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jungkook splashed through a puddle and took a deep breath. the air smelled strongly of rain and metal, and the sky thundered loudly above him. he liked when it did this, liked how the lightning turned bright, polarizing colors when it struck the clouds. good. maybe it’ll burn the pollution out of this god forsaken air.
“jeon, jungkook, identification number nine four three one.”
a beep, then a green light, an old 21st century door swinging open. jungkook’s observatory was quite old, it being the only building equipped for all his technology. it’s main floor housed all his astronomical instruments; its upstairs kept a concrete-like bed, a fridge (with maybe like, two pieces of food— come on, he’s struggling here), and a bathroom.
it was a little run down and smelled like mothballs, but jungkook loved it. he loved the way it was nice and secluded behind a row of trees at the end of blossom avenue; loved the way he could just be alone with the sky and the stars. above all, he loved the quiet.
tuesdays especially were jungkook’s quiet charting days, made specifically to keep track of the erratic movements of a certain group of stars that had been puzzling him for months now. these days were quiet and calming.
well, these days were supposed to be quiet and calming, until a sudden knock at his door ruined that in so many ways.
“jungkook jeon, open up. FAA.”
he let out a string of curses, hastily shoving old food wrappers and scratch paper into his already-overflowing waste basket. got to make it look somewhat presentable for this asshole, right?
jungkook opened the door, much to his disappointment, on the same federal aviation agent that had been terrorizing him since last year.
seokjin kim, identification number one three three two, age twenty-six, and a royal pain in jungkook’s ass.
“i already told you, kim, i don’t have anything new for you, and I’ll never have something new for you if you keep knocking on my fucking door every other day.”
seokjin was the federation’s star agent, assigned solely to babysit jungkook, the “country’s most valuable asset.”
(senator’s words, not his.)
and wow , it sure did suck ass to be the only astronomer left in the whole country.
“well, ouch, jeon! someone ate their grumpy o’s for breakfast today— i’m so severely hurt.” seokjin’s sarcasm was almost a palpable thing, shooting jungkook straight in his already rising temper. “and for your information, i didn’t come here to check on your nonexistent progress, i came here to stay with you until the citywide lockdown ends. boss said i absolutely had to watch your ass, something about you being a hot commodity or whatever. not that i agree with him in any way, but i do want that holiday bonus in December so...”
no. no no no.
this cannot be happening. just jungkook’s fucking luck, huh.
“no,” jungkook stated as he tried to close the door, seokjin now blocking it open with ease. “absolutely not. i’m requesting someone else. give me that nice agent haseul, anyone but you—please for the love of god-“
“haseul’s on vacation, sweetheart,” seokjin interrupted. “i’m the only one who can watch you. now, if you’ll excuse me-”
seokjin glanced behind jungkook once before shoving his way through the door, much to the younger’s scoff.
“wow, i’ve never actually seen the inside of your little lab before—oh my god is that an empty milk carton just, sitting on your desk? oh jeon, you disgusting bastard.”
“will you- hey will you not touch everything? you’re going to mess up my alignment!”
seokjin rolled his eyes but backed up nonetheless, hands in front of him in mock surrender, “okay okay, fine. you’re no fun.”
“god,” jungkook muttered, shaking his head. he could not fucking believe this.
“yes, that is my name— don’t wear it out,” seokjin replied, and the shit eating grin he wore made jungkook want to punch a wall and himself.
...
“you can take my bed, i’ll sleep on the cot downstairs,” jungkook said around the straw of his iced mint tea. turns out seokjin is quite good at making various different non-alcoholic beverages.
“aw,” the older’s voice became mockingly sad. “you’re not sleeping with me? such a shame.”
jungkook ignored him point blank. he couldn’t care less about seokjin.
his pink ears told a different story.
...
the next day went by rather quietly, the only sounds to fill his small observatory being various computer noises and the occasional click of seokjin’s laptop. they worked in silence until dinner when the two, unfortunately, had to speak to one another.
“i want pizza,” seokjin said, yawning quite obnoxiously.
“go get it yourself.”
“don’t you want some?”
jungkook waved him off, far too absorbed in his work to even consider food.
“jeon,” an exasperated sigh. “you have to eat something. im not about to have you get sick from lack of vitamin G or some shit! not on my expert watch!”
“there’s no such thing as vitamin G.”
that night, jungkook ate with seokjin in silence, under the light of the moon.
...
“see those stars to your left? yeah, those. i’ve been trying to decipher their pattern for months now but they’ve been so unpredictable- i really just can’t figure it out.”
jungkook and seokjin were on the rooftop tonight. years ago, when the air was cleaner, jungkook had commissioned a large wraparound deck as high as they could safely put it; he claimed it was for scientific reasons, but really he just wanted to have a space above the city to breathe. it doesn’t do much as far as quality of breathing air anymore, but jungkook still loves it.
“hm,” seokjin leaned over the railing, honey brown locks ruffling around his face. “maybe they don’t want to be tracked.”
after seeing jungkook’s look of question, he continued, “yeah, you know like, stars are conscious beings right? okay let’s, for the sake of my argument, pretend they are- so like, what if they simply don’t want to be tracked. maybe they’re tired of being analyzed and they’re just doing hopscotch across space to get you off their asses.”
“that’s objectively ridiculous.”
“but it’s subjectively valid, and you know it.”
the September wind whipped around jungkook’s laugh, carrying it across the city.
“i know you’re supposed to be my arch nemesis, but that’s honestly the first time i’ve laughed in a really long time.”
“i could tell.”
there was no sarcasm in seokjin’s voice this time, every ounce of humor gone, replaced with an all-knowing sort of wisdom that seemed so much older than this man, standing above the lights of the city.
“you hardly have any smile lines around your eyes.”
it was true; seokjin was right. it hurt, in a way— to know how much he’s seen, and just how little joy he’s found in it all.
that night was very loud.
in the city, in conversation, but most of all, it was loud in jungkook’s heart.
...
the citywide lockdown ended after the second day, but seokjin stuck around. the third day turned into a week, and that week turned to a month. at this point, it had kind of become routine for them to spend their free time together.
they collectively don’t even know how it happened, yet here they are, every night at exactly 6:30 eating dinner, laughing, sharing their weekends, their breaks.
and jungkook thinks it’s nice, jungkook thinks it’s so nice, to have someone want to be around him.
not jungkook jeon the last astronomer in the country, not jeon, not the lonely man in the lonely house on blossom avenue, just jungkook.
...
“tell me something about the stars i don’t know.”
the wind on the roof was cold. seokjin, jungkook most recently discovered, is very warm.
“hm,” jungkook thought through chattering teeth. it was December and the city smelled of snow and chemicals, but it never felt more comfortable. “stars emit a spectrum of colors rather than just white like what you see sitting here.”
“wow, a rainbow? that’s kind of gay, jungkook, not sure how i feel about that one,” a light shove from jungkook then: “tell me another.”
and jungkook did. jungkook told him about his favorite constellations, star mythology, and every crazy scientific fact he could possibly remember. he told seokjin everything.
and it felt, it felt like he was revealing a piece of himself that had never been shown before. it felt like a raw, exposed thing being ripped out of his chest, laying there for the older man to take. it felt odd—odd to share the stars with someone. even more odd to have someone else curious about the world beyond them. it had been so long.
that night, jungkook gave seokjin his stars in a silver box.
that night, jungkook was loud, and seokjin listened.
...
jungkook’s conservatory is no longer lonely, seokjin having made it his mission to introduce the younger to all his friends.
they’re all rather loud and sometimes messy, but they’re all so worth it.
the first time jungkook met namjoon—a wise, tall, very kind man who rides his bike everywhere—they spent hours talking about the moon and its deterioration after the most recent extraction of lunar alloys, along with the booming industry in ether manufacturing. they talk rather often now, over coffee and on jungkook’s roof and everywhere else they get a chance.
taehyung and yoongi usually come as a pair, offering jungkook endless sweets and art supplies and hugs and so many hugs. they’ve, as a duo, taken to advising jungkook in every area of his life. they never laugh at him or judge him or scold him, they’re always just there, understanding and loving.
hoseok is a loud, cheerful man who takes on the roll of the sun when the real thing is hidden behind the smog. he’s always stopping by the observatory these days— wether to drop by food or to just let jungkook unload all his stresses and concerns.
jimin is the one who hangs around the most, second only to seokjin. jimin is sweet, constantly bringing by new clothes he thinks jungkook would like, giving him hugs and reassuring looks, and so much support.
it’s an odd thing— to have peace and then lose it, only to gain it again with a new family. it’s odd, to be so lonely one day and the next to never see a lonely day again.
it’s not like jungkook minds at all, though. not like he minds at all.
...
“tell me something about you i don’t know.”
it was summer now, and the city still smelled of chemicals, but jungkook’s deck smelled of flowers and lemons.
seokjin brought all those plants one day, told him they’d plant them all together, told him he needed more color in his life. jungkook thinks maybe that whole day had a double meaning. either way, he was forever grateful to the older for the bright colors now decorating the deck.
“hm,” this time, jungkook hardly had to think at all. “i think i’m in love with you.”
...
for so long, jungkook thought peace was found in the absence of busyness, that peace was him alone at the end of blossom avenue.
and now, now he knows that it’s in dinner with all his friends, in the quietness of summer on the rooftops planting flowers.
peace is found in sharing the stars with someone, knowing they’ll listen.
it’s an odd thing to fall in love—with life, with the stars, with people. it’s odd to be in love.
jungkook’s life is so full of it now— from every early morning sunrise to every midnight spent stargazing.
but most of all, it’s odd to find that jungkook no longer misses what he once had by himself, because now, now he knows there’s someone, there’s everyone, just waiting to listen.