My phone rang loudly, and that was another message from Bomi popping up on the screen. It kept coming as it began vibrating and ringing every second. Since I couldn't handle the noise interrupting my inner peace in this room, I got forced to check on my messaging app. She would have scolded me if I didn't dare pick it up. My resolution for this year was to avoid any more headaches. If I mess up this simple goal, there won't be any changes in my life.
I do hope that this time, it will be worth it. Otherwise, I would be fucked.
I fiddled through the screen before sending a reply to Bomi. She has been spamming my name in our private chat. It's getting annoying, though. I do not have any clue what she wanted to talk about either. Furthermore, I'm not confident to assume whether she'll bring up what had occurred earlier inside our classroom or talk about what I haven't read about the novel she let me borrow. But I have to say that she tries hard to keep things going.
Whenever she talks, she tells something without getting straight to the point—it's as though the topic goes nowhere. She also changes the subject when it slowly dies, or perhaps it was just us barely getting active in a conversation. Not just that, but she also brings up nonsense out of the blue or a random trivia that isn't topic worthy. Due to what we witnessed this morning, getting rid of that memory has become difficult. I do hope that's the topic she wants to discuss with me.
Well, she must've thought it has something to do with ME. But even I, the probable source of Jun's mom's problems, don't have a slightest idea about what was going on with him. I need some answers...
[What do you want?]
I replied sternly.
[You seem like you're not in the mood. But I can't leave you alone because this talk is crucial for this moment!]
[Say it. I still had to have my dinner, so make it quick.]
[Alright!]
Bomi took her time to send me what she ought to say. But she had few pauses with brief inactivity of her typing. She has never done this before when she chats with us. Is she hesitating? Why would she?
I waited as my urge to say something grew within me. But I shouldn't say something mean nor tell a joke just because of my impatience. Plus, I'm not the type of person who has a good sense of humor nor is good at coming up with a subject. I'm not a conversation starter. Even if I try to pull out one, our convo would be awkward for the rest of the night. Worst case scenario, a clown would knock at my door from a nightmare.
Why a clown? The idea of them makes me shiver. They seem creepier than looking funny.
At last, my phone rang. I immediately read Bomi's reply, and to my surprise, she stated something I find confusing to read. I do not recognize the description she used either.
[Have you heard of that one disease that almost killed everybody? Well, most of those were lethal, but this one is uh...what was the word? Bizarre?]
"Bizarre...?" I frowned. That similar term as a description stands out on Jun's condition. But that doesn't fully explain how it was that odd for the doctors to identify what was wrong with him. I need more information how 'bizarre' his illness was.
[Well, I don't know, Bomi. Tell me.]
[OK. I've read something from a book about flowers and their meanings. And caught a glimpse of a flower.]
A flower. Just as I expected—Bomi still has that book with her. But does that have something to do with Jun's condition?
[Apparently, its pollen could be highly dangerous to inhale. Even touching its petals would make our hearts stop!]
I suddenly felt Deja vu with that word 'Heart.' I don't quite remember where I heard it at first, but it left an uneasy tingle in my chest.
[Why are we talking about this?]
Another pause. I am sure as hell this is going to be heavy. I waited for her next long reply as I felt my heart ache due to my nervousness. A familiar name pops up on her message as I read it aloud in my trembling voice, "Jin Yun Seok..." I see. He was the doctor I bumped into at the Hospital.
And he was the same doctor who treated my mom until her death.
Since childhood, I never felt at ease around doctors, especially him. Anyways, I couldn't believe how Bomi managed to collect this information. How did she get her hands on his background info?
[This scientist—I mean, he goes as a doctor now, right? He studied how long a person would take poison and eventually become immune. And since he likes the idea of flowers, he used poisonous ones.]
[That's crazy—where did you get these from?]
[That's uh, a secret.]
[You and you're shady hobbies...Then why are you telling me this? Are those articles meant to be shared so carelessly? They look like confidential information.]
Her pauses got even more frequent than before. My digital wall clock ticks softly from the other corner of my room as the silence lengthens within our chat room. The only distracting sound I could hear was my heartbeat. It won't stop beating so loud that I clenched onto my pillow and pressed it against my chest. And finally, she gave me a reply once again.
[...These documents were publicly distributed a few decades ago. But it eventually got shut down after half an hour had passed.]
[The reason why I am sharing this to you...was because of its relation to Jun's condition. But it was just a theory!]
I knew this is going to be about him. But this is the first I've heard of it. Flower poison? I haven't studied enough botanical stuff because I lack the engagement to learn it. Why? Spring does not exist here. I sometimes wonder how and where they grow these flowers. They don't seem to be artificial when you touch them.
Their petals are so soft and so alive...How can they preserve them in this cold weather?
[That petal I saw earlier from him was a disease that mustn't get shared with anyone.]
[A disease...? Something about ingesting flowers?]
That's absurd. That's nothing but a fictional phenomenon. There's no disease where you cough out a flower for no definite reason.
[Most likely. Those questions inside your head were what I'm asking myself too! It's completely insane! All I say sounds bullshit!]
[Haha is this a contradiction? You sounded like you knew about the disease you're talking about. Do you doubt it exists?]
After that reply of mine, Bomi suddenly stopped sending me messages. I only assumed she got called out for dinner or something important came. If I have to wait for her reply, I should also have my dinner. However, this uneasiness that I feel now won't disappear with just one or more bites. I could only wait for the worst.
After all, when do good things happen often in our lives? I would find it suspicious if I were to have a perfect life. There's no such thing as perfection in life!
I heaved out a sigh and lightly tossed my phone onto my deflated pillow. It must've taken too much damage from my pounding. I should organize this before getting out of bed before having dinner.
As I was about to grab my blanket and pillow, my phone finally played a brief jingle from my messaging up. It was Bomi who popped up on my screen. I reluctantly took my phone before tapping the message from my notification. And to my horror—
"What the..." It was something I did not anticipate witnessing at night.
[Yoona. It is so terrible! I shouldn't have looked into this. I'm also sorry for sharing this! I discovered the disease—and it still exists out there. I've gathered enough proof that I'm telling the truth!]
Bomi then sent me an attachment with an image of a person I do not recognize. But it was disturbing enough to look at late at night. The person's eyes no longer give off a color of life, and their mouth left agape with paints of red on every corner. And what disturbs me the most was a thorny yet beautifully blooming flower out of it. Its thorns pierced through their cheek's flesh as well. I could never look at that part for too long. But I do sense fear in their eyes from that very image.
As if the moment the flower bloomed, their organs got destroyed while they screamed in agony.
[I'm scared, Yoona—I don't have someone to hug me from this. I shouldn't have looked into it—but I tell you, it's real!]
[Calm down. You might need to double-check the source. It might not be credible.]
I asked her after hiding the image from my screen while still hopeful it was just a disturbing artwork she found on the internet. However, she refused to give out the name of the source nor the link she clicked and schemed through.
[I tried checking on it again but...the site disappeared when I refreshed it. It seems some huge agency has shut it down.]
Bomi explained as I could still the shiver down my spine and recalled how the image looked like in my memory. This is why I hate having a photographic memory. May it be disturbing or not, I could still remember how an object looked. I guess it depends on how it left an impact on me.
I do not recommend recalling the description I just uttered earlier. It's best to not remember it by seeing dead bodies and flowers, or I'll hate the season of Spring for existing somewhere.
[That's fine. I do not want to go deeper into that anyway. I might not be able to sleep tonight 'cuz of it.]
I assured her that it didn't bother me in the slightest. Unfortunately, that was a lie to give her the comfort she needed. But to be frank, I wasn't even mentally prepared to see something like that. It might've been a forged image to frighten us, but that image is too disturbing for the public to see.
Even kids get onto social media! It's not safe to post an article with that certain image standing out. No wonder it got shut down immediately. But I sincerely wish they added a warning or a spoiler feature if that was too disturbing to see.
[But are you sure...this is similar to Jun's illness?]
[Like I said, just a theory. But based on what I've read from that deleted article, it is an incurable disease.]
Jin Yun Seok might've gotten involved in a disturbing study where they disposed of human subjects by poisoning them. That's inhumane for a doctor to do like him. Even though he is a doctor now, that doesn't change that he might've done unacceptable research regarding such manic poisoning.
But the internet kept removing these articles that relates to these studies of his. There must be something we're missing.
[Where did the disease originate? It can't be in our country, right?]
[Yes...and no. I'm not that sure, but if I remember correctly, the name of the disease sounded like it came from that fallen country.]
[You mean...]
[Yeah. It's one of the countries that joined forces with ours almost a hundred decades ago.]
You got to be kidding me. It was the fallen country where the idea of flowers begun. It was the story of Spring originated as well. And it was where the rumored disease Bomi has mentioned she speculated it to be born.
[...What was its name again?]
That country remained nameless based on the written stories about the season of Spring. It was also where most people lived freely—no guarded gates whatsoever. But to think that it was that country that got destroyed so suddenly...
"Why would such a disease exist in the first place? Is it even a real thing...?"