Flowers Are Bait

“Lee-yeon, stop moving.”

“Huh?” She felt as if she was lying on a cloud. Lee-yeon rubbed her face and pressed her cheeks on Kwon Chae-woo’s back.

“Lee-yeon.” A familiar voice spoke beside her ear. “You don’t like me drinking?”

The alcohol taking over her senses, Lee-yeon started smiling like a kid on a sugar rus without any idea that she was being carried by Kwon Chae-woo on his back.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“…If you drink, I’m afraid you’ll remember everything.”

Kwon Chae-woo, who had been walking silently, suddenly stopped. The faint smile on his face was immediately wiped off.

Stories about men who change and act like a gangster when they are intoxicated are as common as rotten cigarette butts on the streets. Kwon Chae-woo did not forget the old scars he’d seen on Lee-yeon’s body. His face darkened at the thought that made him feel miserable.

When Kwon Chae-woo was about to move to shake off the feeling of shame and guilt, Lee-yeon murmured something again.

“Do you know? This relationship is abnormal. No matter how much I think about it, I think this is crazy. I think I lost my mind back then. I shouldn’t have accepted it…”

With each word she said, Lee-yeon twisted the knife in his heart. It was her true, inner thoughts that Kwon Chae-woo always wanted to hear. He was not satisfied at all, but rather, he felt as if something was stuck in his throat.

It was a shabby ending. Lee-yeon was regretting their marriage.

“Did you want to run away?”

“…I’ve thought about it, but I couldn’t. Even if I want to, I can’t, and I have been like this since I was young.”

“Have you tried running away?”

“Of course, I even went to the police station.”

Kwon Chae-woo’s face distorted. ‘What could have possibly made her go to the police station?’ Assuming the worst, Kwon Chae-woo clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw ached.

‘Kwon Chae-woo, you bastard!’ He blamed and trampled on his past self, which he couldn’t even remember, over and over again. He put it in a coffin and buried it deep in the ground.

“I just…. want it all to end one day.” She muttered like a person who submitted to one’s fate. There was no hope or excitement in her feeble voice.

“Lee-yeon, were you scared of me?”

“…Yes.”

“Did you want to live without me?”

“…Yes.” A drowsy voice murmured again.

‘I lost my memory but I made Lee-yeon live with the painful memories I left to her. Why am I selfish ‘till the end?’

“Did I ever hurt you physically?”

“Yes.”

His body stiffened coldly at the answer that came out from her mouth without a second’s hesitation. He trembled in anger, not towards Lee-yeon but himself. It was the moment when his doubts became truths.

“Regularly?”

“I think you were like that to not just me but anyone else.”

Kwon Chae-woo closed his eyes to suppress anger. His breathing suddenly became difficult.

But―

‘If this is an opportunity. If I’m given a second chance to make up for the way I treated her.’

Rather than dwelling on the unreachable past, Kwon Chae-woo began to think of what he should do to change tomorrow and the days ahead. He put strength in his hands holding Lee-yeon as if not to lose her.

***

“Why didn’t you just leave me to die. You should have just spit on my face and run away when I was in a coma.” Kwon Chae-woo continued as he ridiculed his past.

He was a terrible burden to Lee-yeon, he realized. If she had thrown away that burden, she would have led a happy life. Besides, there must have been plenty of men lining up to marry a young and capable woman.

‘But Kwon Chae-woo without Lee-yeon―’

‘I would not have woken up.’

In other words, it is impossible for him to lead a normal life without Lee-yeon.

He needs her. Instead of just watching her leave him, Kwon Chae-woo would like to compensate for all the hardship he thought he caused her. He was going to make her choose him, to return to him willingly. Make her believe that it was her will to come back to him, not through coercion. And make her realize that the safest and the most comfortable place for her was beside him, not anywhere else.

“Even if you ran away at that time, no one would have blamed you.” Kwon Chae-woo spoke thoughtfully with dim eyes.

“…But, there’s a clear promise between us.”

Surprise evident in Kwon Chae-woo’s face, he remained silent and listened.

“It was a promise, an obligation I couldn’t break. That’s why people tell you to think twice when signing a contract… Although I regret it, even if I go back, I would still have signed the contract.”

“….”

“At the time, that was the only way.”

Kwon Chae-woo couldn’t say anything as if his throat was clogged. He didn’t know she would mention the word “promise”, which he thought was about their marriage vow, despite how badly he treated her.

The promise, something Lee-yeon valued more than her own safety. A strong sense of belonging wrapped around him. His life was no longer insecure and disappointing. Slowly from the bottom, Lee-yeon was filling up his life.

“Lee-yeon, do you like me?”

She didn’t respond. Kwon Chae-woo shook her body once, but she didn’t move.

It was when they almost arrived at the house that the answer came out from her mouth. A hand touched his neck.

“…Don’t, don’t even ask me that.”

‘If I’m really given a second chance—’

‘Then God is on my side.’

A cold smile appeared on his face. He won’t waste this chance.