Flowers Are Bait Novel - Chapter 13

Look at this.

So Yiyeon immediately began to cautiously observe him with wary eyes. His rapidly beating heart seemed audible even from here. He subtly raised one eyebrow.

Was ‘Kwon Chaewoo’ truly kind and gentle?

“Yiyeon, have you been well?”

“…Ah.”

“My body feels stiff. How long have I slept?”

At his gentle voice, So Yiyeon slowly lowered her shoulders, as if finally relieved.

“Yesterday was the seventh day.”

As he turned his stiff neck, his bones cracked, one by one.

“Now I understand clearly.”

“What do you mean?”

“That you hold my morning in your hands, Yiyeon.”

He knew nothing of professional opinions or examinations. He simply came to realize it naturally, like the rising and setting of the sun, by sleeping together.

That her presence filled the void in his mind, leaving no gaps.

Ridiculously, without this log-like woman, he had become a cripple who couldn’t even get up.

“So, what should I do? I want to entrust my nights to you completely too.”

So Yiyeon’s eyelashes trembled, her face rigid. She desperately tried to hide her desire to escape immediately.

She awkwardly lifted only the corners of her lips, unaware of what she had revealed. The sight was a spectacle.

Perhaps So Yiyeon had indeed been constantly looking for an opportunity to escape. Like her door, which never opened no matter how much he knocked.

Of course, he couldn’t be certain. That was something he would gradually find out. Nevertheless, he didn’t want to simply let the frightened So Yiyeon go.

Who in their right mind would let go of their only memory?

So Yiyeon was the smallest unit, and everything he possessed in this world. And so, Kwon Chaewoo intended to be a thoroughly ‘kind and gentle’ husband.

If she said so, if she wanted such a thing.

He was ready to humble himself and cater to his one and only wife’s every whim. Until she lowered her guard and confessed everything.

Between So Yiyeon running away from him—

And Kwon Chaewoo made her stay put.

No one knew who would be more skilled at it.

“Yiyeon, move your room starting today.”

Her finely detailed, innocent features were captivating, and her efforts to avoid his gaze were amusing.

Kwon Chaewoo hid his dark intentions and meekly bowed his head. Then, her wet sleeve caught his eye.

Ah, no wonder his eyes had been stinging.

A small warmth seeped into his empty chest. The man covered his face with one hand, barely concealing the corners of his lips.

“Mr. Kwon Chaewoo, isn’t it better to rest today?”

Yiyeon scanned Kwon Chaewoo from head to toe, dressed in neat slacks and a round-neck cotton T-shirt. She didn’t like how he looked so much like a university student in plain clothes.

“Are you worried I’ll make a mistake?”

“It’s not that…”

Yiyeon tucked in her pouting lips.

‘That’s what identity laundering is!’

His messy hair, uncut for two years, was neatly styled, falling smoothly to his forehead. Because of this, his features stood out even more.

Under ordinary light, the man who gazed at Yiyeon with loyalty was completely different from the murderer Yiyeon remembered.

Suddenly, the glistening raincoat over his beige clothes came to mind and then vanished. The stark contrast made Yiyeon feel uneasy deep down.

“I can really go alone, you know.”

Yiyeon pulled down her straw hat as if to hide her face.

All of this was because of Chooja. Originally, she shouldn’t have had any clothes to wear outside besides a patient gown. But Chooja not only bought new clothes but also personally cut Kwon Chaewoo’s hair, completely transforming him.

Yiyeon, who had thought about secretly hiding his shoes, soon scoffed at herself. She felt like a woodcutter anxiously guarding a fairy’s feathered robe.

It might be cruel, but Yiyeon had no intention of letting Kwon Chaewoo out. She didn’t want her lie to spread beyond this house.

The timid liar’s courage was limited to just one person, and merely deceiving Kwon Chaewoo was already shortening her lifespan.

She had simply hoped he would quietly focus on rehabilitation, but his recovery, which was too outstanding, was the problem.

What excuse could she possibly make to get rid of him?

“Director, are you really going to go like that?”

At that moment, Chooja pointed out Yiyeon’s attire with a look of disbelief. White sneakers covered in dirt, a wide-legged gray suit, and even a straw hat she used for work.

“Doesn’t our Fir Tree Hospital have any pride?”

“It’s right here.”

Yiyeon proudly displayed a file containing her career history and treatment logs. Even if it was a hospital where flies buzzed, not a single tree she had ever been in charge of had died. That was Yiyeon’s pride and self-esteem.

“Because you’re like this, you absolutely must take that one with you.”

Chooja gestured to the man standing behind her and spoke in a ventriloquist’s voice.

“From now on, think of him as our hospital’s signboard. If you take someone like him around, won’t the ladies think, ‘Ah, if I entrust our tree to Fir Tree Hospital, it will bloom with flowers I want to pick just like that!’?”

“Th-that’s sexual harassment!”

Yiyeon’s eyebrows fluttered like butterflies caught in a strong wind. Her face reddened for no reason, and she began to brush off her clothes aimlessly.

Today was the bidding presentation for <Beautiful Hwaido>, a project jointly promoted by Hwayang City, the Korea Forest Service, and the Urban Park Business Office. She didn’t know for sure, but it was expected to be a gathering of all tree hospital officials in the region.

“Mr. Kwon Chaewoo.”

Yiyeon put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. She kept looking at the floor, as if unable to speak, but after a moment, she met his gaze.

“Outside… it’s dangerous.”

Chooja had a look that said, ‘What nonsense is she talking about?’ and Kwon Chaewoo seemed to be focusing on her voice.

“Especially for you, Mr. Kwon Chaewoo, it might be even more so.”

“Why?”

Because if the external stimuli are too strong, he might regain his memories.

But Yiyeon hesitated, unable to say the words. Kwon Chaewoo, who had been quietly waiting, clearly seeing her thinking, suddenly put his hands behind his back and asked bluntly.

“Yiyeon, are you hiding something from me?”

“No!”

The answer came suspiciously fast. A strange expression flashed across Kwon Chaewoo’s face. Yiyeon instinctively realized that she had to immediately mend this small crack.

“You’re handsome!”

She couldn’t tell if it was quick wit or terrible improvisation.

“If you go there, it’s all old men, you know. You, Mr. Kwon Chaewoo, who is still young and kind, will never know how terrifying men’s jealousy can be.”

Yes, this much is enough!

Yiyeon wiped away sweat inwardly, like someone who had completed a great task.

“Am I pretty enough that you want to hide me?”

“…Huh?”

Kwon Chaewoo touched his ear with a strange expression, as if smiling and frowning at the same time. His reddened skin looked painful from how hard he had pulled his earlobe and folded his ear.

“Do I really look like that in your eyes, Yiyeon?”

“Uh…”

Flustered, she dragged out her words and rolled her eyes. After agonizing, Yiyeon finally decided to convey her intentions with ambiguous words.

“…Well. I just want Mr. Kwon Chaewoo to stay at home.”

And that was quite close to her true feelings.

“Because you want to see me all by yourself?”

“Uh…”

The more she cleverly avoided answering, the more she felt like she was sinking deeper into the mud. Yiyeon looked at Chooja as if asking for help, but she was standing far away, chuckling silently.

There was nothing she could do now. Yiyeon decided to somehow convince him, appease him, and coax him to stay out of the house as much as possible.

“W-we’re newlyweds, aren’t we? Considering that it paused briefly due to the accident, we’re still newlyweds. So, naturally… I want to keep good things to myself…”

Kwon Chaewoo seemed to pull up the corners of his lips in satisfaction, and then—

“Then you can’t go out either, Yiyeon.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t want to be separated from you even for a moment.”

“…”

“I’ll be quiet, so just carry me around like a potted plant.”

At his blatant gaze, Yiyeon flinched. Unlike his gentle tone, his gaze was somehow persistent and direct.

If she refused, his true intention, to seize the doorknob and be isolated together so that no one could leave, was clearly revealed.

Then, just one more time. It was disgusting, but she would push it one step further. Yiyeon tried to set the mood again so as not to be pushed back here.

“…Are you really okay? You’re still a patient. I know your recovery is extraordinary, Mr. Kwon Chaewoo. But honestly, I’m reluctant to take someone with no memory to a complicated place.”

Her soft cheeks, which seemed like they would crush if squeezed, adorably trembled with every word she spoke. Unaware that the man’s gaze had deepened by an inch, she continued speaking.