withering bloom | TXT

16 | have

yeonjun entered his house again, closing the door behind him. he took his coat off and sat back at the dining table, where he had left his cake he bought earlier.

he laughed to himself, tossing his phone to the side. he looked at the perfectly-made store bought cake, as he sung to himself.

happy birthday to you.

he clapped his hands, forcing a smile on his face as he fought back the tears that wanted to come out of his eyes and trickle down his face like a waterfall.

happy birthday to you.

happy birthday dear....

he sighed, alas, he let a teardrop fall down his face.

yeonjun...

quickly wiping the tear away, he continued.

happy birthday to you.

he pushed the cake away, completely losing his appetite after earlier. he wasn't mad at them, not at all. he was upset that after 14 years....the friendship would be gone. shattered.

he brought his phone back and pulled out the polaroid photo in his phone case that they had all taken together at their favorite spot. he hung it next to his photo frames and smiled softly.

"i'll come back...you know i always will."

--

one week later.

yeonjun went back onto the empty road. he looked around, confused as to how it was still snowing when the spring was supposed to already have arrived. he placed his hands in his pockets of his grey coat and continued his walk.

his main objective was to clear his mind, along with his lungs that seemed to be clogged up with the flower. it confused him as to why he still had flowers growing inside of him even after the friendship already feels broken. maybe it's not broken. maybe there's more.

yeonjun had been coughing petals each day, each day went on and each time the petals would become more severe, and more painful to bare. he didn't know why. he had been ignoring the others, not speaking to them, keeping his distance. why? why was he still spitting out petals?

but he refused to unravel more.

he continued to walk as snow fell upon his fingertips from the hand he reached out. he smiled to himself, loving the beautiful and warm comfort that the snow brought him.

he continued on, as his attention was attached to the floor, not aware of his surroundings. until, his phone began to ring. he stopped in his tracks, as he picked up his cell phone, seeing the number and deciding to press decline.

he had to end the friendship in order to remove the flower. hopefully, they can all be happy again afterwards. together.

yeonjun continued to walk, a feeling of guilt well up inside of him as he took his attention from off the ground onto a familiar figure he had noticed from afar, a few blocks away.

yeonjun was baffled. what would hueningkai be doing out in the cold weather, far from any of the houses? yeonjun raised his arm to yell the young boy's name until he became quiet and let his arm fall to his side, upon seeing the young boy bend down in the distance across the streets, spitting out tens of flower petals at once.

"HUENINGKAI!" yeonjun ran to the boy across the street, who was too weak to stand up or support himself. yeonjun crouched to the young boy who was still spitting out yellow petals.