Snake Venom Ch 63

Chapter 63

 

Upon entering the office, the atmosphere felt slightly different. Im Sehan, spotting Lee Yeonwoo, raised his hand in greeting. He was placing thin files on the large table situated in the center of the office. While Lee Yeonwoo nodded in return, Cheon Wooshin brushed past him.

“Did you practice well?”

Lee Yeonwoo drew in a sharp breath. The luxurious and weighty scent felt like it shifted his entire mood. Just moments ago, when he was turning the office doorknob, he had worried about how he would even face him—but that concern vanished in an instant.

Perhaps it was because the emotional shift he experienced due to him was so drastic. With his eyes full of Cheon Wooshin, Lee Yeonwoo replied,

“I got all the answers right.”

Cheon Wooshin, who had merely been passing by, came to a halt.

“They even asked if I was a former athlete.”

The gaze directed at him once again felt especially welcoming, and the fluttering in his heart was almost visible.

“Should we reconsider your career path while we’re at it?”

Though he clearly noticed that Lee Yeonwoo was wagging his metaphorical tail with all his might, Cheon Wooshin remained expressionless. His head tilted slightly as if pondering what to say. That lack of reaction jolted Lee Yeonwoo to his senses.

‘Damn, I did it again…’

He had once again acted cutesy without discerning the time or place. Just as he was making a dismayed expression—

“Team Leader, preparations are complete.”

At Im Sehan’s quiet voice, Cheon Wooshin lifted his gaze.

“Let’s begin.”

With that brief response, Im Sehan turned on the large screen set up at the front of the table, and Jung Suho, coming from the break room, placed cups of coffee beside the files. Joo Doyoung, who had been hiding behind a computer monitor, ambled out holding a tablet. There were five chairs arranged around the table. Watching the efficient team members, Lee Yeonwoo’s face brightened.

‘I must be included too.’

Just then, a large hand landed on Lee Yeonwoo’s shoulder. It was Cheon Wooshin, who had come up unnoticed. He placed an arm around Lee Yeonwoo’s shoulders and began walking with him.

It felt too ambiguous to be simply a gesture conveying “you’re one of us.” As Lee Yeonwoo, dazed, was led along, he lifted his gaze. Cheon Wooshin’s tall and sharply defined profile was right beside him.

“If you’re not here,”

The low tone was quiet enough that only Lee Yeonwoo could hear it. Cheon Wooshin cast a sideways glance downward.

“Who’s going to keep an eye on me?”

The smile resting at the corner of his lowered eyes was as gentle as ever, but his gaze was unusually dark.

“I might just spill everything, you know.”

That peculiar, chilling look and voice made Lee Yeonwoo forget how to walk. Cheon Wooshin left the now-frozen Lee Yeonwoo behind and walked toward the table.

Having said what he wanted, Cheon Wooshin naturally blended in with the team. He used a remote control on the table to further manipulate the monitor and took a light sip of the coffee placed by Jung Suho.

Lee Yeonwoo, still dazed, moved his lips.

“W-watch…?”

Watch me? He’s protecting me. Guarding me. Even if it doesn’t look that way. Though he couldn’t say it out loud with so many watching, he kept muttering those words internally.

“Ugh.”

Lee Yeonwoo hastily pulled his hood over his head and cast his gaze downward. His bewildered eyes darted across the floor. Though he tried to distract himself, it wasn’t enough. He was grateful that he had come wearing a hoodie and pulled it low over his head.

“Huh? Lee Yeonwoo, where are you going?”

Im Sehan’s voice called after him from behind.

“I’m just going to the restroom for a moment!”

Giving a vague reply, Lee Yeonwoo hurried out of the office.

His pace, brushing his face again and again, was overly rushed. The breath he let out in disbelief carried a heat he didn’t realize.

Upon spotting the salvation-like restroom sign, Lee Yeonwoo picked up speed. His hands fumbled through his pockets in urgency. He shoved something into his mouth and stepped into the restroom.

His canines itched. As if they might elongate at any moment, his gums ached sharply. It was the first time he’d felt this. The unfamiliarity brought not just surprise, but a sense of impending crisis.

His rut had always been regular. He was strict about managing it more than anything else because he understood his condition. There were still many days left before the expected time. Despite that, the itch spreading from within and his rapidly heating body left him confused.

Standing in front of the mirror, Lee Yeonwoo blinked rapidly. He then frantically touched his head as if to check something.

‘No, it hasn’t come out.’

He took additional medication and double-checked his teeth and head, but the unrest remained. Lee Yeonwoo removed his hood and ran his fingers through his hair again. Only when he was certain nothing had emerged did he turn on the faucet.

Before the ice-cold water even warmed, he cupped it in his hands and splashed it onto his face. He repeated the process several more times.

With cold, stiff hands covering his face, Lee Yeonwoo quietly breathed. His chest rose and fell sharply, and his lips trembled. Even his breath leaked out in a thin stream.

He couldn’t bring himself to look at the face reflected in the mirror.

“He said… if I’m not there…”

It was because he already knew how flushed and burned his face must have looked.

 

A droplet formed at the tip of his damp bangs and plopped onto the bridge of his nose. Lee Yeonwoo blinked quickly.

Why did I come here again? The moment he recalled the reason, he started moving hurriedly. He yanked out a paper towel and roughly dried his hair and face. Thanks to the cold water, the flush on his cheeks had somewhat faded.

In his panic earlier, he hadn’t even rolled up his sleeves before splashing water.

What Cheon Wooshin said wasn’t a big deal. It was just his way of gently joking to suggest that Lee Yeonwoo should focus on the task at hand. It was Lee Yeonwoo himself who had added personal meaning to it. Subjectively—shockingly so, even to himself. Drying his soaked sleeves with another paper towel, Lee Yeonwoo stepped out of the restroom.

As he replayed the events from a few minutes ago, a small laugh escaped. To think he had gotten so flustered over such a trivial gesture. He must really like Cheon Wooshin as a person. Maybe that was why. Though he still thought his reaction was terribly pathetic, he didn’t feel bad.

If a similar situation happened again, he wouldn’t be so rattled. He’d make sure to show it off—he’d respond with a joke just as apt, and deepen the rapport between them.

By the time he rounded the corner with that resolve, his previously flushed face had returned to normal. Perhaps it was the wash—his slightly damp skin even looked more radiant.

The interior he walked back into was dim. Following the only light source, he spotted the team members gathered around the large table.

Their expressions, reflected on the screen, were serious. Even Jung Suho, who usually wore a friendly smile like a tail, had wiped it away.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Lee Yeonwoo spoke softly and, reading the room, quickly found a vacant seat. They didn’t say much, but the tense mood noticeably lightened once he sat down. Im Sehan, seated closest to the screen, stood up.

“Now that the youngest is here.”

He pushed up the bridge of his glasses, which were perched on his nose. His expression, like a detective in a mystery comic, turned grave.

“Let’s begin the tenth briefing on Project Snake Venom.”

Lee Yeonwoo’s seat was beside Cheon Wooshin. As Cheon Wooshin cast a belated sideways glance, Lee Yeonwoo bowed his head once more. Their eyes met, and his heart gave a brief flutter—but unlike earlier, it didn’t spin out of control.

“First, as we were tracking the distribution routes of the aphrodisiac known as ‘Snake’ and the drug ‘Hephessy,’ we uncovered several clues.”

Photos appeared on the screen. They included the supplier traced through CCTV and a building located in the planning district.

“First off, Yeonwoo, it was really impressive that you found the secret area even the building owner didn’t know about.”

As soon as Im Sehan praised him, Jung Suho raised both his thumbs. His beaming expression stood in stark contrast to Joo Doyoung, who had his arms crossed and was glaring intently into the distance.

Despite his earlier resolution to act confidently, Lee Yeonwoo couldn’t hide his embarrassment. It was the first time his abilities had been recognized so openly. As he scratched the back of his head and bowed slightly, the briefly warm atmosphere turned serious again.

“The owner sold the building two years ago, but both the contractor and the construction company have since vanished.”

It meant the place had been designed as a factory from the outset. By exploiting the new district’s administrative blind spots, they constructed the factory and used an uninformed civilian owner as a shield to avoid legal scrutiny. It was a bold and meticulous ploy.

“As soon as the Team Leader contacted us, I requested support from forensics.”

Im Sehan displayed photos of the building’s exterior and underground parking lot.

“But we were already too late. The factory had stopped operating. It seems they used it until recently, so Doyoung and I checked the building and surrounding CCTV footage, but didn’t find anything notable. Looks like they designed the place with blind spots from the beginning.”