Snake Venom Ch 110

by berry

Chapter 110

The fork slipped from Lee Yeonwoo’s fingers like liquid silver and struck the table with a brittle, ringing chime.

Cheon Wooshin’s eyes alone shifted—first to the utensil, then to Lee Yeonwoo’s half-parted lips. While Cheon Wooshin silently regarded his own plate, Lee Yeonwoo could not so much as flutter an eyelid. The only sentence he managed to summon was something like: *I think the Team Leader just said something…*

The metallic echo circled his ears and refused to fade. Only after a slow blink did his mind begin, sluggishly, to turn.

The worst scenario an amnesiac Lee Yeonwoo could conjure was Cheon Wooshin changing his blown-fuse clothes. But *we did what*? The definition of sex as he knew it—its scenes, its motions—flashed across his brain. When the hazy, inarticulate images overlapped with Cheon Wooshin, an inexplicable dull ache climbed his spine. He glanced downward. Cheon Wooshin’s scent clung to the fabric; residual warmth lingered on his skin. Memory still refused to surface, yet the foreign sensation between his thighs corroborated every word.

“Lee Yeonwoo-ssi.”

“Yes?”

Startled, he lifted his head.

Eyes already large now rounded perfectly; shoulders hunched inward. His frozen expression resembled someone dropped onto an alien planet or a rabbit staring down its natural predator.

Cheon Wooshin studied that face in silence, then leaned forward with deliberate slowness. The shrinking distance felt oppressively grand. Without thinking, Lee Yeonwoo pressed his back to the chair.

“What did I just say?”

His lips twitched reflexively, yet the words he had clearly heard refused to emerge. Even if what Cheon Wooshin said was true and justified, voicing it aloud was far too shocking. After mouthing soundlessly, Lee Yeonwoo finally lowered his gaze. The silence he himself had created seemed to crush his throat. His mouth simply would not open.

A low voice drifted in.

“Tell me.”

Both expression and eyes were sweet to the point of enchantment. As if bewitched, Lee Yeonwoo parted his lips.

“That the Team Leader and I… did…”

Omitting the precise term did nothing to erase its meaning. Lee Yeonwoo’s reluctant mumble flushed his face crimson. No matter how he reconsidered, the story was absurd. He probed the missing portion once more—nothing.

“No, but that doesn’t make any—”

“You asked for my help.”

“…….”

*Excuse me?*

Before Lee Yeonwoo—now pallid—Cheon Wooshin relaxed into the chair. Shoulders and back settled against the rest; his ribcage rose in an unhurried swell. The exhaled breath that followed betrayed no agitation.

“The suppressant was barely effective, and you couldn’t even masturbate on your own.”

Cheon Wooshin continued without lifting his gaze from Lee Yeonwoo.

“At the time, Seolgyeong’s assistance was impossible.”

“…….”

“You were suffering greatly.”

Each successive statement made Lee Yeonwoo’s vision spin. He struggled to think rationally.

Yes, losing memory from sheer arousal was unavoidable—he had taken a drug meant for that. If he couldn’t manage self-relief, the urgency must have been dire. But how on earth did lending a hand escalate to sex?

“That… s… the word ‘sex’—”

“We merely used the fastest way to purge the drug.”

The sentence seemed to defend Lee Yeonwoo, implying there was no room for doubt. Cheon Wooshin could not possibly confuse sex with masturbation. Utterly dazed, Lee Yeonwoo clutched his forehead as though to hide his expression.

So that was how his affection had erupted—in the crudest possible manner. No, even so, for him to do it with the Team Leader…

His lost gaze circled the hollow of his palm. The breath he released instead of words brimmed with unmanageable emotions.

“Ah…”

Steam seemed ready to pour from his ears. Cupping his burning face, he barely managed a whisper.

“That… ha…. Good heavens, ueut. I’m, I’m sorry. I…”

Even sentences refused to connect.

“No, to actually accept that, ueut. No.”

Lee Yeonwoo bit the inside of his lip until it stung, flagellating himself. The nerve of the victim turning accuser.

“I’m sorry.”

Even the easygoing charm and quick wit he prided himself on were useless now. Anyone would be the same in this situation.

“I made such a terrible mistake…”

No matter how he phrased it, he sounded shameless. Trailing off, Lee Yeonwoo yearned to vanish into a mouse-hole.

Cheon Wooshin observed that face intently, then gave a short snort. He had expected belief, but not to this extent of burrowing. The laugh burst from a mix of absurdity and inability to look away from his own captivation.

Lee Yeonwoo noticed nothing; merely existing in the same space while accepting his guilt consumed colossal energy. That sight, too, drew a smile from Cheon Wooshin.

A vibration hummed from the table’s corner—Cheon Wooshin’s phone.

Having already composed himself, Cheon Wooshin rose. Glancing down at Lee Yeonwoo still digging his tunnel, he spoke.

“We’ll go to Seolgyeong first. And then.”

Though his mind remained foggy, Lee Yeonwoo clearly registered Cheon Wooshin’s voice and looked up. Their eyes met. A gaze cool to the point of chill fixed solely on him.

For an instant, time halted. His heart plummeted to his toes, then pounded wildly. Unless he pressed it down, it threatened to leap out. Yet the fiercer that simple, violent beat grew, the more Lee Yeonwoo’s confusion settled into order.

“…….”

His lust-disheveled appearance must have been pitiful. RefWooshing to turn away from an outstretched plea for help was surely born of innate duty. The heart that could not rage fully after betrayal by someone trusted would not change overnight.

Once again, Cheon Wooshin had not let him go. How could a person be like this? Lee Yeonwoo barely suppressed the affection that threatened to overflow regardless of time or place.

“The rest, after we wrap up the operation.”

With those opening words, Cheon Wooshin averted his gaze first. He glanced at the vibrating phone, then lightly rubbed the end of his brow.

“We’ll talk slowly.”

The moment the words ended, Cheon Wooshin answered the call and turned away. Lee Yeonwoo watched his retreating back until it vanished around the corner. At last exhaling long and deep, his face carried a touch of melancholy.

“…….”

*We’ll talk slowly.*

It was a courteous remark to ease his panic. Attaching grand meaning was merely his own heart running wild. He knew all this, yet the word *slowly* as pronounced by Cheon Wooshin echoed in his mind.

A thin breath escaped the hands weakly covering his face.

***

This was the second visit to Seolgyeong’s home.

Seolgyeong greeted them at the entrance and led them down the hallway without hesitation. Thanks to her, Lee Yeonwoo could step into the inner living room he had only occupied during his first visit. A photograph on the wall caught his eye—a wedding portrait of two people smiling side by side. Click. Seolgyeong opened the bedroom door.

After Cheon Wooshin’s poisoning, Seolgyeong had converted her guest room into a temporary infirmary. Where a nightstand once stood now rose a blood-pressure monitor and IV stand; the storage cabinet’s former spot brimmed with medical equipment and testing devices. It seemed extravagant for one patient, but for Seolgyeong, who had to examine Cheon Wooshin in secret, such measures were likely essential.

“Come in.”

Guiding Lee Yeonwoo to the bed, Seolgyeong moved with the ease of someone already briefed by Cheon Wooshin. She checked his temperature and blood pressure first.

“This should be fine. Just a moment.”

She left and returned carrying an IV bag. She explained it would help expel residual drugs and prevent addiction.

“I’ll draw blood.”

Gloved hands pressed his forearm and the back of his hand. The search for a vein was practiced and swift. The scent of antiseptic accompanied a sharp sting inside his forearm. Without lifting her eyes from the filling syringe, she asked,

“Any pain?”

Lee Yeonwoo, who had been staring only at the ceiling, turned toward her. A neat, elegant profile filled his vision.

If Seolgyeong had heard yesterday’s events from Cheon Wooshin, she already knew what had transpired between them—every point of contact. Previously, too, she had received exhaustive reports of Cheon Wooshin’s incidents with Lee Yeonwoo as part of her research. This time was no different. She expected information in the same format.

Taking her question seriously, Lee Yeonwoo carefully surveyed his own body. The lower his gaze traveled, the hotter his face burned. Recalling a night he could not remember was no small embarrassment. Wiping his cheek with the back of his hand, he shook his head.

—