Months had gone by and I haven’t heard from the aliens since. They have affected me a lot. I spaced out in class a lot and I’ve been a lot quieter, even when Jiho talked to me. Now that the boys suddenly disappeared from school, everyone had been a lot quieter. I was sitting in class, waiting for class to start when someone suddenly covered my eyes. "Mimi," Jiho cooed. I stiffened at that name. It has been haunting me ever since they left. "Guess who it is," he sang. "Jiho," I sighed. I’ve been getting tired of his playfulness. He let go and sat down on his canvas, pouting. "Am I doing something wrong? It doesn't seem like you want to talk to me anymore." I turned to look at him. "It's not that. It's...really complicated." He pulled my knees, turning my body towards him. "I'm right in front of you Eun Mi, don't do this all by yourself. I don't know what kind of problems you have but you need to snap out of it. I'm your friend - your best friend. You can tell me anything." I smiled at his hospitality but it isn't something I can freely talk about. Not just yet. "Thanks oppa, but I'm not ready yet. I'll tell you when I'm ready." He affectionately smiled and rubbed my head. "It's okay, I won't rush you. Now...do you have anything to give me?" he gave her a big smile. I raised my eyebrow in confusion. He pouted and crossed his arms. "It's Valentine’s Day!" I blankly stared at him until my brain finally processed his words. "Today's valentine's day?!" "Are you the only person who doesn't realize the lovey-dovey atmosphere here?" He was right. I looked around and saw most girls giving red heart-shaped boxes to their boyfriends and crushes. I slapped my head a couple times. "It's Valentine ’s Day! I forgot to make chocolate for Himchan and -" I stopped. Did I just forget they're out of my lives now? "...Himchan? The traditional music major? Your cousin? He transferred a long time ago. You said your cousins moved out. Are you sure you're alright?" he felt my forehead. I slowly nodded. “I'm fine. Perfectly...fine." As days went by, things weren't fine at all. I lost total concentration in class and failed a couple tests or so. I never felt like eating or smiling. There was no reason to smile anymore. One day, Jiho and I were outside in the spring weather for lunch. "Hey look Mimi, I made your favourite tuna sandwich." He held out his sandwich. I took it but I didn’t say anything. "What do you have for lunch Mimi? Trade with me." I opened her bag and pulled out a bag of chips. "That's it...?" He took the bag from my hand. I nodded and put the sandwich away. "Hey, why aren’t you eating it?" "I'll eat it later for dinner," I told him. "Lee Eun Mi!" he yelled. "What has gotten into you? Every lunch, I see you with a bag of chips and you don't even eat it most of the time! I give you my lunch and you say you’ll eat it later, but I doubt you eat anything at home either. What if you pass out of exhaustion and malnutrition? I'm sick and tired of this! I'm sick and tired of you being so depressed!" I shook my head and gave him a small smile, trying to calm him down a bit. “There’s nothing wrong, so don’t worry.” "Don't give me that kind of crap!" I was taken aback by his loud, angry voice. I have never seen him so angry before. It was probably his first time I've ever seen him angry. He was all smiles and jokes but not today. "I'm coming home with you after school. No excuses." As he said, he followed me home after our last class ended. I had no energy to refuse so I let him follow me home. It wasn't like I was hiding anything. Not anymore. "We're here," I announced and punched in the code to the door. I led him to the kitchen. “Wait here, I’ll go change first.” I came down with fresh clothes to see him in front of my fridge. "What are you doing?" I asked him. He turned around and looked at me. "When was the last time you went grocery shopping?" I don’t remember actually. "Uh…three days ago, why?" "What did you buy?" he asked me. "Do you need to know?" "What did you buy?" he raised his voice. "Chips and ramen," I replied, still not comprehending why he would suddenly ask that. "That's all you've been eating?” he whispered at first. “The fridge isn't even on! It's completely empty!" he raised his voice. "Where do you keep the ramen and chips?" I couldn’t even get a word out of my mouth before he yelled at me again. I pointed to the cupboard to his left. I still didn't know why he suddenly got mad about my fridge and ask about my ramen. Did he want a pack himself? He didn't need to ask so assertively. Jiho immediately opened it and packages of chips and ramen fell to the ground. Many different brands and flavours of ramen and chips were spread out on the floor. "Hey! It took me a long time to put those back!" I walked towards the food and placed them back into the cupboard. Jiho grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the mess. "Hey, what are you…?" Jiho grabbed a black garbage bag and began stuffing it with the food. "Stop! That's my food!" I tried to grab his arm and stop him but he pulled away and kept stuffing the black bag with my food supply. “Stop!” I grabbed his arm again but he easily threw my hands off his arm. "No, you stop it!" I stared at him in surprise. "I've been worried sick about your health and this is what I find? Packages of chips and ramen aren't going to do you any good! I hate seeing you like this! I hate it so much! Why can't you tell me what's wrong? Why can't you?I want to help you, Eun Mi. This is hurting me as much as it hurts you!" "Fine I'll tell you what it is!" I yelled. "It’s boys. Boys are the ones who are making me like this!" His angry hasn't faded away but he looked at me in confusion. "What do you mean...?" I continued, "They invaded my life as soon as I met them. At first I didn't want be any part of them but I still accepted them into my life. They were ignorant, stubborn, innocent, cute - every kind of person out there you can find. They were all but one thing. They weren't mean or cruel like everyone else was to me. Sure, one was mean and cruel but it was only for discipline." I remembered Yongguk always scolding me about every single thing. "They were each other's friends. They loved to pick on each other, play with each other and throw mud balls at each other." I really loved that day. “They liked to make stupid random jokes just to make me cheer up. They don't like it when people make fun of me or bother me. They're real super heroes." Himchan and Zelo were the ones who made me smile the most. "They all tried to protect me but when it was my turn to do the same...I couldn't do it." The image of an IV needle stuck to Daehyun's arm flashed in my head. I grabbed my head with my hands. "I wasn't able to protect them like they protected me. Even though I accepted to be their protector, I couldn't do it. One little mistake from me and their lives could be over. They were my source of happiness and -" I chocked on my tears. "I let them go! I let them go Jiho, and I want them back! It’s been months since they left and I can't stop regretting my decision. It's… it's…" I fell to the ground and out. --- I woke up with a massive headache. I tried to get up but there was something or someone on my blanket. I looked to my left and saw a head resting on their arms. I tried to remember what happened before I out. Jiho probably felt me move since he woke up, rubbing his eyes. He sat up. "You're awake." He rubbed my head, making my bed head even messier. "How long have you been here?" I asked, fixing my hair. He looked at the clock. "It’s already morning, so...1, 2, 3… 14 hours?" "What?" I looked at the clock and it had struck 8. Jiho and I came home around 5. He was with me for more than 14 hours! "Oppa, you should've gone home! Let me get you something to sleep on. We'll ditch class today." I got up but he pushed me back down. "Stay there. You don't need to get up. I’m fine." I tried to say something but he silenced me. "Now, not to bring too much stress to you, but who are those boys you talked about yesterday?" "They're..." I hesitated. I didn't know how to say it. I've held it a secret for too long. They weren't on Earth anymore, so there was no point in hiding them from my best friend, right? Jiho is the only one in the world who understood me. He was patient when it came to me but I knew I shouldn't be hiding my secret any longer. They weren't coming back anyways. I've chased them out for good and I regret it. I really do but I couldn't turn back time. So I told them what they were. I told them my so-called cousins were aliens. I waited for him to laugh, scoff and then tell me I was crazy. "Aliens?" he questioned. Then, I told him everything. I told him everything from the beginning. I told him how they fell down from the sky as a shooting star. How they were under the control of a mad scientist and how they were being chased by other aliens. His expression wasn't the one I thought he would have. He just stared at me with a poker face, something he was good at, in his photoshoots. It was either he believed me or I was going to fast for him to understand. "I believe you," he said softly. My eyes widened. "I believe every word you're saying. I know aliens seem like a crazy concept, but for you to go all crazy because of them, they must be real." 

 

"How can you believe me so easily?" I asked in disbelief. I expected a laugh from him. I expected him to say something about me hitting my head on the wall. I expected him to say something 'Jiho-like' but he didn't. He straight out believed every single word I said. He laughed and rubbed my head. For a second, I thought he would laugh and say, "I'm kidding! You're so crazy!" Instead I got this response, "I didn't tell you at first because I thought you'd call me crazy. I thought you'd leave me because I was so crazy. I believe in aliens. I believe in them and if you call your crazy good looking cousins aliens, I believe it. There were also incidences where they acted more intimate with you than cousins normal would. I didn't like it when I saw it and I thought there was something wrong with them, but now that you've confessed, I believe you." He comforted me by rubbing my back. "Look Mimi, you can't just sit here and sulk all day. I know you're sad. I know that. I know already, so can you please take care of yourself?"

 

"How can I? I feel lost. I feel like...like a big part of my life is missing."

 

"You're being ridiculous, you know that?" I looked up. "You're feeling lost now that those boys are gone. Have you ever thought about anyone else? Have you even though about your family? Have you even thought about me? Stop being so selfish!

 

"I can't stand seeing you in this kind of state. It breaks my heart, Eun Mi. Your health is deteriorating because of a choice. I choice that you thought long and hard about. You thought about it so why regret it? If you're going to continue to be like this, why won't you just push me off a building, too?"

 

"Jiho...you don't mean that."

 

"Look into my eyes and tell me that again." His eyes showed no humor. It showed no happiness. He was serious. He was really serious. 

 

"Do you understand my feelings now?" he asked and I nodded. He smiled and pulled my towards him, wrapping his arms around me. "Good. I'm glad you understand. Promise me you won't act like this again? If it's hard, I'll help you. I promise."

 

I nodded and closed my eyes. "I promise, too."