Flowers Are Bait

Unknown to her, she was actually convincing him for what she really wanted from him. “You just couldn’t do anything bad to me.”

All he did was quietly raise and lower his eyebrows. His face showed how her words were falling in deaf ears. He didn’t believe an inch of what she said.

Stepping forward, he gently stroked her neck. “Why?”

She was thrown off track. His fingers were doing something to her, “Huh?”

“Why can’t I do anything bad?”

“Uh, it’s because…,” Every time the man’s hand touched Lee-yeon, her heart raced like crazy.

She bit her lips remembering what happened at the mountains. Getting caught by him, failing to flee and the necklace in her neck! His soft touch began appearing suspicious. Lee-yeon spoke without a second thought. “It’s because the law says so!”

“Law?”

“Yeah, so, it’s…,” this time, she bit her lip in anxiety. Choo-ja’s words ringed in her ears- Destiny has nothing to do with finding a partner, you’re choosing your partner by your foresight.

There was a visible gleam in her eyes, “If you kill me, it’ll be a uxoricide.” She finally discovered a way to be safe from him.

For the first time, some kind of colour appeared on his face. He frowned outright and dropped the needle.

Lee-yeon’s conscience pricked her, but she immediately covered it with a poker face. That’s her way of declaring her determination. “Because I’m-I’m your wife.”

That night, she germinated a deadly seed.

* * *

The unexpected always happens. And it is extremely difficult to foresee or predict those happenings.

The accident right before her eyes was a case that could only be found in foreign research papers. She struggled with the right words for a while. “Are you sure it got hit by lightning last night?”

“Yes.”

Lee-yeon hardened her face as she looked at the recently-turned-black tree. It had split into half.

The lady who called Lee-yeon held her hands tightly, wiping her tears with a handkerchief. “This is the tree I planted when my son was born. But he’s grown up now and is a part of the army. I am certainly having a bad feeling about this.”

“I’ll take a look at it first.”

The tree appeared unsightly and was severely damaged. Lee-yeon frowned as if she could feel the pain of the tree and started the diagnosis. “Manager, this needs surgery. Let’s fill the hole with chains for now and fix the date for surgery.”

Choo-ja, who followed her with a surgical box, whispered in a worry, “What if they hold you responsible if it dies?”

“Fortunately, the roots are not damaged, so it can recover. Besides, it’s the birth tree of her son.” Lee-yeon sat on her knees and asked, “Is there enough local soil in the hospital?”

Choo-ja sat beside her. She was surprised looking at Lee-yeon’s face. Somehow, her face looked even more tired under a bright light. The dark circles under her eyes looked unusual.

“Manager, these days I’m…,” Lee-yeon’s phone rang. After checking the caller, she excused herself and moved to a quiet place.

She picked up the call. “Hello?”

The mature and calm eyes that Lee-yeon maintained even after looking at the state of the tragic tree suddenly changed. She bit her nails and walked around, resembling a gambler who ran away from a debtor. “What do you mean?”

Her eyes, which were hidden under the straw hat, trembled uncontrollably. It’s been a month since Kwon Chae-woo, that vegetative man, woke up. The medical staff took him for a check, and all he told her was, “he’s amnesiac”. And the phone call that she finally got told her something very absurd.

“I can’t tell when he’s going to wake up,” answered the caller.

She was at a loss of words and couldn’t comprehend the caller’s intent. But then she shook her head. “I don’t understand what you’re saying. Don’t joke with me. I had a conversation with him. He even got on me.”

She could hear him coughing over the phone.

That night, when Kwon Chae-woo heard the confession, “I am your wife,” he collapsed as if he had used up all his energy. Lee-yeon immediately contacted the medical staff, and this is the result.

She had been extremely nervous while waiting for his well-being. Her heart was pounding fast, and she even plucked out her hair as if she had paroxysm.

After these many sleepless nights, Lee-yeon was now realising how terrible her idea was. Wife, a murderer’s wife! Out of so many other plausible lies, why did I?

“No. That’s not what I’m saying. It’s a bit different.”

“What?”

“According to the result of the brain test, it has been confirmed that his consciousness has returned. It’s hard to believe that he woke up from a vegetative state, but he did. Fortunately, the result of the reaction test also seems fine. However…”

Lee-yeon held her breath. She was expecting another shock.

“I can’t tell when he’s going to wake up.”

“But you just said that he woke up!” She frowned as she felt someone around her neck.

“I can’t give you a definitive answer because the patient is showing rare symptoms”

“Rare symptoms?”

Caller answered, “Hypersomnia”

She touched her lips with a confused face.

“It is also known as Sleeping Beauty Syndrome. I’ve done all the tests I can but can’t pinpoint the cause. There’s nothing wrong with the brain, so this is just a guess.”

Lee-yeon opened her mouth with a blank face. She quietly blinked her eyes. With these people around, she was somewhere getting used to unexpected turns of events.

“We’ll have to wait and see, but if it turns out to be this syndrome,” the doctor turned silent.

“Then?”

“Once he falls asleep, he may not be able to wake up for a week, 10 days, or even more” Hearing no response, he continued, “Currently, the patient has been sleeping for 12 days.”

Lee-yeon wasn’t aware of ways to react in such situations.

“For now, I’ll bring him to you again.”

When the doctor was about to end the call, Lee-yeon hurriedly called him, “D-doctor, wait!”

She took a deep breath and lifted her hat. The wind blew on her sweaty forehead. “So, you mean although Kwon Chae-woo is not in a vegetative state right now, no one knows when he’ll wake up, right?”

“Yes. For now, we cannot expect anything.”

“Huff,” Lee-yeon breathed out as if crying. The anxiety she had built up in her chest disappeared all at once. Her tightly closed eyelids trembled. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Pardon?”

She sighed in relief and couldn’t thank God enough. ‘Because I’m, I’m your wife.’ Now, she can just pretend not to know anything. And can, anyways, tell him that it all happened in his dream. “Thank you, doctor. Thank you!”

Lee-yeon, who returned to the scene, spoke optimistically to the client who had not yet erased the face of despair, “I’ll do my best to revive this tree!”

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