A Flower That Eats Humans 1

## Chapter 1 – Lee Chae-Yoon

I’m in the lecture hall, listening to another class today.
But as always, I couldn’t pay attention because of the boring and awkward silence.

My whole body is stiff with tension, and cold sweat is running down my back.
Right now, in my bag, there’s a kitchen knife, wrapped in newspaper, that anyone would recognize as a weapon.

Maybe I saw it wrong yesterday, after all.
Maybe the problem at dawn was just some low-grade prank?
Thoughts and regrets like that fiercely clash in my mind.

But just in case, just in case, because of that one thread of possibility that keeps popping up in my head, I’m trying to organize my thoughts before my head explodes.

I wish the professor’s voice, which always bothered me, would please calm me down.

But sadly, even with my expectations, I can’t even hear the professor’s voice because of the enormous stress and tension,
and the headache seems to be spreading from my head, down my spine, and all over my body.

I think this is the first time in my life I’ve been this sensitive.

When I came to my senses, the lecture was already over, and students were packing their things and leaving the classroom one by one.

“Hey… are you okay?”

Someone asked me how I was doing.

I turned my head and saw a woman from the design department, the class representative, who was the only face I recognized among my classmates.

Her name was definitely… I can’t remember…

“Ah, yes, I’m fine.”

After giving an awkward greeting, I quickly packed my bag.
My whole body is covered in cold sweat, and my complexion looks obviously ill.

That must be why she’s worried.

I appreciate the concern, but right now, I don’t want anyone’s attention.

“Get home safe, and go to the hospital.”

“…..”

It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve heard someone worry about me like this.

Caring this much about someone else…
I don’t think much of it.
It could really be this woman’s nature, or it could just be the role of the class representative, but
right now, I don’t even have the余裕to say thank you for such small kindness.

I leave her there and walk out of the classroom as if running away.

Dorm 2 on campus,
There, standing, is the girl from the couple I saw yesterday, Lee Chae-yoon, was it?

I strode towards the monster imitating her actions.

“Oh! You’re here, Chan-woo!”

She greeted me with a bright smile.

Her appearance is youthful, just barely an adult,
A cute girl with a pure style, round eyes, a small face, and an overall petite body.

Anyone can see that she’s a beauty who would be popular with men, but maybe her insides are…

“…Um…”

“Ah! Just a moment, before that, this bitch,
seems to have a partner.
I don’t want to get unwanted attention, and I’m sure you don’t either, Chan-woo, so let’s move our spot outside of school.”

“…….”

I swallow hard, watching her giggle and call someone a bitch.

Certainly, it’s not good to have too many eyes on us.

Instead of answering, I nodded, and she smiled once and gestured for me to follow her.

I follow it for about 10 minutes.

While walking with it, Lee Chae-yoon’s classmates, the owner of the body it possessed, greeted her,
but it greeted them back with a lively appearance, smoothly playing the role of the woman ‘Lee Chae-yoon.’

“Hmm… I guess around here is fine?”

We arrived at a small park next to the old dormitory.
It was a small space with only one or two small benches, not even enough for two children to play in, and most of all, it was a really secluded place.

I secretly put my hand in my bag and grabbed the blade inside the bundle of newspaper.

“…Um, you saw it, right?”

“……Saw what?”

I swallowed carefully and gripped my hand even tighter.

“Oh, you know. My true identity.”

It approaches me.
Shit, I don’t know anymore.

I don’t bother hiding it anymore and take the kitchen knife out of my bag.
And I held it out in front of me so it couldn’t come any closer.

“…I saw it, what are you, you monster bastard.”

“That’s harsh! Even if I’m a bitch now, I get hurt when I hear things like that.”

A woman acting cute and complaining,
or rather, the monster inside her is acting.

“Hmm… but I think you’re confused enough,
and we don’t need that to have a conversation, so…”

“…What…”

The moment I tried to ask what it meant,
it instantly approached me and snatched the knife, twirling the blade in its hand as if showing off.

This is the end, I thought.
Then, it started doing something I never expected.

“I’ll eat well.”

It chews the blade whole.
As easily as if it were eating a biscuit,
and then it cuts its own wrist with the remaining pieces of metal, as if showing off to me.

“Here, look.”

It’s smiling triumphantly, showing off its wound.

The two pieces of flesh torn open by the blade instantly stuck back together,
and even the blood that had been seeping out of the gap stopped as if it had never happened.

There’s not even a scar, let alone a wound.

“Sorry, did I scare you? I thought giving you a shock like this would be effective.”

“……What…”

“I’ll explain what you’re curious about.”

I collapsed to the ground.
What’s going to happen to me now?

“First of all, my identity, to put it in terms that humans can easily understand, is an ancient species?
We’re a plant species that’s born from a certain flower, and when the flower is fully grown, it scatters pollen for reproduction, but
the flower we grow from scatters us along with its petals.”

I vaguely understand.
I’ve already seen something like that right in front of me, so this kind of story isn’t particularly surprising.

“We, attached to the petals, have no intelligence.
We only have the instinct to ‘enter the human body.’”

“…And after you enter?”

“We mainly enter through the ears, nose, and mouth because we need to reach the brain,
and after reaching the brain, we eat away at the human’s brain to take it over, then
we plant nerve cells into the brain like roots.
Then we inherit that human’s memories and intelligence.”

“Then what happens to that human?”

“They’re dead, leaving only the skin.”

I see her saying these words with a smile and realize.
It’s a monster after all.

“Ah, but you know,
we have a symbiotic relationship with humanity.
Please don’t see us too badly.”

“What’s symbiotic about a perverted monster that kills people’s brains and copies their actions?!”

“I’ll explain now, so don’t get too angry…”

It sits down next to me, smiling, and takes my hand, placing it on its chest.

“How is it? I heard that males like it when I do this?”

“……….”

“Hehe♡ I guess you like it.
Then, shall I continue the story? Of course, the ego of the woman whose body we take is extinguished, but
we can evolve that body.
You learned about history, right? When humanity rapidly developed at a certain point in history,
we gave them a little help.”

These creatures evolve the intelligence and body of the flesh, using the victim’s brain as a base.
Of course, erasing the victim’s ego.

“…So you’re not going to kill me because I know your true identity?”

“Originally, we would kill you.”

“Originally?”

It got up, brushed the dust off its butt, and continued.

“We were originally an ancient species, right? We had a good genetic match with ancient humans, especially males.
So, men.”

“Then you can just parasitize men…”

“That’s because our method of reproduction is the same as humans.
First, we parasitize a woman, then we touch her brain to remodel her whole body.
Into a body that will attract men. And then we mate.
In order for us to reproduce, we need male semen and hormones from the woman’s brain during mating.
When that’s satisfied, the modified woman’s ovaries release eggs and our seeds.
The child is born safely, and we also give birth to seeds full of nutrients to grow new flowers.
If you plant those seeds back into the ground, reproduction is complete.”

…So, in short, because it needs female hormones and male semen,
a crazy ancient plant that steals women’s bodies to reproduce is standing in front of me.

“Wait, so why aren’t you killing me?”

“We can’t reproduce if we parasitize men, and we can’t even evolve, so
we either turn into a helpless lump of flesh or die instantly with the body.
In fact, one of my kind entered you yesterday.”

“What?”

“But you’re fine.
That means… excuse me.”

Then it knelt down in front of me, and then,

“Haa-eum…”

“Ugh?!”

It kissed me.

It’s too strong, so I can’t resist, let alone move.
In an instant, she scanned my mouth with her tongue, then pulled away and seemed to be thinking.

A white thread connects my mouth to the mouth of the woman I just met.

“I knew it! Your genes are almost identical to those of ancient humans!
No, they’re exactly the same!!”

Did she see something in my saliva? She’s jumping up and down, shouting and rejoicing.
…How…?

“…Why are you doing this?”

“We can’t parasitize the men of ancient humans.
Our ancestors made a deal with the men of humanity.
We would help humanity develop, and the men would help us reproduce.”

“So what you’re asking me is…”

“Yes, actually, we don’t even know how we’re still alive in modern times.
I thought we would have gone extinct centuries ago…
Please help us reproduce! Then I’ll grant you whatever you want, Chan-woo.
If our numbers increase, we can grant you anything you want?”

The identity of the small woman crouching in front of me, looking up at me, is
a parasitic plant that has existed since ancient times, eating people’s brains and imitating them.

A plant that should have gone extinct has bloomed again in modern times.

Is that how I should summarize it?
Too much information has come in at once, and my head is spinning.

“Sorry, my head hurts too much, can I have some time to sort things out?”

“Ah! I guess so.
It’s hard to understand all at once, even if I suddenly tell you an old story that goes all the way back to ancient times.
Then let’s talk again later, but you know…”

The woman brought her mouth to my ear and moved her small lips,
embedding sweet and eerie words into my already saturated head.

“Chan-woo will definitely have no choice but to choose our side…♡”