Flowers Are Bait Novel - Chapter 149

Drrrk, drrrk. The wheels of the suitcase rolled.

On the first day he arrived at the Kwon family home, the suitcase Kwon Chaewoo had carelessly thrown was now obediently being pulled by his hand, while his other hand was intertwined with Yiyeon’s.

Yiyeon noticed that he was deliberately dragging his feet and slowing down, but she pretended not to.

However, every time she glanced at his seemingly calm face, Yiyeon couldn’t hide her sullen feelings.

And for good reason—

“I’m really uneasy about leaving you behind.”

“Even though I look like this, I’m the young master of this house, so you should worry about the person who needs worrying.”

“That… hah…!”

Yiyeon tried hard to suppress her voice from rising again.

Last night, Yiyeon had tried to convince Kwon Chaewoo to go to Hwaido with her, desperate to separate him from Kwon Giseok, but only a faint smile was returned.

Despite that, he didn’t want to be separated from her for a moment, and if even a small gap appeared, Kwon Chaewoo would wince and fuss. Because of that, his thick trouser leg kept pressing against her.

“Haa…”

After a long argument, the two came to a conclusion, but leaving Kwon Chaewoo here alone made it hard for her to move her feet.

“I’ll follow you soon.”

He sweetly smiled, raising one eyebrow.

“I have no intention whatsoever of making Yiyeon and our baby members of the Kwon family.”

Unlike his gentle voice, their intertwined hands were numb.

“You trust me, right?”

“…Don’t get hurt.”

Yiyeon cupped one of his cheeks. He comfortably closed his eyes and rubbed his skin against her warm palm. It was like an obedient animal, and Yiyeon inwardly flinched, but she knew well enough how fierce he could be.

“See you soon in Hwaido, Yiyeon.”

Kwon Chaewoo concealed his true feelings and curved the corners of his mouth upwards.

In truth, he wanted to follow Yiyeon immediately, but he had unfinished business. If he were to abandon everything and follow her, Yiyeon might end up getting hurt instead.

He had to stand before her again only after he had completely taken control of the Kwon family.

He intended to finish this matter as quickly and decisively as possible. A gentle approach working behind the scenes would make it difficult to shorten the day he could reunite with Yiyeon.

Thus, tonight, the Kwon family would be sealed off, and the successor would change. A chilling, strange light flickered and then subsided in his pupils.

“It won’t take long.”

“Do you know the ship schedule?”

When Yiyeon picked a flaw, Kwon Chaewoo chuckled and pulled her into a deep embrace with one arm.

“Even if the soles of my feet are worn to shreds, I won’t lose you, Yiyeon. I’ll chase after you to death.”

“But not Kwon Chaeso.”

Yiyeon pulled her upper body back from his embrace and poked him with her index finger. Then, a warm aura overflowed in the man’s eyes.

“If you really dislike that, then don’t leave me out.”

Yiyeon tightly sealed her lips, as if avoiding an answer, when Gyubaek suddenly came running from afar.

“…Oh, Gyubaek!”

Gyubaek, who had taken a luxurious bath in the bathtub even on the last day of their departure, had gained an incredible amount of weight in a month. Despite all the incidents and accidents, thanks to safely playing the young master from a distance, the child exuded an undeniable air of nobility.

Aside from reading encyclopedias to Yiyeon every night, Gyubaek’s schedule was quite packed.

For some reason, Gyubaek had developed such a bad relationship with Jang Beomhee that he relentlessly chased and bothered him, causing the man to surrender and assign all sorts of tutors.

Thus, Gyubaek unexpectedly received a high-level education, with meticulous care and good food as a bonus. As proof, his face, which had never been free of dry patches despite all the moisturizer, was now as smooth as a peeled egg.

“Gyubaek, what is all this? Is this your luggage?”

Yiyeon pointed to the string of suitcases following him.

“Designer clothes.”

“…Huh?”

“A hundred-volume science encyclopedia set, a fountain pen set, an observation tool set, a pair of golden toads, shoes, and a laptop are also included.”

While Yiyeon paused, speechless, Gyubaek let out an uncharacteristic sigh.

“It’s a shame. This place is better than living with Uncle and Grandpa.”

“Ah…”

As Yiyeon’s eyes drooped in embarrassment, Kwon Chaewoo, who was beside her, ruffled the child’s hair.

“It’s not that this place is good, it’s that you’ve finally tasted money.”

“…That, it’s delicious.”

“You’ve grown up.”

“The taste of money was the best. Insects should also live in a place like this.”

Yiyeon read the ambition beginning to well up in the child’s eyes and urgently poked Kwon Chaewoo’s side. However, due to his solid muscles, only her fingers bent and hurt.

“When we go back to Hwaido, I’ll let you live like this.”

“Nonsense. A male without a job is impossible.”

Kwon Chaewoo raised an eyebrow at Gyubaek’s immediate retort, but it was only for a moment.

“Kid, who has lived in this house longer than you? You need to calculate well. You’re smart, aren’t you?”

Gyubaek’s clear eyes rolled.

“But there’s a condition.”

“…”

However, as Gyubaek just fiddled with his golden cufflink buttons and didn’t budge, he casually threw it out.

“Half of Hwaido is my land.”

“I can do it.”

The child, who had experienced the pinnacle of capitalism, nodded without even hearing the condition. A meaningful smile flickered across Kwon Chaewoo’s lips.

He knelt down and whispered something into the child’s ear. His fiercely upturned eyes, for once, were half-closed, and Gyubaek grimly pursed his lips.

“Hey, Mr. Kwon Chaewoo, please don’t teach the child strange things…!”

Kwon Chaewoo shrugged his shoulders, opened the sedan’s trunk, and began loading their luggage.

“Don’t worry about the journey. The car’s interior has been thoroughly inspected, and even the engine and heater have been completely disassembled.”

“That much?”

Kwon Chaewoo forcefully closed the trunk and kissed Yiyeon’s wide eyes.

“A car can also be a weapon, you know.”

He naturally opened the back door and said,

“And yesterday, I was so flustered I couldn’t say it—”

Kwon Chaewoo, as if dazzled by the pouring autumn sunlight, sweetly curved his eyes and said,

“Congratulations on your pregnancy.”

Yiyeon was momentarily enveloped in a dazed feeling. She touched her neck shyly and turned her gaze away, only for his direct gaze to return to her.

Kwon Chaewoo was smiling brightly in the sunlight. His smile was so fresh and clear that she felt she would never forget this moment.

“I was so sick of family and bloodlines.”

At his words, Yiyeon let out a wry chuckle and nodded. That feeling of disgust was something Yiyeon could deeply empathize with.

Yiyeon had been unusually ostracized, and Kwon Chaewoo had been treated specially. Though opposite, the two, somehow similar, didn’t even properly know how to attach their hearts to someone.

“Thank you. For teaching me this kind of waiting.”

“…”

“Everything you gave me made me happy, let alone giving birth yourself…”

He sighed, running a hand over his face as if he couldn’t bear it.

“From now on, only the melting of my heart remains.”

Kwon Chaewoo hoped that the evil deeds and karma of the Kwon family would not taint the child to be born.

Even if it was the most destructive method, he had to break the cycle of evil in this generation.

Not passing on the Kwon name to a pure new life was the cleanest affection he, who had already stained his hands with so much blood, could show.

“…I hope it’s a daughter who resembles Yiyeon.”

“But they say the first daughter is highly likely to resemble her father.”

Just then, Gyubaek slipped into the open door and quickly muttered. “He’s a brave boy. He’s a tiger cub. He’s a brave boy.”

A moment of silence flowed between the two. Kwon Chaewoo glared at Gyubaek with a look that said his labor pains were all for naught, and Yiyeon burst out laughing. She patted Kwon Chaewoo’s hand and got into the car.

“You really have to come back quickly.”

“Yes.”

However, Kwon Chaewoo couldn’t even close the car door, clinging tightly to the edge, and then suddenly bent down and passionately stole a kiss from her lips.

In a brief moment, their lips met and were sucked in several times. The moment she exhaled a wet breath, the car door closed with a grinding sound.

Immediately, the car smoothly left the mansion.

“Haa…”

Yiyeon bit her burning lips and looked at the rear window. Kwon Chaewoo stood motionless in that spot, endlessly watching the car recede.

‘I’ll wait.’

Yiyeon fell into a strange sentimentality as she looked at the roadside trees she had touched.

After driving for two hours, they arrived at the harbor.

Yiyeon answered occasional calls from Chooja and Kwon Chaewoo as she went up to the deck.

She lost track of time admiring the salty sea breeze she hadn’t felt in a long time and the seagulls crying ki-roo-rook, ki-roo-rook as they followed.

The island she longed for was appearing beyond the horizon. Yiyeon smiled brightly, listening to Gyubaek’s chirping voice.

Looking back, it had been a long journey.

“We’ve arrived home, Gyubaek.”

That was Yiyeon’s last memory.

When she opened her eyes, she was in a dark, isolated cell, blocked on all sides.

She pressed her throbbing forehead and sat up. A chill from the cold floor clung to her back, making her whole body tremble.

What, how, how did this… happen?

Hwaido was clearly right in front of them.

Yiyeon, slowly regaining her senses, groped the floor and walls and got up.

Gray cement walls, a dusty cold floor, a thick iron door. It was a suffocating space that could barely accommodate three people at most.

Yiyeon felt as if her throat was being choked by a sense of bewilderment.

Where in the world… is this?

She reflexively checked her trouser pockets and outer clothes, but her phone was nowhere to be found.

But what was even more dumbfounding was—

“—Yiyeon! Yiyeon, can you hear me? Why are you here!”

A booming voice came from somewhere. Bang, bang, bang—! The iron door was noisily pounded. Yiyeon grimaced, suppressing her nauseous stomach.

It was definitely a familiar voice…

“Ugh…”

Her head hurt as if it would split, memories almost surfacing.

“Yiyeon, can you hear me? Can you hear me? If you can, answer me!”

At that moment, a person’s face lit up like a light bulb in her hazy mind.

“…Senior? Is that Hwang Joyoon Senior?”

This voice was Hwang Joyoon’s, who had suddenly disappeared from Hwaido one day.

He seemed to be in the next room, as his screaming voice sounded quite close. She had no memory of how many days had passed or what had happened.

Yiyeon closed her eyes tightly, enduring the rising dizziness, and asked,

“Where, where in the world is this…!”

“…You don’t know?”

Hwang Joyoon paused for a moment, then responded, not hiding his agitated breathing in the slightest.

“Damn it, this is Hwaidom…!”