Flowers Are Bait

Lee-yeon didn’t leave work until it was late at night due to the garden that the dogs had ravaged. Although she didn’t sit down and work directly, it felt monotonous to be the only one left, so she stayed until late.

Rubbing her sore shoulders, she headed towards her room, but suddenly, her legs came to an abrupt stop.

In front of her room lay an oddly shaped, large lump. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a person hunched over. More precisely, Kwon Chae-woo was sitting leaning against the door of Lee-yeon’s room.

Even though she had been on edge, not knowing when Kwon Chae-woo might suddenly appear, she couldn’t let her guard down even during work. Yet, to see him like this, so disheveled was unexpected.

Kwon Chae-woo leaned against the door with an air of exhaustion, his head resting against it. His hair, slanted in that direction, hung heavily like waste water, and strangely, there was a faint odor of blood emanating from his tightly clinging black clothes.

However, his skin, so pallid that it seemed translucent, didn’t look like it belonged to the living. Because of his eerie appearance, her legs refused to move readily.

But Lee-yeon no longer held the naive belief that he might be asleep.

“It’s late; you should go.”

She lightly tapped Kwon Chae-woo’s thigh with the tip of her toe. Fortunately, her voice came out icy and composed.

“Don’t act like this here; go to your room.”

“…”

At her words, his seemingly lifeless eyes blinked slowly. Thanks to his pale irises, his pupils appeared even sharper in the darkness, pinpointing Lee-yeon precisely.

“I need to get in, so move aside.”

Lee-yeon tapped her fingers on the doorframe as she spoke. Suddenly, Kwon Chae-woo thudded his head against the door with a dull sound.

“Lee-yeon, I’m sleepy.”

The sound that escaped him could pass as a resigned sigh. His voice, dampened like a swamp, seemed to envelop her too.

What on earth was he doing every night to return in such a disheveled state? For the first time, Lee-yeon felt curiosity about the young man in front of her.

But Kwon Chae-woo’s relentless display of some power he naturally wielded was also irritating.

“…Did you try to sleep with someone else before crawling to me because you’re tired?”

“What?”

“Have you tried sleeping next to another woman?”

Kwon Chae-woo seemed momentarily speechless, and his face contorted as if he had been wounded. His pale, still face trembled silently, bringing a hidden thrill from somewhere deep within Lee-yeon’s chest.

“So, So Lee-yeon, did you enjoy teasing me?” Those words brushed through Lee-yeon’s mind, and she chewed on the inside of her cheek before repeating them.

“You seemed to enjoy it too, didn’t you? Teasing. That must be a skill of yours.”

Kwon Chae-woo clenched his fist and thudded it on the floor once, his hand, tense and trembling slightly. Watching a man who couldn’t even stand up straight as he tries to show frustration, Lee-yeon shivered at the pathetic sight.

“I don’t want to hear those words.” He bowed his head deeply, and his voice, now cold instead of angry, sounded like a childish tantrum.

“Why didn’t you try sleeping next to other women?” Lee-yeon insisted, “Why should I have any obligation to satisfy you?”

“….”

“It’s shameful to find me just because you are sleepy.”

Kwon Chae-woo brushed his hair back with trembling hands. His smooth forehead creased, and a soundless laugh escaped him.

After having hallucinations of Lee-yeon, he voluntarily refused to sleep. Jang Beom-hee had grown frustrated with his consistent refusal of his suggestion to try sleeping with other women

Despite being tempted to lie down with her, he gritted his teeth, thinking about the days, or perhaps weeks, ahead when he wouldn’t be able to get up. He was afraid he’d be in a vegetative again.

He couldn’t let that happen. With him sleeping too long, Lee-yeon would be left alone in the Kwon family, where everything was in turmoil.

So, if he had to refrain from sleeping, then refrain he must.

“Does it seem like I’m just a mop to you?”

“What are you saying…”

“You treat me like a teenager who plays himself. If it’s not you, I can’t even get an erection. It seems like you… you have control over every aspect of my life.”

The intense gaze directed solely at her made her feel empowered.

“I’m really sorry to hear that.”

He clenched his jaw and fixed a red, intense stare on Lee-yeon, not uttering a word. Lee-yeon felt a mix of innocence and pent-up emotions, as she always did when dealing with Kwon Chae-woo.

“I only want to be worn out by Lee-yeon. I want to get dirty with just one person.”

“Stop. I get it.”

“Did you want to turn me into a rag because you couldn’t stand the sight of me? If that’s the case then why don’t you squeeze out every last drop of me, Lee-yeon? You don’t even know how to use a rag properly…”