ten

past:

"so which high school you applying for?" kai asked luna, who was eating peacefully with delilah in break time.

"no idea." she shook her head, not bothering to even look up, stuffing her mouth with her lunch.

"what about you?" luna asked.

"umm.... wherever you go."

luna chocked on hearing what he said. but she also felt that throbbing pain in her chest, again.

she rushed to the washroom and vomited it all out. all the food she ate and there came out petals, more than one this time. she began to despise flowers from that day on, disgusting petals, how beautiful they looked yet they were killing her.

she flushed and came out and saw delilah, standing, waiting. "are you okay?" delilah asked, concerned.

"yes." luna washed her mouth, then her face.

"luna... there's something i want to tell you." delilah hesitated, looking at her. she wanted to let her know but was scared of how to talk her into it.

"hmm?" luna continued washing up her face.

"can we talk after school?" she thought some time to help preparing what she wanted to say.

"yeah sure. come on, the break will be over any time now." luna looked herself in the mirror and made her way outside.

after school, while walking home together, delilah still couldn't come up with how to let luna know.

"what did you want to talk about del?" luna asked, while walking.

"umm....umm... i..i saw you coughing a lot the other day."

"yes, a sore throat."

"no luna, i know."

this grabbed luna's attention. what is she talking about? what does she know?

"you coughed and i saw some flower petals fell."

luna's eyes widened as she stops walking.

"ahh, it's probably nothing to worry about." she tried to tell what she tells herself every night.

"luna, it is worrisome. i looked for it everywhere, some books and internet." she made luna curious now.

is it not a sore throat?

"luna, what you have is umm... ha...hanahaki."

luna burst out laughing at what she heard. 'hanahaki wasn't real, it was just a myth.' she thought.

what? hanahaki?? lmao. how can she has hanahaki. she's not desperately in lov-

fuck.

unrequited love.

feelings not returned back.

kai doesn't love her.

it's true that he doesn't, otherwise why would she suffer this painful disease. this disease was the proof that he didn't and did she loved her that much to go through such horrifying pain?

her head started spinning.

hanahaki was a known disease in which the victim coughs up flower petals when they suffer from one sided love. it can end when the beloved returns their feelings or it can be cured through surgery but when the infection is removed, the victim's romantic feelings for their love also disappear. there were three stages of this disease.

1. the victim coughs up flower petals, they are terrifyingly painful.

2. it grows in the lungs and now the petals bloom into full, mature flowers along with the thorns. stage one is not even half the painful than this stage.

3. the flowers, now fill the lungs causing the victim to suffocate and die.

everyone was aware of this disease yet very few people experience this torturous disease. so little people went through it that everyone thought that it's just a made up story by a hopeless romantic person.

yet now luna knew it wasn't a lie, that it was not a made up story but a truth. an gut-wrenching truth.

she rushed to home with tears in her eyes, making her vision blur. delilah knew it wasn't a wise decision to let luna be on her home so she followed her.

"i will be fine." she stopped at the main door of her house and turned around and saw delilah panting just as much as she was.

"i just... i just need some time, alone." she smiled, her tears running down her cheeks as she opens the door and closed it.