Flowers Are Bait
Here's a new flavor to add to the mix. Flowers Are Bait is what I'd consider a dark psychological thriller romance. The story starts with our girl, So Yiyeon (Leeyeon), out in the woods on a moonless night. Why is she out in the woods in the middle of the night - with a chainsaw no less, you ask? Well, our girl is a tree doctor. In fact, she loves plants more than people and certainly is much more comfortable around them.
Tonight however she's not the only one out in the lonely depths of the forest.
Yiyeon comes across a man busy burying a body. A body that's still alive. And the murder doesn't take kindly to someone interrupting him.
A chase and a scuffle - and a chainsaw to the head later - the murderer is unconscious and, through manhwa hijinks, Yiyeon finds herself involved with the mafia. That's right, the mafia will let her live but in exchange she's responsible for taking care of the now comatose body of her would-be killer. As long as she keeps the body alive and hidden, she can continue living as well. So each night, for two years, Yiyeon goes up the locked room in her house and she prays a simple prayer.
and then, one day
he does.
Here's where the story really starts. Because Kwon Chaewoo, murderer and comatose patient, doesn't remember anything. Not how he got there, not what happened, not even who he is. And, in a fit of panic, in order to save her life, Yiyeon tells him they're married.
Because what kind of story would it be otherwise?
So begins a story of nature vs. nurture. Is a man that can't remember his past and what made him into who he was still the same man? How much can you trust the face he's showing and how much are you waiting for who is underneath it to surface? How far can you play the game of being his wife and avoid getting entangled with him physically - but emotionally as well?
What are you going to do if he ever remembers who he once was?
What I'm enjoying about this story - aside from getting to gleefully sing 'someone's going to get muuuurdeeeered!' - is that Yiyeon isn't an innocent. She's been through a dark past that's only been hinted at so far but its very obviously messed with her psychologically. She's tough and determined at times and scared and helpless at others and neither one of those negates the other. She very much feels like a woman that's been single her whole life in the way she approaches everything, used to doing things herself without anyone else to rely on. She has a good heart as well even if its obviously been damaged in the past.
The story isn't just from her perspective though. Chaewoo isn't just spooky window-dressing. He's sharply intelligent and he's constantly trying to fit together the pieces of what Yiyeon tells him vs. what he observes about her actions. He's aware there's more to him than she's saying and yet he's latched onto her as his only anchor in the blank slate of his life. He accepts that she's not telling him the full truth and doesn't hold it against her. She's got a reason and he knows it even if he hasn't, yet, figured out what it is. There's no doubt this man is terrifying - and yet, compared to some of the things we're finding out about Yiyeon's past - terrifying isn't necessarily a bad thing if it will terrify the things that haunt her. And as a couple they swing from cute to hot and everything in-between. Watching Yiyeon open up to him is surprisingly healing.
So - will they - won't they - and how many bodies are going to end up piling up in the process? I don't know but I'm completely enjoying the ride so far.
rating: PG13 for now but if it slips to R soon I won't be surprised
warnings: blood, murder, death, torture, needles, assault, horny people, stalkers, obsession, police indifference, blackmail, dead chicken, heights, being unwanted, body scars, hospitals, desperately lying about sexual compatibility
finished: nope
abs?: chapter 8 if we cheat a little
also Ms. Yeon is awesome!