“Minho, is that you?” Mrs. Choi called out from the kitchen. The strong scent of kimchi cooking away greeted Minho just as his mother's voice did, and he kicked off his shoes at the door. He tried to keep them neat like all the other pairs at the door, but his were always the odd ones out since he never took the time to arrange them nicely like his parents did for their own shoes.
“Yes, mom. Is dad not home yet?” He responded.
“Not yet, no. But he promised he'll be home for dinner,” Minho's mother said, and her son nodded to himself since she couldn't see it.
𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑢𝑠. Minho thought to himself.

He might have sounded upset about it, but he wasn't. His father was a soccer coach at the local middle school nearby, and that meant there was a lot of times where his father couldn't make it home at usual hours like Minho could since he was already in high school. Was he jealous that his father spent more time with other children than his own son? Sometimes. But it had been like this for as long as Minho could remember anyway, so it didn't make him feel sulky or mad. He was used to it. Still, he would be forever grateful that his father showed him the joys of soccer - it was one of his son's hobbies, if not the main one. In fact, he liked sports in general, and his parents always encouraged him to take part in whatever he found interesting, which was why he was on the swimming team, soccer team, athletics team, and quite a few more back in middle school. Being part of three different sport teams was no joke, and Minho stayed after school on most days for practice, or a match, or a meeting. Out of all of this, he still found the time to complete homework and study, though it was the next morning at school most of the time. His parents didn't need to know that fact though.

Minho had just returned from an athletics meeting which thankfully didn't run for too long, so he was home earlier than usual.
“I'm busy with lunch, but it should be done in the next few minutes. Why don't you come sit down so long?” His mother called out, but he was already on his way to his bedroom.
“I have a chemistry test tomorrow. I have to study. But I'll be down as soon as the food is ready!” He also felt bad for leaving his mother on her own in the house for so many hours, even if it was for school, but at least he could say he was around more often than his father was.

Minho slid his bag off of his shoulders and dropped it down next to the desk in his room. It landed with a THUMP since it had quite a few heavy textbooks in it that he brought home from school; sometimes he wondered if his biceps came from his workouts or if it was just because of the schoolbag he had to lug around all the time.

He liked sports, but he also had a natural talent and interest in chemistry. He leafed through the textbook sometimes when he didn't have anything to do, and he found it quite amusing how he could spend over an hour just reading through equations and chemical concoctions and their outcomes. He lost track of time whenever he did so, so it was often that he glanced up and out of the window to see that it was evening time instead of afternoon.
The same thing happened now.
“Minho, the food is ready! It's getting cold! Hurry and come downstairs to eat,” His mother called from the kitchen; she had tried to extend it as long as she could since she knew he was busy, but the food really was on the borderline of going cold. He glanced up from his book, surprised - he was sure he had only been sitting here for five minutes when in fact, it had already been a half hour.

Minho met his mother in the kitchen, pecking her cheek as a late greeting from earlier.
“You and those chemistry books. Soon, you'll be reading them like these young girls read Twilight,” She laughed wholeheartedly as they sat down to eat; Mrs. Choi wasn't old, but her age was showing on her slightly weathered face. Whenever she smiled, wrinkles crinkled on her cheeks and around her eyes, but they only complemented her and even showed off the many years of wisdom she had.
“I'm not sure it'll be that bad, but even if it was, you really wouldn't have a problem with it, right mom?” Minho laughed.
“Of course not. Who doesn't want a scholar for a son? You really could become a scientist. Work on rockets, or technology, or whatever else needs chemistry,” She had always been eager for him to go into the science field, but Minho wasn't entirely sure that was what he wanted. He also wasn't sure if he wanted to become a soccer player for the national team like his father wanted. Both of these ideas were things he liked, but could he pursue them as a career for the rest of his life? It was a lot of responsibility.
“You should get out with your friends more, though, Minho. You're good at making friends and talking. Very charismatic. You shouldn't be cooped up in your room all the time. As much as I like you not going to these parties where kids your age drink and smoke and do other atrocious things, you still have a lot of friends don't you? And you never seem to meet up with them! What about a nice girl? When are you going to think of finding one?” Mrs. Choi always had a lot to ask and say to her son, so he never minded these cute rambles of hers. He could understand it - being a housewife for so long, having nothing much to do to pass the time and only a few friends who were also housewives (and therefore always available to talk), it got lonely here at home. That's why she was always so eager to chat whenever her husband or son got home.
“Mom, there's no time for me to do that. It's senior year, so there are a lot of tests and exams to study for. Not to mention the workload. And you know how much time sports take up for me, so how could I ever dream of trying to find a girl if I don't even have the time to think about one?” He munched on some of the kimchi stew as he said this; nothing was being exaggerated, nor was it his way of getting his mother off of his back about finding a girlfriend. He was telling the truth as he said these things.
“The right girl will come along, and then you'll be head over heels! It will just take some time,” Still, she hoped he would find happiness somewhere amongst his busy schedule.

It was about two or three hours later that Mr. Choi arrived home. Minho was busy reading the chemistry textbook again, but he paused when his bedroom door opened to reveal his father.
“The kids want to meet the son I keep talking about. How about you tag along next week Wednesday?” He always got to the point like this, but that wasn't the reason Minho was surprised. His father spoke about him to the kids?
“...to do what?” He asked, still stunned, and his father laughed as if his son had asked the silliest question in the world.
“What do you think? To play a match or two! They want to see just what it is that makes you so special. They want to see one of the best soccer players in the flesh!”
“You said that about me? Really?” Minho was eighteen, nearly nineteen, and he was transformed into a young boy all over again. His father was one of his role models - it had been that way ever since Minho was a child - and to hear something like this truly warmed his heart. Even if Mr. Choi was his father, he never gave his son such gracious compliments; he said Minho had to earn them. Maybe this would seem a little cruel to some people, but Minho felt better at the end of the day knowing his hard work was being noted instead of being handed compliments that held little to no truth just because it was his father. So when Mr. Choi complimented his soccer skills, Minho knew it was because he earned it and not just something his father said to sound like a good dad.
“Yes. Well? Are you coming or not?” He was usually flustered whenever it came to things like compliments or praises, so he often changed the subject.
“Sure. I'd love to come. I have swim practice on that day, but I'll let them know in advance that I can't make it,” Minho nodded, his smile lighting up his whole face like the sun.

Minho's cheek clung onto his hand which supported his face, his elbow set on the table and his eyes opening and closing so slowly that each “blink” lasted a whole minute. He kept telling himself, one more chapter, one more chapter, and he was trying to tell himself the same thing now, but it just wasn't working. The sentences and words and numbers and solutions just wouldn't stick in his head like it did before - he didn't need to study more since he was sure he knew all the content he needed to, but he wanted to get one of the top marks in the class, and that meant being able to write down the content backwards if need be. His mother often told him not to push himself to the brink of exhaustion in both academics and sports, but Minho rarely listened to that. It was either all in or nothing at all with him.

As his face was about to slide down and slap down onto the book below like a pancake, there was a slight rumble that shook the house. It was nothing too major, and it only lasted two seconds or so, but it caught Minho's attention. Earthquakes weren't that uncommon, and he would've just shook it off as something so simple, but a light caught the side of his eye.
Moving to his bedroom window and spreading the curtains wider, he saw what looked like a strange green light that definitely shouldn't have been there in a field not too far from his home. If he could describe it, he'd say it was like the lights of an aurora, since it began to fade after a minute or so.

With his curiosity fueled, Minho threw on a jacket and quietly left the house; he wasn't sure what time it was, but he knew it was late, and he didn't really feel like sitting through an interrogation with his parents. They were understanding and sweet, but they were always paranoid their precious son would turn to drugs to deal with all the pressure from school and demands on his time. He wasn't even interested in such things! But he could never seem to convince them of that.

It was quiet on the road that Minho took to get to the field, and by now the light had nearly fizzled out completely. The stars twinkled above him, watching him, and the moon lit his way, almost as if the universe was sending him a sign that he was meant to be doing this. His skin was warm since the wind wasn't a chilly one for once, but it definitely wasn't a summer night's breeze either. He did good on bringing a jacket with him.

When Minho arrived at the field, he almost wanted to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't some odd dream; he could've fallen asleep trying to keep up with the studying for all he knew! But he didn't wake up when he pinched himself for real, so he guessed he hadn't fallen asleep after all.

Some time away from his current position, there was something that had crashed into the ground of the field. It wasn't a car, or a building, or anything like that - in fact, Minho nearly wanted to say it looked like a spaceship. As in, UFO type spaceship. Over the years, there had been rumors of such things whizzing around in the air, but most of them had been debunked. The ones that hadn't? Well, everyone just forgot about it eventually. Everyone except Minho.
What was to be expected? He was interested in planets and the sun and galaxies! How could he ignore rumors of the existence of aliens?

He jogged his way over to the smoking structure, and he wondered if this was all just a prank set up for tomorrow; people would do anything for views and attention on social media these days, he really wouldn't be surprised. Well, at least he could debunk it himself so he wouldn't be sad later that it was fake.
“Hey! What's going on?” He asked the figure which was walking around the structure, clearly observing the damage.
The moment Minho spoke, the figure dodged behind the structure to peek at him, and he frowned as he put his hands in his pockets, “it's not fun to play pranks like this, you know,”
The person didn't move, instead remaining behind the steel and watching Minho's every move like some terrified animal.
“I won't call this in right now since it's late, but if it's still here tomorrow morning, then I'll report it for damaging the environment!” Minho called out as he looked at how deep the steel was pressed into the ground; it formed a hole that would take a whole day of manual labor to fill.
“You don't have holes from malfunctioning ships that crash?” The figure asked, still peeking out at Minho.
“No. You say it like you're from another planet or something,” He chuckled now. The figure stretched out from his hiding spot a little more, “what was that sound you made now?”
“What?” Minho frowned, “ugh, you know what? Just get out of here,”
“I cannot! The ship is broken!” The figure said, and he sounded deadly serious.
“Okay, the joke's over buddy. I'll even help you clear up this nonsense before everyone wakes up,” Minho said, his thick black brows still pulled down, and the figure stepped out from the shadows, “you would help me, homosapien? I must get back home!”

It was then that Minho was stunned into silence. The person who stood in front of him was a man, but he had a pair of antennae on his head with a yellow dot on the top of each. It looked like a light bulb, just very small.
“Oh, ha ha. Very funny. Take this off now, it's not that amusing anym-”
“Ow!” The figure exclaimed as Minho tried tugging on one of the antennae, thinking it was some headpiece gotten from a Halloween store, and Minho stepped back with a gasp when it didn't move. It felt...like skin in a way. Stiff, but warm skin.
“Are all homosapiens this rude?” The man asked as he rubbed his head with a frown, and Minho would've started running home to go to bed and pretend this was all just a wild fever dream, but he was way too interested to move a step.
“You...who are you?” He asked, very unsettled, and the other man lifted his hand with a smile. It looked like he was going to wave, but his hand didn't move.
“Lee Jinki, resident 20 050 of home planet Red Giant. Greetings!” He said with a smile that could rival even the sun's brightness.
“...red giant?” That was the only thing Minho could ask.
“Yes! But I have heard the homosapiens call it Mars,” Jinki nodded, and the taller man simply shook his head in disbelief. Whoever this man really was, was clearly a good actor. He nearly had Minho fooled!
“My ship had a problem in its circuits as I was passing by your home planet, and then I crashed here. I am sorry for ruining your...vast space,” Jinki motioned around the field, and Minho frowned again.
“Environment,” He corrected Jinki, then turned to the spacecraft, “what's the problem? Maybe I could help,”
He wanted to look at the “circuits” of this so-called spaceship to catch this prankster in the act. When Minho found out the wires were fake, this joke would be all over.

Jinki opened the board to the circuits, and Minho was ready to call him out for it being fake...except it wasn't. The wires sparked here and there, showing there was obvious electricity involved. Even when Minho touched one of the safe-looking wires, the silicon encasing the wires were warm.
Now he was stumped. All his plans to expose this for the joke it supposedly was had failed, but Jinki didn't seem to be smug about it. He really just seemed concerned about his spacecraft.
“I can't work on it in the dark like this. I'm not sure if I can even help at all. But-”
“Light?” Jinki asked, and the tips of his antennae lit up with a yellow light, “does that help?”
Minho frowned at this, but kept quiet after. He was good in chemistry, but he wasn't the greatest in technology. Especially robotics and such.

He looked around the circuit board anyway; it was complicated, and there were many wires, so even if he could fix it, it would surely take a few hours at least.
“I can't do it. I'm not that good with technology...but tomorrow we can bring one of my friends here to take a look. He builds little robotic cars for fun, this should be nothing for him,” Minho explained, and Jinki looked at him with a quizzical look.
“Friends? What is this ‘friends’ that you speak of?” He asked, and Minho shook his head with an exasperated chuckle. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that this was real, so a part of him still had quite a bit of doubt.
“Come on. You can stay at my house until tomorrow morning. We'll leave bright and early before anyone can get over here to investigate,”

“So this is what a house is...” Jinki said once they entered Minho's home, and the other one frowned as he hushed the newcomer.
“Quiet! My parents are asleep,” He whispered, then dragged Jinki up to his bedroom when the other man began touching things out of curiosity.
“This object, what is it?” He questioned as he touched the bed, and Minho took off his jacket to put away, “it's a bed. It's where I sleep,”
“You do not rest in pods?” Jinki asked, sounding like a scientist with an experiment.
“What? You know what, never mind. Take that couch over there. You can sleep on it for tonight, and tomorrow morning we'll be off to your spaceship again. Don't make a noise! Don't get up, don't walk around, don't talk, just don't do anything. And don't go around touching my things,” Minho said with a heavy frown as he slapped Jinki's hand away from the lava lamp beside the bed.

“Tomorrow, will you show me more of earth? Everything here is so fascinating and different! Homosapiens live very oddly,” Jinki said once he was set up on the couch and Minho was in bed.
“...sure, Jinki. Whatever you say,” He simply shook his head with a small laugh and turned off the dim light.