Aconite

Marius was the first to find her. They agreed to meet up at her place to have him paint her a portrait, so imagine the surprise he felt when he saw her passed out. Her head was slumped on the table with noticeable small traces of red at the corner of her lips. Purple petals can be seen resting on her palm.

What greatly alarmed him was the jar beside her. It was filled to the brim by purple flowers to the point it was surrounded by purple petals from the overflow. He immediately made a call for an ambulance. Marius didn't want to risk MC's condition worsening even more.

"This has to be a sick joke... This can't be Hanahaki. It couldn't possibly be." His heart ached at the very thought of that. He wants to deny the possibility, to reassure himself that it isn't true, but the purple jar on his lap only served as a reminder that this was reality. He wanted to break the jar that was mocking him, but he knew that it wouldn't change anything.

Marius could only internally curse at whichever bastard caused her this fate, curse at them for her heartbreak, and as petty as it sounds, a small part of him curse at them for having her heart.

Why couldn't it be him? MC didn't deserve this after all she has done. She deserves someone that actually reciprocates her feelings, not this. If it was him, she'd still be her usual self.

The paramedics beside him broke out in a cold sweat when they made the mistake of looking at Marius' eyes as he was gazing at MC's face. The sheer coldness being emenated from his eyes felt surreal.

He was going to find whoever did this and make them pay.

~•~•~•~

She was the last person he'd expect to be inflicted by it. Vyn immediately dropped his entire schedule and rushed out towards the hospital MC was at the moment he recieved the call from Marius.

His beloved rose was tainted by a poisonous love. She looked so pitiful and fragile on the hospital bed. The total opposite of her usual demeanor, as if the slightest touch would break her.

He could only see red when he saw the purple petals inside the jar beside her. He was close to quickly jumping into conclusions, thinking it was Marius that caused all of this. Purple was his signature color, that could be why the petals were also purple. Maybe he had only brought MC to a hospital out of guilt for rejecting her.

Vyn grimaced. It was a preposterous thought. If MC did have feelings for the young CEO, it wouldn't have landed her in this state. It's reciprocated, so why would she fall victim to this disease?

It's funny how she's been the only person who was able to constantly make him question or even throw away his logic, allowing him to be impulsive and irrational which is the opposite of his usual demeanor. The power she holds over him scares him, but he wouldn't change anything at all.

Whoever captivated his beloved rose better be prepared for what's coming at them.

~•~•~•~

The immense relief Artem felt the moment he saw her stir from her slumber was uplifting. Luke had immediately shot up from his seat and knelt beside MC, instantly checking up on her out of pure worry. He was the most fidgety among them, so it was understandable. Artem coughed to pull the man now turned puppy out of his fretting once it felt like he was overstaying his welcome. It was proven successful and gotten him to give MC more space with a dash of reluctance.

It took time for him to finally admit to himself that maybe what he was feeling for her wasn't purely platonical. That his constant excuses of wanting to help her with almost anything was just his way of clinging to her presence. That the stifling burning feeling he gets whenever she relies on others was actually jealousy. That it wasn't just a simple case of infatuation and he genuinely fell in love with his junior.

Artem didn't want to lose his most treasured partner. The fear of losing her made the trip to the hospital almost nonexistent. He wanted, no, he needed to be with her as fast as possible and reassure himself of her presence. That she was alright and that nothing will take her away from him.

He couldn't help himself from enveloping her in an embrace. Normally, his heart would be beating wildly at the close proximity, but right now, it was calm. Her warmth was reassuring as he allowed himself to relax in her touch. She was still here and didn't leave him.

He didn't know what he would have done if she didn't wake up.

~•~•~•~

The moment MC woke up, Luke's body automatically moved to be beside her. He needed to know how she was feeling. Artem had to eventually grab his attention by producing a fake cough to catch his attention. He did feel a tiny bit of annoyance when he saw the senior attorney hug MC, but now wasn't the time for that. He was just glad that she's awake.

He had been worried sick the moment he heard the words "MC" and "collapse" together from his call. It wasn't his best moment when he ended up almost interrogating Marius from the phone during his whole trip to the hospital. When he had arrived inside the room, he instantly got shot by an exasperated look from the young CEO.

For the past few days, Luke's mind was in shambles. He did his best to gather as much info possible on possible suspects within MC's room. Though he wanted to find out who it was, he wanted to be there for MC the moment she woke up. He needed the comfort that she was alive and well.

Luke wasn't able to dig up any useful info during those three days of digging. However, he was able to identify the flowers inside the jar. It was called an "Aconite". The meaning severely alarmed him. Just why did MC's flower have to be a sign for hatred?

He really missed a lot of events in MC's life which greatly pains him. He barely had any intel about her during their seperation. Luke doesn't know what other things he didn't know about MC. What a great childhood friend he is!

He had already abandoned her for eight years, and he swore that he won't do it again. Luke doesn't know what to do if he ends up breaking her heart by leaving again. He wants to be there for her at all times as an atonement and his own way of catching up on lost time, but he knows that it's impossible to take back what was gone.

From here on out, he's determined to stay in her life, and anything that says otherwise will be damned.

~•~•~•~

According to the doctor, MC's sickness has been slowly progressing towards the fatal spectrum for the illness. If they didn't remove the flowers in her lungs soon, she'll eventually lose her life. The attack that she had recently experienced that day was a particularly strong one, but wasn't enough to kill her.

Everyone had insisted for MC to stay in the hospital for a week, but it was reluctantly cut back to three days after MC vehemetly reassured and protested to them that she was fine. Here we have Luke escorting her back to her apartment. The rest were too busy to join in after unceremoniously dropping their work which had severely piled up while they were gone, but they did say they'll occassionally visit to personally check up on her.

For several days, he had stayed beside her to assist in anything she needs. MC at first didn't want to have Luke take out even more time from his schedule just to keep her company, but she later changed her mind the moment she heard from the other members how her childhood friend stayed by her side the whole time she was unconcious out of pure worry. He had barely eaten during that time which highly concerned her. It'll be better for his wellbeing if she allowed him to stay to further reassure him that she was fine and that there was nothing to worry about.

It was nostalgic. They had finally had the time to catch up with what they missed, and even reenact a part of their childhood. It didn't hit her just how much she missed Luke until these past few days occured.

It was on the fourth day when she had finaly cracked and spilled as to who the flowers was for to Luke. She needed to let it out, and who else other than her most trusted friend could she ever confide in?

"Luke," MC called from the living room, sounding anxious and nervous. He didn't know why she would be feeling thise emotions at that time, but he hastily obliged and came to check up on her. Cooking dinner can be done after this.

"Yes?" Luke peeked from the kitchen and sat beside MC who was still holding unto the jar filled with petals. He had greatly detested the object currently on top of MC's lap. It was a solid manifestation of her feelings for another person which has hurt her in more ways than one.

"I know that you're wondering just who these petals are for, and if I'm being honest with myself, I just really want to get this off my chest. Yes, I'm willing to take the surgery, but please give me time to grieve over this. It just, it just hurts so badly, but the thought of letting go just hurts even more. I know that's it's just giving me more pain, but I just can't. I've liked him for over four years, and just, it's still so hard, Luke." Midway through it, MC started sniffling and holding back the tears that are threatening to leak out. Some of which had managed to successfully escape and slowly trickle down her face.

Luke had slowly and gently moved MC's head to rest on his shoulders whilst his right hand soothingly rubbed her right shoulder. He hasn't spoken a word since she started, only offering comfort and a shoulder to cry on. He could feel pricks targetting his heart with each word MC uttered.

"We went to the same college. He ended up becoming my best friend throughout my time there, and he was basically my emotional crutch. He was there for me when I was at my lowest and encouraged me when I was close to giving up. We got seperated when he graduated earlier, and we just lost contact with each other. That was until a year ago when I finally found more of his whereabouts. He now works at Baldr Law Firm. On the case we worked on a few months ago, he was the prosecutor at that time. When he lost against me, I could still feel the loathing gaze he directed at me as he walked out of the courtroom. It hurts seeing that, Luke. It hurts so badly. It's as if the time we spent together during those two years was just nothing, forgotten by him, and only I remember."

Luke could hear MC cynically giggle a she uttered her next lines, "And to add salt to the injury, when I confronted him about it a week later, he really didn't remember me at all. Was he just faking the whole time we were friends? I've asked myself that for a whole week. I started coughing flowers right after Kiki gossiped to me about the apparent love triangle inside Baldr Law Firm, and he was part of it. There goes my chance, and I can't even try to rebuild our friendship which might not have existed in the first place."

Luke's heart sank at the growing realization MC unknowingly laid out to him. He tucked MC to bed a few minutes later after she had seemingly fell asleep from her crying. There was a persistent thought that had gotten stuck in his head that kept on looping itself over and over.

If he hadn't left, could he have prevented all of this from happening?