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Yoongi stood in the bathroom, staring at the pink petal sitting in his palm. He hadn’t expected it to hurt this much, hadn’t expected for it to feel like his organs were tearing apart. He probably should have though, as they actually were, so. He had known it was coming, since that night when he had been talking to Hoseok, and Hoseok had brought up the dance competition that was coming up. Both he and Jimin were competing but in separate categories, and Hoseok had been talking about how he expected that Jimin would win the contemporary dance section. Yoongi had said “Jimin deserves everything” without even thinking about it. The moment the words flew out of his mouth, he realized he was in love. Now, he just knew it was unrequited.
As time passed, the pale pink magnolia petals were harder to hide. Hoseok found out while they were having coffee; Yoongi had been hiding the petals by pretending to sip his empty cup of coffee, which he had downed within seconds of getting, then spitting the petals into the cup.
However, he had missed a petal, which had stuck to the outside of the lid, not going inside. Hoseok had spotted it, eyes growing wide with recognition as he realized what was happening.
“Who is it?” Hoseok had asked, already knowing that the answer was Jimin. Of course it was Jimin; who else would it be?
Yoongi’s affection for Jimin wasn’t concealed in the slightest with the longing gazes he often would give him. It wasn’t a difficult conclusion to reach, nor was it an incorrect conclusion. It was the same conclusion Jungkook reached when he saw Yoongi hacking into a bush when they went to the park, and the same conclusion Namjoon reached when he walked into Yoongi’s studio only to catch him throwing up petals in the trash bin. It wasn’t long before Seokjin caught on either, when he had knocked on Yoongi’s apartment door only for the door to open and a mouthful of pink magnolia petals spewed into his face.
The only people who remained oblivious were Taehyung and Jimin; after what happened with Seokjin, Yoongi became much more careful with hiding it.
He rarely left the house, living off the food he already had and the food that Seokjin or Hoseok would bring for him. Namjoon would visit him occasionally, and they would just sit on the couch and eat junk food for hours. The only person that knew he had hanahaki that Yoongi didn’t see was Jungkook, who had mysteriously disappeared off the face of the planet.
One day, when Yoongi was heading to the doctor’s office, the doctor told him he only had a couple weeks, maybe just days left to live. His case had developed too far for surgery. Yoongi had left with a heavy heart and tear stained cheeks. After the revelation that he could literally die any day now, Yoongi gave up on hiding. He was gonna live the rest of his days to the fullest- fuck it all. He texted their group chat, with his 6 closest friends, saying they should hang out.
Namjoon immediately replied, saying “I can go, but Taehyung and Jimin are busy, sorry.” How did Namjoon know Taehyung and Jimin’s availability so soon after he had sent the text?
As the days went by, Yoongi hung out with Namjoon, Hoseok, and Seokjin more and more often. Every night, they would get together, the 3 youngest friends always somehow unavailable. Yoongi understood why Jimin and Taehyung didn’t come; they were busy, and they didn’t really know that Yoongi was dying so, they were excused. He didn’t understand why Jungkook never made an effort to see him though; Jungkook knew that Yoongi was dying, yet they never met. Almost a week past, before all 7 of them met at one place. It was actually a coincidence. Seokjin had dragged them all to a park, claiming Yoongi needed to get outside more, and enjoy the “beauty of nature” or something like that.
They had coincidentally ran into Taehyung and Jimin, and then saw Jungkook at the park a short while later, coming from the opposite direction. The 3 of them had surprisingly not been together, which shocked Yoongi.
Yoongi saw Jungkook standing awkwardly and staring at something, not listening to Hoseok’s screeches about how much he had missed him. He followed Jungkook’s gaze, seeing Jimin’s fingers intertwined with Taehyung’s, and everything clicked into place.
He understood. This was why the two of them were never available, and why his friends had so avidly kept them away from each other. Yoongi hid his grimace, and the pain that burned in his chest. Jimin had found someone to love him, the way that he deserved to be loved. Yoongi should be happy for him. Right? Jimin had found someone better for him than Yoongi, but he couldn’t help the bittersweet feeling blooming in his chest. He could see their friends’ sad smiles in the corner of his eye. He looked away, turning quickly and ended up looking at Jungkook.
He watched as Jungkook coughed into his hand, and as he shoved a handful of cherry blossoms into his pocket. Their eyes met, Yoongi and Jungkook’s, and a look of understanding passed between the two.
Jungkook’s unrequited love was Taehyung. Jungkook had been suffering too. Of course, fate would have it like this. Left both Yoongi and Jungkook to suffer; a terrible tale of unrequited love for two lovers.
Yoongi watched Jimin laugh as Taehyung whispered something in his ear, the feeling of melancholy in his chest grew more and more painful as he watched them. He wanted Jimin to be happy, truly, but he just couldn’t help the jealousy that boiled within him.
2 days later, the magnolia petals turned into entire magnolias.
3 days later, Yoongi was buried in the park across the street from where he’d grown up, with all of his friends standing around him, tears streaming down their faces. By the time the 6 of them left that night, the ground was littered with cherry blossoms.
The Magnolia plant in Yoongi’s chest continued to grow, despite his death, and in the place of his burial, a beautiful, pink Magnolia tree appeared.
4 years later, a boy got married to another boy. Their names? Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung. They got married underneath the Magnolia tree, a cherry blossom tree standing tall by its side.