Soft Yellow Petals

Untitled Part 2

"Hey Kyung, is it okay if I-"

Walking into Kyung's dorm room was a mistake. Kyung and Jaehyo's legs were tangled together, and the two had been laughing about something before their attention shot up to Jiho.

He couldn't stand it.

"Yeah?" The word came from his mouth effortlessly, his limbs still entwined with Jaehyo's like it was no big deal.

"I...was heading to the studio, and was hoping you'd come with me..." Already Jiho felt the fluttering inside of his lungs, knowing what would come next if he wasn't careful.

"Ah, I can do that-"

"No, forget it. It can wait."

Jaehyo untangled his slender legs from Kyung's, and carefully rose off the bed. Without the physical contact, Jiho could see Kyung visibly shrink, and it only pushed his suspicion of the two further.

"I'll come back later, if that's okay..." Jaehyo's voice was soft and drawn out, and his uneasy expression told him that Jaehyo wasn't comfortable being in a room alone with the two of them.

"Jaehyo hyung, it's fine. I'll get Taeil to come with me instead."

"Jiho-" Kyung was cut off by the sound of the door clicking into place, and Jaehyo simply plopped down onto the bed again.

It was certain, he knew.

The time spent at the studio with Taeil was productive to a point. Typically, he wasn't there when Jiho was editing songs, but he wasn't about to let their leader stay up all night alone with his condition.

Leaning back in his swivel chair, Jiho drug his hands down his face. "I found out what's wrong with me."

At this Taeil perked up, eyes no longer glued to his phone.

"It's Hanahaki Disease."

With a solemn nod, Taeil's eyes lowered to the floor. They all had heard a story about Hanahaki before, but only that. Just stories told for fun.

"Taeil, it's been getting worse. At first it was only one petal, but each time...It... It's getting to the point where I'm not sure I can hide it."

Zico, their leader. The strong charismatic leader who would do anything for his group, his family. There had been times when Zico looked defeated. There were times when Taeil was almost certain they would have to disband. But Zico pulled them through it all, Zico was strong. Zico was so very strong. But underneath Zico, he was still Jiho. And Jiho was still a person.

Taeil rose, carefully making his way to Jiho's side before gently tugging him over to the couch. Resting Jiho's head on his chest, Taeil carefully combed his fingers through his soft, thick hair.

"Do you have a plan?"

"No."

"Does Kyung know about this?"

"No."

Pausing, the smaller man sighed. "I'm here to help, but I can't fix this for you. Everyone is worried about you. They all know something is wrong. They just don't want to ask if you don't want to share."

"All except Kyung." Letting his eyes fall shut, Jiho felt a rough cough coming on, but suppressed it the best he could. Opening his mouth, he pulled a few petals off of his tongue, lazily casting them to the floor. In fact, the floor had more than just a few petals. The trash bins were full of them, a radiant yellow peaking over the top of each.

"There was a time when we were closer than brothers, you know." Lazily casting an arm over Taeil's stomach, Jiho sighed as another yellow petal flew from his mouth.

"I think once he and Jaehyo hooked up, he just stopped paying attention."

Letting a hand rest on Jiho's back, Taeil hummed and began to rub gentle circles in his back.

"This Hanahaki Disease...It means my love is unrequited, you know? So I wonder if maybe just telling him and letting myself get shot down would be best. I only worry about what would happen to the group..."

"The group is worried about you, Woo Jiho. Honestly we all know you're in love with him. We always have."

This caused Jiho to stir, sitting up properly and letting out a hard cough.

"...What?"

"I think the group has figured us out." Jaehyo had been laying in Kyung's arms, staying warm against his soft pale skin.

"And? They haven't said anything. Makes things easy when they don't care." Nuzzling his face into the back of Jaehyo's neck he let out a content sigh, sleepy from the heat and the exhaustion from the day.

"Kyung, Jiho knows."

Sitting up suddenly Kyung couldn't help but snort. "And? Like he cares who I'm fucking. If he had a problem with relationships between group members he would have shut down Jihoon and Taeil long ago."

It was then that it clicked in his mind. Jaehyo may not always catch everything, but he could never mistake the love Jiho had for Kyung for mere friendship.

"This time it matters, Kyung. He knows I'm not someone off hookup."

"So?"

So.

Kyung really didn't know and Jaehyo wasn't about to ruin whatever confession Jiho had been either avoiding or saving, and he assumed he had avoided it.

So should he tell Kyung about Jiho?

He would have to think about it.