Forget-me-not

Seungmin

"You're kidding."

"Please say you're screwing around and this is a twisted joke."

Seungmin slowly shook his head as his eyes darted back and forth between Changbin and Han. Han's boba eyes were wide and full of concern. On the other hand, Changbin looked pissed. Seungmin wasn't too surprised, he was expecting the shock.

"Why aren't you reacting to this?" Changbin's head jerked towards Chan. "You're over there calm, cool, and collected. Why? Why aren't you freaking out?"

"Because I was the first one who found out. I found a journal that Flora had been writing in. It was opened on the floor and I picked it up and began reading it."

Han's hands went up to his eyes. He rubbed his eyes until speckled bits of stars swarmed his vision. It was too much for his brain to comprehend all at once. "So you mean to tell me that this whole thing was caused by Flora? The entire car accident was because-"

"Because Flora was trying to scare her, yes. She was jealous that I was dating her. She hired a group of sasaengs and things went wrong, apparently." Seungmin's arms crossed over his chest.

He was still upset about everything. After Chan dragged him from Flora's apartment and called the cops, he didn't understand. While they waited for them to show up, it took Chan a few moments to explain it all to him. Once Chan broke the news, he nearly fainted. His stomach churned and bile rose up in the back of his throat.

The love of his life had her memories snatched away from her all because of a crush. Flora had a crush on Cynthia and wanted Seungmin out of her life. How had it spiraled so out of control? Why couldn't she just have admitted it to Cynthia like a normal person?

It wasn't fair. It didn't just hurt, it was agonizing. Brain injuries are complicated and healing isn't such a smooth path. To know that someone Cynthia trusted caused this issue in the first place, it was deliberately cruel. Flora acted with such malicious intentions, it was unforgivable.

"So the cops know?" Changbin interrupted. "Do they know that she caused it?"

"Now they do."

"That's so fucked up."

"Fucked up? Fucked up?" Han's voice got louder. "Who the fuck does she think she is? Does she know how much pain she's put everyone through? Seungmin isn't the only one in pain! Do you know how many friends Cynthia has? Do you know how painful it is to be stopped by someone who said they attended high school with Cynthia and asked about her?"

"Han," Chan's voice came out softly.

"No! Fuck, Flora! I hope she gets thrown in prison and rots there!" His eyebrows began to crease and his hands closed into fists. "She has no idea what it was like! The entire time that she's kept Cynthia captive, everyone here has been wondering if she's alright. Do you know how upsetting it is to pray every night and have your prayers go unanswered for days?"

Seungmin and Changbin stayed quiet. Tears were beginning to gather in Changbin's eyes. Seungmin didn't realize just how deep Cynthia's ties with everyone went. She really had been like a younger sister to the rest of the guys. Flora's actions were selfish and narcissistic.

His voice became shrill, "When she was stuck inside Flora's apartment and Hyunjin would occasionally find her at the river, I tried to look for her too. I used to go there every day hoping that I might find her and I-" Loud sobs suddenly burst through his lips.

His heart cracked like an egg. It was one of the most painful experiences of his life. Before the accident, Han had some rough days here and there, everyone did. The difference between him and everyone else was that sometimes Cynthia came in early on her days off.

Some days, Seungmin didn't walk and greet her at the flower shop. Sometimes, Cynthia showed up with her bright grin and her blooming brain full of knowledge. While she waited for Seungmin to record songs, sometimes Han stumbled across her in the halls. She'd park herself on the ground outside the recording studio.

With a canvas tote bag beside her, she'd curl up with a book. When Han called out to her, she'd look up with a smile and pat the spot next to her. The two would talk about their day and it was as if she was a mind reader some days. She never pushed Han to open up about his feelings, she let them happen naturally.

Sometimes, he wanted to talk and talk and talk. Other times, he let her do most of the talking while he laid his head on her shoulder. She talked about the bright and colorful flowers. She talked about the sticky fingers of young children that caressed fulgent petals. The eager hands of adults who were hoping flowers would fix complex relationships. The nervous trills of teenage love and the elderly who came in for a final farewell to their deceased lovers.

He'd let her talk his ear off without a care in the world. She was someone outside of the band who didn't get it. Sure, she was dating Seungmin, but she wasn't in the band. She was someone he was comfortable opening up to. He was free to ramble on his rougher days without worry. She was the keeper of all their secrets.

One day she was there and the next she was gone. As much of a mess as Seungmin was during the wreck, so were the rest of them. Too wrapped up in his own misery, he had never truly realized it until that point.

Han broke down in tears and Chan held his arms out to him. He collapsed in Chan's arms, just as Seungmin had done in the hospital lobby. Flora hadn't just wrecked Cynthia's life, she'd wrecked all of them. They were all Flora's victims, every single member of the band. Nobody that liked Cynthia had walked away from that accident unscathed.

Maybe they weren't physically wounded, but the mental wounds cut deep.