Flowers Are Bait Novel - Chapter 152

She had found a lighter.

She flinched for no reason and turned her head, and her eyes fell upon a fresh landscape painting, as if painted in oil.

Yiyeon clutched the lighter tightly and looked at the trees she had relied on and loved her entire life.

If she went above ground from here, there would be an arboretum full of all sorts of greenery. It would be completely different from this place filled with screams and the stench of blood.

Hwaidom, covering the horror beneath its feet with a lush forest. Yiyeon suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

For the first time, the trees, the forest, felt fake.

“Yiyeon, hurry…!”

Jo Gyeongcheon urged her, but she remained silent.

Perhaps the moment had come when she had to choose people over trees. A strange light flickered in Yiyeon’s eyes.

“If you dilly-dally, you’ll get caught, you rascal! Then even I can’t help you!”

He frantically tore open a plastic-wrapped protective suit for her.

Deep within Hwaidom’s highly classified basement, surveillance cameras were everywhere, monitoring the researchers. Someone might have already noticed a minor anomaly through the CCTV cameras installed throughout the basement.

Whether she knew of his anxious thoughts or not, Yiyeon still didn’t move.

‘The truth of this place must be revealed…!’

She kept fidgeting with the lighter.

If she set fire to the arboretum, and the flames gradually grew to engulf Hwaidom, the researchers and guards stationed there would have no choice but to evacuate. While people were evacuating, Yiyeon wanted to free all those imprisoned underground.

But if she became a tree doctor who set fire to an arboretum—

“Where in the world is your mind wandering…!”

Something she had cherished as a tree doctor would be broken. She hadn’t felt ashamed when she had rushed at the sashimi restaurant owner who killed trees like a demanding customer, because of the sense of responsibility and pride that came from understanding and cherishing trees more than anyone else.

That one sense of mission had kept Yiyeon alive until now. It was time spent dedicating her whole heart to trees and nature to wash away the dirty bloodline of her roots. That was the most powerful reason for Yiyeon’s life.

But the moment she burned the trees, that spirit would be violated. She bit her trembling lips but didn’t let go of the lighter. Her heart was endlessly falling.

Just then, Yiyeon’s gaze, which had been looking at the landscape painting, fixed on a single purple flower.

“…Professor, there’s a stock flower there.”

“What nonsense are you talking about now, out of the blue?!”

“Do you know what its flower language is?”

At that moment, Kwon Chaewoo’s voice seemed to wrap around the flower language and echo in her ears.

“…It’s ‘Please trust me’.”

Yiyeon held her breath and urgently grabbed Jo Gyeongcheon’s arm.

“…I’ll, I’ll just make one phone call.”

“What?”

Her constantly wavering eyes suddenly settled firmly. Yes, Yiyeon knew something hotter and fiercer than fire.

The moment she was certain Kwon Chaewoo was chasing her, her trembling limbs gradually calmed, and the paleness in her complexion began to return. The anxiety that had been as thick as darkness surprisingly disappeared.

Baby, let’s trust Daddy together. No, Mommy will trust Chaewoo.

‘But what if he doesn’t come? He’s the one who abandoned you once. Don’t gamble for nothing.’

At the same time, doubt whispered, but Yiyeon took a deep breath. She couldn’t keep looking at him through the lens of past wounds forever.

Kwon Chaewoo was someone who had pursued her frighteningly, even stopping a moving car. Yiyeon decided to follow only what she had seen and felt herself.

Meanwhile, Jo Gyeongcheon sighed deeply and wearily ran a hand over his face.

“Communication is impossible underground here. The internet and phone lines are all blocked.”

“…What?”

“We’re being monitored.”

Just then, neither of them noticed the red light on the computer’s built-in camera.

“Monitoring is strict in case of whistleblowing or information leaks. So stop thinking nonsense and put this on quickly. If you keep delaying like this, it’s only a matter of time until you’re caught…! You have to get out of here first, whether it’s a call or anything else!”

He abruptly tossed his phone to Yiyeon.

Yiyeon, dressed like a researcher, followed Jo Gyeongcheon out. On one glass wall, ominous black flowers bloomed in abundance, and in the room opposite, desperate screams of people echoed.

“Ugh, ugh, aah! Stop, stop, please, please…!”

Yiyeon furrowed her brow and clenched her fists.

Black flowers do not occur naturally. Therefore, she immediately recognized that these black flowers were the rare plants used as the main raw material for Summer.

Flowers blooming from human blood. It was truly a bizarre and horrifying plant to think about again.

Just then, someone parted the blinds and looked outside. Yiyeon flinched and turned her head away as soon as her eyes met those of a fierce-looking man.

“…!”

But in that brief moment, she witnessed a person tied hand and foot to a high, bed-like chair. Her pulse pounded wildly below her neck at the chilling sight.

As the exit door drew closer, her anxiety reached its peak. Soon, Jo Gyeongcheon beeped his access card and pushed Yiyeon’s back. She obediently took a step forward and whispered to him.

“…Professor, please, I beg you. Just the boy, please don’t let him get hurt. His name is Lee Gyubaek. He’s eight years old, and he’s smart, so he’ll understand if you explain the situation. I’ll come back. I also know someone in Sooguk Pharmaceutical, no, the Kwon family. It won’t end like this.”

“What?”

Jo Gyeongcheon’s mouth was about to open, but she spoke as if she saw through him.

“Kwon Giseok will pay for his sins.”

“You…!”

“I was just at that household this morning.”

“…Yiyeon, what in the world are you saying—”

“Professor, you’ll have to find a different backer than Kwon Giseok now.”

Her tone was seemingly indifferent, but her sharp eyes had a threatening edge.

“If you grant my request, at least nothing bad will happen.”

Jo Gyeongcheon stared at Yiyeon with a worried expression. His gaze even seemed to doubt her sanity at her absurd words.

“I almost became a daughter-in-law of that house, so I know it well.”

Jo Gyeongcheon could only stare blankly as she hurried away.

Yiyeon climbed the emergency stairs, glancing at the CCTV camera in the corner of the ceiling.

Every time she passed a landing, she felt an unnecessary illusion that a black lens was watching her.

A feeling of unease, as if something or someone would ambush her from behind, choked her to the top of her throat. Yiyeon was on the eighth basement floor, which made her unable to stop her legs even more.

“…!”

Just then, she heard a door open and close from below. She stopped and strained her sensitive ears, but frustratingly, the sound of hard footsteps was rapidly following her.

‘…Damn it, not yet!’

Yiyeon immediately went to the first floor above ground and looked around for an entrance, pushing through the artificially created forest path. The joy of finally being above ground was short-lived; her heart pounded as if it would burst, perhaps due to her desperate resolve not to be dragged back down.

Every time she inhaled and exhaled, the refreshing scent of grass filled her nostrils, but it only felt ominous. The forest had never hidden her during moments of danger.

“Hoo, haa…!”

Yiyeon’s lips had already turned pale and dry. She heaved her frail chest and glanced behind her.

Men in black clothes were looking around, chasing her.

“Ugh…!”

But even though she knew she had to escape quickly, she couldn’t move her legs. A sudden, strong abdominal pain stiffened her entire body.

“Haaah…”

Her lower abdomen cramped so much that a groan involuntarily escaped her lips.

“Ugh…”

Nevertheless, she gritted her teeth and took another step, and her face turned deathly pale. She felt something damp seeping into her underwear.

“Oh… no…”

Chaewoo, Kwon Chaewoo, baby, please…! She clutched her stomach, her face ashen. A reddish stain showed through her light-colored pants. Yiyeon was so overwhelmed by tears that she couldn’t think of anything.

With trembling hands, she pulled out the phone Jo Gyeongcheon had given her. As she came above ground, a message appeared indicating that it was a call service area.

Yiyeon immediately dialed the eleven-digit number that came to mind. Ring, ring, she desperately clung to the signal tone that was finally connecting, when the men chasing her overwhelmed and subdued her.

“Ugh…! Let go, let go! I, I can’t, I can’t be like this…!”

Her arms were twisted behind her back, and the phone fell far into the bushes.

“Put something in her mouth.”

At someone’s command, Yiyeon struggled even more.

“Here, not here. Please, to the hospital, please take me to the hospital…!”

But Yiyeon’s pleas reached no one.

“Did you bring the injection?”

“Yes.”

“Give it to her quickly.”

They talked, completely disregarding Yiyeon’s screams.

“You, are you from the Kwon family? Are you the ones who grew up in the doghouse?!”

“…!”

At Yiyeon’s furious outburst, the surroundings suddenly fell silent.

“If anything happens to me, ugh, ugh, I’ll really set this place on fire. I’ll burn everything down…! I really, really won’t let you get away with it! Ugh…!”

The men who had paused shoved a cloth into Yiyeon’s mouth and forcibly rolled up her sleeve. She desperately shook her sweat-soaked face.

Yiyeon opened her eyes wide, trying to protect her mind from falling into despair. It was to remember each of their faces.

“…!”

As she scanned the unfamiliar faces, a tear suddenly fell from her widened eyes.

Jang, Jang, what was his name? He was definitely a man she had seen several times at the Kwon family home.

As Yiyeon stared at him without blinking, the man, noticing her gaze, was about to put his index finger to his lips.

Crash, crash, crash—!

The dome-shaped glass exploded all at once.

“—!”

Even with her ears ringing from the powerful blast, Kwon Chaewoo’s ringtone was clearly heard.