Flowers Are Bait Novel - Chapter 3

Plants have a spiritual world, growing healthier with kind words and dying sooner with curses. Knowing this, Yiyeon’s prayer every time was—

Don’t wake up. You mustn’t wake up.

Please let me live quietly.

—a repetitive wish.

But.

Yiyeon paused.

‘……He’s gone?’

In a panic, she blinked rapidly.

The person who was always, always there. No, something that had been degraded to a mere plant, unable to move, too lowly to be called a living person.

The spot where only a hard shell remained.

The bed was empty.

“――!”

Goosebumps starting from the nape of her neck instantly covered her smooth skin.

‘The man who rolled down the hillside might be dead.’

Yiyeon thought, looking at the pool of blood on the floor.

He must be dead. He was hit until his head was mush and then fell, so he must be dead.

When she finally came to her senses, she was left alone in the mountain. The police were nowhere to be found, as if they had an accident on the way, and the man who had held the rock was already gone.

After calling the police again—

Let’s go home.

The way to end a nightmare is to greet the morning. She had to live tomorrow.

Yiyeon dragged her collapsing body and barely took a step. Dead pine needles crunched under her feet. That was her last memory.

Because suddenly, her nose and mouth were tightly pressed by a strong force. A sour, stinging scent pierced her nostrils and invaded her. Yiyeon slumped her body, unable to resist properly.

‘……Where am I?’

It took a long time just to lift one eyelid. Yiyeon shook her head several times, unable to focus her eyes.

A space where nothing was visible because it was dark everywhere.

Only a flickering old light bulb was the sole source of light here.

“……Wh-who are you?”

Every time the light bulb went out and came back on, a man appeared in her sight. He was indifferently smoking a thick cigar. The smoke spreading into the air seemed unrealistically slow. Her voice trembled terribly.

Clang.

Then, a significant sound drew her gaze. Only then did Yiyeon realize that she was sitting precariously on an old chair, handcuffed.

She tried to move her hands, but they wouldn’t budge. Only a cold, sharp sensation scratched and rubbed against her wrists.

“Why did you do that?”

It was a voice devoid of emotion. Her somewhat hazy mind instantly cleared.

“You crushed a man’s head like that, so he probably won’t survive.”

“……!”

“The person you half-killed is my younger brother.”

As the flickering of the light bulb stopped, her blocked five senses burst open.

A metallic, fishy smell permeated the abandoned warehouse.

Hooks hanging from the ceiling, pig carcasses hanging from them, buckets sloshing with blood. All that information rained down on her eyes like a bombardment.

Maggots were crawling somewhere. Workers walked around calmly in heavy rubber boots. They never accidentally made eye contact. They just removed organs, cut flesh into sections, and washed away bloodstains with a long hose. Their complete disregard felt even more alien.

Yiyeon woke up in the middle of a slaughterhouse, and the presence of the man in a luxurious suit before her was utterly bizarre.

“While you were sleeping, I debated. Whether to simply tear you apart, or pour cement into a drum and throw you into the sea.”

Bang bang—! Just then, someone inside a drum kicked violently. Yiyeon froze at the desperate screams echoing in the confined space.

“My brother is dying, so don’t you think someone needs to take responsibility?”

Her heart pounded as if it would burst. What ironically offset the guilt of harming someone was the fear of retaliation.

“……Uh, I think there’s some misunderstanding. It was self-defense. I didn’t, I didn’t do that to your brother.”

Yiyeon suppressed her rising tremor and retorted.

“In fact, your younger brother tried to kill someone first. He was burying someone…!”

“Is burying one person a big deal?”

The man indifferently flicked off ash.

Yiyeon’s legs trembled, though it wasn’t cold.

“Of course he’d be angry if his enjoyable work was interrupted. What kind of kid is he?”

The man with cold, silver-rimmed glasses looked to be in his late thirties to early forties. His face was smooth and wrinkle-free, but the experience he exuded was formidable.

“……But I really, really didn’t do it.”

Yiyeon desperately shook her head.

“It wasn’t me, someone else did it. The person who was being buried alive suddenly struck him with a rock. I didn’t push him down. I really didn’t. Of course, of course, I did hit him with a saw to save myself, but—”

She was stammering, trying to hold back tears.

“My brother has good hearing.”

“……”

“It means he’s not stupid or oblivious enough to get hit without avoiding someone approaching from behind.”

“Th-that…”

Yiyeon’s vision went black. If she got caught in this current, her life would be shattered beyond repair. It was an instinctive feeling.

Where was this place, and what did this person do?

She was curious but at the same time didn’t want to know.

Only the thought of escaping this place safely gripped her like an obsession.

Bang bang, bang bang. Someone’s desperate kicking, repeatedly hitting her ears, pushed Yiyeon further into a corner.

But how… how on earth can I get out of here…?

“Are you an accomplice to that person?”

Suddenly, the man asked indifferently.

“……Pardon?”

She was momentarily stunned, as if hit in the back of the head.

“Honestly, it doesn’t matter who you are. It’s not particularly difficult to make Ms. So Yiyeon the perfect perpetrator.”

He said, checking his watch, which was the same color as his glasses.

“Accomplice…! I really don’t know him!”

She gasped for breath.

But the other person wore a face of disinterest. Her life was on the line, but the man was as leisurely as if he were having a meal. Yiyeon felt helpless at the stark difference in temperature.

“Ms. So Yiyeon.”

He leaned his upper body closer and spoke.

“As someone who just saw his brother become a vegetable, I want someone to pay for that. That’s all.”

“……!”

Vegetative… state? That murderer? Her heart pounded for an unknown reason.

“So whether he was struck with a rock and pushed, or hit with a saw. Do you think that right or wrong matters to me?”

He had a strange expression throughout. He seemed troubled by the unexpected situation, and conversely, he also seemed amused. Yiyeon stopped thinking deeply.

“Instead, let’s make a deal. If Ms. So Yiyeon acts a little smartly, you can get out of here safely and sufficiently.”

Yiyeon, who had been dying inside, quickly lifted her chin.

“A deal?”

“You’re quick to understand. That’s good.”

The man stubbed out his cigar on a box of meat.

“I’ll catch the real culprit and put them in Ms. So Yiyeon’s place.”

“……”

“Instead, please take care of my brother until then.”

He held out a pristine contract.

“Preferably, don’t let him leave Hwayi-do.”

“……!”

“It would be even better if you could completely tie him down.”

She experienced the moment the noisy drum gradually quieted, and lost all will.

“――!”

But he wasn’t there.

Only the displaced medical equipment lay forlornly, ownerless. The moment she saw the crumpled blanket and the empty bed, Yiyeon felt nothing. She even forgot to breathe.

Wh-where did he go?

While she fumbled like an idiot, the forgotten fear came back to life as vividly as last night.

The air, humidity, smell, and tension of that day.

‘While you were sleeping, I debated. Whether to simply tear you apart, or pour cement into a drum and throw you into the sea.’

At the same time, a chilling voice passed through her mind.

“……I have to find him.”

Second floor, second floor bathroom first. Then the living room. And just in case, the storage room too… All sorts of thoughts crackled like radio static.

It was when the pale woman turned around.

“Kyaaak…!”

It was a clear attack. The man, hidden behind the door, lunged like a beast and pounced on Yiyeon. Crash, bang, crash, medical equipment toppled over.

But it was impossible for someone who had suddenly woken up after two years to walk properly. Indeed, his knees buckled, and he stumbled, turning Yiyeon around as if to restrain her, and then collapsed onto the bed.

One of her cheeks was pressed firmly against the mattress. She struggled with her arms and legs, feeling the man’s weight on her back.

“Ugh…! Let, let go…!”

Yiyeon’s arms were twisted. The man, who had climbed onto her hips, completely sealed off Yiyeon’s legs with his thighs.

He must have lost all his muscles.

But she felt the firm flesh through his thin pajamas. Especially, she shivered even more at the thick presence crushing her sensitive buttocks.