The Snake, the Flower, and the Tiger - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 16

Had Kim Je-eon seen the snake too? The question flickered across her mind, but dealing with the man right in front of her took precedence.
“So who exactly are you, and why did Kim Je-eon ask you to come? I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen your face before, so what country’s etiquette allows you to just waltz into someone’s bedroom like this?”
“Well, maybe French?”
…….
Hee-seo, who’d been bringing up places she’d never even visited, fell silent without meaning to. Then she studied the man slowly, piece by piece.
His lean frame and sharp features oddly reminded her of Choi Jin-uk from last night. He looked about the same age as Kim Je-eon, but something in his loose, rumpled clothes made him seem less like an office worker and more like a sick man.
He was certainly tall, and his pale complexion did suggest something ailing. The strange part was how hauntingly familiar his face seemed.
“I’m Je-eon’s older brother. Kim Je-seon.”
“That’s a lie.”
Hee-seo immediately contradicted him, but in the same moment, she found the source of that familiarity. He bore a striking resemblance to Kim Jong-hyup. Yet there was a reason for her denial all the same.
“I’ve never heard Kim Je-eon mention having an older brother. And if you were really his brother, why didn’t you show up at his wedding? We’re just meeting for the first time, aren’t we?”
“I never said you had to believe me.”
The man who’d introduced himself as Kim Je-seon rose from the bed with an expressionless face. Though it wasn’t the season to feel cold indoors, the thick cardigan he wore made him look taller than she’d first thought.
But Hee-seo gradually relaxed the tension in her body. The man appeared so frail that she could subdue him without even using what she held in her hand.
“My health isn’t good, so I don’t go out much. I avoid crowded places. So don’t resent me for not attending Je-eon’s wedding.”
“……Resent? Me, resenting someone I’ve only just met?”
“If you’re not, then that’s a relief.”
As he answered Hee-seo’s bewildered response, the man regarded her quietly. Facing each other at nearly the same eye level now, he truly did bear a strong resemblance to Kim Jong-hyup.
Hee-seo felt a vague unease, but slowly set the lamp back on its stand. Then Kim Je-seon asked casually.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
“Would any woman not have one with a strange man sitting at her feet while she slept?”
The sharp retort came reflexively.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember falling asleep—or even entering the house. So the memories that stretched from that tedious dinner through Choi Jin-uk and the snake felt like they’d happened just a minute ago.
Hee-seo steadied her breathing and sank onto the bed, muttering.
“I collapsed?”
Had Kim Je-eon really not seen the snake? Then where did the dream begin?
With her eyes closed, the snake’s form felt as vividly real as reality itself. But as the fear gradually faded, Hee-seo could judge rationally.
‘My Spirit Sight isn’t open, so even if there really was a spirit like that, I wouldn’t have seen it with my own eyes. All I can see are Living Spirits. But that was…….’
It was an overwhelming presence that couldn’t even be called a Malevolent Spirit. Hee-seo trembled as she recalled the vivid, poisonous energy that had spread so clearly through the air.
‘It wasn’t an ordinary existence. At least, its aura matched that of a Divine Spirit.’
Nothing made sense no matter how she thought about it. The moment her eyes opened, her mind became such a tangle that a headache bloomed. When Hee-seo pressed her temple, Je-seon wordlessly handed her a pill.
“You look like you’re suffering. Why not take some medicine?”
…….
Hee-seo eyed the painkiller suspiciously for a moment, then swallowed it with water. She was too exhausted to keep suspecting the face that looked exactly like Kim Jong-hyup.
After taking the medicine, Hee-seo flopped backward onto the bed. Despite the chaos in her mind, the mattress still cradled her softly.
“I never thought Je-eon would get married.”
“Neither did I.”
“What do you mean by that?”
That wasn’t something to say to someone who was exhausted. Hee-seo buried her face in the pillow and let out a long sigh. So Je-seon really did lack tact, exactly as he’d said about not going out much.
“I mean I never thought Kim Je-eon……and I would actually get married.”
Kim Jong-hyup’s closest confidants knew Hee-seo’s true identity. She hadn’t asked Seo Hyun-a, but that woman clearly had some sense that Hee-seo was a fake bride. But Choi Jin-uk was different.
‘Did Kim Jong-hyup only tell people he trusts about me?’
Yet no matter how much she thought about it, he didn’t seem like the type to trust people easily. As Hee-seo fell silent, lost in thought about Kim Jong-hyup, Je-seon pressed her.
“Don’t you like Je-eon?”
“What?”
Hee-seo couldn’t hide her shock at the sudden question. Don’t you like him—wasn’t that the obvious answer?
Unlike Seo Hyun-a and the others, Kim Je-seon spoke as though he knew absolutely nothing about her. It was an oddly naive-sounding question.
Hee-seo paused to choose her words carefully. She didn’t know how honest she should be with someone she’d only just met.
“……Not all marriages begin with love. Regardless, I married Kim Je-eon to save him.”
“Save Je-eon?”
“Yeah, well. Maybe ‘help’ is a better way to put it? I suppose it’s more like supporting him.”
If he didn’t know about Kim Je-eon’s Possession, there was no need to tell him. The same went for her own identity.
Hee-seo imagined herself beating Kim Je-eon under the guise of being a supportive wife, then shook her head. She deliberately opened her mouth wide and yawned.
“Haaa-aaah……. I’m so tired.”
It was her way of saying he should leave. Unfortunately, Kim Je-seon was truly, excessively, extraordinarily lacking in social awareness. Even as Hee-seo blinked repeatedly and yawned in succession, he simply stared at her blankly.
‘That bastard, is that just some kind of act?’
Even if someone hadn’t done much socializing, could they really lack tact to this degree? Hee-seo glared at him with narrowed eyes. At that, Kim Je-seon began tidying up the room around them.
‘Fine. Get out. Once you leave, I’ve got a lot to do.’
First, she needed to check on the salt hidden beneath Kim Je-eon’s bedsheet and the Purified Water placed under the wardrobe. While they didn’t have the direct effect of Pa-yeong-bu or Gol-swae-bo powder, they were still capable of suppressing a spirit’s aura and revealing traces of its presence.
And after that…….
‘And after that……. There’s so much I need to do…….’
But whether from deliberate yawning or genuine exhaustion, sleepiness washed over her. Her eyelids had grown so heavy she couldn’t possibly hold them open.
Je-seon, still tidying the space, caught sight of her drowsy state and settled onto the sofa where he had a clear view of the bed. Even in her stupor, it was infuriating.
‘What the hell is that guy……’
She whispered the thought softly before the weight of sleep pulled her under. Soon, only the soft sound of Hee-seo’s breathing filled the bedroom.

***

After that day, Kim Je-seon didn’t appear again.
It hadn’t been a particularly pleasant first meeting. Perhaps because of that, her encounter with Je-seon faded from Hee-seo’s mind like a hazy dream, quickly forgotten. To begin with, she wasn’t even sure whether it had been real or a dream.
With mountains of preparations waiting for her ahead of the wedding, there was no time to dwell on that encounter.
When Hee-seo half-jokingly asked what kind of preparation was needed for a honeymoon, Manager Jo, who’d woken her early that morning, had worn a grim expression. And Hee-seo found herself dragged around by a Manager Jo who looked as fearsome as a goblin.
She thought even the wedding preparations had been easier than this…….
Hee-seo had surrendered her hair, hands, and feet entirely to other people, existing in a half-daze. It was rather like becoming an actress on the eve of an awards ceremony.
It was already past five in the afternoon, yet all she’d eaten so far was some strange green juice and two eggs. At this point, her stomach was practically touching her spine.
“Manager, when exactly will this be finished?”
With the sheet mask plastered thickly across her face, even pronunciation was difficult. Yet somehow Manager Jo managed to understand her words.
“The aesthetics treatment should be done soon. After that, we’ll stop by the boutique and you’ll just need to select your clothes, then today’s schedule will be finished. Just bear with it a little longer.”
“Bou…… what?”
“The executive director specifically instructed us to ensure you have everything you need for your trip preparations. Considering the local weather in Dubai, we’ve already arranged ahead for you to be able to select appropriate clothing.”
Why does the local weather matter? If it’s hot, just go without clothes, right? One t-shirt should do it. These rich bastards, their money’s rotting away!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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