“The more I think about this, the more I'm sure it's a bad idea. I mean, how did you even get the keys? Have you thought about whether or not they have security cameras? What will we do then?” It was established that Minho was the pessimist of the group, but it was Jonghyun who was having doubts now. It was just past 11 PM and the science facility was officially closed, so Taemin demanded that they go investigate the spacecraft. Jonghyun was sure that Taemin would even run around town for a day if someone dared him to.
“I bribed the janitor a little earlier. You'd be surprised at how often this kind of thing happens. Kids want to see all types of scientific discoveries in here so they come after-hours like us to look. It's really not as bad as you think it is, Jjong,” Taemin said as he unlocked the glass double doors of the entrance, walking inside the lobby. It was a little eery at night - the empty reception desk, the only light coming from the moon, and the echo of their voices that bounced off of the walls.
“I don't know about this...” Minho spoke for the first time now; he thought he'd be fine, but now he felt jittery. It felt as if someone would walk around the corner at any moment and bust them. Then what? Would they get arrested? Minho's parents would be so disappointed!
“Would you guys relax? Nothing is going to happen as long as we keep quiet and we don't touch anything we don't need to. We don't know what has alarms set on them and what doesn't,” Taemin said, then pressed a finger to his lips to indicate now was about the time for them to shut up.

Jinki had tagged along, of course, partly because Minho didn't want him wandering around alone and partly because he was the only one who could really fix the spacecraft. He was silent, but the bright smile on his face and the twinkle of light from his antennae told everyone just how excited he was for this. Whether it was the possibility of going home or just to experience more earthly life, no one was too sure, not even Jinki himself.

Every small sound they made seemed to be amplified - Minho was sure even his heartbeat could be heard. Taemin's sneakers squeaked louder than usual, and Jonghyun's chains around his neck sounded like bells, letting everyone know they were walking through the halls. Of course, it was all just their imagination - and the stress of what they were doing.

They had been here before on various school trips, so they knew what was in most rooms they passed. Most were just small lab rooms where the scientists and apprentice scientists conducted experiments - throwing a bunch of chemicals together to see what would happen (at least, that's what Taemin thought they did) - and a few other rooms were either break rooms with mini kitchens or meeting rooms. Nothing too important happened down here; most corporate things took place upstairs. The meetings here were just for updates about current experiments.

At the end of the long hallway was the place where the group wanted to be. This was where all the confidential experiments were kept, and only very few people had access here. Most apprentices didn't.
“Great. A keycard. Now what?” Jonghyun grumbled as he saw the small box beside the door, the one thing keeping them from the spacecraft.
“Are you really worried? I've got this under control,” Taemin said as he grinned, showing them the janitor's keycard. Well, someone had to keep the confidential area clean.
“How did you-” Minho began to ask.
“I stole it while he wasn't looking. I'll return it with the keys to the entrance,” Taemin shrugged as if it was something minor, which in his eyes, it was. Could it really be considered stealing if he was going to return them? It was more like borrowing.

They entered the large area, looking around.
There wasn't much in here; in fact, what they were looking for was right in front of them. This was the only confidential find of the science facility, it seemed, so the group walked over to the large spaceship that somehow made the room look smaller with its size.
“Whoa...” Jonghyun muttered as he looked up at it, and they were all quiet as they took in the sight in front of them. Even Jinki was silent for a second or two, filled with the warmth of love and happiness he got whenever he saw or heard something connected to his home planet.
“Well, let's open this bad boy up an- wait,” Taemin was speaking as he was removing the lid off of the control panel, only to find everything was missing!
“They took it out. A lot of things, actually,” Minho said when he spotted the table nearby with an assortment of wires and circuitry that came from the spacecraft.
“It will take us forever to assemble everything again. Not to mention that they've probably begun taking apart the exterior too,” Jonghyun sighed heavily; he thought this would take a maximum of an hour, but with the way things were going, it would take much more than that. They couldn't stay here the whole night either, and the janitor would surely be suspicious if Taemin asked to keep the keys for a few days more (while keeping the janitor's keycard without his knowledge).
“Plus, if we put things together now only to pause, they'll know someone was tampering with the spaceship. We should just leave it,” Minho hated this idea even as he said it, but what else could they do? They didn't want to get busted for breaking and entering as well as looking at confidential things. He also had to keep Jinki in mind - he was still here on earth with them, and therefore still needed to be shielded from anyone of a high authority.

“Man, what a waste. I really thought we were about to do something cool tonight,” Taemin said as they walked out of the building, sour that they had snuck in and gotten such an adrenaline rush for nothing.
He had left the keys and keycard on the reception desk for the janitor as he was instructed earlier.
“Fixing it would be pretty cool, yeah, but think about it! Now we can build one from scratch? Isn't that more exciting?” Jonghyun grinned, but Taemin was still a little sulky and pouty for not being able to put something together tonight.
While they began bickering, Minho put his hands in his pockets and glanced at Jinki who walked beside him quietly.
“I'm sorry we couldn't fix your spaceship, Jinki. If we could've, I hope you know we would've definitely tried,” He murmured, and the extraterrestrial smiled slightly back at him. He was definitely more disappointed than he wanted to let on since he didn't want to seem ungrateful for everything Minho had done for him thus far.
“Yes, yes, I understand, friend,” He tried his best to sound convincing, but the usual enthusiasm just wasn't in his voice and Minho could tell.
“Look, we'll start working on the new one tomorrow. Jonghyun probably has everything figured out already. It shouldn't take us very long, maybe a week, and you'll get to go home! It's all good, so cheer up, will you?” Minho smiled as he nudged the other one's side, “we can even get ice cream,”
“What is this ‘ice cream’ you speak of? I assume it is a food piece, yes?” Jinki's usual curiosity had made a comeback, and Minho smiled wider.
“Yeah. You'll see tomorrow,”

The next morning, Minho woke up extra early. It was a Saturday and for once, he didn't have any practice or tests to study for. But he still had his work cut out for him, and that was building the spaceship for Jinki. The idea still sounded outlandish, but with Jinki's know-how when it came to physics and the architecture of the spacecraft, Minho was sure they could get the job done. If not, they would just have to find a way to send a distress signal to Mars. That was their last hope, and he hoped it wouldn't have to go that far.

“I am ready for our expedition of reconstructing my spaceship!” Jinki exclaimed as Minho exited the bathroom after a shower, and the taller one jerked from fright.
“You scared me, geez. Wait for me in your room. I'll be there soon,” Minho shook his head, then noticed as Jinki's eyes trailing down his bare chest; it wasn't the first time he was being checked out by someone, but it definitely made him feel more flustered since it was coming from Jinki instead of one of the cheerleaders at school.
“Ah, don't look at me like that...” He complained softly as he secured the towel a little tighter around his waist (to have the towel fall now would certainly be a disaster and Minho was positive he'd die from the embarrassment).
Before Jinki could respond with numerous apologies as he meant to, Minho rushed to his bedroom and shut the door quickly to get dressed. Strangely, he didn't really have a problem with Jinki looking at him like that. Maybe a part of him even liked it, not that he'd ever admit it. He was simply shy, he concluded as he tugged on a shirt, and he felt nervous sometimes when people looked at his body like that since he was sure they'd judge him somehow.
Still conflicted and confused about how he was feeling, Minho met Jinki in his bedroom as promised.
“You're ready, so let's go. I'm sure Jonghyun and Taemin are already waiting for us,”

The abandoned warehouse was just that; an abandoned warehouse. The windows were smashed, the wood was damaged from the rain and bleached from the sun, the plants were growing wildly since no one came to keep them in check, the equipment gone and there were scraps of metal laying around everywhere.
“It was originally a car warehouse a really long time back,” Jonghyun called from inside when he spotted the curious faces of Jinki and Minho outside, “before we were even born, I'd say. But they took the machinery out by now,”
It was as he had said. The interior of the warehouse was very spacious, but there was nothing inside except for the materials Jonghyun had picked up around the warehouse.
“Where's Taemin?” Minho asked as Jinki wandered off to begin inspecting some things.
“Still sleeping probably. I'll give him a wakeup call in about half hour if he still hasn't pitched up,” Jonghyun nodded. Out of the group, Taemin was definitely the one that arrived late to most things, even school. He was the friend that someone would have to tell the party started at 6 instead of 7 just so he'd arrive on time.

“Are these materials okay to use? They're what I found laying around and they seem sturdy enough, but we could make a plan to get different ones,” Jonghyun began discussing it with Jinki who carefully observed the steel pieces in front of himself, touching a few and turning them this way and that like they were all puzzle pieces.

In the meantime, Minho began gathering up a few more steel pieces to clean up the work space; if one of them had to trip over something or fall into a piece of metal, it wouldn't be pretty. Jonghyun had some training in first-aid, but nothing that could compare with having a steel rod shoved through someone's stomach.

Since Jinki confirmed that the steel Jonghyun had collected was good for the spacecraft, they began getting to work.
“This is like an advanced workshop course,” Jonghyun said as he set the metal down on a workbench, then picked up the blowtorch not too far from himself. He had on the protective gloves and helmet as well - he really went all-out for this, and it was clear from this that he was excited.
“Knock yourself out with that. I'll call Taemin and tell him to get his lazy out of bed,” Minho laughed as he slid his phone out of his pocket, walking to the entrance of the warehouse so Jonghyun's noise wouldn't disturb him.

Outside, crouching on the grass with a stick, Jinki poked at an anthill. Now and then, Minho could hear his laughter, so he knew the other one was enjoying his time harassing the ants.
“Hey!” Taemin exclaimed as Minho pressed his phone to his ear; the youngest of the group came marching down to the entrance from the street, a bag in his one hand and container of four cups of coffee in the other. In a way, he looked like a soccer mom late for a game.
“Sorry I'm late. I picked up breakfast for us!” He grinned as he held up the things, and Minho put his phone away with a click of his tongue, “it's nearly 9 AM and we've been here since 7:30. You're really late,”
“Yeah, yeah, grumpy. Take the food and cheer up. Sometimes I swear you wake up on the wrong side of the bed every morning,” Taemin said, shoving the brown bag against Minho's chest. He could feel the warmth of whatever was inside tickling his chest as he walked inside, setting the bag down on a table near the door.
“...taste good! Eat them,” Taemin was talking to Jinki now as Minho walked back outside; he wanted to see what the hold-up was.
“What? What is he eati- Taemin! Stop telling Jinki to eat the ants! Jinki, don't eat the ants. Actually, don't listen to this guy when he speaks. He just talks nonsense!” Minho grabbed Jinki's hand to pull him from the ground when he pressed his finger into the sand to find an ant to eat.
They held onto one another's hands a little longer than necessary, and as soon as Minho realized this, he let go as if he had grabbed a stove plate that was on. Of course, Taemin noticed this, and he smiled slyly to himself; he'd definitely have something to report to Jonghyun now.
“Come inside and have breakfast with us,” Minho said with a flustered expression, waving off the moment like it never happened, then rushed inside to hide his red face. It wasn't that he hadn't liked holding Jinki's hand for just that splitsecond, it was the fact that he ℎ𝑎𝑑 enjoyed it that was scaring him. These things had never seemed so natural before, and while he was apprehensive about it, he also wanted to just let himself go and allow this to happen. Maybe he'd do just that.

Later that day, at around 5 PM, the group decided to go to their respective homes. They couldn't neglect their homework, and they also couldn't stay out too late and risk their parents having an issue with them not being home as often.
Minho and Jinki walked side by side, the sunset glowing a warm orange on their skin.
“I think the spacecraft will be constructed well. Jonghyun is skilled and is also confident in his abilities. I am glad such a great task has been entrusted to him,” Jinki was the first to speak nearly halfway home.
“He's always been into the whole construction thing...” Minho trailed off with a smile, then glanced at his friend beside him, “so, your days are numbered here. How do you feel about it?”
Jinki thought about it for a moment, then shrugged.
“I am not sure. I have enjoyed my time here and I am sure I still will, but I also look forward to the day I am able to return to the red giant. There are many of my friends I miss and I cannot wait to see them again,” He responded honestly, then smiled at the setting sun; something about finally admitting what felt like a deep dark secret to him felt good.
“You'll come back though, right? To visit us here?” Minho had to ask - he wanted to prepare himself in case this was the first and last few days he'd get to spend with the extraterrestrial.
“Yes, I will visit again. Soon. I will come to see you specifically,” Jinki smiled at him instead now, the yellow light of his antennae brightening as much as his smile.
“Good. There's still a lot of things I want to show you,” Minho smiled even wider, and when his hand knocked against Jinki's due to their walking so close to one another, he didn't mind it.
“How about that ice cream now? Are you still up for it?” He asked after a few more quiet steps.
“Yes. I would be thrilled to try this food piece you call ‘ice cream’,” And now, instead of letting their hands brush against one another, Minho held Jinki's hand in the warm light of the setting sun as they walked to the nearest ice cream store.