ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴡɪʟʟ ɪ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ? °ᴋᴀᴠᴇᴛʜᴀᴍ ᴀɴɢꜱᴛ°

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Kaveh awoke in the middle of the night as the tightness in his chest is starting to act up again. He tried breathing normally in hopes of the pain being reduced but to no avail. After a few minutes of breathing heavily, he felt as if a lump of blood is leaving his throat. He rushed out of bed and into the bathroom. But before he could get to the bathroom, he started coughing and ended up leaving blood stains on the hallway floor. He stopped for a minute and stared at the Padisarah petal covered with blood on his palm.

This is bad.. I need to clean this up before Haitham sees this..

He quickly dashed to the bathroom and slammed the door shut, unaware of the fact that Alhaitham was up awake, working on some unfinished paperworks. Hearing the bathroom door slam, he immediately rushed to the bathroom to check if Kaveh's alright.

"Kaveh...? Are you okay..?" a worried Alhaitham asked, trying his best to sound as if he doesn't have a clue on what's going on, even if he already does.

"H-Haitham..?! Wh-what are you d-doing awake?!!" a panicked blonde replied.

"I was finishing some unfinished paperworks" Alhaitham said. "Don't change the subject. What's wrong..?"

"Nothing important..! Must've ate something that upsetted my stomach earlier" Kaveh said. Alhaitham could sense that he was obviously lying. "You didn't eat anything before and after we left Tighnari's. You went straight to bed" Alhaitham protested.

Shit.. I forgot about that.. I was in too much pain to even remember eating.. Great now what..

"Kaveh? Don't tell me you fainted again.." Alhaitham worriedly said.

"I'm fine..! How many times do I have to tell you, Haitham?! I'm. FINE. Please just... leave.." Kaveh snapped.

I'm sorry Hai.. I just can't.. I need to get rid of these feelings before it's too late.. You rejected me for a reason..

Alhaitham was taken aback. He paused for a minute and then replied, "Fine.." He then left the bathroom door and returned to his desk. I know what you're planning Kaveh.. If you think you can try to distance yourself from me so you can lose feelings, then it's not working...

Alhaitham fell asleep on his desk after staying up all night finishing his unfinished paperworks. When he woke up to check on Kaveh the next day, he found his room empty. Alhaitham thought he was probably on his office so he cleaned his desk up, left the house and went to work.

Meanwhile Cyno spotted Kaveh with Nahida, Paimon and the traveler on the streets. He assumed that they were trying to cheer Kaveh up since they know what his illness is. He thought of tailing them without them noticing.

"Seriously, Kaveh.. You need to tell HIM" Nahida said, sounding quite irritated. "You don't understanddd, Nahidaaa. He's the last person I want to tell" Kaveh responded with a stuffed mouth. "BUT HES LITERALLY THE ONE THAT'S MAKING YOU SUFFERRR!!" Paimon angrily shouted. "Paimon, we're keeping this a secret and you're shouting it IN PUBLIC?! WHAT IF CYNO OR TIGHNARI WE'RE HERE?! THEY'LL DEFINITELY TELL HAITHAM!" the Traveler shouted back. Soon all Cyno could hear were bickerings from the two. He then left and went to a secluded place to conclude what he figured out.

"Hmm.. Out of the three of us, Alhaitham is the only one he's preventing to tell. They have a point too.. if Tighnari and I were to find out about his condition, we would definitely tell Al.. But what the hell does Paimon mean that Haitham's the one making him suffer..?" Cyno thought, running in circles. Until he paused. Frozen in place, eyes widened. "If I remember well, Kaveh confessed to Al back when we were still students but got rejected... but if he still likes him then... Hanahaki...?" Cyno said, shivering. "If it's Hanahaki, then we're doomed as shit" Cyno said, rushing towards Tighnari's place.

Meanwhile, Tighnari is still thinking what possible illness may Kaveh have that he wouldn't even tell him. "Based from what I've heard in his conversation with the traveler and paimon, it seems that he definitely doesn't want Alhaitham to know, but why...?" Tighnari thought. "Wait.." Tighnari paused. "Hanahaki..?! It has to be.. he told me just a few days ago that he still likes Alhaitham and I also noticed Padisarah flowers when cleaning the blood he puked..!" Tighnari said, slamming his desk. Before he could think anything, Cyno burst through the door, screaming. "Tighnari I got it..!"

"Got what?!" Tighnari startedly replied. "So I was tailing Kaveh since he was with Nahida, the traveler and Paimon and found something about his illness.." Cyno explained sitting on the couch. "And..?" Tighnari worriedly questioned, also sitting on the couch.

"They said Alhaitham's the one making him suffer.. And when I thought about it, Kaveh did confess to Al back when we were still students but got rejected. But if my hunch is correct and he still likes him then..." Cyno thoroughly explained. "Hanahaki.." Tighnari finished. Cyno nodded. The two then continued to talk about on how to confront Kaveh about this and how to tell Alhaitham.

Alhaitham is at his office, scanning a book about Hanahaki to see if he could find a cure.

Hanahaki disease is a disease in which the victim coughs up flower petals when they suffer from one-sided love. It ends when the beloved returns their feelings (romantic love only; strong friendship is not enough), or when the victim dies. It can be cured through surgical removal, but when the infection is removed, the victim's romantic feelings for their love also disappear...

"So either I return his feelings, he dies, or through surgery..." Alhaitham thought. "I do like him.. does the disease end when I confront and confess to him?" He wondered.

After a few long hours of thinking, he finally thought about going home and try to approach Paimon and the Traveler again tomorrow for more information. And if he's lucky, he might run into the dendro Archon.

When he arrived at his house, he said the door open. He wonders if Kaveh is already home. When he got inside, he was shocked to see Tighnari and Cyno sitting the the living room couch. "The hell are you two doing here?" Alhaitham asked. "We figured something about Kaveh's illness, or should I say, disease" Tighnari answered. "Please, elaborate" Alhaitham said sitting on the couch.

The two explained what they found out and left Alhaitham to process things. "You guys are late at figuring this out. I already know" Alhaitham said. The two exchanged expressions. "How did you find out and when? You didn't even think on telling us too" Cyno asked. "Yesterday night, when Paimon and the traveler dropped Kaveh off, I overheard them talking about his disease. And when I asked them about it, they told me all about it" Alhaitham explained. "Oh.. did you confront him about it? Kaveh, I mean.." Tighnari asked, concerned. "Well-" just then, they heard the door open.

The traveler, Paimon, and Nahida all walked Kaveh back to Alhaitham's house. "Good thing you informed your colleagues you were out" Nahida said. "Yea.." Kaveh said, opening his door. "Huh..? Is Alhaitham home already..?" Kaveh wondered, opening the already opened door. "Well, I'll leave now, Kaveh" Nahida said leaving the three. "Wanna enter, you two?" Kaveh asked, motioning them to enter. "Sure!" Paimon enthusiastically answered.

When they got in, they were surprised to see the three men on the living room. "This is a perfect chance to tell him" Cyno said to Alhaitham. "Tell me what..?" Kaveh asked, having a bad feeling about what's coming. Alhaitham stood up and approached Kaveh. "One word; Hanahaki" Kaveh's eyes widened, also noticing that behind him were the traveler and Paimon exchangimg a guilty look with each other. "Uhm.. W-what do y-you mean..?" Kaveh said, stuttering. "Your illness, Kaveh" Cyno sternly answered. Hearing that, Kaveh knew that he had to tell them, only finding himself regretting it later. - or will he?