Snake Venom Ch 79

Chapter 79

The light changed.

Cheon Wooshin pressed the accelerator, tailing the departing taxi, and cast a sidelong glance at Lee Yeonwoo. Sio’s strangled screams, his throat forcibly crushed shut, reverberated through the cabin.

“……”

“……”

Yeonwoo flinched. His face bore no readable expression — only eyes stubbornly fixed forward and a tightly locked throat trembling faintly.

A struggle seemed to erupt inside the taxi; one of the men swore harshly, the vehicle swaying as it momentarily crossed the centerline. Sio’s brief burst of resistance was crushed in seconds, serving only to further provoke the assailant.

— Treat you nice and this is what happens.

— Ghk— urk!

The painful groan, the sound of something being pinned hard enough to crush bone — it grew raw, and Yeonwoo, unable to bear it, dragged his palm up his face and tore his gaze toward the window. At that slight shift, Wooshin glanced at him.

Wooshin’s jawline, clenched, cut pale against his skin. His gaze, seemingly careless and yet piercingly precise, lingered at the spot beneath Yeonwoo’s ear before he withdrew and spoke, calling someone.

Joo Doyoung responded immediately.

— I’ve narrowed one lead, but I… still can’t be fully certain…

Doyoung explained, voice unsure, drowning in technicality — in short, they required definitive transaction logs to confirm the source.

As Wooshin and Doyoung spoke, the taxi slipped out of the city, speeding toward the outskirts. Sio’s forced whimpers and the indecent rustling continued to fill the receiver.

— No, no— nngh! Kurk!

— Listen pretty boy. If you resist, we’ll let your little sibling spread their legs instead.

Hearing it felt like being beaten alongside him. Yeonwoo wanted nothing more than to slam his palms over his ears.

Just as Doyoung’s technical reasoning began to verge on a defensive ramble, Wooshin, still pacing the taxi at a parallel speed, spoke:

“Let’s approach it another way. What about reverse-tracking the other account’s transaction logs?”

Even while discussing strategy, Wooshin surged forward alongside the taxi, then smoothly dropped speed again.

— Now that we’ve narrowed the sender profile, yes. If we confirm both funds originated from the same vault—

The scenery changed sharply as they passed the city’s glow. Darkness and mountain silhouettes swallowed the road. The pavement was wide and polished, yet the traffic had thinned to nearly nothing.

— We could pinpoint their base as planned, use their accounts once the job completes, collect the rest once they dispose of—

Wooshin cut him off.

“We’re doing it now. They’re no different from Park Sajang.”

— That’s true, but… wait, now? You’re not planning something reckless again, are you?

Wooshin reached out, brushing his fingers lightly through Yeonwoo’s hair. Yeonwoo’s clean, startled eyes rose to him; Wooshin’s gaze slid sideways, indifferent.

“Can’t just watch. Pitiful.”

He switched channels.

“Suho, listening?”

— Always. Give the order.

“Take out their front wheel.”

— Yes sir. Within three kilometers, right side tire.

Suho didn’t question the change. He simply accepted, voice steady with trust.

A moment later, a similar sedan glided past Wooshin’s and surged forward — Suho’s car, having shadowed them silently.

He slipped lanes like water — sleek, swift — and closed on the taxi’s flank. When ready, he murmured:

— Beginning.

Doyoung exhaled faintly.

— Cutting CCTV on Highway XX.

“Enough.”

— Highway XX? Shooting then.

Suho’s window lowered. An arm, thick and steady, braced a pistol against the frame.

— Wh— what the hell is that? Is that a g—

He fired.

Bang.

Flame spat from the muzzle, the bullet punching the tire’s weakest point. A pop — then the taxi lurched violently.

Wooshin accelerated instantly, smashing into the taxi’s rear with a brutal thud.

Yeonwoo gripped his seatbelt tight. The violent chase rattled the car like a living beast, but he kept silent, back pressed flat, eyes forward.

The precision of Wooshin’s cold plan had become raw and charging — instinctive, furious. Sio’s desperate agony must have tipped him past the edge.

The cars scraped and shrieked across asphalt — metal grinding, tires screaming — clashing again and again.

Yeonwoo, hunched small, finally lifted his head.

His face was flushed, eyes shimmering, awe and gratitude overflowing — as though beholding a hero.

As expected…

Yes. Of course. Wooshin was this kind of person. He’d once quietly entrusted Yeonwoo’s safety to Seolkyung — thinking ahead, caring in ways nobody saw. His coldness existed only because he knew exactly what priorities to hold.

Yeonwoo stared at him, wonder softening every line of his expression.

“Team Leader… thank you. You’re incredible. I— every time you do something like this—”

my heart can’t handle it.

He barely stopped the words in time, heat crawling up his cheeks.

He scrubbed his face, trying to ground himself — and instead ignited even hotter resolve.

He needed to check Wooshin. Make sure he was okay. Once Wooshin and Suho finished subduing the criminals, he would get Sio out safely.

He inhaled deeply — he had smelled Wooshin’s scent a moment ago, and it hadn’t changed.

But—

“…?”

This time, it seemed stronger. He inhaled again. A thin wisp of scent drifted like silk, curling into his nose.

Then —

Another slam, and the scent burst, thick and dangerously vivid.

— That bastard… wants to play?

The taxi suddenly slowed.

— You idiot, what are you doing? Lose them!

— Hell no! After taking that hit!?

A roar — then the taxi retaliated, smashing into their car. The cabin shook like a quake.

— Stop him!

— Fuck off!

Chaos erupted inside the taxi. A rear window rolled down — one man leaned out, gun in hand, aiming at Wooshin’s windshield. At that range, even a careless shot could hit.

Yeonwoo sucked in a sharp breath — but before panic could swallow him, Suho’s car rammed the taxi’s side. The gun flew, tumbling across asphalt.

The taxi swerved wildly, locked in a brutal clash with Suho’s car.

Suho handled it like a wolf herding prey — relentless, merciless.

The taxi spun half a turn, screeching in a ruin of rubber and metal, before crashing into a road sign and halting dead.

Yeonwoo inhaled deeply.

It wasn’t his imagination — Wooshin’s scent now pooled thick through the car.

If it grew any heavier, it would be dangerous. Critically so.

He had to administer suppressants. Fast.