Ten could feel the eyes on him, observing his expressions, watching his every moves, trying to read his mood. But he remained stone faced, eyes focused on the book he was reading. “Whatever you kids want, no.”

Yangyang, Hendery, and Xiao Jun all sighed, leaning back away from him and settling down on the carpet.

“You didn't even let us speak,” Yang Yang huffed.

The three boys had just come back home after an afternoon in the human world and Ten certainly didn't want any part in that. Last time they had tried to indulge him in those human practices he had gotten the most horrendous haircut and refused to leave the house for a whole month. Actually, he never really left the place. But he had an excuse that time.

“Ten, let the boys speak,” Kun said as he walked into the living room with a tray of snacks, “They have something important to say.”

Ten groaned, placing down his book. He looked at the younger boys, signaling for them to go on about what they wanted to.

The three youngers all exchanged some glances before they turned to Ten, and Xiao Jun spoke up. “We think someone should get a job.”

Ten raised an eyebrow. He stared at the three boys as if he didn't understand what they were getting at. It wasn't until Si Cheng started laughing in the background that he understood. “You think I should get a job? What’s wrong with the money I give you?”

The three kids exchanged a look once again. This time Hendery spoke up, seeming more sheepish than the other two. “W-well, I don’t think it's very legal to use the scraps of paper that you keep manipulating to look like real money. I was at the library doing some reading and according to the laws of this planet, we are what they call ‘broke’.”

Yang Yang and Xiao Jun nodded along, slight pouts on their faces.

“Hendery, you too?” Ten asked, almost offended that his favorite of the three had betrayed him like this. The younger avoided eye contact, a slight blush growing on his face. Ten leaned back, seeming to think about the whole situation before he shook his head. “If it really is that important can’t someone else work? Winwin?”

“I’m a university student,” Si Cheng spoke up in a monotone voice, not even looking their way.

“You dropped out after Yuta’s incident,” Ten deadpanned.

“I’m going back during the fall.” Winwin still didn’t look up.

Ten turned to Lucas who was entertained by some drama on the television and shook his head. He then turned to Kun. “What about you?”

“I keep this house running, do you really want me to be gone and working all day?” Kun asked.

Ten shook his head and turned to the three who were still staring up at him. “If you three want money why don’t you guys just work for it?”

“We’re going to attend school when summer is over,” Yang Yang spoke up, almost excitedly, “Kun is enrolling us."

Ten looked over at Kun with an expression none of them could read. Si Cheng finally turned over, settling his phone down. And when Kun and Ten walked over to the kitchen, he followed along, understanding this called for a meeting between the three oldest.

“You’re going to enroll the kids into school?” Ten asked as soon as they walked into the kitchen with Winwin following behind.

Kun sighed, crossing his arms and leaning against the kitchen table. “We need to start thinking long-term. From how everything is going, it looks like we may be here a while and I don’t want the kids to fall behind in studies even if the human education is different. I know I was their teacher back home, but I can’t keep homeschooling them myself. Also, we’re literally living in an old abandoned building that we were able to hook up to electricity because of the kids knowledge. Maybe you should listen to them.”

Ten shook his head, too stubborn to listen. There was no way on Earth he was ever going to work among those humans.

“Hello my name is Ten, welcome to Baskin Robbins.”

Yes. He had actually listened to the kids and gotten a minimum wage paying job to support his dying family. No, that wasn’t the actual reason he was working, but it might as well have been.

But when Xiao Jun, Hendery, and Yang Yang all walked into his workplace his first day with Kun following behind he couldn’t help but groan and ask, “What do dumb, dumber, and dumbest want?”

“The kids wanted to come and support you on your first day,” Kun said with a bright smile. He seemed rather happy that Ten had finally gotten a job. Maybe a little too happy if you asked the younger.

“Great, now get out. We have no money to waste, remember?” Ten deadpanned. “Also, I said to never visit me at work. Why don’t you three go bother Winwin at the coffee shop down the street instead? It is also his first day.”

“Oh yeah that’s our next stop,” Yang Yang said with that radiating smile of his own, “We are actually heading to the library to learn about the different things you can study in college to decide our career paths. Hendery just kept insisting that we stop by to see yo-”

“That’s enough Yang Yang,” Hendery awkwardly said through gritted teeth as he elbowed the youngest.

Ten raised an eyebrow, completely unamused by the conversation. “Okay, well, thanks for the support. Now if you excuse me I think there is a line of customers behind you.”

And with that, Dumber, Dumber, and Dumbest (as Ten liked to call them), all headed out with Kun following behind, and heading down the street where Si Cheng was also having his first day of work at the coffee shop to make money to pay off his student loans. Just like any normal college student human of his age.

When Ten got home from work he was tired. He was so tired he didn't know how he managed to get home that night. But when he did, he swung the door wide open and stared at everyone in the room with tired eyes before he shut the door closed and crawled his way over to the couch where Hendery sat.

“Is Si Cheng home yet?” Ten asked, adjusting himself on the couch so he was laying down with his head resting on the youngers lap.

Yang Yang spoke up, not looking away from the video game all the four youngest were playing. “Yeah, he got home hours ago. He's in his room.”

“Lucky,” Ten pouted. “You know, where we come from we don't get do tired so easily and don't require as much sleep as the humans. But it makes sense that humans get so tired and need so much sleep because spending the whole day out there is… exhausting.”

Ten was mumbling, eyes closing as he patted Hendery's knee. The younger boy slipped and made a wrong move, getting himself and Xiao Jun killed in the videogame they were playing.

“Hendery!” The other whined while Lucas and Yang Yang cheered.

“Sorry,” Hendery mumbled. “My hand slipped.”

Just then Kun walked into the living room holding a tray of snacks. He was about to say something before he closed his mouth when he saw Ten resting on the couch. “Is he asleep?”

“Appears so,” Hendery sighed, feeling the older completely unconscious on his lap, “The first time I've seen him sleep since we got here.”

Kun set down the tray at the coffee table before crouching down next Ten. “He hasn't been able to sleep in years because of stress and anxiety. Working as a human must have really tired him out. . . Should we take him to his room?”

“I don't want to wake him,” Hendery said with a shake of his head. “He might not sleep again if he wakes up.”

So they all left Ten resting on Hendery's lap and continued playing video games, watching movies, and being on their phones. It was always like that there.

Si Cheng eventually came into the living room, also surprised that Ten was sleeping, and they all engaged in a conversation about their daily lives in the human world.

“I really like race cars,” Yang Yang spoke up excitedly. “In video games they are so much fun, imagine actually getting to race them around?”

“Isn't that just like space racing back in our galaxy?” Lucas asked.

Yang Yang shook his head. “No, back home it's illegal. It is here too, but it can be legal under circumstances. Like competitions.”

“So how are you going to study that?” Si Cheng spoke up, having the most knowledge of the human world since he’d been the most exposed to it.

“I-” Yang Yang's look of excitement dropped as he began to go into deep thought. “I don't know yet.”

“Don’t worry, we can look into it more at the library later,” Kun said with a smile.

“Well I want to be a film director,” Xiao Jun said, staring off into the distance as if he could see a vision while he brought up a camera out of nowhere. “Earth movies are so interesting, back home the only films we have are the everyday people life stories. But here, the plots, the character development; it's all so beautiful! Imagine being the director behind that.”

“You kids sure dream big,” Si Cheng mumbled with a shake of his head. He then turned to Hendery who was running his hands though Ten's hair while staring of into the distance. “What about you?”

Hendery snapped out of whatever he was thinking about and turned to face the group. “Huh? Oh, uh, I don't know. Robotics?”

“Ohhh,” Lucas said impressed. “You were always good with machines back home.”

“Yeah. I would like to make a robot,” Hendery said. “Maybe one who could stop all the bad. But then again, maybe it would stop us.”

Ten shifted around in Hendery's lap until he was facing upwards and his eyes were open, looking up at him. “I would like to be a hero,” Ten spoke softly, “But that's not possible for us, huh?”

“How long have you been awake?” Hendery asked, taking his hand away.

“A while,” Ten spoke as he sat up. “I really only slept a few minutes, but they were nice while they lasted. I see why humans are so obsessed with sleep.”

“Was work really that tiring?” Si Cheng asked. “For me it was okay. Annoying customers, but the atmosphere of a coffee shop is nice.”

“Yeah, well, an ice cream shop definitely does not have that atmosphere. The amount of snotty kids I had to deal with was too many,” Ten said with a shiver. “I can't believe I'm doing this for money.”

“Speaking of money,” Yang Yang said, “we youngers saw an ad on tv for this cool video game thing that lets you experience it like real life! It's called virtual reality or something like that. We really want it.”

Ten's eyes widened, knowing exactly what ad they were talking about and how much the game cost. “No more tv for you four.”

“Do any of you ever just think about the fact that we are aliens,” Si Cheng spoke up that Wednesday afternoon after getting home from his third day at work.

The four youngest paused their video game; Kun set down the magazine he was skimming through; Ten dropped his spoon, mouth left open. They all seemed to think about it for a while before shaking their heads and going back to what they were doing.

“I try not to,” Xiao Jun spoke up, remaining completely focused on the game they were all playing. “One time Hendery, Yang Yang, and I watched one of those human alien movies and it was so scary Yang Yang had to sleep on my bed and Hendery couldn’t pee by himself. Don't even ask how that went. And then we realized that was meant to be us, aliens, and boy did we feel stupid.”

“But aren’t humans aliens to us then?” Lucas spoke up, unable to focus completely on the game or the conversation, ending up with him getting killed.

“I think it’s funny how humans are so isolated, though, that they think anything outside of Earth is dangerous and alien. Back in our galaxy it’s like countries here.” This time it was Yang Yang speaking up. “We can travel to different planets and moons in our galaxy and it would be like visiting different countries here. But everything back in our galaxy is so much bigger than Earth, yet so much more connected. We have our ships that can take us anywhere, our alliances with other planets and solar systems, and of course, our cultural days where everyone comes together to create peace and unity. Earth is war.”

“Yang Yang, that was quite smart of you to say,” Ten said, genuinely impressed by the youngest.

“Kun, my hand is stuck in the pringles can again,” Yang Yang then spoke up, bringing his arm up and revealing the reason why he had been doing so bad this video game session. Ten sighed and shook his head.

“I really miss our cultural days,” Hendery said, changing the subject just a bit. “The food, the games, the performances.”

“I miss performing,” Ten thought out loud. Back in their planet, cultural day was a day they tended to have a few days a year to celebrate the peace and unity between all the solar systems and planets of their galaxy. There were games and food and (Ten’s personal favorite) the performances from the different representatives of each planet. Each planet had its own set of different representatives that were also known as the best of the best. There were artists, singers, and dancers. And Ten had been one of them.

Their planet wasn’t the biggest, nor was it the smallest. But it sure was the most competitive. Especially when it came to the representatives. And Ten knew that the best. For as far back as he could remember, Ten had always wanted to represent for their planet. Though he wasn’t actually from there (a story for another time), he had big pride in his planet and he always we wished that one day it would have pride in him. And it did. With every year he spent there, he grew with his skills and talents. He spent every day in the practice rooms, working on his routines to the finest touches and details. That was how he met Si Cheng who was a year below him.

Si Cheng and Ten were both performers - dancers - in similar categories. Many times they competed against each other, and many times they competed as partners. And they got into the most prestigious learning academy in their planet, residing at the center of the capital. Leaning on no one but each other, the two worked their ways up until one day, they were finally part of the line up for representatives of their planet. And soon, Ten became the pride and joy of the planet with Si Cheng not far behind.

Ten had the approval of the people. No, he had much more than that. He had their love and admiration that was greatly achieved by the mixture of his talent and charisma. Everyone swooned over him. He was probably the most popular heartthrob of their planet and solar system, maybe even galaxy. But that all came to an end when…

“You’ll get to perform again,” Si Cheng said, giving Ten a reassuring smile. “When we get home, everything will go back to normal.”

“Why don’t you two go to Hongdae?” Yang Yang suggested. “I heard it’s a place for the youngsters like us where many aspiring artists perform in the streets. You can get money that way too.”

“I’m too good to perform on the streets,” Ten scoffed.

“Isn’t that how you started? In the streets of our capital?” Lucas asked.

“Okay, that’s the end of this conversation.”

Kun frowned. He had taken the three youngest to the library again, this time with Lucas after he promised him they would stop for food on the way. And they were all currently looking through books on things they were interested in and wanting to study. Except Hendery, who sat at the farthest corner, looking through something on the computer that wasn’t related to robotics.

“What are you looking at?” Kun asked, leaning over as he scanned the monitor.

Hendery jumped, not expecting anyone to notice what he was looking at. “Uh-”

“Why are you looking for dance practice rooms in the area?” Kun asked. And then a look of realization crossed his face and Hendery knew what was coming. “Are you doing this for Ten?”

“I feel bad,” Hendery said softly, like a kid who was about to get scolded. “Ten spent all of his life working hard to become the best performer in our planet, working himself off in the practice rooms from as soon as he woke up until he could barely walk himself to bed. And when he finally achieved his dream it was all taken from him because of one mistake, and now he can’t go back home and spends his days adjusting to this foreign place, trying to make a living for us who are free to go home whenever we want.”

Kun sighed, taking a seat besides the younger boy. He didn’t really know what to say, so he thought about it for a while. “Do you think Ten wants you worrying about that?”

“No,” Hendery said in a soft voice.

“Then don’t. Ten is working hard to get back home everyday and he worries enough for himself. If he knows you’re worrying for him too he’ll worry about that.” Kun took out his phone (being one of the only ones to have one in their possession with their lack of money) and opened up something before turning it over to show Hendery. “But I know you’re going to keep worrying, so here is this place I found last night. I was also worried.”

“What did you kids learn today,” Ten asked the three youngest when he got home that day.

“Today, I learned that Hendery is deathly afraid of frogs,” Yang Yang said with a firm nod and a proud smile.

Ten nodded, staring down at his clipboard before he realized what the younger said and looked up to see Hendery elbowing the youngest. “You’re afraid of frogs? How is that possible, they’re like this small.”

Hendery shivered at the mention of the yucky, slimy creature. “They’re disgusting, I don’t understand how humans are scared of things like lions when frogs exist. Yuck.”

“Today, I also learned that Hendery can scream very high,” Xiao Jun said, also with a firm nod. “Almost as high as his squeaks when he laughs.”

“I don’t squeak when I laugh.” Hendery frowned. Everyone gave him a look which had him sighing in defeat.

Ten clicked his tongue and shook his head while still holding a smile. “Alright, well, you’re all dismissed. I definitely needed to know Hendery is deathly afraid of frogs.”

And with that, their little meeting was concluded with everyone scrambling along in their own direction. Except for Hendery who trailed behind Ten hesitantly, opening his mouth before closing it again until the older stopped right before the door to his room and turned to look at him.

“Do you have something to say?” Ten asked with an almost amused look.

“You don’t work tomorrow, do you?” Hendery asked, taking Ten back the slightest. He shook his head. “I have something I want to show you, if that’s okay? It isn’t far from here, so it’s only a short walk, and I understand if you don’t want to, but-”

Ten shook his head, signaling for the younger to stop his rambling. “Okay. Let’s head off after everyone leaves for their usual weekend adventures.”

And with those last words, Ten turned, walking straight into his room and closing the door behind him, leaving a very flustered Hendery behind.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Lucas asked, following behind Xiao Jun and Yang Yang, heading down the alley.

“Of course,” Yang Yang responded, barely glancing back at the taller. “We’ve done this before with Hendery several times, and since he’s busy with Ten, we are letting you in on this experience.”

Lucas’ eyes widened as he continued walking behind the other two. “Do Kun and Ten know?”

“Of course they don’t,” Xiao Jun hissed. “Do you know how much they would freak out if they found out?”

“Then why are we doing this?” Lucas frowned.

Xiao Jun and Yang Yang both stopped walking after making one last turn. And suddenly Lucas found himself staring down a long alley, tents set up everywhere, and many shady deals going down all around.

“Hey, Xiao Jun, Yang Yang, how’s it going?” One very tall guy asked as they continued walking down. “Where’s Hendery?”

“He’s got a date,” Xiao Jun responded. “He says ‘hey’.”

And then another guy from the other side jumped in, yelling, “Hey kids, who’s the newbie?”

“His name is Lucas!” Yang Yang yelled back.

And before he could process anything completely, Lucas found himself watching Yang Yang and Xiao Jun setting up their own tent in an empty space of the shady market. He watched as Yang Yang pulled down his dimensional storage backpack and began to hand over a bunch of glass containers to Xiao Jun who lined them up, all which contained different colored liquids, some shimmering and others glowing.

“What do you kids have today?” An middle-aged man asked as soon as they finished setting up.

“We stocked up more on the strength one if you’re still interested,” Xiao Jun said, immediately going into business mode. “But this week we also have this brand new one that allows you to intake anything you want for thirty minutes straight without any of the side effects like calories or getting drunk. And being our first customer for this product, I’ll throw in a 10% discount.”

“I’ll take both,” The man said, practically slamming down the a wad of money on the table.

“Nice making business with you, as always,” Xiao Jun smiled. And wow was he charming.

And almost two hours later, Xiao Jun was selling the last of his power enhancing elixirs while Yang Yang sat in the back, happily counting the money. Lucas couldn’t believe it. This was what they did every weekend when Kun let them roam around free? It was astonishing, really. The way Xiao Jun could talk business with such charisma and the way Yang Yang could appeal to the customers, he could only imagine how powerful the three were with Hendery.

“I wonder how Hendery is doing on his date,” Xiao Jun said as he began to pack up everything when they were done.

“Probably flustered,” Yang Yang responded. He was still focused on the money.

“I thought it wasn’t a date?” Lucas asked, eyes furrowing.

“Oh trust me, it’s a date.”

It wasn’t a date. It was just a performer and an admiring fan hanging out. That was really the only way Hendery saw it. And it was probably even more so the only way Ten could see it. Because despite popular belief, Hendery actually didn't like Ten. The story of the two went a long way back, though if you asked the older, he would tell you he had only met the younger a bit ago. But back in their home planet, Hendery had been Ten's biggest admirer, never missing one of his performances. But that, too, was a story for another time.

“So what did you want to show me?” Ten asked as he and Hendery walked side by side down the busy streets of the city.

“Can’t you be more patient?” Hendery chuckled.

“Trust me, I’m being as patient as possible right now.”

Hendery chuckled again before they settled into a comfortable silence. Their shoulders brushed up against one another as they walked side by side. Funny how they were so comfortable with each other now when just below a year ago the two barely exchanged more than a couple of sentences with each other. Probably because Hendery was too nervous to talk to his idol and Ten really only focused on ways to get back home.

“So, frogs, huh?” Ten asked, breaking that comfortable silence and setting a light-hearted atmosphere.

Hendery flinched before realizing that there were no actual frogs around and that the older was only trying to . “Please don’t,” He whined.

“I just don’t understand.” Ten had a playful smile on his face, making him resemble a mischievous cat all the more.

“They’re just gross, okay?” Hendery shrugged. Ten opened his mouth to say something else, probably some more provoking teasing, before Hendery took hold of his hand and began to drag him down a shabby street.

“Whe-”

Hendery didn’t let him talk, dragging him further down the street until they stopped in front of an abandoned looking building.

“What’s up with us and old abandoned buildings?” Ten asked, a blank look on his face as he stared up at the building. Hendery rolled his eyes and walked around to the backdoor.

“Do you have a key?” Ten asked.

Hendery shook his head and kneeled down in front of the door, getting eye-level with the lock. He took something out of his pocket and got to work, successfully unlocking the door almost seconds after.

“You and the others have learned nothing but bad things after getting here,” Ten said with a shake of his head, following behind Hendery. “Maybe I should get rid of the televisi-”

Ten stopped talking when Hendery opened a window, letting light into the room and reflecting off the glass mirrors. He was speechless when the younger turned to see his reaction. He was looking around, remaining rooted to his place at the entrance. “Hendery, I-”

The younger shook his head, holding a smile on his face. “Apparently dancing is quite a thing here on Earth, like back home. There are many of these practice rooms around.”

“I haven’t danced in years.” It was barely above a whisper. Ten was now staring at the floor, as if he couldn’t handle looking at his reflection. As if he couldn’t handle the aching he felt all around his body.

“Why don’t you try it? Here on Earth there is a saying, ‘you never forget how to ride a bike’-whatever that is- so maybe dancing will come to you the same?”

“There’s no music.” He shook his head.

Hendery rolled his eyes, walking over to a stereo at the back of the room. “Kun helped me set this up,” He said as he began to fidget around with it before some slow and soft music filled the emptiness in the room. He looked back up to see Ten staring at his reflection in the mirror.

Hendery moved to the farthest corner, worried Ten might feel too insecure if he stayed there. Which really wouldn’t make sense because he was the most confident person he knew, and he also used to perform in front of their entire home galaxy. But that was also years ago, before everything had gone haywire and they ended up on this planet, far away from home.

Ten let out a breath, closing his eyes, letting himself listen to the song that sounded very similar to a song he used to dance to back home. Hendery must have done that on purpose, he thought to himself.

He tried to move.

But he couldn’t. And he missed the beat.

His body wasn’t working with his brain.

Or maybe his heart.

A long time ago, dancing used to be everything to Ten. It used to be his only thing. Dancing was the only way he could ever express himself and- he missed it. The way it would make him feel so free and distant from all the problems that life would throw at him. And boy did he have a lot of problems now. But five years was a lot. Especially when dancing was how he would spend his entire day, every day.

To be honest, he was actually scared. That, unlike Hendery said, it wouldn't come to him like riding a bike. That it wouldn't be natural for him. That he had reached his peak long ago and could never go back to those moments that made him the happiest. And that was very scary. But Ten wasn't one to let fear in get in the way of things.

He felt his palms sweat and his hands twitch as the song moved further in and the second verse was almost there. If he didn’t move now he would miss it and-

His hand moved to the beat, and then again. It was slow and rhythmic, just a few hand movements moving along to every soft beat of the song, until it reached the drop and his body began to move before he could process it. A leg thrown here, another over there, flowing along and syncing to the rhythm of the music. And he jumped around, turned that way, turned this way, fell to the floor, rose back up- And it was beautiful.

Hendery was in awe. He was astonished. There was no human word in no human language that could possibly describe what he was feeling in that moment. And especially no word that could describe how Ten was feeling in that moment. He was so light with his moves, so delicate, and so passionate. Hendery was almost brought to tears. Only almost, though, because he knew he would never hear the end of it from Ten if he was.

But when the music stopped and Ten was standing breathlessly in front of him, eyes finally opening, he was able to see their shiny, glassy reflection.  He didn’t think he had ever seen Ten in tears, much less cry. Which meant he really must have missed dancing.

“Thank you.” Was all Ten said. He didn’t need to say anymore. Hendery understood.

No matter what planet, what solar system, what galaxy; There was nothing that Ten loved more in the universe than dancing.

--

Fun Fact: I listened to Winwin's line in chain on a loop while typing the first half of this chapter, and Dream in a Dream while typing the second half.

This chapter has been in our drafts for a while. And the chapter that comes after this was written way after this chapter was written because there was a gap in when we stopped writing because we got busy. Anyways, I've been very busy with college and major assignments and Nae has also been busy, so our updates have been slow.

BUT, we have been working on some very fanservice-y chapters lately so look forward to that.

Markhyuck shippers, I'm looking at you ;) 

-J

*In Haechan's pre-puberty voice*

Booming system up up, ty track, ty track

~Nae

Ya'll that ain't me. J is trying to take over, please send help!

~Nae (The real one)