Flowers Are Bait

Chapter 162:

“Director So, you should eat something and move around a bit.” She called her by her professional name to get her attention. It was to no avail.

“….”

“First of all, can’t we do something about that flower pot? It’s an eyesore, and if we keep leaving it like that, even the person who comes to collect the trees will have a hard time. Don’t forget that the front yard is like our hospital brochure.”

At that moment, Lee-yeon opened her mouth, her lips parting in confusion.

“Is there any point in trying hard to take care of it?”

“What?”

“No matter how much effort I put into it, it seems useless.”

Her vacant gaze outside the window had no focus.

“Is it okay to do such a stupid thing again?”

“Who the hell caused such a disaster, the honest and trustworthy guy?!”

“But still, it’s stupid.”

The smile on the firm lips, now only a shell, disappeared for a moment.

A few days ago, Lee-yeon was sitting alone in the bedroom and was nauseous watching the sunrise. She tried to call him spasmodically, but all she heard was a machine sound saying that the number was out of service.

Is this reality? Where does real and fake begin and end? In an instant, she felt breathless and her mind became confused.

Being alone in the room with this situation, she couldn’t believe it and felt a strange sense of detachment from reality. Just a few weeks ago, her life wasn’t like this…

Why are we fated to be like this? Does this life even make sense?

She thought that something was wrong. Very wrong. It’s like a wriggling bug has attached itself to her and she feels a terrible sense of unease. If she doesn’t solve this problem right away, she feels like she might die.

Lee-yeon blindly stepped outside.

Where her feet landed was the district office, and she demanded a family relationship certificate with a face that looked like a screw had come loose.

She was really angry. At Kwon Chae-woo, Kwon Ki-seok, and finally, at herself who had made everything a mess.

There was no spouse on the pure white document. There was definitely Kwon Chae-woo’s name on it before. Now, it was gone as if it were a lie.

This can’t be. I saw it clearly with my own two eyes…!

Lee-yeon trembled as she pulled out the document twice more, but nothing had changed. Looking down with a distant gaze, she suddenly noticed that her shoes were mismatched. The left foot was a sneaker, and the right foot was a slipper.

Only then did she snap back to reality.

“I know, I can’t seem to pull herself together right now.”

Yes, the old her had never been married. This was their starting point. Something twisted was boiling inside her, but eventually it burst out in laughter. People looked at her strangely, but Lee-yeon couldn’t stop laughing.

“But this is really strange, isn’t it?”

She turned her head and met Choo-ja’s gaze.

“Despite there being no traces of that person anymore, the smell keeps coming back. Does it happen to you too, Choo-ja? Or is it just me who smells it? ” Suddenly, a strange light flickered in her eyes, which had lost their former luster.

“It’s stuck in my nose and won’t go away. So I keep getting confused and suspicious. It’s definitely here, still here. Someone must be deliberately deceiving me. The scent is lingering everywhere… ”

Lee-yeon buried her face in the cushion, and her fragile neck trembled. Choo-ja bit her lip at the sight of her vulnerable state.

“Just because one man has left, there’s no need for you to be so distressed that you want to die.”

A firm voice shook Lee-yeon as she was forced to sit up. “Allow this season to pass. It’s just your first man who’s gone. Look, how many men have passed by me? But do I fall apart every time they leave?”

“…You went to the emergency room when your uncle passed away.” Lee-yeon murmured in a trembling voice. “You didn’t eat, didn’t shower, didn’t even go to the bathroom. That’s why you had to be hospitalized—”

“Ahem, ahem!”

At those words, Choo-ja cleared her throat and waved her hands uneasily. “I mean, don’t be suspicious and don’t be afraid! It’s true that love is a natural disaster, but—”

Choo-ja’s eyes, as if staring off into the distance, suddenly became deep and hollow. “However, resenting the disaster that has struck will only create another calamity for oneself.”

Choo-ja’s eyes were compassionate, but at the same time, they were stern.

“But…I feel like I’ve been uprooted. I am completely destroyed.”

Leaning her cheek against the back of the sofa, Lee-yeon crumbled as if all her strength had left her. Her voice oozed out like a weeping wound from that day’s hurt.

“Am I writhing in pain like a child who lost a tooth, even though it’s just a small thing?”

Choo-ja firmly grasped her icy hand, unable to find the right words to comfort her.

“You, who can revive even the dying trees, can’t save just one body like mine?”

Lee-yeon’s eyes revealed a sense of helplessness like withered reeds trembling in the wind.

“Lee-yeon, after crying a thousand times, let’s go see the trees with me.”