Snakes don't walk into your lives, they slither in it

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JUNG HOSEOK cast one look at Mrs. Kim and felt his breath leave him. The woman he faced, was a woman could hold anyone's attention for as long as she desired. He now understood the rather vulgar way Seungwan had described her mistress.

Kim Joohyun was a sexy piece.

With a confused doe-eyed stare, she placed a delicate hand on her elaborate bun. She stepped closer into the light on the hallway and her defined features stood out more significantly, as if they already didn't. Delicately carved, her flawless face was betrayed by the smallest of wrinkles near her eyes.

Even with minimal makeup, Wheein knew that this was the beauty that every woman desired to own, deep down in their heart of hearts. Joohyun's appeal was not obvious but subtle, the kind that would drive men crazy.

And hell, if she had been a man, Jung Wheein would have courted her without batting an eyelid. She now understood why Namjoon married her, despite the huge age-gap. He wanted to own her beauty, claim it as his own.

"Who are you?" Her voice had the lightest touch of sensuality - it was dominating in a subdued manner.

Kim Joohyun, Wheein summed up, was a woman who liked men, but would have liked their wealth more.

"Mrs. Kim, kindly expect some bad news from us," Hoseok began, giving her the hint that the conversation was not going to have even the faintest mention of anything positive for her.

She paled a little. Despite that, she kept her composure.

"How about we all settle ourselves in the sitting room? There you can hold conversation without seeming too unceremonious," Seungwan put forth.

Getting a nod of approval from Joohyun, she led them into the room that they had just vacated. This time, instead of facing Son Seungwan, the housekeeper of the Kim household, they were seated across Kim Joohyun, the mistress of the household.

Wheein noticed how surreptitiously Seungwan had melted into the background and silently applauded her tact. Observing them with the same expression that she had when she had entered, Joohyun gestured them to start.

Exchanging a glance with his sister, Hoseok took the lead and spoke in soft tones, having been accustomed to greeting family members who were oblivious to the fact that they had just lost a near and dear one.

"Mrs. Kim, this evening Mr. Kim was admitted into the hospital when he was found unconscious by Ms. Son in the library."

"You must brace yourself, ma'am," upon hearing which, Joohyun trembled a little.

"Y-you don't mean-"

"We're very sorry for your loss, ma'am," Wheein said.

"Is h-he g-gone? Is he is a coma, perhaps? Please tell me it's not-" Joohyun broke off, soft sobs leaving her.

"Please tell me he isn't dead."

Staggering a little, Kim Namjoon's wife - now widow - crumpled on the floor as though she was playing a part in a tragic soap-opera. Wheein rushed to her side and Joohyun buried herself in her shoulder. Hoseok, too, rushed over to her side and patted her back and shot his head up to witness an eye-roll from Wheein.

Even a school play wouldn't have cast the weeping woman in front of them.

Disgusted as he was, Hoseok shot a nasty glare at Wheein for judging a mourning widow.

"Should I go fetch some tea?" Hoseok offered, feeling moral right to comfort the woman even though she didn't know that his sister had admonished her (at least that's what Hoseok called it in his head).

"Brandy. I'll be needing brandy, not tea."

Despite receiving another one of Wheein's eye-rolls, Hoseok gave an affirmative and left the sitting room.

Extricating herself from Wheein, Joohyun whipped out a lace-trimmed kerchief from her coat pocket and dabbed her eyes.

She still held onto the kerchief; and it masked her face like a strange upside down veil.

Wheein felt no wetness on her shoulder.

"Oh, it's so ... so awful. Poor Joon, I hope it wasn't too painful. He was such a dear to me and, and now he's gone and I simply don't know what to do and-" Joohyun broke off, her head drooping like a wilted tulip that hid its shameful face in its leaves.

Personally, Wheein found it a bit too melodramatic for her taste, but she wisely kept mum instead of being outspoken as usual.

Hoseok re-entered the room, his hand bearing a regal bottle of brandy that he had procured from Ms. Son, along with a small glass.

Pouring Joohyun a finger of brandy, Hoseok nudged the glass to her and she promptly guzzled it.

Wiping her lips, she bowed her head in apology to her sloppiness and went back to the comfort of her "veil".

"It's just too terrible, honestly. What was it? Something of the heart, perhaps? Poor, darling Namjoon."

"I'm afraid there will be an investigation into the household, madam. The autopsy revealed a case of poisoning so naturally we will need to probe into the matter. I hope you understand."

"A-an investigation? I don't understand-"

"We suspect a case of poisoning," Wheein explained, getting impatient. Maybe it was the whiny, simpering tone of Joohyun or maybe it was just her personality that she found so off-putting.

"So, naturally we will have to take samples of whatever he may have consumed during tea. Our men are doing that, as we speak."

"Oh, I see. You mean food poisoning. It must be the terrible meat we have sometimes for meals. Quite uneatable, if I must say-"

"There wasn't any meat served in tea. Your housekeeper confirmed it," Hoseok interjected.

"Oh," Joohyun deflated.

There was a pause for a while before Joohyun started shaking her head again, quivering like a little lamb.

"I'm so sorry, Inspector. But I cannot take it anymore. I-I am afraid that this is too much for my poor self to take and cannot be of much use to you at the moment. Must I be present? I'm sure Seokjin or Yerim will be all the more willing to help. B-but not me. S-sweet Namjoon, he was so cheerful just a few hours before I left him. And now, now he's gone and I didn't even tell him how much I loved him and-" Joohyun elapsed into a wail and held the kerchief so close to her face that none of her features were visible.

The siblings almost found her convincing in that moment.

"We're extremely sorry for your loss. It's very sudden and you need some time in solitary to accept it. We shall leave you alone for now," Wheein put forth, giving one last pat on the velvety shoulder of Joohyun, who said nothing in reply save for a faltering nod.

The two turned their backs and left the woman alone in solitude. Walking towards the door, Hoseok pulled it and walked ahead while Wheein stayed behind him.

She paused for a moment before exiting the room and turned to see the widow of Kim Namjoon again.

The ends of her kerchief no longer concealing her face completely, Kim Joohyun's face wasn't as hidden as before. And on it were the remnants of a very subdued smile.

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