爱━━ the flowers of unrequited love 爱━━ lee donghyuck x gender neutral reader 爱━━ soft angst, hanahaki angst 爱━━ bestfriend!hyuck, excessive use of the words "you" and "your" because i'm bad at writing otherwise, unedited 爱━━ please leave feedback and follow my tumblr @ astronomlns where i will be most active. i do writing games and stuff there.
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You loved Donghyuck. And not in the way most best friends love each other, as family - no, you loved him. However, you knew that the love was not returned. It's evident in the way flowers bloomed in your chest.
It was hard for you to breathe. The flowers filling you lungs did not allow room for any oxygen, and so often you found yourself coughing to force the petals from your body. You tried to hide it, but everyone knew. Everyone could see as you squeezed the petals in his hand, shoving them away in your pockets. Donghyuck saw them, too.
You tried so hard not to love him. You really did - you tried everything. But nothing worked. The countless dates you forced yourself to go on, in hopes of one relationship working out, never worked. Trying to see the bad in Donghyuck never worked. You would only find yourself falling farther and farther in love with him.
Donghyuck wanted to make it stop. He hated seeing his best friend in pain. He would often find himself setting you up on dates, thinking that maybe, just maybe, one would work out and you would fall in love with someone else who actually returns the feelings. He even tried to make himself fall in love with you. He couldn't see why he didn't already love you. You're perfect, everything he could ever want, but he just didn't love you in the way he wished he did.
It was a particularly difficult day when you saw Donghyuck holding someone else's hand, kissing someone else, loving someone else. It seemed as if the flowers multiplied by twenties and no matter how much you hunched over in the alleyway, you couldn't cough enough up to breathe. You leaned your weight against the brick wall behind you, sliding down. Your chest was heaving and heavy tears were streaming. Why did it hurt so bad? Why did it have to be you that got this cursed disease? You wanted to scream out, but you held every sound in as Donghyuck and his lover walked past.
It only got worse when Donghyuck introduced his significant other to everyone. You would have to excuse yourself to the restroom from group activities and try your hardest to rid your body of the petals. However, each day with the flowers became more bearable until coughing them up was just as easy as breathing used to be before you loved Donghyuck.
As the days drug on, Donghyuck became more worried for his best friend, noticing how many petals you leaves behind without knowing it. He'd read enough on the internet to know about this disease, he knows there's a cure. He just needed to get you to the doctor.
And now, as you're sitting together in the doctor's office, Donghyuck holding your hand in a comforting way, you couldn't help but wish you weren't there. You only felt the urge to cough more.
The petals rest in the small waste basket that the doctor had provided. With a sigh, the doctor looked toward you. "How long have you been coughing up these petals?"
You shrugged, an unsure answer rolling off your tongue. "A few weeks, maybe."
The doctor sighed again. "There are only three ways this disease will stop," he started. "The love must be returned, surgical removal, or it'll suffocate you...to death."
You laughed bitterly. "Suffocation it is." Donghyuck's eyes widened and he began frantically shaking his head.
"Y-You said it can be surgically removed, right?" Donghyuck asked. "How does that work?" His voice was small, fear and concern oozing like honey.
Leaning forward in his chair, the doctor sighed yet again, the third time in the short visit. "It's a rather simple procedure, however, many people forego it due to the consequence that comes with it. Once the flowers are gone, so are the feelings that brought them there." He paused, looking at you instead of Donghyuck. "A lot of people would rather suffocate to death than stop loving the person they fell for."
Your eyebrows jumped in amusement. You agreed — you'd rather suffocate than stop loving Donghyuck. You know Donghyuck deserves to be loved and you're unsure if anyone else would do it if you didn't. An argument started up between the two best friends. Donghyuck would say "You're getting the surgery," and you would argue back, saying that no, you're not getting the surgery. Tears were welling up in both of you's eyes.
The doctor asked Donghyuck to step outside, and when he did, he turned to you. "You don't want to stop loving him, do you?"
You cried. No, you didn't. You didn't want to stop loving him. Your chest hurt each time the thought crossed your mind. And you did think about it, you considered the surgery many times before, and you would've gotten it had it not been for the nasty consequence. But maybe the pain is from the flowers threatening to take your life if you lived another day loving someone who doesn't love you back.
Donghyuck secretly talked to the doctor, begged him to persuade you into getting the surgery, and the doctor told him he'd see what he could do, knowing that you already agreed to the procedure. It was a secret, you wanting to go through with it, you didn't want Donghyuck to know. You know the latter and he knows that he'd end up feeling as if you didn't think he was worthy of loving, though it was quite the opposite. So you kept hush-hush.
The day of the surgery quickly approached. You didn't feel scared or nervous. The doctor recommended you the best surgeon he could find, one that's dealt with many patients with hanahaki. You fully trusted him. The one thing you were nervous about, though, is Donghyuck. What if Donghyuck notices that you don't cough up petals or even whole flowers anymore? What if he ends up loving you, and you can't return it?
A few days after surgery, you finally hung out with Donghyuck again. It felt weird to not have the urge to cough up the petals itching at your throat and blocking your airway, but your body felt good. It didn't hurt anymore. You could finally hang out with your best friend normally again. The only problem is...Donghyuck couldn't do the same.
Donghyuck grew flowers. He grew flowers that matched the ones you once coughed up, only different in color. He loves you. And you don't love him. Not anymore, at least.
