The next morning you woke up to rain. You listened to the soft, soothing sound of the rain hitting your rooftop as you thought back to last night. It was hard to believe that aliens were real in the first place, let alone that they were here. And that you were in love with one. Why me? You wondered as you sighed and got out of bed.

As you sat down to eat breakfast, you looked out the window. It was a gloomy day, but that didn’t ruin your mood. You loved the rain, how it cleansed everything and washed away your worries. Usually. You saw movement out of the corner of your eye and looked closer. There was a large brown rabbit hiding under one of the pine trees in your backyard.

It wasn’t doing anything, just sitting there, alert and ready for a fight. You opened the back door and it looked at you. After staring for a few moments, you decided to go check on it. You unfolded your umbrella and approached it, fully expecting it to freak out and run away. But it stayed right where it was, calmly observing you with unnatural green eyes.

You knelt down in front of it, shielding it with your umbrella. “Are you okay little guy?” You extended your hand for it to smell you but instead it put it’s paw in your hand to shake. You blinked in surprise and it seemed amused. “You’re one of the boys, aren’t you?” It gave you a short nod and you could feel your pulse quicken in excitement. “Which one are you? Are you Youngjae?” No response. “You’re not Himchan since your fur is brown… Ah, Jongup?” He jumped and twisted in the air a little, confirming your guess. You grinned at the action before looking around.

“So… What are you doing out here in the rain?” In response he sat up on his hind legs and turned his head, surveying the backyard. “You’re not standing watch, are you?” He nodded and you sighed in exasperation. “Well I doubt I can change your mind now that you’re already here. So here, take this. I’m going to work.” You left the umbrella with him so that he could at least stay dry before patting his head lightly and walking back into your house.

You worked as a lifeguard at the indoor waterpark in town and it was a great job. You got dressed in your uniform and gathered your things, grabbing your keys off of the table. You glanced out the back window again to see the rabbit was still there, laying on it’s stomach in a relaxed pose. You waved at him and he yawned in response.

****

Work was really busy. On rainy days, the park was packed with people that would usually be swimming outside. As you stood at your station, diligently watching the swimmers in your area, a group of guys made their way through the water to stand near you. They stared at you for a bit while talking and joking amongst themselves. You tried to ignore them, not really in the mood for the conversation you knew was coming.

“Hey, lifeguard!” One of the boys called out to you and you inwardly groaned. Putting on your best smile, you glanced over at them.

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah, I have a question. If I drown, are you gonna save me? What if I need mouth to mouth?” He joked while his friends laughed behind him.

You took your eyes off of your area to look him up and down. He was lean, but still well-built. His black hair was wet and slicked back. His eyes were amused, but intense, and a smile played on his lips. “Yes.” You replied simply. It was, unfortunately, a question you got too often. Your co-workers said it was because you were pretty cute, but you disagreed. Guys just liked to pick on you.

The boys hooted and hollered, smacking the boy’s back. You were irritated and decided to take it a step further. “Though it’s not really like I have a choice. If I didn’t save you, I’d get fired.” You said, then smirked. “Also, we don’t use mouth to mouth anymore. There’s other techniques. Sorry.”

The boy glared at you the more you talked then rolled his eyes. “Fine, be that way. Come on, guys, let’s go.” They swam away, casting looks back at you every now and then until they were out of sight. You sighed and continued to scan the pool, trying to push the boy’s unnerving stare to the back of your mind.

By the time your shift ended you had saved a few drowning kids, patched up some hurt knees, and yelled ‘walk’ more times than you could count. Your co-workers had all left and you were the last one to walk out to the parking lot. You held your keys tightly in your fist so that they poked out between your fingers like claws. You knew enough about self defense to never just walk around at night.

The rain had passed. Tonight was clear and it was a new moon. Meaning the stars would be out and intensely bright. You smiled to yourself as you decided to go up and visit your spot to stargaze, hoping Yongguk would join you like he used to.

As you approached your car, an ominous feeling swept over you and you stopped. “Hey, lifeguard.” A familiar voice called from behind you. You turned to see the guy from earlier today with a few of his friends walking toward you. You stiffened, your hand tightening around your keys as you plotted an escape.

You found your voice as you started backing up toward your car. “Can I help you?” The conversation was going exactly the same as this afternoon’s.

“Yeah, you could come with us.” He said, a smirk on his face.

“Like hell I will.” You replied, trying to sound brave as your heart thundered in your chest. Strong arms wrapped around you and held you in place. You struggled and their hold tightened, making it difficult to breathe.

“Come on, girly, don’t be like that.” The man came closer and caressed your cheek. You kicked your legs out as hard as you could while spitting in his face. He backed away quickly as you continued kicking. Your foot connected with your captor’s sensitive area and their hold on you loosened just enough for you to slip out. You turned and slashed your keys across his face before running away, back toward the building.

Before you had made it more than ten feet you were hit solidly in the back, sending you tumbling to the ground. You rolled over and laid on your back as the leader came over and straddled your waist to sit on you. He leaned down, grabbing both of your arms and pinning them above your head. He positioned them so that he could hold both arms with one hand.

“Don’t make this more difficult on yourself, kid. Take us to Yongguk and we’ll let you go free.” He pulled out a knife. The sharp steel glinted in the light given off by streetlamps in the parking lot. Holding it against the skin of your cheek, he grinned. “We know you know where they are. Take us there and you’ll be unharmed, I promise.”

“No way in hell.” You spit in his face again and he let out a disgusted growl. He sliced the knife along your cheekbone and your could feel a warm wetness slipping down along the side of your face to your ear and into your hair.

“Fine, be that way. I’m sure they’ll come to us anyway.” He looked up and when you followed his gaze you could see a pair of bright pink eyes glint in the light as it stared at you. They belonged to a large blonde owl, which took off the moment it was spotted. It circled the parking lot once before flying away towards the mountains. “Pack her up.”

The man got off of you and you were quickly grabbed by two others and hauled toward an SUV. You continued to struggle, determined not to make it too easy on them. That plan was squashed, though, as a piece of chloroform-covered cloth enveloped your mouth and nose. You had no choice but to breathe the harsh chemicals in and the last thing you saw as your head rolled back was the constellation of Orion, especially bright in the night sky.

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