Astrophilia 💫 Huang Renjun

💫 2.26

Silver trees lined the sliver streets. Grey being the prominent undertone for the moon while light pastel blues and greens painted the buildings.

Everything felt dull, like a haze of a screen had been slotted over her eyes as if she was wearing grey tinted glasses.

Jihyun didn't know where to look, her eyes darting every which way as she walked the deadly quiet streets.

It was eerily mute, no birds in the sky or trees bending in the wind- she was in a ghost town.

And although the city was lifeless, the lights of every building were still turned on, acting as a resemblance of the lives of the people who once occupied the city.

Jihyun felt queasy, an unknown ball of nervousness and dread filled her stomach as she continuously made her way down the street.

She wrapped her arms around her body as she began feeling compressed and small against the larges of the skyscrapers that held not a single soul.

Gulping down the pressure forming in the back of her throat she let out a raspy "Renjun?"

She had hopes he would answer right away, but only silence returned her call.

As she walked down the street she would peer into the empty shop and cafe windows, expecting to see a lively exhibition but instead she was met with a staged desolation.

Letting out a shaky breath she tried once more as she rounded a corner, "Renju-"

Her call was cut short as she froze in her tracks, eyes widening as the ball in her stomach grew larger.

"What the fuck," she stated simply under her breath.

She could not tell if her eyes were deceiving her, playing tricks on her as she walked the empty streets- but what she was met with made her equally as confused.

The street was filled with an abundance of various mannequins, each posing in a different way.

Her body pulled her forwards, walking to each individual mannequin and inspecting their stances with fright.

Some were holding hands, while some were kissing. There were little kids running around and elderly sitting on benches.

Their faces frozen in time as they stood in stone and plastic.

"Oh Renjun," Jihyun said with saddened eyes, her heart stinging a little.
"I could only imagine what it was like to be alone for so long."

His abandonment led the boy to making a whole street of civilisation, a reenactment of what it had looked like before.

"You made your own city," she continued to speak as she gently dragged her finger along one of the mannequins.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't have come sooner."

Her heart broke for the boy as she continued her way through the street, watching and admiring each little scene he made with the figures with a broken heart.

She walked by each set of mannequins, stopping abruptly in her tracks when one scene caught her eye.

Her eye brows furrowed, head tilting slightly as she slowly made her way over.

She stopped in front of a window, a window that peered into a cafe.

And while cafe booths lined the window, that was not the scene that had caught her attention- but instead the mannequins that sat in the booth.

There were seven of them, all looking like they were meant to be laughing- like they were having fun.

And the longer Jihyun looked at the scene the more she understood- Renjun had recreated their friend group.