Soonyoung and Jihoon were both sitting down against the lockers, Soonyoung’s wound patched up, Jihoon’s head on his shoulder. 

 

“We’re going to die, aren’t we?” Jihoon muttered. 

 

Soonyoung wrapped his arm around Jihoon’s shoulder, thankful that he didn’t budge. “You know, we probably are, but hey, dying during an alien attack is much cooler than, say, falling down the stairs.”

 

“The orphanage lady told you not to run on the wet floor while wearing socks and you did not listen,” Jihoon reminded him.

 

“That’s true, but she also cursed at Asians under her breath, so as a child I did not give a ,” Soonyoung defended himself. 

 

They stayed silent after a while, Jihoon wrapping his arms around Soonyoung’s waist, hugging him as the latter softly patted his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter if we get through this or not,” Soonyoung said. “But it’s good if we die trying."

 

“I’d rather die while taking a nap-”

 

“Jihoon, no-”

 

“Why not?? I don’t want to die while doing exercise,” Jihoon defended himself.

 

“Remember the week after we return to DC is our first kickboxing class,” Soonyoung reminded him. “You said you would like that-”

 

“Because I can pretend it’s conservative republicans,” Jihoon finished, remembering their conversation that one time they went to Walmart. “Giving guns to teachers is stupid and I stand by that.”

 

“Yes, the patriarchy.”

 

***

 

“ my life,” Jaehyun muttered to himself as they sat around in the office, bored out of their skull. Was it too much to ask god for them to have working electronics and the internet during an alien invasion? No??

 

“What was that?” Taeyong, who was right next to him, asked. 

 

“Oh nothing.” Jaehyun leaned back against the wall. Jeno was on his other side, head on Jaehyun’s lap as he slept. Jaemin and Chen Le were also asleep as well, leaving Renjun and Jisung to talk to each other quietly. “I just said my life.”

 

Taeyong didn’t say anything, staring at the 127 members in front of him who, unlike the Dream members, were being loud and chaotic. “This situation is unfortunate,” Taeyong agreed quietly. “But at least most of us are together. I’m just worried for…”

 

“Mark, Haechan, Kun and Xiaojun?” Jaehyun finished for him.

 

“Yeah, and the Americans, too, I just hope they're okay,” Taeyong said. “The fact that many of us struggle with just one alien while they are alone makes me worried.”

 

Jaehyun nodded, continuing to play with the sleeping-Jeno’s hair. “Yeah, not going to lie, but I don’t trust Mark taking care of Donghyuck. He’s going to be like Yuta over there with Si Cheng, trying to impress Donghyuck.”

 

“I still think those two are dating, but I’m not sure,” Taeyong said. “Are you sure they aren’t?”

 

“Mark’s a pansy, he would never confess to Donghyuck unless someone else has an obvious crush on him,” Jaehyun explained. “But you never know.”

 

They continued sitting there in silence, their legs pressed against each other, hands brushing as they watched the people in front of them starting to argue again.

 

“Your idea was stupid to begin with,” Doyoung yelled at Lucas and Johnny. “Now look at where we are-”

 

“Excuse me, my idea wouldn’t have been stupid if you haven’t interrupted us every five seconds to tell us how stupid it was!!” Johnny yelled back at him.

 

“Can you guys just shut up already, we get it, everyone is mad at each other, now can we please work out a plan to go home so that I can eat my yogurt I accidentally left in the freezer!!” Si Cheng yelled at all of them. 

 

Yangyang and Hendery nodded, even though they were too busy playing with the spinning office chairs at the main desk. “Yeah, I have leftover pizza,” Yangyang said. 

 

“How’s this for an idea?” Ten asked. “We all work to STAY ING ALIVE!!”

 

“Just up, you’re just saying that cause you’re engaged,” Yuta said, ice pack on his head. It wasn’t technically an ice pack, since the lights went out earlier in the school, so there was no electricity. All the ice packs in the nurse’s office have melted, but at least they were still cold. “Not everyone here has a boyfriend like you, Ten.”

 

“I’m sorry, did we not just start dating five minutes ago?” Si Cheng reminded him.

 

Yuta made an “oh” face. “, you right. Okay guys, new plan, we work on staying alive-”

 

“You’re just saying that because you have a boyfriend,” Yangyang said, copying Yuta’s words from earlier. 

 

“Then why don’t you go ing ask Hen-”

 

“CAN WE STOP ING TALKING ABOUT BOYFRIENDS?!?!” Doyoung screamed. “Let’s work on a plan to get out of here!!!”

 

Johnny grabbed Ten’s arm, surprising his boyfriend. “Well, why don’t you work on the plan, since everything I do is stupid anyways?”

 

“Someone wants me dead,” Ten muttered to himself.

 

“You guys do remember that the president of the school is right there?!” Lucas interrupted everyone, pointing at Taeyong sitting against the wall. Jaehyun, who was about to grab Taeyong’s hand, pulled his back in a split-second. “Taeyong, you’re smart, you come up with a plan.”

 

Taeyong’s eyes widened. “M-me?” He asked in disbelief, pointing at himself.

 

“Yeah, you’re also president of the 127 club, come on, you have to help us,” Si Cheng pleaded, getting on his knees in front of Taeyong, grabbing his hands. “Please please please think of something before these idiots get us killed-”

 

“I’m not an idiot!!” Johnny said.

 

“Johnny, if you loved Ten over here,” Taeil told him, “you would be worried about his safety.”

 

“I am totally worried about his safety-”

 

“Babe, not gonna lie, but if I die, it’s probably because of you,” Ten said. 

 

Taeyong looked at Jaehyun, who made him the “go on” hand motions. “Uh, well- maybe I can come up with something.”
 

***
 

 

“I’m bored,” Donghyuck said, sitting up from the floor, Mark’s hand still tightly wrapped around his waist. “Is the serial killer still out there?”

 

Mark shrugged. “Probably,” he said. “We shouldn’t risk it.”

 

“Yeah, you right.” Donghyuck grabbed another candy bar that he had purchased earlier and laid down again, head on Mark’s chest as he opened it. “Tell me a story.”

 

“Uh- okay, here it goes.” Mark dramatically cleared his throat. “Over a decade ago, back in 2008, there was this group of six people-”

 

“-that debuted into the group Ukiss by NH media, Mark, that is not a story,” Donghyuck scolded him.

 

“Well, I got nothing.”

 

“No, come on, you have to have something,” Donghyuck continued to plead with him. “Come on, make one off the top of your head.”

 

“Uh… okay, here’s this one.” 

 

Mark cleared his throat again, only to get smacked on the head by Haechan. “Hey, what was that for?”

 

“I know you’re not sick with mono or something,” Donghyuck said. “And if you are, you just made out with me knowing this, and if I get sick I’m going to walk straight into the serial killer’s arms.”

 

“I’m not sick, it’s called dramatic effect,” Mark tried to ignore his ignorant love. “Clearly, you don’t know the rules of storytelling.”

 

“Unlike someone who was going to tell me the grand finale of Ukiss having a three-member line up-”

 

“Don’t remind me.”

 

“Come on, Mark, tell me an actual story,” Haechan cried out, shaking Mark’s shoulders aggressively. “I’m bored!!”

 

“Do I look like an author where I can come up with fanfic off the top of my head, write it on a google doc and then transfer it to Archive Of Our Own?!” Mark said.

 

Donghyuck squinted his eyes at Mark, glaring. “You’ve read fanfic of Ukiss, have you?”

 

Mark’s face turned red. “I-I mean no, because all the actual long ones have five thousand fandom tags for it which is just click-baiting,” he confessed. “And the most popular ship was some ACE member with Jun.”

 

“You poor, poor soul,” Donghyuck said, patting Mark’s hand. “Reading fanfic of idols is weird, though, don’t you think?”

 

“EXCUSE ME?” 

 

“What?!” Haechan yelled at him. “It is, isn’t it?”

 

“You’re not getting a story,” Mark said,” crossing his arms and scooting away from Donghyuck. “How dare you mock my interests.”

 

“I have never mocked your interests, what type of best friend would I be?” Donghyuck asked him.

 

Mark’s eyes widened. “Oh, um… about that… , if I say this, it will be a cliche-”

 

“What are we?”

 

“Yeah, that.”

 

The two laid there in silence, neither wanting to make the first move.

 

Only ten seconds past, though, when Donghyuck spoke up. “You ask the question.”

 

“W-why me?” Mark sputtered, face turning red. “I don’t want to ask it, what if I get rejected?”

 

Donghyuck glared at him. “We both confessed and ed and you think you’re going to get rejected?”

 

Haechan was right with that one. Still, though, it didn’t calm down Mark’s nerves. “We-well, maybe you don’t like Kissmes,” Mark defended himself. 

 

“Mark, just ask the question.”

 

“No, you do it.”

 

“No, you confessed first.”

 

“Technically, you confessed first a year ago,” Mark pointed out. 

 

“You didn’t know that was me, so that doesn’t count.”

 

"Well, I'm still not doing it-"

 

“Mark, just ask the question!! Say it in English or something, I don’t care.”

 

Mark closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before asking, in English, “would you do the honor of… , I forgot the- hey, how do you say boyfriend in English?” he asked Donghyuck in Korean. 

 

Haechan looked at the camera on the ceiling, acting as if he were in the one American show that he forgot the name again. “You gotta be kidding me.”

 

“Can you give me just… Haechan, give me five minutes, I need to think-”

 

“You need to think about being boyfriends?!” Donghyuck screeched.

 

“NO! It’s just… let me panic for a moment, I’m about to be with the love of my life,” Mark asked him.

 

Donghyuck rolled his eyes but nodded, hugging Mark so that their chests could be pressing against each other. He could feel Mark shaking a little, figuring this was part of the panicking, so he Donghyuck let Mark be and ate the long-forgotten candy bar in his hand. 

 

After a few seconds of the only noise of the room being Donghyuck’s chewing, Mark’s voice interrupted the silence. “Will you be my boyfriend?”

 

“I thought you’d never ask.” Donghyuck shoved the rest of the candy bar in his mouth and threw the wrapper behind him, holding onto Mark’s neck. “Of course I will, silly, how can I say no to you?”

 

“In order to say no, you use your words-”

 

“Mark, shut up and kiss me,” Donghyuck insisted.

 

“That’s a Ukiss song, Shut Up-”

 

“MARK!!”

 

Mark got on top of Haechan, the latter’s body beneath him, and he pressed a long overdue kiss on his boyfriend’s lips, the two enjoying the newfound silence… which wouldn’t be silent in a few minutes, anyways.

 

***

 

Xiaojun removed his head from Kun’s lap. “I don’t think we should be stuck in here any longer.”

 

Kun looked at him, puzzled. “Wait, why not? We were instructed to be here, anyways.”

 

“Yeah, but they wouldn’t take this long, I’m assuming.” Xiaojun jumped off the desk, ignoring his headache. The sooner they got out of here, the sooner he could go home and sleep on his boring bed sheets. “Best case scenario, they are in a dilemma and need our help-”

 

“You shouldn’t be out there though,” Kun reminded him. “You’re hurt.”

 

“I know that.” Xiaojun couldn’t remember which cabinet the two Americans got the knives, so he started opening all of them, finding various art mediums stored. He did manage to find a basket filled with the biggest and thickest scissors he has ever seen. What could they possibly be used for, anyways? “But one thing I am not is pathetic.”

 

“Don’t go out there to prove a point, it’s perfectly fine for you to want to be safe, that doesn’t make you pathetic,” Kun tried to persuade. “Don’t go out, please.”

 

Xiaojun grabbed one of the scissors and tried to forcefully break it. “Kun… I can’t just stay here.”

 

Kun sighed before getting off the desk as well, looking at the pair of scissors in Xiaojun’s hand. “You need to take off the screw,” he said before pulling some drawers, finding a screwdriver in one of them. 

 

Xiaojun’s eyes widened. “Wait, you’re going?”

 

“I’m not going to let you get hurt,” Kun stated again. Xiaojun opened his mouth to speak, but Kun lifted up a finger. “And no, I don’t think you’re weak or it’s because I like you, I just think you shouldn’t go alone.”

 

Xiaojun looked at him in shock, and it took Kun three seconds to realize what he said. “Holy , no, I- , no, wait, I should have phrased that better, uh-”

 

“I, uh-” Xiaojun hastily took the screwdriver from Kun and untightened the scissors, separating the two blades. “I did not expect to hear that in an art classroom while breaking scissors.”

 

“I had a whole plan, I swear,” Kun said. “And also, we’re being attacked by aliens.”

 

“Yeah, that’s not what people have in mind when they, uh-” Xiaojun turned to glance at the door. “Let’s just get out of here.”

 

“I would like that now, yes.”
 

***

“I can’t BELIEVE they’re plan involves us three risking our butts out here,” Johnny said, gripping the knife in his hand until his knuckles turned white. 

 

“Well, I can’t believe that I’m in charge of babysitting you two,” Doyoung huffed, pulling Johnny’s and Lucas’ ear, the two yelping in pain. “I’m the one who kept advising you two not to do anything stupid.”

 

“It wasn’t a stupid plan!!” Lucas screeched, writhing away from Doyoung, rubbing his sore ear. “Leave me alone, I just want to go home.”
 

“You got to admit, Taeyong is pretty smart,” Johnny admitted, leading the two to Mr. Park’s room. “I forgot Chanyeol is apocalyptic crazy.”

 

“Who the is Chanyeol?” Doyoung asked him, taking the blade out of his belt to point at Johnny.

 

Johnny rolled his eyes, pushing Doyoung’s blade down. “Mr. Park? He’s my computer science teacher, he has a vow to destroy C++.”

 

“Wait, why do you call him Chanyeol?” Lucas asked, confused. 

 

Johnny sighed. “Because that’s his ing name? I know a lot of teachers who work here before I became a high school student. My mom is friends with a lot of them.”

 

“So that’s how you pass your class,” Doyoung muttered. 

 

“I don’t cheat!!” Johnny yelled at him. “And guess what, I was one of the groomsmen at Mr. Park and Mr. Byun’s wedding when I was twelve, beat that.”

 

“Says the guy who's engaged,” Doyoung reminded him. 

 

Lucas tapped both of their shoulders. “Uh, guys, look, there’s one of them.”

 

There was one of the human-looking-like aliens standing in front of Mr. Park’s classroom, banging intently at the metal door. 

 

Doyoung whistled at the monster. “Yo, , come here er!”

 

“Why would you- DOYOUNG!” Lucas screeched, pointing at the alien who was now sprinting towards them. 

 

Doyoung stood there calmly as Johnny and Lucas huddled behind them, and right when the alien lunged at Doyoung, arms out to choke him, Doyoung swiftly sliced the creature’s throat, the alien collapsing at the ground, giving him the opportunity to stab it’s chest its before pulling the knife out. 

 

He cleaned the blade on his dirtied jeans, already used to the green liquid. “Aliens trying to look like realize have no idea how stupid humanity is.”

 

“Me when I look at republicans,” Johnny said, reaching into his pockets only to pull out nothing. “, where is the master key Taeyong gave us?”

 

Lucas’ eyes widened. “You lost it?!”

 

“I have it, idiot!” Doyoung took the key out of his pocket and stepped on the alien to walk towards the metal door, ignoring the broken globe next to the lockers; why the alien had it, who knows. “Now remember, grab Mr. Park’s supplies and head out, got it?” he reminded the group as he unlocked the door. “We can’t waste time just standing around.”

 

Doyoung pocketed the key (if they lost it, they were truly ed) and pushed open the door, only to drop his knife from his hands when the three of them saw what was going on. 

 

Mark, the pansy that Johnny and Jaehyun always made fun of, was between Donghyuck’s legs, the two rolling their hips against each other as they passionately kissed. 

 

Well, looks like someone else was getting ed indeed. 

 

Lucas and Johnny covered their eyes, backing away as Doyoung started to yell at the two lovers. “THAT is what you two have been doing the entire time?! ing in Mr. Park’s classroom while we are all worried sick about you getting killed by the aliens?!”

 

Mark and Haechan pulled away from each other, eyes wide at the new intruders. “Woah, what the hell?!” Mark screamed, pulling out of Haechan where they could see his -

 

“Oh my ing god, HURRY UP, ES!!” Doyoung yelled, covering his eyes. “YOU GOT FIVE SECONDS TO PUT ON CLOTHES ON!!”

 

The three of them kept their eyes closed as they heard Mark and Haechan hurriedly putting on their clothes, mortified at them being caught. 

 

“They’re lucky the cameras aren’t working,” Johnny muttered, only to yell when Doyoung slapped them. “Ow, why would you do that?!”

 

“Now’s not the time for your stupid jokes, Johnny,” Doyoung said. “Are you guys done yet?!”

 

“Yeah, we’re done.” They opened their eyes to see Mark and Haechan poorly dressed, their hair messed up, clothes wrinkled, still obvious boners present. “There was a serial killer outside-”

 

“It’s an alien, not a serial killer,” Lucas pointed out. “A lot of them are here around the school and we think Korea might be under attack-”

 

“Woah, aliens?” Haechan asked, surprised. “No, that guy was trying to murder me-”

 

“All the aliens have been trying to murder everyone,” Doyoung explained, reaching out to grab Mark and Donghyuck’s wrist. “We have no time to explain but we need to get out of the school now.”

 

***

 

“This is Iris Gonzalez reporting in South Korea, where after Texas has reported a state of emergency after a suspected terrorist attack, about three sightings of these men have been reported here in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. It is unknown about the origins of these people, but the mayor has declared a lockdown in the city, where in a ten-mile radius it was reported that there was no internet nor devices working. Lot of parents have voiced their concerns, especially those that didn’t have their children back at home. Here I am with a mother, who- what was your name madam?”

“Xiao Lei Hua, my child, my son Xiaojun, he was staying after school and I haven’t been able to reach him, I’m really worried, the government has to do something-”

---

 

“Ma!!” Changbin yelled at his mother, who was in the kitchen cooking. “Auntie says that her and Uncle Seo are not coming today!!”
 

Changbin’s mother came out of the kitchen, drying her hands. “What do you mean she’s not coming, I made tteokbokki just for her, she knows I don’t like it!”
 

“No, it’s not that,” Changbin said, shaking his head. “You know the alien attacks they say is going on here in Seoul-”

 

“That’s just nonsense, it’s just terrorists hurting people, they should be punished,” she said, turning off the stove. “Let me guess, she thinks she’s going to get killed outside.”

 

“No, there’s a school where a lot of kids were, that’s where cousin Johnny was and she can’t reach him.”

---

 

“Now why are you looking angrily at your screen?” Jeonghan told Seungcheol, who was busy typing away on his phone. 

 

Seungcheol threw his phone at the table in anger. “You know my friend from college, Soonyoung, and how I finally saw him again the other day?”

 

“Yeah, the one who said he came an astrophysicists at NASA,” Jeonghan said. Seungcheol had told him about when he was in a Korea club in college, where he made a lot of friends with Koreans, Korean-Americans and other Asians in general. Seungcheol changed universities midway through his bachelor's degree, and it was at Columbia where he met Jeonghan where they eventually got married. They moved to ia because of Seungcheol’s job, which was a really close ride from DC and it’s how he bumped paths with Soonyoung. “What about it?”

 

“Well, he went to Korea, right?” Seungcheol explained. “And basically, he was texting me how he thought there were aliens - keep in mind, this is before the reports of the attacks - and he was in Seoul investigating and now he won’t respond!!”

 

“Seungcheol, eat you lasagna, it’s getting cold.”