Flowers Are Bait Novel - Chapter 4

Her heart pounded as if her ribcage would burst. She was so scared she felt like she would die. But Yiyeon managed to compose her distorted face and began to think.

“Kwon, Kwon Chaewoo. Kwon Chaewoo.”

“……”

“Your body isn’t normal right now, Mr. Kwon Chaewoo. I’ll call a doctor for you!”

The medical staff caring for him were on standby in Hwayi-do. When Yiyeon and Chooja went to work or on long house calls, the medical staff would enter through a secret back door, built during the second-floor expansion, to massage, wash, dry, and check Kwon Chaewoo’s equipment, caring for him diligently.

Yiyeon had only one job.

To keep him safe until the real culprit was caught.

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

Yiyeon had only been given the name ‘Kwon Chaewoo’ by his brother. Other than that, she knew nothing about his personal details.

However, she could easily guess that his family had immense wealth and power. The swift construction of the second floor, and the unique aura of those who possess wealth, suggested it.

‘—It’s not particularly difficult to make Ms. So Yiyeon the perfect perpetrator.’

Moreover, the mountain behind was clean, and the person who had struck Kwon Chaewoo with a rock had vanished without a trace. Yiyeon had to pay a fine for making a false report to 112.

She had truly been possessed, thoroughly. As the dispatched police had said, either she was crazy, or the world surrounding Kwon Chaewoo was more terrifying than she could imagine.

One day, she had, as if possessed, gone directly to the police station. But somehow, his brother, that fellow, had called at just the right time. It was a simple well-being call. But after the call ended, a photo of him with the police chief was sent via message.

She couldn’t move. Yiyeon had surrendered before even fighting, and simply began to wish that the man in the vegetative state would not wake up.

So there was only one thing to do.

She dared not bark at an opponent who could easily silence her self-defense claims.

If she didn’t want to be framed and rot in prison, she had to keep this murderer safe and sound.

“Kwon Chaewoo. Kwon Chaewoo. You must be confused after just waking up, but I’ll explain it slowly. So, first, let go of this and get up…!”

But the man instead leaned his upper body closer, bringing his face near hers. A large shadow covering her head and an unfamiliar warmth pressed down on Yiyeon’s back.

Suddenly, his nose touched her neck.

“……Wh-what, what…!”

The man was burying his nose and uncouthly inhaling Yiyeon’s scent. His hot breath tickled her skin.

“Don’t make a sound and just answer my questions.”

His voice, scattered like acrid ash, was rough. Yiyeon barely managed to nod.

“Did you lock me up?”

“……Pardon?”

“Or did I lock you up?”

Absurdity burst through her fear.

Mr. Kwon Chaewoo, what kind of life did you live…?

And this polite honorifics.

Yiyeon was utterly dumbfounded and shook her head vigorously.

“No, no, no!”

“Then why am I here?”

His tone, laced with innocence, was unfamiliar.

But perhaps it was because she knew his true nature. His polite questions sounded like threats. In his seemingly well-packaged words, she felt a force pressing down on her.

“Y-you were just a patient, Mr. Kwon Chaewoo. You’ve been lying down for a long time and just woke up now.”

“……”

“It’s definitely not a dangerous situation like you asked. It’s okay to calm down.”

“……”

Perhaps her words had some effect, as the man’s erratic breathing gradually calmed down.

‘But you shouldn’t have woken up…!’

Until everything was neatly resolved, the man should have just remained in a vegetative state.

Really, that would have been enough.

If a murderer starts moving with intent, things get complicated in many ways. More than anything, Yiyeon didn’t have the confidence to handle his true nature, which would start acting arbitrarily and cruelly.

“But why are you trembling so much?”

It was a clear, metallic sound that grated on her ears.

“Did you do something wrong to me?”

“Oh, no?”

The force pressing her down vanished in an instant. Instead, her body was flipped over like a fried egg by a strong grip. Her heart pounded wildly like a mad horse.

“……”

“……”

A distance so close their noses almost touched.

Even in the throat-parching tension, what caught her eye was his prominent nose bridge and his light, woody-colored irises. His bright eyes flickered like flames. It gave off an animalistic, alien feeling.

His hair, grown long enough to cover his neck, was messy, and his loose patient gown was shabby. But even though his volume had decreased, his protruding bone structure was still firm.

And that gaze.

The smooth, unblemished appearance was terrifying. The eerily clean surface was like an empty pit, and Yiyeon began to break out in a cold sweat.

His true nature, to restrain someone as soon as he wakes up.

Given he was such a man, he surely hadn’t forgotten the woman he tried to kill.

‘And I was the face he saw right before he rolled down!’

If he harbored absurd malice, there was a possibility that all that rage would be unleashed on Yiyeon.

Gulp, she swallowed dryly.

Even with such self-deprecating certainty, Yiyeon desperately prayed that Kwon Chaewoo would not recognize her.

“Your face looks very familiar.”

Facing her, he was filled with a complete emptiness, as if he had vomited everything out.

“Kwon Chaewoo. Kwon Chaewoo.”

He whispered slowly, as if imitating Yiyeon’s tone.

“That’s highly likely my name.”

“……”

“Then, are you an important person to me?”

Her expression began to change strangely. It was a peculiar intuition. She couldn’t quite tell if her heart, which had been pounding endlessly since earlier, was due to joy or fear.

“Or, are you someone I can kill without consequence?”

Kwon Chaewoo took out a hidden syringe needle and repeatedly pressed and released it like a ballpoint pen. The tip, after piercing his thumb deeply, went in again, poke, poke. Dark red drops of blood flowed thickly.

His inorganic gaze was like a butcher examining meat. Swallowing a mouthful of fear, she began to babble anything.

“Th-that, if you say that, I’ll be offended. How important am I, very important indeed…!”

Due to the tension that had already exceeded its limit, her vision swam.

“I’m a person very much related to Mr. Kwon Chaewoo! We met in a much more terrible way than you think… and we’re complicatedly intertwined…”

She recalled the contract she had been dragged away by men in black suits and forced to sign on a moonless night.

“And, it can’t be broken easily.”

Should she have bluffed back then, saying she’d go by the law? Then she wouldn’t have had to take in this brutal man in a vegetative state.

“Ugh…!”

Kwon Chaewoo grabbed her chin with one hand. Her cheek flesh was crushed to the point of numbness, and her jaw hurt as if it would break. He didn’t control his strength at all.

“If I’m so important, why are you trembling?”

“……Pardon?”

“Were a couple of your fingers cut off and you were sold here?”

“……”

“To suck off a bastard who’s an idiot in the head and a cripple in the body?”

At his chillingly sarcastic words, Yiyeon felt a small twitch somewhere on her cheek.

“Why do I only remember garbage like this?”

He rubbed his forehead with a confused expression. And then, as if to completely suffocate the woman in front of him, he tightened his grip on Yiyeon’s face, which he had been holding like a basketball. Green veins bulged on the back of his hand.

“Please don’t scream. It hurts my ears.”

“Ugh…”

Yiyeon gritted her teeth. A searing pain spread through her entire facial bones.

She knew nothing about this man. She had only picked up his three-character name as if it were charity. His age, occupation, education, hometown, family, medical history—truly nothing.

Just one thing.

She had seen Kwon Chaewoo’s true self, perhaps hidden from society, that day, on that mountain behind her house.

If so—

A way to be safe from this man, whom she had to keep for the time being.

She had to think of that first.

Even if the land was unsuitable for living, one had to adapt and change to that environment.

Like the way of the plants she loved and worshipped.

‘Acacia trees that live lying down even after falling, maple trees that bend their backs due to the wind. That was a struggle, a struggle. I know. I understand now. So I too…!’

Yiyeon urgently grabbed his wrist.

“Kwon Chaewoo, Kwon Chaewoo!”

Even so, it was only a faint, ticklish force. Kwon Chaewoo lowered his hand and subtly furrowed his brow. Red handprints were already visible on her cheeks.