Flowers Are Bait Novel - Chapter 78

“I have something to give you too.”

His voice was muffled, a sour taste rising just below his throat. This abnormal physical reaction he felt towards his wife, for whom giving his all wouldn’t be enough. It was a strong repulsion, almost guilt-inducing.

But Kwon Chaewoo gritted his teeth as if it were nothing. Perhaps he had unknowingly overexerted himself adapting to his new job lately. Other than that, there was no particular reason for this sudden, hives-like repulsion.

He clung to the affection he had built up, refusing to be swept away by the inexplicable phenomenon.

“Chaewoo, what is this?”

“It’s a gift.”

He managed to compose his expression and pulled something from his pocket. What Kwon Chaewoo held out was a small wooden carving that fit snugly in his palm. Yiyeon’s eyes widened as soon as she received the gift.

“Wow…!”

It was a single flower with delicate petals, each vividly blooming. Kwon Chaewoo had his arms tucked under his armpits, his lips curled inward, as he watched Yiyeon’s reaction.

However, the surprisingly beautiful wood carving looked somewhat clumsy the more she looked at it, and each time Yiyeon discovered its awkwardness, her heart fluttered a little.

“Did you… make it yourself?”

“I’m sorry I can only give you something like this.”

Yiyeon’s mouth half-opened, then her gaze dropped back to the flower in her hand.

“…You said you’d never give me flowers.”

When she asked in a choked voice, the man’s lips moved slightly then faded. She thought his smile was unusually brief today, but his next words made all trivial thoughts vanish.

“So I carved it into wood. So it would never wither.”

It was strangely embarrassing to meet his eyes. Yiyeon tenderly caressed the carving, which clearly hadn’t been an easy task.

“Chaewoo, but how did you color it?”

Yiyeon asked, pointing to the faintly stained crimson.

“It’s blood.”

“…What?”

She cocked her ear, thinking she had misheard.

“I got a cut while carving, and some blood seeped in.”

He pressed the corners of his eyebrows, avoiding her gaze. Yiyeon quickly opened his palm and saw small, scattered wounds on his already rough skin, injuries she hadn’t seen recently.

“…You said animals scratched you!”

“It didn’t seem much different.”

“Is that all? Are you hiding anything else?”

Kwon Chaewoo gestured with his eyes towards the stained petals.

“If I told you that was half-intentional, would you be scared, Ms. Yiyeon?”

“…Oh, yes. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Yiyeon carefully cupped the wood carving with both hands and drew it to her heart. Before the divine tree, now cut and unsightly but newly healing, the two remained for a long time.

“Chaewoo, are you asleep?”

Yiyeon, who had finished showering late, gently shook the man who seemed to have fallen asleep waiting for her.

With the worrisome evaluation over, all that remained was to close her eyes and confess everything. Yiyeon wanted to set their relationship straight before all her newfound courage vanished.

She really wanted to talk today…

“Chaewoo, what are you doing sleeping first? We said we’d talk today.”

She gently stroked his deeply sleeping eyebrows, letting the tension leave her neck. The forced pronunciation quickly dissolved into a mumbled complaint. Yiyeon looked at his tired face with concern and pulled the blanket over him.

“Then sleep well today and we’ll talk tomorrow.”

She also lifted the other side of the blanket and slipped into the spot beside him. Normally, he would have instantly sensed her warmth and opened his arms to hug her tightly. But for some reason, he was sound asleep, breathing steadily as if he didn’t care whether Yiyeon got into bed or not. Instead, Yiyeon spread his arm, settled into the gap, and tightly hugged his waist. Only then did her heart feel warm, as if she had finally returned home.

‘First, I’ll explain how we met…’

As she organized what she needed to say tomorrow, her eyes slowly closed.

The sound of insects from the open window, Kwon Chaewoo’s warm scent, his firm but broad embrace, the unique scent of the two of them that had permeated the bedroom, the weight occupying half the bed, the presence of the other in the darkness that wasn’t scary.

As she savored each of these things that had, at some point, become natural, her entire body relaxed languidly.

‘I’m sorry in advance. I might hurt you tomorrow…’

Yiyeon’s consciousness gradually sank lower and lower.

Ring-a-ling-a-ling—Ring-a-ling-a-ling—

The alarm, signaling the start of the day, blared loudly.

Yiyeon frowned and burrowed deeper into the man’s embrace. Usually, the alarm would ring twice, and at precisely the third ring, Kwon Chaewoo would stir and turn it off.

Then silence would return, he would crush Yiyeon in a hug once, and then make a groaning sound, pressing his lips to her soft neck as if he didn’t want to leave the bed. That’s how their mornings began.

Ring-a-ling-a-ling—Ring-a-ling-a-ling—Ring-a-ling-a-ling—

But today was a little different.

“…Chaewoo.”

Yiyeon whined, burying her face further, subtly urging him. But the man, who was usually excessively sensitive, was too quiet today.

Something was wrong. For some reason, a chilling feeling jolted Yiyeon awake. Her eyes opened on their own, as if someone had pulled her hair.

Sure enough, the first thing she saw was Kwon Chaewoo, eyes closed, breathing evenly. Yiyeon turned off the alarm herself and looked around the unusually heavy silence.

As expected, the sky was filled with dark clouds, as if an early rainy season was about to begin.

“Chaewoo… wake up. You’ll be late.”

“…”

“Chaewoo…!”

“…”

Yiyeon shook his shoulder. Still, the man didn’t stir. His eyelids, tightly shut like shutters, didn’t tremble, nor did his brows twitch. Even though she knew it was an overreaction, Yiyeon felt a part of her body freeze cold for a moment. Her hands trembled.

“Chaewoo…! Kwon Chaewoo…!”

She even patted and shook Kwon Chaewoo’s cheek. Despite her movements, the man showed no sign of waking up. A shiver ran from her palms as if she were shaking a log. In her frustration, she repeatedly struck his broad upper body with her soft, club-like fists, but the result was the same.

“W-what…”

All sorts of thoughts flooded her mind. Yiyeon suddenly felt her fingertips stiffen, and she slowly clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to regain her composure.

Don’t overreact. Think simply. Yiyeon took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. People can oversleep.

That was perfectly normal. So there was no need to be overly scared just because Kwon Chaewoo was overwhelmed by sleep and couldn’t easily wake up.

“Chaewoo, please wake up. What kind of deep dream are you having? You have to go to work soon. If you dilly-dally like this, Ms. Joo Dongmi will nag you. It’ll be too late to blame me then for not waking you up.”

Finally, Yiyeon, who had soaked a towel in cold water, suddenly wiped his neck, trying to stimulate him. Still, the man didn’t move a single finger. She meticulously wiped and massaged his eyes, hands, feet, and eyebrow lines, but it was no longer possible. Yiyeon, unable to overcome the anxiety that surged like an attack, finally knelt down.

“Kwon Chaewoo…! Wake up, wake up!”

Her vision blurred, and her breath hitched.

“Chaewoo!”

“…”

“…Hmph.”

Yiyeon tugged at the man’s clothes, who wouldn’t respond no matter how much she called. But there was no strength in her grip at all. What? Where did it go wrong? Yiyeon roughly pushed back her tangled hair and lay down beside him again.

“Did I, did I do something wrong? I’ve been busy lately, maybe that’s why…”

Kwon Chaewoo was a patient with Kleine-Levin syndrome. However, with Yiyeon by his side, having a regular morning wasn’t difficult.

Perhaps that’s why she had been complacent. For whatever reason, a situation where Yiyeon’s effect wore off was entirely predictable.

“Did I, did I miss something?”

Yiyeon desperately hugged Kwon Chaewoo, who was slipping away like sand. This was the only way she knew to wake him. She gathered what had become empty, and gathered it, but in the end, only silence and an empty shell remained.

Finally, she picked up her phone.

—…Hello?

A yawn was embedded at the end of a sleepy voice. Then, as if someone had pushed her down, tears suddenly burst forth.

“Doctor…!”

—…Ms. So Yiyeon? What’s wrong so early in the morning?

Perhaps sensing her urgency, the doctor’s tone immediately cleared. But tears surged before words, so Yiyeon briefly pressed her lips together and held the phone away. She barely managed to break her sobs into small pieces and swallow them, but her expression crumbled helplessly.

“Kwon…, hic, Chaewoo… He’s not waking up…!”