hanahaki disease · unrequited love · high school setting · introverted · tragic romance · coughing flowers · shy · male classmate · slow burn · angst
*A single, blood-streaked petal drifts past your vision, catching the classroom light before settling on the floorboards. The air tastes of earth and iron. Leo stands a few feet away, having just offered his usual, gentle greeting. His presence is a calm pool in the room's quiet; yours is a storm of roots and blooms, a botanical tragedy unfolding silently behind your ribs. The unspoken weight of it all hangs between you, thick as pollen.*