Petals as sharp as thorns | Dahmo

PART 1 - 花吐き病

Dedicated to kisssana

Dahyun began to notice it one morning at the coffee shop that they always ate at together before going to school or work. All the girls would meet up and it would make quite a ruckus as they argued over what tables to sit at and what food to order. It was kind of funny when they all walked in together. The cashier would always look over their shoulder at the baristas and make a face. Here are those damned girls again.

It had just been a normal day. Dahyun was seated across from Sana and Jihyo. Chaeyoung was next to her, arm in arm with her girlfriend Mina. The table next to them had Tzuyu, Jeongyeon, Momo and Nayeon. Dahyun sometimes got embarrassed at how loud they all seemed, but she loved these meetings with her friends.

"Hurry up and tell me what you want." Jihyo said to Sana pointedly. "Everyone else has decided and you know how long it takes for them to make nine coffees. I don't want to be here all day." Sana squirmed as she tried to think of something to drink and Dahyun found her eyes wandering over to Momo on the other table. She always seemed to be looking at Momo these days.

She had her arm around Nayeon's shoulder, and her face was grinning. Not just her mouth, but her whole face lit up when she smiled. It made Dahyun's insides turn all warm and fuzzy. Momo looked to Nayeon's face and kissed her on the nose, making her laugh. They were cute together, Dahyun thought. There was no denying that, it was just that... when Dahyun saw them together, it brought a deep sadness to her. She wished it was her in Momo's arms. She wished it was her getting the kiss on the nose. She wished it was her that could see that smile when she woke up in the morning.

A tight feeling was beginning to form in her chest. It must be the jealously kicking in. She rubbed her chest slightly, repressing the need to cough.

"You ok Dubu?" Sana asked her. She linked her legs around Dahyun's under the table, a comforting gesture, but something Dahyun didn't want right now. She felt really sick all of a sudden.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom." She mumbled, untangling her legs from Sana's and stumbling away.

She tried to hold her composure long enough to enter a cubical but failed. A wave of nausea flowed down her spine in a hot flush and she leaned heavily on the closest sink in a cold sweat. She coughed and coughed and coughed. And when she recovered, she saw it.

A single petal coated in blood lay in the sink.

At first, Dahyun thought she was going crazy. She picked up the thing and ran it under some water to take a good look. She was right. It was a petal. The petal of a white daisy, perfect, as if it had just been plucked from the head of a flower in a garden. It was pretty.

She thought about telling the girls but decided against it. This was crazy. What if it was just all in her head? She flushed the petal down a toilet and rinsed out her mouth with water. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was normal. Everything was normal. Dahyun chose to ignore the petal. She told herself again and again that it was just in her head.

She straightened her shirt, tied back her hair and walked out of the bathroom, making sure that her expression didn't betray her resolve. Much to her dismay, everyone on the table was looking at her as she returned to her seat in front of Sana.

"You were in there for an awfully long time." Jihyo said. Her expression was in that one she always got when she was worried. Everyone liked to call it her 'mum face'.

Dahyun shook her head and saw that her coffee had already been served. It looked cold. She must have been in the bathroom for a long time.

"Nothing was wrong Jihyo." She stated. She took a sip from the cup and she grimaced when she felt that it was cold.