#exo hanahaki

[wolveswithblackpearls]

you made flowers grow in my lungs-

- i can't fucking breathe.

(admin s)

[kpopimagi]

A Flower Under The Rain [Part 14]

Characters: Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and Kang Gyuri (OC) Genre: Angst, Romance Au: Hanahaki!Au  Type: Series  Word count: 8,012

It all began with a cough and then, a subtle sting in her chest. Kang Gyuri cried, knowing that in a matter of months, she would be another figure in the death toll of the most dangerous and cruelest outbreak in human history.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8-1 | Part 8-2 | Part 9 | Part 10-1 | Part 10-2 | Part 11-1 | Part 11-2 | Part 12 | Part 13

Gyuri opened her eyes after what felt like a minute. Her entire body was sore, and the excruciating pain felt like an old memory she was grateful to leave behind her. A joyful holler caught her attention, waking her up, and she found herself lost for a moment. The room had gotten smaller in a way, enclosed by a greenish curtain, and then another happy holler diverted her attention from her surroundings to find someone sitting next to her bed. 

A guy.

A stranger.

The unknown person sat in an office chair with his legs propped up in a very childlike manner, and the most curious detail was that he was barefoot. She could barely make out the features of his face, but a protruding pout behind a very wild pinkish fringe. He was so focused on his phone, where the happy sounds kept popping as he tapped his fingers on the screen that he wasn’t aware of her staring.

When she finally moved, the stranger paused the game and hid the phone to smile at her when he realized he was being watched. He was too handsome, his smile too charming, and his eyes were so intently looking at her that Gyuri wanted to pull the bedsheet over her head and hide.

“Hello.” He said in an overly cute manner, and too taken aback, she barely mumbled the greeting back, making the guy smile wider. “I’m Kai.” 

He introduced himself as if that meant something, and Gyuri wondered if she was dead. She looked around, but there was no one else in the room but the handsome, bronze-skinned stranger and herself.

“Are you a doctor?” She finally asked.

“Sort of,” he said with certain amusement, rocking his chair from left to right. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen all my hyungs so animated. They begged me to come.”

As if something new had occurred to him, he sat down straight and rolled himself closer to the bed until he had his face at the same level as her. Gyuri was transfixed by his childlike curiosity as he observed her.

“I had to meet the woman who has all of their tighty-whities in a twist.” He said, his eyes sparkling in awe.

“Kyungsoo doesn’t wear tighty-whities.” Gyuri replied even before her head registered what she just said.

“You’ve seen him with his clothes off.” Kai added with a playful smirk.

Gyuri felt her entire face heat up, and every bit of her skin crawled in utter mortification. She refused the claim as fast and as vehemently as she could, but the guy seated in front of her burst out laughing, so loud, so high-pitched, and so contagious that Gyuri almost forgot why she was embarrassed in the first place.

“So you’re funny and pretty.” He said, shrinking into his seat as if that admission was too much to handle, “I get why Kyungsoo hyung likes you so much.”

“Jongin, you can’t be here.” Dr. Kim came into the room, interrupting the stranger.

“Kai, hyung, my name is Kai.” He said with an annoyed pout, “How many times am I going to tell you?”

“Just because you’re a brilliant chemist, it doesn’t mean you're a genius in everything else.” Dr. Kim said, grabbing the guy by the shoulders and starting to wheel him away from her bed.

Kai, Jongin, or whoever he was at the time, slouched and pouted in the most dramatic manner while complaining about not revealing who he was, citing "for obvious reasons” but that were not at all obvious.

“I’m so sorry that he’s bothering you, Gyuri.” The doctor apologized.

"I was establishing a rapport with my client." Kai said, grabbing her bed's metal frame and pulling her with him.

The doctor scolded him immediately, and the guy caved in, letting the bed go to stand up and bring up a black case out of somewhere. Without saying much, he opened it, and that finally made the doctor stop with his scolding.

“Kyungsoo hyung is paying me to mix for her,” the guy said with sudden confidence, “that makes her my client.”

“What’s that?” Gyuri asked.

Her question broke their intense staring contest. Giving the doctor an I told you so look, Kai retrieved the chair from his grasp and sat down right back next to her. He showed her the case and revealed an assortment of small, colorful glass vials. He brought up a purple one for her to see.

“A painkiller.” He said, giving the vial to her, “the best one on the market.”

“What’s different from the one nurse Kim is giving me?”

Kai smiled at her, and she felt her cheeks heating up again, this time for a very different reason. The smile on his face wasn’t a smile at all but a smirk, inviting and playful, almost seductive, and Gyuri felt remorseful for falling into it so much.

“Those ones knock you out.” He started, making her come back to the matter at hand: “Mine don’t.”

“That sounds good.” Gyuri wondered out loud.

She realized she had no idea what day it was. She just dozed off, and for all she knew, it could’ve been days since that happened. It had been only seconds, and the idea of being awake and present seemed extremely appealing.

“Wanna try then?” Kai asked, and the smirk on his face was even more alluring than before, if that could even be possible.

Gyuri accepted. She wanted to feel better. She hated the missing days and the lost moments. Smiling back at her, Kai pulled a cart closer to grab a syringe. The action made nurse Kim jump at him almost immediately. And if it was all a joke to him, with a mocking face, Kai put surgical gloves on and grabbed the smallest syringe Gyuri had ever seen to fill it with the purple liquid barely up to the first line. 

“That’s it?” The nurse asked, grabbing the syringe and getting ready to put it into Gyuri’s IV.

“It’s highly addictive,” Kai said with a serious tone, making the nurse halt to look over at the doctor waiting for his order, “and I need to monitor you closely. I’m not sure how the bug will react to it.” 

“I’ve told you before, Jongin,” the doctor intervened, “it’s not a parasite.”

“It feeds off whatever it wants,” Jongin added with an annoyed shrug. "It sounds like a parasite to me, and my name is Kai.”

The argument kept on going, and Gyuri panicked. She never thought about it in that way, and the idea of a living insect moving on her back made a chill run through her entire body. The machines started beeping around her as desperation took over, while everyone around her blurred in movement.

As suddenly as the world distorted, it all went away when she locked eyes with the guy who had now pushed the plunger of painkillers into her IV. Kai was smirking at her as he observed her with his eyes just as dark and alluring. If she had to guess, it was almost as if he was challenging her to look away first, which she did when her cheeks burned in a sudden wave of shyness she had never felt before.

Slowly, as she reminded herself that she was bedridden and sick, Gyuri finally noticed a machine beeping faster and faster as she recalled dark and dangerous eyes. She heard someone tell her to remember how to breathe when all she could feel was her heart hammering in her chest.

“You’re making her hyperventilate.” Doctor Kim scolded Kai while nudging him out of the way.

“I guess it works just fine.” He mumbled, sitting back into the chair with a cocky smile, “That was my basic formula, so all I need is a batch of fresh blood samples, an iced Americano, and in a couple of hours, I’ll have a new custom mix for you.”

The next couple of minutes went by so fast that she was suddenly breathing just fine and alone with Kai once again. He was nice enough to stop his flirtatious quibs as he monitored, just like he said, her reaction to the painkiller. Suddenly, he produced a notebook and a cute bear pen, and he seemed to have lost interest in everything else.

“You’re a drug dealer.” Gyuri said after a while, and the offended look in his eyes amused her.

“No.” He said sternly, “I’m just a chemist who happened to find a very profitable market.”

“Out of sick people.” Gyuri interjected, which seemed to disarm the guy for a second.

“Well, people find relief, and I get paid.” Kai said with a shrug, “Who needs charity?”

Gyuri stifled a laugh. She couldn’t argue with that. She did feel better. Her back was finally numb, and her mind was sharp and clear for the first time in a long time. She even dared herself to move a little, just to make sure, and her mind reeled with possibilities when there wasn’t a pang of paralyzing pain when she did.

She was considering the idea of sitting up and observed the chemist still writing down stuff on his cutesy notebook when a door opened quite abruptly. Gyuri couldn’t see who it was. Her back was to the door, and she wouldn’t care if it wasn’t for the expression on Kai’s face. He barely even moved as he looked up, and his dark eyes stared at whoever came into the room with an intensity that alarmed her.The sound of someone clearing their throat was all it took to instantly calm her down.

She could recognize the timber of that voice anywhere. She had once been a slave to it. While everything about her rejoiced at the sound, her heart, sitting at the very core of her, calmed down, almost to a lull. 

“Is that him?” Kai wondered under his breath, his eyes sweeping up and down from a distance, “Really?”

Despite barely moving from his seat, the chemist gave her a patronizing stare before Gyuri heard that voice shyly greet him, forcing him to look away. Soon after, Baekhyun walked into her sightlines, dressed up in a surgical gown and dragging an IV stand.

“It wasn’t a dream.” She mumbled. “Was it?”

“Which part?” He asked, “That I’m gracing you with my presence?”

Kai scoffed, but Gyuri laughed, possibly for the first time in weeks. She nearly burst out laughing when Baekhyun sheepishly jumped into his bed, struggling to keep his butt covered with the stupid, flimsy hospital gown. He endured her teasing with stoicism, only because it meant her giggles would float around every corner of the sterile room. Even he felt lighter to hear her voice without pain, without restraints, without any regrets, and the next couple of days were quite blissful after that. They spent hours talking, chating about nothing important, as if their hospital beds didn’t exist and the IV drips weren’t even there. 

Kai sauntered into the room every morning with his characteristic alluring flair. He would administer her daily dose of the drug, observe her reaction for a couple of minutes, write stuff on his cutesy notebook, and would throw some snarky remarks to Baekhyun at the end, leaving him completely flabbergasted. As if that was all the chemist wanted, he would disappear for the rest of the day, much to her disappointment. Kyungsoo was nowhere to be seen either. She didn’t dare to ask about him. Her mind was still too cloudy to recall anything that had happened. What she remembered from the fragments that did come to her mind were his weary eyes, the unadulterated emotion in his voice when he pleaded with her to tell the truth, and the look of rage on his face when she refused. He was most likely disappointed at her, and even if everything in her wished to see him again, she kept it all to herself.

Gyuri focused her energy on enjoying her present, where Baekhyun was her roommate and he was there solely for her. The change in her mood was noticeable. She felt stronger, she looked better, and her mind was clear. Having Baekhyun next to her was as liberating as she imagined it would be, but despite all of that, his presence didn't erase the dark shadow looming between them. Neither of them addressed the subject even when their conversations always ended up at the same issue: the reason they were there in the first place.

One day, during the shift change, and taking advantage of a couple of hours of quiet false privacy, Baekhyun rolled to his side and observed her. Gyuri had her eyes closed, but she wasn’t sleeping. He just knew. They had been watching a television show and arguing about who had the best comedic timing that he knew wasn’t possible for her to fall asleep that fast.

“Gyuri…” He called her, and she hummed in response. “Are you still awake?”

She hummed again but kept her eyes closed as a small smile spread across her face. For a second, he considered letting her rest and just watching her sleep in peace, but he had to know.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He whispered.

Baekhyun saw the tiny twitch on her features, and the peaceful smile disappeared. She was still awake; that was clear, but her eyes stayed closed, and he waited for an answer that never came.

It was better to pretend he never asked. Gyuri spent the next couple of days as if nothing of the sort happened, and everything in the villa fell into a somewhat routine. She would start every morning with the early visits from Kai and Nurse Kim to take the daily blood samples. After that, the most embarrassing one, the sanitary duties, and then the doctors would show up for the daily checkup. It was somehow a tedious task that happened every eight hours. She would be stripped down naked, and they would document every change in her body, from the growth of the spikes protruding on her back to the smallest shift of her teeth or the coloring in the bruises on her skin. Nothing on her body would change without them knowing.

Gyuri had been too out of herself to care about it. And as much as she felt better with Kai’s mixes, the clarity of mind came with a price. She was conscious enough to be aware and to feel embarrassed by her daily routine. She had to remind herself that her body wasn’t the same and that the doctors had seen plenty of sick bodies before. She kept telling herself that she was just another body in their research. Nothing else, nothing more.

After all that, her mother would come in to feed her breakfast, which consisted of mushed stews and suspicious chunky drinks. By that time she was too tired already, and after taking a nap, nurse Kim was back to take another batch of samples. Then it was time for the worst part of the day: work out.

Nurse Kim straight up put her through a whole workout session. Keeping her limbs mobile was crucial, even though she could hardly move. She had to push her joints a little, even if she cursed through it all. She knew she would have already become a tree if nurse Kim hadn't been so strict about the exercise repetitions. Even though she ended up being so exhausted that she was barely able to stay awake for the remainder of the day. 

That was her new reality; however, it was a new day, and her daily schedule was already different. The doctors explained the procedure to her and her parents the day before, and she knew the implications of the results. They had scanned her back to the smallest detail, but they needed to know the layers of the structure. How deeply rooted it actually was to her flesh and mapping the organism could answer a lot of the questions, doctor Kim and doctor Zhang still had about the disease.

When the whole team entered the room early that morning, Gyuri was already awake, and they all stopped at the sight. She was waiting for them, seated up in her bed, crouched. She wasn't, but the hump on her back gave the impression that she was ready to leap on them like a beast. It wasn't just the posture that made them hesitate but the look in her eyes.

“Good morning.” She greeted the doctor.

“You’re in a good mood this morning.” Dr. Kim greeted her back, showing her his characteristic kind smile.

“Yeah, today is a good day.”

He hesitated, staring at her, considering and observing her just as much as she held his eyes, in an unspoken conversation.

“May I ask why?” He finally asked, pulling his light pen out.

“It occurred to me that,” Gyuri said as she let the doctor shine the small light into her eyes. “I can change the world.”

The already quiet room went even quieter, and they all looked at her, stunned. Even the doctor seemed taken aback for a moment, and the sudden attention on her made something in her shift back into the old anxious and shy Gyuri. They all saw the fire in her eyes, dimmering down.

“Or maybe not,” she shrugged, aware of every pair of eyes observing her with curiosity, “that can happen too.”

Gyuri added with the lightest tone she could muster, trying to shrug pretensiousness in the comment off. It worked in a way, or so she decided it did, when the doctor gave her a small yet undecipherable smile and everyone around her resumed whatever they were doing.

“But as long as I stay alive,” she said under her breath, loud enough for only doctor Kim to hear her, “there’s always a chance I might, right?”

“Absolutely,” he said, with a kind tone, although the smile he always showed her barely reached his eyes, “and it’s my duty to make sure that everything we’re getting from you doesn’t go to waste. I promise.”

Perhabs it was the seriousness in his voice or the lack of his comforting smile, but Gyuri believed him. She knew she could rely on him, and after taking that leap of faith, she felt a great deal of guilt.

“Where’s Kyungsoo?” She asked, and her voice sounded even softer than she expected.

“He must be somewhere around.” The doctor said, although she could tell he was not telling her all the truth about it. “I’ll tell him to be here when you wake up.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you ready?” He asked.

This time, the kindness in his voice was back to the kind of tone that she trusted and assured her that everything would be alright, and that filled her with a confidence that brought a smile to her face.

“Let’s change the world.”

***

After a hectic week of taking every possible test available on earth, Kyungsoo was released with flying colors, but the steadiness had become unbearable. He wasn't needed for questioning any more and could leave if he wanted. He could go back to Seoul to attempt to keep on with his life, but there was nothing else for him there, so he stayed on the premises, wandering around but always ending up in the monitoring room. 

He spent most of his time there, watching over her, just making sure she was still alive. He held on to the primal relief he felt every single time she made the smallest movement, as small as to move a hand, because it meant she was still there, still fighting.

Just like any other day, Kyungsoo set himself in the room and saw Junmyeon taking her away to the operating room for the new mapping procedure. But now, the stillness was even more intolerable. Suddenly, he didn’t even have her on the monitors to find some peace. All he could do was wait with the unknown.

A couple of hours later, he saw movement on the screen as Jongdae and Yixing wheeled the bed with a heavily sedated Gyuri into her side of the room while Junmyeon talked to her parents. He saw Baekhyun observing the nurse carefully working around her and making sure she was safely and comfortably in her place. It was an innocuous picture in itself if he didn’t know them so well. He looked at different screens from different angles, and in all of them, he could see the frown in Junmyeon’s face. He had seen it so many times before when the doctor found himself in a corner, and he was certain of it when he caught Yixing observing Gyuri in her bed as if he was too dumbfounded to leave.

They found something.

Something bad.

Kyungsoo scrambled out of the small monitoring room, his heart racing at the endless possibilities, and found the doctors leaving the room in a heavy silence. He saw it right. Something was wrong.

“What happened?” He asked,

“I need to interview Baekhyun again.” Junmyeon mumbled.

“What do you expect to find?” The writer asked, expecting the worst when Yixing and Jongdae joined them, seemingly just as dumbstruck as the doctor.

“I don’t know.” The doctor said more to himself, “But there’s something we’re missing.”

“Hyung, why hasn’t it killed her yet?” Jongdae asked, as he ordered stuff in his little supply cart, “What is it waiting for?”

“Jongdae, bring Baekhyun to the main office.” Junmyeon ordered, avoiding the question that sent a chill down the writer’s spine. “We’ll have him look at the timeline. Let’s see how he reacts to it and what he might add.”

As if he had been ordered himself, Kyungsoo moved along with his friends and followed them back to the office. He grabbed a tablet he found nearby, sat down on the makeshift waiting area, and waited as he felt his heart beating in his ears.

Once the cameras were set up between the desks, Jongdae came in, followed by a reluctant Baekhyun, as he looked around, taking in everything in the office. Kyungsoo pretended to be busy on the tablet, although he had grabbed it more like a desperate attempt to keep his heart from beating its way out of his chest.

“We have several questions, Baekhyun.” Junmyeon said, casually sitting in a chair in front of Baekhyun as Yixing also sat nearby, “Introduce yourself.”

“My name is Byun Baekhyun.” He started, his voice steady, “I’m 28 years old, and I’m from Bucheon.”

“What were the circumstances in which you met Gyuri?” Junmyeon asked, writing something down on his clipboard.

“College. We shared some lectures during her first year.”

“What’s your relationship with her?”

“We’re friends.”

“Have you ever wanted to be more than friends?”

“No.“ He said and immediately shook his head, “Yes.” 

The doctor did not react to his indecisiveness, and Baekhyun just stared back at them.

"No,” he said firmly.

“Do you love her?”

“I do.”

“But you don’t reciprocate the affection she has for you?”

“What the hell is this?” Baekhyun shot back, looking around the office, probably put off by the new setting and audience, “Am I some sort of criminal being questioned?”

“We’re just trying to know as much as possible about your situation.” Junmyeon replied, without losing his composure, “We tested your blood, and we couldn’t find any trace of the disease. That being said, where you’re standing might be the key to finding immunity.”

The explanation had the desired effect, and Baekhyun took a deep breath, as if trying to calm himself.

“What was the question again?” He said, his tone easier.

“Do you reciprocate the affection she has for you?”

“Affection, yes.”

“Have you ever wanted to be more than friends with Gyuri?”

“No.” He said, this time without a single trace of hesitation.

“Did you lie when you said you loved her?”

“No.”

“You feel affection for her; you do love her, and yet, you are not in love with her.” Junmyeon asked, and Kyungsoo noticed a glint of excitement in his eyes. “Can you elaborate on that?”

“I love her.” Baekhyun replied, but his voice and even his entire posture were different. “But I don’t think I do it in a romantic way, at least not in the strict sense of the word.”

“Why not?”

Baekhyun squirmed in his seat, uncomfortable. Almost meekly to answer the question, he looked down at his hands as if the admission was extremely embarrassing.

“In a very, very, but very shallow way,” he said, with a noticeable knot in his voice. “She’s just not my type.”

The silence after his answer was as loud as thunder. Kyungsoo couldn’t even get angry at him. He could hold it against him if he did find Gyuri attractive and still decided to crush her hopes. It would be a thousand times easier for him to hate Baekhyun if he were an asshole, which he was not. Just like Gyuri said, he just cared an awful lot about her.

He tried not to look directly at the guy, who clearly wanted to be swallowed by a hole in the ground, but his hands trembled, holding tight to the dead tablet. His efforts failed when he heard Jongdae pull the wobbly, noisy wheels of the enormous board where Junmyeon and Yixing had a timeline of Gyuri’s infection coupled with relevant cases during the outbreak.

As if it were part of an elaborate scheme, Junmyeon and Yixing remained focused on the interview, but eventually, Baekhyun ignored the question, seemingly distracted by something on the board. The doctors looked at each other before Junmyeon pressed him with more questions.

“What is it?” He asked.

“Megumi.” The guy replied, nodding at the picture of a young woman on the board; the recognition in the name made Yixing shift in his seat. “How is she involved in this? Is she sick as well?”

“Do you know her?” Junmyeon asked.

“Well, as much as you can get to know a senior you admire.” He said with a shrug.

“Did you have a crush on her?” The doctor asked, and Baekhyun squirmed in his seat.

“I think so.” He said softly, staring at his hands.

”Did you have the chance to meet her?”

“Of course, it was the highlight of my year.”

Even Kyungsoo looked at the guy as his voice trailed down in a whisper as it dawned on him. Everyone stared at the board, realizing that piece of information might be the missing piece of the entire puzzle. Suddenly the timeline was more relevant than ever.

“Can you tell us about it?” Yixing asked, his tone a lot gentler than Junmyeon’s.

“The Engineering and Computer Science Fair in Shenzhen, China.” Baekhyun started, after he cleared his throat, visibly uncomfortable. “It was during my third year. I was part of the team presenting the applications of a new graphic engine for video games, and Gyuri was assisting our university’s coding team during the programming tournament. It was part of her scholarship program and our first trip together. It was fun.”

“When was it?” Yixing asked, ready to write down the new date.

“Having an accurate date isn’t going to give us any answers.” Junmyeon added, although his attention was on Baekhyun’s reaction.

Kyungsoo got it then. He understood what his friends were doing to gouge more details out of Baekhyun that he even felt bad for the guy and the rather aggressive approach. He could almost say the guy didn’t deserve it.

“But it would help us a great deal." Yixing replied, his tone still kind and gentle, as if begging him to remember.

“Yes, to determine a contagion speed rate because, as it is right now,” Junmyeon mumbled, but his eyes were burying holes in Baekhyun. “It’s quite worrying.”

To Kyungsoo, and most likely to the doctors as well, it felt like forever for Baekhyyn to answer. But he was surprised that neither Yixing nor Junmyeon tried to force a response, given how direct their questions were. They waited, observed him, and analyzed the smallest tick on his face until he finally opened his mouth, but the answer wasn’t what they wanted to hear.

“You’re wrong.” Baekhyun said. 

His voice was trembling just as much as Kyungsoo’s hands did when he came into the office. And the words made it all worse; he had to leave the tablet aside and look at the timeline. They all did. Everyone looked at Baekhyun and then at the timeline on the board, looking for said mistakes. 

Once it was clear Baekhyun wouldn’t say more, the doctors finally moved. They checked the files once again and asked him, but Baekhyun was long gone in his thoughts and despair. He was trying with all his might to go back in time and recall the exact moment he heard her cough for the first time. The longer he kept on thinking, the harder it was to accept it had been that long since she had been sick, and it was a truth he wasn’t willing to accept.

“Baekhyun?” It was Yixing that noticed the way his shoulders dropped. “What did we get wrong?”

“We’re working with what Gyuri and her mother told us.” Junmyeon explained, his patience running thin.

“But it can’t be.” Baekhyun said, seemingly snapping out of a trance, “She’s just prone to colds. She couldn’t be suffering for so long. Not because of me.” 

And with those words, they all saw the tears falling down his cheeks. And as heartbreaking as it was to see the guy breaking down in front of them, they still had worse news to deliver.

“Most people can pinpoint the exact moment the disease sprouted in them.” Junmyeon started the explanation now with a softer tone.

“It’s a particular feeling,” Yixing added, “impossible to miss.”

“But that’s not the same with Gyuri.” Junmyeon kept on saying, “She told us she wasn’t even aware of it until the medical report a few months ago.”

Baekhyun shook his head, most likely already knowing where this explanation was going.

“We suspect she contracted the disease way before this date.” Yixing explained, pointing at a date from the timeline, “We’re talking about someday last year.”

That’s when Baekhyun understood the real burden of guilt. The heavy and crushing weight of his failure. Gyuri had been suffering for almost a year because of him. She was in deep pain because of him. She was going to die because of him. 

From then on, no matter how many questions were thrown at him, the doctors realized Baekhyun wasn’t fit to keep going with the interview, so they let him go, and the office was suddenly filled with deafening silence as everyone, including Kyungsoo, seemed deep in thought with the answers they just got. Junmyeon was the first to move and made a beeline to the writer. 

“Did anything catch your attention?” The doctor asked, sitting next to him.

“Nothing other than he seemed sincere.” Kyungsoo said, as he observed the timeline once again, “Did you really have to go that hard on him?”

Junmyeon stayed silent as if Kyungsoo had not asked him a question. Something in the professional pragmatism of his silence made the writer look at the doctor, and for a moment, he seemed different. The coldness in his eyes, the intense expression of an obsessed stranger and not a long-life friend. Unnerved by the sight, he looked around to find Yixing lost in his thoughts as well. What they found in the surgery and what Baekhyun said somehow had a connection with the timeline.

“Who’s Megumi?” Kyungsoo asked anyone that was present enough to answer.

“The tree girl.” Yixing replied in a whisper, turning to where they were sitting, making him slightly uncomfortable.

“Yixing, could Gyuri be the first?” Junmyeon finally said under his breath.

Everything froze. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and looked at the doctor.

“Thank you!” Yixing dashed across the office to sit near them with a childish excitement glimmering in his eyes. “I didn’t want to say it out loud in case you might think I was mad.”

“Patient zero?” Jongdae asked, also getting closer. “Can it be possible?”

“If we’re willing to consider that idea as a hypothesis,” Yixing added, “all of her symptoms predate the first victim.”

“Can it be?” Junmyeon mumbled.

Kyungsoo understood just then the obsession behind his eyes.

And everything became a fuzz.

The doctors ignored him as they worked with their new theories when Kyungsoo excused himself from the office, exhausted just by the sheer amount of stress derived from the interview he witnessed. No one seemed to notice his leaving. The new information rang in his head, and he found himself back in his room, halting at the sound of the softest sniff.

Baekhyun was there and embarrassed to get caught crying; he wiped off his tears. Kyungsoo looked away, giving him some grace, considering he had to deal with a work-focused Junmyeon, and that was tough enough already.

“I guess I’m your roommate now.” Baekhyun said, his voice hoarse from crying, “So don’t mind me.”

Kyungsoo wanted to leave somewhere else other than having to get along with the guy, but it was too late to leave now. The latest interview switched something in him. In any other situation, he would’ve left without a hint of remorse, but he felt terrible for the guy. He wouldn’t even dare say he pitied him. The more he knew the guy, the more he realized he quite admired his sense of responsibility and, in a way, sympathized with his pain. That last thought made him squirm, uncomfortable to feel in that way for someone he, in theory, should hate.

“You need to rest.” That was all he managed to say.

Going further into the room, Baekhyun stood up, as if the writer demanded all of his respect, making the both of them move awkwardly around each other. Not knowing what to say exactly, Kyungsoo laid down in his bed and closed his eyes in an even more uncomfortable silence. 

“I won’t leave her alone again.” He heard Baekhyun mumble. “I swear.”

“If that’s the case,” Kyungsoo replied, slightly annoyed that he believed him, “Wash up, get some sleep, and eat something. You have to take care of yourself.”

Baekhyun agreed, and Kyungsoo heard him moving around the room, mumbling left and right about how correct the writer was, and he covered his face, already exhausted from his persistent babbling. However, he missed the noise as soon as the guy disappeared into the shower and gave him a little moment of silence to think. Because thinking was the last thing he wanted to do. 

Thinking suffocated him. 

Thinking made him see a future without Gyuri. 

“Are you asleep?” Baekhyun asked. 

He hadn’t realized the guy was out of the shower already, so he simply opened his eyes to acknowledge his presence. Baekhyun was ruffling his wet hair with a towel and sitting in his bed, looking at him with certain curiosity. As if he wanted to get to know him, and Kyungsoo knew he had to oblige in a way. 

“So…” Baekhyun said, “How did you two meet?”

“Lunch.” He replied, but the guy expected to get more out of that answer and chuckled when he didn’t.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why does she trust you so much? She isn’t the type to meet new people so easily, let alone make new friends.” Baekhyun kept on, looking at him with genuine interest. “Sometimes I still wonder how we ended up becoming friends in the first place.”

Even though Kyungsoo found the guy annoying, he was also curious as well. Deep down, he wanted to ask everything about their relationship because Gyuri never spoke about the guy in that much detail. Other than caring about her, he knew nothing about the guy, and she was right. Baekhyun cared a lot. But they were so inherently different that their friendship was the most unlikely he’d ever experienced. He wanted to know what he had that was so worth dying for.

“I’m just helping her.” Kyungsoo said.

“Why?”

The writer was fully aware that the truth behind his statement was a lot more complicated than that and that he had been wondering the same ever since the very first time he saw Gyuri. Why did he help her that day? 

Baekhyun waited for a response with undivided attention and a gentle yet intensely curious expression in his eyes. They were both on an equal basis. The guy wanted to know the writer as much as the writer wanted to know the guy.

“How’s your girlfriend?” Kyungsoo asked instead, only aware of his harsh tone until he said it out loud, “The woman you were with back then at the restaurant.”

“Oh, her.” Baekhyun said with a shrug, “I broke up with her because of something ridiculous she said about Gyuri.” He said, his face twisting in a grimace. “Who would’ve thought? She was right after all.”

Kyungsoo didn’t have to ask about what he meant. He was surprised no one else around her seemed to notice. It was blatantly obvious to him that Gyuri was sick, and he wondered if people simply stopped caring about the curse anymore or if Gyuri was just that good at blending herself in the crowd and going unnoticed. Perhaps it was that he was a survivor himself that he could see the signs. Maybe he noticed because he liked her from the very beginning.

“Have you been with her all along then?” Baekhyun interrupted his thoughts.

Kyungsoo nodded, although he wasn’t sure anymore. Cursing under his breath, Baekhyun ruffled his hair again quite violently, and a tired chuckle left his lips. He looked at him straight into his eyes, making Kyungsoo unexpectedly nervous.

“It’s getting quite hard to dislike you, you know.” Baekhyun said.

Kyungsoo stayed quiet, not knowing how to react to that admission and even less how to agree with it because he thought just the same. He could not hate the guy anymore, even if he tried.

“Thank you.” Baekhyun added. “For staying with her.”

There was an awkward pause, and Kyungsoo wished for Baekhyun to stop trying to be nice and strike conversation. It only made it hard for him, but the guy was already babbling about the shampoo in the bathroom. He apologized for taking some of it if it happened to be his and promised to get a new bottle just in case. Kyungsoo ignored him, muting him off so he could try to doze off, but he could still hear him buzzing around until the room was awfully quiet.

“The other night,” Baekhyun said, his tone completely different and void of the lightheartedness from before, “she was wearing your clothes.”

Every bit of that night, every feeling, and every word he shared with Gyuri flooded his memory. He remembered that night as if it were yesterday, and it amazed him how much everything had changed. Kyungsoo opened his eyes to find Baekhyun back in his bed.

“Don’t do this to yourself.” He muttered, considering the sad look in his eyes and worried what it could possibly mean.

“Did you two, you know, sleep together?” He asked.

Kyungsoo nodded. What else could he possibly say? It wasn’t a lie. They did sleep together, although not in the way the guy might think of by the bright red color flaring on his cheeks. 

“You’re not an accountant.” Baekhyun said, changing the subject.

Kyungsoo felt every bit of his instinct focusing on the guy. The look in his eyes, which was far from being curious, considered the writer as if he could see through him.

“Are you him?” He asked.

There was an inflection in the last word that made Kyungsoo go completely still, as if staying frozen would distract the guy from the question. The seriousness in his tone and the determination in his eyes made it clear he had pieced everything together. Kyungsoo remembered Gyuri saying he was extremely clever, even though he loved to play dumb most of the time. So far, he thought she was overly generous with her description of his character, but he was wrong. Baekhyun was good at being an unassuming dumbass when, in reality, he was just waiting for everyone else around him to slip.

“It makes sense.” Baekhyun added, looking around the place.

Kyungsoo sat up, staring at the guy, wondering if he really knew who he was or if he was just bluffing. As playful as Baekhyun could be, his face gave nothing away, and the writer felt a chill run down his spine. He realized why Gyuri was so worried to face him. The guy was perceptive in a way he wasn’t expecting, and all the pity he felt just moments earlier evaporated. 

“How did you beat the curse?” Baekhyun asked, and the writer knew there was no point in denying it. After all, he did figure it out all by himself.

“I don’t know.” Kyungsoo replied.

“That's not enough.” The guy through gritted teeth, his expression finally showing genuine emotion, “An I don’t know, won’t save her.”

“I know that.”

Upset and desperate, Baekhyun stood up. He paced around the room, and when he finally stopped, he tried to look up at the writer but couldn’t even look in his general direction, and his mouth opened and closed several times, as if he wanted to say something.

“Did she ever tell you why?” Baekhyun finally asked, staring at the floor. “Why did she fall for me?”

Kyungsoo understood the hesitation, and despite the recent revelation of his cleverness, he got it. He knew why it was so hard. It wouldn’t be a genuine struggle if Baekhyun was the heartless asshole the outside could paint him to be. The man in front of him was a caring friend to a fault, and Kyungsoo couldn’t blame him for feeling so powerless. He had felt it before.

“So you knew,” Kyungsoo said instead, and even though he didn’t mean to belittle the guy, he saw his body flinch at his words, “You knew she had feelings for you, right?” 

“Sometimes, I had a hunch, but it never made sense.” He explained, with his eyes closing and his voice breaking. “She’s too bright to fall for someone like me. She would never.”

“But she did.” Kyungsoo argued, making the guy get even smaller in his place, “If you knew, why didn’t you tell her anything?”

For a moment, the writer thought he could wait for an answer, but the guy hesitated for far too long and he realized he didn’t need an answer. It didn’t really matter. Him telling Gyuri wouldn’t change a thing. She would still be cursed. When he said he loved her back, it didn’t change anything. She was still dying.

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun said under his breath.

The guy finally looked up and stared at him. And as they squared up at each other, they felt the weight of the situation, and for the first time since they met, they could agree to be in the same dark and hopeless place.

Kyungsoo stormed out of the room, unsure of whether he was upset with the man or with himself, but everything everywhere revolved around Gyuri. The place that was built to be his last home was suddenly full of life in a very grim way. He planned to die here. That’s why he bought the property in the first place. He had hoped for it to be just as dull and as empty as his life felt, but he could hear her laugh in the hallways and smell her scent in the air around him. This place wasn't his anymore. Perhaps it never was. It was hers. And once she was gone, it would never be the same again.

Kyungsoo rubbed his eyes, in need of an escape from his dark thoughts, from Baekhyun and what he meant for his future, from Junmyeon and his false hopes, from Minseok and his incessant questions about his health, and from everything that reminded him of her. But he was never alone. No matter where he went, someone was there to ask him how he was feeling, his thoughts on the research, and what else he had planned to do. And all he thought was her; all he planned for was for her, and all he felt was despair.

The writer went straight to the kitchen. He wanted to cook. He wasn’t even hungry, but he needed the process of it to sedate himself, to focus his mind over something else other than her, but when he arrived, he found her mother there. The woman had obviously been crying for some time, but she jumped up like a spring and went into motherly operational mode as soon as she saw him. 

Kyungsoo did not have the heart to reject her attention, and there was one thing he liked about the woman. She never asked. A character flaw perhaps, but he was grateful that he could find a certain silent understanding in her. It felt to the writer that just like him, Gyuri's mother found some comfort in focusing solely on one task, even if there was no need for it. He had a team of cooks ready to manage the meals for all the guests on the property, but the woman insisted. Kyungsoo almost smiled when he recognized the source of the same stubbornness in Gyuri. 

That’s why she cooked for everyone. Every minute she didn’t spend with her daughter, she spent it chopping something, as if investing her attention in something that could somehow change the situation. Kyungsoo listened to the woman listing all of the dishes she wanted to make and started to wonder if she ever slept.

Moved by the contained emotion in her voice, he offered to assist her prepping, and they ended up finding solace in each other's silent company as they cooked.He had the impression that she found a small measure of joy in teaching him how to prepare her daughter's favorite foods, as though that offered some hope in the face of an ominous and bleak future.

Time went by as the light seeping through the windows changed and a new shift change happened. Jongdae sauntered in, as loud as he always was, excited to get a warm homemade meal. From everyone on the research team to the other guests and family members, the nurse was the one that appreciated it the most and ate everything to the last grain of rice with an unwavering devotion and a satisfied smile on his face.

Jongdae was in the middle of his usual praises to the cook in charge when the high-pitched alarm of the pager he carried with him at all times suddenly started blaring. As if in automatic, the nurse jumped out of the chair to run to Gyuri's room. Kyungsoo and her mother followed him instinctively, and they hadn't even arrived in the room when they heard her cries for help. 

"My eyes!” Gyuri cried over and over again.

By the time they reached the door, Jongdae was already getting all his gear on as another nurse stopped them from getting any closer. Baekhyun stumbled into the hallway as well, clearly shaken up and still half asleep. 

“I can't see! What happens to my eyes?!" They heard Gyuri cry in desperation, "Why can't I see!?"

Everyone froze at the words as Gyuri kept on crying and screaming, and the nurses rushed into the room. The deep determination in Jongdae’s voice broke them all out of the initial shock and left them with a sinking feeling on their stomachs.

"Call everyone in. Everyone! Now!" He ordered before the door closed behind him, and once again, all they could hear were her desperate screams thundering across the hallway.

SORRY! I'm so sorry it took me sooo sooo long to finish this chapter. Truth is, it was a hard chapter to write and I wonder if it will be hard for you readers to digest. Or at least I hope it will be considering how hard I tried to convey the nuance of what everyone is feeling. Everyone is grieving. Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay. Hopefully, the next chapter doesn't take that long to finish. If you're still here: Thank you! It means the world

[goopeculiar]

You Have My World, You're My Small Universe yixing/baekhyun/joonmyun (+ side!pairings), R, 111979 words. Old habits die hard, Yixing supposes. Like being in love with your best friend.

[hydroyaksha]

Soleil’s fic recs

EXO:

Yixing- king! “The Lotus king and his jade” @sweetjekyll

Kyungsoo- hogwarts! “Spellbound” @whimsical-ness

Sehun- X-EXO! “GREED” @/quokkacore

Sehun -(X-EXO) “LIBERALITY” @quokkacore

Baekhyun - idols! “The rumors were true” @eomayas

Kyungsoo - yandere! “I love you, I love you, I love you.” (Made by me!)

STRAYKIDS - [separate link]

Chan/ Felix - polyamory! Hogwarts! “Detention” @dreamescapeswriting

Felix - demon slayer! “If you tell me about myself” @skazoo

Felix - enemies to lovers! “Strawberry kisses” @softsan

Felix - dick joke centered! CEO! “Penis heart” @staysuki

Felix - Agent! Scientist! “A normal Thursday” @abiaswreck

Hyunjin - mafia! “Ice” @healinghyunjin

Hyunjin - mafia! “Not a stranger” @straywrds

OT8 - ABO! “No control” @cherryeol04

Hyunjin - Hanahaki! (With a good ending) “forget me not” @hhjs

Bangchan - Indian performer! Idol! “Butterfly wings” @straykidshoe

Lee know - siren! “Call of the siren” @tasteleeknow

Lee know - hogwarts! “Green flames” @streetlight11

Jeongin - android! “Alive” @rainy-bangbeom

Felix - royalty! Best friends! “Fairy flowers” @hyunsvngs

Felix - bodyguard! “Your bodyguard, Felix” @skzdarlings

Jisung - ghostface! “It’s a scream baby!” @tyunphoria

Felix - dating show! “TOO HOT TO HANDLE” @seospicybin

Felix - prince! “Forgive me for what I haven’t done” @rachalixie

NCT:

OT23 - yandere! Cult! “Connect” @mymoodwriting

WAYV:

OT7 - yandere! “Awaken” @/mymoodwriting

TEN - vampire!Hunter! “Blood wars” @things-we-cant-say

LUCAS - hybrid! “Please don’t bite me” @/quokkacore

NCT127:

NCT127 - yandere! Aliens! “Who is sticker?” @/mymoodwriting

Taeyong/ Yuta - Angels! Devils! Yandere! “Watching over you” @whiteteadreams

Jaehyun - Dog hybrid! “Competitive spirit” @flowerboykun

OT9 - vampires! Witches! “Black magic” @stayarmytinyzenmoa-l

Jaehyun - hogwarts! “Head over brooms” @sehunniepotwrites

NCT DREAM:

Mark - supernatural! “grit your f*ckin’ teeth” @irtza

Haechan - yandere! “Inseparable” @mint-yoongi

Jaemin - athlete! “on the rebound” @lunena

Jaemin - “Crazy in love” @mayaflowerxs

Renjun - classmates! “Blondes are done with fun” @rrxnjun

00’ line + Mark - arcana! “Arcane” @neonacity

Haechan - hockey player! “Ice ice baby” @cozyjae

Haechan - uni! “Learning languages” @tonicandjins

NCT TOKYO:

Sungchan - superhero! “Through the webs” @yutafrita

ENHYPHEN:

ENHYPHEN - scenario! “How they’re protective over you” @foresdxw

NI-KI - scenario! Idols! “Cookies - shattered glass” @ilovehimyourhonor

JAY - bad boy! Good girl! Dancer! “Opposites attract” @dazed-hee

NI-KI spiderman! “Spider-Man loves you” @misoxhappy

TXT:

Beomgyu- hybrid! “Until it hurts a little less” @horanghoe

Beomgyu - fae! “Dasies” @thru-the-grapevine

Soobin - AI! “Artificial love” @bb-eilish

Beomgyu- Spider-Man! “Not your average boyfriend” @slytherinshua

Yeonjun- fox hybrid! “Silly fox baby” @seowhorebin

BTS:

Taehyung - Android! “A human touch” @snackhobi

SHINee:

KEY - A/B/O! “Out of love” @mymoodwriting

THE BOYZ

OT11 - android! “The boyz become human” @tbznewberry

[kingdoms-babygirl]

Lunar’s Eclipse

Welcome to my mind.

I am Lunar! Other wise known as KingdomsBabygirl on AO3. I am 21+ and I write NSFW Fics.

Please excuse me if I come across as rude or if I am ignoring you. Truthfully, I am an internet cryptid and try to stay offline for mental health reasons. I am always happy to interact when I am available though!

I ult TheKingDom and my biases are Louis and Hwon.

I also listen to other groups (Oneus, SKZ, Ateez, The Rose, BTS, aespa, EXO) but I ONLY WRITE for Kingdom and occasionally BTS.

Feel free to send me asks!

I love discussing headcanons, Prompts, AUs etc.

I also take Fic Requests!

Hard Pass: Piss/Scat Kink, Non-Con, Beastiality, Incest, Necrophilia, Underage, x Reader, Blood

Soft Pass: [Depends on circumstances] A/B/O, Hanahaki Disease, Hardcore BDSM,

Favorites: Soulmate AUs, Poly Kingdom, Dom/Sub dynamic, soft sensual scenes, Orgasm denial, Knife Play, Daddy/Hyung Kink, Size kink

This list is subject to change as I remember more and I am subject to reject any requests as I deem necessary.

Access my AO3 Here

That’s all for now! 💛💙

Check this posts tags to navigate my blog.

[jooheonspinky]

EXO Masterlist

Welcome: Thank you for stopping by. 

*all works are complete unless otherwise stated*

Sehun X Gender Neutral Reader

Little too Late: [10.26.2020] {Hanahaki Disease, angst, one shot}: You reconnect with a crush from your youth, stirring up the old feelings again, but he is already in a relationship. Soon you begin to exhibit symptoms of the Hanahaki Disease. Can you get Sehun to reciprocate your feelings before the disease takes over completely?

[haechanhues]

stories that have a constructed beginning, middle and end all in one place. muses are listed in alphabetical order (with the exception of wayv which also falls under 'nct).

main masterlist

ATEEZ

BOYNEXTDOOR

BTS

ENHYPEN

To Say Goodbye (Heeseung) how to say goodbye to a lost love.

If Only (Sunoo) a friendship was built on this relationship and you want it to be worth it.//if this were fiction, he'd have hanahaki.

EXO

NCT 127

Trials and Errors (Mark) in which your romantic movie night with your boyfriend gets interrupted by the cockblock troupe (otherwise known as his friends)

NCT DREAM

Trials and Errors (Mark) in which your romantic movie night with your boyfriend gets interrupted by the cockblock troupe (otherwise known as his friends)

WAYV

SEVENTEEN

STRAY KIDS

THE BOYZ

TREASURE

TXT

Matchstick (Beomgyu) you and beomgyu have a heart to heart.

VICTON

[ateez-ao3feed-new]

One-Shots

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/obqizCR by theshinyreader just a few one shots- enjoy your read! :) Words: 1214, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English Fandoms: SEVENTEEN (Band), ATEEZ (Band), Stray Kids (Band), ASTRO (Band), EXO (Band), NCT (Band), ZEROBASEONE | ZB1 (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS, P1Harmony (Band), VICTON (Band), K-pop Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M, Multi Relationships: Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi (ATEEZ), Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Kim Seungmin & Seo Changbin, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Oh Sehun, Lee Dongmin | Cha Eunwoo/Moon Bin, Yoon Sanha/Everyone, ATEEZ Ensemble/Everyone, SEVENTEEN Ensemble/Everyone Additional Tags: More ships to be added, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff, Smut, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Explicit Sexual Content, Hanahaki Disease, Unrequited Love, Idiots in Love, Boys In Love, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/obqizCR

[zoekrystall]

Def apparent this was for spooky month. Minus here and there outliers but was fun primarily listening to the playlist I made for it. Shame it's already november 😔

Top artists

Aurelio Voltaire

Creature Feature

Sarah and the Safe Word

Groundbreaking

Unlike Pluto

Azari

NateWantsToBattle

SharaX

SEGA SOUND TEAM

GlitchxCity

Aviators

Madame Macabre

Bahjat

PEAKS!

Japanese Folk Metal

Set It Off

Trickywi

Jennings Couch

Black Gryph0n

CircusP

Icon For Hire

Panic! At The Disco

Nostraightanswer

EXO

Jhariah

Ado

Tryhardninja

Shayfer James

Neoni

BTS

FAKE TYPE.

Crush 40

The Cog is Dead

Juniper Vale

Santiano

Saint Chaos

I Fight Dragons

Rachel Rose Mitchell

Lindsey Stirling

Ghost and Pals

Hollywood Undead

Kasalla

Tom Cardy

machigerita

Rufus Rex

MegaGoneFree

Simon Curtis

UNSECRET

Top songs

No One Lives Forever — Oingo Boingo

Like a Vampire — Catrien

Villain - Cover — The Cog is Dead

Kiss Me, Kill Me — ari hicks

The Carousel — Best Frenz, Joywave

Fallen Angel feat. Aimee B — Mitsunori Ikeda, Aimee B

Church Outfit — Poppy

dropthebassonthestereo — CG5

headspace (feat. Reckless Jacks) — Jennings Couch, Reckless Jacks

Halloween — Faun

ラグトレイン — 稲葉曇

Whisper Whisper Whisper — Azari

Perish Song - Extended — Trickywi, YZYX

It's Terror Time Again — Sesamoid

Villain (Stella Jang Cover) - English Version — Umbratic Forest

Bottom of a Bender — Sarah and the Safe Word

Cover My traces — Reach

The Skeleton Dance — Aurelio Voltaire

Dead Walk — RedHook

Destiny Bond (Lavender Town Extended) — Trickywi

Roses — Svniivan, New Beat Order, Veronica Bravo, Cour

Same Graves — The Ghost Club

Grim Grinning Ghosts - Electro Swing Mix — Glenn Gatsby, Ashley Slater

Scarlet Vow — Aviators

Black in Every Color — Happy Hour

Pilot — Taichi Mukai

Astral Alley — Alec Holowka

No Honor Amongst Thieves — Aurelio Voltaire

hanahaki syndrome — Shiki Miyoshino

Ya Habibi Janbik — Bahjat

Every Day Is Halloween — Creature Feature

SHINIGAMIBUYOU — KODOKULOVE, ROSU

Friends in the Dark — Aurelio Voltaire

Absinthe — I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

I Am (All of Me) — Idle Music

Fake Parade — Chogakusei

Legendary — MyoMouse

Turquoise — Annelle Staal

Dead Man's Party — Oingo Boingo

Black Fire — MegaGoneFree

CROWNS — Groundbreaking

FIRE OF OUR PAST — Groundbreaking

Killed The Cat — Cjbeards, Trenton

Raging on a Sunday — Bohnes

Eraser — LYELL

Nobody Like U Anime Opening — Thai McGrath, Foxchase

Nightmare — Azari

HOLLOW HUNGER — Ironmouse, shirobeats, ThunderScott

We Are Stars (Featuring Alyssa Reid) — Virginia To Vegas, Alyssa Reid

Long Way Down — Rachel Rose Mitchell

[dibidibidismynameisleeknow]

If You Were Mine

Do Kyungsoo x Reader (afab) (she/her)

A/N: So I wrote a D.O. fic, first time posting on Tumblr because I don't totally hate this story. I apologize for it being so long, I don't know how to use the 'keep reading' option on my phone. Also, all of this is clearly fictional.

Genre: Angst. Hanahaki disease

Warnings: Major character death. Sehun says some bad words. MDNI

“Sure thing, I’ll let her know you called,” Sehun promised, unaware that you had just come through the apartment door. You quietly set up Vivi’s leash so as to not disturb Sehun’s phone call. You had a rough idea what the phone call was about, but you really wanted to sneak past and into your room. 

All you wanted lately was to be alone. You weren't yourself and you knew that, this was something you had to deal with yourself. No meddling roommate and best friend would be able to help.

“Don’t you dare try to run away.” Sehun could be intimidating when the time called for it. As much as you wanted to be alone, you couldn't take Sehun's consistent pestering. 

"I just got off the phone with Kyungsoo, what the hell is going on with you two?" 

There was only so much you were willing to share with Sehun. You and Kyungsoo had recently started growing apart; you weren't seeing each other as much, the phone calls and text messages had started to die down. The intimacy had become next to nothing once you started to get sick. In Sehun's eyes you were pushing Kyungsoo away without a valid reason and he was only trying to help. 

Kyungsoo was amazing; he was extremely intelligent, hard working and hilarious. He was also an amazing cook, and as someone who lacked the basic ability to cook even the simplest dishes, it was something that you looked for in a partner, it was non negotiable. Kyungsoo was your number one fan; he was always there to support your dreams, he was there to pick up the pieces when you failed your law class exam and encouraged you to try again. Kyungsoo felt less like a boyfriend and more like a partner, someone you were meant to conquer life with. You couldn't wait to spend the rest of your life with him. There was no doubt in your mind that Kyungsoo would be an amazing husband and father when the time came….if it came.

Sehun really tried to compose himself, he really cared for you and the friendship you two had together. The friendship he had with Kyungsoo also meant the world to him. 

"Okay, listen. I don't know what's going on with you because you never speak to me anymore. Or even the man you always claim is your soulmate for that matter. But it needs to stop. If you took ten fucking minutes out of your day to even speak to Kyungsoo you would realize he is also sick!" 

"I cant-" "-I can't see him." Your heart began to race, you could feel it pulsate in your chest. Your throat had begun to feel hoarse, there was a lingering taste of copper on your tongue. You were going to be sick and Sehun would be there to witness it.

"You're being extremely selfish and entitled. You can't just push people away."

You took off before Sehun could say anymore. Although there wasn't much more he could say. Deep down you knew he was right, which had only made the pain worse. You claimed to love Kyungsoo, you would swear on your life. Any sane person would fall in love with him in a heartbeat and it made you sick to know that maybe you weren't the one to love him. But you wanted to. You loved him, past, present and future. You would do it a thousand times over.

Jongdae held Kyungsoo as he cried for you and your relationship. Kyungsoo missed you and wanted nothing more than to be with you and hold you. He knew though, he knew when he became sick and his throat would become irritated with the thorns that decorated your birth flower that you weren't his. He wouldn't be able to hold you, kiss you, carry on with the life plans like you two had decided on. You were no longer his to love. It was slowly killing him to know you were in love with someone else. He wanted nothing more than to see you one last time before he couldn't see you any longer. 

"Kyungsoo, I'll take you to her. She might change her mind. Maybe once she sees you in person she'll listen to you-" Jongdae cleared his throat, unsure if he even wanted to finish that sentence. "Before it's too late." 

Kyungsoo didn't want to say goodbye. He didn't feel like he had the strength to carry himself to get to you, to form the words. There was so much he wanted to say to you. There was so much the two of you wanted to do. There wasn't enough time to accomplish those things, there wasn't enough time to say goodbye. 

It felt insignificant but Kyungsoo grabbed some lozenges on the way out. At this point he wasn't sure if it was to ease the pain from the coughing and the scratching from the thorns of the flowers or if it was to ease his throat to be able to form coherent sentences. 

Sehun was ready to admit defeat with you, he couldn't help you if you weren't going to help yourself. He was aware that Jongdae was on his way with Kyungsoo and busied himself with the task of making tea. He knew he had been too hard on you, and a warm cup of tea had always been an offer of peace in your shared apartment. 

The knock on the apartment door seemed to ease Sehun's mind. There was finally someone else to talk some sense into you. Sehun gladly let his two friends into the apartment, there wasn't time to exchange pleasantries, Kyungsoo took off to find you. 

Sehun grabbed Jongdae's arm to hold him from going further. You and Kyungsoo really didn't need someone else getting involved. Whatever was going on you two had to work out amongst yourselves.

"Jongdae, do you have any idea what's going on? I haven't been able to get a proper sentence out of her for days."

"I assume you know about the flower disease?" Sehun nodded in confirmation. The current moment didn't seem like the time to interrupt, but he knew he would have so many questions later. "Well you see, you cough up your soulmate's birth flower. Which is exactly what Kyungsoo has been doing. He has been coughing up her birth flower….but he's not getting better. He's actually getting sicker. More petals, I've seen him cough up whole flowers. He's in so much pain, Sehun. He's coughing up so much blood. I'm scared."

"Do you think?" Sehun couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence. The silence that swept over the two men was plenty of confirmation. 

Kyungsoo was greeted with the sight of you embracing the toilet. You were running hot and the ceramic was helping to cool you down.

"Kyungsoo-" "I'm so sorry." 

Kyungsoo dove to grab you up off the floor. He held you in his arms all the while you sobbed and soaked his chest with tears. Tears that were filled with love, sorrow, heartbreak and gratitude. 

"Kyungsoo, I love you. I swear. I don't know why this is happening." 

"Shhh. Just let me hold you."

Being held in Kyungsoo's arms has always been your favourite place to be. He was warm and comforting. Kyungsoo would gently hum your newest favourite song while you laid on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. Kyungsoo would intertwine your hands as he rubbed your back with his free one while you started to list all the things you loved about him just so you could hear his heart race. 

"I've been coughing up your birth flower. It really hurts."

"I'm so sorry. I should have told you why I was sick. I didn't think you would get sick. I thought I would just handle things by myself and you would stay healthy."

Kyungsoo gently placed his hands on either side of your face. As much as you didn't want this to end you knew you had to say goodbye. The love you and Kyungsoo shared was no more. His lips against yours were the most gentle they had ever been, like one wrong move and it was over. 

"Knowing you're in love with someone else almost hurts more than my throat bleeding or having to actually cough up these flowers. I'm glad you're my soulmate. I don't think I could have loved a better person. I know you love me, but you're no longer in love with me. I wish you told me how you felt." 

The look in Kyungsoo's eyes was enough to make you fall in love with him all over again. He wiped the tears from your eyes like he had a thousand times before with no care of your makeup staining his white sleeve. "Your happiness is more important than a silly shirt. I don't want to see you cry" He had told you the first time. 

"Do Kyungsoo. Thank you for everything. I wish I could have loved you more, I wish I could have loved you longer. I want nothing more than for you to find someone who loves you more than you think is possible. You're the one person that deserves it. I would give you the world if you asked for it. I love you Kyungsoo. I'm sorry I couldn't be that person for you."

Kyungsoo held you close as he felt your body give away. Almost as if your soul physically left your body. He lowered you both to the ground where he noticed the full flowers of Aster littering the bathroom floor.

Jongdae.

"Help!" 

[wolveswithblackpearls]

EXO Masterlist pt. 1

see also: EXO Masterlist pt. 2

Fanfics

Bring Me To Life (OT9)

On Different Planets | Character Introduction

Puppy Love <3 (ChanKai)

When The Night Gets Cold (Baekhyun)

Series

As Months (EXO, NCT)

Christmas (EXO, NCT)

Classics

Fairy Tales (EXO, NCT)

Flowers

Game of Thrones (BlackPink, EXO)

Guardian Angels

Halloween (Various Idols)

Musicals

New Years

Powers

Pride 2022 (Various Idols)

Pride 2023 (Various Idols)

Members

Xiumin - Angel - Best Friend - Bonfires - Bookshop!AU - Heart-Shaped Box - Kitten (Tan) - Last Hours of the Day - Obsession - Serenity

Luhan - Deer Hybrid x Huntress - Demigod - Ghost of a Haunted Theatre - Prince of Darkness

Suho - Black Pearl [Rework], Cuddling, Dark Royalty, Devil (wallpaper), Falling in Love with His Screenwriter, King (Oh Hellos) - London Boy~ (wallpaper) - Merman - Painting Him - Peaceful - Poseidon - Star Wars

Lay - Cottagecore - Eos - Love You More (wallpaper) - Obsession X-Lay - Prince Of The Night - Rebel/Street Artist - Surfer (wallpaper) - Veil

Baekhyun - Art Is Never Finished (wallpaper) - Bright Enough With You Alone - Secret Santa 2024 (4 wallpapers) - Guardian of the Lands of Light - New Years Eve (wallpaper) - Painting Is Poetry (wallpaper)

Chen - Cheshire Cat - Cuddly Dae/ys - Demigod - Descendent of Dionysius (wallpaper) - Fairy Prince (wallpaper) - I Don't Even Mind (wallpaper) - King - Mafia!AU

Chanyeol - Baby Blue and Happy On Stage - Black Out [Teaser 1] [Teaser 2] [Teaser 3] - Break Your Box - Breathings of Your Heart - Christmas Lights (wallpaper) - Daydreamin' - Star Walkin' (wallpaper) - Hanahaki - Minimal Warm - I Glow Pink - Him x Screenwriter For A Music Movie - Songs I Cannot Listen To (2 wallpapers) - Star Dust - Yellow

D.O - Book Club - Coffee Shop!AU - Elysian - Falling in Love with His Screenwriter - Grunge - Love So Sweet (wallpaper) - Summer

Tao - Funfair

Kai - Blue - Date During Golden Hour - Ooh La La La - Sweater Weather

Sehun - Artist!AU - Durmstrang

[kpopimagi]

A Flower Under The Rain [Part 13]

Characters: Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and Kang Gyuri (OC) Genre: Angst, Romance Au: Hanahaki!Au  Type: Series  Word count: 4,208

It all began with a cough and then, a subtle sting in her chest. Kang Gyuri cried, knowing that in a matter of months, she would be another figure in the death toll of the most dangerous and cruelest outbreak in human history.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8-1 | Part 8-2 | Part 9 | Part 10-1 | Part 10-2 | Part 11-1 | Part 11-2 | Part 12

Baekhyun had been crying for so long that he felt dry and exhausted. When the doctors came into the room and practically snatched her body out of his arms, he couldn’t do anything else but watch them work on her. He had begged them to do something. He tried to let them know. They had to do something.

Someone pushed him out of the room as people in blue surgical gowns carried Gyuri back to the bed. He couldn’t see much after that. Someone hugged him as he cried, and he held on to those comforting arms until he couldn’t cry anymore. After that, time just flew by as he stayed in the same corner for God knows how long, too tired to move.

Slowly, the blaring machines went silent, and minute after minute, the voices from the doctors also quieted down until the hallway was in a sinking silence that was oddly foreboding. Eventually, they came out of the room, and one of them, the impossibly handsome one, approached the parents.

“She’s alright for now.” The doctor said with a grave look on his face, “We all know that she should’ve died. We have seen it, and you have heard the stories, but despite all that, her heart did not give out, which is something unheard of.”

Baekhyun and Gyuri’s parents perked up at that. They wanted to hold onto the smallest sliver of hope; however, the doctor delivered more bad news than good, making them all slouch back in their places in despair as he explained the assortment of tests they had to run and samples they had to harvest from her already mangled body.

Baekhyun had been silently tearing up in the corner, mewling things over and over in his head. He tried to understand why he screwed everything up. When did he do it? Then he heard a male nurse walk down the hallway, pushing a cart full of medical equipment that almost looked like torture tools. The handsome doctor was following, and they looked at him with curiosity.

“What’s all that for?” Baekhyun asked.

“We’re taking some samples.” The doctor said.

Baekhyun simply stared at them in disbelief, and the way they just kept going as if it were any other day, when he could still listen to her painful screams inside his head.

“You can not do that.” He interjected, “She’s in pain right now.”

The nurse looked over his shoulder at the handsome doctor, and the knowing look in his eyes was more than revealing. As if in a queue, they heard Gyuri complain on the other side of the door, and Baekhyun was on his feet in an instant.

“You won’t run any more tests,” he said, finally making them hesitate.

“She insisted.” The doctor explained.

“Of course she did.” Baekhyun said, rolling his eyes, which made the nurse and the doctor give him a weirded-out look. “She can be very stubborn, you know.”

“I’d say strong-willed,” the doctor added.

The knowing, sad smile on the doctor’s face calmed Baekhyun in a way he couldn’t understand at all. It seemed to him that the man had had his fair share of dealing with his best friend and knew that Gyuri could be a handful if she set her mind to it. He had dealt with it himself for years, and he saw it in the doctor’s face as well.

“Can I come in?” Baekhyun said, letting out a sigh.

As if the doctor were expecting nothing less from him, he agreed and ordered the nurse to give him the instructions to follow during the procedure. Once again, Baekhyun found himself stepping into the room, dressed up in surgical gear from head to toe.

Gyuri was lying on her side with her back to the door, making it the very first thing he saw. The open wound was bleeding with the smallest tremors of her body and with every labored breath that came from her small figure. 

The doctor and the nurse greeted her so loudly and so carefreely that Baekhyun halted for a split second, unsure of what to do. It was the moment they let her know that he was there that Gyuri seemed to come alive. She moved, as if trying to sit in the search for him, making the skin around whatever was growing from her back tear the flesh open more. Instinctively flinching at how painful it looked, he was by her bedside before she could hurt herself more.

“Am I dead?” She asked, smiling softly at him.

“Nope,” Baekhyun replied, exaggerating the sound so his voice wouldn’t break as he gently nudged her back in the bed. "It turns out you’re quite tough.”

Gyuri chuckled, the innocuous movement making her instantly wince in pain, and Baekhyun fussed over her in response. He grabbed her hand and, as softly as he could, brushed his fingers through her hair, wishing he could take her pain away.

“Does it hurt?” Baekhyun asked, still trying to pacify her while mentally face-palming himself with the level of stupidity in his question.

And yet, she nodded as tears streamed down the side of her face, twisted in pain. The little whimper that came out of her broke his heart.

“I’m here now,” Baekhyun said, leaning closer so she could only hear him, “and I won’t leave.”

As if on cue, the doctor announced that they would begin with the procedure, and Baekhyun watched the gigantic needles the nurse prompted to the doctor, and in an urge of panic, he just diverted his attention to her hand and her knuckles covered in scabs.

“You’ll feel pressure on your back and then a crack,” the doctor warned. “I’ll try to be as fast as possible, so hang in there, alright?”

Gyuri nodded, and the crack of bones was immediate. She flinched, squeezing his hand, and Baekhyun found himself flinching just as much. He whispered whatever came to his mind to keep hers out of the procedure when he noticed something he had never seen before. 

"Uhm, doctor?" He said, unsure of how to even explain it, “Something is happening.”

"We're almost done." The doctor replied, his attention entirely focused on her back.

"I bet, but she's crying."

"You're doing great, Gyuri." The doctor assured her, his entire body completely still, "We're about to finish."

"They're white," Baekhyun said, making the doctor and the nurse look at him. "Her tears are white."

It was fast, but he saw the glint of surprise in the doctor’s eyes behind his face shield, but a flash of unweavering determination instantly replaced it. The doctor and the nurse resumed their work, and when they were done with the pipes, as if nothing unexpected had happened, the doctor went around the bed and focused on her face. Without any exchange of words, Baekhyun scrambled up to his feet and stepped aside to give the doctor some room, but Gyuri's fingers were constricted around his hand, not letting him go.

"Don't worry, I'm still here," he whispered, squeezing her fingers back.

Once the nurse labeled all the previous samples, Baekhyun observed the doctor scooping the white tears off her face, flashing a light into her eyes, and asking Gyuri things about the sensation behind her eyeballs as he gently dipped his fingers across her features as if looking for something while the nurse recorded everything with a cellphone.

When they were done, the doctor gave some instructions that only the nurse understood, and he went into full operational mode. He prepared a new bag of fluids and changed it, as well as injecting something else into her IV. Baekhyun watched every movement like a hawk, as if he knew a thing about what was going on.

"I'll give you a nice cocktail of sugary fluids to rehydrate you and painkillers so you can rest for a few hours. What does that sound like?" The nurse said with a tender smile.

His tone was so amicable that Gyuri found it reassuring but too exhausted to reciprocate the tone; she only nodded, closing her eyes and holding Baekhyun’s hand even tighter. However, the peaceful moment was broken in an instant when she hissed. The sound was so foreign for Baekhyun that he just stared at her body, seemingly coming back to life. She cried out, almost sitting up while rubbing a hand over her forearm. Unfazed, the nurse returned to the IV and adjusted the nubs. The quick fix seemed to work because Gyuri calmed down quite instantly, relaxing again on the bed.

"Jongdae," the doctor said with a hard tone no one had heard before. "Be careful. No more mistakes."

The doctor expected an apology, but the nurse didn't even move. He called him once again, his tone harsher, and Baekhyun simply looked to one and the other, not knowing what to expect.

"But it wasn't a mistake." Nurse Jongdae finally mumbled, with a deep frown on his face. "I used the same drip count as usual."

As if knowing the nurse was onto something, the handsome doctor grabbed the chart from the cart and read through it with a frown. Then they started an exchange of questions and answers that neither Gyuri nor Baekhyun understood.

"Are you sure about it?" He asked, his face twisting just like the nurse.

"Positive." The nurse said.

"What's wrong?" Gyuri asked, opening her eyes, and they could see the fright in them.

"We'll have to take another blood sample." The doctor said while still reading the chart.

"She asked what was wrong," Baekhyun said, getting closer without letting her hand go.

"It felt like something burned inside your arm, didn't it?" Nurse Jongdae asked with a light-hearted tone, preparing for the new sample. 

Gyuri nodded, and the nurse gently asked her to let Baekhyun's hand go. Just like he did before, he assured her that he wasn't going anywhere, and finally, she let him go.

"The IV was dropping into your system, but your veins couldn't handle it." The nurse explained as he prepared her arm to take the sample, "It felt like they were about to pop, right?"

"Is that something you can feel?" Baekhyun wondered out loud, scandalized, "Veins can burst open?"

"Vein shrinking isn't in itself bad," the doctor added, observing the nurse fill the tube with her blood. "There are many reasons why it could happen, but never on such short notice. That's why we need the sample to see what is causing it."

Baekhyun had a million questions, but as if that uncertain answer was enough, Gyuri closed her eyes and nodded. Suddenly, she looked way too frail, too pale, and too defeated, and Baekhyun understood, just with a glimpse of her small body sinking into the bed, that she didn't need all the answers or good news about her condition. She let out a soft sigh and let the painkillers take her away for a while. Feeling the back of his eyes burning, Baekhyun swallowed back the powerlessness and went back to his place next to her. He grabbed her hand again, whispered to her to have a good sleep, and stayed there until she drifted away.

It wasn’t that long before Baekhyun couldn’t handle the sound of the beeping machines and the nauseous smell anymore. The shock and adrenaline wore off, and the exhaustion finally started to kick in while his cellphone kept buzzing in his pocket. All of that and the heaviness in his limbs made him want to leave the room, lay down, and sleep for days.

Once he made sure Gyuri was completely under the medication, he stepped out of the room and found the nurse restocking the supply cart by the door. Without asking, the nurse helped him out of the surgical gear, and once free of it, he felt lost and clueless.

“Hey, what’s happening to her?” Baekhyun asked, unable to move. 

“Didn’t Kyungsoo tell you?” The nurse asked instead as he resumed his restocking duties.

The silence that followed was deafening. Baekhyun stayed rooted in his spot, and he wanted to reply, but he was even more lost than before. He didn’t know what was happening other than that Gyuri was dying. When the nurse noticed the lack of response, he dropped what he was doing to consider him, making Baekhyun feel exposed under his scrutiny. 

“I can’t really disclose that type of information.” The nurse said.

However, Baekhyun did not react. He just waited for the guy to give him at least some sort of answer. Realizing the guy wouldn’t drop the subject until he got an explanation, the nurse let out a tired sigh.

“Just wait here.”

The nurse left him without a word, and still kind of dazed by the rapidity of everything, Baekhyun waited in the same spot, afraid of moving, until the doctor, who in his opinion was way too handsome to be a doctor, came out of the office and greeted him with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He led Baekhyun to another tiny room where a bunch of beeping monitors were set up, and it took him a minute to realize that all those monitors were cameras recording Gyuri from every angle and keeping up with her vitals.

“I’m Doctor Kim,” the doctor introduced himself as he moved a couple of chairs for them to sit in, “and I’ll be in charge of taking care of Gyuri.”

Baekhyun bowed his head and looked at the monitors; some showed a fast-sleeping Gyuri, and others focused on the damned thing sticking out of her back.

“This looks like a lab experiment taken out of a sci-fi movie.” Baekhyun pointed it out, but the doctor didn’t seem to get offended.

“She signed up for the research program on the disease.” Dr. Kim said with a serious expression, and Baekhyun lowered his head, feeling his eyes burning.

“And you brought me here to watch her die?” Baekhyun finally snapped, rubbing the tears from his eyes. “Is that it?”

“We brought you here because we believe you might have some answers to her pain.” The doctor said.

“I thought the curse was incurable.” Baekhyun gasped, another tiny speck of hope lighting up in his chest once again.

“It still is,” the doctor said with a sigh as he looked at the monitors, “but her body is reacting to the disease in a way no one has ever seen before.”

“And you need me to know why,” Baekhyun added.

Dr. Kim nodded, expecting to find more resistance from the guy, but there was nothing else to discuss. Baekhyun didn’t need any convincing. He was ready.

“Let’s do it.” He said, feeling braver than he had ever felt in his entire life. “I’m in, or whatever it is for you to take samples of my blood and all that stuff. I want to do it.”

***

What had happened to Kyungsoo in the last few hours was a complete blur to him. His memories all blended together, from Minseok carrying him to blurry faces coming in and out of his vision. Then alarms were blaring. People argued. His heart was sinking. His world kept falling apart. The walls crashed down on him. Jolting himself awake, Kyungsoo opened his eyes and looked around. He recognized his bearings, as in one of the guest rooms on the second floor of the house. He placed a hand on his chest, making sure there were no roots moving underneath his skin, but nothing felt out of place. His body felt just as heavy, and his heart thumped just as hard, just as steady. Everything was alright.

It wasn’t dark outside anymore. The sky was bright, and sunlight was seeping into the room, welcoming a new day. It was a bright new day, and Kyungsoo wondered if he was dead. His head pounded when he sat up straight, feeling sick to his stomach. The discomfort made him groan, and his throat burned, coarse for some reason.

“Good morning.” A known voice said.

Kyungsoo looked up to find Junmyeon there, reading something from a folder in one hand and holding a cup of coffee in the other. His voice was stern, and putting the folder down on his lap, the doctor rubbed a hand over his eyes and furrowed brows. He looked exhausted.

“What happened?” Kyungsoo asked, clearing his throat.

“You had a good old panic attack.” He said, observing him.

“What?” Kyungsoo couldn’t hide his surprise. “No, I felt it grow, hyung. It was growing again.”

“You’re clean.” Junmyeon said, with a smile, albeit small and disappointed, “Other than the normal traces of chlorophyll in your blood levels like everyone else with the disease has, there are no roots, no dormant anomalous cells, nothing out of the ordinary as far as we can see. I would even dare to say that you’re as healthy as you could possibly be.” 

Kyungsoo felt his body getting instantly lighter and pressed both hands against his chest in disbelief that there was nothing foreign in there. He had spent years in the dark about the curse, fearing it would come back to claim his life when he least expected it, only to discover that he was okay. He was safe. 

Junmyeon wouldn’t lie about something like that. If he said he was cured, he knew he should believe it. But he couldn’t believe it. He rubbed his hands across his chest, expecting to feel the roots slowly spreading beneath his skin like he did years before, but there was nothing. All he felt  was his flesh, sensitive and alive, and his heart was unweavering despite his worst fears and nightmares. His eyes blurred with all the years of unshed tears and contained hopes, and everything finally seemed to burst in a sudden wave of joy. 

A bliss that did not last.

His happiness wouldn't be complete if she wasn’t there. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he relished in the relief she couldn’t get, and as fast as all of his emotions exploded, everything in him sank in worry. If he could beat it, so would she, and he would not be at ease until she was safe as well.

“How’s Gyuri?” He asked, and all of his senses suddenly became clear and sharp.

“Out of danger,” Junmyeon said, his entire posture changing, “for now.”

When Baekhyun accepted to be part of the research on the disease, he never imagined that said involvement meant being in an empty office, signing NDAs, reading contracts, and answering questionnaires. Once done with all the paperwork and rubbing the tiredness off his eyes, he was taken to a room on the second floor where he could clean himself and rest for a moment until the new shift would officially admit him into the program and finally begin with the research.

Struggling to keep his eyes open, Baekhyun noticed the two beds. He halted, observing the perfectly done bed and then the second one, which had clearly been used quite recently. He was too tired to care and dragged his feet to the washroom to take a shower. He hadn’t realized just how exhausted he was until he laid down on the freshly made bed and fell asleep almost immediately. Sometime later, a nurse knocked at his door and guided him back through the main hallway. They were about to reach the small office where he had spent several hours already when the suspicious penguin-faced accountant came out, dressed in a hospital gown and dragging an IV stand along.

“Wow, is he part of the research as well?” Baekhyun asked the nurse.

However, he got no answer as the guy walked past without even giving them a glance, and he was long gone before the nurse could even begin to explain.

“Wait a second, is he sick as well?” Baekhyun whispered loudly, his mind fully working after a good nap. “Was it Gyuri?”

“I can’t disclose that information.” The nurse replied as they reached the door to Gyuri’s room.

Baekhyun would’ve tried to pry the information out of her, most likely using his charms to get any juicy details on his best friend’s new, shady boyfriend, but getting back to the place where she was made him forget about it in a second. Those details lost all their value when the nurse handed him a brand new face mask and opened the door to let him into the room that looked nothing like the place he remembered from hours before.

Gyuri was still under the medication, but the bed and all of her beeping machines were moved further left to make some room for another bed. His bed, and just like hers, there were cameras and machines around it, as if on a grand stage, ready to record every little one of his movements.

Hesitant, Baekhyun went into the room, looking over at Gyuri and her small figure, barely giving any signs of life. He was about to walk over when the nurse pulled a curtain in his way, creating a divide between him and her.

“Let’s get you settled first, and once she's out of it, you’ll have time to talk to her.” The nurse said with forced politeness.

Leading him toward the second bed, Baekhyun followed the instructions, and in no time, he was wearing a hospital gown, laying down on a hospital bed, with an IV on his arm and another half a dozen monitors connected to his body. The smell wasn’t nearly as strong as before, but it was now mixed with what he guessed were cleaning chemicals that made it revolt in a different kind of way.

Suddenly, he wanted to call his parents. He felt the urge to talk to them, to tell them how much he loved them, to say his goodbyes, but then reminded himself that he couldn’t say a word about this. With the nurse gone and left with the only company of the sounding machinery around him, his mind started to reel with theories. Granted, he had never been part of something of the sort, but he knew all the NDAs were not normal. He also knew the shady accountant had something to do with it all, but his train of thought was cut off. The door opened, and then an unusual silence followed, which made Baekhyun close his eyes and pretend to be asleep. There was no need for that, but the soft sound of the footsteps of whoever came into the room made him do it. The nurses he had seen so far were loud and lively, as if their noise could cheer their only patient up to wellness. However, this person was too cautious and too quiet. He wanted to open an eye to see who it was when he heard the sound of the curtain between him and Gyuri being pushed aside. 

There was no greeting and no questions, just a heavy silence that was almost unbearable, and when his patience almost ran out, the curtain fell back in place and the person walked away. Relieved and holding his breath, Baekhyun opened his eyes. He was alone on his sterile side of the room and stayed still, trying his hardest to listen to what was happening on the other side of the curtain, but his curiosity eventually got the best of him. Baekhyun stretched an arm as far as all the wires stuck to his skin allowed him to and gently nudged the curtain aside just enough to peek out.

The accountant was there, propped on Gyuri’s bed, gently brushing her hair out of her face. She didn’t react, of course, but the guy didn’t seem to mind as he held her hand between his with the utmost care before leaning closer to press his forehead against her temple.

“I brought him here for you.” The guy said.

His words were a mere whisper that rang so loudly in the otherwise silent room that Baekhyun was afraid everything could be heard, even his heartbeat. He could even feel it ringing in his ears.

“You can’t leave now.” The accountant continued. “Please.”

Baekhyun saw the guy kiss the side of her head, and in a burst of shyness, he slowly put the curtain back in place, feeling his cheeks burning. As if he had intruded in one of the most intimate moments of the couple, Baekhyun wished he hadn’t seen or heard what happened, but the gentleness in the guy’s actions was quite impossible to forget. 

Finding himself frustrated once again by the penguin-faced accountant, Baekhyun rolled to his side in a huff and pushed every nice thought he had about the guy. Because no matter how nice he could be to Gyuri, he was convinced there was something shady about him. Something so big, even Gyuri tried her best to hide, and Baekhyun had to close his eyes to stop his mind from derailing even further. Because it didn’t matter what great mistery the guy could hide. All that mattered to him was to do his best for Gyuri. And if that meant he had to get along with him, he would.

He would do anything.

For Gyuri, he would.

So... Why do I keep making Baekhyun more and more flawed? Ayyyy....Don't hate him too much please, he doesn't know any better 😅  Anyway, we're in the last stretch of the story. Just a couple of chapters left and this will be over. If you're still here, reading this story and reading through this ending note, please leave a comment with what you think will happen next. I have a few loose ends that I still don't know how to settle so I would like to hear your thoughts on this. So just as I say every time, Thank you!

[birdly-vagabond]

Love Hurts

“It’s strange, isn’t it? The way immortality has an effect on things like this, don’t you think? I could. Jump off a building. Shoot myself right now, on this spot but it wouldn’t matter. I’ll just come right back. It’s not like we have a finite amount of resurrections. I’m not scared to die anymore. I’m not scared about taking risks anymore. Immortality will do that do you. Only thing i’m afraid of now is the pain that fronts it. How many times i’m gonna come back just to suffer some more. Love Hurts. Don’t let it break you down this far. Don’t let it suffocate you” 

-Avian-4

((Anyway Hi! I’m back. Despite what’s been said i’ve had NO time for any personal art for the past month or so. But i was finally able to finish this! I’m over everything that’s happened now, but here’s this anyway. It was very cathartic to draw. For the first time in a few years I’m REALLY happy with my art and how this came out!! For the first time in a really long time, i’m proud of something i’ve drawn. Ironic it came out of such a bad place in my life. haha. Like flowers pushing through concrete.)) 

[universitykpop]

Blooming Days; part 1

Genre: Angst, Hanahaki Disease!au

Member: Xiumin (featuring Baekhyun and Chen)

Words: 765

There are no words to describe the strange pain digging through your chest. With each passing day, a different area hurts. Just when it subsides, you begin a coughing fit. Scouring the internet doesn’t give much of an explanation. Your symptoms could be from anything.

As you stand hunkered over a sink in the bathroom at a little cafe, you feel another round of coughs coming. Your phone is buzzing on the counter with a text from Baekhyun asking if you’re okay.

The blood you find in the basin when you open your eyes scares you, but the single yellow flower petal absolutely confuses you. You know for a fact the sink was empty before you started coughing again; you’ve been staring into it for a solid minute hoping the pain in your chest would quickly disappear. You reach for the petal and examine it closely. It’s a weird shape, but you’ve seen it somewhere before.

A knock on the door startles you, and you slip the petal into your purse quickly. Outside the restroom is Baekhyun with a worried look.

“Holy shit… Are you okay?” His panicked eyes scan your face.

“I’m fine.” You answer, angling your face away from him, and try to pass him.

“You look really pale. Are you sure you’re okay?” He blocks you from leaving.

“Yes, I just want my coffee.” You sound impatient, and he finally steps aside.

Minseok and Jongdae are in the middle of a conversation when you arrive back at the table.

“Everything come out okay?” Jongdae asks with a grin.

“Shut up.” You roll your eyes before taking a large gulp of your drink. The strong taste floods out the irony aftermath of your coughing fit.

-

The knock on the hospital room door makes you want to turn your head, but you can’t. There’s a neck brace around you to keep your movements minimal. You watch your friend Baekhyun’s face light up, and you know who stepped inside.

“Minseok, about time you showed up.” Your hoarse voice makes him laugh.

There’s some shuffling next to your bed.

“I had to stop and get something for you.” He says, holding a bouquet of flowers in your line of sight.

“What are those?” You ask as you take them into your hands.

“Snapdragons. I got you one of each available color.” He answers nonchalantly, pulling another extra chair next to the bed.

“They’re so beautiful… The yellow one is my favorite. Thank you.” You smile and hand them back to him to lay on your bedside table.

“How are you feeling?” Minseok leans his elbows on his knees with his focus solely on you.

“I’m okay; just in a bit of pain. This is why I wish you would stop speeding. You could do this,” You wiggle your body slightly and wince, “to someone.”

“Didn’t you say the person kept driving? How do you know it wasn’t me?”

“Minseok!” You groan, wishing you could smack his arm.

-

“You know, movie night isn’t fun when it’s paused and someone is waiting for the other person,” Baekhyun speaks through your bathroom door.

“I’ll be right out.” You manage to call back.

The door cracks, and he pokes his head in. “Are you okay?” His eyes widen when he sees you hunched over the toilet, and he hurries inside. “Let me help you. I’ll hold your hair-”

“Get out!” You yell, blood dripping down your chin.

His frantic eyes catch a glimpse of the yellow petals floating in the toilet.

“Y/N, what the fuck?”

“Please just go,” Your lower lip trembles while you speak. Tears blur your vision as his figure crouches next to you.

“Is it because of me?”

“Not everything is about you, you asshole!” You cough out, more petals making their way up.

Baekhyun sits in silence as he holds your hair back. A gentle hand rubs circles on your back while your body rids the foreign items from your lungs. Once the fit passes, you lean back against the bathtub, spent. Baekhyun uses tissues to wipe off the blood and spit running down your face.

“Thank you.” Your voice is hoarse.

“It’s really not a problem… Um, since it’s not me, do you mind me asking who it is?” He asks cautiously.

“If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone.” You hold out your pinky.

“What are we? Five?” He whines, but you hold your ground. With a groan, he locks pinkies with you.

“That also means you can’t tell anyone about this.” You gesture from your mouth to the toilet.

“I promise.”

[l0lbit3z]

Goretober 08: hanahaki disease 

Characters-Warai, Exo, Linh

[jooheonspinky]

Little too Late

Characters: Sehun x Gender Neutral Reader Genre: Hanahaki Disease, angst Word Count: 3K Warnings: Mentions of blood ────── 〔✿〕──────

You plop into a bench at your favorite café, exhausted from your days’ work. You loved coming here. The atmosphere was always quiet and peaceful; the only sound the clinking of metal spoons against ceramic cups and the hushed murmurings of the patrons as they placed their orders. The background noise and your favorite latte was what helped you unwind after a long day.

Most people would say a cup of coffee at this time of the night would only assist in keeping them awake, but for you it was different. The warmth and flavors only soothed your soul, making you forget the stresses you’d endured that day. It settled your mind, which helped you sleep better.

“Good evening,” you hear a soft voice you don’t recognize interrupt your thoughts.

Glancing up sharply, you have to remind yourself to respond as the handsomeness of the young man standing at your table momentarily renders you speechless.

“Oh, uhm…Hello,” you finally stammer out.

His gaze was so intense. The dark irises, the color akin to espresso, bore into yours through the fringe of his off center parted bangs. The tiniest of smiles quirked one side of his perfectly shaped lips. Even as you lost yourself in the warmth of his eyes, you felt a vague nudge at the back of your mind signally to you that you had seen them before, once upon a time.

“Misty told me you were a regular and you get special treatment,” he winks at you and you swear you feel your heart stop in your chest.

Blushing, you laugh, waving off his comment, “Oh, no no. She just likes to spoil me because we went to school together.”

“You went to school with Misty?” he asks a bit surprised. “I did, too, but a long time ago.”

This time you look over him, but not with the eyes of someone who was admiring his chiseled beauty. Now you take time to picture him much younger, your brows furrowing as you concentrate.

“What’s your name?” you ask as you tilt your head slightly.

“Oh Sehun,” he replies with a smile. “Yours?”

Even as you reply with your name, your brain unlocks the image of the young boy you’d adored as a preteen. He’d only been two years older than you, but to your twelve year old self he seemed ages older and so cool. You’d lived on the same street and had walked to school together. He was popular and always surrounded by both girls and boys. Even still, he had a gentle and kind heart, making sure to say hi to you, trying to always include you whenever you were around. He treated you like a sibling, though, nothing more than friendship ever having bloomed between you two.

Your heart was broken when he moved almost three years later. His father had accepted a job in his native country of South Korea and just like that he was out of your life. Of course, time has a tendency of dampening the sadness and ache in ones heart until it is not but a distant memory. A mere school crush is how you’d classified it when you would randomly remember that time.

You’re brought forth from your thoughts as he murmurs your name a few times until a spark of recognition alights in his eyes.

“Ah, yes!” his smile brightens as he snaps his fingers. “I remember you, Smidge,” he chuckles merrily.

“Huh?” you stare up at him perplexed.

“Smidge. Remember? I used to call you that because you were so small.”

“Oh, that’s right,” you mumble feeling your cheeks flush a rosy hue as you recall his pet name for you. 

This brought on another chuckle from Sehun.

“My shift is over in a few minutes, do you mind if I sit with you and catch up?” he asks, his eyes filled with the hopes that you’d say yes.

“Sure, why not,” you shrug as casually as you can.

“Great, so you’re usual right?” he quips.

“Right.”

“Ok, I’ll be back in a bit.”

You give him a nod and watch him walk back behind the counter. He catches you studying him as he makes your coffee, pausing to smile widely and wiggle his fingers at you. The tint on your cheeks brightens as you awkwardly smile back and then force your gaze towards the window next to you instead.

Wah, you would never have thought seeing him again would stir up those childhood feelings you thought you had long ago forgotten. But as you stare out at the crescent moon smiling down at you from the velvety black sky, you can’t deny the rapid thrum of your heart beating giddily in your chest.

  ────── 〔✿〕──────

From that night forward, Sehun joins you every Tuesday and Thursday after his shift. And while in the past you had so looked forward to your nightly visits to the café for the peace it left you in, now you had an extra reason to get excited about going. You dressed nicer and made sure not a hair was out of place on those days. All the while lying to yourself that it was not all to impress him.

You both chatted quietly over your coffees for about an hour on those nights before you would say your farewells and head to your own homes. You quickly learned his personality hadn’t changed much. He was still sweet, considerate and gentle. When you spoke, his eyes didn’t leave your face, making sure you knew he was listening to every word you said. His laugh brought on tingles in your belly, his smile made your heart swell and you wished nothing would ever cause him to lose that gorgeous smile.

It’s not until a month passes… maybe just a little over a month, that Sehun slips into the bench across from you, that sparkling smile slipping into an expression you hadn’t seen on him before. The change in his demeanor is so foreign to you that it takes you a few moments to decipher it.

Sliding your hand across the table you wrap your fingers around his, looking into his eyes with concern as you ask, “What’s the matter, Sehun?”

He looks down at your joined hands, sighing despondently as he gives your hand an appreciative squeeze.

“It’s Destiny,” he says softly, sadness lacing his words.

Your heart stutters, fluttering roughly in your chest.

“What’s destiny?” you ask, concentrating on keeping the tremor from your voice.

Releasing your hand, he encircles his mug as if trying to draw strength from it. You straighten, taking a sip of your own coffee as you wait for his response.

“Not what…who,” he clears his throat, now leaning back in the bench. Flicking his gaze up to yours, he adds. “Destiny is my girlfriend.”

You instantaneously feel your heart lurch, your blood running cold at his response. A tickle in your lungs startles you, causing you to let out a few coughs. Your eyes water as you suck in a shaky breath.

“Ow!” you groan your face scrunching in pain.

“Jesus,” Sehun stands coming over to your side to pat your back. “Are you ok?”

Shoulders hunched, you hope he can’t see your fisted hand rubbing circles over your chest as you try and soothe whatever that had been.

“Yeah, yeah,” you manage with a grimace. “I think the coffee just went down the wrong pipe.”

He had a girlfriend? What was he doing chatting it up with you until ten? God, how did you always end up in situations like this? Were you truly that bad at reading people? You had felt so comfortable in your talks with Sehun and he had appeared interested… But maybe he was just being him. Always wanting people to feel welcome and at ease around him. Ugh! How could you have been so foolish? He really did only see you as a friend now just like he had all those years ago.

“You sure you’re ok?” he asks again as he brushes the hair out of your eyes and pats your wet cheeks with a napkin.

Taking the napkin from him none too nicely, you brush him off, “Yes. Yes. I’m fine.” He hesitates as he stares at you pensively, but then he finally accepts your words. Wanting his focus to shift from you, you say, “I’m sorry. You were saying?”

You try to bring the conversation back to what you had been talking about, but the coughing just won’t subside.

“I’m so sorry, Sehun,” you finally say between fits of coughing. “I’m gonna go.”

You swiftly stand, gathering the few items you had.

“Wait, are you sure you’re ok?”

He follows you as you head towards the exit with brows furrowed, but you don’t reply as you dash out into the buzz of the night. Not looking back, you hop into your car, speeding off as you continue to attempt to catch your breath. Once at home, you rush to your bathroom, your cheeks flushed as you glance in the mirror. 

Splashing water on your face, you try to sooth the heat in hopes it would calm the coughing, but another fit ensues. Your eyes widen as tiny red and pink spots speckle across the white porcelain of the sink. You cough again and it’s as if whatever had been caught in your throat is dislodged. You spit into your hand and feel fear grip your body.

A bloodied torn blue petal lies in the center of your palm.

“No!” you whisper roughly.

It couldn’t be! You take a few deep breaths and force yourself to relax as you focus on the fact that you finally feel relief, the tightness in your chest gone. Even the tickle in your throat is no longer there. You throw the petal away and wash your hands, rinse your mouth and clean the sink.

All the while your heart still races, terrified of what this all means. You are quick to shower and slip into bed, hoping the next day will reveal that what you believed this to be was not actually it.

────── 〔✿〕──────

Despite knowing Sehun had a girlfriend, you found yourself returning to the cafe. It was painful sitting across from him knowing there would never be anything more between you, but not seeing him or hearing his voice seemed to hurt even more. So you still showed up twice a week as usual and he still sat with you after his shift. 

At first he filled you in on the fact that things were getting a bit rocky with his girlfriend. But then he stopped bringing it up and you assumed they had worked things out. After all, he had said he’d had no intentions of leaving her. 

And so the coughing persisted, the petals still coming up. You did your best to hide any evidence from him, but he only grew more and more concerned.

“It’s just a cold,” you would try and reassure him, but you could see the doubt in his eyes.

He finally convinced you to get checked out.

You sit in the chilly room of the doctor’s office. He had not liked the sounds in your lungs and had sent you to have X-rays done in the building next door. Now you waited for the images to be sent over and for him to give you the prognosis.

You look up as the door opens and see the doctor step in. He smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Instantly, your palms begin to sweat.

“Well,” he says on an exhale as he sits on his stool and rolls over to you.  From the examination table you look down at him nervously. “I’ve taken a look at your images and, it’s as I thought. You have the Hanahaki Disease. Do you know what that is?”

You glance away, sadness squeezes at your heart. The now familiar tickle in your esophagus threatening to bring on a coughing fit. You clear your throat as you return your gaze to the doctor.

“Yes,” you whisper tightly.

“Then you know your options,” he straightens in his chair. “Find a way for your love to return your feelings or I can perform a procedure to remove the roots. But,” he shakes his head forlornly. “You will never have the capacity to feel romantic love again.”

What kind of options were these? you think desperately to yourself. If there was any chance that he could love you back, you did not want to take that choice away from yourself.

“I don’t want to have the surgery,” you tell him firmly. 

He rolls over to the counter and scribbles onto a paper. Tearing it off he stands and hands it to you.

“Take this if you need help sleeping. The other will help mildly with the coughing during the day.”

I nod, accepting the paper.

“Thank you.”

“If you change your mind…”

“I won’t,” you give him a tight-lipped smile.

“Very well. Have a good day.”

────── 〔✿〕──────

As time passes, it only gets worse. Sometimes you retch up full blooms of blue anemone, the flowers beauty tainted with saliva and blood. The feeling of suffocating was the worst. There were so many times you wanted to give in and have the surgery, but knowing you could never love again frightened you more than anything. You told Sehun that you had been right. It was just a cold. You did not dare to tell him the truth for fear of losing his friendship. 

Glancing into your mirror you see how much weight you’ve lost. Your eyes are sunken into your face, dark circles making them look even deeper and lost. Your cheeks are hollow, your hair thinning. 

With glistening tears you apply makeup, bringing your face back to life. Sehun had invited you to have a picnic at the park. He said he had a surprise and you were excited. Perhaps he had finally decided to leave Destiny. Just maybe he had fallen in love with you instead.

You quickly dressed, then reached the park before him. There you laid out a blanket beneath the shade of a large tree. Opening the picnic basket, you begin to lay out some of the snacks when you happen to glance up and catch sight of Sehun. 

You smile, but he hasn’t seen you yet. In a pair of dark blue jeans and a butter yellow t-shirt his skin seems to glow and your heart swells in your chest at how handsome he looks out of his barista uniform. 

But then your eyes fall on the person beside him. You watch as he puts his arm across her shoulders and she puts one of her own across his lower back, hand resting on his hip. The sunlight glints off of an object on her finger and you know.

Instantly you know that his ‘surprise’ was that they had worked things out and he had proposed. They were engaged. Any chance you may have had...was lost forever.

You begin to cough, the sound harsh. A searing pain in your chest becomes unbearable and you look down to see something poking at your shirt. Through watery eyes you pull the collar of your shirt away from you and peer down. Eyes wide with terror, you see a stem growing out of the middle of your chest, a trickle of blood sliding down your skin.

Seeing him with her must have exacerbated the disease. Before you can grab your phone to call for help more stems break through your chest. You are screaming in agony, the sounds muted by the blooms forcing themselves up from your throat.

Writhing in pain, you fall back onto the blanket. Never had you ever felt anything as excruciating as what was happening to you now. Through the haze of pain you feel someone rush down beside you.

“Oh my God!”

It was Sehun. You turn tear filled eyes towards him and offer a crooked pain filled smile. He looks horrified and you wish you could reach out and smooth away the worried creases on his brow. His hands hover over you most likely unsure if he should touch you or not. Finally, he grasps the hand closest to him, his other hand brushing back your hair from your forehead.

The pain that wracks your body doesn’t seem so bad when he holds your hand so tenderly like that. You try to speak, but only gurgling sounds come forth.

“Call 911!” Sehun shouts to the woman. Within moments you can hear her responding to the operator and you tune her out, trying to focus on Sehun’s lips as he speaks to you. “What is happening to you?”

You are unable to answer as you begin to cough forcefully, sputtering as you try to catch your breath. 

“An ambulance is on the way,” the woman comes to stand next to Sehun. 

You both turn to look up at her. Her eyes are wide as she fixates on you, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. 

“Thank you,” he tells her, before returning his attention to you. 

“Please hang on. Stay with me,” he pleads. Some of the pressure alleviates and you inhale deeply. “God, this is not how I imagined this day to go.”

“I’m...sorry,” you croak, trying to breath through the torturous ache afflicting your body.

“No,” he chuckles humorlessly. “You don’t need to be sorry.” You tighten your grip on his hand as another stem pierces through your skin. “Jesus. Who did this to you?”

You shake your head desolately, squeezing your eyes shut in hopes he wouldn’t see. Tears flood down the sides of your face and when you open your eyes back up and your gaze locks on his countenance, you know he knows.

“No,” his lips turn down desperately. “No!”

Sirens wail in the distance. The woman squeezes his shoulder before rushing off to meet the ambulance.

“It’s not…your fault,” you try to assure him even as another burst of coughs plagues you. 

“I didn’t know,” he whispers desperately. “I didn’t know.” He lifts your head up onto his lap in hopes of making you more comfortable. “I would have said something sooner. That’s why I invited you here. God, I’m too late. I’m sorry. I’m so so sor-.”

His words are cut off as you let out a muffled scream. His wide horrified eyes are the last thing you see before a bush of blue anemones bursts forth from your torso.

────── 〔✿〕──────

Thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment and reblog.