{crumbs: nct one-shots}

{moon: renmin}

concept: "he's the moon and i'm just... one of his stars."

jaemin knew he should have been asleep hours ago. but here he was, sitting on his bed, still awake. he was glad he had his own room, honestly, so he didn't have to worry about waking up any of the other members.

his laptop was shut beside him, his nintendo switch sitting in his lap as he fiddled with the joysticks. he couldn't figure out what was keeping him awake but he thought that maybe movies or video games would help him fall asleep. both had proven to fail.

he sighed and shut the console off, setting it aside. there was a dim lamp sitting on his bedside table. the lampshade made it look like there were stars on his wall, and he used it as a night light when he couldn't sleep. it was a birthday gift from jeno. "i know you always said you loved the stars," he had said. and jaemin did.

he looked around the room at the constellations that had formed on his walls and ceiling. they comforted him in his times of need. they made him feel closer to the people he cared about even if they were far away. that's why he liked stars so much.

there was a gentle knock at his door that broke him from his thoughts. "come in," he said quietly.

renjun's narrow face poked through the opening between the doorframe and the door itself. "you can't sleep either?" he asked.

jaemin shook his head. "nope." renjun nodded, still standing in the doorway. he dipped his head, and jaemin noticed he was shifting slightly from foot to foot. "do you want to come in?" he asked. renjun hesitated, then nodded shyly. jaemin's expression softened and he almost cooed at the older.

he set his laptop and switch aside, scooting over on the bed and opening his arms. "come here."

renjun made his way over to jaemin's bed, sitting beside the younger. he glanced around the room as jaemin set his arms back at his sides. "pretty," he murmured.

jaemin nodded in agreement. "they usually help me when i can't sleep."

as renjun looked around the room, jaemin watched his expression become one of awe and wonder. his eyes glimmered with flecks of light and jaemin was convinced he was stealing the stars off of his wall to hold in his eyes. he seemed to glow. he reminded jaemin of the moon, sitting and glowing brightly in the center of the stars.

"it's like you have the sky in your room," he said. "you're so lucky."

"yeah," jaemin said quietly. he wasn't looking at the stars. "i must be."

the two sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at the stars for a while longer. renjun pointed out different clusters of stars that he thought looked like something. and jaemin listened. he found that renjun loved the stars. to the younger, renjun was the moon. jaemin loved the moon.

~~~~~~~~

the following day at the dorm was pretty chill. chenle sat on the couch playing with the switch while jisung watched over his shoulder. jeno and jaemin were sat at the table. the older was reading a book that doyoung recommended to him.

"must be a good book," jaemin said, glancing at the pages.

jeno nodded contentedly. "i didn't think i would like it, but doyoung was right. it's really good." jaemin chuckled at the older, who immediately went back to reading. "have you told renjun yet?" jeno asked without looking up.

jaemin flushed bright red, putting a hand to the back of his neck. "erm... no," he said hesitantly.

this made jeno shut the book quickly, sliding a bookmark in his page before looking up at jaemin. chenle and jisung looked over, chenle shrugging before he went back to his game. "what? i thought you were going to tell him like two days ago," the older huffed quietly.