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Blood and petals littered Damon’s sink, his hands shook uncontrollably at the horrid sight.
He didn’t think it would get this bad. He hoped he would get over his crush on Eva once a week or two had passed. But it's been more than a month now and it’s gotten so much worse. He's sure she’ll find out the next time he sees her for their regular gaming session.
Damon forced his eyes closed and clenched his teeth, feeling more roots pierce the walls of his lungs as he thought of her.
He hated how much he loved her presence.
How much he loved her dry humor.
How much he loved her smile.
He covered his eyes with his palms and dug his fingers into his blonde hair. A desperate attempt to stop his mind from feeding the ache in his heart and lungs.
He needs to go soon. He had promised Eva he’ll meet up with her in the storage closet so they can continue beating that cooking game they’ve been playing together.
Damon turned on the sink, washing everything down the drain. He’ll be fine, he can get through their hangout without ruining it with petals and blood. He’d rather be the first victim of the killing game than let Eva find out he’d been harbouring such embarrassing feelings for her.
Exiting his dorm, he descended the stairs down into the basement. He could faintly hear her game’s music from within their storage room. The door was left ajar, a clear indication she was already inside waiting for him. Damon quietly approached and reached a hand to open the door, but hesitated.
He felt a familiar ache building up in his lungs and clutched his chest.
No.
Not here.
Not now.
He repeated the words like a mantra, staying put until he was certain he wouldn’t succumb to another coughing fit during the hours they’d spend playing together.
“How long are you going to stand there?” Eva’s muffled voice sounded from behind the door.
Her acknowledgment of his presence all this time caught him off guard. When he opened the door, he found her sitting in their usual spot, leaning casually against the stacks of cardboard boxes that filled the space.
“Hey,” he greeted, putting effort to sound as if his lungs weren't being assaulted by flowers.
“You’re late. I can’t beat Cooking Valley Deluxe: Special Edition VII Remake if you’re not punctual.” She chided, her voice annoyed with a hint of playfulness to reassure him she wasn’t really upset.
“Sorry, I got caught up with something.” Damon replied, his voice hitched in a way that could have easily been missed.
Eva stared at him for a moment, sensing something was off. She opened her mouth to speak but trailed off to a different topic, changing her mind last minute.
“We better continue our grind. That stupid NPC Jerry is 320 points ahead of us now because we skipped gaming yesterday.”
“I fucking hate Jerry.”
“For real.”
Damon pulled out his personal gaming console, the one he and Eva had spent hours trying to win. Sitting down next to the mathlete, he couldn’t help but smile at how absurd the memory was.
The two of them had monopolized the pachinko machine for hours, earning and losing thousands of marabucks in the process—all so Damon could have his own console and join her in the multiplayer game she had become so obsessed with.
“Eva, it’s 3AM. We have to stop.”
He begged and pleaded on the floor.
“We are not leaving until I drag you into Cooking Valley Deluxe: Special Edition VII Remake hell, you hear me?”
She yelled, her hair puffing out wildly as she shoved all of their money into the machine.
At that moment, Damon thought she was crazy. But now? He treasured the memory. He figured the only reason she would work that hard to get him his own console was because she genuinely did enjoy his presence. Eva’s darkened eye bags and triumphant smile when she finally won the second console for him flashed through his mind. The memory stirred something in his chest, making his throat itch so badly that he couldn’t suppress a small, involuntary grunt.
“Join the game, I’m already in the kitchen. We need to get these cakes done ASAP,” Eva commanded.
Her face was glued to the screen, her fingers deftly utilizing every single button reaching maximum efficiency.
When Damon entered the game, he immediately noticed the kitchen was completely transformed. The once monochromatic space was now adorned in shades of pink and red, decorated with hearts everywhere. It took him a moment to realize it was Valentine’s Day, and the game likely featured holiday events.
He felt his face slowly burning, he tried to concentrate on making the cakes and regaining their lost points but he found the lovey dovey atmosphere of the game distracting.
“Damon, focus on the pancakes. I’ll handle the muffins.” Eva urged, her character zooming around the kitchen relentlessly.
It was kind of cute how seriously she took this silly baking game. When it came to competition, Eva had always made it clear she would stop at nothing to crush her enemies. That fierce side of hers really drew him in—he was glad to see he wasn’t the only one who enjoyed proving his superiority. He was so lost in his thoughts, he almost didn’t hear Eva speaking to him.
“Honey?”
Damon turned toward her. “Yeah?”
Did she just call me—?
“I’ll leave the honey on the table,” Eva replied, her eyes still glued to the screen. “You can pour it on your pancakes for extra points.”
“Oh, I thought—” he blushed and stopped himself before he could finish that thought. Damon was embarrassed he had misheard her to such a ridiculous degree. His heart was racing from the misunderstanding and to his dismay the coughing returned.
He covered his mouth and turned away from the mathlete. Eva glanced at him and for the first time today she put down her console and softened her expression.
“Are you okay?” She leaned toward him, concerned by how hard he was coughing.
Damon hid the fact that bits of blood now stained his blazer, thinking it lucky the fabric was a dark color.
“Yeah, I’m good. It’s just the dust I guess.” He tried reassuring her.
Once again, Eva looked as though she wanted to say something—perhaps pry further—but stopped herself.
“If you say so. Come on, we’re almost out of time.” the girl adjusted her glasses before handling her console once more.
Damon ignored the dizziness in his head, he won’t let this stupid disease get in the way of spending time with Eva. Gripping his game console tightly he finally started cooking, the repeated cycle of mixing batter and flipping pancakes calmed him enough to ignore the itching still present in the back of his throat. The in-game day came to a close, and when the level concluded the two had managed to reclaim their position on the leaderboard.
“Take that Jerry you dumb bitch.” Eva declared her dominance monotonously.
Damon nods, agreeing with her sentiment. “Fuck Jerry.”
“Preach.”
Their small exchange helped distract him from his own internal monologue. Once the game had finished displaying their score however he noticed a notification had popped up on Eva’s screen.
Bonus level!
Would you like to play the special Valentines level?
Yes/No
Without hesitation Eva clicked on the Yes option and the two were transported to another screen. The game prompted them to choose between 3 different maps.
♡ Lovers Lake
♡ Friendship Field
♡ Family Farm
Damon read the names, quickly realizing it offered options for players to enjoy the Valentine’s event even if they weren’t a couple. He’d expected Eva to pick the middle choice—a safe, neutral option.
Instead, her words caught him completely off guard.
“Let’s go for Lovers Lake,” Eva said, her finger hovering over the option.
Damon felt his heart skip a beat. “Why that one?”
Eva shrugged, her tone light, almost dismissive. “The description says we get a 20% bonus to our overall score if we play there.”
“And besides,” she said, lightly twirling a strand of hair between her fingers. “Wouldn’t it be kind of cute?”
Cute?
Damon’s mind scrambled to process her words. Was she flirting with him? His pulse thundered in his ears as he tried to gauge her intent.
“I mean... if you want,” he stammered, shifting his gaze to the wall to avoid her eyes. Heat crept up his neck, and he felt ridiculous for getting so flustered over a simple in-game decision.
Despite his attempts to hide it, Eva caught onto his unease and quickly spoke to break the tension. “Oh, come on—don’t make it weird.”
Then, with a teasing glint in her eye, she said, “Us as lovers? It’s funny to think about, though.”
Her words hit him like a punch to the chest. Damon’s breath hitched, the tension in his body coiling until it became unbearable. The familiar pain surged through him, sharp and unforgiving. His body trembled, and he leaned forward, a violent cough tearing through his throat. Blood and soft blue petals spilled from his lips, staining his hand as he tried to stifle the sound.
The room spun, and his vision blurred. The dizziness was overwhelming, each breath more shallow than the last. Damon could feel his strength slipping away, but all he could think about was hiding his agony—from her.
“Damon!” Eva, without hesitation, placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Her distant attitude had completely melted away as she showed nothing but genuine concern for her ailing companion’s well being. Blue eyes scanned the colorful petals among the pool of blood, realizing what was happening.
“You have feelings for someone.”
Damon was still gasping for air, his coughs settling enough for him to utter out a weak, “Yes.”
Eva paused for a moment, wondering how she should approach this before opening her lips.
“Can you tell me who?”
He turned slightly to look at her, green eyes searching her steel blue. He managed a frustrated sigh even though he was still hacking.
“It’s… you.” Damon closed his eyes, bracing himself for her rejection, for her to chide him or laugh at him. But instead, she hummed softly, curiosity in her tone.
“Good. Then I can help.” She crossed her arms and looked at him intently.
“What do you mean?”
“If it were another student, I think you’d have a harder time. You know, since no one else likes you.” She said it in such a matter-of-fact way he can’t help but twitch his eye at her.
“Gee, thanks I feel so much better.” he weakly shot back, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
He wanted to retort that no one liked her either, but he bit his tongue. She’d just use the fact that he was coughing up flowers for her to shut him down completely, and win the argument without breaking a sweat.
He would be annoyed if he didn’t find that quality attractive.
“What could you even do to help? This only goes away if you—” He hesitated, the metallic tang of blood lingering on his tongue as he clenched his fists tightly. Summoning every ounce of courage, he forced himself to ask the question that had haunted him for weeks.
“Do you… like me that way?”
A heavy silence draws out between them, filling the air with tension.
“I don’t know.” Eva looked down solemnly.
Her vague response made his coughing return, becoming more frequent, more relentless. Eva couldn’t stand it, the realization that she could lose her first real friend terrified her. The growing desperation fueled an idea.
Eva clutched both of his shoulders, forcefully turning the debater towards her.
“Damon.”
“Nn?” He feebly replied, his frail body instinctually leaning into her touch.
“Kiss me.”
His eyes widened at those two words, alarmed at what she was suggesting.
“Don’t look at me like that. Just do it, okay?” she firmly ordered, her composed speech starting to falter.
“I… I don’t want you to die. I care about you, I really do.“ the sadness in her tone broke his heart, it made him regret contracting Hanahaki in the first place despite it being beyond his control.
“Maybe… it’ll work.” She continued, unable to meet his gaze as her face started to blush.
Nervously, he brought both of his hands to cup her cheeks. She closed her eyes, slowly closing the distance between them.
Their lips met softly, but to him, it felt like the universe had finally aligned. Damon began hesitantly—exploring, testing—before deepening the kiss into something more fervent. The longing he had suppressed for so long surged through him, breaking free in a way he could no longer control. He kissed her with everything he had, which was why it stung all the more when she was the one to pull away first.
He felt his vision blur from the overwhelming emotions coursing through his entire being. Her figure slumped before him, his heart aching at the sight. The debater could already tell by her crestfallen expression that Eva didn’t feel the same.
“I’m sorry,” She said softly, a tinge of disappointment in her already saddened tone.
And there it was.
The rejection he had silently prayed would never come.
The coughing returned, worse than ever. It had gotten to a point where he could barely manage a gasp of air and could feel himself slowly suffocating. Being in the same room with her was unbearable now, her warmth beside him only magnified the ache. Struggling to his feet, Damon stumbled out of the storage room, desperate to escape.
“Damon, wait!” Eva’s frantic voice echoed through the basement hall. He could hear her footsteps running after him, distressing him further.
He couldn’t bear to see her anymore, just the thought of her is already enough to shatter the broken pieces of his heart further.
Slamming the bathroom door shut, he collapsed onto the cold tiles, the metallic taste coating every inch of his mouth. His head grew lighter with every passing second, his lungs overflowing with flowers, leaving no room for air to reach him. He barely registered Eva’s worried voice calling to him from beyond the bathroom door.
Damon’s consciousness began to slip away, his mind clinging to countless memories they’ve shared.
The moment she first told him she trusted him.
Their playful banter during the game tournament.
The night she kept him up until dawn, determined to win a second console just for him.
Their regular gaming sessions.
These memories were the very root of his impending demise, and yet... he cherished them. He held them tightly in his heart, refusing to let go, even as everything faded to black.