Step Out: Records | Stray Kids x Reader | Oneshots

Jeongin - Fox In The Dandelion Sea

[Jeongin]

One of my earliest childhood memories was lying down flat on an emerald hill. Below stood rows after rows of swaying spherical cotton balls, each looking on the cusp of exploding into a million miniature copies of itself to be carried away across far reaches of the kingdom.

A perfectly picturesque scene of the dandelion sea, with me, lost within its bliss like a sleeping fox.

Maybe its the way you say my name

"Jeongin!"

My head turned slightly in the direction of your incoming voice, afraid to startle the resting flowers. Unfortunately for them, you were already barrelling headfirst beside me and caused a patch of dandelions to take flight. You had laughed at how my dark hair was dotted by a scattering of white fuzz like snow, completely oblivious to the one that landed on the tip of your nose until I blew it away.

This merely inspired you to pluck out another hapless dandelion, somehow miraculously intact, and hold it out in front of me. You chirped, "Make a wish!"

I regarded you sceptically, before obliging with an "Alright." Partly because I was curious as to whether there was truth behind the fairytales, and partly because I enjoyed fostering your beaming smile. I took one overexaggerated deep breath and puffed the dandelion straight into your face.

The seeds settled around us as our bodies toppled over each other in fits of laughter, the August sun bemused by our antics.

Maybe it's the way you play your game

So there we remained, you stubbornly refusing to relieve my back of your weight as your chin rested atop my head. Up on that hill, we idled away countless twilights watching in wonder as the sky dappled in streaks of pink and orange inevitably subdued to a muted purple kiss.

"So~ what did you wish for?" you interrupted the stillness with a prying question, back when we were strangers to silence.

"I can't tell you that, silly, or else it won't come true." I rolled over so that you abruptly landed on the grass.

This prompted you to pout and cross your arms over your chest. "Hmph, you're no fun, Innie."

"Well, what did you wish for?"

"Me?" You asked as if I could have possibly spoken to anyone else, then faced heavenward. "I wished that the sky would stay like this forever. It's beautiful," you exhaled.

Now, I don't remember much about my childhood, but I do recall the way I had gazed longingly at your side profile with your chin pointed into the endless stretch of clouds, long wild hair caught in the breeze over your shoulders.

And I recall how you were so lost in thought that you completely missed it when I had breathed out a "Very beautiful" in response.

But it's so good, I've never known anybody like you

That particular spot on the hill overlooked the tiny silhouette of the palace in the distance, its magnificent structure towering over all of the kingdom's citizens. It was a constant reminder of the ever-extensive expanse of the royal family's power - a constant reminder of the status disparity between us.

But up on that hill, it was just far enough away for the princess to escape her nagging attendants for an otherwise improbable opportunity to meet the lowly seamstress's son. In these stolen slivers of our divergent lives, we snatched the setting summer suns for ourselves.

Too young to be concerned about the repercussions of being found out. Too young to realize dandelions were too transient to serve as mementoes of the times we would later mourn.