Flowers Are Bait

“Lee-yeon, do you know my job?”

He tilted his head slightly and asked calmly, but Lee-yeon couldn’t respond.

“Do you know my real birthday?”

“…”

“Can you guess what I majored in?”

For a moment, her mind went blank, and she couldn’t say anything. As he pointed out, she didn’t know. The emotions that had flared up suddenly began to fade.

“I graduated from a collge abroad when I was younger.”

It was a story that felt entirely new, not the Kwon Chae-woo she vaguely knew. Lee-yeon was curious but refrained from asking, and these were stories she had never shown any interest in.

Lee-yeon had no choice but to keep her mouth shut, feeling awkward.

“I don’t have any friends, and there are only a few people who contact me onesidedly.”

“…”

“They are all foreigners.”

“…”

“Also, I’m good at German.”

Lee-yeon’s eyes blinked rapidly as she felt a mix of confusion and surprise.

“I could try to bring back the person that you already buried. You don’t really know much about me, Lee-yeon. I mean, the real Kwon Chae-woo, not just you late husband, who were in a coma.”

He lifted his head and fixed a sharp gaze on Lee-yeon. There was a glint of intensity in his eyes, as if one wrong move could consume her.

“So, this is about moving forward, not going back. I’m going to start over.”

“…!”

“Let dead people stay dead. Anyway, my competitor has always been your ex-husband.”

Lee-yeon was left dumbfounded, her mouth slightly ajar.

“From now on, if I can’t push that kind of trash out of Lee-yeon’s memory, I’ll have to get my ass kicked.”

His words resonated with a past incident in Hwaido, where he had misunderstood and vented his frustration.

Despite his body being injured, and this confrontation taking up a notch, he still maintained an intense, fervent gaze.

In the end, Lee-yeon released a sigh that sounded more like a cynical chuckle.

She wondered, who was still trapped in the past?

The reason she buried Kwon Chae-woo was for a new beginning, not to show off her stubbornness.

While she was more than ready to embrace his new beginning, accepting a new Kwon Chae-woo was another challenge.

When she had faced off with the young master of the Kwon family, she chose to keep her distance and build a wall.

That’s what people who haven’t let go of the past usually do…

Lee-yeon’s face flushed with a sense of embarrassment. “…Don’t say such scary things. I know perfectly well who you are.”

While he exuded a formidable presence, Lee-yeon stood her ground with a determined resolve.

“What, you think I’ve been turning a blind eye all this time? I’ve seen and experienced countless bizarre things here… Even if I posted anonymously, no one would believe the strange incidents I’ve encountered. What can I possibly do rationally with the heir of the Kwon family?”

“Oh… Lee-yeon, you’ve always had a soft spot for the good ones, haven’t you?”

Kwon Chae-woo, who had been at a distance, approached with confident strides. His attire seemed looser, revealing prominent collarbones and shoulders.

This man appeared even thinner than before. Had he been eating properly?

“I can be whatever you want me to be, Lee-yeon.”

Lee-yeon could only sigh in response.

“Are there any conditions you want? Maybe you have a thing with poor people. I can adjust accordingly. I will do my best to suit Lee-yeon’s tastes.”

“….”

“Do you like it long or short?”

“What, what-”

“I meant housework.” Kwon Chae-woo replied with a smooth face, shrugging his shoulders.

Lee-yeon took a few steps back reflexively, feeling a familiar sense of danger. Kwon Chae-woo had always excelled at this kind of banter, playfully testing people’s limits.

In response, Lee-yeon decided to regain control of the situation.

“The spirit tree.”

The moment she brought it up, Kwon Chae-woo’s face stiffened.

“The spirit tree is 500 years old. It’s an inheritance that has been around for over 500 years.”

“… What are you going to do about it?”

Lee-yeon had just played her last card, as she had presented an unsolvable problem. Kwon Chae-woo’s face revealed no answers, only silence.

“Could someone who hasn’t even lived for thirty years like Kwon Chae-woo replace that?”

* * *

It had been a few days since she’d presented an unsolvable problem as her last line of defense. Meanwhile, Lee-yeon started packing her belongings. Kwon Chae-woo remained stiff, as if the task she had set before him had rendered him speechless.

However, today he came back with a crutch and a lunchbox as usual, and he didn’t utter a single word about Shinmyeongmok, just as she intended.

Well, it was to be expected. It was a question he couldn’t possibly answer because she knew he would never solve it.

Lee-yeon finally felt relieved as if the waves of nausea had subsided and folded her clothes into the suitcase.

Just then, her phone rang, and she naturally glanced at the screen.

“Hello?”

– Director, it seems that today we need to remove the thorns in the garden near the warehouse as well.

“The warehouse area?”

“Well, it’s not exactly a warehouse. I heard it used to be a building not in use right now. I’m not sure about the details, but ever since I came here, it’s been a restricted area, and no one but direct family members has been inside. But the ban was just lifted.”

Lee-yeon suppressed a sigh, realizing that the contract seemed designed to put people through various ordeals.

“So, while we’re tidying up other gardens, we thought we might as well check that area too. I’ll take care of the tools, so could you come directly to that place today instead of the office? It’s located behind the annex, about two blocks away.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As she skillfully concealed her annoyance, her hand paused when she heard the next part.

“Oh…! I heard that it was once used as a room for the youngest son of the family.”