Chapter Two

IMPORTANT A/N IN CHAPTER ONE PLS GO BACK AND READ

3092

Yeon woke up to find herself alone in her bedroom. 

Puzzled, she sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked side to side. She didn't remember being here. The last thing she remembered was finishing her cup of hot chocolate and listening to Wonho talk about college in the living room. So when did she.... 

Wonho must have brought her to bed once he realized she had fallen asleep.

Yeon blinked, suddenly remembering. 

She instinctively turned to look at her alarm clock. 

It was almost ten, which meant he was definitely long gone by now. 

She didn't even get to say goodbye to him. She wondered if he finished packing. 

Something in her then stirred, and she couldn't explain the empty feeling in her stomach. 

Shin Wonho was like a walking, breathing enigma. There was no other way to describe him, and Yeon had no clue as to why she was starting to feel the way she did about this.. enigma. 

He had first approached her back in high school; he was a senior at the time and she was a sophomore. Wonho was extremely well-known, famous for slacking off and sweet talking girls like it was his religion, while Yeon was just.. Yeon. She was a nobody at MH High, a wall flower, who mostly kept to herself and laid low to avoid any unwanted trouble. She had no friends and he had many. They were unlike in so many ways. So, it was a mystery to her as to why someone like Wonho wanted to associate himself with the likes of someone like her. 

Not that she felt inferior to him in any way. 

Yeon just thought they were too different to ever cross paths. 

But they did. 

Many times. 

She knew they weren't coincidences either. Wonho made it loud and clear that he wanted to get to know her better and went out of his way in doing so. Why he wanted to do that? She didn't know. At first, his approaches made her uncomfortable, and it didn't help that the guy apparently only knew how to flirt as his main means of communication. 

She wasn't used to the attention. 

Five months had passed, and Wonho was still at it, more determined than ever. 

Why he was so adamant in sticking around, Yeon really, really didn't know.

If this was any other guy, she would've found his actions creepy, borderline stalkerish. But Yeon had a knack for reading people, and although it was strange, she could tell Wonho was a good guy with genuine intentions. Sure he didn't have the cleanest reputation, but then again, neither did she. Her life in Malhwa Hills may have been quiet and undisturbed, but gossip in this town was no joke. She herself was a victim of it, and the thought of perhaps Wonho being in the same position as her struck her curiosity. Maybe, just maybe, Wonho wasn't who everyone thought he was... or how he appeared to be.

Just like her.

Maybe they weren't that different after all.

However, whether his intentions of befriending her were completely platonic though was unclear. Yeon eventually figured it was better to just accept his reoccurring presence in her life and make the most out of the situation. Lord knows what would have happened had she refused it. She could only imagine the fuss and disturbance. 

Wonho didn't bother her at school and came around just enough for them to be fairly acquainted (which she was thankful for). However, once he started attending university, that changed. He had lots of more free time on his hands and spent most of it with her. Yeon couldn't even complain then. She had technically already accepted him and his efforts. 

Which was why she was genuinely surprised at the growing dynamic of their friendship. 

They had gotten quite close over the past two years. 

Slowly but surely. 

She found herself opening up to the last person she would expect to. Never in her years of living in Malhwa Hills did she think she would befriend the town's bad boy and get exceptionally close to him at that. He knew her likes and dislikes, and she knew his. He could tell when something was wrong with her, and Yeon liked to think that she could do the same with him.. if it were ever to come to it. She liked to think she was observant. 

Sometimes Wonho would sleep over at random (whenever it got too late to walk back home), and Yeon would actually let him. It had gotten to the point where there was a place for his things. Eventually, he no longer made her uncomfortable. 

To Yeon, Wonho became comfort. 

He filled the void of her not having a single friend, and that's what they were. 

Friends. 

Sort of.

He knew a lot about her, and she knew a fair amount about him. 

Just not everything.  

Yeon had a feeling there were sides of Wonho she couldn't even begin to fathom, but that was fine with her. She had her own secrets as well. 
Sighing, she knew what the empty feeling in her stomach was now. Wonho had pointed it out yesterday. She was just too Yeon to admit. 

She was going to miss him. 

In fact, she thought perhaps she already did.

--

"I bring news," a blonde male informed immediately as he entered his unit's bunk. 

His team members all looked up from their individual activities and waited for him to go on.

"We leave for Earth tonight." 

Everything stilled.

"Our first mission!" the youngest abruptly squealed, reacting first. He clung onto the member seated next to him and eagerly shook him in excitement. "Holy stars! It's finally here! I can't wait!" 

The shooken member simply smiled at the news. "We should prepare for the long journey. We have never ventured so far outside our own planet before." 

Another member crossed his arms sternly. "It would be wise to learn as much as we can about the planet Earth."

"I second that," a different member agreed firmly. He shifted his glasses and squinted at the booklet in his hands. "It says here Earth is extremely polluted. We may need to bring extra tanks of Ania air just in case." He was immediately given pointed looks but shrugged them off. "What? Even if the chemical components are technically the same, our air is cleaner. I refuse to have my lungs tainted by a different planet other than my own. My health is my greatest concern and highest priority. You guys know that." 

"Your highest priority should be the mission," the stern member corrected. 

"And it is. Need I remind you, MoonBin, I am the brains of this unit. My intellect is my main contribution. Therefore my health, mentally and physically, is also a priority," the member MJ informed haughtily. "Under unpleasant circumstances, I will be of no use. You know how I can't stand pungent odors. It makes me nauseous, and I get anxiety. What if Earth reeks? I hear humans are filthy creatures." 

Eunwoo chuckled. "You do know that our biology make up is similar to that of humans, right?" 

MJ blinked. "It is?" 

"And he said he's the brains of the unit," MoonBin muttered, shaking his head.

The youngest by the name of Sanha chortled. 

"It was a joke," MJ clarified, childishly sticking his tongue out. "Of course, I know that tidbit. Still, we are far more superior. And I would like to think we Anians clean up way better than humans by a light year."