Work Text:
Renjun hates going places on his own. He’s not really the most social of butterflies, the most outgoing person, and when he makes plans, it takes a lot out of him to actually follow through with them.
And yet, here he finds himself, alone on what was supposed to be a date. That is, until about 20 minutes ago when his…. Now ex-girlfriend, he supposes, texted him breaking up with him.
But the tickets to this place had been bought already, and Renjun wasn’t about to let a day's worth of plans go to waste. Plus, the planetarium was a pretty cool place, even if Renjun didn’t know that much about them.
He sighs, burrowing himself down into his seat, watching the patterns and spheres move across the ceiling of the building. The colors are pretty at least, but the monotone voice of the recording is hard for him to follow, and he can feel his eyes glaze over a little bit as time goes on.
He startles a little bit when he feels a presence next to him, and he turns his head to look at the other.
Renjun is taken aback by just how pretty the other boy is. His pronounced Cupid’s Bow, the plumpness of his lips turning up into a smile. The smoothness of his cheeks and the upturn of his nose. His eyes drop to the other boy’s chest, where Renjun can see a nametag.
Park Jisung. The tag reads. Let me tell you about my favorite planet.
“I didn’t mean to bother you.” The voice is deep, drawing Renjun’s attention back to his face, but still sweet and tinged with a bit of nervousness. Park Jisung is looking at him, his big eyes wide and anxiously gnawing on his lower lip. “This is just my favorite place to sit, and you happened to be here too, so I just thought I’d sit quietly. I wasn’t talking to myself right?”
Renjun laughs softly at the tumble of information, and shakes his head, his eyes crinkling with a smile. “You’re not bothering me at all, and you weren’t talking to yourself. Honestly, I don’t understand most of this stuff, I just think it’s cool to look at.”
Jisung laughs, running his fingers through his hair. Renjun hadn’t noticed it before, but his locks were a wine red, and Renjun thinks that fits Jisung really well. The color suits him.
“Yeah, the audio can be a bit confusing, honestly. I think it’s really super scientific, I wish they’d change it to something more interesting and digestible, like facts about the planets. Like why they named Jupiter’s moons the way they did.”
“Huh?” Renjun asks, his nose scrunching in his confusion. Jisung blinks owlishly at him a few times, before his lips part into a pretty heart shaped smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Gods above, Renjun might be a little bit in love with him already.
“All of Jupiter’s moons are named after the lovers, and in the later moons, daughters, of the Ancient Greek god Zeus, or Jupiter in Roman Mythology. It’s kind of a funny joke, since the planet has 80 moons, 57 of which have been named.”
Renjun’s eyes widen as he processes the information, looking closer at the large planet with a red spot, a bunch of smaller circles orbiting around it.
“He had that many lovers?” Renjun asks incredulously, blinking a few times. His statement makes Jisung burst into laughter, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. Renjun decides that he likes the way that Jisung’s laugh sounds, the way his eyes turn up into little crescents just like the moon does sometimes.
“Yeah, he really did. After a while, though, they did name some moons after some of his lesser known daughters, but then they went back to lovers after a bit.”
“Fuck, Zeus really got around, didn’t he?” Renjun says before he can think, and his cheeks dust red at the vulgarness of his statement. The sentence sends Jisung into a fit of giggles, and he covers his mouth with his hand to stifle the noise.
Renjun watches him for a second, watches how he pats his chest with his hand, tilting his head to the side to calm himself down. Jisung’s eyes glitter with mirth, and Renjun honestly thinks that the other boy might be the most beautiful person that he’s ever seen in his life.
“Do you have any more interesting stories about space?” Renjun asks, leaning in a little bit closer to Jisung. He can see the way the other boy’s breath hitches at how close Renjun is to him, the gulp of air that he takes in. “Your nametag says to let you tell me about your favorite planet after all.” He drags his fingers across the metal, being a little bit of a tease on purpose.
“Ummm…” Jisung blinks a few times before turning back to the projected universe, pointing over to a small planet with a few moons circling it. “Do you know what planet that is?”
Renjun squints, trying to read the writing next to it. “Pl…uto?” He says, not really sure. Jisung nods enthusiastically, a smile on his face.
“Yes! Pluto is what we call a dwarf planet. Pluto was only discovered in the 1930's, and everyone considered it a planet. But as time went on, other objects in the Kuiper belt were discovered, and in the 1990's, scientists began to question the definition of planet. They decided that since there were too many objects of pretty equal gravity to Pluto, especially Pluto's moons, that they needed to revisit the criteria, and in 2006, they officially deemed Pluto a dwarf planet, demoting it from planet status."
Renjun blinks at him, watching the way that Jisung’s lips move as he talks, the way they turn up at the corners. “I don’t remember ever learning about Pluto as a planet…” Jisung nods, pointing at the planet with a long index finger.
“What we have up here on this projection is only an artist’s rendition of Pluto as well.” Renjun makes a sound of surprise, eyes drawn to the small grey orb. “The first HD photos of Pluto were taken in 2015 by the New Horizons mission, and the famous photo of Pluto with a heart on its side was revealed. This planetarium just hasn’t updated its projections since then.” Jisung laughs softly.
Renjun’s chest constricts at the sound of Jisung’s laugh, and the way that it rings through his ears. Before Renjun can open his mouth to speak again, the lights come up, and Jisung sighs, burrowing himself into his jacket.
“Time’s up.” He says gently, and Jisung looks at Renjun with the biggest stars in his eyes, a small pout on his face. Renjun gnaws on his lower lip, thinking for a minute.
He must think for too long, because Jisung rises from his seat like liquid, almost gliding. Renjun’s throat constricts in panic. He can’t stop the words that burst from his mouth, desperate and tumbling into each other in speed.
“Wait, Jisung, when-”
“7 pm.” Jisung turns, a shy smile turning up his lips. “That’s when my shift ends. I like chicken and soju, if you wanted to get some dinner after this?” Renjun just nods dumbly, before scrambling in his pockets for his phone. He unlocks it, pushing the device into the other’s hands. Jisung giggles softly, typing away, before he gives the phone back, putting his hands into his pockets.
“I’ll see you after work, then?” Renjun says, and Jisung grins, dipping his head in agreement before he has to run off to help set up for the next exhibit. Renjun looks down at the phone in his hands, a smile turning up his lips.
Park Jisung 🌙