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This video of Wik went viral in less than 2 minutes. A video filming Wik on stage, stopping mid-song because of an uncontrollable and unstoppable fit of cough, and when he seemed to be breathing correctly again, he was looking at a cute petal in the palm of his hand.
Sure, Chay told him he loved him, but it was weeks ago. Chay had been ignoring him since that day in front of his flat.
But Chay, even if he tries to flee Wik's content for his poor heart, sees the video almost immediately. How could Kim have developed the Hanahaki disease because of feelings for him when Chay already told him he loved him? Surely Kim has feelings for someone else. Maybe he did even when he was spending time with Chay.
Kim was singing a cover and stopped to cough right before the second chorus because the second verse was really painful for his heart while thinking of Chay. The music stopped because they saw Kim almost suffocating on stage. Everyone fretted, but after twenty seconds or so, finally Kim stopped coughing and looked for a short few seconds in his hand.
Actually, fans were not sure at first of what was exactly happening, because he was far from them on the scene and the petal was small, but some good quality phone cameras caught a delicate pink thing in his hand.
Kim quickly took his composure back. He did not have the time to panic, because he was on stage. He would pay more attention to it later. He put the petal in the pocket of his trousers and apologised for the short pause, joking that he asked his manager to buy him a lot of honey for after the concert, and kept going as if nothing happened.
Directly at the end of the show, backstage, people were at first too busy congratulating him to remember what happened.
It was only a good while later, when he had a few minutes alone to change into more casual clothes, that he took the petal out of his pocket. He had kept the incident in the back of his mind all the time, and only now allowed himself to think more clearly about that.
Kim would have liked to deny what it was, but actually, if Kim was never able to face his feelings, that did not mean that he lied to himself about it. He knew what it was, he had heard about that. It was not common enough to know all the details, but he knew that it could happen only when someone was genuinely in love with someone, with someone who did not reciprocate these feelings.
Once again, despite the hurt of these past weeks, Kim had acknowledged the fact that he was in love. And furthermore, he knew with whom. Because it was for him that he sang this song.
Kim just wanted to laugh, because he was the one responsible for the situation. He had been hurting for the past weeks, and now he was going to die. But this laughter did not have the time to leave his mouth when his manager arrives in the room, with a look indicating she wanted to talk about what had happened.
At the compound, Chay saw this video almost immediately. He had barely opened his social media for weeks, because well it was always filled with Wik's content. So he had just opened Twitter and already the video jumped in front of him.
Fans should not make theories too much, because you cannot really be sure of something about a celebrity before they confirm it. But sure, it looked like a petal in Kim's hand. And Chay had spent enough time with Kim to know to recognise a few reactions: and clearly, Kim's face on the video told him that there was a problem.
But as far as Chay was concerned with it... well, he was not concerned with it anymore. If his confrontation with Kim in the club, the dead bodies left at the bar and the song Kim sent him were quite confusing signals after Kim's rejection, things were clearer now. After all, even if Chay had hoped that Kim did care for him, he had thought about the idea of Kim who wanted to at least appease things between them because they were linked by their brothers' relationship. And Chay knew it was for this reason now. If not, if Kim really had feelings for Chay, why would he have the hanahaki disease when Chay confessed not so long ago?
In the end, maybe when Chay sang this love song to Kim, Kim was feeling so awkward because he already had someone in his heart.
He closed Twitter, trying to forget the possibility that Kim might have the hanahaki disease. But how difficult it is when you think that the one you love may die because they love another one.
•••
Weeks after the incident on stage, Kim could not say if things were better than he expected or not.
He told a short and acceptable summary of what happened with Chay to his manager. Because after that she would not have let it go, and it affected her a bit if the guy she worked with had a deadly disease. And she forced him to go and see a doctor.
The doctor confirmed it was what he feared, and explained to him what might await him. But they did not have enough data about the disease to really plan for the future.
So, weeks later, Kim still felt ok. Actually, when he is in public, the disease did not bother him that much. It was the first phase, so thinking about something else was still effective. And he was in great shape, so it did help a bit to slow the process. The worse was when he tried to go to sleep. It was at this moment, deep in the night, that his thoughts tended to spiral the most. And who says spiralling thoughts, says thoughts about Chay.
Anyway, he already had problems sleeping since he broke Chay's heart. And now it was worse with the fits of coughing. So naturally, he tried to take sleeping pills. He tried only once because when he woke up the next morning, he had a petal he nearly choked on in his mouth. So yeah, it was better to be able to wake up to cough rather than dying in his sleep.
Kim did absolutely not try to reach for Chay. He knew that if he did, it would worsen the situation since Chay must have moved on. And maybe Kim's life had never really been so great to live - except during these times with Chay - but he was not to the point of accepting to die. So he just let it go, hoping he will be able to live for years at least. Of course, he would have liked to be able to get rid of the disease, but to do so he would have needed to move on from Chay. And he knew he was not able to do that, and would not undergo surgery to remove it; he did not want to forget his feelings for Chay either.
•••
Weeks went by, and at some point Chay thought that in fact, Kim did not have the Hanahaki disease. Because he did not see any more videos about Wik coughing petals. So maybe fans misunderstood. And also, if Kim did be ill, someone in his family would have been worried about him, right? But no one seemed really concerned about Kim’s potential death.
Well, that was until a particular afternoon. He had just come back after school, when Tankhun almost jumped on him, pushing his phone in front of Chay’s nose. Chay took the phone, asking Tankhun to calm down. The video was another one about Wik participating in some event, and once again Wik had a fit of cough, a violent one. At this point, Chay almost expected Kim to cough blood with how hard he coughed. But instead of blood, a small bud falls out of Kim’s mouth.
The short relief on Kim’s face to be able to breathe normally again was quickly replaced by one of stupor watching the bud fall onto the ground. First because before that it had been only petals and not too often. But also because it happened in front of so much public, and Kim absolutely could not hide his disease anymore.
But at the same time, he did not need to explain, people understood on their own. So he just said, “Keep going, no need to dwell on that”, because he could not say anything else. He did not want to either.
This very night, at the compound, because of Porsche’s tone when he sent him a text because he wanted to see him, Chay knew it was to talk about something serious. And he was right as Porsche started to ask a bit more about what happened with Kim.
Chay briefly explained to Porsche, because he was heartbroken and Porsche was his dear Hia, but he did not want to speak about details.
Chay could understand that, because of the video earlier that day that everyone saw in the compound, Porsche wanted to talk about it to him. Porsche may have been angry at Kim because he broke Chay’s heart, Kim was still his boyfriend’s brother, said brother who was worried about Kim.
“Hm, it’s not because of me the disease,” Chay said, trying to sound confident but quite failing. “I already confessed my feelings, and he certainly understood, so he has someone else in mind.”
Porsche just sighed and then patted Chay’s head. “I’m sorry to push the matter, but do you have any idea about who it might be? Kinn and Tankhun are worried.”
Chay just shook his head, and Porsche dropped the matter. He did not want to force Chay to feel even worse.
•••
After that day, Kim had several texts and calls from his family. It almost felt nice that they were so much worried about him. And silently, he had hoped for a text from Chay too. If Chay still cared the tiniest bit about Kim, sure he would have contacted Kim, right?
When Kinn tried to ask about the one Kim was in love with, Kim never answered. Because if Kinn asked, it was because Chay had not told him, so Kim was not the one who would explain that. He did not have the courage to do so, and sure it was up to Chay to choose if he wanted others to know since Kim had been the asshole, right?
For weeks, Kim had managed not to go to the compound again. He did not want to take the risk to see Chay. But at some point, his father did not let him the choice anymore.
If Kim could live on his own and not take part in the family’s business anymore, it was only under a few conditions. One was that Kim still had to show up sometimes, not to let enemies know about conflicts within the family.
His father wanted him to come to one of the business parties. Kim promised himself he would stay for the shortest time possible, just enough to see his father and a few of his family’s associates and that was all. The main objective was to avoid Chay.
Which was a success for the first half hour he spent at this event. They were many people, and he did not even get close to his brother. Because if he wanted to say hi to Kinn, Porsche would have been with Kinn, and Chay would probably have been with Porsche.
But Kim could not keep being so lucky, and finally, he did spot Chay in the crowd. He was far away enough for Chay to not see him too, thankfully. But only watching the young man from afar was enough to make his heart race. He also felt discomfort in his throat, but nothing more for now.
Kim could see that Chay did not really like to be there. It was not a surprise that such events, where people were all basically hypocrites, were something he did not appreciate.
It was after a long staring that Kim decided to leave. He did not want to take the risk to start coughing here. He finished his glass and left for the bathrooms where he needed to go before leaving.
A few meters away, Chay was completely oblivious to Kim’s eyes on him. He suspected that Kim was there and tried his best not to look for him. Technically, he failed because he looked a bit for him, but it was not a complete fail since he did not find him, right?
He was starting to think that Kim had already left, which would not be so surprising actually, when Vegas and Pete showed up. Thanks to Pete, Chay was not so afraid of Vegas anymore, even if he still avoided staying alone with Vegas. Vegas smirked looking at Chay, who frowned. He did not like that.
“Me who thought you wouldn’t have been able to stay away from Kim for long tonight, looks like I was wrong,” Vegas started.
“I don’t even know where he is, so leave me alone,” Chay replied.
“Really? He’s just…” Vegas wanted to point a spot but stopped midway. “Oh, looks like he left. Too bad.”
“Why do you care anyway?”
“I never said I wanted Kim dead,” Vegas answered.
“I have nothing to do with that.” Chay started to look somewhere to not have to look at Vegas anymore, he was bothering him.
Vegas stayed silent a few seconds, arching his brow. “Do you really think so?” He then snorted. “Of course, you’re right. Why would Kim rush to save you anytime you’re in danger, no matter anything else, and even kill for you? Sure, it’s something Kim does for anyone he doesn’t care for.” Vegas was fully sarcastic, and Chay still did not answer. “Or maybe he did care, but then met someone else. Right, my cousin who isn’t able to verbally admit for a shit that he cares about someone, who doesn’t like to get close to people, found someone else to replace you in like… one month? Sure, that must be it.”
Chay did not like Vegas very much, but the problem was that what the man was saying made sense. Chay looked back at the spot Vegas wanted to point earlier and seemed hesitant.
“You know where he lives, don’t you?”
And that was enough for him to quickly left, not caring about Porsche calling after him. He would text him later.
It was only once outside that he thought that he should ask one of the bodyguards to drive him to Kim’s place, because no way he was going there on his own. But if luck left Kim, it went with Chay. And when he was about to rush back in, he almost ran into Kim.
“P’Kim!” he yelled, surprised.
Kim stayed unmoving a short instant, before politely smiling as to greet him. He was about to open his mouth when he started to cough. Talking to Chay directly seemed to be too much for his heart. He took a few steps back and turned his back to Chay. He really struggled to let the bud out of his lungs. He only heavily sighed when finally he was able to breathe correctly again.
He heard Chay coming closer to him and gently say, “P’Kim, let’s go back to your place.”
Kim did not know if he could take Chay’s presence for a long time, if his lungs could, but he was too tired to try to turn him down. The previous night, he had had even more trouble sleeping. His coughs were worse than usual. It had been only in the morning he saw how bad it was. Several petals and a few buds were scattered on his pillow, and even a full little flower. It was the first time he coughed a full flower.
So yes, he was tired, and his growing anxiousness only worsened things.
He nodded, and guided Chay to his car. Chay got in, and he started the car.
Once arrived, Kim led Chay to his flat. He let Chay sit on the couch and went to open a drawer. He put out a black wooden box and opened it. The box was full of pink petals and buds. He put the last bud he coughed in it.
He felt Chay going closer but did not try to hide the box or its content. At the point he was, he did not care anymore if Chay saw how bad things were going. There was no point in lying either.
He heard Chay gasp next to him. “You kept them all?”
Kim exhaled before answering, “Of course. Maybe I’ll be able to make a full bouquet in a couple of weeks.” He snorted. Dark jokes were his only way to cope.
But it was not of Chay’s taste, who scolded him, “It’s not funny, you’re dying.”
At that, both fell silent for a long minute. The reality of things had never hit them that bad before, before Chay finally worded it.
Chay looked a while more at the box and almost reached to touch the petals. But he stopped himself because it was so personal. It was Kim’s genuine and deep love for someone.
“P’Kim?” Chay started again with a small voice.
“Hm?”
“Can I help? Maybe with the person or just…” Or just Kim could try to forget this other one with him. But it was so stupid, because if Kim was not interested when Chay confessed, why would it change now?
But Kim remained silent. When Chay looked at him again, he saw the man’s confused face. Did he say something that stupid? He just did not want Kim to die.
“With the person..?” Kim repeated. What did Chay mean? He was the person, why did he act as if he did not know it yet? “Chay… I… Don’t you…” He did not even know how to formulate his thoughts.
“Is there a problem?”
“Don’t you know who I felt for? Did you not listen to the song?” Because if he did, he should know. And yes, Kim knew nothing guaranteed that Chay had listened to it, but he really hoped that at least curiosity made him play the video.
At that, Chay panicked. Did he misunderstand? Was the video for someone else? Were things worse than he thought? At that point, he was sure he was the one who was about to die because of his stupidity.
But thankfully, Kim quickly stopped his train of thought.
Kim grabbed his forearms, “Chay, it’s you. The one I fell for, it’s you. The flowers, they’re for you!”
Chay’s jaw dropped, “But, I told you how I felt already, so why have you still gotten sick?”
“Well… it was weeks ago. You stopped answering me, I thought you had moved on.” And Kim did not think Chay’s feelings for him were deep enough to still be there after weeks of no interaction between them.
“Are you telling me you got sick because you’re an idiot and because you rejected me?”
Kim did not dare answer to that, and did not have to because Chay wrapped his arms around him. Kim just wrapped his arms around Chay too, enjoying the embrace.
Chay pulled back a few moments after. He looked at Kim, mildly smiling. He turned his eyes toward the box, grinning at the thought that these petals were for him, only for him. They still had discussions to have about some things, but the most important right now was to cure Kim.
He looked back at him, suddenly all serious, “P’Kim, I love you.”
Kim started to smile, and wanted to speak, but stopped himself. He looked like he was about to cry, and Chay frowned, not understanding what was wrong this time. Did Kim not believe him? But then Kim started to cough again, and soon it became more violent than it had ever been.
Chay tried to lightly tap on Kim’s back, stupidly hoping it would help him because he could do nothing else. Kim was bent in half, holding his belly. It took very long this time, enough to make Chay consider if he should call the ambulance. Finally, Kim did stop coughing. He was heavily breathing, looking at something in his hand. Chay suddenly thought that it was another flower, that his declaration was not enough. But when he looked, a seed, bigger than the previous buds, was in Kim’s palm.
They both knew what it meant: Kim was cured. Chay could not prevent himself from jumping into Kim’s arms. And for the first time in a long time, they both felt good.
Chay pulled away a bit, to look at Kim, still smiling. Kim slid his hands to catch Chay’s chin, looking very intently at Chay’s lips. The next instant, their lips touched, first softly, and then more passionately.
Later that night, Chay sent a single message to Porsche: [Kim is cured!]