A/N: First off, I just want to clarify some errors in the previous chapter. I had originally written that chapter in 1st person point of view. But once the chapter had already been posted, I realized that the first chapter being in 1st person wouldn't match with the 3rd person omniscient that would be used for most of the story. So, I had to edit the chapter and change the 1st person pronouns (I, my, myself, etc.) into 3rd person. Upon reading the chapter again, though, some 1st person pronouns escaped my editing. I've fixed them now, but I know some of you had read the chapter already, so I wanted to clarify why there were suddenly seemed to be some switches to the 1st person. I apologize for the confusion.

Anyway, let's all meet alien!Yesung.

Under the bright purple sky, where land met water, a lone figure stood at the very edge of a steep cliff. As the waves crashed against the cliff, he let out a deep breath.

The swirling, crashing green water below him matched his current dominant emotion.

Turmoil.

His life, while not perfect, was good. Good enough, at least. His situation could be a lot worse. Sometimes, he felt guilty about being upset and restless. Others have it much worse than he does.

But sometimes, “good” enough just isn’t enough.

He was alone.

Of course, not in the literal sense. He had his family. He had his friends. He had his people.

However, in their race, one was never truly complete without his or her other half. His mate.

He kept waiting for his.

Decades turned to centuries. Centuries turned to millennia. He still kept waiting.

He kept up a façade that he was fine without a mate. He lived his life. He fulfilled his duties to his people. He has been in an intimate relationship with a wonderful female for about a millennium now. He was praised and cherished by his people, whom he served and protected. He went on with his life.

But deep down, he was still waiting. Still longing.

“There you are!” 

The voice behind him made him turn in slight surprise. He had very good hearing, and given all his military and combat experiences, it was rare for anyone to be able to sneak up on him. But he had been currently lost in his feelings of despondency, after all.

The newcomer grinned cheekily at him. “Why am I not surprised to find you here?”

He just sighed. “What do you want, Jongjin?”

“Yuri is looking for you. She said something about you supposed to going to the botanical gardens?”

“Ah, yes,” he frowned. “I lost track of time.”

The fault was his. 

He had just wanted some time to himself. He needed to be away from others, not wanting them be affected by his internal turmoil. Not wanting them to know that he was experiencing turmoil.

And his internal turmoil should not have affected Yuri, no matter how indirectly.

She was his significant other. He loved her and cared for her (of course, not to the level and pureness of being mates), and it was duty to make sure that she all right. Being late was not the proper way to treat her. Especially with Yuri loving flora so much. She always loved going to the gardens, often bringing him with her.

“I will go to her now,” he said, nodding at Jongjin.

Before he could take more than a few steps, though, a hand was on his shoulder, stopping his movement.

“What is wrong?” Jongjin inquired.

He met Jongjin’s piercing eyes. A serious expression was on his normally cheerful brother’s face.

“Nothing is wrong,” he asserted. “Why would you think that something is wrong?”

Jongjin’s eyes continued to scrutinize him. Then, he stated bluntly, “Do not think that I do not know that you come here when you are stressed or feeling down.”

He frowned at Jongjin. 

Jongjin was usually playful, the jokester in their family. He had a carefree, go-with-the-flow attitude. And that attitude made it easy for people to often forget that Jongjin was also perceptive. And given the fact that they were twins, with Jongjin being younger than him by only a few moments of time, Jongjin was even more perceptive when it came to him.

“I am fine, Jongjin-ah.”

Jongjin snorted. His brother was insane if he thought that he could fool him. “No, you are not,” he retorted, his eyes narrowed. He eyes his older twin brother for a few more moments; then, he forced a smile on his face and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “But you will be, Yesungie-hyung.”

Yesung stared wordlessly at his brother for a while. Then, he nodded once more to Jongjin, and he left his brother to go and find Yuri.

“The flora here really are beautiful!” Yuri exclaimed happily, sighing in contentment as she looked around at all the plants around them.

The botanical gardens of the community were a couple of leagues away from the palace, and the gardens were tee