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The last few weeks had been hell for the K-Rock band Day6. They had tons of practice, rehersals and concerts and even though they loved playing together for their fans, they still needed some time to breathe. They didn't seem to have even a single minute to themselves.
Everyone else was stressed out of their minds, running around for different promotions, practicing non-stop. But Jae, in the middle of all this, was just plain thankful. Thanks to all this hullaballoo, he got to spent all his time with Brian by his side. Every smile, every laugh, every nose scrunch made his heart swell with affection.
He knew for a while that he was head-over-heels in love with Brian, but he had no intention of telling anyone, since he was sure his stupid feelings would get in the way of the band's success. And anyway, he was sure that said feelings were unrequited--he was fine as long as they were side by side.
That was enough.
That is, until it wasn't. His chest began to sting whenever he looked at Brian. Whenever he did something cute or hot--so basically, whenever Brian did anything. At first, Jae gave the strange pain little notice, since it didn't bother him much. And then they were on stage again and Brian started singing the first chorus of their song "I Need Somebody".
It happened during Jae's favorite part of the song. It was the bit where he always closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the sound of Brian taking in a breath before singing with his powerful voice "Why am I alone with all these people surrounding me?"
That was when things got serious. Jae couldn't hold it in and when he let the coughs out, cupping his hands over his mouth and turning away from the audience, he stared down at his hands to find that they were covered in...petals? Beautiful flower petals in various shapes, colors and sizes. Some where red and round rose petals, some were longer, a bright, daffodil-yellow.
After some seconds of confusion Jae shook them off of his hands and returned to his mic with a half-hearted reassuring smile to Wonpil and Dowoon who had noticed his sudden coughing, but nothing more. Jae wasn't sure what was going on, but like hell he was going to tell anyone about it. None of them needed something new to worry about right now.
"Jae-hyung, are you ok? Did you catch a cold or something?" Wonpil asked when they were changing into comfy clothes after the show.
"A cold? Oh please Jae, not now! Not in the middle of our tour!" Sungjin complained with a fatherly and slightly worried tone.
"What? No! No no! Don't worry. I just choked on my own spit for a moment. Nothing serious." Jae answered hurriedly. Sungjin gave him a look of disbelief.
Brian put a hand on Jaes shoulder from behind.
"Tell us when you're not feeling well, ok? We don't want you collapsing on stage suddenly, bro." Brian said with a soft smile that made Jae's heart ache and flutter at the same time. And there it was again, the sudden urge to cough and the pain that came with it.
With a swift movenent the guitarrist slipped out of their little circle and excused himself to the bathroom. The main door hadn't even closed completely yet when he started coughing painfully. He dragged himself over to the sink and let everything that was stuck in his throat spill out. There were even more petals this time and he got worried.
The coughing stopped for a few seconds, right when Sungjin entered the bathroom, face worried.
"Jae, are you sure you're--"
But he got interrupted by sudden coughing again.
When he saw the colorful pieces that fell into the sink he grew pale and just murmured "Holy shit!" and hurried over to pat Jae on the back.
"Damn, what the fuck is happening?" Sungjin hissed, worry clear in his voice.
Between more coughs Jae looked up, pale from the exertion.
"Please don't tell the others. I don't want them to worry too."
Just moments later the coughing stopped and the two silently walked out of the bathroom.
Jae was still white as a sheet.
Back in the dorms, Jae went straight to his shared bedroom with Brian and Dowoon.
In an effort to cut through the tension, he sighed dramatically before falling face-first onto his bed. "I"m so fucking tired."
"Yo, Jae!" Brian said in English. "Feeling better?"
Jae's whole body stiffened, but he covered his nervousness up with an attempt at bravado. "I told you it was nothing. Don't you just choke randomly too sometimes, BriBri?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if you got sick with all the stress we're under," Dowoon said, walking into the room and sitting next to Jae.
"Eavesdropper." Jae grinned.
"It wasn't that hard to understand. Context clues." Dowoon pouted, then leaned in to hug Jae. "Feel better, Jae-hyung."
With fondness in his eyes Jae ruffled Dowoon's hair and grabbed Brians hand so he was settled next to them. Even though Jae's throat itched painfully again when they all cuddled close together, he gulped it down and hoped to just enjoy the presence of his friends.
The next few days went by pretty smoothly. Even though he coughed every now and then when Brian did something that made Jae's heart beat a tad faster, he did his best to hold it down. Everyone was too stressed to question it, but Sungjin shook his head every time. He and Jae learned to get rid of the few flower petals without making a scene.
The first incident was a week ago when Sungjin pulled Jae to the side, out of the others' reach.
He muttered "I googled what that thing could be that you're suffering from, but you won't like the answer."
Confusion visible on his face, Jae motioned for their leader to continue and so he did.
"Ever heard of the Hanahaki disease? No? Me neither, but that's because it's one of the rarest diseases on earth. Only about two people in the world have it at once and that's why it's not very known to the public. The symptoms are just like yours: coughing out flower petals."
Jae nodded while listening, but kept still since he was sure there was more. "The symptoms could worsen to the state where you're coughing out complete flowers instead of just petals. And the worst of it is that the flowers grow inside your chest! If you don't do something about it they might overgrow and pierce your lungs or heart. It's fatal, man."
"B-b-but what can we do about it? And did you read anything about where it came from?" Jae slightly started to panic at the new informations, but kept his voice down. His eyes roamed the room around them just to linger on Brian who was chatting with the other two and let out a hearty laugh, eyes small crescents and face bright.
Jae didn't see it coming early enough and barely covered his mouth as the petals crashed against his hand. Sungjin hurriedly let him to the next bathroom to cough out the rest without the others noticing. He leaned against the bathroom counter and watched the opposite direction as he answered Jaes former questions "There is a chance to get rid of it. Since the disease it at least known to most doctors you can go let them remove the flowers. But that comes with a certain effect."
He peered down to his heaving bandmate when he noticed the few blood droplets in between the, mostly red, petals.
He intended to let Jae also know what brings up the Hanahaki disease, but he was too worried, that Jae wouldn't do the removal if he knew what happened after.
"Ok boss. Do you think we can get this done in like the next few days?" Jae huffed into the sink "because it's starting to get really annoying."
Said and done, Sungjin made an appointment at their doctor of trust for just a week later. He almost dragged Jae there, because the latter had gotten weaker every passing day. There was also more blood with every cough and it got to the point where they told the others Jae did actually grt the flu and missed two concerts because of that.
When they entered the doctors office, the receptionist already looked at the two men with pity in her eyes as she told them they could already enter the operation room to their left.
The operating doctor entered two minutes later with a sheet that Jae had to sign first. The guitarrist read it carefully before looking at the doctor in confusion.
"What does that part here mean? 'I am agreeing to get the flowers removed along with the connected feelings'?"
Before Sungjin could stop him, the doctor responded.
"The Hanahaki disease is caused by unrequited love. Or at least love that the holder thinks is unrequited. If the flowers get removed, the love for that person will also disappear."
"Wait, what? Sungjin did you fucking know this?" Jae snapped.
The leader sighed and dropped his shoulders "I thought you'd refuse to get the treatment if you knew about that."
"Well ob-vi-ous-ly!" Jae hissed.
"If the patient finds out that the feelings are reciprocated, though, the flowers disappear within a few minutes. Even if that's the case, then please still come for a check up since it seems like your organs have already been slightly damaged. One thing to be cautious about is rejection, though. Think of it like a stress allergy: the more pressure your system is under, the more flowers. If you're rejected, you need to drive straight here because growth could be critical."
Sungjin studied Jae for a moment and tried to make out what the older thought right now. All he hoped was 'please let him think like the oldest member of Day6 one fucking time!'. But Jae wouldn't be Jae if he acknowledged this clear warning and just let the flowers get removed. No, instead he smirked at the band leader and marched out of the room with new found energy.
After a few seconds, Sungjin could hear him whine from the hallway "Bob, I fell. Could you help this old man up again?"
And so he did with a heavy sigh and a polite farewell to the doc.
On the way back to the dorm Sungjin tried to talk some sense into him. "Jae, you're nuts! What if Brian really doesn't return your feelings? You might fucking DIE!"
"Aww, c'mon bro. That wouldn't be so bad right? At least you won't have to hear my jokes again that you hate so much!" Jae smirked before coughing slightly.
"Honestly, I'd prefer listening to your bad jokes forever than seeing you DIE because you fell for, how did you call him, Mr. Steal-Your-Fans?" Sungjin sighed again.
"He didn't only steal my fans, but also my heart, bro."
"At least your humor is still alive, unlike the rest of you. Look at you! You're a walking corpse! Are you sure you can still do it that far?"
"Yes, Dad. I'm fine. I will be able to get back to the dorm and ask Brian if he has feelings for me. If he says yes, then problem solved. If he says no, you'll have to ignore some speed restrictions while driving me to the hospital I guess." Jae laughed, dry, sarcastic.
Sungjin frowned.
The rest of the drive felt like an eternity to them and when they entered, the other three members were already waiting for them anxiously.
Pale as paper, Jae tried to greet them as casually as possible, but failed miserably when he collapsed at the doorstep. To his luck, or bad luck, Brian caught him right before he could hit the ground and picked him up to carry him inside piggyback style.
Jae was trying so hard, he really did, but his heart pounded and his breathing got difficult and he coughed. He coughed flowers and petals all over Brian's shoulder. The petals consisted only of blood-red roses by now and Jae could feel the thorns piercing his insides.
The bassist tried to ignore the first shock at the petals for the time being and carried the older to his bed where the latter leaned with his back against the bed frame.
"Fucking hell, Jae! You look like a zombie! What did the doctor say? Didn't Sungjin mention something about a small OP earlier?"
Brian's voice was high with panic.
"I--" Jae coughed more roses. "I was there and I could get the operation, but then I heard that there's a chance--"
He coughed again, gradually covering his hoodie with bloody petals.
"--of healing this shit in another way."
There the older stopped, not sure if he should, if he could, continue.
Brian spoke instead "Is it something I can help with? I'd do anything to help!"
Jae laughed weakly. He couldn't say it. The words didn't leave his lips. Only more petals and blood did.
Just as Jae was about to lose his consciousness, Brian grabbed his hand with his own.
Jae wasn't sure if he saw clearly anymore, but he swore Brians face was covered in tears. His low, raspy voice stammered and shook while Jae felt himself slowly drifting away.
Brian was yelling, frustrated "Fuck, Jae! If you fucking die now before I could even tell you how much I love you, then I'm going to summon your fucking ghost and chain it to my own, you fucking traitor!"
Jae smiled and everything went black.
A piercing bright light filled Jae's vision and everything was blurry. 'My glasses', he thought absentmindedly. He heard distant voices and asked quietly into the light "Am I dead? Is this the meme heaven?"
His throat hurt. Actually everything hurt, but at least his hand was warm. Why was it so warm? He slowly raised his head and tried to make out the silhouette next to the bed he was lying on. The shape was familiar, too familiar and the warmth on his hand where the silhouette touched was too.
"Bri?" He whispered. The figure flinched slightly and rose slowly. 'He must've been sleeping.' Then suddenly the warmth from his hand disappeared and his glasses were placed on his nose. A warm body pressed against his and Jae woke up fully.
"Fuck, you scared me, Idiot! I thought you'd died!" Brian sobbed right into his ear.
'What happened again? I need to remember. Wait. Did he really... Or was that a dream?'
Jae's mind ran while he slowly returned Brian's too-tight embrace.
"I might suffocate if you hug me like that, BriBri." Jae joked with a weak chuckle before wincing in pain. To which the younger immediately let go of him. Then Jae realized where the warmth earlier came from, because Brian held his hand in his own again.
"I'm sorry. I was just so glad, that you're up again. You've been out for three fucking days, man!" Brian exclaimed worriedly.
"Really? Did... did they remove them? No, that makes no sense, since..." Jae's cheeks grew red and his eyes dropped into his lap, away from the relieved face of the love of his life.
"You mean the flowers? They said something about them growing back as soon as you knocked out, but they still had to patch you up a lot so you'll have to stay here in the hospital for a few weeks." Brian explained.
"So," Jae sighed. He was sure he could do it this time. He was definitely sure. "Um... Is it true..? The thing you...said before I blacked out?"
"The thing before you...?" first the bassist had to think for a moment, but then he turned red as a tomato and avoided eye contact.
"W-w-well... Uh... Yeah, I um..." he stammered.
Jae just smiled like and idiot and gently squeezed Brian's hand. He looked up, right into Brian's deep, feline-shaped eyes. "I love you too, you idiot."
Both of them leaned forward to close the gap between them until their lips met gently in a soft, tender kiss.