Snake Venom Ch 45

Chapter 45

Before entering the underground parking lot, he got out of the car and came out of the convenience store across the street with a pack of cigarettes. Standing just outside the reach of the brightly lit signboard, the man lit a cigarette.

Since it was nighttime, the video quality wasn’t very good. Ju Doyoung zoomed in on the footage using the intersection camera. Once, twice, three times. As the pixels broke apart, he returned to the second zoom level and adjusted the image quality with minor tweaks. The man’s facial features became noticeably clearer.

The man smoking looked ordinary enough to be mistaken for an office worker just off a night shift. Ju Doyoung narrowed his eyes.

“Hmm… Thick eyebrows, around 180 cm tall.”

Even after taking the time, that was all the information they could gather about the man’s appearance.

“Appearance can be changed as much as one wants.”

Cheon Wooshin straightened his upper body while leaning on the backrest of Ju Doyoung’s chair.

“Since he’s relaxed, his habits will show.”

Cheon Wooshin stared intently at the screen.

“The last segment of his pinky finger is a bit short. We’ll need to confirm further.”

With that, both Ju Doyoung and Im Sehan focused on the screen. It was a detail they had missed.

“Could he have been expelled from the organization before or something?”

Muttering as if talking to himself, Im Sehan speculated. Cheon Wooshin gave a short reply—”That I don’t know”—and then shifted his focus from the man to the building he had entered.

From the outside, it looked like an entirely ordinary commercial building with nothing suspicious. He slowly scanned the signs. The fourth floor was a ballet academy, the third had a clinic and a café, the second floor had a banner advertising a space for lease. Finally, the first floor housed a large meat restaurant nearing closing time, and in the corner, there was a delivery agency office.

“I’ve been scanning the inside of the building for a while now, but strangely, there are a lot of blind spots.”

“I’d take that as a good sign.”

There were cameras, but the fact that they were inadequate meant something was there. After staring at the camera facing the building entrance for a long time, Cheon Wooshin pulled up a chair and sat down.

“We’ll have to check it out in person too.”

Then, with fingers just as quick as Ju Doyoung’s, he manipulated the footage and zoomed in on the license plate of a motorcycle parked along the road, saving the image.

“Let’s keep watching. Se-han, support us.”

“Got it.”

Im Sehan, downing the last of his coffee, sat beside Cheon Wooshin. Sensing the mood, he ran a search on the license plate that Cheon Wooshin had just saved.

“Oh, and Team Leader.”

“Yes.”

Ju Doyoung’s eyes, which had been darting busily, glanced sideways. Cheon Wooshin leaned slightly toward Ju Doyoung, who was holding out his phone.

“We finally caught the first signal. It hasn’t stayed long enough to trace yet, though.”

Cheon Wooshin nodded.

“Looks like they’re finally letting their guard down. We’ll probably catch signals more frequently from now on. Let me know the moment you detect anything.”

“Will do.”

Lee Yeonwoo looked at them with a curious gaze, as if watching something amazing. He felt both admiration and envy. To think he was working alongside people like this—it was hard to believe, yet an inexplicable thrill wrapped around him. Just being among them made a passion rise within him, the desire to do something, anything. It was at that very moment that Jung Suho spoke.

“Rookie, come with me.”

Once inside the elevator, Jung Suho pressed the ground floor button.

“The Team Leader isn’t actually that scary.”

He wasn’t sure what had given Yeonwoo that impression, but apparently there had been a slight misunderstanding. However, thinking back to how Jung Suho himself had been particularly tense around Cheon Wooshin, Lee Yeonwoo didn’t feel the need to correct the statement.

“The Team Leader had a terrible reputation back when he was a drill instructor. With that handsome face, he’d smile while breaking the trainees. Just thinking about it—”

Jung Suho let out an exaggerated groan and rubbed his arm, as if shuddering. If he had once been a recruit under Cheon Wooshin, then his demeanor made perfect sense.

Now that he thought of it—so even to Jung Suho, Cheon Wooshin looked handsome. Lee Yeonwoo’s lips curled slightly as the image of that sharply profiled face focused on the monitor came to mind.

“His selection criteria are strict, but once you’re in, he really acknowledges you.”

Yeonwoo gave a firm nod to that. He agreed wholeheartedly.

“He saved my life on the battlefield. We were hit by an ambush attack—I was inches from death. If it weren’t for the Team Leader, I’d have been discharged with a missing arm or leg.”

With a cheerful chime, the elevator doors opened. “This way,” said Lee Yeonwoo, leading the way and following Jung Suho.

If Suho had jumped into this investigation—one everyone else avoided—just because he was with Cheon Wooshin, then Im Sehan and Ju Doyoung probably had similar stories. And come to think of it, so did Lee Yeonwoo.

As that thought settled, a sense of pride surged in him. A superior respected by his team—somehow, that thought warmed him. It was an unfamiliar feeling, being so pleased by something not his own, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Rather, he welcomed it.

Even though he hadn’t been part of the team for long, just the fact that there was any overlap between him and them made him feel good. Even if it was a one-sided sense of belonging, it didn’t matter.

With a soft smile, Lee Yeonwoo caught up to Jung Suho, who had moved ahead.

Their destination was the shooting range they had seen earlier. The place, which had bustled with activity just a short while ago, was now wrapped in silence.

“We’ll practice whenever we get the chance. Mostly during times like today when the Team Leader is too busy and we’re on standby. Even if I’m not here, you’ll still come. You’ll be learning practical martial skills that will help in real situations, not just shooting.”

After finishing his words, Jung Suho straightened his back and held his neck high. That alone transformed his entire demeanor. The friendly country lad vanished, replaced by a disciplined soldier.

Jung Suho briefly explained the theory of shooting. But for Lee Yeonwoo, practical experience was more important. He handed him a pistol right away. Unlike the tranquilizer gun, its weight pressed into his palm.

“It’s not that hard.”

Lee Yeonwoo nodded awkwardly. He was nervous.

“Situations requiring a gun can come up anytime. No matter how well-trained someone is, they can panic. But even then, what matters is controlling yourself and aiming at your target. You don’t have to hit it perfectly. Just practice enough to protect yourself—we’ll handle the accuracy.”

Lee Yeonwoo looked up at him and asked quietly,

“Did you just imitate the Team Leader?”

Jung Suho responded with a wide smile, showing all his teeth.

“How’d I do?”

His tone and manner were different, but the resemblance to Cheon Wooshin was there. Close enough. It was clear he was trying to help ease Yeonwoo’s nerves. Lee Yeonwoo responded with a bright smile instead of an answer.

“Hitting just the bullseye area at first is already impressive.”

Jung Suho took a step back, and Lee Yeonwoo stepped up to the firing line. He took a deep breath.

He gripped the pistol as he had been taught. The earmuffs clamped down over his ears, and just maintaining the unfamiliar posture tensed his shoulders. Still, Lee Yeonwoo stared at the target with utmost seriousness.

Into the silence—artificially void of sound—Seolkyung’s voice echoed in his mind.

‘Let’s keep it between us for now.’

Cheon Wooshin’s side effect, which he himself didn’t remember, was something only Seolkyung and Lee Yeonwoo knew.

‘If Wooshin finds out what he did, there’s a high chance he’ll pull you off the investigation.’

Knowing the Cheon Wooshin he knew, Lee Yeonwoo was certain he would. Already dangerous enough, the thought that he had placed someone else in greater danger because of himself—he was not the type to pursue his goal by sacrificing others, even if it meant taking a longer or harder path.

Bang!

A thunderous roar exploded from his hand. It was his first shot.

Lee Yeonwoo’s brow furrowed. He’d expected to miss—but to not even hit the target? And the recoil was intense. With his hand still numb from the impact, he glanced between the gun and Jung Suho standing at the next lane.

Jung Suho gestured with his chin, as if to say “that’s normal.” Then, gripping the gun himself, he aimed briefly and pulled the trigger without hesitation. Bang! Despite the strong recoil, his posture didn’t waver. It naturally reminded Yeonwoo of someone—Cheon Wooshin. The man who fired like a machine in the dark, who took others’ guns and handled them like his own.

How much practice would it take to be like them?

Instead of rubbing his sore arms, Lee Yeonwoo stared at his target. If he wanted to even get close to their level, it wouldn’t do to dwell on anxiety or weakness. After blinking a few times, his gaze sharpened.

‘I know it’s a cruel suggestion. But we have to try something.’

Even if Cheon Wooshin changed and grew violent with him again—so long as it could be controlled—they would keep it a secret and press on. They would see it through. When Seolkyung made that proposal—no, begged for help—beside a sleeping Cheon Wooshin, Lee Yeonwoo had nodded without hesitation.

‘You said you’re a mosaic subtype, right?’

Lee Yeonwoo pulled the trigger again. Bang!

‘Unlike most addicts whose homicidal urges explode violently, Wooshin’s side effect manifests as amplified demi-human instincts. We want to know if that’s because of Wooshin—or because of you.’

True to her background as a researcher in demi-human genetics, Seolkyung had also collected Lee Yeonwoo’s blood and DNA samples.

The scent of gunpowder was thick, but the target remained still. Another wild miss. Disappointment flickered in his eyes, but quickly, it was replaced with fierce determination.