Chapter 10: The law of gravity
On the young boy's way home, Jungkook began to receive a call from Choi Lee-Young. For a full hour he spent after work and with Jimin, he forgot all about everything he had before and took care of the older man at the care unit. It was like Jimin put a hold to everything Jungkook had and made such a big effect on the young stargazer. Jungkook stopped walking and stood still as he read the name ID over his phone and realized that he hasn't called his girlfriend back all day. For the most part, he was carried away by thinking of the weak man back at the K.S.C.U facility, he didn't even think of his own true love.
“Lee-Young! I'm so sorry… I didn't call back all day…” Jungkook apologized as soon as he threw the phone against his ear and kept walking; carrying his work bag on the other hand with all his notes and work pages for the project he worked with his close friends. “I was so busy! I went to see Jimin after work and I was able to bond with him and get to know about him more.” Jungkook said with a change in his voice that shifted from worry to happy within seconds. “He's such a nice man…”
“Jungkook… I- ugh… that's okay. I wasn't expecting you to call back. You're such a busy man and I understand that. So, should I come over so we can talk face to face? I'd love to hear more about him… I also want to talk about my day too.” Lee-Young said with the amount of interest Jungkook has always hoped her to have towards the topic.
“That would be perfect… I'm walking home right now so meet me there. Then we can watch movies together again and talk about other things.” Jungkook mentioned and this alone sounded perfect to the girl's ears, but she had little doubt of it coming true due to Jungkook's behavior this night with Jimin. It just felt off how Jungkook put his own girlfriend aside to think of Jimin; someone he just met today. However, Lee-Young didn't know that he stayed behind to share a long talk with the older astronaut.
As soon as Jungkook reached home, Lee-Young walked behind him and quickly jumped onto his back to let out a giggle as she wore a white coat covering over her white T-shirt, blue jeans with the sleeves at the bottom rolled up to show her white socks within her yellow timberlands. Her hair was always pulled into a ponytail and her eyes gleamed along with her pale skin each time she'd be with her lover. “I'm here! Tell me all about your day.” Lee-Young insisted as Jungkook smiled and walked forward to unlock the front door to his house.
“Well.. Today I think I made a pretty good impression on Jimin. He's a nice guy… Cute and extremely smart..” Jungkook said as Lee-Young didn't think too much about it. As they reached the living room, Jungkook dropped the girl onto the couch and laid over her. Normally, Jungkook imagined her giggling and trying to scream for him to get off of her, but Lee-Young did the same exact opposite and put the man into a headlock as she began to laugh after. “A-Ah! Alright I'll get off!” Jungkook laughed. Sitting next to Lee-Young and dropping his right arm around her.
“Keep going, I'm listening.”
“Well… So, today I first met Jimin. He came out of the spaceship; pale, weak, and silent. Jimin whispered every word and I never heard his normal voice. He only whispers everything out and he's mostly breathless. He's trying to get used to the oxygen on earth because when he was just in space, his oxygen came from his space suit so he took one deep inhale and exhaled slowly. I guess he was so used to that… Even when he talks, he talks so slow, and smooth, his condition is really bad and he needs to work up his appetite.” Jungkook explained. Yet, he didn't dare to stop just there. “After work, I walked to the care unit to check up on him and I'm glad I did. I passed by his room because I saw him try to stand up and walk, but he hasn't tried that in an earth year. So, he fell and I ran in once he began to cry.”
“Surely, he needed to learn on his own-”
“No.. He allowed me to help him. He said I didn't need to help him but I insisted and he allowed it. But leaving him to do it on his own is frightening…” Jungkook cut his girlfriend off and kept talking about Jimin more. “Ah, he's such an amazing person! I've always wanted to meet him and now that I have, I've never felt more happier. We talked about what got us into astronomy and it felt so much better than talking to Taehyung about the stars without him trying to squeeze in a pick up line, or Namjoon trying to turn everything into an inspirational speech or lecture! Talking to Jimin… Made me feel more motivated to work.” Jungkook spoke and went in about explaining his connection with Jimin. Not really allowing Lee-Young to talk about her day at all. Even after a few minutes, Jungkook never failed to talk about Jimin for a while now.
“Jungkook-”
“Do you think… Jimin likes yellow? I made a planet over his bed in the room that's painted yellow and I want to know if he'll like it or not…” Jungkook then took a pause as Lee-Young finally smiled, having an opportunity to speak when, Jungkook then shook his head and pulled a small smile while rolling his hair back. “He'll love it… I know he will. I'll tell him I made all the planets in the room.” Jungkook continued and this made the boy suddenly jump off the couch. “I wonder what types of food he likes… I will cook for him and make sure he gets enough sleep every day. This is going to be very interesting… I wonder if he likes to play some games.” Jungkook kept talking to himself as he then walked off to Jimin's room and left Lee-Young to fold her arms and throw her head back.
“You know, I had a pretty long day too! Today-”
“Here! I had this yellow sweater for some time now… I don't really like using bright colors, maybe he'll like this one.” Jungkook said and carried an oversized, yellow, sweater. “I don't think it'll fit him, but oversized sweaters really seem to be his style. I'm guessing.” Jungkook interrupted once again. Of course, Lee-Young had so much to say about her day, even then she wanted to just tell Jungkook, but the boy was too excited about meeting the astronaut. “This will be perfect for him…”
“I'm sure it will.” Lee-Young whispered as she then played with the hair tie hugging against her small wrist in silence. She didn't want to go against Jungkook's glee only because it was his first day meeting his role model. She was sure that very soon, he wouldn't have this behavior after the first day he met Jimin.
Meanwhile, Jimin sat on his own bed after crawling and climbing back onto the bed with only using his hands to pull himself up. Finally, he was on the bed and had the red coat spreaded out before him to look at for a good while. Jimin wasn't asleep at all and this pushed his sleep schedule back as his gaze locked onto Jungkook's coat. “How can someone like him be...so thoughtful…?” Jimin whispered to himself and rose the arm sleeves of Jungkook's coat up and held the red coat closer. “I… Have to hide this until he gets back. I can't… Let.. Father see it…” Jimin whispered and pulled it close to his torso where he folded it and dropped it onto his lap once more. “He's the only one that made my day brighter… So, I wonder if I made his…” Jimin said to himself and slowly rose the fabric of the red coat up to his nose. By there, he inhaled the scent of Jungkook's soft cologne and closed his eyes. “I want to see him often… He makes.. Me feel… Happy…” Jimin whispered and after that, he quickly pulled the coat back to gaze at the black buttons.
“He's only nice because… I.. Haven't been on earth… For a.. Year…” Jimin continued to speak to himself to try and push his voice a little louder. “He...pities… me…” Jimin continued and made a sigh to then drop the coat onto his lap. “Out.. Of everyone I remember talking to.. And being friends with, they never… Came to see me… Namjoon… Taehyung. I'm so lonely…” Jimin whispered and hugged the coat close. “I'll hide… This coat for… Him. Mr. Jeon…” Jimin insisted and slid the folded coat under his blanket and hugged it under the covers. For the whole night, Jimin fell asleep late and soon, slept through the morning.
As the sun rose in the morning, Jungkook arrived at work with a dark blue coat, pastel blue dress shirt tucked into his usual black slacks held up with a tight belt and matched with his shoes. The boy rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt, carrying the oversized, yellow sweater he showed Lee-Young last night, and rolled his dark brown hair back to smile at his reflection of the glass door entry to the lab. “I hope Jimin is awake…” Jungkook whispered and fixed his collar. Jeon Jungkook wore the same, soft, cologne and small, silver hoop earrings that brought out the bright stars in his eyes. Today, Jungkook dressed up with the thought of seeing the man he had to take care of. Surely, he was allowed to do so since he was Park Jimin's caretaker.
But at the moment, Namjoon was walking by the care unit; in hopes of seeing Jimin, he approached the room on his own. By there, Namjoon walked up to the window to see Jimin was fast asleep in the white room that matched with the bedsheets and his basic white clothing. However, as Namjoon stared at Jimin longer, he noticed that there was a red coat slightly poking it's sleeves out of the blanket as Jimin slept over it.
“What… what is that?” Namjoon whispered and then opened the door to Jimin's room to get a closer look. He knew he shouldn't be bothering Jimin's sleep, but he picked up the odd color and just knew Jimin only had to wear white clothes under his father's demands. Namjoon walked up to the boy on the bed and slowly pulled the covers to see that Jimin fell asleep with Jungkook's coat. “That idiot…” Namjoon whispered and slowly pulled the coat out and tucked Jimin in. Luckily, it was Namjoon that caught the coat there instead of Jimin's father. “He would have gotten into so much trouble…” The man whispered to himself and scoffed before leaving the room as quiet as possible.
Kim Namjoon spent no other second than to speed walk out of the care unit and run over to Jungkook right by the entry where the younger was still gawking at his own reflection. “Jungkook, you're lucky I caught that.” Namjoon said and with that, Jungkook turned around to see the older drop the coat over the boy's shoulder. “You could have gotten into so much trouble!”
“W-What? I-” Only then, Jungkook's eyes locked with the coat and this made the boy think Namjoon must have gotten the wrong idea. “N-No… No I didn't-”
“Shh… did or didn't, you would have lost your opportunity. Always talk to Mr. Park before doing anything to Jimin or giving him something.” The older man said and to Jungkook, it just felt like a lecture. “Be careful… Almost anything could make Mr. Park want to fire you as Jimin's caretaker. Don't let it happen again.” The man concluded and after that, Namjoon fixed the cuffs of his white dress shirt and rolled his dark brown hair to the side before walking off to bother Taehyung at his station.
Jungkook was left gazing down at the red coat and suddenly caught the scent of Jimin. His scent was soft to his nose, the scent of fresh apricots filled him with a hint of pineapple; in which, was really the scent of the care unit, but this scent alone drew a portrait of Jimin in Jungkook's mind. The boy smiled to himself and dropped his coat and bag at his station before throwing on his lab coat to walk all the way over to the care unit with the yellow sweater in his arms. Jungkook didn't know what he felt. He alone dismissed these thoughts as him growing excited to see the astronaut after his big expedition and waited for the day Jimin came back. However, as Jungkook got to the window of Jimin's room, he rested his elbows on the rails of the window and supported his head with the palms of his hands.
Silently, the young astronomer looked steadily and intently with interest in the older man in the room; sleeping on his own through the morning. It felt like gravity pulled them together; as if they were nothing but objects of mass meeting one another through a gravitational pull. Jungkook found his muse within his role model and grew very inspired through his new friend, Park Jimin. With all these thoughts always revolving around Jungkook like the older man alone was the center of his universe, made Jungkook want to think more and wonder… Maybe it was just too selfish to call his own private, little, universe his and only his.
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