Flower Fiancé Chapter 75

“I don’t know exactly what that bastard Lee Hyunjoon said or how he said it, but I hope you won’t be swayed by the words of that bastard either, Mr. Yeonwoo. It means don’t pay attention or pour your heart into the 1% of falsehood hidden within the truth. You know what I mean, right?”

Watching Choi Moohyuk, who was calmer than Ji Yeonwoo himself, who was easily swept up emotionally, many thoughts came to mind. That meeting Choi Moohyuk was a stroke of luck that would never come again, and a resolution that no matter what happened, he could not let this person go.

Only then did a smile spread across Ji Yeonwoo’s lips, and he nodded in reply.

“And speaking of which, about Lee Hyunjoon. Do you remember the promise I made with you before?”

Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes, which had been lost in other thoughts, focused. Lee Hyunjoon? A promise? A question rose in his mind, but the question did not linger long. It was because he recalled the promise he had made with Choi Moohyuk on the day he first learned that the person who had inflicted so much pain upon him was Lee Hyunjoon.

“The promise that if that bastard poses a greater threat to you, Mr. Ji Yeonwoo, I would no longer stand by and watch.”

“Ah…”

“That promise is effective from this very moment.”

A sharp edge gleamed in Choi Moohyuk’s eyes as he spoke. In other words, it meant that from now, from this moment on, whatever he did, he was not to interfere.

That was what Ji Yeonwoo wanted as well. He was prepared to use any means necessary if he could only cut that wretched person out of his life. But if Choi Moohyuk was the one doing it, the story changed slightly.

“Will you… kill him?”

His anxiety-tinged eyes wavered faintly. Looking at Ji Yeonwoo like that, Choi Moohyuk raised one eyebrow.

“If that is what you wish, Mr. Yeonwoo, then I shall.”

“Ah, no. Wait. That’s not what I meant, I was asking how you intend to handle it.”

Startled, Ji Yeonwoo urgently waved both hands.

“In my heart, I wish he would disappear right now, but what if the harm comes back to you instead, Mr. Moohyuk.”

Choi Moohyuk pressed down on the stiff hospital bed sheets with both arms and drew closer.

“Then how would you like it handled, Mr. Yeonwoo? What would be the most agonizing method for that bastard?”

At the question thrown back at him, a flustered expression spread across Ji Yeonwoo’s face.

“Punishing him by law? Or using my abilities to kill and eliminate that bastard? Of course, that moment would feel cathartic. But wouldn’t such a punishment be too regrettable? When we clearly know how that bastard has been treating Mr. Yeonwoo all this time.”

He could not tear his eyes away from his face as it slowly drew nearer. Creases formed between Choi Moohyuk’s brows and on his eyebrows as he came close enough that the tips of their noses nearly touched. His approaching hand brushed against the cheek that was still red and swollen, as if grazing it.

“I have absolutely no intention of letting him be. I also have to make him pay for scarring something I’m too precious to even touch carelessly.”

Unlike the voice that was so deeply and intensely charged it was almost terrifying, his touch was cautious to the point of merely grazing, unable to even press hard. And his thumb, gently cupping the cheek, lingered around the split corner of the lips where ointment had been applied.

Receiving his touch, Ji Yeonwoo tilted his face until their noses brushed and kissed him first. He pressed their lips together until the full lips were crushed, then greedily parted his mouth and bit Choi Moohyuk’s lip first. A stinging pain surged at the edge of his lip. As a small groan—Ah—escaped, Choi Moohyuk, who had only been receiving the kiss, flinched and started to pull away.

Ji Yeonwoo wrapped his arms around Choi Moohyuk’s neck as he tried to move away and kissed him. As if in answer, a large hand cupped the back of his head, and a tongue slid between the parted lips to entwine with his. Chup, chup. Continuing the kiss until only wet, erotic sounds echoed, the two slowly parted only when their lips were glistening with saliva. Gasping for breath from the ceaseless kiss, Ji Yeonwoo drew in air until his chest heaved.

“I don’t care at all how you handle Lee Hyunjoon. Just… please keep just one thing.”

Choi Moohyuk, who had been watching silently, widened his eyes a little.

“I’m not such a kind person either, so I can’t bring myself to say I wish for forgiveness—I just want that person to be unhappy. I hope he lives a life harder and more agonizing than the pain I received. Both body and mind, all of it.”

“…”

“Please never let him live in peace. That’s more than enough for me.”

A smile spread across Choi Moohyuk’s lips. It was a reaction of satisfaction.

“If that is what you wish, Mr. Yeonwoo, I must grant it. As much as you like.”

As if to say he had done well, he stroked his hair. Receiving his caressing touch, Ji Yeonwoo steadied his breathing quietly and added.

“And I’ll receive treatment too. In my heart, I want to get it right now, but it seems like you won’t allow it, Mr. Moohyuk… I’ll eat well, recover quickly, and get treated.”

“Alright. That’s a good decision.”

“I… I’ll really work hard at receiving treatment.”

He said it again, as if he had made some great resolution. In that voice was a firm determination. Looking at Ji Yeonwoo like that, Choi Moohyuk met his eyes affectionately.

“Are you done crying now?”

His eyes were still damp with moisture, yet Ji Yeonwoo nodded his head readily. Choi Moohyuk wiped the corners of Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes with his thumb.

“It looks like the IV fluids are done too. Then, shall we go home now?”

At his words, he turned his head toward the hanging IV bottle. The fluid, which had been nearing empty, was now being drawn completely down into the translucent line.

He turned his head back and looked at him. Choi Moohyuk held out his hand and tilted his head with a slight movement, as if to ask what he was doing not taking it. Ji Yeonwoo, who had been gazing blankly at the hand extended toward him, smiled gently at the corners of his lips and softly took his hand.

The nurse, who had come in upon being called, removed the IV needle lodged in the back of his hand, gathered the fluid and line, and left the room. The back of his hand was bruised blue because of the IV needle, which was thicker than an ordinary needle.

Choi Moohyuk repeatedly touched the large gauze and bandage stuck on the gaunt, bony back of his hand, and only pulled his hand away when he saw him lower his legs off the bed.

“By the way, where did you put the clothes?”

Ji Yeonwoo looked around, searching for the clothes he had worn when he arrived. He had been about to leave when he realized he was in hospital patient clothes, so he could not go all the way home like this.

“Ah, the clothes were soiled, so I sent them out for laundry. Instead, change into these clothes.”

As he spoke, Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes rounded when he saw the shopping bag placed on the bed. Inside the shopping bag engraved with a luxury brand logo were a shirt and pants from that same brand.

It was far too extravagant to be called simple clothing for the trip from the hospital to home.

“You don’t like them? Then I’ll get something else…”

When Ji Yeonwoo remained still, holding the clothes taken out of the shopping bag, Choi Moohyuk, misunderstanding and thinking he did not like them, picked up his phone as if to call someone.

“No. It’s not that.”

Ji Yeonwoo hurriedly grabbed Choi Moohyuk’s hand. In truth, he was frozen like this, unable to do this or that, because it felt burdensome, but telling him the reason did not seem likely to work either. He thought that since he had probably bought it wanting to give him a gift in his own way, considering the sincerity, quietly wearing them might be the better choice.

“I was just a bit surprised. It’s my first time receiving a gift like this… It’s really lovely. I’ll wear them well.”

“I’ll have to buy them for you often then. Get changed. So we can go home.”

After answering, Ji Yeonwoo undid a couple of the buttons on his top and then stopped his hands.

“Why are you standing there like that?”

Choi Moohyuk, who was standing a couple of steps away with both hands in his pants pockets, opened his eyes wide as if to ask what the matter was.

“You have to turn around so I can change.”

When he said it with a playful narrowing of his eyes, Choi Moohyuk laughed sheepishly, as if caught.

“Can’t you just change as is?”

“Of course not. It’s embarrassing.”

“What’s embarrassing. We’ve already seen everything.”

“Anyway. Hurry up.”

Having gotten off the bed, Ji Yeonwoo lightly slapped Choi Moohyuk’s forearm, as if he had expected as much.

At Ji Yeonwoo’s hands turning him around, Choi Moohyuk laughed reluctantly and turned his back.

Not long after they arrived at Choi Moohyuk’s house, Park Jincheol came.

Ji Yeonwoo met eyes with Park Jincheol, who had taken off his shoes at the entrance and was entering the living room. He bowed his waist toward Ji Yeonwoo, who was sitting on the sofa. Ji Yeonwoo awkwardly stood up and returned his sudden greeting. At the motion laced with awkwardness like a broken robot, Choi Moohyuk chuckled—pfft.

“I’ve brought them as you instructed.”