Hanahaki is almost invisible.

Sooyoung researches and looks through records when she can, because even though she could be dying, the world continues to revolve as it does, as it should, while she and Seungwan still have their weekly lunch dates and the smaller girl talks about her sister and her best friends and her life as Sooyoung's own shifts on its axis.

🥀

It isn’t until halfway through the fourth week, when the Hanahaki had already somehow attached itself to her routine, that Sooyoung finally registers the disease as, well, a disease.

Wannie ❤️: Sorry i couldn’t make it to lunch today! I’ll definitely be able to go tomorrow!

A range of enthusiastic emojis follow up the message and Sooyoung smiles and responds with an 'it’s okay' before realizing that this was the fifth time Seungwan had cancelled on her to be with Seulgi.

She coughs. Petals tickle , and she coughs again, forcing them up her windpipe.

Her body wracks itself with an onslaught of coughs as petal after petal escapes and a tendril of dread uncurls through her stomach when she notices their jagged ends. Her eyes water and saliva and mucus follow the next torn petal. screams in agony at the rough gasps of air she forces out.

When it's over, her floor is littered with splats of vibrant blue and there’s bitterness on her tongue.