A Forest flowing with Milk and Honey - Chapter 6.1

As Woorim admired the ring on her finger, a soft smile spread across her face. Though she tried to keep her happiness to herself, it was clear to anyone who saw her.

Since Taeo had taken her car back to the office, Woorim sat in the back of the security team’s vehicle. The younger bodyguard, Byeongho, glanced at her through the rearview mirror, smiling knowingly.

“Feeling good, aren’t you?”

“Yeah…,” Woorim nodded, her smile growing wider.

Byeongho focused back on the road, but moments later, a dark shape suddenly flew toward the windshield.

Thud! Screech! The car came to a sudden halt, throwing everyone forward. The seatbelt tightened around Woorim’s chest, making her momentarily dizzy as she was pushed back.
“Miss, are you alright?” the bodyguards asked, turning to check on her.

“I’m okay,” Woorim replied, feeling only slightly shaken. Since they were driving slowly and the object wasn’t too large, the impact wasn’t too bad.

“Weren’t you paying attention?” the other bodyguard scolded.

“Sorry! I’m really sorry, Miss,” Byeongho apologized, stepping out to see what had hit them.

“A crow?”

A dead crow lay in front of the car, its dark blood smeared across the broken windshield. The sight of the thick, blackish-red blood trickling down was unsettling.

Caw! Caw!

A flock of crows scattered from the luxurious mansion grounds, designed by a famous architect.
Byeongho quickly cleaned up the mess as best as he could, though a bit of blood remained on his sleeve as he got back in to drive.

When Woorim entered the house, Mr. Kim, the butler, greeted her, though the atmosphere felt tense. The staff seemed uneasy, and Woorim noticed traces of red being cleaned up around the house.
“What happened here?” she asked, her concern rising.

“It’s Ms. Mijeong… It turns out she was pregnant,” Mr. Kim explained.

Mijeong, one of the young cleaning managers, had been working at the house for some time, and Woorim knew her by sight.

“She was cleaning a window on the first floor when a crow flew in… There was so much blood, it was hard to believe.”

“Is she okay?”

“She wasn’t hurt badly since the window wasn’t that high… but I’m worried about the baby.”
Though Woorim didn’t know Mijeong well, the news of her misfortune left her feeling unsettled.
“I really hope she’ll be alright,” Woorim said, her expression reflecting her worry.

“I’ll handle it. Please don’t worry about it, miss,” said Kim, the butler, patting her shoulders, his face pale.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I think I just ate too much. My body feels unusually heavy…”

Splat! The red water from the blood-soaked cloth spread across the basin, giving Woorim a chill. She rubbed the back of her neck, unsettled by the eerie sight.

That’s when a scream echoed from outside.
“What in the world is going on now?” Kim’s reaction was sharper than usual as he swung the front door open. Woorim, hesitating for a moment, decided to follow him outside. The stiflingly hot weather made her feel uneasy, yet her body shivered as if she had caught a chill.
“Oh my, what’s wrong with Byungho?”

Kim, who had been marching ahead, suddenly halted in shock.

“Let go! Let go of me!” The screams grew louder.

“Kim Byungho, calm down!”

Byungho, the young bodyguard who had accompanied Woorim earlier, was thrashing about wildly, pushing away his fellow guards who were trying to restrain him. His face was flushed, almost drunkenly red. Even though several guards were holding him back, they struggled to fully subdue him. Breaking free, Byungho charged toward Yoonseok, the gardener, who had been standing nearby nursing his swollen cheek.

Yoonseok, however, didn’t just stand there—he swung his fist at Byungho, and the two men were soon locked in a fierce brawl, exchanging violent insults.

“Die, you bastard!”

Only Byung-ho heard Yun-seok’s words. Agitated by Yun-seok’s whisper, Byung-ho kicked him in the stomach and then grabbed Yun-seok’s head, slamming it repeatedly into the ground. The impact caused Yun-seok’s head to burst open, blood gushing out onto the dirt.

The mud, now soaked with blood, clung to Yun-seok’s face, which was already covered in blood from his nose. In mere moments, his previously composed face became a bloody mess. Byung-ho, his face flushed and monstrous in appearance, wasn’t satisfied with just that—he began to strangle Yun-seok.

“Ugh, kkhhh…!” Yun-seok gasped, a terrifying sound resembling the cracking of neck bones filled the air.

The other bodyguards, stunned by the unexpected outburst from the usually gentle Byung-ho, finally came to their senses and rushed in.
“…Stop it! Stop!”
“Are you trying to kill him? Get a hold of yourself!”

“Let me go! I’m going to kill him! I’ll kill that bastard!”

Byung-ho, now entirely out of control, swung his fists wildly even at his colleagues who were holding him down. Despite four men restraining him, he continued to thrash with such force that his shoulder dislocated, producing a sickening crunch.
“Aaaahhh! Aaaahhhh!” Byung-ho’s face twisted into a terrifying, demonic expression as he continued to scream and curse.
“You insane bastard!”
The bodyguard team leader, in utter disbelief, slammed his entire body into the call button.

“Yes, 119? We’re at [XXX], Seongbuk-gu Embassy Road. Someone’s seriously hurt! Please, come quickly!”

After two ambulances came and left that day, the mansion finally fell silent.

“My heart is still racing…”
Deacon Kim set a cup of warm tea in front of Woo-rim, wiping away beads of sweat. Woo-rim was still visibly shaken.
“It seems Byung-ho was in a relationship with Mi-jung.”

“What?”

“It looks like he was the father of her child. Yoon-seok had no idea and made some careless comment in front of Byung-ho, saying something like, ‘Maybe it’s better the baby didn’t survive.’ But still, beating someone like that is beyond words. Ugh, I shouldn’t be talking like this in front of you.”

Kim clicked his tongue and gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“How’s Mi-jung doing?”

“The hospital called… she miscarried.”
So it had happened after all. Woo-rim’s mouth turned bitter at the thought.

Woo-rim and Tae-oh were the only ones living in the main house; everyone else either commuted or stayed in the annex.

Normally, Woo-rim spent her time with Deacon Kim until Tae-oh returned from work, but feeling unwell, Kim had retired early to the annex.
Left alone in the main house, Woo-rim had drifted off to sleep on the living room couch.

It was now 10 PM, and Tae-oh still hadn’t come home. Woo-rim suddenly became aware of a smell, a distinct, metallic scent of blood. At first, she thought it was her imagination, but the smell only grew stronger. Glancing at the window, where the blood from the stillborn child had splattered earlier, she shivered awake.

“I need to wash up…”

An hour passed as she filled the bathtub. She stood there, dazed, watching the water rise slowly.

Suddenly, Woo-rim stepped into the tub, still fully dressed, the water covering her knees. Slowly, she lay down in the deep water.

“Huh?”

She stopped, her eyes widening, just before the water reached her face.

A faint laugh echoed above her. Her scalp prickled with a cold sensation as black hair cascaded down toward her. Woo-rim tried to push herself up, but the pressure was too great. Son Gakshi, her skin mangled and burned, smiled with torn lips and wrapped her cold arms tightly around Woo-rim.

“It’s so hot… my skin is burning. Let’s get into the water… it’s so hot.”

At the back of Woorim’s neck, a strand of thinning hair slid down. Woorim tried to support himself with his arms, but the pressure was stronger.

‘Aren’t you feeling hot?’

As Wulin shook his head, the giggling Sun Gakshi blushed red and began to choke him. The back of her neck, where the petal marks remained, was burning hot.

‘Shi, no, no… ugh!’

His throat was crushed and he was submerged. My nose and mouth splashed with cold water. His pale legs splashed and spluttered. As if he had no buoyancy, he was sinking all the time. As she struggled, the corkscrew loop caught in her hand. Wulin strained and pulled the stopper off.

Shaaaaaah! The water in the bathtub began to suck in through the narrow opening. Wulin pushed off the floor with his hands and feet and stood up.

‘Puha, woof!’

Wulin said. Wulin’s head, which had been out of the water for a moment, plunged back down. It felt like he was being tortured. It was terribly painful, but Wulin fought on.

He didn’t want to die. No matter what happened to him, he never gave up on life.

“I don’t want to die……. I want to live!”

The diamond ring on her hand shone like a lantern at that moment. He pulled his hand away, stunned.

“Wulin?”

Tao’s voice called out, and sensing that something was wrong, he burst through the door.

“You’re good. Nothing’s wrong…”

The room burst open. Blood tears trickled from his vengeful eyes. The torn mouth of the cow had a very sad look on it at the moment.

“Blah…… Kolok! Kolok! Kolok!”

Urim coughed water. He could barely lift himself out of the half-full bathtub.
“Woo-rim!”

Tao rushed over and wrapped a towel around Wulin’s body, pulling him completely out of the tub. The cold water soaked the hem of his clothes, but his body was hot. Wulin clung to his boiling body and whispered.