Flowers Are Bait

Chapter 83:

Lee-yeon couldn’t help but let the words slip through her lips. “You can’t.”

Then, Kwon Chae-woo stepped into the room, interrupting her thoughts. Lee-yeon felt her heart pound against her chest, as if she had been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to. All the while, Kwon Chae-woo eyed her carefully and stepped towards her.

At the sight of the man, Joo Dong-mi’s eyes lit up. She had found her prey. “Howdy!” she greeted enthusiastically. “I came here to ask you something.”

Kwon Chae-woo glanced at her before turning back to Lee-yeon, uninterested in Joo Dong-mi’s antics.

“Why are you out?” he asked Lee-yeon. “Are you hurt?”

When she didn’t answer, he took his cardigan off and wrapped it around her, rubbing her neck with his hot palm—a touch that could only be shared by two people who had done so much more. Lee-yeon straightened her back, pushing away her lewd thoughts.

“Lee-yeon,” Kwon Chae-woo repeated. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” Lee-yeon shook her head then looked up at Joo Dong-mi. “She has a question for you.”

Grinning, Joo Dong-mi fished a business card from her bag and held it out for Kwon Chae-woo to take. “Let me introduce myself again,” she said. “I’m Joo Dong-mi from the Mammal Team for Wildlife Rescue Center.” She smiled at Kwon Chae-woo. “And I’m here to scout you.”

Lee-yeon’s eyes widened at Joo Dong-mi’s words. When she noticed that Kwon Chae-woo hadn’t moved, she poked his side and motioned for him to take the card.

But, lost in his thoughts, Kwon Chae-woo just stared off at the leaves falling on the ground.

Unphased, Joo Dong-mi continued with her plastered smile. “I tried to talk to him at the party,” she explained. “But he wasn’t listening.”

She remembered that night, how she had been completely ignored, how Kwon Chae-woo hadn’t taken his eyes off Lee-yeon the entire time. It was almost as if he was trying to count her eyelashes with how intently he was gazing at her. It had bothered Joo Dong-mi more than she would have liked to admit.

She tried to brush the memory away. “Your stamina, reflex, and creativity,” she continued. “I want it all.”

It was true. At first, she sought him for herself, but she never really did have a habit of hanging onto a man for very long. Especially not the way that Kwon Chae-woo was evidently hanging onto this tiny woman, Lee-yeon.

It was almost like the Japanese Mastiff’s characteristic of never letting anything go after you had it. He was so focused on Lee-yeon that just the thought of having to focus on anything else would have aggravated him.

With how she was with animals, Joo Dong-mi didn’t typically use her head to deal with situations, choosing instead to trust her instincts. It was what fed her hunger. It was what made her want to become the youngest member of the team at 24.

The biggest problem for Hwaido was the lack of manpower. It was a place full of mountains and wildlife that required a certain amount of strength to deal with. A young, unemployed man living on the island was a commodity that had to be used to their advantage.

While all the other employees at the center were also busy looking for a successor, Joo Dong-mi was the only one who had been aggressive about it.

“We need someone with basic education or a license, but, of course, I can help with all of that,” Joo Dong-mi said. “You’ll just need to follow instructions, carry an axe or a stake, and I, your senior, will take care of the rest.”

Joo Dong-mi could tell that Kwon Chae-woo wasn’t listening to her, so she turned to Lee-yeon instead, deciding to use the dynamic between the two of them to her advantage.

“What do you find attractive in men, Lee-yeon?” she asked.

“Me?” Lee-yeon’s eyes widened.

“Yes,” Joo Dong-mi smiled. “Family men are more the trend these days. But they typically work too, don’t they?”

Lee-yeon nodded. “That’s true.”

Joo Dong-mi continued. “But they’d have to earn the money legally, right?”

“Of course,” Lee-yeon said.

“Then,” Joo Dong-mi added, “wouldn’t you want a man who could handle responsibility and do good deeds? A man who is employed?”

Lee-yeon’s eyes widened as she realized what Joo Dong-mi was getting at. Kwon Chae-woo, realizing this too, turned away from Lee-yeon and stared sharply at the other woman.

‘Can I ever treat him like a junior?’ Under his gaze, Joo Dong-mi felt herself stiffen. She didn’t how she could treat this man as her junior at work, but she knew she had to pull through if she wanted the best for herself.

“A man who is good at night is all well and good,” Joo Dong-mi said, trying to sound as calm as possible. “But a man who is great during the day gets the wife’s respect.”

Before Kwon Chae-woo could even react, Lee-yeon frowned. “But Kwon Chae-woo is sick,” she said. “If he has to run around too much or lift heavy things, it would be dangerous.” She looked at Kwon Chae-woo at her side. “He won’t recover.”