Flowers Are Bait Novel - Chapter 86

“What are you doing standing there blankly? Aren’t you going to hug me?”

At his words, laced with amusement, Yiyeon wiped her eyes once and hugged him from behind around his waist.

“…Chaewoo, what happened yesterday? Did you sleep next to me?”

“I slept properly and woke up.”

“……!”

Yiyeon, wanting to see Kwon Chaewoo’s expression no matter what, pushed her face into his armpit. Startled by her aggressive posture, the man immediately lifted the frying pan high.

“Ms. Yiyeon, the oil will splatter.”

He covered half of Yiyeon’s face with his hand and warned her somewhat sharply, but her gaze was only bright and clear.

“Did you really wake up after sleeping? Am I effective again?”

“I woke up safely, and I didn’t have any nightmares.”

“Really? Not lying, right?”

“I’m not lying.”

Joy flashed like light in her eyes. Kwon Chaewoo gazed silently at the woman who smiled gently even with chapped lips, then turned his head.

“Maybe the nightmare transferred to someone else.”

“Transferred?”

She asked back, but Kwon Chaewoo only gave an unreadable smile.

“Hurry and sit at the table.”

Yiyeon ambled away, glancing at him with lingering regret. When she heard the chair scrape, Kwon Chaewoo let the smile he had painstakingly maintained completely fall, biting the inside of his lip.

One night, no, he could easily last a week without sleeping. That kind of training was something he did as often as he ate.

Last night, despite her words about staying up all night together, Yiyeon fell asleep as soon as she got into bed. Occasionally, when she mumbled his name in her sleep, “Chaewoo,” his face would involuntarily contort, and his stomach would twist.

A face he had always kept like a landscape.

That ugly girl, taller and older than him, who always looked like she was about to cry. The girl who often sat under a big tree, knees drawn up, burying her face.

But when the cello music flowed on the wind, the girl would look up at the sky and down at the ground, or put her hands on her waist and constantly tilt her head. Her crying, laughing, napping, and humming along to his music were full of life, unlike her gloomy first impression.

Watching So Yiyeon from the dilapidated, rattling window frame below the hill was Kwon Chaewoo’s only hobby at the time, as he hadn’t even started elementary school. Since his mother lived hidden in a remote mountain area and had no interaction with people, the thirteen-year-old boy’s world was inevitably narrow.

Therefore, the nameless older sister was the boy’s first audience, another world, and all four seasons.

Because even when the greenery was lush, the leaves turned red, snow covered the branches, and pink flower buds emerged again, the girl always came there.

“Mom, what do you call something that’s always in the same spot?”

“Hmm, maybe a tree?”

“But it’s much smaller and prettier than a tree.”

“Ah, then it’s a flower.”

Kwon Chaewoo waited for her every day, cleaning the window. As he pressed his small palms against the glass and stared intently at the girl, his hot breath often fogged up the windowpane.

The old, rattling window frame was a picture frame enclosing the tree and the girl—

“…Chaewoo, Kwon Chaewoo!”

It was everything the boy had.

“Chaewoo, are you okay?”

The man abruptly lifted his head at the force, shaking his arm. Sure enough, Yiyeon was looking at him with concern. Kwon Chaewoo unconsciously reached out to brush her stray hair aside, then paused, clenched his fist, and withdrew his hand.

With such a face, such a voice, and moving around within arm’s reach, he must have fallen for such flimsy lies.

“It’s nothing, I was just thinking about something else for a moment.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Just, when I first met you, Ms. Yiyeon.”

“…….”

Then Yiyeon flinched and awkwardly averted her gaze.

Liar.

Kwon Chaewoo muttered crookedly to himself.

He shook off the useless sentiments with a light fatigue. Then, transferring the food to a plate, the man leisurely approached the table. They had breakfast together after a long time. Yiyeon took the fork he offered and, taken by surprise, took a bite of the well-browned sausage first.

“…By the way, Chaewoo, does your finger hurt?”

“No, why?”

“Uh…”

The man opened his mouth wide and ate normally, and Yiyeon hesitated for a moment, looking at one of his hands.

“…It’s the first time I’ve seen you use chopsticks with your left hand.”

At her words, Kwon Chaewoo paused briefly, then naturally picked up some stir-fried vegetables.

“You didn’t know, Ms. Yiyeon?”

“What?”

“Since it’s not uncomfortable, I think I was ambidextrous from the start.”

“Oh, well…”

Kwon Chaewoo closed his jaw and chewed his food, yet he stared intently at her. At his sharp gaze, Yiyeon tensed up.

“You often use your right hand in front of me.”

“Did I?”

Yiyeon nodded awkwardly and put down her fork. Then, as she fiddled with her fingers, barely eating, Kwon Chaewoo suddenly gave her some of his sausage.

He watched Yiyeon, who had picked up her fork again in surprise, and drank water. Gulp, gulp, his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed the water, and their eyes met. At that moment, an unknown thirst surged in Kwon Chaewoo, and he ended up drinking the entire glass.

“Phew…”

Yiyeon, who had been vigorously patting the soil with a trowel, wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She was squatting, tidying up the flowerbed that had been neglected for the past month.

It had only been a few hours since Chooja and Joo Dongmi had visited the house, having heard that Kwon Chaewoo had woken up. Yiyeon had safely navigated the brief commotion and was now occasionally glancing at the two people who were having a private conversation.

‘No—! It’s not…!’

Just then, the doctor’s gestures became larger.

Yiyeon leaned her head further and further out to see the two people’s lip movements and expressions beyond the glass molding door.

‘—If… you can…!’

‘…….’

She nervously alternated her gaze between the doctor, who was raising his voice, and Kwon Chaewoo, who was sitting with his arms crossed indifferently.

At that moment, the man, who had eerily turned his head towards her, ruthlessly pulled one of the curtains shut.

“Ah…!”

Yiyeon unconsciously let out a gasp. She had been gripping the palm-sized trowel so tightly that her hand ached. Yiyeon mechanically pulled out the weeds she saw, merely clicking her tongue.

Just then, someone peeked their head out from beyond the front gate. Confirming who it was, she smiled calmly, straightened her back, and stood up.

“Gyubaek, you’re here?”

But the child, looking around and scurrying over, buried his face in his hands and stomped his feet. At his unusual behavior, Yiyeon’s face also hardened.

“Gyubaek, what’s wrong?”

“Ugh…”

Gyubaek groaned and tugged at Yiyeon’s sleeve.

“Director. Director.”

“Gyubaek, are you sick somewhere?”

“Male spiders feed their legs to the female during mating.”

“What?”

Yiyeon frowned, reading the eerie meaning in his words, but Gyubaek merely recited the sentence expressionlessly. However, the child’s usually monotone voice felt urgent today. At that subtle difference, Yiyeon tilted her head.

“Director must not eat that.”

“Gyubaek, what are you talking about?”

“It’s a strategy to appease the female. No matter how delicious it looks, no matter how necessary it seems, you must never accept it. From now on, Director must not accept anything from the male. It’s a promise. Quickly promise.”

The moment Gyubaek extended his pinky finger and shook it—

“Ms. Yiyeon, what are you doing?”

Kwon Chaewoo opened the front door and walked out leisurely. At his appearance, Gyubaek, whose shoulders twitched, quickly hid behind Yiyeon’s back. She was concerned by the child’s sensitive reaction and lowered her voice so only Gyubaek could hear.

“Gyubaek, you found your male last time. Aren’t you going to play with him?”

“No, no.”

“Huh?”

“Director. Director, big trouble. Ugh…”

Gyubaek pinched his own lips and groaned again. Yiyeon, growing serious, tried to stop the child’s actions, but Kwon Chaewoo was already standing right in front of them.

“Is it the little one?”

Then Gyubaek covered his ears and began to recite from an encyclopedia.

“The green flower beetle is a rare beetle in midsummer. During the day, it buries its head in flowers and eats nectar. It also gnaws on petals and stamens. It’s common in wild rose and Patrinia flowers, and also gathers on fruit tree blossoms.”

“Chaewoo.”

Yiyeon put force into her eyes and gestured for him to move away for a moment. In response, the man looked crookedly at the woman who was ordering him around with a mere chin gesture.

“…….”

“…….”

Yiyeon glared at the man, who was suddenly being stubborn and showed no intention of moving, as if to push him away. As they were having this unplanned staring contest, her phone rang. As she answered the phone, still keeping her eyes on Kwon Chaewoo, he seemed to let out a scoff, “Ha…”

—Director…! I’m sorry, but are you free right now?

Joo Dongmi’s voice rang out cheerfully, as if she had found light despite her tired tone.

“I’m home, but is something wrong?”

—It’s nothing else, but we need your help right now, could you come over for a moment?

“What?”

—Well… a snake has gone into and is living inside the ginkgo tree, which is a natural monument!

Yiyeon’s eyes widened, and she unconsciously looked at Kwon Chaewoo. He happened to be smiling, his thoughts unreadable.