in the past—kept stabbing at his insides.

His stomach growled loudly. All he had eaten was a piece of chocolate with his suppressant in the morning, and another piece he had painstakingly saved and slowly melted in his mouth late at night. Far from enough to stave off hunger.

The icy floor, the grimy walls, and the iron bars he couldn’t overcome with strength—this might as well have been Sodom all over again. The only difference was the space.

What kind of survival game would he have to play here? At least in Sodom, there had been a glimmer of hope. But now that he had been branded a problem child, Lee Yeonwoo’s life was growing increasingly distant from any semblance of light. He thought he had already hit rock bottom, that there was nowhere to go but up—only to discover there was an even deeper pit.

His frozen fingertips began to sting. Before anything else, would he just freeze to death here? As it had been in Sodom, no one would care even if he did.

“It’s so cold…”

The moment he carelessly voiced it, a sorrow too complex to describe surged up inside him. He didn’t know where or how to vent, nor what efforts he needed to make to change this situation.

It was strange. How had things come to this? He didn’t want to grow weak, yet his nose tingled. All he had done was struggle not to lose what little he had left, and yet he was having even that taken from him. Lee Yeonwoo, who had only been permitted misery, wiped his suddenly hot eyes.

Just then, something flew through the air and lightly struck his hair before bouncing off. Before he could even identify what it was, a voice came from behind.

“Hey, you bastard.”

Turning his head, he saw a guard with a broad face standing with one hip jutted out. This was the one Shio had described as the most perverted of perverts. The man slowly scanned Lee Yeonwoo’s face and body with greasy eyes, then lowered his voice.

“How much for a blowjob?”

“……”

His tone dripped with contempt. Lee Yeonwoo simply stared at the man in silence. Maybe it was because he had already been warned by Shio, or maybe he had already resigned himself to this fate—he felt neither shock nor disgust. But the thought that incidents like this would keep happening still made his heart sink.

“If you do a good job, I might put in a good word for you with the team leader.”

“……”

Lee Yeonwoo opened his mouth to speak but instead cleared his throat. His voice had gone hoarse from not speaking for so long. The man sneered.

“If you don’t do it, you’ll walk out of here with a demerit first.”

A threat, making it clear he intended to get what he wanted. Once again, Lee Yeonwoo was made acutely aware of just how wretched and powerless his situation was. He brushed back his hair with a sluggish mind dulled by the cold. Even that small action seemed to irritate the guard, who furrowed his brow.

“A dangerous-class mutt acting all high and mighty.”

“And you, sir?”

Lee Yeonwoo shot back suddenly. He was on the verge of being overwhelmed by a complicated, bitter mix of emotions. It seemed better to vent his anger this way than to let it consume him.

“What? Did you just call me ‘sir’?”

Perhaps not expecting Lee Yeonwoo to talk back, the man scowled fiercely. Lee Yeonwoo glared up at him and said,

“So were you expecting to be treated with respect while behaving like this?”

He had placed some hope in the people who had pulled him out of Sodom. But within just one day, he had learned that the power of the law was not on his side. They were desperate to yank out any remaining splinters just to make things worse. And this man was mocking even the things Lee Yeonwoo had tried so hard to protect. It was clear that the more he resisted, the more disadvantaged he would be, but Lee Yeonwoo didn’t back down.

“Is that so? Do you know who I am and still have the nerve to run your mouth?”

“Exactly.”

He didn’t want to cave.

No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t return to the life he once had. That reality was twisting Lee Yeonwoo’s spirit.

“Not worried about getting your dick bitten off by a dangerous-class inmate?”

The man laughed out loud and groped at his waistband. A key ring jangled.

“You need a good beating.”

Lee Yeonwoo gave a loud sniff and threw off his blanket. The warmth he had barely built up vanished in an instant, and the cold crept in through the loose hospital gown. He was used to being beaten. His rebellious gaze sparkled fiercely.

“Then just hit me. But if you try anything funny, I’ll bite.”

As emotions surged, his fangs tingled. Lee Yeonwoo clamped his mouth shut to hide them and began to back toward the wall.

Suddenly, the main light turned on, flooding the area with brightness. Lee Yeonwoo frowned, and the man, who had been about to open the door, turned toward the exit and flinched at something he saw. His shoulders shrank, making him look pitiful despite his bulky build.

“Hey, hey, cut it out.”

The person who came running over tossed a blanket to Lee Yeonwoo. It was the other guard who had left him alone with the pervert. He quickly whispered something into the pervert’s ear. Though he was listening, the pervert’s eyes remained fixed on the exit. His face, once full of arrogance, suddenly turned pale.

“Who did you say?”

At the same time, someone’s presence drew near. The crisp, steady sound of footsteps stopped right in front of the bars. Lee Yeonwoo’s gaze, heated from misplaced anger, turned toward the sound. As the two men locked eyes, the guard flailed, making excuses.

“Uh, well, that is, no. It’s not what it looks like. That brat was causing a commotion—”

“Is that so?”

The man responded, ending his sentence with a light, rising inflection. He wore a navy-blue coat. Even beneath his black mask, the high bridge of his nose stood out, and in his somewhat indifferent but unshakable gaze, Lee Yeonwoo’s bewildered expression was reflected. The man shook what he held in his hand. Lee Yeonwoo’s eyes followed, dropping to what the man was holding.

“If someone told me to suck on something that disgusting, I don’t think a scene like this would be enough. You showed admirable restraint, Mr. Lee Yeonwoo.”

The guard’s face flushed red at the flat, reproachful tone. The man held out his hand, clearly asking for the keys.

Lee Yeonwoo realized what the man had been holding. A dumpling. A freshly steamed meat dumpling, at that. Amid the savory aroma of food, the man’s scent lingered. For the first time, Lee Yeonwoo thought a person’s scent was pleasant—damp with the smell of rain and drifting softly to his nose.

“Something came up, so I’m a bit late.”

Today, Lee Yeonwoo had remained here like leftover stock. After enduring the chill of discrimination with his entire body, it had been a day when he was so exhausted from waiting that even the beliefs he had held onto began to slip.

He quietly looked up at the man who had just unlocked the door. The man who had frozen the guards who had been about to trample on him, and who had even explained the reason for his tardiness.

Clang. The man pushed the barred door open and stepped inside.

His shoulders were sharply defined, and his smooth navy coat gave off a scent. Lee Yeonwoo subtly sniffed toward the luxurious, damp aroma.

Without asking for permission, the man gently took Lee Yeonwoo’s hand and removed the handcuffs. Lee Yeonwoo’s cautious gaze swept across the man’s masked profile.

Gathering the freed cuffs into one hand, the man seemed to remember something and looked up. Their eyes met again.

“Do you really bite?”

“……”

Lee Yeonwoo answered a beat late.

“Yes.”

It was to swallow down the whimpering thought that almost escaped: Why did you only come now?

Following the man into a room, Lee Yeonwoo checked the sign on the wall. Chief’s Office. Fitting of its name, the sensor lights came on one by one as they detected movement, lighting up the spacious interior.

A long row of leather sofas, unfamiliar plants, and a deep brown desk with a black chair at the far end—all exuded a mature, heavy atmosphere. Though the man had walked in without hesitation, making it clear he was the owner, the room somehow didn’t suit him.

He placed the paper bag he had brought on the table and took off his coat. After smoothing the collar, he silently draped it over the sofa’s backrest, then gestured to Lee Yeonwoo.

“Come over here and eat first.”