Work Text:
Once, a piece of the moon fell through space and breached the atmosphere, and hit the soft ground of the Earth. The Sun saw the small piece of the moon slowly degrading and was deeply saddened by the poor sight. The Sun blessed the small rock, giving it limbs to scale the mountains to see the sight of its original soul. Eyes to gaze at the moon, a mouth to sing songs, and hands to write haikus dedicated to the moon.
Though the moonchild was as nearly as human as it could be, it still was alone. Its skin was cold to the touch, it glowed in the moonlight, and it could only thrive in the moonlight, typically sleeping when the Sun was out.
Seeing the loneliness of the moonchild brought tears to the Sun, flowing down the vacuum of space and cooling as it hit the surface of the lake that the moonchild had been sitting by, shadowed by the trees that surrounded it.
The sundrop crawls out of the lake and tilts his head at the moonchild who stares at the bright figure who glowed in the sun, its freckles twitching along its face.
The sundrop takes a seat across the moonchild and waves introducing itself as the moonchild’s new friend. The moonchild was entranced by the sundrop’s shiny smile and brightness, falling in love with the sundrop as they continued to enjoy their time together through the seasons.
Though, when Winter arrived, the sundrop couldn’t stay with the moonchild any longer. The sundrop placed its warm head against the moonchild’s forehead and wished it a wonderful Winter. The moonchild grasped the sundrop’s warm hand and pulled it closer. The look in its eyes was pleading and it held the warmth between its cold hands and placed it against its chest telling the sundrop to promise that it would come back to the moonchild as soon as the Winter ends.
The sundrop agreed and the moonchild placed a cold kiss against the sundrop’s collarbone, then watched it leave their small haven under the stars. The moonchild wept as the sundrop left, speaking to the Moon during the night to bless the sundrop’s journey to somewhere warm and sun-filled.
The moonchild waited for the sundrop to return for years, but no avail. The sundrop had disappeared just as quickly as it arrived.
Stuck in longing and the pain of losing its first friend and subsequent love, the moonchild’s light slowly faded, turning dark and gloomy.
Once again, the Sun saw the sadness of the moonchild and realized that the sundrop had fallen into a slumber because of the shortening of the Sun’s appearance. Considering this, the Sun decided to make the moonchild and sundrop human to preserve this happiness. However, the sudden transformation had caused the two space creatures to become children and thus, became separated.
The Sun put its trust into the two to find each other once more and strengthen the bond that was always destined for them.
There’s a simpleness to love.
At least, that’s what Felix believes. It’s what he’s believed since he was young. From what Felix grew up with, it’s an exchange of words that makes your heart warm, a warm hand to hold on a cold day. Something that makes you smile when you think about it.
Felix’s first love didn’t come in the form of a person or a living thing in general. It came from the sunrise every morning. The feeling of a new day and the sun shining on his face, passing through his lashes, his skin, and reaching his heart, making him feel warm, inside and out. His parents would always sigh as he nagged them to go outside and to the park where he could feel the sun even better than from his window. Of course, his parents always obliged, happy that their son was so in love with the bright rays shining down on his skin.
On the days when the sun was out with no clouds covering it, Felix had an energy boost and felt as if he could do anything. His parents always told him that he always had a glow around him and that his freckles seemed to dance on his face those days.
At night, his mood soured quickly, becoming fragile and gloomy as he stared out into the night sky, sad that his sun had gone away. When he grew older, the gloominess got better, but the strange loss of energy persisted, making him just as irritable.
His second love came from his best friend.
He and Jisung were as close as humans could possibly be. They first met in middle school, when Felix was close to collapsing from sleep exhaustion because he had studied for a test the night before.
The sun was blocked by clouds that afternoon, only making Felix’s tiredness worse. During his second to last class, Felix felt his eyes become heavier as his teacher droned on and on about the solar system. He allowed himself to set his head down on the desk, and close his eyes for a quick moment.
Jisung had found him asleep in the back of the class, trying to get as much sleep as possible for his test in his next class. Jisung sympathized with him, but shook him awake anyway, apologizing for waking him up. Felix mumbled, saying that it was fine (it was not), and rose from his chair. Well, he tried to.
His foot caught against the leg of the desk and he tumbled down, down, to the ground.
Felix laid there for a moment, contemplating life and if he should drop out at this rate. Till he heard a giggle.
He looked up to see and hand stuck out, waiting for him to grab it. Grasping onto his hand, he allowed Jisung to pull him up to his feet.
“Sorry for laughing, but seeing you just lay there was hilarious. Made my boring day slightly better.”
Felix dusted off his jeans and raised his brows at Jisung.
“You’re welcome?”
An odd start in Felix’s book, but since then, they’ve been practically inseparable. Everywhere you saw Felix, you saw Jisung and vice versa. Pulling these two apart was like trying to unbake a cake, literally impossible.
Jisung understood Felix’s love for the sun, albeit warily because he wasn’t number one on Felix’s list (he literally had to compete with a star). Whenever the duo would have a sleepover, he would groggily wake up and see Felix sitting by the window, soaking up the sun’s rays as much as possible.
Felix never commented on it, so Jisung didn’t either. An unspoken rule between the two. Jisung didn’t even say anything when he noticed Felix glowing a bit after his morning sun drinking (?). And not the skincare kind of glowing, but a lightbulb type of glowing.
His third love was… well, Felix doesn’t know yet.
Perhaps it was the solar system itself. Or the smile of his parents when they are proud of him.
Or maybe it was the boy next door to his apartment.
“You good there Felix? You’ve been zoning out for a while now,” Chan asks, hopping up to take a seat on Felix’s kitchen island.
Felix glanced up at Chan from his chair and shook his head.
“No, I’m just thinking about how pretty the sunset is,” Felix responded, gesturing towards the array of pinks and purples that shone through his living room windows.
“Mm, whatever you say,” Chan mumbles, sticking his spoon into his small carton of vanilla ice cream.
Felix looked back at Chan and felt his mouth twitch upwards with a smile. Chan resembled the sunset in a few ways, with his soft pink lips and warm brown eyes that were now directly staring at Felix.
“You’re staring,” the other sang as he spooned another mouthful of ice cream into his mouth.
Sticking his tongue out at Chan, Felix’s eyes wandered over back to the setting sun, silently waving goodbye as the moon started to make its debut appearance in the sky. Felix’s eyes slid back over to Chan who was very much enjoying his ice cream. Chan also resembled the moon; pale skin, calming nature, somehow always knows you’re admiring it.
“Is there something on my face?” Chan asked, pointing his spoon defensively at Felix.
The younger shook his head, a smile painted on his face. “No, you’re just pretty.”
Felix vividly remembers walking in the hallway one night, tiredness and fatigue hanging off of him like a weighted blanket. He stopped at his front door, digging around his backpack for his keys when he heard a door to his right open. He looked up, drowsy eyes narrowing at the bright light in front of him. He hissed, covering his eyes as he looked away.
“Uh, hello?”
Felix allowed his eyes to adjust to the sudden light and examined what was in front of him.
A man about his height stared at him warily, hands on his hips as he pursed his full lips.
“You okay there? You’ve kinda just been staring at me,” the stranger mumbled.
Regaining control over his body again, Felix shook his head.
“Sorry, I’m just really tired. It’s been a long day and it being nighttime isn’t really helping either,” Felix said, scratching the back of his head as he gave the man a weary smile.
The man nodded in sympathy.
“I get that, that’s how I am during the day,” the man says with a laugh. Maybe, it was the tiredness making Felix slightly delirious, but he started laughing along as well. The man’s laugh was almost enchanting. Sounding like the gentle chirps of the morning birds versus Felix’s deep hoot of an owl.
Felix rubbed his eyes and waved at the stranger. “I should probably head off to bed now. I honestly might just collapse here right now.”
The stranger shook his head and crossed his arm, Felix noticed a moon tattooed on his bicep as the other smiled wider.
“Of course, I apologize for keeping you away from your bed,” the man took a step back, about to leave, when he raised a brow. “My name is Chan, by the way, yours?”
“It’s Felix, and it was nice meeting you Chan.”
“Dude, just ask him out already!” Jisung declared as he walked into Felix’s apartment unannounced.
Felix regrets giving him a key to his apartment.
“No can do Jisung. I’m pretty sure Chan just wants to be friends. He literally called me bro last night when he was over for ice cream,” Felix reasons as he closes his laptop. He realizes that he wouldn’t be getting any more work done.
“Okay, and? Hyunjin and I have called each other much worse,” Jisung states, plopping down on Felix’s couch. “And we’re still madly in love!”
Felix moves into the kitchen and shakes his head.
“I still don’t see your point Jisung, I think asking him out would mess up the friendship that we managed to have. Plus, he only comes out of his apartment when it’s dark. I’m convinced that he can’t stand the sun,” Felix shivers at the idea of not having the sun shining on his skin constantly.
“I will say this once again: okay and? You rarely leave your place when it hits evening, so you two seem quite similar. Maybe you two can fall in love over your rejections of different times of the day,” Jisung suggests as he scrolls through channels on Felix’s TV.
Felix sighs as he sets the popcorn bag in the microwave. He stares at the bag as it slowly turns into the warm box, frowning as it pops.
Of course, he had fancied Chan for a while now but in Felix’s eyes, there was no point in pursuing a relationship. Felix had never felt a need for one, even when he was in middle school and many pretty people confessed to him, he would always turn them down with a sorry smile. Felix just never understood crushes on people he had yet to know. Yes, he had the occasional interest in a friend, but that in itself never fueled him enough to say that it was love. He knew there was love in the world, like between his parents and with his friends, but he never felt a romantic love that could ever go against the strong love and fondness that he had held for the sun.
Was it weird? Yeah, probably, but maybe Felix just needed to allow someone else into his life to truly understand what it meant to be in love. To feel the warmth that the sun gave him in someone else’s arms. Someone that he knew and could understand easier. Like Chan.
“Felix? You’ve been watching that for a while now, you good?”
As Felix jumped several feet into the air at the sudden voice right next to his ear, his hip smashed against the island.
“Ow ow ow,” Felix rambled as he cowered in pain, clutching his hip as if it were a broken limb.
“Ah shit, I’m sorry ‘Lixie, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Chan apologized, as he rested his own hand on Flix’s hip and placed the other one on his bare torso to steady him.
Growing hot at the nickname and the feeling of cold hands on his abdomen, (why did he have to wear a cropped shirt today?)Felix shook his head and grasped Chan’s hands within his own.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Felix said with a smile, “Just caught me off guard that’s all, also uh, how’d you get into my house?”
Chan had stared at their intertwined hands for a moment before becoming sheepish at the question.
“Right, uh, Jisung just let me in when I knocked. I wanted to see if you were free tonight,” Chan asked, turning slightly red.
“Free?”
“Free!” Jisung exclaimed from the couch.
Both Felix and Chan snapped their heads in the direction of the noise. Felix glared at Jisung, causing him to melt down back into the couch, though the show he had been watching was now paused.
Felix shook his head at the distraction but turned back to Chan with a confused expression.
“Uh, I’m pretty sure I am, but why?”
Chan’s fingers twitched against Felix’s skin, as he articulated his words.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about something actually, so I wanted to get it out of the way now,” Chan stated, nodding along with his own words.
“Oh, okay,” Felix mumbled, mind still focused on Chan’s hands caressing his smaller fingers.
“So is that a yes?”
Felix nodded. “Yeah, I’d love to talk.”
Snap .
“Jisung I swear to god-”
Felix sipped his coffee as he waited for Chan to knock on his door. As pretty as the sunset was, it wasn’t great for his energy supply which was surprisingly depleting a bit too quickly.
Felix checked his face in his phone camera and smiled to himself, even snapping a quick selfie to admire how he looks. It was just simple pink eyeshadow and a bit of eyeliner, but Felix felt so pretty. Hopefully, Chan would like it as well, if he knocked at any time now.
Knock knock.
“Speak of the devil…” Felix mumbled, rising from his chair and speed walking to the front door.
“This is gonna go great, I believe in myself,” Felix muttered as he swung the door open, a hesitant smile on his face.
It wasn’t even a date technically, but something in Felix desperately wanted it to be seen as one. So seeing Chan in a leather jacket and tight-fitting shirt made Felix slightly lightheaded.
“Hey,” Felix breathes out, holding onto the side of the door to keep his balance.
“Hey,” Chan repeats with a smile. “Wanna head up to the roof? The sunset is really pretty.
Felix nods, grabbing his coat from the rack next to the door and slipping his keys into his pocket. He steps out and shuts the door, locking it behind him, and spun towards Chan with a bright smile.
“Let’s go then?”
“Why’d you take me up here? Other than for the sunset I mean,” Felix clarified as he opened the door to exit out of the long stairway.
Chan simply gestured out to the roof, allowing Felix to observe whatever he had planned. Felix gasped at the black blanket laid out on the ground with a basket sitting on top of it, along with an array of colorful flower petals decorating the ground around the blanket. The younger ran up to the spot but stopped at a tall object adjacent to the blanket that pointed towards the sky itself.
“Is this a telescope?” Felix asked as he ran his fingers along the cool metal of the telescope.
Chan trailed close behind and nodded, taking a seat on the blanket and patting at the space right beside him. “Yeah, I thought it would be fun to look up at the stars in better detail.”
“You’re so right,” Felix agreed immediately, taking the seat next to Chan quickly and began to poke at the basket, glancing at Chan for permission.
Chan shrugs and leans back on his hands, watching with amusement as Felix opens the basket with an excited smile.
“Are these macarons? Oh my god,” Felix says with a gasp as he stares at the pretty box labeled macarons inside the basket, “Are you trying to bribe me or something?” Felix questioned with a mock glare.
“Possibly,” Chan says with his twinkling laugh. “I know you don’t enjoy the nighttime, so I wanted to get something to keep you at least mildly energized.”
Felix mentally swoons.
He gapes like a fish for a moment before tilting his head to the side. “You actually remembered that?” Felix asked Chan who simply nodded with a look of confusion drawn on his face. “Why are you so perfect oh my god,” Felix spilled out, staring at Chan as if he just told him that he had hung the stars himself.
Chan’s face grew red and he looked away to the dimming sun that was drowning in the surrounding blues and purples of the sky.
“I just thought it was important to remember since we’re practically opposites,” Chan replied. “You love the day, but can’t stand the night. I sleep through the day but thrive through the night,” He glanced back at Felix who had been intensely staring at Chan as he spoke and looked away just as fast. “We make an interesting pair, do we not?”
Felix huffed and brought his knees up to his chest as he took a bite out of a lemon and blueberry macaron. He swallows and looks up at the sky, watching the stars twinkle. He had never stared up at the sky when he was young, resenting the night for the particular reason that it took away what he loved simply far too quickly. Yet, when he grew older, he had an odd appreciation towards the moon. Though it wasn’t as bright as the sun and had a few imperfections, it still brought a strange sense of comfort to him during the nights when he needed to study for a test or had to work overtime for a shift.
“I think we do,” Felix said, taking another bite of his macaron.
After a few moments of silence, Felix grabs another macaron from the basket, a strawberry one, and hands it to Chan.
The older man accepts it and quietly eats it as Felix asks a question.
“Why do you love the night so much?” He asks, searching Chan’s face as the other thought over the question.
“I think it’s because the night sky is like a weighted blanket? I don’t know why, but the moon just being silent and up in the sky watching over me is just so comforting. I love just staring up at it and soaking in its light and calmness,” Chan scratched his nape as he let out a soft sigh, “ Honestly, I think I relate to the moon a bit too much,” he finished.
“I get it,” Felix said, “I think I’m a bit in love with the sun.”
“Is that why you love to be in it?” Chan questioned, eyeing Felix.
Felix looks back at Chan and smiles. “That’s why I adore being in it, it just energizes me beyond belief,” Felix grabbed another macaron out of the box and handed it to Chan. He watched Chan take a bite before grabbing his own as he looked up at the sky. Felix could feel the tiredness slowly overtake his body, but he tried to stay awake. “I was a bit confused on why you never were outside your apartment during the day,” Felix yawned, “I couldn’t understand why you disliked the day so much considering that I find it so wonderful. Though, I think I get it now, especially when I compare it to my affinity with the sun,” Felix’s head tips down as he leans forward.
Grabbing Felix before he fell over, Chan pulled him closer and allowed him to lay on his shoulder before wrapping his arm around Felix’s shoulders.
“You should get some rest ‘Lixie, you seem extra tired,” Chan whispered.
Felix hummed and let his eyes close.
“I’ve always believed that you’re just as beautiful as the moon Chan, maybe even prettier.”
The sun hit Felix’s face as his eyes fluttered open. He looked around the room he was in and furrowed his eyebrows, not recognizing where he was. All he really remembered was him spending his night with Chan before falling asleep on his shoulder.
He pushed himself up, letting the sheets fall around his body as he examined the bedroom. There were many posters all around the room; from rock bands to astrology posters and even one poster about moon cycles. A desk sat in a corner of the room, near the large window that let the sun's rays shine into the room.
Felix got up from the bed and walked towards the bookshelf and crouched down and observed everything on the shelves. From small moon statues along the shelves and books ranging from biographies to a few romance novels. Felix had realized that this was most likely Chan’s room because of the copious amounts of moon-related items.
As he made his way to the door, he caught his reflection in the standing mirror in the corner and saw his bare face. He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion as he touched his face and noticed that his eye makeup had been cleaned off. Chan probably wanted him to sleep comfortably.
Opening the door to the rest of the apartment, Felix realizes that a majority of the apartment is cast in darkness. Each window was covered by curtains that were closed tightly and a dark figure was moving around the kitchen sluggishly.
“Chan?” Felix called out.
The older man turned around and waved Felix over. He made his way over to Chan and hopped onto his counter eyeing the other with a concerned look.
“Did you like the sun? I thought you would need it,” Chan said with a weary smile. “You seem to recharge better with it shining down on you,” Chan notes, patting Felix’s knee.
Felix analyzed the dark circles under Chan’s eyes and shook his head.
“Yeah, I slept great, but I think you need some sleep as well Chan. Did you sleep at all last night?” Felix questions, finding the courage to brush Chan’s messy hair back with his fingers.
Chan sighed at the touch but shook his head as well.
“I thrive during the night, just like how you thrive during the day,” Chan reasoned, giving Felix’s knee another pat.
Felix raised his brows.
“But,” Chan said with a roll of his eyes, “I should sleep now.”
“You should,” Felix said firmly, hopping down from the counter and punching Chan’s shoulder awkwardly. “I don’t think you ever told me what you wanted to say in my kitchen yesterday though.”
Taking in a sharp breath, Chan glanced away from Felix with a sheepish smile.
“I think my question was already answered,” Chan finally said, a glint of hope shining in his eyes.
Felix tilted his head with a questioning look. “What do you mean by that?”
Chan smiled even wider before grabbing Felix’s waist, causing him to flinch, and pushed him toward the front door.
“You’ll figure it out later, but right now, I need some sleep,” Chan stated as he pushed Felix outside and leaned on the doorframe.
“Wait, wait!” Felix exclaimed, spinning around quickly to catch Chan’s hand in his own. Chan looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. “I really, like, really, enjoyed last night and I hoped that we could do it again sometime? I mean, we didn’t even get a chance to use the telescope and I would love to just sit and talk with you more.”
Bringing Felix’s hand up to his mouth, Chan placed a featherlight kiss onto it and rubbed his thumb over Felix’s knuckles. Chan replied, “I would love to ‘Lixie, I love spending time with you,” let go of Felix’s hand, then closed his door after wishing Felix a lovely day.
Felix sighed, holding his hand to his chest as he internally squealed at the romantic gesture. A smile tugged at his features before he walked the short distance to his door. He patted around his hips for his keys, then remembered that they were in his coat, which was still in Chan’s apartment.
“Fuck,” Felix breathed out. “I’ll just spend the day at Jisung’s.”
There’s a simpleness to love in Felix’s eyes.
Knock knock .
It’s what he’s believed since he was young.
“Hello? Felix, what are you doing at my door at five am?”
While the love for the sun he had since he was a kid was always going to rest the largest in his heart.
“I think I like you.”
Felix knew that he needed to reserve some space for the tender loving moon that always cared over him.
“No, I know that I like you.”