I See Colors | Taegi

twenty-four

"I think Venus is
   a much more interesting planet
   than Mars."

Yoongi hums
and takes a piece of chicken we're sharing
in between his chopsticks.

The fact that Yoongi's colorblind
is still on my mind,
but now
I'm able to separate that fact from
his personality.

"We know a lot about Mars,"
I add,
"We know that it has water
that's now frozen in dirt.
We know that it has a thin atmosphere
made out of carbon dioxide and other things
with only a little oxygen.
It could've possibly
supported life in the past.
We are even beginning to discover
the inner parts of the planet."

I pause so I can figure out what to say next.

Yoongi's staring
at the small container of chicken
I set up on the folding table in the room
where I had gotten the guitar chair from.

"But Venus is unique too."
I tell him,
"It was the first planet that was explored.
It's hotter than Mercury
because it's atmosphere is so thick that
it traps the sun's heat,
and because it doesn't have any known plate tectonics,
which stops it from cooling.
It's closer to Earth than Mars is
and has multiple things in common with Earth.
It rains sulfuric acid,
which is also what makes it so hot.
It also rotates on its axis
backwards.
Scientists even think that there's microbes
existing in its clouds,
which means that Venus may have
some form of life on it."

"You know a lot about Venus."
Yoongi observes
and eats another piece of chicken.
"The most I know about Venus
is that it's named after the Roman goddess
of love and beauty."

I hum.
"It's surface is also thought to be
half a billion years old,
which means at some point
it completely resurfaced itself."

"Maybe that's what gives it its name."

I laugh
and take a piece of chicken as well.

   "You're in astronomy.
   Do you know anything about it?"

   Yoongi sits still for a while,
   his eyes not blinking until the last moment.
   I swallow my food.

   "Well,"
   He begins,
   "I know that Mars is also known as
   'The Red Planet'
   and it was named after the Roman god of war.
Um...
Pludo's not a planet...
The Earth isn't flat...
Yeah."

I laugh again.

"Admittedly,
I'm not doing that well in astronomy."

   "I can help you."
   I smile,
   "Usually friends do better jobs
   teaching what they know
   than teachers do."

   "...I wouldn't exactly agree with that."

   I try to mimic Yoongi's humor.
   "Maybe all the friends you had
   were just dumb."

   Yoongi chuckles
   and part of me feels
   accomplished.

   "I guess you could try."
   He shrugs,
   "I'm kinda a lost cause though."

   "The only time someone's a lost cause
   is when they refuse to try."

   "...Good point."

   I smile again
   and take another bite out of the chicken.

   While I'm thinking,
   quiet giggles leave my mouth.
   Usually I would be afraid of people's judgements,
   but Yoongi has something to him that says:
   'I'll judge you poorly
   if you judge me poorly.'

   Maybe I'm trusting Yoongi
   too quickly.