Flowers Are Bait Novel - Chapter 90

“Haha, So Yiyeon… you cut off all contact and now you’ve forgotten all your manners, haven’t you?”

The man pushed Yiyeon’s forehead with his finger. Clear malice settled in his pupils like a smile.

Receiving that familiar gaze, Yiyeon suddenly realized how much she had forgotten her own misery. Kwon Chaewoo’s affection and protection had been that strong.

“You can’t go on like this.”

It was when her cousin, clenching his jaw, was dragging Yiyeon away.

Just then, the automatic door opened, and a group wearing identical jackets entered. Yiyeon, whose heart hadn’t wavered even after being slapped twice, felt it plummet the moment she saw the familiar logo on the jacket.

As she fumbled, her body was easily pulled away like straw, and at the same time, her eyes met Kwon Chaewoo’s.

“……!”

“……”

He saw her swollen cheek and bleeding lips and froze coldly. Even with that simple change in expression, Yiyeon’s shoulders hunched. Her cousin then chuckled with satisfaction and moved as if leading a cow.

“Since Hyung and Nunas aren’t here, I have to keep my head straight, don’t I?”

He tightened his grip and muttered with a somewhat solemn air.

“……If you’re going, just go quickly.”

“What?”

“Don’t just dawdle, take her out quickly.”

“Huh…!”

Yiyeon lowered her voice as much as possible and urged her cousin.

The thought that she shouldn’t show such a disgrace to Kwon Chaewoo and his team members struck her like a thunderbolt. She shouldn’t let Kwon Chaewoo’s reputation be tarnished because of her.

Yiyeon had experienced how people become isolated in a group to the point of being fed up, so she hoped that this dirty scandal wouldn’t cling to him. It was then, enduring such a wretched feeling, that she squeezed her eyes shut.

“So Yiyeon, open your eyes.”

“……!”

A shiver ran down her spine at the voice piercing her ears. At the short, authoritative command, her eyes snapped open against her will.

“I don’t know why you’re avoiding my gaze even after seeing me. Especially in a situation where your husband can’t help but misunderstand.”

“Chae, Chaewoo.”

“Explain before I skin this bastard alive.”

Kwon Chaewoo, who had approached her in an instant, spoke with a chilling gaze.

“With your face all busted, where are you rushing off to? And what were you planning to do, rushing off with a bastard who’s about to be half-crippled anyway—”

“Fuck, who are you?!”

“Yiyeon, I’m asking you.”

Just then, her cousin glared and roughly hit Kwon Chaewoo’s shoulder. Yet, he remained unperturbed, merely staring intently at Yiyeon. He particularly couldn’t take his eyes off her reddish cheek.

His expression was as calm as a blank sheet of paper, but his narrowed pupils were different. A desperate obsession, as if he wouldn’t move an inch until he got an answer, was palpable. Yiyeon hastily stepped between the two.

“Th-there, Oppa, don’t speak carelessly—”

She quickly tried to stop her cousin, fearing something might go wrong. Then, it was Kwon Chaewoo who reacted abruptly.

“……Oppa?”

He slowly tilted his head towards Yiyeon. As if asking for confirmation that what he had just heard was correct.

Finally, a semblance of an expression appeared on the man’s face, which had seemed bleached all along. He interrogated her fiercely, his voice devoid of composure.

“What ‘Oppa’? Who is there for Yiyeon to call ‘Oppa’?”

Something around Kwon Chaewoo’s eyes twitched as if convulsing.

“It’s already unbelievable that you’re urging me to leave quickly rather than entering the motel. What ‘Oppa’ on earth?”

Yiyeon merely swallowed hard at his icy glare. Her mouth was frozen, unable to move.

“Is this why you said we should pretend not to know each other? To secretly meet with a bastard who hits you and upset your husband?”

“Th-that’s not it, he’s my cousin…!”

“Cousin?”

Kwon Chaewoo recalled So Yiyeon’s family history, which Jang Beomhee had told him about previously, and slowly stretched the corners of his mouth.

“Ah, those fucked-up lumps.”

He didn’t hesitate and gripped his cousin’s head tightly. Small joints popped tautly under his grip.

The humiliated opponent tried to remove the sudden tightening hand, but it was useless. With his pressure points pressed, he could only let out a thick groan, “Aaaargh—!”

“Ugh…! Fuck, husband? Husband?!”

He thrashed on the floor disgracefully to escape Kwon Chaewoo’s hand. Soon, the venomous cousin, with a menacing face, began to shout at the top of his lungs.

“How can the world be so unfair? How many people have you ruined, and all this time you’ve been living flirtatiously with a husband? Our mother, aunt, hyung, and nunas, who have lived their whole lives in pain. While you were pretending to be a normal person and getting married, we went to psychiatrists, you bastard!”

Yiyeon’s eyelids began to burn as all eyes seemed to be focused on them.

Her cousins’ self-pity had been extreme since childhood. From small things like a broken pencil lead or tripping while walking, to big things like failing an exam and squandering their fortune. All their personal misfortunes were blamed on Yiyeon, who was born inappropriately. She had lived steeped in such a base inertia for a long time.

“Do you think it makes sense for you to enjoy everything a normal person does?”

Meanwhile, Kwon Chaewoo, with his arms crossed, watched Yiyeon’s constantly changing complexion and sent a few hand signals towards Jang Beomhee, who was lurking.

“There’s no one in our family who doesn’t have a mental illness. Everyone’s broken somewhere, and when we went to the hospital, they said, ‘I don’t know why innocent people suffer when the one who did wrong is someone else.’ Even complete strangers understand us like this, so what are you? You changed your number and ran away without leaving an address just to live well on your own, is that a human being? Fuck, are you human?!”

“……”

He raised his voice for all to hear, and sure enough, whispers erupted all at once. Yiyeon’s face felt like it was burning from the myriad gazes.

But such silent accusations were nothing to her. She just cared so much about Kwon Chaewoo and his colleagues.

“Are the adulterers eventually your parents? Is a man more important to you than your family? Is that why you abandoned your family to be with a man? It’s obvious, your husband too—”

Finally, Yiyeon also knelt on the floor and firmly covered her cousin’s mouth.

“Please… that’s enough. Don’t say anything more.”

“……!”

Her cousin’s eyes widened at her unprecedented outburst.

“Please, just stop here.”

Yiyeon glared at him, her eyes brimming with tears. Please, stop. Don’t tarnish my precious person.

There had been moments in her life that were unbearably difficult, but she had never felt as pathetic as she did now. Yiyeon couldn’t even bring herself to look up at Kwon Chaewoo.

“That person isn’t my husband. I’m not married. Oppa, you’re mistaken.”

“Ugh!”

Yiyeon’s seized wrist hurt as if it would break, but she desperately endured. With trembling hands, she pressed down on his mouth. His colleagues, including Joo Dongmi, were still looking at them seriously. She was desperate to wipe away the soot that had stained Kwon Chaewoo.

“It’s not what you think, so don’t speak carelessly. Let’s just go out. I’ll listen to everything you have to say, so just tell me.”

“Ugh, ptooey!”

Her cousin shook off her wrist and spat on the floor.

“Shit, what the hell is this—!”

“Move one step from there, Yiyeon.”

“……!”

Just then, his gritted voice caught Yiyeon’s ankle.

“Husband, not husband, I don’t know why your capriciousness makes me so angry. I can’t be gentle right now, so crawl over here.”

“Chaewoo, this is—”

“Why listen to such nonsense?”

“That…”

“Enough. I told you to come here.”

Yet, as she hesitated, looking around, Kwon Chaewoo’s voice thundered, filled with murderous intent.

“So Yiyeon!”

Startled, Yiyeon instinctively stood up.

Her cousin, who had been watching the subtle standoff, reached out his hand towards her like a demon. But Kwon Chaewoo was faster, lifting Yiyeon into his arms and stomping on her cousin’s face.

He stood on the man’s head, crushing it. Her cousin pounded the floor, continuously spewing vulgar curses, and each time, Kwon Chaewoo repeatedly smashed his head.

Thud, thud, thud, the cruel yet highly restrained movements continued without end, and the onlookers quickly turned pale. But no one stepped forward to stop him.

Kwon Chaewoo, without a single change in expression, casually asked Yiyeon.

“Is it fun to make people lose their minds?”

“……Ugh, s-s-shit, who are you, since earlier?”

“Indeed, Yiyeon. Who am I, anyway?”

He mercilessly stomped his heel down, posing the question as if testing her. Yiyeon met Kwon Chaewoo’s sharp gaze with trembling eyes.

The floor continued to thump and strange cracking sounds echoed, but Kwon Chaewoo still only looked at her.

“Yiyeon, you tell me.”

“I-I was afraid you’d be ashamed, Chaewoo.”

Yiyeon loosely unwrapped her arms from his shoulders. But the man’s hands, supporting her armpits and behind her knees, were firm and hot.

“I wanted to keep you from getting involved in such a headache of a commotion, from experiencing unpleasant things. Look around at the people here. See what kind of looks they’re giving.”

Yiyeon hunched her body and lowered her voice.

“……So, for now, let’s just say he’s not my husband. You can do that, can’t you?”

At that moment, Kwon Chaewoo pressed her head down, burying it deep into his shoulder. Suddenly, all gazes from the crowd were blocked, and her vision went dark. The pressure on the back of her head, preventing her from turning, was quite heavy.

“Now, say it again.”

“……!”

Her heart pounded endlessly from the ticklish contact and sweet scent. Then, a low voice once again pierced her eardrums.

“Who am I?”