It was thirty two years ago when aliens swarmed the planet. Despite popular belief, aliens weren't a ferocious species sworn to eliminate the human race. In fact, aliens weren't a species. There were many, just like the many cultural backgrounds we have as humans. Feros, Melaki, Zwei and Huna.

That's about the most I've learnt about aliens. The four kinds. That's it.

It was in the middle of summer in 4021 when I first saw the alien. Earth hasn't changed much except for the whole robot revolution that nearly wiped all human beings off the face of the planet. Since then it stayed as it was thousands upon thousands of years ago. No more of the leisure of sitting on your and getting a robot to do absolutely everything for you.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. I'd much prefer to live.

So, instead of sending a robot out to get a big bottle of fruit serum, I had to get it myself. And that's when I saw the alien.

The summer air was cold at night, chilling me straight to the bone as I paced the steps as quickly as I could. The beautiful marble sidewalk was slippery from the rainfall that occurred earlier in the daytime, drenching the streets with shiny wetness, making my limbs fly out in various directions before I got my footing right.

I cursed at the sidewalk under my breath, focusing on walking without falling on my . Jaerim, my roommate, was in need of fruit serum for making fresh strawberries and I of course being head over heels in love with him decided I could save him the trip.

Jaerim was hands down the most magnificent creature I've ever seen in my life. He was human with model good looks and a body of a personal trainer. The first time I ever met him was when he pushed me down into the sandbox when we were four because I was playing in his spot. I offered him a cookie instead of getting all pouty because I liked how pretty he was and he kissed me on the cheek. Since then I've been hooked on him.

Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I saw a small frame huddle beside the steps of a beaten down building. I turned my head to get a better view and saw a boy with drenched dark hair and pale arms around a pair of legs. I couldn't see his face since his it was buried in his knees.

Looking around the street to see if there was anyone else to help him and coming up empty, I decided to move towards the person huddled in the corner. As I approached he looked up at me curiously, black, empty eyes staring through me. I put down the threaded bag on the wet pavement and crouched down to his level.

“Are you alright?” I asked the alien. Where colours of brown, blue, green and hazel were originally found in the human eye, this creatures was devoid of any colour at all. Just the darkest of black so deep that I found myself entranced.

I was tempted to get up and wonder off home to Jaerim as quickly as possible because I was afraid. I've never seen this sort of alien up close before. I had no idea which specie it was, therefore I was incapable of knowing if it were dangerous or not. It also had strange black swirl-like designs on his high cheekbones, looking very much like tribal tattoos.

Other than that, the creature looked completely human. Two eyes, one nose, a pair of lips, black hair, long muscular arms and legs.

When the alien didn't answer, I asked again. “Are you okay?”

The alien chatted wildly, staring at me with a tilted head and eyes full of wonder. It was no language that sounded familiar in any means. It was airy and strange, the sounds blending into one another after some time.

I shook my head, holding a hand up for it to stop. “I can't understand you,” I told it. Did aliens have genders? He looked very much like a normal boy.

Without hesitation, it lunged his hands towards me and before I could pull away its hands latched onto mine. Its hands were cold and wet, making goosebumps rise up on my skin. I crouched there, frozen, unsure of what to do as the alien messaged my palm with its thumbs, his eerie eyes glued to my face the whole time.

I pulled my hand away slowly, retracting it from its grasp and looked at it to make sure it didn't do any sort of voodoo magic on it. Other than a few wet stripes of dirt, it was exactly the same. “Are you lost? Don't you have a home?” I asked it, and it started wailing to the palms of his hands, acting like I just told it was the end of the world.

“Hey, hey, hey,” I chanted, trying to comfort the creature, “don't cry.” I begged, awkwardly its wet hair. The alien lifted its head, black goo-like streaks leaking form its eyes like rivers. It purred and leaned into my touch, content.

I glared at the alien, not sure of what to do. I hated it for forcing me to make such a decision. I couldn't just leave somebody in the streets with no home on a cold night, forcing it to fend for itself. It didn't matter if it was human or not, the person (?) needed my help.

I slipped my bag onto my shoulder and grasped the alien's upper arms, pulling it to its feet. “You can stay with me tonight. Tomorrow we'll find your home.” I said, knowing it couldn't understand me but needed to share my thoughts with it anyway.

The creature smiled up at me, wide and friendly, overjoyed at the gesture. It held onto my arm like a child to his mother's leg as I led it through the streets toward my house.

“Name?” I asked, trying to get some communication going.

It looked at me quizzically, blinking furiously.

“Okay, this isn't working.” I mumbled, sighing and giving up.

The creature rested its head against my shoulder as we walked, uncomfortably close and grinning wider than necessary.

When we finally got to my house, I opened the door and offered it inside. My house definitely wasn't much, but it had a roof and that was good enough for me.

The stranger hopped up and down, clapping its hands together excitedly, acting like this was a five star hotel with gold ts rather than the dump it was. It rushed over to me and wrapped its arms around me tightly, squeezing the air out of me.

“Okay, okay, you're welcome,” I said, squirming to get out of its grasp. Not only was this creature a complete stranger, but it didn't exactly smell pleasant either.

I kicked off my soaked shoes and patted through my house, motioning the alien to follow me to the bathroom.

Strewn on the floor was Jaerim’s XXL clothes and I kicked them to the side so the alien wouldn't step on them.

I pointed to the shower. “You know how that works, right?” I asked it, just for it to stare at me blankly. I groaned in frustration. “Why can't you just speak Korean or English?”

I huffed, turning on the taps for it, adjusting the temperature. “Here. Have a shower.” I picked up the manly soap Jaerim used that made him smell like spring and handed the bottle to the male-looking creature. “I'll leave you to it.” I said, setting a clean towel onto the sink rim before walking out of the bathroom.

I shut the door quietly and leaned again it, slipping my eyes close and letting myself take a deep breath.

From here I could see Jaerim's sleeping form. His long black dreadlocks were free from the usual cap he hid them under and his shiny metal lip piercing glinted in the moonlight seeping in from the cracked window. He was beautiful even in his sleep. He resembled a Greek god in all his glory, fending all the woman off with a stick. Well, in Jaerim's case he would be inviting them all to his bedroom. He was quite the lover. Unfortunately I haven't been able to experience the magic of his .

Looking way too peaceful to wake up and ask him about my situation, I instead left Jaerim to sleep and dream. Jaerim majored in the studies of the extraterrestrial and therefore would have been the perfect person to ask about the alien. I've never been interested in the species; they were too foreign and strange for my liking with their odd behaviour.

In the meantime, I took out the fruit serum and poured some of the thick scarlet liquid into the moulding trays to make fresh strawberries. Jaerim would be pleasantly surprised when he woke up in the morning. I set the filled trays into the empty fridge before I heard the bathroom door open.

I peered over to find the alien have the white towel wrapped about his shoulders and thankful it covered everything important. However, I was interested in what sort of... equipment the creature sported down there.

It smiled despite its shivering form and it stood there awkwardly, not sure of what to do. I stood up and walked towards it, bringing it into my bedroom where Jaerim kept his clothes. I picked out a pair of cotton pyjama bottoms, making sure they weren't the pair Jaerim was so fond of, and handed it over to the now clean stranger. I picked out a random t-shirt and handed it over.

I turned around, giving it privacy as I heard the wet towel hit the carpet. The sound of soft fabric sliding over a damp body filled my ears and the snap of the elastic in the waist echoed in my head. I felt a small tap on my shoulder and spun around, eyeing and measuring how the alien looked in Jaerim's clothes.

Jaerim definitely pulled them off much better but I had to smile at how innocent and snuggly the creature looked in the clothes that swallowed him whole. The baggy shirt was down to his knees and the pants only went slightly over his feet. Jaerim's pyjama pants were usually the right size. Everything else was five times too big.

“You sleep on this side,” I stated, pointing to the left side of the unmade bed. The alien seemed to understand what I was saying and crawled right in like it belonged there. It pulled the blankets up to its nose and I could see the smiles in its eyes, which in fact have changed colour as well as the once-black patterns that littered his cheeks. They were now a dark grey colour, lightening a couple shades from the deepest of inky black.

I eyed it curiously, as I slipped under the covers, leaving all my clothes on. “Don't try anything funny.” I ordered, turning my back on the alien.

I could smell Jaerim coming off of it like mountainous waves, crashing into my brain and swirling around. It disturbed me slightly but also comforted me in the strangest way. After hours of trying to drift off to sleep and ignore the body behind me, I finally fell asleep.

As I came out of sleep, I felt breathing in my ear.

Puff. Puff. Puff.

It tickled and when I tried to move, I realized I was trapped in an entanglement of arms and legs. When I remembered exactly what was cuddling me, I jumped out of bed, disgruntling the alien. It woke up, searching around the room desperately looking for the source that forced him awake. When the creature's eyes landed on me, it looked hurt.

It jutted its bottom lips out in a faint pout and hung its head, ashamed.

I inched closer, still feeling its warmth on my body. “Hey. Don't be sad.” I said, leaning down and trying to catch his eyes.

That's when I heard rattling from the kitchen and I remember with a start that Jaerim would be able to clear everything up. I half-walked half-ran to the door, clapping at the alien to follow me, much like humans used to do to dogs. “Come on.” I chanted, “Let's go.”

It jumped up from the bed, scrambling desperately to come after me. I walked out of the room with the alien following my tail. “Morning Jaerim.” I greeted, eyeing his tight behind like some ert.

He was plating some breakfast, his muscular back to me. “Morning, Dara. Thanks for the strawberries.” He said, turning around. “Who's that? Finally got yourself a man?”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter