Flowers Are Bait

Chapter 177:

Kwon Chae-woo turned without a hesitation and stood in front of a broken shelf. He took out a cigarette with his shaky hands. He couldn’t get the lighter going.

He frowned and tried a few more times and lit it up. As he felt the smoke fill his lung, he calmed.

After he came back home, Kwon Chae-woo life was quickly restored. He retrained his body, managed the hunting dogs, and took care of the target. This was his only life after losing his cello, but…

“… Fuck.”

He clenched the cigarette.

The time went painfully slow, the smell of blood was disgusting, and sometimes silence annoyed him. No matter how luxurious the food was it made him nauseous and even the water tasted weird.

On a night like that, he would observe people who were addicted to something, like alcohol, gambling, and drugs. Looking at those who were overjoyed at pointless thing, he felt a little better.

“….”

He wondered what it would be like if he only had one memory.

His head was separated like night and day. He hated her yet missed her so much. He wanted to believe everything Lee-yeon said, but yet couldn’t get rid of his hatred.

Kwon Chae-woo was being carved down with such emotion each day.

“… Your neck will hurt sleeping like that.”

It was when he absorbed both of his memories completely that he started seeing hallucination of So Lee-yeon.

When he first noticed, he was so flustered that his mind blanked, then something inside him started breaking.

“Hm… hallucination is a common side effect to those who had amnesia. You know there’s a ripple when you throw a stone into a lake? It’s like that. You remember the memories that you were forgetting or vice versa and that shock is creating an image. It’s like a ripple in your mind. It’s a sign that you’re becoming normal so you don’t have to worry. You will have less hallucination as you calm down mentally.”

It was important that Kwon Ki-seok doesn’t know that he was hallucinating, especially about So Lee-yeon. So Kwon Chae-woo went to the underground doctor whose license was recorked.

“Can I touch it?”

“Pardon?”

“My hallucination.”

“… Um, well…”

“I’m already insane, so it doesn’t matter if I become a bit more insane.”

The doctor couldn’t hide his expression.

“It’s just a momentary phenomenon… Ah, but for those who has insomnia—“

“I do.”

Kwon Chae-woo answered instantly. He didn’t think his illness would come in handy.

“Uh… Then it’s going to get worse.”

“That’s good.”

If doctor is right, he would keep seeing the hallucination if he dozed off but he liked it. It was all So Lee-yeon.

“Don’t fall asleep here.”

Kwon Chae-woo couldn’t help but keeping up his lies.

***

When Jang Beom-hee came into the room, he saw Kwon Chae-woo’s bareback.

He came back late at dawn, took off his top and was doing a handstand on top of parallel bars.

Kwon Chae-woo’s room was clean like a hotel room, as he had no interest in owning anything. Jang Beom-hee seemed used to it as he took out a new suit and came to him.

“Young master, Miss Bae Eun-joo is waiting at the resort.”

“Why?”

“Director Kwon made the appointment.”

“That was today?”

“Yes, you need to get ready.”

Kwon Chae-woo lightly landed on his feet.

“He’s keeping this up even though he knows what I’m going to do.”

He started dressing up.

He was watching So Lee-yeon sleeping on the sofa at the same time. The woman who was sleeping with sun shining down on her. He kept on touching the empty sofa. A hallucination once again.

“Young master, you can’t keep not sleeping.”

That moment, Jang Beom-hee firmly spoke while observing Kwon Chae-woo’s face.

“I know, so we’ll have to finish it quickly.”

“… Let me know if you need me.” Jang Beom-hee said.

“What for?”

“A woman.”

“A woman?” Kwon Chae-woo finally turned his head and glared at the reflection of Jang Beom-hee on the mirror.

“We should try something at least. If you need a woman in your room—“

“Stop.”

He warned with low voice but Jang Beom-hee finished what he was saying.

“I’ll bring a woman in.”

Kwon Chae-woo scoffed, threw the tie and went to Jang Beom-hee. Then he grabbed the back of his head and lightly tap his cheek with the back of his hand. It was a warning.

“Do you think I can wake up after hugging any random pillow?”

“My apologies.”

“Careful with your mouth.”

Jang Beom-hee bowed.

“If Lee-yeon heard—“

That moment, Kwon Chae-woo froze. At the same time, Jang Beom-hee looked up as well. Kwon Chae-woo’s face looked like he was burned by an unexpected name.

Kwon Chae-woo shut his mouth and finished dressing up. He was finish buttoning the vest then suddenly he took it off frustratingly. He brushed his hair back and closed his eyes.

Jang Beom-hee carefully asked.

“With So Lee-yeon—“

Kwon Chae-woo instantly turned towards him at the name.

“Aren’t you done with her?”

“…”