That morning the alarm set in his cell phone rang earlier than every other day. The sun wasn’t even visible from behind the buildings yet and there was too little commotion happening on the streets. It was still early for everyone to wake up, but Minseok had planned to do just that.

So, he decided to start his day way earlier than the usual, his body shifting about the bed and a hand stretched out towards his phone at the bedside table. With a swift movement of his finger across the touch screen, he shut the alarm and groaned lightly.  He sat up, the blankets falling on his lap and his narrowed eyes looked around his room in their sleepy state.

Scratching the side of his head, he pulled his feet off the bed and started shuffling to the bathroom opposite of his bedroom. Nothing could be heard when he stepped in the hallway, everything too silent at this hour—he guessed that the other had to be still asleep.

In a way, Minseok did not blame the young man. He had been living in a harsh lifestyle for who knows how long and he was more than allowed to sleep as much as he wanted on a real and comfortable and not that old couch. In all honesty, the brunette would have offered his bed but the blonde had been already asleep by the time his slow mind remembered him—which in a sense was his fault to begin with.

He stepped into the shower after closing the door and undressing. The warm water made him relax and bring back the sleep to his mind. His brain seemed to have stopped and he plainly stood under the flowing water, his eyes closed and the light pressure hitting the top of his head. He could feel himself relax way too much than what he had planned which only resulted in him to want to go back to bed.

With a quick hand move, he turned the cold water on and the lowering temperature flowing on him made him jerk back into reality and away from any dreamland with a loud gasp. Now, he only wanted to get finished with the shower and get the hell out of the ice-cold water.

Minutes later he was back in his bedroom, dressed in a clean and stylish black grey suit, wiping his hair with the towel. He used the hairdryer at it’s lowest, not wanting to disturb Luhan in case he heard him through the closed door. After all, Minseok didn’t even know what the other was capable of—he could as well be able to fly, cause earthquakes or even change forms for all Minseok knew.

And now that the thought came to him, he mentally noted to ask him more questions once he came back from University. Or at least, a couple of his already stacked ones.

He walked out of his bedroom as soon as he judged himself ready for the day, walking straight into the kitchen and placing his schoolbag on the small table and beginning his cooking. With not much of an appetite, he made breakfast only for the blonde, leaving the room after it was placed neatly at the table. His eyes darted at the younger’s yellow hair as soon as he stepped into the living room, finding the other lying unconscious at the same spot he had been the previous night.

A small smile etched on his lips, the sight of Luhan seemed too cute for him to bear. He stepped to the foyer, putting on his shoes and glancing once more at the form on the couch. Mentally debating for a couple seconds, he pulled a pen and a piece of paper from his schoolbag, writing a short letter for the other and walked back towards the blonde. He placed it on the coffee table, his eyes staring at the other in case he saw signs that he started waking up. But, he looked very deeply asleep for the moment.

With a last smile lingering on his face, Minseok left the apartment for the day. It wasn’t till he was finally out of the building that he wished the day would have already ended so that he could just go back inside.

It was the first time he felt such lethargy but, he didn’t really fight the feeling either. With no doubt, he really just wanted to go back in.

Minseok was never one of the easy-going types of people. He was quite stubborn for his size as well. His cute looks were nothing in front of his willingness and his small pet-peeves which sometimes were not so subtle. And along with all those, he also carried a good amount of maturity and seriousness which only made everyone else think of him with respect.

And maybe, some of those traits were blown away when he pushed his apartment’s door open after five in the afternoon. As soon as his eyes were laid on the living room, he could feel his composed self be blown away.

The room was clean, it was cleaner than what Minseok often made it look like and what surprised him more was that the only culprit for this happening, was actually the tall blonde sitting at the couch with his eyes dug into the open book in his hands. The whole house didn’t seem to have a dirty spot left and for some reason, Minseok felt his insides jump.

“Did you… clean?” Even if the answer was pretty much evident, Minseok preferred to voice it. The half-interested response came when he had already stepped out of his shoes.

“Yeah.”

“It looks literally spotless…” Minseok said softly, his eyes grazing the room once more. “How long did it take you?”

“Not that much.” Luhan snapped the book closed, his attention falling on the brunette. “It’s a way to say thank you for taking me in.” The smile he flashed him, although so simple, made Minseok smile back immediately.

“I should be thanking you, though.” Minseok bowed lightly to the other and he heard a soft huff, looking up just in time to see the other roll his eyes.

“No need for bowing and stuff like that. I don’t really care about it anyways.” Luhan eyes, then turned into pools of plain curiosity. “Can I call you hyung?”

The sudden question left Minseok blinking dumfounded. Hesitating a little and maybe debating in his head, he finally replied with a simple word.

“Sure.”

“So what else can you do?”

“What do you mean?”

Minseok and Luhan were sitting on the couch, both munching on popcorn as they were engrossed in a movie—well, Luhan was. Minseok had been staring at the blonde for the past five minutes till he finally made the question which had been traveling in his mind for who knows how long.

“Can you like…” Minseok said with a half-full mouth, his hands making weird hand-movements all of a sudden. “fly or cause hurricanes or burn stuff?”

Luhan chuckled lightly but shook his head, looking sideways at the brunette. “No, I can’t do those. But a couple friends of mine could do so.”

Minseok’s already big eyes only widened more at the information. “Can I meet them?”

“No.”

The elder only pouted at the monotonous response he got, crossing his arms over his chest to make his displeasure all the more evident for the other, his mouth munching displeasingly at the corn snack.

Luhan only laughed at his attitude. “You have loads of questions anyways. If you already started, you should just as well finish asking them all.”

The other grimaced, huffing. “Can’t you control your mind-reading stuff? Can’t I think without you invading my personal space?”

“Well, technically, it’s not personal sp—“ At the glare he received, Luhan chuckled and looked at him with innocent, sparkly eyes. “I can control it.”

“Good.”

“Just don’t think loudly.” Minseok looked at him weirdly and Luhan laughed once more. “I’m joking. But honestly, your thoughts are pretty intriguing.” When the elder opened his mouth to probably retort something, Luhan only cut him off. “You wanted to ask questions.”

“Right…” He made a thinking expression, all the while Luhan stared at him, silently going through the same thoughts the elder was thinking of. “You said you avoid public places. Who are you hiding from? Or do you just dislike people?”

Luhan pursed his lips, obviously debating with what he can say and what he shouldn’t. With a sigh, he stared seriously into the other’s eyes. “Some people are after me. They have already caught some of my friends and it’s pretty much me and four others who are left free.”

Minseok’s expression relaxed, a flash of sadness overcoming his characteristics, a light frown over his eyes. That’s why I can’t meet them..?

Luhan only nodded and Minseok looked down. “I’m sorry for your friends.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t last much anyway.” At those words, Minseok’s eyes shot back up, wide and frantic.

“What do you mean by that?!”

The blonde sighed to oblivion, leaning back against the couch, his eyes serious and staring strongly at the other’s. “The oxygen here is toxic to us, we are not used to such amounts of it. So it, pretty much kills us slowly.”

Minseok didn’t move, his body entirely frozen as his mind tried to process what he was being told. Toxic… Oxygen… Kills… What? His eyes searched for signs that the other was joking, even if he knew that it would be less luckily that Luhan would at this moment. He kept looking, trying to find proof that what he heard was not true.

He didn’t know why but to hear that from Luhan, said so calmly no less, made him feel a pang of pain in his chest. He didn’t know much about him, but he swore than Luhan was not a bad guy; he was kind, he was sweet, he was nice. Sure he was an alien and as many movies he had seen until now might keep pointing out that unknown forces like him would most likely try to take over the planet, he knew that Luhan was not of that kind of science fiction.

Luhan was innocent, he was pure. The image of him dying… slowly… from something which more or less should be giving life to him—it made Minseok light-headed.

An light heart-felt laugh echoed in the room and Minseok snapped back to reality, finding the other with tears in his eyes and a hand wrapped around his stomach. Before he could even ask what was happening, Luhan only shouted an ‘I’m kidding’ at him.

Minseok huffed, crossing his arms as he stood up from the couch, a glare sent at the laughing younger man. “You’re an idiot! You’re insane to be joking for something like that!” He didn’t even care that he was yelling at the blonde, he just wanted the mix of the relief and the frustration he felt out of him. He also wanted to plainly curse at the other because it was not a good joke in the first place. Maybe try to hide the tears of plain frustration pooling at the corners of his eyes.

“Calm down! I’ll be fine!” Luhan rose his hands in defense but Minseok’s glare only grew stronger.

“Seriously, if you joke another time like that, I’m going to be the end of you.” He threatened with a finger waving at him in pure warning. However, the other stopped laughing and stood up suddenly, stepping close to him and before Minseok could even ask what he was doing, he could feel arms wrapped around him.

“Wh—“

“Shh!”

Minseok pursed his lips closed, his eyes wide at the warmth of the alien against his body. He could feel his heart beating fast and the blood pounding behind his ears, and he sure as hell knew that it was just a symptom of lack of any human contact he had had the past months. He took a deep inhale to calm himself, but the aroma which reached his nostrils was more than just calming and relaxing.

Minseok felt his senses go to a state of nirvana, almost a high that one could reach only from hardcore drugs. His brain felt light and mushy and the scent did not only do that. It was unusual; he had never smelled it before. It was refreshing; it had the same smell of the first rain of the season. It was sweet; flowers did not even compare to it.

He couldn’t actually bring something to compare it with, it was impossible. Because such an aroma didn’t come from this planet in to begin with.

The second he felt the arms slowly unwrap from around him, Minseok’s hands caught Luhan in between, not letting go just yet. His senses didn’t seem to want to be pulled out of this nirvana and even if he had to hold on the blonde for dear life, he didn’t really care at the moment. He just wanted to stay like that for a little longer. Maybe fall asleep standing as well and maybe fight off the embarrassment later.

Because it had the same affect to him like catnip had for cats.

He noticed how the other did not try to pull away from him for a second time, and instead, the arms around him caught him securely and held him in place. That alone made Minseok take the time given and dive into this scent, not even caring anymore about the second-hand embarrassment Luhan must be feeling.

He didn’t care at all for the matter. He stayed put, eyes closed and his senses drown in nirvana, enjoying each second of this; as weird it would have been in his book.

His legs started becoming weaker, the feeling of light-headedness returning and hitting him twice as hard. His body’s muscles relaxed entirely and before he could register the fact that he was actually falling asleep while standing, his mind had disconnected from reality entirely.

When his eyes fluttered open, the last thing he could remember was Luhan’s arms around him—that in combination with the distant hypnotizing aroma which was still there. And maybe that was what it was; a hypnotizing trick Luhan had played on him.

His eyes opened widely, his heart beating fast in his chest as he tried to take in his surroundings; he was on his bed in his bedroom, under a blanket. A frown touched his face as his dark orbs shot at the window, the sun not yet up but the night already way too in—he couldn’t guess the hour for sure.

He sat up, looking around for his cell phone which he found nowhere. It was not on the bedside table where it should have been during this hour and it was not on the bed either. Without the device he wasn’t sure of what to do, he couldn’t even check the time without it.

Jumping off the bed, he glanced at himself, noting how he was still wearing the same clothes he had been wearing when he was with Luhan in the living room. Walking quickly out of the room, he headed towards the one he had the last memory of, finding the blonde suspect on the couch.

Asleep.

Minseok approached him slowly, tiptoeing to make sure as to not wake the other up. Luhan had fallen asleep the same way as the previous night; only this time, he had grabbed the blanket himself. Looking at the coffee table, Minseok caught the form of his cell phone, grabbing it and unlocking it.

4 am.

Which meant that he had been asleep for more than 5 hours and that in two the alarm would ring.

As much as he was silently thankful for the other to get him into his bed, he couldn’t but feel strange about it. Had he fallen asleep on him? Was that even possible? In the times Minseok was so much more tired, exhausted even, he had never actually fallen asleep while standing. And the previous night—or a couple hours ago, for the matter—he was feeling anything beyond tiredness.

It made no sense to him.

And what could also be a possible explanation was that Luhan had drugged him and was planning to either kill him, use him as a slave, sell his organs or rob him. But the sane part of his brain did not let the opposite progress those thoughts further. Because, they were what that part was; insane.

With no second thought and no whatsoever regret, Minseok shook Luhan’s shoulder, willing him out of dreamland. A light groan traveled in the silence and the blonde’s eyes slowly opened and focused after blinking a couple times. Minseok stared a