Work Text:
Seong Tae tracked the falling petals in spring to the falling leaves in autumn, crushing flowers all the while.
******
Under rustling leaves, stood a man gazing at the blue sky.
The man covered his mouth with his hand. From behind, it seemed as though he gave it a light kiss, and held his fist towards the sky.
Upon closer inspection, the man was trembling, as though overcome with emotion.
"FUCK YOU, LEE JAHA!"
**********
Seong Tae smushed the petals in both palms together. He tossed the clump aside, and strode off angrily.
He cursed the quack doctor that he saw the other day, though he knew that the diagnosis was true.
"Hmm," the physician withdrew his hand after taking Seong Tae's pulse to write down a list of herbs.
The physician flicked the prescription to dry before addressing Seong Tae, who kept glancing up at the doctor and down at the list.
"You have hanahaki, boy."
Seong Tae kept his his mouth shut at the term 'boy'. The physician was indeed much older than he was, and he was here as a patient.
"Now, this illness is a physical manifestation of an affliction of the heart. Simply put, it is a symptom of the mind's problems. Which is to say, you have a troubling issue which is eating at you, and therefore shows as flower-vomit, that is —"
Seong Tae held up a hand. "Stop, stop. I get it, so is there a cure for it?"
The physician passed him the prescription. "Here, these herbs should help. Boil them for two hours, then drink them once a day. You can reuse the same herbs for three days, and boil them a while longer on the third."
"But," he said, when Seong Tae got up halfway, "the best remedy is to solve your own internal conflict. Which is to say —"
Seong Tae thanked him and paid.
********
"Hanahaki. Who fucking wants hanahaki. It'll pass. Definitely. Bastard doesn't deserve flowers from me, not like he'll ever appreciate - no, he doesn't even know what flowers are, that fucker," Seong Tae muttered to himself as he walked back into town.
He neared his inn right before bumping into last person he wanted to see. "Master," he intoned, bowing as little as possible.
Jaha skipped the greetings. "I need you to go to the next town. There's a riot there, and they're asking for assistance."
Seong Tae sighed. He had skipped his medicine that morning, sulking at the bitterness of the herbal soup.
Chae Hyang had rolled her eyes and downed her own herbal medicine. She had the normal flu, and was far more diligent about finishing her dose.
Seong Tae wanted to return to the inn to finish his medicine first, but Jaha's orders brooked no arguments.
He bowed again, and strode off at once.
*******
By the time Seong Tae and his staff reached the town, most of the riot had died down. In some cases, literal corpses lined the mouth of some alleyways.
He greeted the town head, and dispatched his staff to help clean up the place. The riot occurred over a small disagreement, but there had been discontent brewing for quite a time.
Seong Tae helped the town head draft a speech for the people, asking them to put the discontent behind them after all his bloodshed, and to join a conference inviting other town leaders to discuss future plans.
It was four whole days before Seong Tae and his staff could go back. In the meantime, Seong Tae tried to convince himself that his condition remained the same.
Yet there were more petals every time something related to Jaha was mentioned.
********
Seong Tae sent his staff back first, opting to walk back the last bit of the journey.
It was cool, and the shade from the trees blocked most of the sun.
He stood to admire the sunlight dappling through the swaying leaves, and started to cough.
He coughed and coughed, and finally removed his hand to see bloodied flowers.
He staggered to rest against the base of a tree, and started digging into the soil next to him.
He patted the soil down after he was done burying the flowers.
And looked up to scream.
********
"You fucking scared me, you shit!"
Then Seong Tae paled even more when he realised whom he was yelling at.
Jaha stood a distance away, and scoffed. Seong Tae fumed, and turned his head away.
He closed his eyes at the dizziness, and reopened his eyes to see Jaha looking down his nose at him.
"Need help?" Jaha said. Seong Tae shook his head, and stood up using the tree trunk as support.
Jaha gave him a once-over, and turned around. "I'm going first!" He waved, and Seong Tae scrowled.
"Right behind you, you fucker," Seong Tae grumbled. He took a few unsteady steps, watched Jaha pass the bend, and fainted.
**********
Seong Tae woke up to his ceiling. And turned his head to the right to find Chae Hyang kneeling in front of him.
"I fainted, I didn't die, Chae Hyang."
He looked past Chae Hyang and saw some other staff kneeling. "We could have passed too, boss."
"What."
As far as Seong Tae was aware, hanahaki was not infectious. How could they have died?
To his left, something stirred. "You're dismissed," Jaha rasped, and everyone else instantly hurried away.
Seong Tae made an exasperated face. "Can you stop threatening to kill off all my employees? I need them to run the inn, you know," he said.
Jaha gently placed a hand over Seong Tae's heart. "You were spitting blood. Did you think that I wouldn't notice?"
"You're never here long enough to notice anyway," said Seong Tae, and he snapped his mouth shut.
Jaha propped himself up on the pillow. "Should I ask that physician to come back?" Seong Tae groaned. He did not want a three hour lecture of the dangers of skipping medicine.
Jaha laid back down. "Fine, I'll stay for a while longer this time. But will you be able to tolerate it?"
**********
Seong Tae's puzzlement turned into incredulity, and annoyance over the next few months as Jaha turned into the biggest mother hen he had the misfortune to meet.
Seong Tae never would have said that Jaha was clingy, and now he could not turn a corner without Jaha checking around it first.
It did not help that Jaha asked him to share his thoughts and feelings. Jaha! Of all people!
Seong Tae snapped that Jaha was speedrunning the 'knowing your partner' process, which Jaha refuted that it was long overdue, with his hanahaki as proof.
"The hanahaki was because of stress," Seong Tae growled over dinner, which to his major annoyance was completely to his taste, which tended to the healthier side in any case.
"Yes, but stress from what?" said Jaha patiently. Seong Tae took a deep breath, and spat out yet another bloody flower.
"Overwork," said Seong Tae. "And the fact that I have to keep updating your funeral arrangements every time you leave."
He mumbled the last part. Jaha drew him closer, and took the bloodied flower away.
And ate it.
"That is disgusting, I am disgusted, spit it out, Lee Jaha!" Seong Tae shrieked, lightly slapping Jaha's cheeks.
Jaha swallowed. "This is blood you shed for me, Cha Seong Tae, and I will remember it."
Seong Tae stopped slapping his face. And slapped his arm, hard.
*********
Jaha hired more tutors to come and teach the populace, which would help Seong Tae to hire more assistants in future.
"You're incorrigible," grumbled Seong Tae as he helped Jaha load his pack horse.
Jaha was leaving to deal with other clans. Seong Tae said that he was simply picking fights. "I'm glad you know me well," said Jaha, and Seong Tae glared at him.
"Have more faith in the master of your clan, Manager Cha Seong Tae. And your partner, my love."
Everyone in the vicinity was instantly busy, and nobody heard anything. Including any rude remarks, such as –
"BASTARD!" Seong Tae yelled at his fleeing back. "Who are you calling that, you crazy fuck!"