Mismatched

03

      "You have nothing to worry about," The very old yet very kind doctor Jackson found in Seoul that knew how to treat his disease says, warm and relaxed smile, his eyes two crescents that remind Jackson oddly of Jinyoung, with the creases at the corners like cat whiskers. "It has a solution and once you go through this, it'll be solved and you'll never have to deal with it again."

"I don't even fully know what I have, I don't understand it. Do I really have a plant growing inside of me?"

The doctor laughs, shaking his head.

"Objectively speaking, no you don't. Not a plant per se, but you do grow a tumour. To explain it, it's a mental disease born out of your one-side love. Your mind gives shape to the pain in your heart with a tumour in your lungs, or other organs like stomach. It is a very aggressive tumour but it doesn't spread, it just grows and it destroys your organ, which is what makes you throw up blood."

"But I saw a petal! I had a petal in my fingers!" Jackson cries out, not understanding what the man is saying.

"That's why it's a mental illness. The mind is a very powerful thing, son. The tumour becomes somewhat a plant, a manifestation of your pain. The more advanced, the more similar to a plant it becomes. In dangerous cases, actual thorns pierce through the flesh and can quickly kill the patient. You said you coughed a petal and blood, didn't you?" Jackson nods his head. "Then it means the tumour has grown into a plant with thorns that are piercing in your organ. Normally, the coughing begins with just petals from the first flower that withers inside."

"Do I really have a bloody flower inside of me?"

"Not as you know it, but similar. A mutation that grows flowers. It's almost magical, the studies are still ongoing to figure out exactly how our minds can form this. It was hard to accept it was due to the feelings of hopeless and rejection that come with a one-sided love. It is a wonderful thing," the doctor continues but Jackson cannot feel his excitement, he is just horrified.

"It doesn't feel magical to me, Doctor, it feels painful and freaky!" Jackson cries out, making the doctor duck his head.

"I'm sorry, son, I got carried away." Jackson only sighs, trying to force his feelings to stay under control. "But even if it sounds terrible, there's a simple solution. We just need to get the tumour removed and heal the wounds that the thorns left inside, and you'll be good as new. The petals and your one-sided love will be gone."

"My one-sided love? What do you mean?" Jackson questions, frown deep and demanding.

"The tumour has also the same type of cells as the brain, which creates a connection with your feelings. With the removal of it, we break the connection with the brain and your feelings. You won't feel anything for the person you're in love with now, and you'll be cured. Isn't it marvellous?"

Jackson feels cold to the bone when he hears that, his heart skips a beat and the thorns in his chest move, squeezing his heart and making him want to throw up again. He starts coughing, immediately feeling something coming up his windpipe, choking him and making him feel desperate because he cannot breathe. He coughs more and more, his body shaking as he tries to get it out of his windpipe. He barely feels the hand of the doctor on his back, patting to help him expel the petal, because it has to be that.

It feels like forever when he finally feels the alien object in his tongue, finally able to be picked with his fingers. Once again, a blood tainted rose petal.

Jackson stares at it with horror and pain burning inside his ribcage. The old doctor is standing next to him, still patting his back in a more soothing way.

"Don't worry, son. I have performed even more crucial and complicated removals, I'm a leading expert and I'll get this tumour out of you without problem. You'll recover quickly and continue with your life as if nothing happened."

His words do nothing to calm Jackson, quite the contrary because he cannot forget the fact that with the tumour, all his feelings for Mark will be gone, too. That makes the bloody plant inside him stir and cut through his flesh, making him feel like he's dying all over again.

"Let's run some tests to find out exactly the size of your tumour and precise location, shall we?"

Jackson doesn't reply verbally, he just can't. He squeezes the petal in his hand and nods, not knowing what else to do.