In his final moments, or in the first few moments of his death, Kyungsoo had a flashback to his past. He knew the tales of flashbacks before death but he didn't imagine them like this. There were no images, sounds or distinct memories. Just... feelings. His body experienced the flashbacks whilst his mind tried to recall those memories. Something Kyungsoo found even more curious was the fact that he only experienced one memory. The moment when he left the Earth's atmosphere.

I suppose that's fitting. That was the start of the journey that led me to my death.

The wash of energy over his body, the white noise in his mind, the lack of control of his limbs... everything felt the same. Just the way that he remembered it.

☆☆☆

In amongst seemingly endless white corridors, stood Jongin. In one hand he held a clipboard, and in the other, a pen.

"Has the latest shipment come in yet?", he asked the empty space before him.

"Yes", was the electronic reply, "It came in three minutes ago".

With no change in facial expression, Jongin began to make his way towards the room that he visited so frequently.

The route was imprinted in his mind, preventing him from ever getting lost in this maze. One certainly could get lost forever.

This was the daily routine for Jongin.

His echoing footsteps reverberated through the halls so rhythmically, so concise, that the sound seemed pre-recorded.

The white room approached, the oval door waiting to be opened with just a touch of the hand. Jongin placed his palm on the scanner and waited three seconds before the doors opened. Unlike the other pre-determined aspects of his life, what was waiting in that room never followed a pattern.

Most days there were so many chondrites that it would take hours to count them all, but Jongin did. He was on inventory, after all.

Space debris, the discarded wonders of the universe.

Today, however, Jongin wouldn't be counting chondrites. In the room waited something that would alter Jongin's life completely.

When he saw the metal contraption, he recognised its function immediately - it's a ship. It wasn't a particularly large ship, and from an initial, three second inspection, it didn't seem to have any weapons.

Protocol demanded that anything abnormal needed to be reported immediately. Yet Jongin couldn't seem to drag his feet away from the doorway. Something in that room was calling out to him, drawing him in. So for the first time in his life, Jongin disobeyed orders.

This could be a trap. Enemies could be laying in wait inside the ship. But Jongin paid little heed to his voice of reason. Dropping the clipboard and pen, he took one step, then two, and three and four until he could reach out and touch the ship with his bare hands. But he wouldn't.

He could feel the heat of the metal radiate and wash over his skin. The white room's cooling settings were not prepared for a shipment of this size, and neither was he. As the seconds increased, as did Jongin's voice of reason. He should not deviate. He should follow orders.

But still, there was something that wouldn't let him leave. And that something made itself apparent only seconds after. A thud from inside the ship made Jongin blink curiously in shock. He walked around to the far side of the room until he came face to face with a large transparent panel.

He could see inside the ship and the creature inside could see out. For a moment, Jongin wasn't sure if this was a scheduled training session, and if it was he had certainly failed. But the eyes of the creature within were so stunned, so confused and so... pleading that Jongin was sure this wasn't a hologram.

Jongin opened his mouth to communicate with the creature, but stopped himself before he did. Would it be able to understand me? Would it be able to hear me? How do I know this creature isn't hostile?

He wasn't sure of any of these things. He had lost his train of thought.

The usually organised and routinely Jongin was frozen in his tracks, unsure of what to do next.

The creature inside continued to stare at him, and Jongin stared back. That at least, he could do.

In terms of its form, the creature didn't appear to have a different shape than that of Jongin's body. In fact, if he hadn't seen it inside this ship he could have mistaken it for one of his own.

But the eyes. So wide. That would have been a giveaway. The creature's facial features were full of expression that Jongin wasn't sure what the creature was trying to express.

Hesitantly, the usually assured Jongin reached out a hand and splayed his fingers on the transparent material. He realised a second too late that he had made an error in judgement, something he didn't often do. Today was an anomaly both for him and for the white room. He pulled back his hand as fast as he could and stared at his palm. It was red, sweltering and causing enough pain to run through Jongin that it seemed to kick his mind back into gear.

The ship is hot. The creature doesn't appear to have a tolerance to heat. It needs assistance.

Abandoning all thought of observing the creature, Jongin pressed a button on his communications device and spoke into the microphone. The white room didn't have automatic sensors like the corridors did.

Five minutes later, and a team of suited-up specialists arrived and removed Jongin from the room. What they did behind the closed doors, Jongin didn't know. He could only assume they extracted the creature from its ship.

The doors opened and the team walked out. In the middle of their circle was a transporting pod, a transpod.

The creature. Jongin realised. They must be taking him to the medical unit.

Jongin was informed that he was not able to access the white room for the remainder of the day, as the items inside were now to be dealt with by a person of higher command.

It wasn't often that his schedule was disrupted like this, it wasn't often at all. This was only the second time this had happened, and the first he shared the experience with a partner.

 Jongin stared up the corridor and watched as the transpod disappeared from sight.

It wasn't until he stood there alone that his hand reminded him of the almost excruciating pain he was experiencing. Jongin wasn't sure how he had forgotten.

As he stared down at his palm once more, he considered his options. This mark was proof of his disobedience, yet if he were to go to the medical unit now, perhaps the pain could be lessened. And, he would get to observe the creature some more.

Jongin followed the path the transpod took with little more than a second thought.

The story that followed was not one Jongin could have predicted.

The way I've written this story so far is a little... choppy. I'm not sure how this style will be taken, but it suits the mood of the story and the characters at this current moment, so hopefully it doesn't bother you readers too much ^^;

Thank you for reading <3