The Snake, the Flower, and the Tiger - Chapter 22

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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 22

“To their eyes, we’re nothing but a happy newlywed couple. The only people who know we harbor different intentions toward each other are…….”
He lifted his champagne flute and clinked it gently against hers. The crystal chimed—clear and bright—but Hee-seo’s mood refused to improve with it.
“It’s just us two.”
We share a secret, don’t we? Je-eon murmured those final words almost to himself.
Hee-seo had been about to counter him when the suite attendant appeared and began serving their meal.
She chewed her food like stone, seized by a strange sense of defeat at Je-eon’s hands.
The way he pronounced “us”—that particular word—grated on her ears.

The moment they disembarked from the ten-hour flight and transferred from the Airport to the Hotel, the feeling persisted. Outside, the heat approached forty degrees—a suffocating furnace. Je-eon responded by treating Hee-seo like ice cream on the verge of melting.
She never even set foot outside the Airport; instead, she found herself ushered directly into the limousine and whisked away.
In the dazzling opulence of the Hotel lobby, Je-eon remained too busy escorting her to notice anything else.
“I’ll admit it. You’re no ordinary person.”
Inside the Elevator climbing toward the Suite Room, Hee-seo could no longer contain her amazement. Though her voice carried the chill of anything but a newlywed couple’s warmth, she suspected the bellhop wouldn’t understand Korean anyway.
“Is that a compliment?”
“It is. I’ve never heard ears quite as talented at imitating humanity as yours. Not a single flaw.”
The polished Elevator walls gleamed like mirrors, reflecting their faces clearly. Yet Je-eon deliberately turned his head to face her. In his gaze, something tender seemed to bloom.
Where does that acting ability come from? Does the afterlife have some school for mimicking humans? Hee-seo clicked her tongue without meaning to.
“You make it sound like I’m human. Thank you for the compliment. It’s nice to hear.”
“That body didn’t hold you for a whole year without reason, did it?”
“Does it look that way?”
“It does. Now I understand why no one around him noticed anything unusual.”
Before the honeymoon trip, Hee-seo had been terribly busy—with good reason.
Under the guise of honeymoon preparations, she’d met with everyone in Je-eon’s circle and questioned them thoroughly. Not a single person had detected his transformation.
Some who knew about her fake marriage even inadvertently suggested that Kim Jong-hyup’s mental state was in question. Hee-seo recalled their slip-ups now.
Then Je-eon leaned close and whispered tenderly near her ear.
“Your situation has become rather difficult, hasn’t it? You’re supposed to discover my identity, after all. We’re nearly a month in, and there’s been no progress whatsoever.”
If not for Je-eon’s behavior, she would have suspected Kim Jong-hyup’s sanity herself.
While Hee-seo glared at Je-eon, the Elevator came to a stop. The doors slid open, and two uniformed staff members greeted them with a bow, introducing themselves as butlers exclusively assigned to the Suite Room.
Before they could finish their introduction, Je-eon made a polished request in fluent English for them to leave.
“I want to be alone with you.”
Once the briefly flustered staff members disappeared into the Elevator, Je-eon winked. But standing amid such luxurious surroundings, his charm was utterly lost on Hee-seo.
She walked past him and entered the Suite Room, surveying its interior. The space was so vast that calling it merely a “room” seemed inadequate.
There was even a spiral staircase at the entrance, revealing an entire upper floor. The surreal setting, more befitting a palace than a Hotel, had the curious effect of calming her rather than dazzling her.
“You’re right. Your point stands.”
She couldn’t deny it. Her plan to finish the job as quickly as possible had failed on the very first night. Je-eon’s ears—which could discern Hee-seo’s existence even before the wedding—had rendered all her carefully laid preparations useless. Now, two weeks had slipped away with nothing to show for it.
“My situation has become difficult. Truthfully, I never intended to spend this much time with you.”
“Isn’t it rather cold to say such things, even on a honeymoon trip? It hurts. You’re so heartless, Hee-seo.”
Je-eon peeled off the thin Linen Jacket draped over his shoulders and tossed it onto the sofa, feigning a wounded heart with theatrical flourish. His insufferable performance left Hee-seo momentarily at a loss for words.
The thought crossed her mind: with acting like that and a face to match, he’d be better off becoming an actor.
“……Why are you in that body?”
But Hee-seo quickly collected herself and posed the question to Je-eon. Being alone with him, as he wished, was something she needed as well.
If her methods wouldn’t work, she’d have to resort to conventional ones.
Persuading spirits to abandon a host was typically the work of other shamans. Though it was hardly Hee-seo’s usual practice.
“Would you like something to drink?”
…….
Rather than answer her question, Je-eon retrieved a clean glass from the minibar, poured a small bottle of Whiskey into it, then added Fruit Juice and mixed the drink before offering it to her.
At the suspicion in her eyes, Je-eon narrowed his eyes and smiled. There was no denying that his smile was fresher than the Fruit Juice itself.
“No sedative this time, I promise. You don’t trust me? Once you drink this, I’ll answer what you asked just now.”
I’d be better off deceived by a goblin. He has a track record, after all. Hee-seo stared warily at the refreshing-looking drink he offered.
“If you don’t want to drink it, I won’t force you.”
“I’ll drink. So answer me.”
But Hee-seo had no real choice. She snatched the glass from his hand and downed the entire contents in one gulp.
What drug could he possibly have slipped into something he’d just mixed before her eyes? As long as there was no sedative, she was confident in her tolerance. The hard liquor, its bite concealed beneath sweetness, slid down her throat and warmed her stomach almost immediately.
“Now answer. Why are you in that body?”
If she couldn’t get answers from Kim Jong-hyup himself, she’d have to extract them from the one inhabiting him. Learn the beginning, and you learn the reason; learn the reason, and you learn the truth.
Je-eon stared at the empty glass Hee-seo had left behind, then took it again. The edge of his fingers brushed against hers as the transparent crystal glasses passed between them, and the contact sent an oddly feverish warmth through her skin. Perhaps it was the heat of the desert.
Je-eon fell silent as if weighing his words, then refilled the glass with Whiskey. Just watching the golden liquid slosh in the glass made Hee-seo feel lightheaded, so she deliberately looked away.
“This was mine from the beginning.”
“…… What? What are you talking about?”
At Je-eon’s quiet murmur, goosebumps crawled up Hee-seo’s arms. An ominous premonition flashed across her mind.
She had definitely heard words like those before—at a shaman’s ritual in the past.
“Hey, you. What did you just say?”
“One drink, one question. And don’t ask the same question twice. What do you say—will you have another?”
Je-eon smiled with his usual expression, but unlike before, something inexplicably cold emanated from him. It was as if a warning alarm was wailing inside her head.
What should she do? Should she keep going like this?
When Hee-seo didn’t answer, Je-eon drank from the glass himself. His sculpted Adam’s apple bobbed as the liquor slid down smoothly.
“Now it’s my turn. You answer, Hee-seo.”
“Wait, I never said I would—”
“Then yes or no. Just answer that. If Lee Hee-seo doesn’t know my true nature, then you can’t drive me out of this body, isn’t that right?”
Her heart hammered against her ribs—all from a single glass of Whiskey. She’d anticipated this moment ever since being left alone with the Possessing Entity in a foreign land, but it had come faster than expected.
While Hee-seo wrestled with her answer, Je-eon broke into a grin.
“Yes. I see. I thought this sort of thing only happened in occult movies, but it’s real.”
“……”
“Why is that? Do you really have to know the true nature, the name, to exorcise a spirit?”
Kim Je-eon knew far more than she’d given him credit for. He’d already guessed at his intentions that first night, and this was no different. Je-eon knew how to read people, how to see through her.
There were charlatans who sometimes deceived shamans by posing as deities, and Je-eon reminded her unsettlingly of one. Hee-seo swallowed her shock and answered carefully. There was no need for her to be honest with a spirit who lied as easily as breathing.
“…… A name holds power over the soul. The moment something takes a name, the soul becomes bound to it. When driving out something evil, discovering that name is the highest priority.”

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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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