Chapter Text
All the petals that bloomed in my heart are gone
I close my eyes and blow you away in my memories
I’ll swallow you in my memory with no regrets
juyeon should’ve known better than to ignore all the warning signs. she had felt it, the pinch in her chest, the prickle on her skin, the slithering in her throat. she shouldn’t be surprised when she finally finds herself sitting on her bed in the dark of the night, covered in cold sweat with her chest heaving, purple petals on her lap. they’re beautiful, if it weren’t for the crimson blood staining the edges. her hand is shaking as she picks one up, feeling the softness that very much reminds her of her under her fingertip. a stray tear rolls down her cheek, mind racing at what could’ve gone wrong. a part of her is trying to deny what’s happening, the universe can’t surely be this cruel.
but then she feels the unmistakable pain in her chest, as if a fresh sprout of thorns had started growing around her lungs, squeezing tight before she starts coughing once again. this time it’s red, bursting out before she can even stop herself. there’s no petals, and she realizes she might be in graver danger than she thought.
she had been foolish enough to believe that she was the lucky few in her lineage. like her father was, able to meet the one who truly loved him for the rest of his life. her chest hurts every time she inhales, thorns pressing on the inside of her chest. but even the severe pain can’t compare to the twist she feels in her gut, expanding, exploding, before finally wrecking her body in a violently silent sob as the realization finally crashes over her.
she had held onto the hope that jiyeon, her sweet jiyeon, would love her forevermore. she never thought much of it when jiyeon was appointed as slytherin’s head girl at the start of the new term. because no matter how busy she was, she would rush to see juyeon after her classes, if only to talk for a bit. but then there came a time when even a word couldn’t be uttered, as jiyeon always got pulled aside by professors or her fellow housemates. it came more often than she had expected, much to her dismay. a part of her tried to understand, because jiyeon would still offer her the warmest smile, would still squeeze her hand, would still give her a quick kiss on the lips. while that had been enough to keep her warm loving furnace burning, maybe the growing distance had made jiyeon forget, growing cold the more time she spent away from juyeon
juyeon’s heart breaks as she realizes that it’s too late to remind her of that warmth now. she had ignored all the warning signs.
she doesn’t love you anymore.
she’s finally met with a dead-end. it’s a harsh reminder, she almost can hear the universe laughing at her pathetic self.
jiyeon doesn’t love you anymore.
“what were you thinking ?”
juyeon couldn’t really answer the question, all she could do was send her cousin a stupid, sheepish smile in hopes of easing her worries. but even her smile couldn’t last long enough to be convincing, because as soon as the stretcher jolted underneath her, she yelped in pain, clutching her broken arm closer to her chest.
“can you do it more carefully, please?” dawon asked gently, meant to scold but it sounded more like a request. the crease on her forehead deepened in worry as she looked down on juyeon, matching the pace of the students carrying juyeon rather easily considering her long legs. her slender fingers started prying juyeon’s hand off her injured one, “don’t do that, you might end up breaking more bones.”
“they’re all probably dust by now,” one of the students muttered, receiving a kick from the other.
dawon opted not to comment on it, instead choosing to hold juyeon’s hand as they finally arrived in the infirmary, leather glove against her skin. the room was empty, the students quickly rushed her to the bed closest to the door. juyeon once again winced as she was being moved, something dawon once again took notice in. she could only watch as the students started bustling around the room to treat her injury, didn’t even notice dawon letting go of her hand to drag a seat closer to her bed.
“no, but seriously, what were you thinking?”
juyeon finally dragged her gaze back to her cousin, who was now sitting next to her with what looked like a handkerchief on her hand. she looked tired, clearly worried despite looking like a hot mess herself. her yellow jersey was drenched and stained with dirt, much like juyeon’s own, her hair sticking on her skin, glistening with sweat. she could make out the long scar on her cheek, skin red around it, probably one she got when the snitch flew past her. dawon has always been like this - as a captain, as a friend, and as a family - she had always put others before herself.
“you have a scar there,” juyeon pointed out, pointing at her own cheek with her finger.
dawon’s free hand shot up to her cheek, wincing as the pad of her finger touched the open wound.
“you should also take care of yourself.”
“i do , this is just a normal quidditch injury.”
“ this is also a normal quidditch injury.”
“it’s one thing to have a scar because of the snitch,” dawon then nodded to her limp hand, resting on her stomach, “it’s another to practically force yourself in-between other players just to score a goal.”
“the scores were too close. i had to widen the gap, unnie,” juyeon says, trying to maintain a level voice, “besides, the beater came out of nowhere, i didn’t see the bludger coming.”
there was a tight knit between dawon’s eyebrows, a sign of exasperation. she opened her mouth as if to say something but stopped short as she noticed the students coming to juyeon’s side. she retracted her hand from juyeon’s cheek, posture rigid as one of the students approached her too. she had dirty blonde hair, didn’t really say anything as she offered dawon a bandaid, which she took with a polite smile and a thanks.
everyone was silent: dawon as she carefully put on her bandaid, the students as they worked with her hand, and juyeon as she observed the two wrap the bandage around her hand, supported with what looked like a flat piece of wood to keep her bones aligned. one of them pulled out their wand out of their robe, juyeon could make out pretty twin snakes carving as its handle. it felt cold, as it pressed against her hand, even through the thick layer of bandage.
“ brackium emendo ,” one of them mumbled out, and soon, juyeon could practically feel the shards moving inside her skin, could hear the faint crack as it moved back into place. dawon must've heard it too, judging by the gasp she heard from the girl. she stood back with a proud smile on her face, tossing her silver hair back over her shoulder. juyeon didn't really pay attention before, but now she could see the black and green stripes on her tie, a slytherin girl.
the scoff the other student let out got her attention. her eyes quickly took notice of the gryffindor robe she had on, her hand carrying what looked like a slytherin robe that must’ve belonged to the other girl "show off," there was a roll of her eyes, but her tone was light with humor, juyeon could tell the two were close.
"shouldn't a professor be here with you guys?" a voice said from the doorway. the four girls' attention was immediately drawn to the owner of the voice, a tall figure with two people standing beside her. juyeon didn't know what she expected, but it certainly wasn't another one of her cousins in the infirmary, clearly intending to see her.
son naeun was yet another prodigy from the Son family, excelling in everything she ever had an interest in, from beating everyone with a flick of her wrist during friendly duels to being able to brew potions with her eyes closed. a Son had always been expected to fill in a leadership position, so it was to no one’s surprise that she eventually became the head girl of slytherin. the striking Son feature was very much present – jet black hair with high cheekbones, sharp nose, and downturned lips; piercing gaze complete with a tall, lean figure looming over others – intimidating for most, but juyeon had learned that the features also served as a defense mechanism. if anything, they served to protect them.
her gaze met hers, and juyeon could swear the hard gaze softened by a bit. she approached her bed in just a few strides, a hand finding the top of dawon's head to stroke gently, while the other carefully took juyeon's bandaged hand in hers, eyes inspecting it carefully.
“professor kim said he’s fetching mediwizards so they could do further check up later. we did the best we could for now,” the gryffindor girl said, eyeing naeun carefully.
she hummed in acknowledgment, turning juyeon’s hand in hers. the youngest Son couldn’t help but wince at the pressure. naeun clicked her tongue, shifting her gaze to the silver haired girl, "did yeoreum cast a spell on you?"
"she did," dawon answered for her, hand subtly pushing away naeun's hand from her head. "i assume it's to speed up the recovery?"
"yes!" the slytherin girl, yeoreum, was quick to answer. "it only puts the bones back into their place, you still need the bandage to fully recover."
"was it the brackium spell? it's a risky spell, yeoreum-ssi." she heard a voice say, tone as stern as the step she took forward. her arms were folded on her chest, her expression devoid of any emotion. almost as intimidating as a Son, especially with the sharpness of her jawline and nose. the only thing that differ her from juyeon's family is her round, doe-eyes, along with the brown locks cascading down her neatly pressed robes.
"i get that what i did was risky–"
"foolish," naeun interrupted, "she could've entirely lost a bone."
"but she didn't , unnie. just drop this," dawon insists, growing uncomfortable, "it was juyeon's fault, anyway. she shouldn't have risked so much for a game."
"she should give her all to the game," the head girl of slytherin says, a thin smile on her lips. "i guess she's a Son, after all."
she glanced at dawon, whose jaw was set tight. juyeon decided to say something then, the matter of their house had always been a sensitive subject, "i didn't see the bludger coming, it was an accident, okay? they did their best to help me so we should just drop this."
"aren't you going to say anything, hyunjin-ssi?"
a guy stepped forward, juyeon immediately recognized him as the captain of the Slytherin team. still in his green quidditch attire and gears, his long blonde hair was pulled back in a bun. he was much taller than naeun was, but something about naeun's presence dulled his. he just looked like an overgrown child who wasn't quite sure what to do.
"the beater's aim was off, it hit your broom instead and caused it to break. that's how you ended up falling on your hand." the guy, hyunjin, explained. "it all happened too fast, i didn't get to apologize on behalf of the Slytherin team. your teammates were busy keeping people from crowding you, the professors think it's best that you rest now. we were able to convince them to let us see you because naeun–"
"we'll take full responsibility of this." the mystery girl said, putting a hand on hyunjin's shoulder to stop him from rambling. "including if yeoreum's spell turned out to be more harmful than it is helpful."
"there's no need to–"
"no, juyeon, we insist." naeun's lips stretched wider. somehow, she knew that it was meant to look reassuring, but it was anything but that. "you're still family, after all."
juyeon wanted to say that she hated the reminder, that this self-preservation - Son protects their own blood - her family abide to oftentimes feel selfish, leaving little to no room for freedom. oftentimes restrictive, it really didn't feel like living at all. a part of her resented the fact that if it were any other Hufflepuff player laying on this bed, naeun wouldn’t go out of her way to ensure their fast recovery. but she bit her tongue, faked a smile as naeun gestured for everyone to leave the room, and she watched as they trickled out, one by one, until the mystery girl was the only one left behind.
"naeun unnie is kinda intense, isn't she?" she said as soon as no footsteps could be heard from beyond the double doors. her smile was cheeky as she stepped closer towards the bed. "she has good intentions, though. she's just worried about you."
in the corner of her eyes, she could see dawon tilt her head, clearly amused by the change of demeanor.
the mystery girl sat at the foot of her bed, turning her attention from dawon to juyeon, as if finally taking them both in for the first time. her wide eyes were shining with something she couldn't quite read, and when she smiled, gone was the intimidating girl she saw. there were dimples on the apple of her cheeks, similar to whiskers of a cat, and her eyes turned into the prettiest crescent moons.
she offered her hand, still smiling brightly, "i'm jiyeon, one of slytherin’s prefects."
she kept her gaze on juyeon now, unfaltering.
"i'll aid you in your recovery!"
“i can’t believe you really spilled juice on your bed in the middle of the night. what are you, five?” soobin snorts from her spot by the side of her bed, putting her tie around her neck. she’s standing in-between her girlfriend’s legs, hyunjung, who’s sitting on the bed as she reaches out to loop her tie for her. it has become a habit for hyunjung to come into the hufflepuff dormitory every morning, despite being a gryffindor herself. she always uses i could use a morning run as an excuse, but her roommates are aware that she just wants to see soobin first thing in the morning.
“sometimes it’s hard to believe that she’s a Son,” hyunjung teases, soobin’s laugh following suit.
she tenses from over her spot in front of the mirror, fingers hovering above her own tie as she watches the pair joking among themselves. there’s a dull ache in her chest, she immediately recognizes it as jealousy. she quickly pushes it down by offering them a small smile just as she feels something sharp pressing on her ribcage, an explicit reminder that she is indeed a Son.
in fact, all of last night had been nothing but a reminder that she’s very much a Son, meant to live their ill-fated curse. she had climbed over to dawon’s bed as soon as her coughing stopped, unaware that there was still blood staining the edges of her lips. dawon’s eyes pried open, squinting at juyeon’s tear stained face, until her gaze landed on her cracked lips and the red outlining the curve of her lips. the older of the two shot up on her bed, quickly embracing her in her arms without any words. juyeon had expected to find herself crying again, but she felt dawon’s tears against her shirt instead. it had felt like a silent goodbye, so juyeon let her.
anyone with the Son blood flowing in their veins are also destined for grief, dawon is no exception.
they were silent even as dawon helped her change her sheet, wordless even as the older wiped the blood off her lips, mute even as juyeon climbed into her bed. they fell asleep like that, dreading for juyeon’s end.
“i saw jiyeon on my way here, by the way,” hyunjung says, meeting her gaze in the mirror. juyeon hates how her heart still leaps to her throat at the mention of her name, hates that the stems around her lungs seem to squeeze tighter at the same time. “she’s heading here, but had to make a detour.”
she can feel a presence beside here, soon sees dawon’s reflection by her side. her tone is neutral as she speaks, but juyeon can see the way her jaw squares, the tenseness in her shoulders, “she’s been nothing but busy lately, i’m surprised she’s considering coming here before class at all.”
“who’s been nothing but busy?” a voice says from the doorway, light with feigned confusion. juyeon turns just in time to see jiyeon approaching her, a teasing smile on her lips. her senses are soon flooded by jiyeon as she steps closer, tugging her by the collar of her robe. the smell of her perfume, mostly reminding her of cedarwood, the tickle of her hair against her cheek, and the softness of her lips, glossed with something that tastes like strawberries. it all happens rather quickly, leaving her breathless as her eyes flutter back open. she didn’t even remember closing them, but she tends to really forget everything else whenever jiyeon is around, especially when she’s grinning widely like this. jiyeon’s eyes still hold the same warmth she’s grown so fond of as she whispers, “hi.”
juyeon finds herself breathless, blinking because after last night, she couldn’t quite believe that jiyeon is standing before her. she must be staring, because she hears jiyeon giggles, along with soobin’s fake gagging sounds. “what are you doing here?”
a part of her hates how small her voice sounds, how it’s laced with something that resembles hope, how she still sounds lovesick despite everything. she watches as jiyeon’s nose scrunches up, teasing tone easily drips past her lips, “can’t i see my girlfriend when i want to?”
“alright i think it’s time we vacate this room.” hyunjung says, getting up from soobin’s bed to drag the smaller girl with her.
“you’re acting like you’ve caught us making out in the library,” jiyeon turns to a mortified soobin, letting out a faux gasp for dramatic flair, “wait! that’s you .”
“ how -”
“really hope they’ll deduct some of your house’s points for that.” hyunjung scoffs.
“hey! i helped distract the professor from coming to that aisle. you should thank me instead.”
juyeon can’t help but find the situation amusing, even as soobin throws her hands up in disbelief and hyunjung drags her out of the room by the elbow. she can make out soobin’s whispering we’re never doing that again urgently as they go, which draws a laugh out of jiyeon.
there’s a sense of familiarity in the way jiyeon easily bicker with juyeon's friends, like a puzzle piece easily fitting into the picture. jiyeon turns her attention back to the taller girl, a smile playing on her lips as she smooths out the collar of her robe, “hyunjung’s acting like slytherin won’t still be the top house even if they deduct some of our points.”
“gryffindor is the second in the game.”
“with a huge gap between us.”
“don’t get too cocky now, head girl.” juyeon pokes jiyeon’s stomach, laughing at the way the older girl squirm away. “next thing you know hufflepuff will be the top house.”
“you’re already quidditch champions, don’t get too greedy!”
“why can’t we have both-”
“you two don’t be late to class,” a voice sounds, juyeon turns to see dawon folding the sheets from last night neatly before putting it into the laundry basket. the blonde avoids meeting their gaze, expression mainly hidden by her hair. “i’m going now. make sure to get the sheets cleaned later, juyeon-ah.”
she feels a lump forming in her throat at the mention of the sheets. it’s a subtle reminder, dawon’s way of reminding her to be careful, to guard her heart as best as she could. she leaves soon after, leaving the pair alone in the room.
“what’s that about?”
she’s never been good at lying, so the lie tastes bitter on her tongue. “i spilled juice on my sheets last night.”
“not that, dawon seemed tense,” there’s concern in her tone, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “is she okay?”
jiyeon has always been perceptive, though mostly quiet about it. it makes juyeon aware that she can’t keep pretending that she’s fine forever.
she’s glad that the older of the two doesn’t seem to be eager to push for more at her shrug, though. instead going to lace their fingers together.
“let’s skip class, juyeonie.”
juyeon has missed this, the warmth of her hand, the ease jiyeon’s presence has always brought her. but after dawon’s reminder, she can’t help but be aware of the way her heart squeezes tighter than jiyeon’s hand on hers. and despite that tightness, she still finds herself nodding.
she can feel another bud growing, feels the prick of thorns against her skin. it’s only a matter of time until it fully blooms.
(she realizes that she doesn’t care as much when she sees the way a smile blooms on jiyeon’s face.)
she was made aware of the curse at the age of five.
it wasn’t unusual for her father to not come home for weeks, even months, and it was to no one’s surprise that he also locked himself in his study on the rare chance that he was. her mother had always been a greater presence in her life, a historian who would only get called from time to time by the Department of Magical Artefacts. sometimes she would join her father in his study, though juyeon never really knew what they were doing.
it was one of those nights, when she finally found out. her mother had been in there with him for hours and hours. but then hyejoo awoke from her slumber, wailing into the night. so juyeon ran to find her parents, knocking frantically on the heavy wooden door. her mother came out with puffy, red eyes, exhaustion wearing down her features. juyeon observed, curious wide eyes trailing after her mother as she gave her a weak smile before disappearing to find her sister. her father emerged from the room not long after, the sharpness of his features seemed to have dulled for a moment as a million of different emotions flit through his face. it happened in a matter of seconds, the only time juyeon thought of him as a… human .
his jaws tensed the moment he spotted juyeon, and the sharp edges were back as his expression grew guarded. his lips were pressed thin, the pad of his thumb smoothing over the creases on his forehead as he crouched down to be at eye-level with juyeon. the Sons defense mechanism, she would later learn, careful even around their own blood.
“juyeon,” his father’s voice was hoarse, fatigue clearly affecting him. “why didn’t you go back to your sister?”
“i knew mother would take care of hyejoo.” juyeon said, even as her eyes trailed just beyond her father’s shoulder. the door was left agape, the warm light from the room illuminating the side of her father’s face. she could see thick books stacked on his desk, parchments and rolls scattered around the room. averting her gaze, she found that her father was already watching her. “are you going back in there?”
her father didn’t reply right away. his eyebrows knitted together, eyes searching her face as if he was weighing his options. eventually, he stood up, extending a hand to juyeon. she looked at his calloused hand, then up to his steeled expression, puzzled.
“do you want to come with me, juyeon?”
and that was exactly how she found herself in his study, tiny hands holding up parchments longer than her height as her father explained that he had been doing research after research. for you and hyejoo , he said. the weight of that revelation hadn’t really settled until she was much older.
he started by explaining what the curse is, how it started just a few generations back. with a lot of the family members being in esteemed positions, they certainly did make a lot of enemies. two of the son’s youngest had found themselves dry coughing for days, eventually coughing up petals and blood. every family member had soon realized it was a curse, immediately doing everything they could to discreetly find the root cause and the cure, much too prideful to ever admit that their family was struggling to keep up a strong appearance in the public’s eyes. it became a family secret, they sent out their most trusted people to scour the wizarding world. but most came back empty-handed, the process much too slow that the two teenagers ended up passing away in under a month.
and so they mourned, blatantly lying to The Daily Prophet when they were asked for a statement. they died after trying to secure a cursed object, the oldest of the Son had said, a minister for magic in that period of time. a politician was good for that, twisting the truth into something beneficial for themselves. and so it was to no one’s surprise that a public memorial was held in their name, the Sons was able to save their pride and the two teens were remembered as heroes.
they had foolishly thought it was the end of the curse. the former minister’s first-born had just started her first day of training as an auror after scoring an outstanding score in her N.E.W.T. test. she had thought the rigorous training was taking a toll on her body when she started coughing up blood that night. but she felt something stuck in the back of her throat, and as she went to take it out, she could see a white petal drenched in scarlet red. her cousin soon followed, still very young. a fourth year student in hogwarts, a brilliant young man set to be a prefect. their family couldn’t save them in time, had grown too comfortable over the years that they still knew nothing of the curse. the Sons ended up losing two people to the curse yet again. the former minister told another lie, and the public still believed him.
the young man was her father’s uncle. the trauma fresh on her grandfather who had to watch his only brother wither away, slowly losing his life to the flower growing inside him. he had talked about liking a girl the week before the symptoms started, much like how the young auror got turned down just days before hers. and so he believed that it was the trigger for the curse, an unrequited love. he warned the rest of the Sons to guard their heart as best as they could and to continue to seek out the cure for this curse.
most of her grandfather's cousins had chosen to bury themselves in their work, leaving no room to develop feelings, thus choosing to not subject more children to the curse. but it also meant they had little to no time to seek out answers, so years went by with no answer still.
her grandfather fell in love, lucky enough that her grandmother felt the same way that they ended up married. he had a rather strange, desperate , approach to this curse. for he swore to have more than two kids to keep the Son lineage from ending, even though he knew it meant he could lose another loved one at the hands of this curse.
maybe that was precisely why her father despised him, moving to an estate so far from london just to avoid him. as the youngest of five, he grew up dreading adulthood, as it was slowly revealed that his older siblings did not bear the curse. by the time his fourth sister told him in hushed, panicked tears, that she had fallen for her co-worker at the gringotts bank, the two dreaded the worst. but months went past, she moved on, and they both realized she didn't bear the curse. it turned out to be him, her father was the one with the curse.
it was a miracle, what he had. because her mother fell for him before he did, and it was impossible for him not to fall for her mother. his love had always been reciprocated, and when her mother got pregnant with her, it felt like a sign to him. he abandoned his high position in the ministry of magic, instead dedicating his life as a curse-breaker, deemed too violent and dirty for a Son, in search of the cure. he didn't want to subject his children into the curse, unlike his selfish father had to him.
it was a lot to take in, as a five year old, but juyeon still finds herself remembering every detail of that night. it had only been a few years of his search, he said he had found alternatives but he was determined to find a way to end it. he didn't explain much, only told her about the curse. but juyeon watched with rapt attention as he darted around the room to put his books back into the shelf, she even can still remember the order vividly.
sometimes she wished she could forget half the things she remembered, maybe that way she wouldn't have to remember the day her father died at all.