Petals Stray Kids jeongchan

12

    Jeongin's pov

   "Ugh, my head..." I feebly whispered as I sat upright on the bed. My chest still hurt from not breathing enough a few hours ago. My puffy eyes gaze around Jaehyun's room as I sat in silence.

   Who held me as I was crumbling? And who managed to get me to take a medicine?

    "Ah, you're finally awake." Taeyong smiles at me. He sat in a chair and crossed his legs. He gently passed me a bottle of water and a small paper cup.

   I examined the cup's contents- the three other medicines I was prescribed. I shakily pop the pills and chug some water.

"Thanks, Taeyong." I said softly. He heard me and moved to sit beside me.

"Jeongin, as much as I enjoy your presence, you're having adverse affects on Johnny." He cut to the chase. He looked at me with an empty glare.

"What do you mean? I haven't done anything, though."

Taeyong sighed. He rubbed one of his hands along his face exasperatedly.

"Jeongin, you know the Hanahaki Disease, right?" He asked. His eyes continued to scan across my face as we spoke.

"Yeah, the petals that form in your heart and lungs from unreciprocated love, right? But what does that have to do with this?"

"Johnny's body is currently forming black rose petals, Jeongin. He's in love with you, hopelessly and entirely in love with you."

"He- he feels that way? About me? But why me, I'm not anything special. I'm just a depressed college student trying to live life." I huffed.

"He's in love with you, but how do you feel about him?" Taeyong finally asks. His eyes showed sadness as he already knew my answer.

"I don't feel the same way, Taeyong. I'm sorry.." I spoke, my eyes welled up with tears. Each tear stung more than the last.

We heard the bedroom door slam loudly before we heard a loud thud. Taeyong's eyes widened as he sprung up from the bed.

"Jaehyun, help me get him to the hospital, now! We have to have those petals removed!" Taeyong barks as he kneels beside Johnny's unconscious form.

"Jeongin, you have to love him, please! Please, Jeongin, we need him." Jaehyun exclaims as his eyes watered.

"I- I don't love him at all. Jaehyun I can't, I can't do it." I wept. I fell to the floor on my knees as the pair carry Johnny out of the house.

I don't know how long I knelt on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Maybe it was minutes, or even hours. I sat still until I felt a pair of arms softly wrap themselves around my shoulders.

"I know what you're going through, Jeongin. I experienced similar with Yuta." He muttered as he gently ran his fingers through my hair.

"Come on kid, let's get you cleaned up then we can eat sweets until we're sick." He says as he lifts us up from the floor. My knees gave way and I crumbled back down.

"I've got you, don't worry." He spoke and lifted me up into his arms. Being in his arms was way too different than Johnny's. In Johnny's I felt secure, in this male's I just felt limp.

"But I don't even know your name." I timidly respond. I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Sicheng. Now, this is about getting you to feel better! Do you think you can bathe or do you just wanna change?" Sicheng chirps and carries me into his bedroom. He gently sits me down onto his bed as he scurries to his closet.

"I don't think I can even stand, Sicheng." I laughed humorlessly. I wiped at my tear stained cheeks with the seam of Johnny's t-shirt. Sicheng nods and grabs a blue shirt and light gray sweat pants.

"Hold up, did no one get you clothes yet?" Sicheng asked incredulously. He noticed I was wearing Johnny's large clothes which swallowed my thinning frame.

I gently shook my head 'no' in response. He clicked his tongue before he sat the clothes beside me.

"What size do you wear, Jeongin? I know we keep a good stock of new clothes for the new members."

"Three." I spoke. Sicheng dropped his hand from the door knob. He turned to face me, his eyes showed a sadness I hadn't seen before.

"You're so thin, Jeongin. Are you even healthy?" He asked, his voice wavering.

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't really care at this point, so why do you? You just met me ten minutes ago." I huffed and messed with the pull string on my pants.

"Jeongin, I care because I was at this point too. I know love can be scary and—"

"I'm not this way because of love." I spat.

"If I'm being honest here I'm depressed as heck. I drink up to six cups of coffee a day to seem happy to others. I don't even know how I managed to keep last night's meal down properly."

"You're helping me for the wrong cause, Sicheng. Sure I'm sad Johnny is going through this, and I know it's my fault, but I've hit a point of no return. I'm just,. Done." I finished. My heart felt a little lighter after I spilled what had been weighing me down for so long.

"After I lost Yuta, I tried to jump from the roof. I chugged a bottle of gray goose and popped as many pills as I could find, and stood at the edge for hours. I weighed less than a hundred pounds at that point. I thought I was at a no return point too."

"I was ready to jump, but Jungwoo pulled me back from the roof. He did exactly as I am doing to you, for me. Let me help you." Sicheng begged. He gently ran his thumb over my cheekbone, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't want help." I state and push his hand away. I stood up from the bed shaking but stumbled my way to the door. My legs once again gave out, as did the rest of me. I had blacked out completely.