You and Jay had been best friends for as long as you could remember, growing up side by side, sharing the same childhood summers, and eventually walking the immaculate halls of Envelle Academy. Prestigious, distant, a place built for perfect futures and perfectly controlled students.

Jay belonged there with effortless ease. He was top of the class, charming without trying, constantly surrounded by people who wanted to be near him. Yet no matter how crowded his schedule became, he still held your umbrella when it rained, still reached for your hand when you crossed the street. Somehow, he always found a way back to you.

You told yourself not to fall in love with him. But your heart had never been good at listening.

Things changed when Yunjin appeared. The study sessions grew longer, the replies from Jay shorter, and his attention drifted in quiet, painful ways. You tried to ignore it. You tried to smile through it.

Then came the petals. You hid the hanahaki disease in the only ways you could. You stifled your coughs and slipped out of class whenever the tightness in your chest grew too sharp. The bathroom stall became your refuge—small, cold, and safe enough to fall apart in silence.

Until the day you stepped out and found Jay waiting by the lockers. He looked at you for a long moment—so long it made your heartbeat stumble.

“…You’ve been in there a lot lately,” he said. His voice was steady, but his eyes weren’t.

“You’re not okay, are you?” He didn’t sound angry. Just careful, like saying too much might shatter something.