Snake Venom Ch 51

Chapter 51

The flashlight swept across the multipurpose room, thoroughly scanning the floor. Eventually, the man entered the corner where Cheon Wooshin and Lee Yeonwoo were hiding, rotating his wrist as he shone the light around.

It was a rare ability that had saved him multiple times in Sodom, but there was no telling whether it would work again. Please, please, please…! Lee Yeonwoo prayed in Cheon Wooshin’s arms, shrinking all his senses until he couldn’t even feel Wooshin’s presence.

Strangely enough, the beam of light miraculously passed right over the spot where Cheon Wooshin and Lee Yeonwoo were hiding.

“Where the hell are they?”

The man slammed the door shut irritably and walked off, his footsteps growing more distant. Lee Yeonwoo, who had remained stiff until no other presence could be sensed, let out a faint breath.

With that, a false-but-not-false piece of information—that no one was here—had been passed on to the pursuers. It had confused their tracking and, naturally, bought some time. For now, they could breathe a little easier.

Lee Yeonwoo checked his bio-gear first. Heart rate, body temperature—nothing was within normal range. Was it really beginning now? He lifted his head. Climbing over one mountain only to find a higher one standing before him—this was what it felt like. If he blacked out, he’d truly be left defenseless. What if he lost consciousness and woke up again? Meeting Cheon Wooshin in that state would be even more terrifying.

First, he needed to ask about Wooshin’s condition. Was he still hurting and dizzy like before? Lee Yeonwoo raised his eyes, cautiously meeting the gaze that looked down at him, and opened his mouth.

“Are you okay, Team Leader?”

Cheon Wooshin didn’t respond. He gently released Yeonwoo from his chest and looked around. It was only a moment later that Yeonwoo realized just how sluggish and ominous his movements had become.

“……”

“……”

A darkened space where light had been artificially cut off. It was in a similar environment that Yeonwoo had first sensed Cheon Wooshin through his scent. Though his vision now granted him more clarity than back then, Lee Yeonwoo looked up in confusion at Wooshin’s black eyes, which stared at him as though binding him in place.

His fingertips twitched. A strange, alien discomfort rose from his toes.

“How do you feel?”

“……?”

What kind of question was that? The thought barely formed before—

Cheon Wooshin lowered his head. Unlike before, when there had been a degree of kindness and consideration, his actions were now overwhelmingly one-sided. He buried his nose in Yeonwoo’s nape and inhaled deeply. It felt like even his skin was being drawn in with the air he breathed. Yeonwoo instinctively shrank his shoulders.

From the point where Wooshin made contact, an ominous sensation spread. A raw, blatant weight—as though he were being stripped naked despite having done nothing. Even the déjà vu that followed was foreboding. Cheon Wooshin whispered softly.

“You seemed to be struggling, so I tried to block it for a bit.”

For a moment, Lee Yeonwoo lost his grip on reality and couldn’t respond. Even blinking his eyes felt difficult.

“By the way, Mr. Lee Yeonwoo, do you like places like this?”

“……”

Wooshin’s tone was as kind and gentle as always. But the atmosphere around him had undeniably changed.

No way…

The thought that tried to reject this halted mid-process. Wooshin’s scent—now something one could comfortably call pheromones—began to seep across his skin with intangible dominance. It was thick. Commanding. Without a doubt, the pheromones of a beast.

“Is this how it’s supposed to be done?”

“……”

Lee Yeonwoo turned his head. Cheon Wooshin leaned his forehead casually on Yeonwoo’s shoulder and gazed at his frozen figure with a languid expression. His gaze was dark, as deep as a well.

This man is not Cheon Wooshin.

“Why….”

He had thought there was still time, still an opportunity. Above all, the blackout phase hadn’t begun yet.

Why had the phases been skipped? Without him losing consciousness, there would be no chance to subdue Wooshin, and naturally, he wouldn’t be able to administer the sedative either. He hadn’t carried out a single step of what he’d prepared.

Cheon Wooshin smiled softly at the speechless Yeonwoo, whose words had dried up from panic. It was an alluring smile—one that had once caused Yeonwoo to blush without thinking.

“Do you hate it again this time?”

The omitted words recalled many memories Yeonwoo had tried hard to forget. He furrowed his brow. Was this really not Cheon Wooshin? Had he truly… changed?

Yeonwoo clung tightly to his swirling confusion. This was precisely the moment when he had to stay sharp.

This other personality of Wooshin remembered everything about the previous day—about how he had exploded with pheromones and pinned Yeonwoo down. If that was the case, Yeonwoo had no reason to hesitate.

“Yes.”

Cheon Wooshin looked at him with curious eyes. A hint of mockery flickered in the upturned corner of his lips. He clearly didn’t care at all for Yeonwoo’s answer. It was pure condescension.

“I thought so.”

With that flippant reply, an aggressive scent surged forward. Yeonwoo frowned and gagged; the scent then receded again. Catching his breath, Yeonwoo was a little shaken.

Was this even possible? Just yesterday, Wooshin had claimed he couldn’t control his pheromones and had emitted them wildly. And now, a human body was able to manipulate them with this level of precision? As Yeonwoo stared at him in disbelief, Cheon Wooshin shook a syringe as if to show it off. It was the sedative from Yeonwoo’s pocket—something Yeonwoo had been trying to secretly retrieve.

“I don’t do it with people who say no.”

With those words, Cheon Wooshin backed off. Startled, Yeonwoo immediately grabbed his collar. The man now was like a beast with its leash removed. The only thing keeping him in check was Yeonwoo himself, clinging helplessly to him.

At that moment, a voice rang out over the intercom.

• Twenty in total. Headcount confirmed. Commencing suppression.

Though lower and more rigid than usual, it was unmistakably Jung Suho’s voice. Curses exploded in the hallway from those caught off guard. Gunfire erupted—both far and near. Cheon Wooshin, listening briefly to the sounds, lowered his eyes.

“There are a lot of people today.”

He pulled out a lantern and pressed the button. A small, intense beam flickered and then shot directly into Yeonwoo’s face. As Yeonwoo squinted and turned away, Cheon Wooshin stared at him intently.

“What.”

Click. The lantern turned off. In the sudden darkness, a low voice slipped in.

“It doesn’t have to be you.”

The featherlight words froze Yeonwoo solid. Click—light came back on. Cheon Wooshin was now up close, his eyes gleaming with an eerie light that defied explanation.

“There are a lot of people today, after all.”

He bit his lower lip slightly and smiled. It was a smile like a flower blooming in the night. Yeonwoo felt like he had been struck in the back of the head.

“If I don’t put it in somewhere and release, I feel like I’ll go crazy.”

That mortifying sentence, even recalling it was unbearable. Now, it aligned perfectly with Cheon Wooshin’s current attitude and drew a terrifying conclusion. Yeonwoo shuddered and grabbed his arm.

“No.”

You pervert. What are you implying—just because there are more people around?

“You said you didn’t want to.”

The slippery, evasive logic was infuriating. Yeonwoo knew he shouldn’t be swayed, yet he felt defeated before things had even begun. Wooshin’s relaxed, unburdened attitude made it impossible not to feel that way.

“That’s not the issue. T-Things like that can’t be done without consent.”

“Things like that? Ahh.”

Wooshin let out a low sigh.

“You mean sex, right?”

“S-Sex, that’s not what I meant.”

Who would call it “sex” when it involved intimidating someone, mocking them, and threatening them into submission? It was a disastrously twisted understanding. At Yeonwoo’s denial, Wooshin’s eyes crinkled.

“Or do you mean mating? Just say it properly. Stop beating around the bush.”

‘I don’t like ambiguous terms like that.’

Yeonwoo bit his lip. Why, of all times, was he reminded of that version of Cheon Wooshin now? Sometimes this man seemed completely different—yet in a flash, he overlapped with the other. It was confusing. And he didn’t understand himself, either—why he was affected by such absurd remarks. Clinging stubbornly to Wooshin’s collar, Yeonwoo spoke.

“Or maybe just…”

Cheon Wooshin groped his own chest—where the gun was tucked away.

“Should I just kill them all?”

Yeonwoo was speechless. How could someone say something like that with such a nonchalant face?

“Both are bad options.”

“Really?”

“You’ll regret it. You won’t be able to take it back.”

“I said I wouldn’t do that sort of thing.”

“Don’t kill anyone. Please.”

“I’ll do as I please.”

They were not having a conversation. Yeonwoo pleaded with renewed desperation.

“Right now, enemy or ally, everyone is a threat to you. You know what’ll happen if you’re discovered.”

“That ‘you’? What an interesting way of putting it.”

Cheon Wooshin abruptly seized on the wording. An unexpected silence pressed down on Yeonwoo’s skin. He was overcome with a sense of injustice.

‘He does all this perverted crap without an ounce of shame, and now he’s nitpicking semantics…’

But this Cheon Wooshin could leave at any moment, and without any weapon, he could do unspeakable things to Yeonwoo and everyone else. He was a terrifying presence.

Silently cursing, Yeonwoo finally spoke, his voice reluctant and tinged with bitterness.

“…Team Leader.”

“Yes.”

And this was what made things so confusing. That fleeting shadow of Cheon Wooshin—just enough to keep Yeonwoo from dismissing him outright. While Yeonwoo grimaced and swallowed his frustration, Cheon Wooshin cast his gaze outside.

“Whether I get caught, trapped, or killed—that’s your Team Leader’s problem.”

He sounded like he had no regrets about death or consequences. At times like this, the man seemed like a personality subordinate to Cheon Wooshin—yet at others, he acted with complete independence. Just as if he had no more business here, he turned to leave. Yeonwoo urgently tugged on his collar.

“Y-You can’t.”