Precautions of a Snakepit - Chapter 20
“A prince in a tower?”
Target’s eyebrows slightly rose at Black Cat’s taunt, as if asking why he came up with such a bizarre nickname.
“… What are you, really?”
“I don’t know. Just a mere mercenary who came to rescue a prince trapped in a tower?”
The culprit, that was Won, stood still as Black Cat pointed at her. His mouth moved for a moment, as if coming across a revelation.
“Knight.”
He added, pressing his fingertips to his own chest.
“Joker.”
There was a moment of silence.
Won wasn’t sure if she should be happy about this, having been elevated from a mercenary to a knight in shining armor.
“You mean the maniacal villain from the Batman series?”
“No, not that joker, but the Joker of Poker1 alright guys, im still 100% certain that the best word here is actually “jester” since we’re using medieval monarchy roles but i didn’t write the novel so yes he actually said “joker”. Doesn’t it take minimal contextualization skills to realize that there is a prince and a knight?”
“Yeah, that’s why I thought of Poker, but I don’t know if I would give myself that high of a rating.”
Apparently, Target knows how to wound an opponent without harsh wounds.
“… When the time comes, you’ll admit it.”
Surprisingly, Black Cat didn’t seem angry or annoyed. He didn’t swagger with arrogance or smirk with certainty; he simply stood there like someone stating the obvious. Not getting the reaction he expected, Jin raised an eyebrow.
He then decided to just leave it at that.
“If the two of you are like this, I wonder if we’ll ever be able to play games together.”
“I’m good at cooperating.”
Target quickly replied. Black Cat, who had lost the last round, glared at Target, and then added as if he wouldn’t lose.
“I used to love group work in college, and I was good at it.”
Honestly, Won couldn’t believe it. There is no college student in the world who likes group work. She glanced over at Black Cat to see if Target thought the same thing. Black Cat’s cheeks flushed as he received stares from the two of them.
“It wasn’t my favorite, but I was good.”
Won couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Suddenly, Target grabbed her by the sleeve. When she looked up, Target used his innocent face as a weapon to seduce her with his beauty. She didn’t mind the sudden flaunting of his looks, but she wasn’t sure why he was doing it. As she stared at him, she heard a snort of laughter. It was Black Cat, and for some reason, he chimed in sarcastically.
“You’re pretty deceptive even though you look like you’re not.”
“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about, Gyeom.”
“Oh, you’re going to come out like that?”
“I don’t know what conclusions are in your head, but isn’t it said that people interpret other people’s actions by their own standards?”
Target retorted. It’s quite a skill to spin a story like that, about how a pig’s eye sees only pigs, and a Buddha’s eyes sees only Buddhists. Won didn’t think Black Cat could win against Target with words.
As if that weren’t enough, Black Cat snorted and left the playroom.
‘Not a good match.’
Of course, it’s impossible for all six billion people to get along. Or was it eight billion now?
Anyway, it’s a bit of a headache when they need to be working together. She can only hope that adults who have been in society for a while will be able to separate the good from the bad.
‘I don’t know. Isn’t it the nature of an adult to laugh and collaborate with people you don’t like for a living? Even if you have to go home and call them bastards, asses, bitches, and all sorts of other names?’
“Should we go?”
At Target’s urging, Won also left the playroom. She had a question for him, anyway.
“I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“When we first met, you told me that there were snakes in this ward. If I stayed here, I’d be eaten by them, so I had to quickly escape. What did you mean by that?”
“Ah…”
He blurred his words and avoided her gaze.
“That… I must have been seeing things. I was mentally cornered, and I guess being stuck in a place like this, not knowing when I could get out, or even if I could get out alive, was driving me crazy.”
“Are you okay now?”
“Yeah, because a ray of light has come down.”
Won was at a loss for words. If someone was watching on the CCTV and could hear the monologue, they would probably feel sick to their stomach.
Of course, knowing the context, his words didn’t come as a surprise to Won, but to the uninformed, it would sound like a cheesy pick up line. This is what they were aiming for; communication that the guards couldn’t understand.
Even if they could understand it, the remark couldn’t be fully understood without context. She never thought she would hear the phrase “ray of light” in real life. She thought it only existed in fiction, but she didn’t hate it.
‘He’s so handsome.’
Sadly, it’s inevitable that the same words will be perceived differently depending on the speaker’s appearance. In that sense, Won was being very generous with Target. The same goes for Black Cat. Top Dog was… Well, he was beyond that and Dr. Madison wasn’t even worth mentioning. Appearances are certainly a powerful force in the world, but they aren’t omnipotent.
In any case, the snake that Target mentioned didn’t turn out to be significant. Perhaps the combination of his extremely unstable mental snake, the myths in the ward, and the strange hospital sounds played at night when the CCTVs are off caused him to hallucinate.
Won came to a conclusion for the mystery. She didn’t really believe there was a cannibalistic snake in the ward, but it was a bit of a cop-out.
Anyway, now that she solved the Target-Snake connection, it was time to figure out the Black Cat-Snake connection.
“Oh, and I don’t know why, but the adults call this oppa ‘Snake’ behind his back.”
“I guess it’s a nickname or something. I went to the smoking room and overheard a conversation there and that’s what they called him.”
Won needed to find out how he got that nickname. It wasn’t out of personal curiosity, but to rule out whether or not he is trustworthy.
Won’s priority was her and Target’s safety. There was no reason to take the risk of carrying Black Cat.
‘It’s a shame because of the information Black Cat has…’
She thought it was a good idea to work with him because he is smart.
He single-handedly uncovered the secret of the snake sounds in the hallway, the CCTVs turned off all the time, and the correlation between the high-frequency sounds and the return of the medical staff. He is probably one of the most behaved and intelligent patients in the ward. He also has more information than Won.
Even if Won is a pro, the absolute length of time they have been locked in the ward is different. It would take her a long time to catch up with his information by doing her own research. The benefit of having him as a co-conspirator is being able to skip that tedious process. Furthermore, he said he was the Joker in Poker. In Poker, the Joker is a secret card that can be used as any card.
It’s possible he was just bluffing, but Won felt he had a trick up his sleeve. The self-proclaimed Joker’s demeanor was so confident.
When someone has the intention of deceiving or enticing others, they talk unnecessarily and exaggerate their actions. When they try to convince others to believe them, they shout and act like they are right, and they bring all kinds of evidence and examples to make their case.
Black Cat acted as if it didn’t matter what Won and Target thought. He held a conviction that they would believe him in time.
Even that was probably just bluffing, but…
‘If that’s the case, it’s a different kind of bluff.’
He’s too good to miss. A bad collaborator is better than none, but a good collaborator is better than all.
She wanted to work with Black Cat as much as possible. She has to run by him to make sure everything is okay.
The next day, Won visited the nurses’ station.
“I’d like a cigarette please.”
“Cigarettes… Well, your guardian left them for you. Do you smoke too, Won? I didn’t know.”
The nurse rummaged through the shelf where patients’ cigarettes were stored and found a pack with Won’s name on it.
“Very occasionally. This is the first time I’ve smoked since I’ve been here.”
Won is a non-smoker, but she asked for cigarettes in case she had to go around smokers. There shouldn’t be any place in the asylum that she can’t go to.
“Okay. The nurse is leaving, so please follow them.”
After the nurse finished, another one came out of the room.
“Let’s go. I’ll light you up in the smoking room.”
Lighter in hand, the nurse trudged ahead.
As a rule, lighters are not given to patients. Given the nature of psychiatric facilities, it makes sense. The nurse accompanied her to light the cigarette.
Won looked at the lighter held loosely in the nurse’s hand. It looked like she could snatch it away in three seconds if she wanted to.
‘But the staff watching on the CCTV will come out in full force.’
It’s possible to sneak it without being seen… but when the nurse realizes the lighter is missing, they’ll turn to the CCTV. If they slow down the video, Won’s crime is bound to be discovered.
won is actually such a crazy knowledgable character and i confirmed most things the author has written about in this book and like… they 100% made sure most of what they said is true it’s like your reading a history book in a psychological thriller romance with a sprinkle of smut
please do support my Kofi though 🙂
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