Oxytocin | JJK & KTH | 18+

IX

"What planet is your favorite?" the little girl asked, her tiny frame clutching the weighty encyclopedia as if it held the universe's secrets. Her eyes shimmered like molten embers in the sunlight, accentuating the golden freckles sprinkled across her pale cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

"What planet?" the dark-haired boy queried, a look of bewilderment. Seeking solace in the vast expanse of space, he again found himself interrupted by the persistent girl. "I have no interest in whatever you're babbling about," he retorted, his attention absorbed by the game on his Nintendo Switch. "Please go bother someone else. I want to be alone."

"If I had to choose based on looks, I'd go with Saturn. Its beautiful rings swirling around the gas giant are mesmerizing," she replied cheerfully, undeterred by the boy's dismissive attitude. "But you know what really fascinates me? Rogue planets." The girl's face lit up with excitement, her colorless lips forming a bright smile as she swung her legs back and forth as if on a swing.

"Rogue planets?" Despite his irritation, the boy's curiosity was piqued. "I've never heard of them. You're making this up."

"No, I'm not," she insisted, her furrowed brow drawing attention to the absence of eyebrows, likely due to medical treatment. "Listen, our solar system is just a speck in the vast Milky Way galaxy, with eight planets orbiting our brilliant sun." Pausing momentarily, she sought validation from the boy, who remained silent. Undaunted, she continued, "We have the inner planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, the terrestrial planets. Then there are the outer planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, the gas giants. And let's not forget poor Pluto, demoted to a dwarf planet."

"Alright, enough with the astronomy lesson," the boy interjected, his annoyance palpable.

“Come to the freaking point.”  

"Ah, quite impatient, aren't we?" she teased, a mischievous smile on her lips. With a soft cough to clear her throat, she continued, "Planets exist that do not orbit any star. They wander freely through the galaxy.” The little girl gazed at the boy, and continued her explanation with a touch of excitement. "Rogue planets are those solitary wanderers in space without a solar system to call home."

Intrigued despite himself, the boy finally tore his eyes away from his game and looked at her with a hint of curiosity. "So, they're like cosmic nomads, wandering through space?"

"Exactly!" The girl exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with enthusiasm. "Rogue planets have no fixed path and roam freely through the galaxy, untethered to any particular star. They're like the rebels of the cosmic realm, charting their course."

“And you like that?” "Really?" he asked in disbelief, shifting in his wheelchair.

"Absolutely!" Her voice rang out, filled with an infectious enthusiasm as she sprang to her feet. Her bruised arms reached skyward as if trying to grasp the clouds themselves. "They're free, unfastened to anything. They have the entire universe as their playground. Other planets can only dream of such freedom.” She inhaled sharply as her arms fell to her sides and sat back on the bench; her excitement was suddenly gone, she mumbled. “I wish I could be a rogue planet. Free from all these medications and needles and the people always bossing me around. I want to play and sleep at home…I just want to be a normal girl! ” 

•♡•

"A party?" Taehyung asked as he prepared breakfast. Abigail had just woken up and was still a bit tired. Half of the night, she was searching for an apartment on the internet. Liz, her sister, had also called her in the middle of the night to check on her and see if she was having fun like all students her age. But honestly, Abigail had more important things to do than wild partying, such as finding a place to live before college started.