Jungkook blinked, forcefully bringing him out of his trance. Averting his eyes quickly – he couldn’t afford to get caught into that vortex again – he stared instead at the alien’s full lips.

“W-What are you? Why are you here?”

The alien tilted his head, letting out a series of low, guttural noises that distinctly reminded Jungkook of a confused puppy.

Yeah, a puppy.

Lips pursing, the alien spoke again. It finally hit Jungkook just how deep his, no, its voice was – low and smooth, like a river almost.

“Mwod aleunt davos malhadicens? Neun haji’non ilhae.”

Okay. That helped.

This time, Jungkook tried slowing down his words, adding in what he hoped would be helpfully gestures to his speech.

“What. Are. You?” Pointing to the alien, Jungkook mimicked the alien’s confused puppy noises from earlier in hopes to convey his own confusion.

The alien’s eyes lit up in what Jungkook hoped was understanding.

“Ah! Vikkoch?”

Was that what it was? A… Vikkoch? So the alien was a Vikkoch. Whatever the hell that was.

Stepping closer, the alien peered curiously at Jungkook, only for Jungkook to freeze and back away as quickly as possible.

What was he doing? Trying to communicate, hah!

This… thing is an alien. He had no idea why it was here, what it was, or what it was going to do. What if the gases it was made up of were poisonous? What if it was hostile and tried to kill him?

But it seems friendly enough…

No, it was just those eyes of its. The sight of stars in the middle of the day would disorient anyone, even more so someone so in love with the glowing lights of the heavens as him. It could’ve happened to anyone.

It’s trying to talk to me too, though… Why would it do that if it wanted to kill me?

Pushing those thoughts away, Jungkook ignored the look of confused disappointment that crossed the alien’s face as he scrambled backwards further.

“Stay back! I’m warning you!” Quickly scanning the ground around him, Jungkook snatched up a twisted piece of what was once a metal sign of sorts. Brandishing it like a weapon, Jungkook steeled his nerves. “Get back!”

Taking a wary step back, the alien let out another puppy-esque whimper.

Why does it feel like I’m the bad guy here?

“Modiyag-byeolla?”

Jungkook gulped.

No, no, no! It’s just trying to trick you, Jungkook! Don’t let yourself fall for it or you’ll die!

“Stop it! Stop – Stop acting all innocent! And get back!” Jungkook waved his makeshift weapon once more, watching warily as the alien took another half-step backwards.

Eyes dimming slightly, the alien half-turned to look towards his wrecked spaceship mournfully before spewing more gibberish. It glanced at Jungkook once more, as if it wanted to say something, but instead it stared at him blankly.

Okay, now I feel bad.

Cautiously lowering his weapon – not like it would’ve done him a lot of good if the alien did decide to attack him – Jungkook studied the alien. He just looked lost. And Jungkook figured he really just was. How Jungkook saw it, this alien was just flying along doing whatever aliens do when something happened to its ship and then it was sent crashing down to Earth. It was probably shaken from its sudden crash, not to mention lonely and – if it were Jungkook – completely terrified out of its wits. The alien didn’t know where it was, couldn’t speak to anyone, and was borderline attacked when it tried to reach out for help.

Of course this poor being was afraid.

No, no, no! It’s just trying to… to get into your brain! Jungkook, this is an alien! It’s going to hurt you!

Jungkook shook his head.

But it’s just lost! It’s a great big universe out there and IF it wanted to kill the human race why would it crash land on our planet?!

At this point Jungkook was practically furled into himself as he argued mentally. The alien looked slightly concerned, and, if one looked closely, torn between comforting Jungkook and staying back like he had ordered earlier.

But what if it’s here to hurt you?!

But what if it’s not?

Sighing, Jungkook uncurled, startling the alien who had ventured closer to investigate his strange behaviour.

“Okay. You’re an alien. You can’t speak my language. What even happened?”

The alien, sensing Jungkook’s change in mental state, leaned in closer. “Mwod?”

Jungkook sighed. “Helpful. Oh my god, please don’t let this end with you eating me alive…” Slowly, Jungkook extended a hand. “I’ll help you, okay? I. Will. Help. You.”

The alien stared at Jungkook’s extended hand, contemplating the invitation and hopefully understanding what Jungkook meant.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the alien reached out. Jungkook tensed as their hands drew closer, closer, just a little more until–

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Get away from the boy, monster! Now!”

For once, the alien and Jungkook were on the same page.

They both jerked violently, shying away from both the gunshots and the authoritative shout of the military officer.

Suddenly, the area was a flurry of movement, armed forces of all kind filling in the gaps between debris to form a tight ring. Sirens rang loudly, hundreds of high-tech guns all trained on the purple-haired alien in front of Jungkook.

“Get back!”

Bang!

Another shot was fired, driving the terrified alien back several steps.

“No! Oh my god, no! It wasn’t hurting me! I’m fine! Don’t shoot it!”

Strong hands encircled Jungkook’s arms, forcing him to his feet and dragging him backwards. “Son, I don’t know what that freak show did to you, but that there is an alien. If it didn’t kill you now, it’ll kill you soon.”

The first officer handed Jungkook off to a second one, this one with dark, piercing eyes and white hair. The new officer smiled, a mere twitch of his thick lips. “Namjoon, watch the kid for me.” The new officer, Namjoon, saluted

But it seemed so innocent…

As if reading his mind, Namjoon sent him a sympathetic glance. “Even the most innocent of children can grow up to be murderers, kid. Maybe the alien’s alright; maybe it’s nice. But in the meantime we have to ensure the safety of the people.”

Jungkook looked back at where the alien was, only for him to do a double-take. The alien was gone. A cacophony of shouts and yells suddenly arose from the forces around them, several people pointing at a slightly violet-hued cloud of gas that was rapidly advancing towards them.

Namjoon growled behind him. “. It looks like you’ve made a friend, kid.”

And suddenly Jungkook felt himself being turned around and shoved hard. “Run!”

Barely registering the command, Jungkook stumbled forwards, slowly picking up speed. Where he was going, he didn’t know. Gunshots rang out behind him, clanging off of metal pieces and digging into rock and street. Daring a look behind him, Jungkook gasped as several bullets harmlessly passed through the cloud of gas, ricocheting off of buildings beside it instead. He heard someone shouting orders, yelling to get neutralizers or even a vacuum cleaner. Jungkook kept running.

And then it hit him.

Why was he running from the alien that tried to comfort him while he was in a heated mental debate? How could something – someone – be dangerous if they tried to ease his mind?

So Jungkook stopped. There was no need for him to run.

Turning around slowly, Jungkook came face-to-face with a cloud of violet. The cloud condensed, the alien’s remarkably human features melting back into place. It – no, he – smiled a surprisingly endearingly box-like smile, his beautiful eyes turning into crescent moons.

“Yeolve.”

Jungkook, eyes wide, was at a loss for words. What could he possibly say to an alien who chased him around to smile at him?

And then the moment was broken as a single gunshot rang through the air. Namjoon lowered a smoking gun, eyes wide an almost frightened. “You alright, kid?”

Only one thought ran through Jungkook’s mind. I just got this alien killed.

Once again, the officer’s uncanny ability to read his mind surfaced. “Relax, it was just a tranquilizer. It’ll be perfectly fine.”

Both shocked and relieved, Jungkook nodded dazedly. Once again, his view of the alien was cut off when a group of men, these ones dressed in white lab coats, rushed in and began haphazardly shoving limbs into a glass cage. Jungkook inhaled sharply. Didn’t these scientists know the meaning of gentle?!

Namjoon laid a hand across Jungkook’s shoulder. Jungkook flinched slightly. Not seeming to notice, Namjoon spoke, his voice husky with fatigue. “Let’s go, kid. Those scientists are going to bother you with questions for hours. It’s better to get them over and done with now rather than later.”

Jungkook nodded, eyes still on the fallen form of the alien.

And to think, he didn’t even know his name.

“So you really have no idea why this extra-terrestrial approached you?” The scientist who sat across from him, a stern older man with thick eyeglasses and graying hair called Mr. Choi, tapped a stylus across his holographic clipboard. It was perhaps the sixth or seventh time he had asked that particular question and Jungkook still had no answer for him.

It was getting annoying quick. Jungkook’s ribs hurt from where a ro