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Isagi Yoichi had been waiting impatiently for Flower Day—a special day when the mark of the flower symbolizing his soulmate would finally appear on his body. Obviously, he was anxious. What if his soulmate turned out to be hundreds of kilometers away? What if they couldn’t find each other? For that very reason, blue irises bloomed on his windowsill and in the flowerbeds surrounding his house. The flowers that symbolized him.
In truth, he didn’t need to worry about whether he could find his soulmate in such a vast world. The marks that appeared always pulled toward each other, so even if his destined one was on the other side of the planet, he would feel it. But Isagi had a habit of fretting over little things, of playing out every possible scenario in his head. That was why every morning he carefully watered his beloved blue irises, so that even if some mistake happened, maybe—just maybe—the one meant for him would be able to find him that way.
But there was another reason for his unease: what if they didn’t like each other? Despite all the stories from people who had already found their other half, Yoichi didn’t really believe in “love at first sight” or “natural attraction.” What if his soulmate turned out to be an idiot? What if he wasn’t liked in return?
No, stop it. Nonsense. Everyone else was happy with the person fate had chosen for them—why should he be any different? He would be happy too! Of course, they would like each other right away. His soulmate would be someone with a sweet, charming smile. And seductive thighs.
But there was a third reason...
“What are you daydreaming about, Yoichi?”
A mocking voice snapped him back to reality. Isagi shook his head and lifted his gaze, only to find Kaiser standing there with an irritating smirk. Of course—class had already ended, and he had been so lost in thought he hadn’t even noticed. The lecture hall was empty now, just the two of them remaining.
“None of your business,” he muttered sulkily, gathering up his notebooks.
“Oh, come on. Tell me. You had that look—you were definitely thinking of something indecent.” Kaiser wouldn’t let up, even as Yoichi rose from his seat and headed for the door. “What filthy little thoughts are you hiding in that innocent head of yours?”
A tattooed hand landed familiarly on his hair, and Yoichi batted it away in irritation.
“Quit it! And don’t touch me.”
“Don’t touch you?”
Kaiser suddenly blocked his path, standing dangerously close to his face. The teasing gleam in his blue eyes dimmed, replaced with unexpected seriousness.
“Two days ago you didn’t say that. Planning to play the prude again?”
Yoichi swallowed, trying to maintain a look of indignation. But it was so hard when Kaiser was this close, his lips only inches away. Lips that Yoichi had kissed with reckless abandon two nights ago, forgetting his pride, forgetting the hostility between them. He still didn’t understand what had happened that evening. Maybe that last glass of cheap alcohol at the party had been too much. Maybe—for once—Kaiser hadn’t been such an insufferable jerk. Or maybe Yoichi had just grown tired of hiding his attraction behind a mask of enmity.
There had been no right, no wrong—only a kiss. A kiss they had both clearly wanted, and for quite some time. Only when those warm lips pulled away had Isagi realized the mistake he’d made.
Why?
Why had he given in to a fleeting impulse and crossed that line? He would have bet his soul Kaiser wasn’t his soulmate. And yet he’d gone and kissed him, with only four days left until the truth would be revealed.
Better to put the mask back on. Better to snarl and ignore him than allow these fragile feelings to bloom—because later he would have to rip them out by the roots, leaving only a gaping wound in his heart.
But those blue eyes were so close, watching him intently, demandingly. What an idiot. What did he want from him? He knew—he had to know—that no matter what, they couldn’t be together.
“Just leave me alone, Kaiser. You know as well as I do that this is pointless.”
Yoichi tried to keep his voice steady, cold. But after all their endless sparring, Kaiser had learned to read him too well. False indifference wouldn’t fool him.
“I know. But I don’t agree that it’s pointless,” Michael said simply. “I want you. I don’t care about soulmates.”
The words he’d secretly longed to hear somehow struck him like a blow to the ribs. Yoichi wanted to say he didn’t care about fate either. But he… he was afraid. Afraid that his desire to be with Kaiser would end up making them both miserable. Afraid of betraying and being betrayed. And if Kaiser didn’t have the guts to burn the bridges before it was too late, then Yoichi would do it himself.
“Well and I don’t want. I don’t want you.”
The lie slid off his tongue like venom, seeping into his veins. Surprise flickered in those blue eyes, only to be replaced by a coldness deep enough to freeze oceans. Kaiser tried, as always, to find a crack in Isagi’s mask, but this time Yoichi had reinforced it well. His calm face betrayed neither doubt nor regret. Outwardly, he looked utterly indifferent—only heaven knew the effort it took to keep from breaking apart under that icy gaze.
Kaiser was angry. At Yoichi, for kissing him and giving him false hope. But even more at himself, for daring to hope at all. He was supposed to be the heartbreaker, yet here he was—the one with a broken heart.
“I don’t want you.” Words he never thought could hurt so much. He wanted to lash back, to wound him in return.
“I see. You know,” Michael said, his voice adopting the same fake indifference Yoichi had used, “I wish I’d never spoken to you at all.”
Pain flashed in those bright blue eyes. Perfect—just as he’d intended. He knew him far too well. He knew how much Yoichi cherished the time they’d spent together. To make him believe he regretted ever meeting him—that was the perfect revenge.
“Yeah… You’re right, it would’ve been better that way.” Yoichi’s voice faltered, so he decided it was time to run.
But Kaiser’s words had cut him deeply. So as he brushed past him and opened the door, he threw one last jab over his shoulder:
“I wonder who’ll be unlucky enough to end up your soulmate. Poor thing—my condolences.”
The slam of the door punctuated his words.
***
Three hours left until Flower Day. Just three more hours, and at midnight the mark would appear on his chest, forever binding his soul and his fate to that one special person. The one who would surely make him happy. And it would surely not be Kaiser. He just had to wait three more hours, and he’d finally forget that bastard.
Would he?
The minute hand crept along at a torturous pace. Yoichi paced from room to room, watering his irises for the hundredth time. He tried to distract himself with thoughts of his bright and happy future, but again and again his mind dragged him back to his conversation with Kaiser. No matter how often he told himself he’d done the right thing—for both their sakes—that vague ache of longing gnawed at him.
To hell with Kaiser. Two hours left, and he’d never think of him again. Instead of wasting his headspace on that jerk, better to fantasize about his soulmate. Not that he hadn’t done it before, but now was the perfect time for some visualization!
So—boy or girl? What color hair? Eyes? Favorite breakfast? Favorite music?
Yoichi dutifully tried to summon up some kind of image, but a cocky smile, piercing blue eyes, and a tattooed arm wrapped in black thorns stubbornly refused to leave his head. Damn it!
Who in their right mind would get such a stupid tattoo? Blue roses, of all things. He’d inked his own flower symbol onto his skin—so arrogant! Yoichi mentally wished Kaiser would get those ridiculous roses tattooed somewhere else too, then decided to just go to bed.
Only an hour left, and if he kept this up, he’d go insane. Or drown his poor irises, since he’d already exceeded the safe watering limit several times. Better to sleep now, wake up in the morning with a clear head, and start his new life. Yes—that’s what he’d do.
Yoichi crawled under the blanket, wished goodnight to everyone except Kaiser, and closed his eyes. But sleep refused to come. His favorite pillow suddenly felt too hard, the well-ventilated room stifling, and the damn clock ticked far too loudly.
With a frustrated growl, he flung off the blanket and lay on his back, glaring at the ceiling. He wondered if Kaiser was suffering just as much right now.
Not that he cared. He only needed to remember how much he’d hated him when they first met. That meeting Kaiser claimed to regret. Did he? Well, after Yoichi’s rejection, he probably did. To confess your feelings and hear “I don’t want you” in return… Yoichi himself would’ve regretted opening his mouth. One way or another, it wasn’t Kaiser who was the villain in this story—it was him.
But he wouldn’t apologize for breaking his heart. He needed Kaiser to hate him. Because loving, in their situation, would hurt far worse than hating.
At last, the minute hand kissed the hour hand at midnight.
Pain pierced his chest so sharply that Yoichi collapsed off the bed with a choked gasp, clawing at his ribs. He didn’t remember anyone saying the mark’s appearance could be this agonizing. His heart and lungs felt stabbed with thorns, each breath a struggle.
Thorns…
When the haze of pain cleared enough for him to see, Yoichi stared in disbelief at the symbol blooming across his chest. A pale blue rose etched into his skin.
Impossible. This couldn’t be happening. There had to be some mistake. No—there wasn’t supposed to be any mistake, but maybe there was another person in the world with the same flower symbol. Because it couldn’t be—
Stumbling, he rushed to the bathroom to see more clearly. Maybe he was just imagining things in the dark.
The bright light stabbed his eyes as he reached the mirror. No. Not a trick of the light. The small rose was identical to the ones inked on Kaiser’s neck. And as Yoichi searched desperately for some other explanation, something happened that shattered all doubt.
He felt it. A sensation beyond words—something invisible, intangible—shivering through his body, leaving behind the faintest hint of a rosy fragrance. He didn’t know where Kaiser lived, but if someone threw him to the bottom of the ocean, he would still be able to find his way to him.
Unless… unless he was dreaming. But the pain was too real. As was the overwhelming pull, the need to see him, to hear him, to touch him. He wanted to go to him right now.
But his feet stayed rooted. How could he face him now? Admit he’d lied? “I did it for you”—that kind of excuse would never sit well with Kaiser. The man had a streak of control-obsession and hated when anyone made decisions on his behalf.
Yoichi felt like the world’s biggest idiot. He’d been so certain Kaiser could never, under any circumstances, be his soulmate. They had both been certain. They were too different. Their very first meeting had ended in mutual humiliation. After that, they’d started a war—a war with only losers, with no end in sight. They hated as fiercely as, secretly, they loved. But to confess first would mean admitting ultimate defeat.
And Yoichi had lost first, kissing him three days ago. Yesterday, Kaiser had lost, admitting he wanted him despite the rules of their world. Both their prides had taken brutal hits, but maybe it was time for a truce?
The damned mark was like the universe mocking them. Speaking of which…
As Yoichi sat staring at the floor, the blue rose on his chest sprouted vines.
What?
He looked down in shock. A moment ago it had been only a small flower. Now the mark was spreading, thorns unfurling, new buds blooming.
What the hell?
Frantic, Yoichi scrubbed at the growing marks. He jumped into the shower, scouring his skin raw. But nothing helped—the roses kept growing, wrapping around his ribs. This wasn’t right. Marks weren’t supposed to expand, weren’t supposed to cover the whole body.
Still dripping, he rushed to his laptop. Surely other young people were awake tonight, posting pictures of their marks online. Maybe someone had experienced the same thing? He scrolled through page after page, seeing only happy smiles, perfectly normal marks. Finally, swallowing his shame, he snapped a picture of his “problem” and posted it anonymously, begging for help.
“Dude, looks like you’re just way too in love, lmao!”
“RIP bro, you’re done for.”
“Has your soulmate seen it yet?”
Isagi clenched his teeth and slammed his head against the desk. Clearly, no one intended to help. Maybe his case really was something new. More comments poured in—mocking, teasing—but one caught his eye:
“I heard that if someone tries to reject their feelings for their soulmate, the mark can start ‘consuming’ them until they finally accept it.”
So that was it. His punishment—for lying to Kaiser, for lying to himself. All he had to do was accept his feelings, and it would stop?
Easier said than done. How was he supposed to show up like this? In the half hour he’d wasted researching, the blue roses had completely circled his torso, black vines snaking toward his shoulders and arms. Soon he’d look like some deranged tattoo artist’s nightmare.
What if the same thing was happening to Kaiser? No, unlikely. Unlike him, Kaiser had the courage to admit the truth. He hadn’t denied his feelings—so why should he be punished?
Yoichi knew it now: the title of “biggest idiot in the galaxy” belonged solely to him. What was he supposed to do? Crawl to Kaiser’s doorstep and beg forgiveness?
No way.
Everything inside him screamed that it was time to let go of his pride. But instead, a wave of irrational anger welled up. He had crushed his own feelings because he thought they had no future. And now—now, when he had already rejected him—the universe had the audacity to brand him with this mocking blue rose.
Yoichi was torn between two urges—rushing straight to Kaiser’s door, or locking himself in a closet and never seeing him again. He spent hours brooding in the dark until, without realizing it, he drifted into uneasy sleep.
When he woke in the morning and went to look at himself in the mirror again, he barely recognized his own reflection. Black vines twisted across his body, sharp thorns interlacing into intricate patterns. Blue roses bloomed from head to toe, tiny buds blossomed even on his face. The sight was terrifying, and yet strangely mesmerizing. As though a master painter had chosen his body as a canvas to depict a field of impossible flowers.
And still, his heart ached unbearably, pulling him toward the one who bore the roses first. Yoichi stepped to the window to cast a melancholy glance outside when suddenly—
What the hell?
His entire yard was covered in blue. Tender sprouts and mature bushes of blue roses had forced their way out of the earth, swallowing his garden whole. His irises were nowhere to be seen. Even the flowerpot on the windowsill had sprouted a rose stem! It was strange, unsettling… and incredibly infuriating.
His precious irises!
With a cry of outrage, Isagi stormed outside, clutching his head in despair. The landscape around his house was ruined. The cursed roses had scratched and torn his irises with their thorns! Damn Kaiser—this was all his fault! Who would ever choose such a ridiculous flower, one that didn’t even exist in nature, as their symbol?!
As Yoichi stood staring at the hostile takeover of his garden, something pricked his bare ankle. He looked down to see a stubborn little shoot forcing its way up through the soil. With a snarl, he stomped it mercilessly into the dirt.
There was no place for this nonsense in his yard. First these roses had branded his body, and now they wanted to claim his garden as well? Over his dead body.
Arming himself with garden shears, Yoichi began hacking at the roses, yanking them out by the roots with no concern for his hands. A bitter thought flashed—how perfectly this mirrored his attempts to rid himself of his feelings for Kaiser. The cloying smell made him nauseous, thorns tore into his palms, yet the roses kept growing. Again and again, and where he tore out one bush, two more sprouted in its place.
Useless to deny it. Useless to try and uproot what had already taken root in his soul.
Useless.
Throwing the shears aside, Yoichi exhaled heavily, standing still amid a graveyard of blue roses. He didn’t hear the footsteps behind him—but he felt them. He turned, already knowing who it would be.
Kaiser looked… strange. Despite the warmth of spring, he was covered head to toe in clothing. A wide hood shadowed his blond head, a mask hid his face, dark glasses concealed his eyes. And in his hand…
A bouquet of blue irises, ripped up with roots still clinging.
Kaiser dropped them at Yoichi’s feet, letting the flowers fall atop the pile of severed roses. Then he stripped off his “disguise,” and Yoichi’s brows shot up in surprise. He too looked as though he had caught some bizarre form of chickenpox. Only instead of blue roses, his face was covered in blooming blue irises.
Yoichi’s gaze swept over him slowly, realization dawning. No doubt, beneath the high collar and long sleeves, his body bore the same floral pattern. Tiny irises sprouted between his furrowed brows, absurdly charming—like some mischievous child had plastered his face with stickers.
A soft chuckle escaped Yoichi, and then he couldn’t hold it back—he burst out laughing.
“You think this is funny? Have you seen yourself?” Kaiser grumbled, clearly irritated by his amusement.
Yoichi laughed harder, doubling over. Two idiots! They really were made for each other.
“You lied to me, Yoichi,” Kaiser said, but his voice was no longer sharp. He was trying—and failing—to hide a smile.
“And you lied to me,” Isagi admitted easily.
He wasn’t afraid anymore. They’d spent far too long running from each other. But this time, Kaiser had come to him—and Yoichi was staying. He wasn’t going to run again.
“So, who do you think will be the unlucky one, doomed to end up as my soulmate?” Michael teased, echoing his words from before.
And Yoichi could feel it—the thorns binding his body and soul slowly melting away beneath the warmth of those blue eyes.
“I suppose that would be me.”