Chapter 1 "Die"
November 22, 2024, Seoul, South Korea.
The sharp scraping sound of ice skate blades sliced through the silence of the vast ice skating arena that night, just before the background music began playing through the arena speakers.
Choi Haesung, 35 years old, glided lightly across the ice like a feather carried by the wind, his expression remarkably calm as he performed a sequence of figure skating choreography.
The mercury lights reflected softly across the surface of the ice, casting a silver glow that surrounded his body and made him appear more beautiful than anything else. Even if people were to see him now, they might think they were looking at an angel dancing upon a magnificent stage.
Even when he performed only the simplest basic movements, everything appeared almost perfect.
The next second, he spun into an upright spin, becoming faster and sharper with every rotation, before transitioning into a combo with a sit spin and spinning several more times.
However, while performing the sit spin, his expression turned slightly pained. His jaw tightened, and he clenched his teeth as he felt a sharp pain shooting through the joints of his right knee, making it almost impossible for him to maintain his balance.
In the end, he could only perform the sit spin for fewer than six rotations before standing up and gliding across the ice once again.
...
Kang Narae, 34 years old, sat in a dim corner of the spectator stands, far beyond the reach of the lights. She wore a thick jacket and a knitted scarf that covered half of her face.
Yet despite wearing heavy clothing, her body continued to tremble. She was trembling not only because the arena's temperature had reached freezing point, but also because she was enduring the piercing pain in her chest.
Narae looked toward the center of the rink, where Haesung was still dancing gracefully across the ice.
There was no one else there besides herself and Haesung. She had arrived before he did and hid for a while before he entered the rink because she knew that if Haesung saw her here, he would probably stop himself from figure skating and choose to leave rather than look at her face.
That was how deeply Haesung hated her.
Narae only wanted to watch Haesung perform figure skating. To her, Haesung dancing on the ice was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen, one that filled her with admiration and was something she could never possibly forget.
"He's so beautiful," she murmured, staring at Haesung with admiration shining in her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt something lodged in her throat. It was unbearably itchy and torturous.
"Cough! Cough!" Narae covered her mouth with the palm of her hand.
Her chest burned as though her internal organs were being scorched by glowing embers. She had to wait for a while until the burning sensation eased slightly before finally lowering her hand from her mouth.
She stared blankly at her palm. There, resting against her pale skin, lay three White Camellia petals stained with fresh blood.
The petals looked beautiful, yet the metallic scent of blood clinging to them was overpowering.
Hanahaki.
A disease born from one-sided, unrequited love, or more accurately, a disease born from loving someone's hatred.
The illness she had once believed was nothing but nonsense had become increasingly brutal with each passing day, tormenting her body. She still could not believe she was truly suffering from a disease that existed only in the fictional stories she often read. She had thought such a disease could never exist in the real world because it was impossible for plants like flowers to grow inside the human body, let alone within internal organs.
There had never been any scientific evidence or research proving such a phenomenon. No journals or scientists had ever discussed it. From any perspective, Hanahaki disease would always seem like nothing more than a fairy tale.
Yet in the end, that belief was completely wrong. Narae could no longer deny it after experiencing it herself.
Down below, Haesung finally stopped gliding and stood in the middle of the rink, breathing heavily as white vapor escaped from his warm breath into the frigid air above the ice beneath his feet.
He looked up toward the darkest section of the stands, and the moment he spotted Narae, his gaze sharpened with unmistakable hatred.
Haesung's voice rang out sharply, echoing through every corner of the arena as he spoke.
"What are you doing over there?!"
Narae flinched and quickly hid the three flower petals inside the pocket of her jacket. She wiped the remaining blood from the corner of her lips before forcing herself to stand, even though her legs felt weak.
She slowly walked toward the rink barrier, trying to form a faint smile on her pale face as her round eyes brightened while looking at Haesung.
"Senior, your practice was really good," Narae said in a hoarse voice.
Haesung glided closer to the barrier before stopping directly in front of Narae.
He did not respond to the compliment. Instead, he looked Narae up and down with a gaze full of contempt.
Receiving no response from Haesung, Narae spoke again.
"You look so happy when you're dancing on the ice."
"Happy?" Haesung replied coldly.
"I'd be much happier if I didn't have to see your cursed face."
Narae fell silent upon hearing those words, feeling as though a rope had tightened around her neck, choking her painfully.
"Stop putting on that innocent act, damn it. You disgust me."
Haesung reached out, grabbed Narae's scarf, and yanked it roughly.
"Do you want to know what would make me happiest in this world?"
Narae held her breath as she looked into Haesung's cold eyes while enduring the tightening sensation around her neck caused by his grip on her scarf.
"Watching you die right before my eyes."
The arena fell silent the moment Haesung said those words. Even the music from the arena speakers had stopped, making his next words echo even more clearly.
"Die, Kang Narae..." Haesung continued in a low voice. "Die and disappear. That way, I'll become the happiest person in the world."
Haesung released the scarf roughly, causing Narae to stagger backward.
Without paying any attention to Narae, who looked even paler than before, Haesung turned around and walked away.
After Haesung's back disappeared behind the wall, Narae's body finally collapsed onto the concrete floor as she clutched the left side of her chest, where the pain had become even more unbearable.
There, inside her chest, she could feel the flower's roots tightening around her heart as Haesung's words continued to echo endlessly inside her head.
"Die."
"Disappear."
"Die, Kang Narae."
She groaned in pain, mixed with suppressed sobs.
It was unbearably suffocating, and her pained cries were the only sound left within the ice arena.
Narae leaned her head against the barrier, gasping for breath, before seeing the three flower petals stained with blood once again. She swallowed with great difficulty as she closed her eyes.
"Die."
"Die."
"Die, Kang Narae."
To Be Continued
