Chapter 1

Eight years ago.

A remote area in Hokkaido, Japan.

The red glow of the setting sun poured over the abandoned hospital building, a place even the locals avoided.

Unlike the world outside that was slowly warming with spring, the crumbling stone building looked as if it belonged to winter.

Where the hospital sign used to hang, only rust-stained emptiness remained, giving the place an eerie atmosphere.

It was the perfect setting for a haunted hospital.

“Aaagh!”

A desperate scream echoed through the hallway bathed in the winter sunset.

The woman’s bloodcurdling cry filled the hospital room, painting it a shade of scarlet.

“S-save me!”

Her voice carried a pain that felt worse than death.

“Mom! Dad! Uuugh! It hurts so much!”

The patient’s upper body was mostly wrapped in bandages. Her hand flailed helplessly in the air.

A silver ring on her pale ring finger caught the light of the sunset and shone with a sorrowful glow.
It gleamed red and dark, as if foreshadowing the life ahead of her.

“Should I give her more medication?”

The doctor restraining the struggling woman turned to look to the side.

A middle-aged man stood there with an indifferent expression and shook his head.

His hair was pure white, yet his face was relatively smooth, making him look younger. His handsome features contrasted with the old, weathered light in his eyes that resembled those of a man who had lived a very long time.

“Stop the painkillers.”

The doctor was the one who seemed flustered by the man’s firm refusal.

“…Pardon? But…”

“The more pain she feels, the deeper her hatred will grow.”

The man cut off the doctor’s words. As he spoke, he brushed the armrest of his wheelchair and fixed his gaze on the woman.

His emotionless eyes gleamed with anticipation.

“The more she hurts, the more alluring her scent will become.”

The scent of poison that would bring them down.

The man quietly watched the woman writhing in agony, then turned his gaze away.

“How long will the recovery take?”

“The surgery was a success, but even if her kidneys and legs heal, rehabilitation will take a long time. And if we reconstruct her facial bones and restore her original face with plastic surgery, it will take about two years.”

“Her face must not be the same as before.”

“…Excuse me?”

The doctor asked again, clearly confused. His eyes moved to the woman, who was still moaning in pain.

She had surely been beautiful before the accident, but now half of her face was covered in bandages. Her swollen eyes were bruised and dark, her broken nose kept bleeding, and even stopping the bleeding was difficult.

No matter how many surgeries she underwent, it was obvious she would never look the same again.

This much was clear without much thought.

‘They said her entire family died too, didn’t they?’

The fact that she survived a head-on collision with a massive container truck was already a miracle.

But watching her be consumed by unbearable pain, miracle was the last word anyone could use.

‘Maybe it would’ve been better if she had died with them.’

The man calmly added, looking at the doctor’s shocked face.

“Oh, one more thing. I’d like her face to be even more beautiful than before. When a flower is beautiful, bugs are drawn to it. People are attracted to the flower’s appearance, and once they become addicted to its scent, they won’t be able to resist.”

“…”

“They won’t even realize the scent is poison.”

The doctor was left speechless, his mouth agape. Then he swallowed down his confusion.

He had no choice. The man was the one who had covered up his medical malpractice incident, saved his sick child, and helped him rise to the position of hospital director.

“Yes, Director.”

“Contact me when she wakes up. I’ll handle the matter of the accident. Until then, keep quiet.”

“Understood.”

The man’s electric wheelchair glided out of the room.

He ignored the screams echoing from behind the door and left with a cold expression.

* * *

The woman’s screams stopped a year later.

After multiple surgeries, her reconstructed face had lost its swelling. The broken and torn parts of her body had mostly healed as well.

Her mind, however, had not.

“What about my family?”

“You asked that the day before yesterday and yesterday too, but I’ll answer again. They’re all dead.”

The doctor in charge of her answered calmly, clearly used to the routine.

Tears streamed down the woman’s face as she stared blankly at the doctor writing notes in her chart.

Beep beep beep— Her heart rate became erratic.

Should he give her another sedative? While he hesitated, the woman spoke again.

“Ihan… I need to call my fiancé.”

“You tried that a few days ago too.”

“…I want to try again.”

“Sigh, Miss.”

The doctor put his pen down with a sharp tap and looked at her.

Behind his glasses was a beautiful face, but her eyes were soaked with despair and fear. Tears flowed without stopping. His heart suddenly softened.

‘It seems everything is going according to his plan.’

The doctor took out his phone and handed it to her.

“This will be the last time.”

She nodded and accepted the phone.

She immediately dialed a familiar number and pressed the call button. The graph on the heart rate paper zigzagged sharply, reflecting her rising anticipation.

Finally, the voice she had been waiting for came through the receiver.

“I-Ihan! It’s me! It’s Haru, Yoo Haru! Your fiancée!”

Afraid he might hang up again like last time, she rushed to speak.

[What, again?]

“Ihan, please listen to me. I’m in a hospital in Japan. Come get me…”

[Jesus, you just won’t die, will you.]

The voice on the other end stabbed her heart like a knife.

It was the voice of her fiancé she had longed for, but the words that came out were from a stranger.

[Sigh. Just die already. Wouldn’t it be awkward if you came back anyway? I’m hanging up.]

“…No.”

This wasn’t Jin Ihan.

The voice dripping with contempt was nothing like the man she had loved more than anyone else.

She had never imagined that surviving such immense pain would become her greatest regret.

‘I want to die.’

Her beloved family was gone.

The company she and her father had built together now belonged to her fiancé’s family.

The white-haired gentleman had told her she had fallen perfectly into the trap set by her fiancé and his family.

And yet…

Even so, she couldn’t believe it.

“…I love you, Haru. I love you so much I’m going crazy.”

“What is that supposed to mean.”

“I mean it. I think I’ll go crazy because of you. I love you so much it’s killing me.”

The nights when they shared their true feelings were so vivid in her mind.

Even now, after being betrayed so cruelly, she missed him desperately.

Even after the flat tone announcing the call had ended, she couldn’t let go of the phone.

“It’s time to accept it now, Miss Yoo Haru.”

The doctor took the phone from her hand and spoke coldly.

“Face reality and think about how you’ll live from now on.”

“…”

“Don’t you want to get revenge on the people who killed your family and did this to you?”

Revenge.

The moment she heard the word, her heart, which had plummeted to the bottom, began to beat fiercely.

Her unfocused eyes regained their clarity.

“…What should I do first.”

It was the first firm decision she had made in the year since the accident.

* * *

Seven years later, on a rainy late spring day.

A rare burst of commotion filled Aromapis, an aroma blending research lab in Hokkaido.

“Haruka!”

Hearing her name called affectionately, she lowered her mask and turned around.

She brushed back her black hair that swayed over her shoulders and smiled brightly.

“Ryota.”

“Haruka, you’re here early.”

“Yes. I had something to finish from yesterday.”

The name she received after that cruel winter seven years ago now felt as if it had been hers all along.

Her face, no longer Yoo Haru’s but Haruka’s, looked different from before.

Her shattered bones had been rebuilt, and after several plastic surgeries, her image had changed significantly.

Unlike the gentle impression she once had, Haruka Suzuki had become a striking beauty with a seductive air.

She still had the kind of face that made people turn their heads when she walked by.

As she smiled, her colleague Ryota blushed and approached her.

“You seem like something good happened, Haruka.”