“Who is it?”

The unexpected voice startled both Kihyun and Hyungwon.

“What do you mean?”, Kihyun’s question went ignored while the other two stared at each other. One in shock and the other pleading.
“Hyungwon, tell me who it is. Please.”
“I-I can’t”, Hyungwon whispered, looking down.
“Why? Who is it that you’d throw away your life for? Please...I can’t watch you slowly die. I don’t want to lose someone else to this disease. I- please tell me who it is.” Hyunwoo begged.
Hyungwon sighed. “Hoseok-hyung”, he said with a defeated voice.

Kihyun was getting frustrated. He wanted to help his friend but he had no idea what was going on. Eventually, he reached his limit.

“Can someone tell me what the is going on?!”, he whisper-yelled.

Hyunwoo turned towards him and sighed. “Hyungwon is suffering from Hanahaki disease. It’s a disease that is borne out of unrequited love. A flower grows in the heart and the person starts coughing up petals until the flower fully blooms and chokes them, resulting in death.”, he explained

Kihyun’s eyes widened bit by bit through Hyunwoo’s explanation. “Isn’t-isn’t there something we can do? There must be a cure, right?”, he asked, helplessness colouring his voice.
“There is a surgery that removes the flower but it removes the feelings for that person as well. The best-case scenario is that the other person also feels the same and a confession from both can remove the flower naturally.”

Kihyun pondered on that and his mind replayed the conversation that the other two had when suddenly something Hyungwon said popped up.

“Wait! You’re in love with Hoseok-hyung!”, he exclaimed but thankfully not loud enough for anyone else to hear.
“Yeah…”, Hyungwon sighed. “That’s what makes this harder to handle. First, there’s the fact that no matter what happens, there could be a problem for the group and we could potentially be disbanded. Second, I see him so much. It’s hard to move on when he’s almost always around me.”
“How long have you been dealing with this?”, Hyunwoo inquired, concerned.
“I think I’ve been in love with him for a while but the flower petals only started a month or so ago when I finally came to terms with it.”
“Damn ...you've got rotten luck, Hyungwon-ah.”, the eldest sighed.
Hyungwon chuckled bitterly. “Yeah...yeah, I do”

The room descended into silence. Nobody knew what to say or if there even was anything anyone could say at that moment. The trio was each wrapped up in their thoughts.

Kihyun’s heart felt heavy. His dear friend, his brother, was going through so much pain, all because he loved someone. Love was meant to be a beautiful thing. Not something that tears people up. Did things always have to be so ing unfair?! Nevertheless, he vowed to do whatever he could to make things easier for Hyungwon, even if it wasn’t much.

Shownu was angry at the world. Why did those he cared about suffer from this horrendous curse? Why did bad things happen to good people, people who don’t deserve it? But like before, he’d support his friend no matter what he chooses to do. Furthermore, as the leader, he had a bit more power to make things easier for the tall visual.

Hyungwon, on the other hand, was feeling like a huge weight was taken off his shoulders. He was glad that he finally had people to go to when his feelings got hard to deal with. He was doubly glad that it was Shownu and Kihyun who were the ones that knew. They were the ones who could help him the most with his “delicate issue”. A small smile formed on his face. Things were finally looking up for him.