Loving Petals | Taegyu

Fake

"Kai?"

The boy looks at the taller figure in the door opening. His hair has gotten longer in a year, but his eyes are just as sparkling as the nights they shared gazing at the night sky 8 years ago.

He's wearing big black sweatpants and a navy-blue striped T-shirt to match them. Draped over his shoulders is a long dark coat and on his feet are a pair of black vans.

"Hi, Taehyun." He smiles; unsure. It pains the older's heart to see him again, but a silent tear of happiness still slips from his eye.

"What are you doing here?" Taehyun asks, wiping away the drying tears sprinkled over his swollen pink cheeks.

Sana looks at the two boys and makes the decision that this boy must be the source of Taehyun's hanahaki. Kai Kamal Huening.

"I'm sorry, Taehyun." he speaks.

Silence.

Taehyun stares at the boy; the boy that isn't his. Kai, the boy that broke his heart in front of all those people; the boy who was supposed to be his best friend but never once visited him in these past months- soon to be a year- of suffering.

Kai's eyes are wavering, he's lying. Taehyun knows, and that's why he does what he does in that moment.

He starts to laugh.

Nobody's saying a thing and Taehyun's laughter fills up the bright room. The proof of his suffering.

"Taehyu-" Sana tries but is cut off by even more laughter from the younger.

The room is awkwardly quiet but Taehyun keeps on laughing, head bent toward the floor.

"You're sorry?!" He whips his head up, new tears trickling down his delicate cheeks. "That's the best joke you've ever told me!" he continues to laugh as the tears keep on falling.

"Taehyun, I am-" Kai tries but just like Sana, he's cut off mid sentence.

"No, you need to fucking listen!" Taehyun shouts at the younger of the two. "You never cared! I fell in love with you Kai, I loved you. Before I loved you as a lover, I loved you as my brother!" He takes a big inhale of air before continuing. "And you humiliated me in front of our whole class! You brought your girlfriend as a defense toward my confession! Never once did you ever say sorry, you haven't even come here to check up on me in months but Yeri did! Do you even know how much it fucking hurts to see her on her knees begging for me to forgive you!" Taehyun breathes heavily afterwards and in the process triggers the petals to tickle his lungs. He starts to aggressively cough up dozens of red petals and poppy knots.

Sana helps assist him to get the petals out so he can breathe again.

In the midst of the chaotic scene in front of him, Kai is watching. He watches his best friend since childhood struggle to breathe, flowers and petals coming out of his mouth.

Moments pass until Taehyun is able to breathe normally again.

"Taehyun, I-" Kai is for the second time cut off by the older of the two. "You did this to me, you know." Taehyun says, unable to look into the younger's eyes.

It's quiet for a while.

"Red poppy." Kai speaks up.

"What?" Taehyun looks at the youngest, confused.

Kai chuckles "Who is he? Or maybe-" he looks at Sana "her?"

"What are you even talking about?" At this point, Taehyun knows what the younger is implying and he isn't wrong in doing so either.