Work Text:
Jisung is pulled from his slumber when he hears the pitter patter of rocks against his window.
Wishing that the continuous sounds of pebbles thrown on the glass is pure imagination, he hesitates on getting up, instead settling on burrowing his head under his covers, sighing in content when there’s a lull in noise against his window.
Of course, after a moment of silence, there’s a muted “clink” on the glass once more, and Jisung throws the covers off of his body with a grumble. The hardwood is cold when his feet meet his bedroom floor, and Jisung shivers when he unlatches the window doors.
He just about misses a pebble flying his way, and ducks, turning to look at the rock on his floor with incredulity. His head whips to the window, leaning over the opening. He rolls his eyes at the familiar figure below, disappointed, but not the least bit surprised.
“Jaemin,” He hisses. “What the fuck—”
“SORRY!” Jaemin shouts, he widens his eyes then, and steps aside to peek at Jisung’s room for any sign of his parents. He repeats it, this time with his voice slightly hushed, “Sorry!”
Jisung looks around, squinting. The sun is still up, although on the brink of sunset. He cranes his ears, and the sound of music from the festival across town blares faintly. Jisung looks back at the older, an eyebrow raised. Despite having an idea of the reason the older boy’s throwing pieces of gravel at his window, he decides to ask anyway, his tone bordering exasperation.
“What’re you doing here?”
Jaemin’s smile widens as he nods towards the town’s centre, where the heart of the festivities lie.
“What do you think, Sung?” The older whisper shouts. He combs his hair back with one hand, messy brown locks catching the sun’s rays, and grins, blinding against the setting sun. “I’m taking you to the lantern festival!”
◎
“You know,” Jisung huffs as they start walking, “You could’ve just come through the front door. It’s not like my parents disapprove of you.”
The muted sound of music and laughter almost drowns out Jaemin’s hum. Jisung glances at the older, who’s already looking back at him with a quiet twinkle in his eye. Jaemin looks away, and the strange look disappears just as quickly.
“I know.” He bumps his hand against Jisung’s, “But I’ve heard from Yangyang that throwing pebbles against someone’s window is more romantic. So…”
Jisung snorts, ignoring the fact that Jaemin threw rocks at his house for the sake of romance. He also refuses to acknowledge the small flush making its way to his cheeks, looking back at Jaemin with a raised eyebrow instead. “...And you’re taking Yangyang’s advice?”
“That’s…” Jaemin pauses, eventually letting out a sigh. “Yeah, I don’t know either. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Fighting back a laugh, he lets out the comment of how Jaemin almost decapitated Jisung with a piece of rock, only rolling his eyes jokingly when Jaemin gave a sheepish apology. As they continue down the cobblestone path, both boys start sharing bits and pieces of their week. Jisung starts talking about the new pastries his family’s bakery had made, and Jaemin shares a few stories about working at the castle’s stables, along with Jeno and Mark. Jaemin’s in the middle of a particular tale regarding Jeno and an angry donkey, with Jisung almost kneeling over in laughter, when they bump into said topic of conversation.
“Guys! Hiii!” Jeno shouts, eyes stretched into joyful crescents, obviously having had a few drinks, with the way the usually calm and collected boy is waving excitedly. Next to him, Mark has an arm around his waist. Mark manages to wave, huffing slightly as he struggles to wrap Jeno’s arm around his shoulder.
“I didn’t know you were planning on going to the festival,” Mark says, his friendly grin bringing a smile to Jisung’s lips.
From beside him, Jeno snorts, giggling as he slaps his arm, leaning forward to stage-whisper, “Of course you did, remember! Jaem went on a wholeee rant about the surpri—”
“Okay!” Jaemin interrupts, laughing almost nervously. He pulls Jisung aside, who‘s raised his eyebrows in interest. “You guys must be heading home; Hope you’ll still make it to the lanterns, though! Jisung and I will be going now—”
Jisung furrows his eyebrows in confusion, giving one last look behind his shoulder, “Wait, wait, what did he mean by—”
Jaemin shakes his head, and continues pulling him along. The festival is close, and they’re nearing the shops and cobblestone buildings that line the circumference of the centre. From behind them, Jisung hears Jeno yell a gleeful ‘Goodbye!’, quickly followed with the sound of Mark wacking the upside of Jeno’s head.
If Jaemin had noticed the curious glances Jisung’s been giving him during the rest of the walk, he doesn’t question it, only nudging Jisung as they start to pass by the lines and lines of colourful kiosks. “We’re here, Jisung.”
“We’re here?” Jisung asks. Jaemin nods in front of them, the younger following the gesture with an awed gasp leaving his lips. “We’re here!”
Around them, families and couples make their way down the pathways, mingling conversations and laughter filling the town’s air. The outside of the buildings are decorated with banners of the flag, a bright, golden sun amidst a soft violet background. There’s rows and rows of fairy lights and flora decorating the walls, hanging above the loud stalls that line the cobblestone pathways, some containing miniature versions of the flag, others bouquets of flowers, or cute, tiny trinkets. On top of it all, the townspeople crowd every inch and crevice of the centre, the fountain having turned into a stage for musicians as the citizens twirl around in joyous laughter.
The town is glowing, both in the literal and figurative sense, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
Jaemin suddenly intertwines their arms as they weave through the dancing townsfolk. When Jisung gives him a raised eyebrow, he smiles innocently, “So we won’t get lost,” he reasons. Jisung snorts from beside him. “Really!”
“Sure,” Jisung teases.
Ignoring Jaemin’s offended whine, he looks around the festival, gasping shortly after he see a colourful, crowded stall. He tightens his grip on Jaemin’s hand, grabbing his attention as he points excitedly at one of the corners of the town square, where a small, face painting station is placed.
“Jaemin, Jaemin, Jaemin! Look!” He starts jumping, looking between the station and the older, who starts to chuckle fondly at the bright twinkle in Jisung’s eyes.
He follows his gaze and raises his eyebrows in surprise, “A painting station? When did they start having one of those around—”
He’s interrupted with Jisung pulling him along with a surprising amount of force for a eighteen year old boy. “We have to get one, Jaem! Look at how pretty it looks!”
Jisung subtly nudges his head at a group of girls that pass by, clearly had just came from the station in front of them. The corner of their eyes have a small sun painted on, with the rays twirling into pretty spirals that reach their temple and cheekbone. The rays are outlined with purple, and the undertone of the violet glows along with the gold.
He starts to pull Jisung along to the station, and the younger boy starts to ramble on getting a sun painted on his face, right on his temple.
“Do you think they have other colours?” Jisung wonders as they line up. He peeks to the side, scouring the table for anymore of the face paint.
Jaemin hums in thought. “I think they do, but if they only have purple and yellow we could always have a purple sun instead,” he says with a grin.
They both end up getting twin suns, the same design the groups of girls had passed by with. Except, the painted drawing is on Jisung’s right temple, while Jaemin’s is on his left. After giving the artist a few coins in payment, they make their way back to the stalls, window shopping at the trinkets and toys displayed on the counters. Despite Jaemin being the person to ask Jisung on the date (Date? Jaemin asks himself, as the other had pointed at an attraction with a bright smile, Is this a date?) it’s the younger that ends up pulling Jaemin around town, eyes lighting up every five seconds when he sees a particular toy, or whenever he comes across a flower with petals a bit too colourful.
Jaemin almost laughs at how hesitant Jisung had been when he climbed down his bedroom window a few hours ago. The younger seemed to have an infinite amount of energy bottled in him now, practically bouncing from stall to stall with such childish wonder that it takes a moment for Jaemin to catch up, a fond chuckle leaving his lips whenever Jisung turns to give him a gummy smile, the swirls of the paint catching the rays of the afternoon sun.
Both boys end up running across a small stall, decorated in posies and ambrosias with the words Homemade Flower Crowns! written in cursive on a paper plaque. There’s an abundant number of flower crowns strewn across the wooden table, and from behind the stall, an old lady is threading another, made of poppies and forget-me-nots.
Jaemin has an arm looped around Jisung’s, and when he stops, Jisung bumps into his back, stepping aside to give Jaemin a questioning glance. The older only gives him a small upturn of the lip, untangling their arms as an idea lights up in his head.
“Wait here.”
The younger furrows his eyebrows, obviously confused, but nods anyway, eventually wandering onto a different stall carrying vases and cutlery. Meanwhile, Jaemin walks to the vendor, picking up a small crown with daisies laced onto the braided tweed, along with a pink ribbon tied at the back.
“It suits you,” Jaemin hears a kind voice say. He looks up in surprise, putting the flower crown down with a sheepish smile.
“It’s… it’s, um, not for me,” Jaemin admits. His eyes wander to his right, where Jisung’s admiring a small lamp, chatting brightly with the man behind the counter. Subconsciously, he smiles, and the vendor follows his gaze, humming knowingly as she sees the subject of Jaemin’s fond look.
“Ah, well, in that case,” she sets down the red and white crown and begins digging underneath the table, where a few baskets of crowns also lie. She pulls out a particular headband, one made of daises and baby’s breath. The crown itself is thin, when Jaemin looks closely, he can see the details of a particular braid made to hold the tweed and a gold ribbon together. It’s delicate, and just the right size. He glances at Jisung once more and grins. It’s perfect.
Jaemin looks up at the old lady, grinning from ear to ear, “I’ll take it.”
He reaches for his satchel, where the pouch of coins is hidden, when a hand stops him. Jaemin glances at the lady in confusion, who only gives him a warm, albeit knowing smile.
“It’s for free.”
The boy stutters, surprised at the offer. “But—no, it’s fine, I have money—”
The old lady shakes her head, and the wrinkles in her eyes only grow with her smile. She wraps the crown in a cloth and tucks it in Jaemin’s bag. “Take it, and give it to him. The way he’ll smile with it on is more than enough payment for me.”
Speechless, Jaemin can only form a clumsy bow, cheeks flushed as he thanks the woman, who nods and goes back to braiding.
When he returns to Jisung’s side, still slightly speechless, the boy has tucked something in his pocket, thanking the man with a gummy smile. Jaemin sneaks up behind his back and peeks over his shoulder, whispering, “What’d you get?”
Startled, Jisung jumps, almost dropping the coins he gives to vendor as he looks over his shoulder, meeting Jaemin’s crinkled doe eyes. “Jesus, Jaemin!”
Noticing the little space between them, Jisung stumbles backwards, but not before flushing a deep red that reaches the tips of his ears.
“A necklace for my mom,” Jisung mumbles, quiet and obviously flustered at how close the older’s face was to his. Jaemin smiles at this, grin teasing as he backs away for Jisung to pay.
“So where’d you go?” Jisung asks Jaemin, looking up at the older as they exit the stall.
“Oh, well,” Jaemin pauses, trying to think of a lie, “Just thought I saw someone I knew.”
He shrugs, trying to act nonchalant despite knowing that Jisung can see right through him no matter how good of a liar he is. Before Jisung could comment, probably to call the older out, Jaemin interrupts him, pointing at whatever’s in front of them to quickly change the subject.
“Look, Jisung!” He says quickly, looking to where his finger points to, and widens his eyes.
To the older’s displeasure, the tip of Jaemin’s finger leads to the town square, where couples dance around a group of musicians. Jisung’s eyes light up, while Jaemin’s dims.
Jaemin opens his mouth, nerves bubbling up his throat as he tries to dismiss the idea, but Jisung’s eyes are already sparkling, and he’s pulling Jaemin along the arm, twisting through the dancing couples to the centre of the square.
“Wait, wait—Jisung you know I don’t dance,” he nervously laughs, looking around warily at the twirling crowd.
Jisung snorts, “I know,” he says, still proceeding to pull him along.
Jaemin sputters in offence, with Jisung chuckling as they finally settle near the fountain. The song picks up, and suddenly he’s in Jisung’s arms, clumsily following in his steps and trying not to step on his feet as the younger effortlessly twirls them around the square. It takes a while before he gets the hang of it, and even then, he’s a few beats behind Jisung as they move around the fountain.
By the end of the song, Jaemin’s heaving, bent over his knees, beads of sweat starting to form on his hairline. He’s mildly worried about the sweat smudging the sun painted on his temple, trying to subtly dab at the exhaust on his face without ruining the paint. Jisung, annoyingly enough, is practically glowing underneath the setting sun, clapping in appreciation when the band plays their last note. His eyes shrink into tiny crescents, and the way his lips stretch into a grin reminds Jaemin of a heart.
Jaemin finds himself staring a bit longer than necessary, only looking away when Jisung glances back at him, breathing out a laugh at Jaemin’s state. “You look horrible,” he comments.
The older rolls his eyes, and when he straightens, the strings start to pick up into a slower paced dance. Composing himself, he turns to see Jisung, who has a hand outstretched towards him, his smile shy and nervous.
Jaemin smiles, albeit a bit confused. “What?”
“May I have this dance?”
The tips of Jaemin’s ears turn red. Oh. He emits a small laugh, taking his hand and letting the younger pull him close. He pretends the warmth that shoots through his palms is from the heat, and not from his and Jisung’s intertwined fingers.
“You may,” he bows, and Jisung joins in with his laughter.
To Jaemin’s (pleasant) surprise, they end up barely moving, only swaying slightly in the cool summer breeze. Jisung has his hands on Jaemin’s waist, leading the dance as Jaemin wraps his arms around the younger’s neck. Jisung’s humming under his breath, pausing to smile as he steps back to twirl Jaemin.
The older laughs, once again pulled close to the younger’s chest. They’re back to swaying, turning until Jaemin has to squint a little, the setting sun burning a bright halo behind Jisung. The strings become nothing but white noise to Jaemin’s ears at this point, as all of his attention is directed to the boy in front of him. He doesn’t even realize he’s stopped dancing until Jisung stops as well, his brown irises blinking widely in question.
“You stopped dancing,” Jisung says, chuckling. Jaemin blinks twice before letting out a breath, settling on a small, fond smile.
“Yeah, I guess I have,” he mumbles, using his interlaced hands to pull Jisung closer. The boy cocks his head in question, but doesn’t stop Jaemin from resting his forehead against his.
Jaemin’s eyelashes are close to fluttering shut, about to bump his nose against Jisung’s, when he hears a gasp coming from the younger boy.
He opens his eyes, widening at the look on Jisung’s face. He follows his gaze, and raises his eyebrows. The townspeople have started gathering their lanterns, and the people left dancing are already leaving the floor, off to get their own floating lights.
“The lights are about to start!” Jisung grins, he’s awed, looking around.
He turns to Jaemin, who’s snapped out of his reverie and quickly looking around. He turns back to him. “Sung, do you trust me?”
Jisung glances at him in confusion. “Of course I do? But—oh, wow, the lanterns look really pretty, hyung! Let’s get one—wait, hey!”
Jaemin had broken into a full sprint, pulling a stumbling Jisung along as they make their way through families and couples, bumping into a few storekeepers and almost narrowly missing a couple of the displays set up. Jisung faintly knows this path as a shortcut to the pier, but he can’t understand why Jaemin had to sprint all the way here, when they have a better chance of purchasing a lantern at the town square.
They stop and Jisung skids to a halt, looking around in confusion. He sees a single boat roped to the dock, but other than that, the pier was absolutely empty.
“Jaemin, what are we doing h—”
Jaemin turns to him and grins. Behind him, the setting sun’s rays glow so terribly bright that Jisung has to squint a little. “Follow me.”
Jisung gives him an exasperated, confused look but ends up following Jaemin’s steps towards the dock anyway, only mildly suspicious at the act Jaemin’s pulling. “You aren’t going to kill me, aren’t you?” Jisung jokes once they reach the pier.
Jaemin only laughs and covers Jisung’s eyes. He leads them farther down the pier, careful to avoid any of the broken boards of the old dock. Jisung follows with no hesitation, knowing that the older boy wouldn’t do anything to him. He doesn’t open his eyes when his feet step on wobbling wood, nor does he open his eyes when Jaemin follows suit.
He registers the summer breeze blowing, and the faint flowing of ocean water. When the quiet rowing of paddles against water stops, he opens his eyes, and is greeted with the sight of Jaemin grinning softly at him.
“I wanted to get you the best seat in the house,” he shrugs nonchalantly, but the tips of his ears are pink, and he’s chewing the inside of his cheek; a nervous habit that he’s picked up over the years.
Ignoring the need to intertwine their fingers together, Jisung cocks his head instead, smiling confusedly, “What do you mean the best seat in the house?”
Jaemin pauses, then smiles softly. “Look up,” he says, irises twinkling.
With a raised eyebrow, Jisung follows his gaze, eyes turned to the sky, and audibly gasps.
Scattered in the night sky are glittering lights, ranging from the thousands of stars twinkling from galaxies far away, to the floating lanterns only a hundred something feet away, twirling within the clouds. The view itself causes Jisung to drop his jaw in awe, absolutely enamoured.
“Oh.” Jisung whispers. “Oh, wow.”
He hears a small cough, and turns to Jaemin, who’s holding two nearly identical lanterns—one with a sun painted on, while the second had a crescent moon with tiny stars dotted along the cloth. They were both lit, and the flickering of the fire inside gave the drawings a steady, almost magical glow.
Jisung looked back and forth between the lanterns and Jaemin, absolutely speechless. Knowing that Jisung’s too tongue tied to choose a lantern, the older only laughs and gives Jisung the one with the moon and stars. “Here.”
The heat emitting from the lanterns gives Jisung’s hands a faint warmth, but the look coming from Jaemin, a gaze that makes it seem like it was the younger himself that had hung the stars that the lanterns above are dancing amongst, had Jisung exhaling and looking away, suddenly feeling bare and vulnerable under the older’s soft gaze.
“On three?” He hears Jaemin say.
Jisung locks eyes with Jaemin once more, and smiles, lips shaping themselves into a heart. He slowly nods, and they both count to three before they raise their arms and let the lanterns go. Jisung watches for a moment; his smile stretching into an awed grin as he sees their lanterns twirl around the other, the sun and the moon, until they disappear among the flurry of floating lights, joining the glittering stars that dot the night sky.
“Is this the surprise Jeno was talking about?” Jisung asks, teasing look locked on Jaemin, who laughs sheepishly.
“Surprise?” He tries. Jisung rolls his eyes, letting out a chuckle as he raises his gaze back to the floating lights.
He’s so immersed by the lanterns, practically leaning over the boat to get a better view, that he doesn’t realize Jaemin’s fond gaze, nor does he realize the fact that Jaemin hadn’t once looked at the sky ever since they had gotten in the water.
So when he looks to see the older’s reaction to the lanterns, but was instead greeted with Jaemin’s soft gaze, he can’t help but flush, feeling the fire that fuels the lanterns burn in his veins.
He’s desperate to compose himself, so he utters the first thing that comes to mind—
“I have something for you,” they both say at the same time, sharing a stunned silence for a moment before bursting into quiet giggles.
“I’ll go first,” they say simultaneously, “No, me!”
Jisung’s laughing, his shoulders shaking so much that the boat slightly rocks with his body. Jaemin bites his lip at a grin, his chuckling dissipating until all that’s left is a fond look, his heart burning in his chest as if it’s one of the floating lights in the sky.
Suddenly, there’s something pushed onto his hands, and he makes a noise of surprise. He looks back at the younger, who’s wearing a smug, satisfied smile.
“Open it.” Theres a hint of excitement in Jisung’s voice that makes Jaemin smile.
Jaemin chuckles and looks down, undoing the ribbon of the velvet pouch—immediately brightening with excitement. It’s a small pouch full of Jaemin’s favourite candies, ranging from chewy caramel to brown sugar cubes. There’s an abundance of flavours and sugary treats that could last the older boy a whole two weeks, if he consumes each one sparely.
“Sung…” he whispers, awed.
“You’re welcome,” the younger scoffs, pretending to examine his nails in nonchalance. He fails once he takes a look at the bright, childish grin laced on the older’s face, giggling fondly.
“I love it, Sung, thank you so much—” Jaemin almost has half a mind to throw himself at the younger out of happiness, but refrains from doing so, knowing that it might cause the boat to tip. So he takes one last glance at the sweets and gets an idea, grinning,
“You know…”
“I know?”
“The candies are pretty sweet,” Jaemin starts. Jisung raises an eyebrow in question. The older’s mischevious smile widens, winking. “...But you’re sweeter.”
Jisung groans, covering his face to hide the heat crawling up his cheeks. “I hate you. I really do.”
“No you don’t,” Jaemin confidently says.
Jisung peeks from the spaces between his fingers, and sighs. “Yeah… I don’t.”
The older blows a flying kiss, followed by a set of finger guns and an exaggerated wink that looks so ridiculous, Jisung can’t help the burst of laughter that bubbles up his throat, with Jaemin’s cackle joining in once he hears the loud snort Jisung lets out.
But it’s when Jaemin’s wiping his tears away from his eyes, giggles fading, does he meet the younger’s fond grin, looking up at Jaemin with eyes shining so brightly, the brown of his irises reflecting the stars and the lanterns.
Suddenly, Jaemin’s breathless, a thousand thoughts going through in his head about stars and galaxies and lanterns— and how the quiet twinkle in the younger’s eyes seems to be brighter than them all. He wants to tell Jisung that, wants to see the sparkle in his eyes shine a little brighter, but all he could manage is,
“I’ll go next.”
Jisung raises his eyebrows, but grins, nodding. Jaemin has to tear his gaze to his satchel, fumbling for the crown until he feels the familiar cloth between his fingers. He’s delicate when pulling the wrapped gift from the bag, not wanting to crush any of the flower’s petals.
Jaemin clears his throat and thrusts the gift onto Jisung’s palms. The younger raises an eyebrow, his smile bordering teasing, before he unwraps the cloth covering the crown. He wants to look away, just in case Jisung didn’t like the crown and had an unsatisfied expression on.
But then he hears a sharp intake of a breath, and he raises his eyes to see Jisung running a thumb through one of the daisy’s petals, eyes wide and sparkling, lips slightly open in wonder.
“I...”
Jaemin interrupts him out of panic, just in case the next words that leave Jisung’s lips were hate it. “I saw it in a flower crown stall from when we were looking around. It, uh, well, reminded me of you.”
Jisung stays silent, and Jaemin swallows, continuing as he looks away, his gaze back on the wooden floor of the boat, not wanting the expression on his face to betray what he’s feeling.
“It might not be much, and the flowers are probably going to die within a week, but, yeah, I mean you don’t have to like it! We could still exchange it just in case you want something else, so don’t feel pressured to like it or whatev—”
“Jaemin.”
The older’s mouth snaps shut at the other boy’s soft tone. He raises his head and meets Jisung’s eyes, which are stretched into small crescents, bottom lip captured between his teeth as an attempt to stop a grin from taking over his face.
“I love it.” Jisung says, letting the smile stretch onto his heart shaped lips, “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
“Oh,” a weight is suddenly lifted off of his shoulders, and he feels like he can breathe again. “It’s...yeah! It’s no problem.”
Jisung leans forward, and gestures for Jaemin to take the crown, who furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “Can you put it on? I might ruin it,” he laughs.
Jaemin smiles, before taking the flower wreath from Jisung’s fingers and placing it delicately on the crown of the younger’s head, careful not to flatten any of the petals. He leans back to take a good look, making sure it’s placed properly, and—
Oh.
Oh.
“So,” Jisung flushes, giving Jaemin a small smile. The gaze the older gives him is unreadable, and it’s making him feel bare and vulnerable under the night sky. “How does it look?”
◎
(The old lady shakes her head, and the wrinkles in her eyes only grow with her smile. She wraps the crown in a cloth and tucks it in Jaemin’s bag. “Take it, and give it to him. The way he’ll smile with it on is more than enough payment for me.”)
◎
The flowers are perched, albeit a bit crookedly, on the crown of Jisung’s head. Some of the petals have already began to fall from the crown, crushed, despite the protection of the cloth wrapped around it.
But then there’s a smile playing on Jisung’s lips, one that’s small and shy and brighter than any of the lanterns in the sky, and suddenly the flowers don’t look as crushed, doesn’t seem too look as imperfect as before.
The old lady’s words ring in his head. And he finds himself agreeing; because Jisung looks absolutely ethereal underneath the floating lights. With his eyes twinkling with the reflection of a hundred lanterns; with his lips stretched into a heart shaped smile; with his smudged painting of the small, golden sun with the swirling, yellow-purple rays; with the daisy-baby’s breath breath infused crown precariously perched on Jisung’s brown locks, Jaemin has no other choice but to agree.
Now, you see, other than the story of the long lost princess and her glowing hair, Jaemin isn’t a big believer in magic.
And yet.
And yet there’s something in the way Jisung’s eyes are sparkling that has Jaemin speechless, irises glittering with something more than the reflection of the moon and the stars and the floating lights; shimmering with something that seems to take the form of three little words, and—
Well, Jaemin might just start believing in it a little bit more.
◎
(I mean, how else can Jaemin explain the way Jisung could outshine hundreds of lanterns, billions of stars, all with just a single twinkle in his eyes?)
◎
Jaemin shakes his head, ridding himself of the thoughts and smiles, reaching out to straighten the crown; only to linger his touch, caressing Jisung’s cheekbone with his thumb.
“There,” he mumbles, eyes no longer on the crooked crown.
The younger leans against his palm, smiling softly as he moves in closer, carefully moving across the boat to rest his head on the older’s shoulder.
From above them, the lanterns continue to glow, the stars continue to twinkle, and Jisung continues to trace the constellations above, all with the same bright smile on his lips.
“Everything's so pretty,” Jisung mumbles, enamoured by the glimmering lights.
“It is, isn’t it,” Jaemin agrees, not once looking at the sky as he reaches out to trace his own constellation on the smudged, golden sun painted prettily along Jisung's temple. ”Absolutely beautiful."
The younger flushes, and grabs at Jaemin’s hand, lowering it. After a moment of brief hesitation, he interlaces their fingers together; looking back at the sky with a small smile gracing his lips.
Jaemin widens his eyes, only to emit a small, pleasantly surprised chuckle. He tightens his grip and rubs his thumb over the expanse of Jisung’s wrist.
A shooting star catches their attention, the bright comet traveling across the dark sky. Jisung widens his eyes, slapping Jaemin’s arm in excitement, “Jaem, Jaem! Look! A shooting star!”
“Let’s wish for something,” Jaemin suggests, and laughs fondly at how quickly the younger clenches his eyes shut, his grin never once dimming.
After a second or two, he flutters his eyes open, eyes bright. “So? What did you wish for?”
Jaemin hums, looking from the sky to the flowers perched on Jisung’s head, to the golden painting gracing his temple, to the lanterns sparkling in the brown of his irises, to Jisung’s smile; and a million metaphors of suns and galaxies and twinkling lights seem to write themselves on the tip of Jaemin’s tongue. He settles for a small smile, and says,
“Nothing.”
He rests his head on Jisung’s shoulder, sighing quietly, looking at the stars and the lanterns, and the millions and millions of galaxies waiting to be discovered.
Above them, a sun and moon flicker softly in the midst of a hundred lanterns. He lets out a breath, closing his eyes as he listens to the faint thrum of Jisung’s heartbeat.
“I have everything I could ever want.”