Lavenders.

Pretty violet flowers with fragrance so soothing. 

Yongsun hates them. Hates them with every fibre in her body. Detested their narrow stems that grew in her, for the beautiful flowers she threw up, the earthy flavor that it left behind in . 

She only tolerates them because Wheein adores them.

Because lavender meant Wheein. 

“Unnie! Look how pretty these flowers are!!” Yongsun snaps out of her reverie at the cheerful voice, turning her head to look at where the small girl was kneeling beside a bed of flowers with many different shades of blues and oranges. She was grinning, her phone out in her hands to take a picture. Yongsun watches her, smiling despite the scratchy feeling in her chest. 

The two were on a stroll, walking together in the park after lunch. Wheein had invited the elder out, a friendly invitation to which Yongsun had accepted with little hesitation and thought.

 The scratchy feeling in her chest grows, rising up into to which she forces back down. She couldn’t afford to throw up the petals in public and let everyone know how pathetic she was for suffering from this unwanted disease, to let Wheein know that she was slowly dying. Yongsun knew staying near Wheein would cause the disease to accelerate more but she didn’t care. She wanted to stay as close as possible to Wheein now before she couldn’t anymore. 

She waits until the girl is done, holding out a hand to her. Wheein accepts her hand and allows herself to be pulled up. They continue their walk, sometimes chatting together about random things and sometimes just walking in comfortable silence. At one point their hands brush past each other, Yongsun blushing slightly while Wheein merely sends her that adorable smile of hers. Yongsun feels her cheeks heating up when Wheein interlaces their hands together, holding on tightly. 

It’s small things like this that always force Yongsun to choke back the petals threatening to come up, tears in her eyes at the pain in . Wheein never notices though, Yongsun likes to thank her ability to hide her emotions and fake a smile. 

Yongsun walks Wheein back home, waving to the girl as she waves back before bounding into her building. Yongsun could only smile and sigh to herself, feeling the lingering warmth from Wheein’s hand in hers quickly dissipating away. Looking up at the sky, Yongsun decides to kill some more time before heading back home herself. 

Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her hoodie, Yongsun ambles along the streets and passes people, turning into deserted paths and venturing further away from the city to her destination. It was a long walk, but a rather rejuvenating one too. 

It was a lavender field, the sea of purple stretching out for miles. 

Wheein had brought her to it, showing off the field excitedly to her. She had brought along her camera, wanting to get some shots of the field with Yongsun as a model in it. Yongsun humored her, laughing and playing around with Wheein as they ran and rolled around in the comforting scented plants. Yongsun had imprinted the day vividly into her mind, for it was the day where Wheein’s brightest smile and happiest laughter could be found. 

It was also the day when Yongsun coughed up her very first petal. 

Looking at it now, it was the same. Tall stalks of pretty purple flowers, swaying gently in the wind. Yongsun treads carefully among them, brushing her hands lightly over the stalks. Her mind drifts to Wheein, thinking about her smile, the way her hand had felt in her grasp, how her laugh sounded, how much she-

Yongsun doubles over, hand to her chest as she falls to the ground. She coughs, screwing her eyes shut at the prickly and burning feeling crawling in her chest and throat. 

She claws at , coughing harshly as petals upon petals rained out of . Yongsun trembles when she is done, laying down exhausted next to the small pile. Their edges shine with a dark crimson liquid, Yongsun picking a few up to stare at. 

It was getting worse. She wouldn't have much time left soon. She knew of course, that she could just get the surgery. But what for? She would lose all the feelings she had for Wheein. Yongsun would rather die with the love she had instead of losing them to some surgery that removed the flowers in her. The flowers were her feelings, were the pure unrivalled love she felt for Wheein. 

She would gladly be reborn with this sick disease if it meant being able to love Wheein all over again everyday. 

For Yongsun, Wheein was worth everything. 

Day by day, the stems grow taller, the petals increasing in volume before coming up as whole flowers instead, each stained with blood. feels raw, her voice hoarse and her chest almost constantly constricted with pain. 

Small lavender petals and flowers litter her small apartment, from the bedroom to the kitchen to the bathroom. They mark her home and when she thinks she cleans them all, another would appear. It was as if it was a reminder, a warning that told her that she could never escape this fate.

Yongsun accepts the reminder, but cleaning up sure was a hassle. She feels more inconvenienced by the trail of flowers following her around then the constant ache and need to throw up. They were evidence and all evidence must be kept away to prevent anyone from finding out. 

Yongsun pauses from cleaning up, flowers in her grasp as a familiar feeling rushes back to her and she bolts once more for the bathroom. 

“Unnie.”

“Hm?”

“I did it.”

“Did what?”

“I asked her out. She said yes.” 

Yongsun stops what she is doing, staring blankly at the wall in front of her as the words repeat themselves in her mind. Wheein was a little concerned from the lack of response from the other line. 

“Unnie? You okay??” 

“Ah? Y-yea I’m fine. Sorry, zoned out a little haha. But congrats pup!! You did it! I always knew you could!” Yongsun hopes the waver in voice goes unnoticed. Wheein laughs lightly and squeals, Yongsun raising an eyebrow at the sounds. She assumes the ecstatic girl was recalling the moment when she was racking up the courage to ask her love interest out. 

Wheein launches into a full recount of what happened when prompted by Yongsun, chatting excitedly as her voice varies its pitches much to Yongsun’s amusement. 

“I really do think I love her.” Wheein dreamily sighes out at the same time a burning pain flares in Yongsun’s chest. She turns away from her phone, heaving and hacking out the flowers that rush up . She draws in weak breaths, trying to cough out all of the flowers quickly. They fall on the floor, more than before. A few small stems have made their way out as well, complete with flower heads stained red. 

“Are you sick?? That sounds like a really bad cough.” Wheein asks in concern, having heard the elder girl’s harsh coughs even when she had placed the phone away from her. Yongsun takes a few seconds to compose herself, sighing heavily and clearing before responding.

“Yea...Came down with a cough the past few days. It’s alright though, nothing to worry about.” Yongsun tries to dismiss it, not wanting Wheein to be too worried over her. She had better things to take care and worry about anyway. 

However, Wheein was just too damn nice and caring for her own good. 

“I’m coming over tomorrow, I’ll bring over some food and medicine to help you recover faster. I won't take no for an answer!” Wheein immediately shuts down any of Yongsun’s attempts to protest before the elder could even open . Yongsun wails and despairs in silence. Once Wheein was set on doing something, nothing could deter her. Yongsun would just have to hope that the flowers in her lungs don’t act up when she comes over. 

Wheein cheers and smiles when Yongsun agrees in quiet resignation. 

Yongsun’s choking out flowers again when her bell rings, hunched over her toilet as the flowers and stems claw relentlessly at . 

Eyes wide, she hacks up the last few before forcing the remainder back, running to the door after ensuring the flowers were flushed away and rinsing with water. She pats herself down and tried to look presentable instead of someone who just spent a few minutes in the bathroom vomitting up countless amounts of ing flowers. 

“Wheein!” Yongsun greets softly when she opens the door, scratchy voice pairing well with her lie about her so-called bad cough. Wheein frowns and ushers the elder back into her house, pushing her all the way to the living room to make her sit down on the couch. She raise