Flowers Are Bait Novel - Chapter 61

“You said we’d do well!”

Treat the most trees within the time limit.

Yiyeon, with swollen lips, glared at Kwon Chaewoo as she entered the closed-off village for the second assessment.

The overall desolate scenery, still unrestored, felt just like her heart. Even the dim sky didn’t suit the weather, which was beginning to show signs of summer. Yiyeon, dressed in a one-piece jumpsuit, walked with heavy, thudding steps.

“Who was it that conveniently left out the ’24 hours’ part, Ms. Yiyeon?”

“I clearly said we’d be staying up all night.”

“You mean outdoor lodging in the mountains. The kind where you spread a mat and sleep in a poncho at the foot of the mountain.”

Kwon Chaewoo’s attitude had changed since arriving here and hearing the explanation from the examiner in charge.

He, who had so easily dealt with gangsters even when he was a mess, was now displeased with Yiyeon merely bivouacking for one night.

The man’s fickle behavior was annoying and stifling, but at the same time, a wry laugh escaped her. She was receiving a kind of concern she had never experienced before, and she was at a loss, unsure how to react.

Today’s opponent was <Mi Tree Hospital>.

Leaving the skilled Chooja behind bothered her, but she had no regrets about her choice. After the drug field incident, she hadn’t just left Kwon Chaewoo bedridden. Yiyeon had taught Kwon Chaewoo, who was quick to absorb and dexterous, for this very day. So, he would be able to assist her without difficulty.

“…!”

At that moment, Yiyeon’s steps abruptly halted. A familiar person was mixed in with the Mi Tree Hospital team. She unconsciously bit the inside of her lip.

‘Director Jo Gyeongcheon…’

His name was on the cell phones of the gangsters who managed the drug field. However, the investigation had fizzled out, and no matter how many times she visited D Hospital, she only received parrot-like replies that the director wasn’t in.

She had half-given up, but…

Just then, he looked her way, his cheekbones rising as he approached.

“Yiyeon-ah.”

The first to react to that voice was Kwon Chaewoo.

He immediately put his arm around Yiyeon’s waist protectively, glaring intensely at the man, and Jo Gyeongcheon observed him closely before shifting his gaze.

“They say you’ve been looking for me lately?”

“…What exactly are you doing in Hwaido?”

Yiyeon lowered her voice and shot him a cold look.

“It had better not be what I’m thinking.”

“Yiyeon-ah, I was the one who first brought you here.”

She frowned at the unexpected remark. At the same time, she clearly recalled when Jo Gyeongcheon was referring to.

It must have been her first business trip to Hwaido, not long after she started working at the tree hospital.

Jo Gyeongcheon stared expressionlessly at Yiyeon, who remained silent. At that time, he still couldn’t decide whether the naive rookie, So Yiyeon, was a blessing or a curse.

The conversation he had with Director Kwon echoed in his ears, pushing away the transparent eyes of So Yiyeon.

‘Is that matter progressing well?’

‘Yes, it’s proceeding without a hitch.’

‘No one should know about that rare plant.’

‘…I’ll keep that in mind.’

If only she hadn’t discovered that plant.

A deep shadow crossed Jo Gyeongcheon’s face.

Seven years ago, something strange was discovered in a swamp in Hwaido. It was a coincidence that Yiyeon got lost during her practical training and fell into the swamp, and Jo Gyeongcheon was the one who benefited from it.

It was a species unknown to the world of botany, and naturally, it had no scientific name at the time. However, as rumors of the rare plant began to circulate secretly, it was uprooted and completely disappeared. It was the doing of the Kwon family.

Years passed like that—

When he heard that the first researchers who studied the rare plant had been dealt with without a trace, he used Hwang Joyoon’s private life as an excuse to immediately expel So Yiyeon from the hospital.

He never dreamed that the girl he kicked out would settle in Hwaido. For some reason, Jo Gyeongcheon approached her with complicated eyes.

“Yiyeon-ah.”

“That’s enough.”

At that moment, Kwon Chaewoo, who had been hiding his teeth like a waiting hunting dog, put out an arm like a barricade.

As a silent gaze passed between the two men, Yiyeon lightly bit and released the tip of her tingling tongue and said,

“He’s my husband.”

“…What?!”

Jo Gyeongcheon frowned in surprise. Hus, what…? What is he to you? Is he mistaking ‘husband’ for ‘namcheon,’ a short tree native to China?

Having had Yiyeon under his care and witnessing her many flaws, Director Jo couldn’t help but be dumbfounded. Because of that, the familiar aura he had found in Kwon Chaewoo’s eyes quickly became secondary. Jo Gyeongcheon cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes.

“Yiyeon-ah, can’t you stop here?”

“Stop what?”

“Hwaidom.”

He replied heavily.

“Are you telling me to forfeit? Why would I?”

Jo Gyeongcheon simply kept his mouth shut at her incomprehensible expression. As he passed by her, as if he had no more business, Jo Gyeongcheon whispered low and fast.

“If you don’t want to die, keep your mouth shut.”

“…!”

It was a sound only Yiyeon could hear. But there was no way Kwon Chaewoo, with his unusually sensitive hearing, wouldn’t have understood it.

Sure enough, as he moved his leg as if to bolt, Yiyeon urgently pulled his sleeve. She shook her head, and Kwon Chaewoo, though frowning, became docile.

Yiyeon stood blankly, her eyes tracing the spot where Jo Gyeongcheon had disappeared.

She couldn’t tell if it was a warning or advice.

The supplies distributed by the Korea Forest Service were equally provided to each hospital. Two bulging backpacks containing camping gear, a doctor’s bag, a tablet PC, hiking poles, and even a climbing rope useful for ascending mountains.

The method was simple. If you took a picture of a treated tree with this tablet PC, it would be immediately sent to the examiner.

Quick diagnostic ability and skilled first aid. This round was definitely a speed battle.

“Mr. Kwon Chaewoo, we’re going now. Get ready.”

Yiyeon shook Kwon Chaewoo, who was engrossed in studying the map while wearing her own backpack. He was inputting something small, marked one by one, into his mind with terrifying focus, without even blinking.

A small drone flew overhead, and on the tablet PC, the timer finally began to run. Yiyeon subtly glanced at Mi Tree Hospital and walked briskly in a different direction from them.

“…”

Her expression as she surveyed the gloomy forest was not bright. There were countless trees broken and snapped, lying on the ground.

Last year, a tremendous debris flow had rushed down like a wave. The mountain, caught in that torrent, had already lost all its beautiful appearance.

A swamp-like ground, shattered rocks, debris of all sorts of tree bark, and shoes already covered in mud.

Perhaps it was due to the already gloomy weather, but it felt like stepping into a ruin where not a single ray of light entered.

“…It seems we have a lot of work to do today.”

“…”

Yiyeon tilted her head slightly, looking up at him, who remained silent. Since entering the forest, Kwon Chaewoo had become remarkably quiet. Instead, with a hardened face, he would pull on his ear or keenly look around, snapping his head back and forth like a crow. His markedly different demeanor from usual made Yiyeon serious as well.

“What’s wrong?”

“…”

“Are you feeling unwell? Does your head hurt?”

At Yiyeon’s concern, Kwon Chaewoo let out a dry, wry laugh.

“Come to think of it, Ms. Yiyeon was really interested in my head.”

“Huh?”

“In the drug field, do you remember what you said when I was getting beaten?”

“…”

At that time, she was only moving on adrenaline, so she didn’t remember every single word she said.

As she blinked her clear eyes and stared blankly, Kwon Chaewoo playfully tapped her head with his forehead.

“You said they could hit me anywhere else, but not my head.”

He chuckled. Yiyeon’s face flushed for no reason, and she lowered her head.

Soon, she settled down and began serious emergency treatment. What Yiyeon had done the most was cutting off rotten branches and correcting the overall tree shape. She carefully connected branches and performed iron clamping work. In other words, it was like putting casts on trees with broken bones.

She was as quick as a squirrel, skillfully finishing the treatment and moving to another tree. Kwon Chaewoo was busy taking photos while promptly handing her the tools she requested.

“Many trees are already dead.”

Most of them were either split in two beyond recovery or had drowned.

“Healthy trees bloom and shed their flowers all at once in a short period, but those that aren’t healthy have only a few leaves left even if they sprout. Look at this. Most of these here are like that, aren’t they?”

Trees with such sparse, browned flowers often had unusually bare and twisted branches. It was a sign that their condition was weak and they were withering.

At that moment, Kwon Chaewoo, who had been quietly listening to Yiyeon, frowned.

“That’s a sad story.”

“Huh?”

“Blooming all at once, then falling all together.”

“The flowering season is short anyway.”

Yiyeon was calm, but Kwon Chaewoo’s displeased face wouldn’t smooth out.

“Then I’ll never give Ms. Yiyeon flowers.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re proof of short days.”

“…”

Yiyeon awkwardly lifted the corners of her mouth at his words, which subtly hit home. But for the same reason, she wanted to receive flowers from Kwon Chaewoo.

After that, to shake off distracting thoughts, Yiyeon focused only on connecting a yellow rubber band to an IV drip. And the moment she inserted the infusion tube into a pre-drilled hole and administered the medicine—

“…!”

His expression changed again.

Yiyeon knew that expression of Kwon Chaewoo’s very well.