Work Text:
〔 DAY 2 〕
Jimin thought he would be able to wait at least a week but here he is with the recorder in his hand, his finger hovering over the PLAY button. Yoongi gave it to him when they were saying their goodbyes.
“Just in case you feel lonely up there.”
Jimin feels lonely. The universe is dark and unnervingly still around him. He knows his ship is travelling fast yet it seems stuck in the infinity spreading its tentacles around it.
He used to love solo missions. He still does in a way, his heart still beating like crazy with excitement and awe at the view outside his round windows. But it is different now. Now, he yearns for the home and the warm bed he knows are getting farther and farther away.
That brings him back to the recorder in his hand, a little black human technology. His two antennae tilt on his head, curious. It has been a long day making sure everything was ready in the lab and his dinner was a sad affair in the emptiness of the ship.
He pushes the button.
“One, two, one, two,” the voice of his boyfriend echoes in his earphones, the sound crackling a bit. “Hi, Jiminie. I thought you might feel a bit lonely so…here is a little bit of me, coming into space with you.”
Jimin curls up on himself where he is floating in weightlessness. His antennae glow a warm pink in the semi-darkness. He closes his eyes and lets his boyfriend’s voice fill the void.
“When you hear this, I’ll be missing you a lot. I’m sure Tangie will be disappointed when I come home without you. He’ll make this little face that seems to say ‘where is appa?” and I won’t be able to explain to him how amazing you are, going on a mission to study our dear B06-13ts. She is a lucky moon, uhm, having you all for herself. I am so proud of you, you know, well you always say I say it too much but I really am. You’re the best. I love you, baby. And I already miss you. You’re still in the station and I already miss you.”
When he opens his eyes, Jimin sees his tears floating in front of him, the purplish light coming from the universe outside turning them into little blueberries.
〔 DAY 5 〕
The real deal starts now. The launch into orbit of Jimin’s ship was a success. B06-13ts looks huge outside of his round windows. Huge and blue, so blue like a warm ocean he could just slip into.
He gets to work as soon as he wakes up. His boyfriend’s voice is purring softly in his earphones.
“...so nervous the first time I talked to you. You were already looking at me with that little frown on your face. Now that I think about it, you were really cute…”
He pushes a few buttons and holds his breath.
“...that the former lab director was an asshole.”
A little trill escapes Jimin’s throat when the mechanical arm smoothly unfolds outside the ship and gets into position to collect a sample.
“...tried very hard. That’s why I loved lab meetings. You were so argumentative and you were right every damn time. I really learned to shut up and listen…”
Jimin waits anxiously. He taps his fingertips on a little pile of petri dishes. Then, finally, the arm retracts and he hurries to take a look at the sample.
“...think it was the first time you smiled at me. It’s a bit pathetic how happy I was about it. You just…you just blow me away every time you smile, baby. Your little teeth are so…”
He gets in front of the microscope, takes a look, and smiles.
〔 DAY 7 〕
Jimin needs to ration himself. There are only ten recordings in the recorder and he has already listened to six of them.
So he floats around, trying to listen to some music instead. It works for a few hours, then he gives in.
“One, two, one, two. Hi, Jiminie…”
〔 DAY 8 〕
Nothing is working.
The experiments give the wrong results and Jimin cannot seem to find where the problem comes from. One of his robots stopped working and he spent the whole morning fixing it.
He eats his lyophilized food quietly. Outside, B06-13ts is showing him her dark side. When she is not illuminated by her sun, she looks too bare, raw in a way that feels threatening. He has that realization sometimes that he could scream at the top of his lungs and nobody would come.
〔 DAY 11 〕
“Do you ever think about our first kiss?”
Jimin pushes the buttons, the mechanical arms unfolds.
“We were alone in the lab, everyone was partying for the hundredth anniversary of the station. It’s funny, the thing I remember the most is your hair. You know, how your hair feels like hot water, completely different from mine.”
He waits, his antennae glowing an anxious orange.
“And I remember the sounds you were making, fuck. I love your voice, baby. Your little trills. The way you laugh. That night, you taught me a lot about love.”
The arm retracts. He floats in front of the microscope and frowns.
“I always thought I knew a lot about love, that I had it all figured out and then you came, put everything upside down. It’s like my heart has mutated to be able to love you like you deserve. You gave me a new heart, baby. “
He looks again, adjusts the lens.
“So be safe, I need you here. Need you with me until we’re old and sick.”
He hurries to his desk, scribbles numbers on a tablet.
Could it be?
He thinks he knows. He knows why nothing is working.
〔 DAY 13 〕
Jimin blasts loud music in his earphones all day.
He floats from one part of the ship to another. He needs everything ready tonight if he wants to break out of B06-13ts’s orbit on time.
In the lab, his experiments are going well. It seems he has gotten what they wanted and more. He feels even a little smug. He really is that good at his job, uh. The best, like Yoongi says. Take that, old ugly human who used to be his asshole of a lab director.
He sits in the cockpit and takes a deep breath. He can do this.
The ship jolts and cracks but after half an hour, he looks out the window and sees his dear B06-13ts shrinking away as his ship flies towards the station.
To celebrate he allows himself to eat two portions of lyophilized ramen. He floats in front of the windows, eyes filling with tears as the universe flows in front of him, as terrible as it is beautiful.
He feels humbled. He feels proud.
The music is still playing, filled with the happy trills of his people. His antennae sway softly to the rhythm of the familiar instruments.
He did it.
He can go home.
〔 DAY 16 〕
Drifting away in an ocean of light, Jimin clutches the recorder in his hand.
There is one last recording he has been keeping for his last evening on the ship, as a reward for his hard work.
He wonders for an instant, thinking that maybe he should wait until tomorrow but he has been waiting all day to hear it, he wants it now.
He pushes PLAY.
“Uhm, Jiminie, I’ve got nothing more to say. I love you, now get your ass back here.”
Jimin giggles, presses the button again.
“Uhm, Jiminie, I’ve got nothing more to say. I love you, now get your ass back here.”
He is laughing with his whole body now, feeling truly weightless for the first time in days.
He puts the recording on repeat. Far away, the orange shape of his planet is piercing through the darkness.
“Uhm, Jiminie…”
〔 DAY 17 〕
The orange planet might be where he comes from but home is much smaller. At first, it is imperceptible but as his ship gets closer, he sees it, the tiny shiny station orbiting the planet.
Knowing a welcoming committee is waiting for him, he puts on his purple uniform and applies a bit of blush on his antennae. He feels a little embarrassed about wanting to feel pretty but he pushes through it. He does not want Yoongi to find him ugly when he sees him again.
He is sitting in the cockpit when the communications are restored. Taehyung’s voice rings in his headset.
“Here is Spatial Station 134340 for Ship 1310.”
“Roger, here is Ship 1310. Ready for docking.”
“Five minutes before docking. Hi, Jimin-ah.”
“Hi, Taetae. Did you miss me?”
His friends chuckles on the line. “We all did. But I think our dear director almost died from despair over here. You’ll need to fix him when you get back.”
Jimin giggles, the pink skin of his cheek turning a hue darker.
“I’ll do my best, Taetae.”
“I bet you will. Four minutes before docking.”
It feels unreal, to be docked to the station and to feel gravity weighing on his body again. When the doors of the ship open, the light blinds him for a minute. Some of his colleagues help him out of the ship into the big hangar but his body is not as disturbed by the change of gravity as a human body so he is soon able to walk on his own.
He hears cheers and applause as he approaches the welcoming committee. There are photographs and high-ranking officers but his eyes are searching for a dark-haired human with pale skin.
Their eyes meet suddenly, like two comets.
It is almost a shock, love and longing suddenly throbbing through Jimin’s chest as he sees Yoongi’s soft, proud smile. He hesitates, unsure if his boyfriend is okay with their relationship becoming that official. He is the lab director after all and Jimin is just a researcher.
But it is Yoongi who walks to him first, fast as if he wishes he could run instead. And Jimin stumbles a bit before falling into his arms.
He presses his face in the hollow of Yoongi’s neck, sighing against the cool skin of the human. Yoongi’s perfume is the home he has been missing.
“Hi,” Yoongi whispers, sounding a little choked up.
Jimin trills at the sound of his voice. His real voice. At last.
He feels like he has not used his own voice in years when he croaks out:
“Missed you.”
He can feel Yoongi swallow a sob so he presses closer, his hands gripping the back of his boyfriend’s suit. The people around them are still cheering, still applauding.
Yoongi kisses the skin just under his ear and pulls him closer.
“Let’s get you home, baby.”