Flowers Are Bait

Chapter 166:

Under the tree that towered in the front yard, there was a mysterious pit that had been dug. Lee-yeon wiped the sweat that was clinging to her forehead with the back of her hand and plunged the shovel deeply into the ground.

“Phew… I’m done.”

“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this.”Choo-ja said.

“What do you mean?”

Watching Lee-yeon digging with all his might, Choo-ja was engulfed in an indescribable emotion.

Her cheeks were reddened by the sun, sweat running down her chin, and she was breathing heavily after a long time.

It was a completely different energy from the past few weeks, where Lee-yeon was frozen and unresponsive like a returned package. Hence this hopeful and lively atmosphere was a welcomed change.

“I’ll guess. You haven’t even received a wedding invitation from me yet, and here you are attending the death of your son-in-law.”

Choo-ja watched her face closely, wondering if this was some crazy stunt by Lee-yeon.

“I’ve never been this read so accurately before!”

Lee-yeon who was wiping her sweat with a handkerchief, suddenly stopped. An awkward smile hung on her face, visible to anyone.

It was a makeshift funeral for just the two of them, but there were no pictures or belongings to remember him by. The fact that there was nothing left in the house to use was a big part of it, but also because the necessities that Choo-ja hastily filled in like interior decorations were just as useless.

Lee-yeon brought the wooden handicraft that she had received from him as a gift. If they had to bury a man who never existed, this was the only thing to do.

“….”

She threw the carved piece that glowed red in the deep pit she had dug. Then she began to fill the hole again by moving the piles of soil she had placed on one side with a shovel.

“This small act means a lot. It made all the scattered emotions inside Lee-yeon come together and solidify. It was like she needed to personally cover the last page to balance the books, after he came like a terrible accident and left just as abruptly. This funeral was purely a ceremony for her.

Soon, her wooden flower was hidden with just one shovel.

“Choo-ja, what are we going to do next?”

As she continued to fill the hole with dirt, her eyes began to sting strangely. Lee-yeon quickly changed the subject. Her gaze was as gentle as that of a seasoned senior, and Choo-ja swallowed a sigh.

“Lee-yeon, you should cry.”

“….”

“Vent it out.”

“Um….”

“Whether you bow or pray, you have to completely let it go from your heart.”

“….”

“I guess I take after you in some ways.”

Choo-ja murmured bitterly. She wore a black sleeveless dress and tilted her head up like Audrey Hepburn, but the fleeting smile that passed her lips looked infinitely sad.

“Is it a little different?”

“What?”

Once the small mountain was finished, Lee-yeon took a deep breath as if gasping for air, but her throat trembled with remnants of tears.

“I won’t cry anymore. I have cried enough.”

She played a song on her phone.

On the day when Kwon Chae-woo left and the forest lost its inhabitants, it was the first song she wanted to play for him and the residents. It was “Spring” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Suddenly, she felt Choo-ja’s gaze, which seemed surprised.

“It’s too cheerful for a funeral, Lee-yeon.”

“I heard that funerals are for the living.”

Choo-ja nodded with a nostalgic expression, as if lost in thought about the past.

“Choo-ja, don’t mind me and just speak your mind.”

As she saw Choo-ja glare at the ground, Lee-yeon added, “Don’t spit out your anger. It’s better to elegantly conclude for a new beginning.”

Choo-ja couldn’t take her eyes off Yeon, who was still looking at the pile of dirt. She gritted her teeth inwardly.

“Haist, what can a fake mother-in-law say to a fake son-in-law?”

“….”

“Whether the weather is good, bad, or just right, all of Kwon Chae-woo’s antics were good.”

When Lee-yeon looked at her with a gloomy expression, Choo-ja spoke solemnly, one beat too late.

“Getting rid of a relationship that was wrong from the beginning is the best thing to do here.”

With a quick change of attitude, Lee-yeon shook her head and finally chuckled. “Love is more intense the later it comes but thank you for shaking up even the stubborn Lee-yeon who was like a brick wall. It was unpleasant to hear about the gasps and screams, but since we’re both in-laws, let’s just let it go. I’ll forget the face of the kind-hearted Kwon Chae-won too.”

As she laid a white chrysanthemum on the grave, she tried to draw a positive conclusion. Of course, there were biased words she wanted to shoot at him in her heart, but it was good to just let it be.

She wanted to grant Lee-yeon’s request to end things properly.

“Our cow manager also had a great life, flirting with handsome servants like you.”

“Choo-ja, I’m pregnant.”