Flowers Are Bait Novel - Chapter 155

“In the gas explosion accident that occurred at Whydome, the largest botanical garden in Korea, Hwayang City Mayor visited the scene and received a report on the fire situation and countermeasures from the fire chief. Mayor Go expressed relief that there were no casualties and urged vigilance, focusing on the firebreak.”

“Following the explosion, the police launched a forced investigation into Whydome, which shocked the entire nation by revealing an illegal underground laboratory spanning eight floors.”

“Suguk Pharmaceutical, which ranked first in brand reputation among listed pharmaceutical companies, was found to have produced narcotic hallucinogens—”

The whole country was in an uproar.

No matter which channel she turned to, news about Whydome was always there. Search terms like Suguk Pharmaceutical, Summer, Whydome, confinement, torture, etc., had already dominated all major portal sites, and various media outlets continuously reproduced content about the horrific illegal experiments.

“Police investigating suspicions of illegal experiments raided Suguk Pharmaceutical for two and a half hours this morning. It is reported that they secured related materials on the hallucinogen ‘Summer,’ including laboratory CCTV and research records. The targets were Suguk Pharmaceutical’s research ethics team and Professor Jo Gyeongcheon’s laboratory at D University. Reporter Lee Mi-gyeong reports.”

Yiyeon turned off the TV, feeling layers of fatigue just from listening. Suddenly, a moist cherry tomato popped into her mouth as she sighed. A cold finger accidentally brushed her gums.

“…Kwon Chaewoo, isn’t this not the time for this?”

Yiyeon gestured with her chin towards the blacked-out TV with a troubled expression. The world was in an uproar over hallucinogens made from the blood of tortured people, but Kwon Chaewoo remained indifferent, as if watching a fire from across the river.

In fact, ever since Yiyeon decided to be hospitalized for a while for her stability, he had been stuck to her side.

“Indeed, I don’t know why you’re refusing to sign.”

“…”

“I can’t just take this off, can I? Say ‘Ah—’.”

He gently massaged Yiyeon’s thumb and then picked up a Shine Muscat.

“…Is signing important right now?”

Kwon Chaewoo’s main topic was definitely marriage registration.

“The whole place is noisy because your brother went missing…!”

As Yiyeon yelled with a pale face, Kwon Chaewoo tilted his head.

“Are you worried about that right now? Kwon Giseok?”

“No—”

“Are you worried his body will be found? Or that he’s on the run, unable to eat?”

He raised an eyebrow and stared sharply at Yiyeon as if demanding an answer.

“Answer well. Ah—”

He held a cherry tomato and tapped Yiyeon’s lips. She opened her mouth obediently despite glaring, and at that sight, the man’s fierce eyes softened. Yiyeon quickly moved her jaw, swallowed the bursting juice, and then continued speaking.

“What I mean is, I’m worried it’ll harm you, Kwon Chaewoo!”

“That won’t happen.”

Suguk Pharmaceutical would be irreversibly damaged, and the corruption linking the Kwon family and the government was expected to come out under Kwon Giseok’s name.

Kwon Giseok was the one who had to bear all the sins, not the Kwon family. ‘Not yet,’ anyway.

The moment the Kwon family would fall would be when Kwon Chaewoo wanted it, and until then, he intended to exploit them as much as possible. Kwon Chaewoo thoroughly concealed his cruel plans behind a relaxed smile.

“Right now, it’s Yiyeon who’s harming me.”

“Me?”

“You fearlessly accepted a patient in a vegetative state, but you won’t accept the father of your child?”

“Now I’m scared.”

Yiyeon shrugged and opened her mouth as if urging for more fruit. Kwon Chaewoo clicked his tongue disapprovingly, but still carefully chose the plumpest cherry tomato and put it in her mouth.

“Were you perhaps planning to raise the child with someone else?”

“…Cough, cough, cough!”

At her violent coughing fit, Kwon Chaewoo’s eyes narrowed.

“Look at this.”

“Cough, what are you saying…!”

“But why is your neck dyed crimson, and why are you overreacting?”

Kwon Chaewoo slowly traced his finger from her ear to her collarbone, murmuring chillingly.

“Yiyeon, I told you. I can’t be a dog chasing a chicken, only to stare at the roof. I’ve bitten chickens to death and I know how to smash roofs, so why should I just sit here twiddling my thumbs?”

He placed the fruit plate on the side table and moved closer to her.

“I have no intention of being a concubine.”

His nose touched the delicate line of her neck where tiny veins were visible. Yiyeon swallowed dryly, her fine hairs standing on end. Each time he spoke, his hot breath brushed her sensitive skin.

“I won’t settle for anything less than being the first wife. Damn it, I’ll kill all my subordinates.”

“The baby can hear…! The baby can hear you!”

“The baby should hear it too, how much Daddy loves Mommy.”

“Where on earth—”

“And Yiyeon, you know, burial and disposal were my side jobs.”

While Yiyeon was stunned, Kwon Chaewoo tightly bound her body and persistently sucked at her neck.

“Do I look like a concubine who will dedicate only one penis for life? No, there’s so much more to dedicate. Can a person who’s a tree doctor by name crush my potential like this?”

His arms tightened around Yiyeon.

“But the marriage registration…”

There was no other particular reason.

Perhaps because she had already been swayed by a falsified marriage registration form, Yiyeon didn’t find great meaning in a single piece of paper. It was also true that, having lived together and even having a child, a legal relationship felt futile. What could be a closer relationship than this?

When she suggested they could do the marriage registration anytime, once the situation stabilized, Kwon Chaewoo frowned intensely but seemed to back down a step.

However, when he found it difficult to cope with his twisted feelings, he would lose his temper like this.

“…What? Marriage registration?”

At that moment, the door creaked open, and a chilling voice spread. Beyond the open door, Chooja, who had belatedly received the call and rushed over, stood with a dazed expression. She rolled her eyes from side to side, looking back and forth at the two clinging to each other.

Chooja, who was quick-witted, quickly grasped why the two people who had broken up with tears and tantrums were exuding such a strange atmosphere. Their relationship had drastically changed in a month.

“No, not over my dead body!”

Chooja strode in, yelling loud enough to shake the hospital room.

“You damn bastard, just because you’re handsome, is that all it takes?!”

“…Chooja?”

“Any other man in the world is fine, but not that one!”

Yiyeon only blinked at her volcanic voice. Kwon Chaewoo, surprised by the sudden opposition, raised an eyebrow but then calmly lowered the corners of his mouth. His change of stance was remarkably quick and subtle.

“Son-in-law Kwon, no, Kwon family, do you know how Yiyeon lived after you left?”

Chooja pounded her chest as if bursting with anger.

“She couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep…! Her eyes were dead like frozen fish…!”

Suddenly, Chooja’s eyes reddened.

“My heart, it wasn’t my heart. It’s because you, that bastard, didn’t see Yiyeon’s state back then so that you can shamelessly show your face now. If you had seen that girl’s condition just once, you would have wanted to bury your nose in a dish of water!”

Chooja began to randomly hit Kwon Chaewoo’s shoulders and arms with her pointing hand.

Yiyeon, startled, tried to stop them, but Kwon Chaewoo gripped her hand tightly as if telling her to stay still. Even though the parts Chooja was hitting hard were where he had been shot, which must have been quite painful, he didn’t change his expression and simply lowered his eyelashes mournfully.

“That child, that child… what kind of child is she? How pitiful and admirable! Why should I accept the man who hurt my child? What right does the man who made her have a funeral before a wedding have to be so brazen?! I will never allow it!”

Chooja huffed and puffed, grabbing and shaking Kwon Chaewoo.

“Marriage registration, what nonsense…! So disrespectful…! How dare you, how daaare you!”

Even as his T-shirt collar stretched and his bangs covered his eyes, he swayed silently as Chooja pulled him.

The man, who hadn’t eaten or slept properly and was gravely injured, quickly turned pale. Chooja paused for a moment but then raised her voice even more, glaring at Yiyeon.

“What did I tell you? That only one season had passed, didn’t I?”

“Ahem, Chooja, ahem…”

“Did I say he was just the first man, or didn’t I?”

Yiyeon understood Chooja’s feelings a hundred percent, but she was also restless, worried about Kwon Chaewoo, who had been acting wickedly, even mentioning concubines. Bringing up other men in this situation was absolutely not good.

“But you’re crazy to just fall for it and do a marriage registration—? Just live together and date, just date! What kind of law says people who haven’t even had a wedding ceremony should get tied down first, acting like this! Only those with ulterior motives whisper like that!”

Chooja then pointed a finger at Yiyeon, but suddenly Kwon Chaewoo blocked her.

“Mother-in-law, I was wrong.”

“Who’s your mother-in-law!”

“No matter how urgent, I should have followed the proper order.”

Kwon Chaewoo stroked his chin and furrowed his brow. His low voice, sounding remorseful, made Chooja falter slightly. “Oh, my… what a handsome dog, indeed.” But she immediately glared, stealing her wavering heart.

“Not just dirt, but even if nails go into my eyes, no means no—!”

“I will send my mother-in-law off to marriage first.”

“—means, what?”

Her intensely venomous voice suddenly deflated in disappointment. Kwon Chaewoo didn’t stop there.

“I heard you were the Brooke Shields of your prime. My third brother runs an investment company, a production company, and an entertainment company, and I can get you a spot. It’s a leading domestic entertainment company that surpassed 4 trillion won in market capitalization at the time of its listing.”

“…”

“Mother-in-law, isn’t your beauty too precious to bloom only by the water?”

He had warned her not to fall for the whispers of someone with ulterior motives. Chooja’s cheeks were already flushed red as if she had drunk too much. Yiyeon just brushed off her blanket and shook her head, as if it was over.

“If that path doesn’t appeal to you, I can select clean old gentlemen with assets over 10 billion won and no children to worry about.”

“…Don’t select too many.”

“Yes.”

“…You know, generously.”

While Kwon Chaewoo grinned and went out to buy some drinks, Chooja just gazed at her son-in-law, who had run away and returned on his own two feet, as if in a dream.

Yiyeon pressed her forehead and was about to call out “Chooja,” but she, who seemed about to drool, quickly wiped her expression clean first.

“Is this enough?”

“What?”

When Yiyeon asked back, not understanding, Chooja winked one eye.

“You have to put on a show like this so you can keep a tight grip on Son-in-law Kwon in the future.”

“…!”

“Men need to know how scary their in-laws are.”

“Yes?”

“Look just now, he’s giving up everything he has, scared he won’t get married.”

“…”

“And my gut feeling is, that guy, that’s not the end of him. His potential isn’t just yellow, it’s glittering gold!”

Chooja, whose nostrils flared, then stroked Yiyeon’s face with her rough hand.

“There’s no rush for the marriage registration, okay? It’s not too late to do it after living together.”

Contrary to her affectionate touch, Chooja’s lips curved up as if she found him quite amusing.

Yiyeon bowed her head deeply, revealing the lingering embarrassment in a corner of her heart.

“Um… isn’t it pathetic?”

“You? Why?”

“Breaking up so dramatically, and then getting back together and fighting like this…”

As Yiyeon lowered her voice as if ashamed, Chooja laughed heartily and snatched her words.

“That’s love!”

Chooja smiled kindly and pressed her palm to her cheek. Soon, her slightly tilted face, as if she was floating somewhere in the past, was quite poignant and enchanting.

“Yiyeon, indeed, a husband’s face is tastier the more you chew on it.”

Chooja slapped her knee for a long time, saying, “You caught the guy who ran away from the island so well, so well.”

It was still a power struggle between mother-in-law and son-in-law, where it was unclear who had gotten the better of whom.