The Snake, the Flower, and the Tiger - Chapter 58

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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 58

Hee-seo kept muttering while pressing down on her shoulder, which continued to dampen with blood.
“So please, don’t ever lay hands on me like this again. The slap at the hospital before—I took that to show respect to an elder. Don’t push me into attacking an old man. I’m really asking you this one thing.”
No matter how desperately Hee-seo wanted to avoid a fight, the world refused to cooperate. Each time it happened, she chose to stand and fight rather than flee. It made no difference who her opponent was.
Yet sadly, her plea did not reach Kim Jong-hyup’s ears.
“I was wrong in my thinking. You were never someone I could reason with from the start. When my grandson came back to this Estate with me, I should have thrown you out first.”
Just then, a figure stepped into the Corridor where the secretary had rushed off. Despite his casual attire, his solid frame, stern gaze, and flattened ears betrayed his profession.
Hee-seo pressed her forehead and exhaled a long breath.
“So this is how you’re throwing me out? You’re truly heartless, Grandfather. Don’t you have any other granddaughter-in-law besides me?”
“Enough! Get that out of my house at once!”
Kim Jong-hyup stomped his foot and barked the command. The large man immediately rushed at Hee-seo.
Hee-seo, already braced for impact, pulled a book from the Bookshelf behind her and hurled it at him. But the man ignored the cascade of books and snatched her by the waist instead. Before she could react, he lifted her high and hurled her toward the ground.
If her head struck the floor from this height, she’d lose consciousness for certain. In that vertiginous moment, Hee-seo quickly wrapped both legs around the man’s neck.
Though choking, the man showed no surprise and drove a powerful blow into her ribs.
“Ugh!”
Even though she’d braced for the punch, the impact sent electric pain through her entire body. But she couldn’t afford to hesitate. Still hanging from his neck, Hee-seo lowered her stance and bit his ear hard.
Biting and gnawing required no formal training—it was a simple, reliable Self-Defense Technique. The searing pain of tearing flesh made the man scream in agony and fling her away, throwing her against a table.
Crash, bang, crackle!
Unable to withstand the impact, the Bookshelf shuddered and sent a torrent of books cascading down on both of them. Heavy volumes struck her body relentlessly. Hee-seo curled into a ball and cradled her head for protection.
But the man seized the moment and pulled the Bookshelf toward himself instead. He meant to topple it directly onto her crouched form.
Screech. With a grinding sound, the massive Bookshelf tilted toward her in slow motion.
‘Too late……!’
Even as she hurled herself sideways, Hee-seo knew instinctively she couldn’t fully dodge the collapsing shelf. At the very least her ankles would be pinned—and if she was unlucky, her back.
Bracing for the impact, she gritted her teeth and rolled. As the Bookshelf tilted, what books remained in their slots tumbled down first with a series of thuds. The rapid succession of impacts left her no room to cry out.
Just as she was imagining being crushed beneath the full weight of the Bookshelf—
“Argh!”
It was the bodyguard, not Hee-seo, who screamed.
She opened her tightly squeezed eyes and looked around. The man who had just pulled the Bookshelf and retreated was now trapped beneath it, thrashing about. Hee-seo stared at the scene in bewilderment.
How had he ended up pinned under the very shelf he’d toppled? His frantic struggling looked exactly like a turtle flipped on its shell, legs kicking helplessly.
As she lay sprawled there in shock, someone extended a hand to her.
“Hee-seo, get up. Are you hurt?”
That familiar voice. Now Hee-seo understood why the man was trapped beneath the Bookshelf. Kim Je-eon must have appeared and kicked him under it. Without thinking, her face brightened with relief.
That’s right—he was here.
She’d been so caught up in worrying about Hae-jeong that she hadn’t thought to bring Je-eon along. If only she’d pinched him and dragged him with her from the start, she’d have had such reliable backup.
“Yeah. I’m hurt bad—really bad. Look, there’s blood.”
Hee-seo quickly grabbed Je-eon’s wrist and pulled herself up. Then she exposed her shoulder, which had stopped bleeding, and did something she rarely did—she let out a small whimper.
But the sight of Je-eon’s blood pressure rising, she decided to worry about him later. Right now, finding Hae-jeong had to come first.
‘Since he won’t openly treat his grandson like he’s possessed in front of people, he won’t stop us from checking the Annex Building.’
So consumed with this calculation, she didn’t notice Je-eon’s expression darkening.
Je-eon stared coldly at Hee-seo’s blood-stained clothes and his own swollen, reddened knuckles from the books.
“What is this commotion in the middle of the night! Presumptuous, foolish wretches!”
When even his trusted bodyguard was defeated by Je-eon, Kim Jong-hyup finally exploded in rage. The old man’s usual pretense of gentleness vanished, replaced by a flushed face wielding his Walking Stick like a madman.
Yet the only person who flinched at his outburst was the secretary hovering near the Corridor.
“Come with me to the Annex Building. We need to find Hae-jeong.”
“How dare you rummage through my house like this! Get out at once!”
“If you hate me rummaging through it so much, what about your grandson? Doesn’t he get a free pass?”
The moment Kim Jong-hyup finished speaking, Hee-seo stepped past him and fired back, pulling Je-eon forward.
Kim Jong-hyup’s reaction was exactly as she’d anticipated. Though he knew his grandson was possessed, he would never publicly do anything that might tarnish his grandson’s reputation.
While Kim Jong-hyup hesitated, Hee-seo urgently pulled Je-eon’s wrist. She had to find Hae-jeong before Somyeong Seonnyeo realized the commotion and hid herself away.
“She’s not here. She’s probably in the Annex Building with her mother. We need to check Hae-jeong’s condition…….”
“Hee-seo.”
But Je-eon stood rooted to the spot, not moving an inch. Even as Hee-seo pulled harder, he remained motionless, his eyes fixed quietly on her instead.
He who would sway at the gentlest breath of wind now refused to respond to her call. Hee-seo blinked her wide eyes and stared at him intently.
“……What’s wrong with you?”
Could it be……? Hee-seo scrutinized his expression with sudden unease.
Not the man she needed, but someone else—had they taken control of Je-eon’s body instead? Like before?
Yet Kim Je-eon gently wrapped his hand around hers, cradling it as though it might shatter at the slightest pressure—a tenderness that hadn’t wavered—and Hee-seo felt her guard dissolve almost at once.
But if that were true, then why? Why wouldn’t he help her?
“Hee-seo, listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
Kim Je-eon lowered his head until their foreheads nearly touched, his voice dropping to a whisper meant only for her ears. His words came so softly she had to strain to hear them.
The whisper was brief. But what he meant to convey reached her clearly enough. The moment he finished speaking, Hee-seo felt her face harden like stone.
It was foolish—to lose control of her expression like this, with Kim Jong-hyup watching. It served neither herself nor him well.
Yet her voice came out cold and measured as she repeated his words back to him, a low echo of disbelief. She simply couldn’t accept what she’d just heard.
“……What are you saying right now? Are you joking with me?”
No. You wouldn’t say something like that. You wouldn’t, would you? Something’s wrong. It has to be.
Hee-seo wanted to deny his words.
You can’t be like this. You can’t do this to me.
But Kim Je-eon’s voice remained steady. His gaze held hers, unwavering and direct.
“No. I mean every word. Don’t take it as a joke.”
Behind Kim Je-eon, she felt Kim Jong-hyup watching them carefully. Yet Hee-seo remained frozen in incomprehension, paralyzed by what she couldn’t understand.
Kim Je-eon gripped both her arms, then—slowly, gradually—released them. As his fingers loosened their hold, her arms dropped away.
Hee-seo blinked her wide eyes, staring at his hands.
Had he ever let go first before?
Her mind, rigid as stone, reached back through memory. But no matter how hard she searched, this was the first time he had released her hand of his own accord.
Hee-seo’s unfocused gaze fixed on her own shoulder, bleeding.

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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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