Snake Venom Ch 16

Chapter 16

It looked like a hospital room. The cots placed at regular intervals and the curtains acting as partitions were not all that different from the nursing home that had once taken care of his grandmother. Sitting on the edge of the bed, clenching and unclenching his fists, Lee Yeonwoo retraced what had happened before he lost consciousness. Naturally, a certain man came to mind.

‘Should probably get these wounds treated…’

Yeonwoo raised a hand to his forehead. A bandage had been placed there. It was just a vague assumption, but he figured the man must have been the one who treated him.

The exit lay beyond an empty cot. Through a small glass window on the door, he could see the backs of strangers.

Among them, a man glanced back and made eye contact with Yeonwoo. Upon noticing he was awake, the man whispered something to the person next to him. But that was it. Their expressionless faces made it clear their only job was to guard the door.

Understanding perfectly that their actions meant he was to wait quietly, Yeonwoo lightly shook his wrist. The clinking sound of the handcuffs grated on his nerves. Even if he intended to behave, he couldn’t go to the bathroom like this. Faced with a pressing biological need, he cleared his throat with a soft “ahem.”

“Excuse me!”

He raised his voice loud enough that there was no way they could pretend not to hear. One of the men turned around, adding a look of annoyance to his already stern expression. Reluctantly, the man opened the door and spoke.

“What is it?”

“How long do I have to stay here?”

At the sudden question, the man glanced at his watch. He seemed to deliberate for a moment before finally speaking.

“One hour.”

“And also—!”

Even before he finished speaking, the man turned to close the door again. Yeonwoo stubbornly pressed on, facing his increasingly irritated expression.

“I need to use the restroom.”

He thought he could hear a tongue clicking in annoyance from their silent eye exchange. The man stepped into the room, deliberately fiddling with the gun holstered at his waist. He was being treated like a criminal. It wasn’t like he planned to escape. Not that it would’ve changed anything even if he said so.

As they walked side by side, the man swept his eyes up and down Yeonwoo with a disgusted expression. Though Yeonwoo had tried to clean himself as best he could, brushing his teeth in freezing groundwater while his teeth clattered, he probably hadn’t managed to wash off much grime. Faced with this silent accusation of filth, he felt a bit ashamed.

“While I’m out, can I also take a shower? I’ll finish in ten minutes.”

The man hesitated, seemingly reluctant, but finally replied.

“You can’t take off the handcuffs.”

“That’s fine. Just a moment then.”

Yeonwoo asked if he could take the spare patient gown laid out by the bed. He figured it would be a hundred times better than wearing his grimy clothes.

And from there, everything felt like one emotional high after another.

His first wave of awe hit when he saw the clean toilet without a single stain. Who would’ve thought a toilet could make him clutch his chest in gratitude? Then came the mirror on the wall—being able to clearly see his own face moved him even more.

It wasn’t a pleasant sight. He looked several years older, gaunt and covered in wounds. After hastily rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Yeonwoo brushed his teeth with a disposable toothbrush and inhaled sharply. The refreshing scent of peppermint made his nose tingle.

He turned on the faucet to rinse his mouth. The further he twisted the knob to the left, the warmer the water became. It was nothing special—and yet it stirred something in his heart. Sniffling, Yeonwoo wiped his nose.

But the true climax was the shower. Staring at the frothy bubbles that foamed in his hands, Yeonwoo cried out.

“Bubbles!”

The exclamation escaped him before he realized. The feeling of old grime washing away was more than refreshing—it was euphoric. After a quick rinse, he lathered up again. As he scrubbed under his nails and behind his ears, a hum escaped him.

Yeonwoo quickly and thoroughly washed up, then dried his hair with a towel. His skin felt a bit rough from the soap he hadn’t used in so long, but that was nothing to complain about. Even the loose patient gown felt like a blessing.

After stepping out of the bathroom, he checked the clock on the wall. He still had twenty minutes left. Yeonwoo walked over to the nightstand beside the bed, where a bottle of water, a few suppressant pills, and some chocolate had been placed.

Taking a piece of chocolate and the water, he climbed onto the bed. Sunlight from high noon streamed in through the window. Sitting there, Yeonwoo subtly tugged at the bed sheet. Its surface, warmed by the sun, felt cozy. It was a world apart from the cold concrete floor he had been used to.

He took a suppressant with the water, draining the bottle completely, and then popped the piece of chocolate into his mouth. Sweet ecstasy filled his senses. It felt as if his now-clear mind had become even sharper. The piece melted on his tongue almost instantly, leaving him desperate for more—but somehow, that anticipation made him giddy. Out in the real world, he’d be able to eat chocolate like this every day.

The joy of imagining tomorrow swept him up. His grandmother’s house shimmered in his mind’s eye. Even though he didn’t have a dime to his name, he felt like he could achieve anything starting from there. He had survived Sodom, after all. He could do it.

He flopped back onto the sheet but still didn’t feel grounded in reality. Waving his hands across the crisp texture, Yeonwoo glanced toward the door, then rolled onto his side to gently press his cheek to the fabric. The sensation made him smile involuntarily.

He had truly escaped that hell.

Of course, escaping early meant there were procedural steps to go through. Though it was fortunate that Sodom had been dismantled by the authorities, Yeonwoo—who would have gained his freedom just by repaying his debts—now had to go through the state’s verification process. How long or how involved that process would be, he had no idea. But the man had said:

‘You didn’t kill anyone.’

Even right before they parted, the man had said they were on the same team, removed his collar, and even gave him ramen. Yeonwoo absentmindedly touched the bandage on his forehead. He had also treated his injuries.

He suddenly recalled the man’s luxurious and fragrant scent. The intense, chaotic moments they’d shared naturally replayed in his mind. The memory of gunpowder sent a chill down his spine, while the savory aroma of ramen made his mouth water.

‘Are we still on the same team?’

Yeonwoo hadn’t resisted the powerful wave of drowsiness, also because of the man. It was as if the man was saying they were still connected. That casual statement—like a gentle warning—had somehow reassured him.

‘I said I wouldn’t kill anyone either.’

That indifferent reply had felt sturdier than any hollow promise to protect him at all costs.

Come to think of it, the man had mentioned something about being a designated guardian…

Yeonwoo’s eyelids grew heavier. Rubbing his eyes, he scratched the white sheet with his fingernail. He missed his grandmother. He wanted to drink the fresh fruit juice she used to buy him. He needed to clean the house. Water the plants. These soft, everyday thoughts—ones he’d never dared to entertain in the constant alertness of Sodom—fluttered into his mind.

Maybe heaven wasn’t so special after all. Maybe being full, warm, and having time to enjoy the things you love was more than enough. Just as that drowsy comfort began to wash over him—

Clack.

The door opened. Yeonwoo sat up instantly, as if he had never been dozing. Could it be that man?

But the hope was quickly dashed. His eyes gleamed for a brief second, only to fall as a group of men with the same oppressive aura as those outside the door strode in. Yeonwoo tracked their movements with only his eyes as they passed other beds and approached his.

Three of them—two young men and one middle-aged—entered. Their appearances and builds varied, but the ID card holders clipped to their chests were the same color.

The last to enter was the middle-aged man. Like President Park, he had a protruding belly and waddled in with a backward-leaning posture. His stubbled chin and furrowed brow were etched with chronic irritation.

The man scanned Yeonwoo from head to toe and scowled, as if Yeonwoo’s very existence offended him.

One of the young men quickly brought over a chair for him. Pulling it in front of Yeonwoo, the man dropped into it with a plop and lazily waved his ID in front of Yeonwoo’s eyes.

Team Leader Jung Gishik, Department of Hybrid(Half-blood) Human General Affairs, Team 2. That’s what it said.

As Yeonwoo read the ID, Jung Gishik looked around the hospital room with a face still full of displeasure.

“For god’s sake. He’s perfectly fine. What was the point of dragging him to a hospital?”

Yeonwoo blinked quietly. Realizing that the “he” being talked about was himself made his chest throb in a strange way. Jung Gishik extended his hand to the youth beside him, who immediately handed over a file.

The sound of flipping pages rang coldly through the room. As the silence dragged on, a vague sense of dread began to grow in Yeonwoo. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned his gaze to the wall. Dust had settled thickly on the picture frame.

“Goddamn nonsense.”

With a curse, Jung Gishik tossed the file onto the bed and spoke.

“Did you take your suppressant?”

“Yes.”

Yeonwoo answered meekly, and Jung Gishik leaned back in his chair, glaring at him with distaste.

“I’ll explain this once. Listen carefully.”

Why did his demeanor so closely resemble that of President Park? Pushing away the fleeting thought, Yeonwoo focused his ears.