A/N: You're here! :o Dear reader, thank you for taking a chance on this strange little story, and for that, I present you with an even stranger epilogue! A gift of gratitude, perhaps? A present to those who are patient :) For reading my poems and accepting the aliens in my mind.

You see, I couldn't leave you without some conclusion (and this was planned from the beginning because the d-day events are actually based on a dream I had!), so here's my attempt at action and weirdness and wrapping things up. 10,000+ words. Go get some popcorn!

(PS- this is a piece of fiction written before the Area 51 storm parties going on, so it does not depict real events and has no connection to anything that happens/will happen irl.)

⇒ The time markers in  « BOLD »  are on a forward timeline, while those in  « ITALICS »  are flashbacks to the past in no particular order.

⇒ The music links like  « ♫ 3:04 »  are only suggestions, to set the mood. Like a movie, ohoho~

2018/05/05 (1 YEAR AGO) - VISIONS COMPANY OFFICE - 01:58 PM 

« ♫ 1:49 »

Pen dangling around her fingers in slurred thought, she startled herself when the writing utensil slipped from her grasp and clattered onto the table. She swiftly picked it up again in distaste, but just as quickly found she had to put it down when her interest took hold of a notification that popped up on her desktop. 

Eyes widening, Miss Park Chorong darted towards her keyboard and got to work. 

The sound of computer keys tapping that resounded throughout the office seemed to increase in tempo at the addition of this worker's nimble fingers. The dark brunette with bangs swept to one side began busily typing away behind her computer screen as if a new task had just been granted to her. 

By now her workmates had gotten used to the strange data she would sometimes pull up onto her monitors. It was easier for everyone to just let her be, not wanting to meddle in what illegal matters she might be involved in. It was always safer for her workmates to avoid her sharp eye contact, unless they were asking for a wristlock. She was intimidating when she needed to be, and no one could stand in her way when a goal overcame her focus.

Then again, the workers weren't all that interested in each other's lives anyway. Strange people worked everywhere in these departments. It was all about the income and not the people around here. 

That didn't stop Mr Lee from biting into a pink frosted donut and peeking at his neighbour's screen in fascination. 

There were several points marked around on a computerised diagram, but only one of them had developed an informed prediction. A dot with a solid line running through it was updated onto the mapping of Earth's atmosphere. It was a pathway predicted in real time and the flying object appeared to have already cut through the first and second fields seamlessly. 

"Jesus, it's headed straight for us."

Suddenly seated right beside her, Mr Lee's muttering broke through Chorong's concentration, though she wasn't in a mood to be shocked, surprisingly.

"It's going so fast. What... What is that?" he asked, mouth agape. "A meteor?"

Dark eyes glanced at him sharply before returning to the monitor. But he was right. The point was on a clear trajectory bound towards Earth, moving at an alarming rate, but it was not in a way a space rock would normally fall.

By now, enough time had passed for Mr Lee to believe his query would go unanswered, just as it would whenever anyone attempted to interrupt the girl. Not wishing to provoke her further, he was steadily wheeling his chair back to his former place when Chorong finally uttered to him shortly. She sighed.

"Not a meteor..." 

2016/02/21 (3 YEARS AGO) - SOMEWHERE IN THE COUNTRY - 04:13 AM

« ♫ 2:01 »

The petite girl let out a petrifying scream, howling at the moon. The deafening high-pitched noise shook the grassy fields in the chilly midnight breeze, nocturnal creatures quickly scurrying up tree branches to avoid the call of a predator. It was certain to scare away anyone following her in the dead of night.

Chorong was at her limit, furious, with cheeks that were tear-streaked from the stress. Her eyes were aflame with anger and frustration, body aching from her constant alertness, chasing the thing in the sky that would just never take her.

The dark brunette threw her cheap beeping device into the ground with all her strength. It landed with a cracking thud a few feet away from her. The screen was sure to have smashed from the impact, having already lost a few screws. 

She screamed again, in pain, in anguish. She had lost the person most dear to her, the only person she really cared about, and she was desperate to find her. 

Chorong's heart was screaming with her as her figure crumbled to the ground on her knees. Tears flowed freely with the heavy weight on her chest. There, she sobbed, looking wistfully into the pale ghostly shape of the moon. The celestial only stared back with pity.

Suddenly, the girl was overcome by a headache. She grimaced, rubbing her temples to ease the discomfort that was likely by the result of her sleepless nights. But the throbbing steadily grew in size, into a massive problem she could no longer ignore. The splitting pain to her head kept her crouched on the ground, unable to get up. 

Her body lurched out the contents of her stomach, the acidity burning as she heaved. The pain to her head doubled, and then Chorong was panicking, fearing damage to her brain. She had to get herself together, and keep her brain working. She couldn't disappear. She couldn't forget. In this terrifying moment, she was losing it. 

Chorong pressed into her memory amidst the pain that was wrecking her skull. Who was she? Who was she??? Chorong began asking herself questions, panting hard and gripping fistfuls of grass that her knuckles turned white. 

She was Park Chorong. 19 years old. She lived in a strict Catholic household, in a rather conservative community in the country. And she was gay. 

She had a girlfriend who she loved so much. Her girlfriend, who was abducted by aliens and had not been found since. Her girlfriend, Yoon Bomi. 

"!" a strangled scream echoed from her as tears broke out. Maybe she wanted to die. She didn't know what sounds she was making as the pain pressurised and fogged the rest of her senses. Chorong could faintly register someone pulling her into a recovery position before she passed out, welcoming death to take her pain away. 

Her consciousness returned in the greeting of a stinging to her head, like pins were being pushed into her brain. The pain was dulled by a lot however, and Chorong had to blink several times to find her place in the world, eyes uncrossing to clear up her double vision. 

She was moved into the city hospital, the furthest she'd ever been from home. The medical staff had checked everything only to find nothing of issue, and then took a brain scan as a last resort. But even the brain scan couldn't tell them what exactly happened to her, and what could have caused the excruciating episode. Chorong didn't remember it, but apparently she had been screaming and crying for hours. 

Besides high stimulation in the brain and a lot of heat generated from the rushing of blood to that area, there weren't any malign growths or internal bleeding involved in her case either.

Plenty of rest, painkillers, and therapy, was what she received. The treatment proved phenomenal to her recovery, so perhaps it was really just an extreme migraine, as it turns out. On the other hand, therapy was introduced due to concerns about the aliens in her mind. The aliens she had apparently shouted about. 

Chorong was displeased about this to say the least, and took to the simpler route of pretending, lest she'd get put in a psych ward for longer. She already knew that her experience wasn't something that could be understood by others. With that, it wasn't long before Chorong's severe headache fell non-existent and she was freed, though she left feeling just as confused as when she got here. 

And from that moment on, the dreams came. 

2019/07/29 (2 MONTHS AGO) - CHORONG'S APARTMENT - 08:05 PM

« ♫ 3:23 »

"You're serious about this."

They met through online dating, but their relationship only stayed as good friends. Maybe it was because Eunji reminded her a lot of Bomi in some ways. Their birthdays were only five days apart as well. These familiarities were what attracted her to Eunji in the beginning, but with Bomi's face flashing into her mind in the most intimate of moments, Chorong could never allow herself into romances doomed to fail. It wouldn't be genuine. 

"I am. I have to go to Area 51."

"Unnie..." Eunji brushed the girl's hair, trying to form her words carefully. Having accepted Chorong's crazy past as a friend who really cares for her, Bomi was a difficult topic to talk about even now, years after her apparent disappearance. Chorong wouldn't let it go. And Eunji was afraid she would never let it go. Watching the older girl struggle in the ruins, knowing her story, really tore into Eunji's heart. She only wanted to see her unnie in a happier place. 

"How can you be so sure that Bomi is there?"

As if on cue at the mention of her name, Chorong's eyelids slipped shut, lips trembling. 

"Eunji, it's driving me insane." 

Her sanity was sure to be questioned. The people she met could never understand what she had been through. It was one thing to faintly recall being abducted by aliens as a child, by the bright lights and loud whirring outside your window in the middle of the night; by the metallic energy in your body that psychics claim to sense. A wild imagination. A conspiracy theory.

It was another thing entirely to have witnessed it take someone you love, never coming back. The emotion that's connected with that. 

Stricken with grief is all they can say. A hallucination clouding the memory of a loved one. A distortion of a kidnapping case left unsolved. An inability to cope healthily with death, constantly shifting between bargaining and depression, though it always comes back to denial first and foremost. 

"The dreams... These dreams..." Chorong griped at her madness with a pained expression inflicted on her features, fingers pressing into her forehead with such pressure, it caused her arms to tremor.

"Hey, come on now..."

Eunji stared at her sympathetically, not sure what to do. She couldn't imagine what pain Chorong was in, to be holding on to a past love for so long. But maybe when a person means that much to you, you'll never find another quite the same. Would there ever be a need to move on from such a lover, then?

Flooded with a sadness she couldn't fully comprehend, Eunji wanted to comfort Chorong so badly, but she could only do so much.

Helpless, was probably how Chorong felt too. 

2013/11/22 (6 YEARS AGO) - SOUTH POINTER HIGH SCHOOL - 05:25 PM

« ♫ 1:38 »

"Bomi, what are you- mmffph!" 

The said girl pressed against Chorong and engulfed her lips, kissing her. The passion brought a strong buzz to Chorong's body, bubbling right down to her finger tips, and her eyelids were already fluttering before she could help it. 

They were best friends, right? So what was this feeling between them?

Chorong found herself pulling Bomi closer, deepening their kisses more than pushing her away. Bomi tasted so sweet, and the way her tongue danced around hers, it almost had her knees wobbling. They pulled away for air with their faces completely flushed, and just when Bomi opened to say something, Chorong pushed herself onto her almost desperately and they started making out again. 

She's always wondered how it might feel with Bomi, doing such acts. She's always thought about how happy a guy would feel to have Bomi, only acutely aware of how envious she was being. It was the only time she thought about being a guy. 

When she realised she was in love with Bomi, it was like a breath of fresh air. She had been confused all her life, not sure how she fit into the world, not sure what was different about her, what was "wrong" with her... but then there was this one thing she could be sure of, and that was how in love they truly were. Then everything seemed to fall into place.

They became their own version of Romeo and Juliet, with Bomi entering through Chorong's bedroom window to spend the night with her on most nights. It was exciting in the worst way, for fear that they'd get caught, but for a love that tied their hearts together, they just couldn't get away from each other. 

2019/09/15 (D-5) - HUNSINGTON LOBBY - 10:40 AM

« ♫ 1:16 »

"Nice to meet you, Chorong-ssi!"

He spoke with a sly smile, reaching a hand out for a polite shake. 

Chorong inhaled sharply through her nose, her stature rising a little as her eyes fixed on the hand offered to her. Mixed emotions came flowing but she swallowed her spit to push them down. She took the handshake reluctantly, and felt the warmth in his callused palms. Farm boy, came to mind unwillingly. Then the rest came bounding into her brain without permission.

Song Yunhyeong. 94-liner. 

He grew up in the country much like her. He was a rather slender guy for a farmer, but the labour experienced by those hands don't lie. It was the result of hard work done in the fields under harsh sunlight, but he kept a smile to his face. 

Yunhyeong-ssi had his fair share of alien-like encounters and was sure that the authorities were keeping the truth of the universe under wraps from the general public. Behold, another small town conspiracy theorist. 

The greeting that came out of her tasted bitter. Chorong tried her best to stay calm. Unfortunately, no matter how many times the events passed through her, no matter how perfect the plan seemed to be with what practice she had gotten, to know that in a few days it was going to be the real thing—the last run for them—was still burdening. 

Chorong's eyes flashed of sadness towards the young man, but it went by unnoticed. 

She couldn't tell him that he wasn't going to make it. 

2015/10/08 (4 YEARS AGO) - PARK RESIDENCE: CHORONG'S BEDROOM - 11:32 PM

« ♫ 0:53 »

Bomi placed a myriad of soft kisses under her eye and about her cheek, making Chorong smile shyly at the sweetness of her gesture. 

"I love Chorong unnie the most," the younger girl whispered playfully. She was wrapped around her from the side as they lay together on Chorong's bed. Bomi shimmied closer to Chorong's side, her kisses falling behind her ear as she breathed in the scent of clean hair. 

"Are you not planning on sleeping?" Chorong's words came jokingly, teasingly, not readily admitting how content she really felt right now, embraced in her lover's arms. She could just fall asleep like this...

A low whine involuntarily left when Bomi nibbled at her ear. "Bomiiii," she mumbled in protest, currently drifting in and out of that state of fuzziness before you go to sleep. 

"What if I don't wanna sleep yet..." Bomi's voice lowered in that way she always found so y, and immediately after, she felt the girl's hot breath and tongue teasing the shell of her ear. "What if... I want you first?"

Chorong's breathing quickly grew heavy, senses alive in the dark of night. Bomi knew just how to turn her inner beast on, as open-mouthed kisses trailed down her neck, and teeth grazed over sensitive skin. Chorong tried her hardest to stifle her moans at the light on her neck and collar, but it soon oozed out as the pleasure mounted.

Hands scrabbling at Bomi's back, she managed to tug the younger girl upwards, their mouths meeting in a heated kiss. She rolled them over, and she could feel Bomi's teasing smirk as she did, like the brunette had succeeded in getting the hot Chorong to come out to play, lying on top of her and controlling the kiss the way she liked it.

The older girl growled against the younger, sparking a fire in them both. 

"We can definitely arrange that."

2019/09/20 (D-DAY) - ROCKSAW HOTEL - 12:26 AM

« ♫ 1:19 »

Unable to get a wink of sleep, Chorong kept checking the time while she rested. She kept checking until she finally considered it fit to get up and get ready. With the room still dark, save for the light she kept on in the bathroom, she reached for the clothes she had prepared on the top of her duffle bag. 

The girl changed into a denim outfit, comprising of thin pants and a jacket, and topped it off with a black cap that fit snugly on her head, to keep her hair out of her face. It might sound awfully silly that she would choose to wear the toughest thing she owned, that being denim, rather than getting her hands on some sturdier protection, but Chorong had her reasons. 

Instead, her greatest source of protection came in a black set of elbow and knee pads. It was all she could have without getting full-body armour to weigh her down. What was most important in this mission was her memory, stealth and agility. 

She heard a knock on her hotel room door, signalling their departure is nigh. 

Chorong finally slipped into a compact pack that went across her body, carrying some small essentials she might need. Of course she would bring hydration for the long walk they might take, going inland. The pack was fit tightly to her back so as not to hinder her movement, and with that clipped and ready to go, Chorong pulled out the hotel card from its power source and left her hotel room. 

2014/10/11 (5 YEARS AGO) - YOON RESIDENCE: BOMI'S TREEHOUSE - 10:21 PM

« ♫ 3:32 »

They would spend their most quiet moments up here, just enjoying each other's presence, hands interlocked, gazing up at the stars. Whenever Chorong wanted to get away from her worries, and get away from her family for a while, she was always welcome to Bomi's treehouse. Built by the girl's father as a childhood dream, now used as a place of comfort in moments of despair. It was also pretty romantic. 

"Unnie, do you believe in aliens?" Bomi asked one time, her legs dangling freely off the side of the structure. 

Chorong lifted her head from Bomi's shoulder to look at her. "No.. But.. Wait. I don't know, I've never seriously thought about it."

Bomi chuckled at her answer, nudging her a little. "Then think about it now, unnie. I'm asking you." 

Chorong exhaled softly, grumbling for a moment before meeting Bomi's gaze. 

"No wrong answers?" she checked with the prankster, unconsciously pouting with her question. 

The younger girl couldn't resist pecking her on the lips at the cuteness. It prompted Chorong to smile.

"No wrong answers," Bomi smiled back. 

"Alright," the older girl thought, sitting up straight. "Hmm, do I believe in aliens- I believe there's possible life in outer space."

"Oho," Bomi sounded, forgetting to control . "AHH SORRY don't hit me." She instantly raised her hands in surrender before Chorong could smack her, but she got a light slap to the thigh anyway. "Please, continue m'lady."

Chorong giggled. "Well, aliens... The universe is huge and we're really just one tiny, tiny part of it. I don't think it's far-fetched to believe there might be life on other planets. You know, they could be just like us. Another Earth." 

Bomi's eyebrows rose up in curiosity. "Another Earth? Oh, whoa, that's a good point."

"And I get it's important to think about potential threats, humbling ourselves to creatures that might be smarter than us... but who's to say alien civilisations are super technologically advanced? Who's to say that we won't be the aliens who'll come down on another planet first??"

"Okay, whoa there!" Bomi waved her arms frantically. "Ahh, too smart! My idiot brain can't take this," she joked, causing the two of them to snicker.

"Too much?" Chorong grinned. Bomi dorkily put her fingers to her temples and squinted, like she was trying to zap her braincells to life.

"How did people get the popular idea of the weird alien then?" the younger girl asked. "Big black almond eyes, green goop, flying saucers, those oooooooh noises."

"Imagination, I guess? There are many different alien tropes."

"But you know how all stereotypes start from somewhere? There could be some truth to it." 

Chorong hummed unconvinced. "Bbom-ah, what do you think?"

Her girlfriend whipped her head away from the stars, a smirk to her lips. "I believe in aliens. But the big black-eyed, green goop, flying saucer kind."

"You can't be serious."

Bomi burst out in laughter, finding Chorong's deadpan response all too funny. "Calm down! I'm not that serious about it."

The older girl cracked a smile at Bomi's antics, rolling her eyes. "You done laughing?" she complained after a while of enduring Bomi's amusement. 

"It's not that serious of a topic, unnie," the girl wheezed, laughter dying down as she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. Bomi exhaled loudly as if to clear out the chuckles from her system. 

"Aha, too funny. You're too funny, Rong unnie.."

D-DAY - OUTSIDE AREA 51 - 03:00 AM

« ♫ 1:35 »

Waiting around in the early hours of September 20, at a time when people should be asleep, the rebels held their plan of attack. 

3 am; what's often known in superstition as the witching hour, or the hour of the supernatural. Though aliens don't often play a part in that, today they will, as the ambitious team were keen to open up the secrets to Area 51, the rumoured sanctuary for alien life, alien research and connection to alien contact. 

The place they were targeting might be expecting them too because of the big media influence that initially brought them together. It was a highly unlikely prank to be genuinely carried out, which was all the more why these members took the task seriously, using the internet joke as their cover. And that was why they strike now. 

Holding meetings at undisclosed locations leading up to the actual event, and travelling in their assortment of streaky cars and sandy utes, to band together with strangers they barely knew, in something that felt deeply personal to each and every one of them.

Whenever Chorong looked around the room, she'd see all these fellows —these team members of hers— all with solemn expressions on their faces, and feeling a quiet determination from all their auras put together. 

They all had their own motives, their own stories to tell, whatever they may be, and Chorong had hers. 

2015/05/25 (4 YEARS AGO) - YOON RESIDENCE: BOMI'S TREEHOUSE - 08:27 PM

« ♫ 2:52 »

Bomi tightened her hug around Chorong, keeping the girl warm and secure in her most vulnerable moments. They leaned on each other when things were difficult, and that made them get back up stronger. 

That was how she let Chorong cry up here, letting her tears out without anyone else to hear them and tell them what they can and can't do. 

The Park household had become a more dangerous place in recent times, and she admired the older girl for staying strong to her own values while continuing to live there. Chorong may not be a fighter like Bomi, as she knew a losing battle when she saw one, but the older girl had a strength in standing her ground and staying true to who she was, not letting others push her around and change her.

Chorong was braver than people might think, and Bomi believed in her. 

"You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." 

Her girlfriend sniffed, pulling away to smack her shoulder lightly. "Is that from Winnie The Pooh?"

"You got it," Bomi winked, succeeding in making her smile. "You okay?"

"Mm, yeah... I'm better now... but I wish it could be better," Chorong said weakly. "Ah.. sorry I ruined your shirt, Bbom-ah.."

"It's okay. I have plenty more you know," Bomi reassured, "and I still have my other shoulder available to cry on."

Chorong only sighed, and Bomi grew serious again, waiting for the older girl's call. She wished she could take all her pain away because Park Chorong deserved the world. Park Chorong deserved so much more than the she had to put up with at home. 

But Park Chorong was the only one who could take charge of her own destiny. 

Bomi could only be there for her while it happened, supporting the older girl as her loving partner. 

"Why..."

Chorong's mind was occupied with empty questions to the world, not expecting to get any answers. 

Why did her life have to be like this? Why was she born into this family? Why did they hate her so much? What did she ever do to be treated like this?

A despised figure, a stranger in her own home. The topic of gossip that leads to sudden silences when she walks into the room. 

Why couldn't they accept her for who she is? Why couldn't they understand that it was just love? They would never even try to understand her perspective, and blocked out all her attempts; her hopes of remedying what familial bonds they had.

However, it seemed she was already corrupt in their eyes.