The Orchid Marker
Early that morning, Gaon stepped out into the garden. Cradled in her arms was the Seokgok that Cha Taekyung had forced upon her. Even after days of neglect in a corner of her room, the orchid had not died. Of course, once, unable to resist the impulse, Gaon had moistened its moss with water. The Seokgok had drunk up that scant moisture and was growing vigorously. Just as Cha Taekyung had said, it possessed a wondrous vitality.
“You’re going to live here from now on.”
Gaon set the pot down and muttered. Talking to a plant felt strange to her. Perhaps she had grown a little fond of this orchid—the only one that had survived her hands, which killed every plant they touched.
She was standing in front of the warehouse from yesterday. The flat grave where the rat had been buried still showed earth of a different color. The pot would serve to mark the grave’s location.
To catch the culprit they would need more evidence, and the rat’s corpse might prove useful later on.
“Why are you putting a pot there?”
The now-familiar low voice came from behind her. This time Gaon was not startled. She had deliberately come out to the garden at the hour Cha Taekyung exercised. The calculation that he would naturally follow if he saw her was merely a bonus.
“It’s marking the location of the evidence.”
“It rains a lot here. It’ll rot soon.”
“There’ll still be bones.”
“Digging up something you’ve already buried. That’s hardly ordinary.”
A hint of laughter colored Taekyung’s voice. Gaon slowly turned to face Cha Taekyung. Standing tall amid the green of the blue pines and the crisp blue air of early morning, the man was as leisurely and unhurried as a born predator. The eyes gleaming behind his glasses were cold enough to dissect even Gaon’s soul. And with those icy eyes of his, he had talked about sex.
Perhaps it suited him. Words like “lust” and “sex,” rather than “interest,” fit this man. And that kind of approach had stimulated Gaon, so this time Cha Taekyung had succeeded properly.
“After saying something like that yesterday, you’ve shamelessly followed me. If we were on the mainland, we’d have gone to the police station together, wouldn’t we?”
“Well, this is an island.”
The man shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t think you’d report something like this anyway. Baek Gaon only loses her reason when it comes to Baek Gayoung. She only gets excited and expends energy on matters related to Baek Gayoung; everything else is secondary and tiring.”
Cha Taekyung had struck precisely at the core.
Baek Gaon’s world had been like that for some time now. It revolved around Gayoung, for Gayoung’s sake. This teasing from Cha Taekyung was no different. In the end her calculations turned that way—how to make use of the man’s cheap lust. To Gaon, a man’s desire was nothing more and nothing less than a tool to be used.
“So, about that. Your offer to help find the culprit—are you serious?”
Gaon cut straight to the point without circling around.
“Yes.”
She quietly studied Cha Taekyung’s expression. In truth she did not particularly believe his sincerity even as she asked.
“How, exactly?”
“By watching the mansion together.”
As if revealing some great secret, Cha Taekyung lowered his voice. Gaon felt her energy drain. She hadn’t expected much, yet still. As expected, Cha Taekyung was merely playing house.
“If we spot anyone suspicious, we share it. We patrol together too.”
His broad shoulders rose in a shrug. The man had a talent for making those plain words sound suggestive. His pitch-black eyes fixed on Gaon.
Gaon likewise did not take her gaze from Cha Taekyung.
Separate from her decision to use this man’s interest, if she had to decide whether Cha Taekyung completely matched her tastes, he came close.
The intimidation of his large build, the gaze that looked down through his glasses as if completely dominating the other person. The innate feel of a predator who controlled atmosphere and situation without particular effort.
Gaon’s desire to absolutely control her surroundings might have been merely another face of a twisted longing to be absolutely controlled herself.
Human sexual tastes were truly bizarre, and Gaon’s lay buried a little deeper in a darker shade. Of course, that did not mean she would ever roll around with Cha Taekyung.
“And other things, if the mood strikes.”
Cha Taekyung finished with a faint smile, as if feeling no burden whatsoever under Gaon’s blank stare.
“There’s no time for other things. If you’re going to help, do it properly.”
“Then starting today?”
Cha Taekyung asked as he removed his glasses and casually wiped them on his T-shirt. At the unexpectedly revealed striking face, Gaon quietly ogled the man. Without the glasses, the sharp lines that composed him stood out even more clearly.
“Yes. Starting today.”
Wondering whether there might be a more effective way to make use of this man, Gaon nodded. Then Cha Taekyung spoke again.
“Ah. Did I mention?”
“?”
Cha Taekyung put his glasses back on.
“As Baek Gaon well knows, the belief that others are trying to harm or slander you is an early stage of paranoia.”
Gaon chewed over his words. Cha Taekyung’s speech generally had that quality. It was not understood at once upon hearing; one had to ruminate two or three times before the bizarre content sank in.
“Ahh. So you’re saying I’m currently suffering from the delusion that other people are condemning us? Just like Gayoung.”
“Anyone can develop it.”
Cha Taekyung replied as if stating an obvious fact.
“Besides, paranoia is hereditary, isn’t it?”
The soft way he whispered made her even angrier. Gaon suppressed the urge to snap at Cha Taekyung. If she did, he might well slap the label of intermittent explosive disorder on her.
“Listen here, Cha Taekyung.”
Instead, Gaon simply crossed her arms and took a step closer to him. A cool scent mixed with the smell of the forest trees and tickled her.
“Uncle has always wanted to make me out to be a mental patient. That way he could more easily control the inheritance left in my name. But let me be perfectly clear: Baek Jeong-hak suffers from far more severe OCD than I do, and unfortunately, compared to him, I’m normal. You might be the same.”
It was as good as a rebuke asking who was calling whom crazy.
Some of the doctors Baek Jeong-hak had brought were so transparent it was laughable—eager to lump Gaon in with Gayoung and slap labels like grandiosity, paranoia, and OCD onto her. Of course she did not think Cha Taekyung was connected to Baek Jeong-hak, yet defensive words slipped out of her unbidden.
“Once Gayoung is completely better, we’ll leave for the mainland. Until then I have to protect her absolutely.”
Gaon’s eyes shone with resolve.
Cha Taekyung looked down at her with an unreadable expression, saying nothing. Gaon became aware that the distance between them had grown quite close. Embarrassment crept in quietly.
“Well then, keep a good watch. Two are better than one. If you notice anything strange, tell me right away.”
With that unnecessary admonition, Gaon tried to brush past the man. Unnecessary words always multiplied whenever she stood before him.
But contrary to her wishes, Baek Gaon could not quickly leave the garden. As she moved, Cha Taekyung suddenly stepped forward, tangling their steps for an instant. Things happened in a flash.
Her body staggered, and in the dizzying awareness that she was falling, a strong hand seized her arm. She was pulled upright.
The faint scent thickened. The smell of trees wet with morning mist, the subtle and cool scent of the man’s skin.
Pressed close, she felt Cha Taekyung’s hard muscles with her entire body. His large embrace was ample enough to envelop Gaon completely—as if she were surrounded by a broad wall. Cha Taekyung was larger than she had anticipated.
The situation registered slowly.
Baek Gaon was held slanted in Cha Taekyung’s arms.
Their touching bodies were excessively close. And Gaon felt a sense of incongruity from her right hand caught between the man and her own body. More precisely, a sense of a foreign object. Reflexively, she groped that thing.
What is this.
Large, hard, and long, nestled along the man’s thigh like a club.
“How long do you plan to stay stuck like this?”
A cool low voice whispered against her ear. Gaon lifted her head. Their gazes met at a very close distance.
“I don’t mind.”
His pitch-black eyes curved.