Flowers Are Bait

“Da*n it, where the hell in Hwaido is this?”

The impact of a blow to the back of her head sent shockwaves all the way to Lee-yeon’s eardrums. Although the words felt like a knife thrust, her dulled mind couldn’t fully comprehend the reality.

How can this be Hwaido?

The Hwaido she witnessed at the opening ceremony was a paradise on Earth. Moreover, as a certified tree doctor who participated in the bidding herself, she could confidently assert that the place was the largest botanical garden in the country.

But how can a prison be in Hwaido? Lee-yeon trembled, bringing her face close to the wall with her hands shaking.

“Jo-yoon, I need to get out of here.”

Eyes engulfed in terror shook in the darkness.

“What time is it now, or rather, what day is it? Have you seen a child brought in with me by any chance?”

“First, calm down. I don’t know about anything else, but you haven’t been here for even half a day!”

Gyu-baek’s whereabouts were completely unknown. Lee-yeon’s face turned ashen with worry. She vaguely remembered seeing Hwaido in the distance and someone smiling at the child.

However, everything after that was a blank slate.

She couldn’t fathom when or how she lost consciousness, and the circumstances before and after were utterly incomprehensible. As the emptiness deepened, Lee-yeon slapped her face with her hand, trying to shake off the paralyzing stiffness.

This wasn’t the time to be lost in thought here.

“What do you mean, this is Hwaido?”

At that moment, a cold voice echoed from beyond the stone wall, “Hahahaha,” and he burst into sinister laughter.

“Lee-yeon, did you think Hwaido was just a simple botanical garden?”

“What…?”

His voice, now tinged with excitement, echoed like thunder in the cave.

“The so-called ‘fantasy garden,’ ‘beautiful,’ and all the expensive trees in Hwaido were just a deception! The real purpose of the upper-ups is here is in this underground! They went to great lengths just to conceal this place!”

Lee-yeon’s bones shook. Everything she knew had been overturned in an instant.

In that moment, she recalled Yoon Joo-ha, trapped and unseen beneath the elegant mansion of the powerful Kwon family. The only difference between the her and the surface above was layer of cement.

Why did she appear in the same situation? A cold sweat broke out on her back. Meanwhile, Hwang Jo-yoon continued to press her.

“Do you know what’s happening beneath Hwaido?”

“…What’s happening?” Despite her lackluster tone, Lee-yeon’s mind was racing faster than ever.

If it was related to Hwaido, Kwon Ki-seok would surely know. He was the major investor here and the CEO of Su-guk Pharmaceuticals. Moreover, he introduced a new paradigm of hallucinogens extracted from rare plants.

Pieces of the puzzle that couldn’t be fully grasped during the opening ceremony were now scattered on the floor. As Lee-yeon got lost in thought, a suddenly assertive voice reached her ears.

“Have you heard of ‘Summer’?”

In that moment, her brain felt like it was being pierced by a hot needle, and a single assumption struck like lightning. Lee-yeon coughed as if trying to expel a breath. Finally, all the pieces of information began to fall into place.

“Da*n it, do you know how that drug is made?” He asked.

They were hiding a drug field in Hwaido! If this place was an illegal research facility for Summer, Su-guk Pharmaceuticals—

Perhaps Lee-yeon didn’t know that the true purpose of Hwaidom might be a covert cultivation site for the extract of the rare plant, Summer. As she approached the answer, Hwang Jo-yoon, unable to contain his anger, pounded on the wall. Then, he uttered words that surpassed Lee-yeon’s thoughts by far.

“They’re using us as fertilizer!”

“…!”

“Damn it, do you know what that rare plant discovered by Jo Kyung-cheon eats and grows on?”

Hwang Jo-yoon, thoroughly excited, laughed and cried like a madman repeatedly.

“How do you plan to leave here? I’ve been tortured here for months…! How do you think you’ll get out? This place is hell!”

* * *

—The press is already prepared.

With every step Kwon Chae-woo took, the blood splattered in the pattern of the shoe sole beneath him. He wandered around the mansion, now resembling a ruined house, for half a day while listening to his second brother’s voice.

All the servants were sent out, and the only ones left were the contractors hired by Kwon Ki-seok. Kwon Chae-woo quickly subdued the approaching opponents simultaneously, staining his hands with blood once again.

With every painful strike, blood droplets mercilessly sprayed onto his smooth cheek without a single scar. Kwon Chae-woo grabbed the staggering man, wiped his dirty face on someone else’s clothes, and discarded him.

He continued walking with a stern expression, not stopping for a moment. The corridor vibrated with the smell of blood in an instant.

“Chae-woo, but really… No.”

Kwon Hee-joon spoke as he lit a cigarette, the click of the lighter opening echoing.

“Sigh… Fine, it’s fine. Handle that bastard as you see fit.”

He knew what Kwon Hee-joon had refrained from asking. He probably wanted to know if he would personally deal with Kwon Ki-seok. However, Kwon Chae-woo showed no emotion with an ice-cold face. He simply moved his legs towards the final target without haste.

The location revealed by the hunting dogs happened to be the underground where Yoon Joo-ha had been confined. His intentions were quite clear. Kwon Ki-seok was waiting for him.

“―Anyway, that mother and father were made that way by that bastard. It was after Yoon Joo-ha was caught that our parents were reduced to disabled people overnight. Was that really a coincidence?”

Kwon Hee-joon’s bitter words didn’t elicit any emotions from Kwon Chae-woo.

His birth mother was bedridden, only kept alive by injections due to nerve weakness. His birth father had not been able to get up from his sickbed for years. Naturally, the power of the Kwon family had shifted to the eldest son, and everything began to revolve around Kwon Ki-seok.

Kwon Hee-joon had long suspected the overlap of Yoon Joo-ha’s imprisonment and that particular point.