Flowers Are Bait

Kwon Chae-woo dropped his head, his face a myriad of different colours from the beating. The young man never noticed any change, but Kwon Chae-woo’s movements seemed to get smoother, as if he had regained control of his body.

“There certainly are some random things on this tiny ass island,” Kwon Chae-woo rasped defiantly. “I can’t even go to a picnic with Lee-yeon anymore, without feeling uneasy.”

Kwon Chae-woo frowned and turned to the man holding the knife on him. “Don’t you think it’s too dangerous for anyone to have children here?”

The young man, holding Kwon Chae-woo’s arm, looked shock as he didn’t know what to make of his hostage’s strange behavior. In fact, the young man was more scared of Kwon Chae-woo. The young man was used to craziness. The drugs they produced destroyed any sense of rationality. People who were affected reverted back to a primordial nature whether they wanted to or not. He had seen it all, but nothing like what this man did.

Kwon Chae-woo had been asked to be beaten when the young man had snuck up on him spying. And the strangest thing was that Kwon appeared to have a clear mind. The young man threw some punches, at Kwon’s request, but Kwon didn’t feel it was enough so began hitting himself. It was the most psychotic action the young man had ever witnessed.

After Kwon had beaten himself black and blue, he turned to the young man and asked, “Do I look pathetic? My wife takes good care of the sick and pathetic.”

The young man was sure that Kwon was on some form of drugs he had never seen. He had heard that bath salts caused this sort of behaviour. Maybe, Kwon had come here to get more drugs? The young man went through all of the possibilities in his mind.

Then Kwon took it one step further, picking up a rock. As if the initial strikes weren’t enough, Kwon began slamming the rock into his nose and lips without hesitation. The young man actually tried to stop Kwon from causing any further abuse to himself. He was frightened, as he watched Kwon bleed without any sense of regret or pain. Kwon finished with the beating, smeared dirt all over his clothes, messed up his hair and then handed a knife to the young man

“Drag me in as a prisoner.” Kwon ordered.

“You don’t have to…” the young man began, really wanting nothing to do with Kwon anymore.

“You don’t know how to deal with a bastard who was spying on you, do you?” Kwon asked. The young man didn’t know what to do. He had thought about yelling to the others. They had killed plenty of people, but for some reason the young man didn’t think they could kill Kwon.

Now that they had returned to the base, the young man was just hoping he would make it through the next few minutes. He watched as Kwon Chae-woo went to the other prisoner tied to a chair and knelt by her side.

“Are you hurt at all?” Kwon asked Lee-yeon. “I’m sorry, for letting you go.”

Lee-yeon felt sad that she had got them into this position. Kwon’s face looked even worse, closer up. Her heart raced as she watched the group of drug dealers slowly encircle them with steel pipes in hand. Yet, Kwon Chae-woo seemed to not even see them, and rested his chin on her thigh.

“Lee-yeon, are you hungry?” Kwon asked. “Should we set up our picnic here?”

Lee-yeon stared at him as if he had gone insane. Sure, this looked like a peaceful cabin in the woods, if it wasn’t for the drugs and the men who appeared intent on killing them.

“Kwon Chae-woo, we’re in trouble,” she said harshly, trying to break him out of whatever fantasy he appeared stuck in.

Kwon Chae-woo nodded his head slightly. Kwon Chae-woo turned and spat blood at the men surrounding them. “Are you growing drugs?” he asked.

“Who is this crazy bastard?” one of the drug dealers asked.

Kwon Chae-woo turned back to Lee-yeon and said, “Lee-yeon, let’s move tomorrow.”

“What?” Lee-yeon was beginning to think that Kwon Chae-woo had completely lost it.

“You work in the mountain. Do you think I’m going to let you go back to work after this has happened? You won’t even let me come with you to protect you. So, if you want to keep meeting murderers…”

Kwon Ki-seok’s plea came into Lee-Yeon’s mind. He said to make sure Kwon Chae-woo never left Hwaido. “I like Hwaido,” she said.

“Even if it’s this messed up?” Kwon Chae-woo said, indicating the men who had surrounded them and were watching the conversation as if it was a daily soap opera.

Lee-yeon didn’t have anything to say. How did it come to this? she thought. Beautiful Hwaido. She loved the island since the first time she set foot on it, looking for a place to live. She could never leave this natural wonder, surrounded by forests and sea.

“You guys are making me laugh. You still think you can go home?” One of the drug dealers mocked their interaction, then slammed the sledgehammer he was holding on to Kwon Chae-woo’s foot. Kwon Chae-woo howled, showing pain for the first time.

Lee-yeon screamed. “We’ll pretend we haven’t seen anything!” she shouted to the men.