Operation: Homesickness

Planet Mato was once the most beautiful planet in the galaxy; it had been voted such by the intergalactic league several times before and had been rumored to have some of the most attractive inhabitants in the galaxy. Not to mention Mato's princess and heir to the throne was reported to be the most desired and beloved princess in the universe.

No amount of words could ever come to express how deeply Commander Himchan missed his beloved home, with it's vast yellow and red skies and the four moons that orbited around the planet. He missed the golden trunked trees with bright, velvety purple leaves that bore his favorite bright red fruits. He missed the heavy, dewy scent of his garden that was decorated with the finest blue grass in his district. He missed the sweet, star-shaped green flowers that sang so cheerfully when they greeted the rising sun in the mornings, and sang songs of farewell as they closed for the night.

He missed the bushes that were filled with spicy silver berries and black leaves, and he missed how his favorite pet Tats, a militarized bunny, fed on them. Himchan didn't HATE Earth, but it paled in comparison to the advanced technology and beauty of Mato. Plus, Mato had always been an amazing and efficient planet full of peace loving, well trained warriors.

It had been united under the eternal and iron rule of its princess, whose life force maintained it and kept the planet healthy. That is, until she disappeared unexpectedly one night and sent the planet into chaos. Now, the beautiful Mato was dying and descending into anarchy.

And that was why they were here trying to conquer Earth and try to save Mato. But Himchan was feeling homesick. He wished he could just go home and forget this whole ordeal, but it wasn't going to happen any time soon. They would have to work hard at harnessing the screams of their fans (he didn't know why they were called Baby's either. Weren't babies really tiny earthlings? They didn't want the support of tiny earthlings!)

Yong Guk didn't preoccupy himself with homesickness like Himchan did, which worried Himchan sometimes. Since Yong Guk was his faithful and powerful general, Himchan needed him to be focused on the mission, but sometimes it seemed like the raspy voiced male was more concerned with war movies. He would sit around in front of the cheap laptop, philosophizing about hidden concepts in the films, particularly the gorey American ones. 

"Commander Himchan, what are you doing?" Ah, that was Youngjae, the snarky little stowaway that had initially bombed all the military tests and was flat out rejected for any form of service, much less prestigious missions such as the current agenda. Here he was to ruin Himchan's already dour mood, stomping on his already downtrodden spirits. Himchan, feeling a bit pugnacious, glared up at the puffy-cheeked blond.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm playing the drums to clear my mind!" He snapped, and Youngjae at least had the decency to look surprised and hurt by Himchan's biting tone. When he responded, he spoke in a clipped, irritated manner.

"Well, you're homesick, right? That's why you're sitting here like this, all hidden in your pouty corner-" Himchan frowned at the term 'pouty corner'- "feeling bad because you want to go home. Right? Well, for the right price," an odd smile slipped across Youngjae's plump lips. It reminded Himchan of some sort of ert, "I can get you a little piece of home."

Himchan tried to play his curiousity off with a cool facade, knowing that Youngjae was going to try and er him out of everything he had. He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, trying his best to seem skeptical. "What do you have?" he asked, suddenly feeling acutely aware that this was a strange situation. He felt guilty, as if this was some kind of illegal activity. He felt like this activity should be accompanied with weapons and violent arguing, and men in oversized clothing.

Youngjae reached into his pocket, digging around for a moment before proudly producing a little plastic bag. Contained inside were a few little silver berries, straight from Mato planet. It was an upward battle to contain his happiness, but there was no chance in hell that Tats would let those berries go if he caught a whiff of them. Himchan could only hope the little black bunny was downstairs looking in the mirror or reading. 

"Are those... real?" he asked, pointing. His voice quivered just a bit, and Youngjae smirked. He knew he was going to get what he wanted. He casually flipped his semi-long blond hair and and removed his bright orange vest, then lounged himself across a nearby couch to build up Himchan's anticipation.

Seriously, how is this guy the commander, and I'm a rejectee? he asked himself, shaking his head. Himchan frowned at Youngjae's confident demeanor, wishing he had the strength to reject those precious silver fruits. "Of course they're real," Youngjae said casually, as if Himchan was a moron for doubting the authenticity of the fruit.

Himchan drew in a sharp, shaky breath, feeling for all the world like a recovering addict. "What do you want for them?" 

Youngjae shrugged his shoulders, "Just a favor when I need one, and they're yours."

It was an unremarkable demand, which made Himchan immediately suspicious. After all, what sort of build up leads to such a boring end? All Youngjae wanted was a favor? He must have something in mind already, Himchan knew. Himchan wasn't stupid by any means, he just often seemes stupid to mask his cunning. But he knew those berries were rare, and this was probably a one time deal.

"Fine," he agreed, and suddenly he had a little piece of home again.

"Hyung, hyung, is that legal? Yong Guk hyung says we can't plant foreign plants because that could harm the ecosystem, and the Prime Minister is trying to maintain our peaceful image with foreign diplomats. I think harming an entire ecosystem would leave a bad taste in their mouths, even though humans don't participate in the Intergalactic Peace Corps. But if the other union members heard that you were launching an attack on the terrestrial ecosystem, I'm sure we'd be in a lot of trouble. And hyung says that-"

"Good god Zelo, shut up and dig or get out of my hair," Himchan snapped, fed up with Zelo's database brain packed with imformation. He was sweating bricks out in the summer heat of the planet Earth, cooking under the sweltering star that made life for the humans possible. He wiped some of the precipitation from his furrowed black brows as he looked expectantly up at the tall, curly haired robot who awkwardly shifted under his gaze.

"But if I help you dig, I'll also be to blame. By default, that will make it so that my master and creator, the amazing Bang Yong Guk hyung is also to blame. He says that Shishi gets him in enough trouble as it is, and that I have to be the good prodigy. Also, are you sure the climate conditions and soil type will work for those berries? I'm sure the soil conditions on Earth aren't nearly acidic enough to properly grow the berry bush," Zelo continued, wracking his little robot mind for ways to help Commander Himchan, who was pulling himself out of the hole he had dug.

"Didn't I just tell you to shut up?" he asked, but Zelo didn't seem to hear him as he found a new set of information to focus in on.

"Ah," Zelo's childish face lit up with delight, "Himchan hyung is homesick, right? So then let's do things that will make you feel like you're back at home! And you know what? I was reading a few articles from the database and I think I know how to grow those berries!" He burst out, smiling up at Himchan in a triumphant manner.  "See, I can be helpful too," he said with a firm nod, then ran off to reward himself with a cherry tomato. Himchan was forced to follow behind, wondering just how Zelo was going to help him,

He found Zelo proudly announcing his acheivements to Yong Guk, who yanked the robot into the seat next to him so that the robot would learn a thing or two from the movie he was watching.

"You see that? You see that corrupt politician, and the way he forces these small grunts to work for him out in these foreign lands? That is exactly the same as out life right now, you see?" he asked, poining at the screen. Zelo nodded, crunching down on one of the cherry tomatoes that Yong Guk had bought to reward him.

"Yeah, I see how it mirrors your life. The Prime Minister has sent you out to explore and conquer foreign lands. Are you dissatisfied, hyung?" he asked, his innocent brown eyes fixed on his creator, who was far more interested and delighted by the explosions on the screen than Zelo, who was tugging at his hyung's sweater to get his attention. But Yong Guk shot him a scowl, signalling that the little blond with noodle-like hair should leave him alone. Zelo pouted, poking his creator in the shoulder and demanding attention.

"Hyung, did you hear me? Have you gone deaf? Maybe it's from listening to these loud explosions with the head phones. Did you know any sound above-" 

"Zelo," Yong Guk paused his movie, turning his full attention toward the chatty android. Zelo snapped his mouth shut and smiled broadly, happy that Yong Guk finally acknowledged him. He leaned on the edge of his seat, anxious to hear what he was going to say. His happiness was short lived, however. "Shut down," Yong Guk said, smirking when the helpless Zelo was forced to obey his command and promptly shut down.

Himchan crossed his arms, annoyed. After all, he needed some information, and he needed it right then and there. Plus that was uncharacteristically callous of Yong Guk, who was normally very nice to his creation. He wondered what was eating at the general, and tried asking. But Yong Guk dismissed him.

"Can't I just watch this freaking movie without people running around talking to me all day? Geez," he huffed, shooing the surprised Commander right out of the room. Himchan stared at the door that slammed in his face in surprise.

"But...I needed Zelo's information," he said, suddenly feeling defeated. 

"Eh, hyung? Are you okay?" Jong Up asked, evidentally appearing out of no where. He must have been picking up on Daehyun's uncanny knack for popping up and scaring the life out of you. Jong Up was smiling as he usually did, which always annoyed Himchan a bit. Of course the young recruit that joined the army only recently was very polite and respectful of Himchan and he was a very dilligent worker, but he wasn't the brightest in the bunch and often smiled to hide his deep confusion. Himchan was pleased as punch to find that the muscular young man looked worried, and his smile was subdued to only a small upwards tug of his lips.

Himchan tried to shake away his concern, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired," he said firmly. He wasn't expecting Jong Up to light up like a Christmas tree, and he certainly wasn't expecting the younger and less experienced boy to grab his hand and promptly begin dragging him away from the house, mumbling about knowing how to heal Himchan. 

"Ah, you can call this Operation Homesickness, because I promise you the tea and coffee at this place is really amazing," Jong Up said, happily prancing ahead of the bewildered Himchan. Himchan was busy trying to pinpoint that energy and happiness that radiated off of Jong Up, putting together all the little puzzle pieces in his head. 

1. Jong Up seemed anxious and nervous.

2. He was also very excited and was speeding Himchan up every few moments, as if he was running late to something.

3. Jong Up doesn't really like coffee, so going to a coffee shop is counter intuitive for him.

"Do you have a crush on someone that works in the coffee shop?" Himchan asked, arching one of his thin black eyebrows. A coy, knowing smile had made its way across his lips as he watched Jong Up tense. "What is she like?" He asked teasingly, sneaking up closer behind Jong Up to better experience the younger male's growing discomfort.

"Ah, you'll find out soon, since we're already here. It's too late to turn back now," Jong Up muttered, avoiding eye contact with Himchan as a faint scarlet hue stained his cheeks. Himchan grinned and pushed past the suddenly heavy footed male, swinging the door open and looking around wildly to try to spot the lucky little human. His excitement turned into shock when he froze in the middle of the doorway, his jaw dropping as low as physically possible as he laid eyes on the smiling girl who was tucking a long strand of dark, chocolate brown hair behind her ears. She glanced over at him, cocking her head to the side in confusion as he gaped openly. Jong Up awkwardly slithered in behind him, trying to snap him from his stupor.

"See hyung? She's really beautiful isn't she?" he asked softly, sounding oddly dreamy and wishful as he glanced admiringly back at the surprised coffee house girl.

Himchan stuttered as he searched for the right words, grabbing Jong Up's shoulders in a vicious, white knuckled grip. "D-Do you know who that is?" he asked in a hiss.

Jong Up glanced up, feeling a little uncomfortable. "Hyung, I saw her first. Isn't that how the rules go? You can't just swoop in and steal her. That isn't fair," he said, pouting. Himchan would have hit the younger, more naive male if they weren't out in public, right in front of that woman. He opted instead to roll his large, dark eyes.

"You idiot, that's our princess!" he snapped.

OH GOD. This took all freaking night to write. Anyway, thanks to my four beautiful subscribers!!! You peeps are awesome. Don't forget to leave a comment, tell me what you think about everyone's personality? The story isn't going to center around Himchan, it's just he got to introduce the story hehe.