“What do you think of it?” Minho asked as he scooped up some vanilla ice cream on his tiny spoon, watching as Jinki did the same.
“Is it supposed to be this cold?” He asked, “I am sure things this cold only come from the blue giant, far away from the red giant!”
Minho guessed Jinki was talking about Neptune.
“Well, things can get pretty chilly over here. But tell me; you guys can go to Neptune?” He chuckled, and then turned serious. His eyes twinkled with curiosity, but he erupted into laughter when he saw Jinki's expression as he ate a large piece of ice cream, definitely causing some brain freeze.
“Why do you like this...this...obscenity of a food piece? It has harmed me! We must burn it at once before it can harm others!” Jinki exclaimed, and Minho only laughed more as he saw the extraterrestrial search the table for something to burn the ice cream with. But with no matches and a lighter, Jinki just stabbed the lump of vanilla with his spoon.
“It will come alive again soon, but I have stopped it for now! Thus, we must make haste and find something to burn this vicious food piece with!” Jinki nodded, determined, while Minho nearly fell out of his chair.
“No, Jinki, it's meant to do that. If you eat too much at once then you'll get what we call ‘brain freeze’. The ice cream isn't hurting you on purpose,” He continued laughing a bit afterwards, and even more when he saw Jinki's face twist in concern, “it has frozen my brain?!”
“No. You just ate too much ice cream at once. It was like a...sensory overload. Feeling. It was too much coldness so your brain couldn't handle it momentarily. Nothing to worry about though - it doesn't do any permanent damage,” Minho explained in a calm tone; he wasn't too annoyed having to explain this, even though he never thought he'd have to do so. Then again, he didn't ever believe he'd become friends with an alien.
“But to answer your previous question, yes. A nation lives on the blue giant as it is. When we are in need of resources such as special steel, we send convoys there to collect some and then bring it back to the red giant. To craft a spacecraft like that would take much more than what resources we have now, and surely longer than a week!” Jinki spoke up after his brain didn't feel like it was encased in ice anymore, and laughed at his last sentence. Minho chuckled, but he was more in wonder; it felt like he had unlocked the door to a whole new world only he really knew about. He wanted to poke and prod at Jinki's brain to hear more about these “nations” he spoke of, but what good would they be if Minho couldn't experience them for himself like he could with Jinki? And what about when the extraterrestrial left? All of this would seem like a very long fever dream. Right now, he felt as if he was daydreaming, walking on a cloud. How long would this feeling last after Jinki left? An hour? Two? A day? A week?
“Will you tell me more about the nations sometime?” Minho asked as his eyes began burning with curiosity again.
“Sure! When I make my return trip to earth sometime, I will make sure to bring photographs!” Jinki nodded, scooped up some more ice cream, and ate it happily, unaware of the sudden sadness that leaked into his human friend's dark brown orbs.

It all went along smoothly - surprisingly, no one came to investigate what the teenagers were doing at the abandoned warehouse from 7 AM to 6 PM on weekends and 3 PM to 7 PM on weekdays, but that meant that they could get things done quickly. Everyone thought Minho would be happy to get rid of Jinki, but he wasn't exactly jumping for joy like they expected towards the end of the project.

“It's almost time for Jinki to leave. I thought you would've been happier than you seem to be right now. You look like you just woke up from a hangover,” Jonghyun commented as he sat beside his friend, both their hands stained black from working with the metal during the afternoon. It was Friday, and Taemin had complained how he wanted to do something other than hang around here and work on the spaceship.
“You don't even work on it,” Minho scolded him at that time, “all you do is sit around and eat!”
Now, though, he was eating ants with Jinki. Again.
“So did I, if I'm honest,” Minho chuckled as he stared at the two of them, scrutinizing them, then down at the dusty floor in front of him with a heavy sigh.
“I...I think I've begun to like him. Or having him around...I don't know which it is exactly. Maybe it's both,” He shrugged with a perturbed expression on his face before he glanced up at Jonghyun again. He always seemed to know what to do in these situations.
“Well, tell him then!” Okay, maybe not always.
“Did you forget what we're doing here? We're going to send him back to space soon! What will me admitting my feelings do?” Minho clicked his tongue, kicking a pile of sand. It amazed him how they could work in such a sandy and dusty place but still keep the metal on the spaceship a shiny silver.
“Just try it! He said he'll come back, right? Consider it a long-distance relationship,” Jonghyun explained, but Minho replied soon after with a scowl, “a long-distance relationship? He lives on another planet, and...”

While the two of them bickered amongst themselves and Jinki and Taemin stuck their fingers in anthills to fish out some ants, an unexpected visitor arrived.

Taemin was the first to look up when he heard heels clicking on the sidewalk, and his mouth fell open as his brows dipped in the same direction. The first thing he saw were the shoes - black and white that went with a suit, but in a futuristic way. That was all he could think to describe it. Then he saw the cream suit pants and finally the cream shirt that went with it. But that wasn't what made him stare; it was the black latex vest right on top of the cream shirt! Or it was just the man...

Jinki looked up to see what his friend was staring at, and his face broke out into the largest smile Taemin had seen thus far.
“Kibum!” Jinki hopped up to embrace the other extraterrestrial, brushing his fingers through the blonde strands on Kibum's head, “your hair—”
“I dyed it as soon as I heard you were coming to Earth! You didn't even let me know, you scoundrel. You know how much I've wanted to meet these earthlings!”
Taemin was still crouching on the floor, staring at the newcomer, when Kibum took off his clear, once again futuristic, glasses and leaned down to look at the human.
“...Well, the earthlings in the magazines were cute, but definitely not as cute as this!” He poked Taemin on the nose, and then stood up straight again. When he flashed a smile, Taemin noticed the rainbow braces on the perfectly straight teeth.
If the odd outfit didn't tell him that Kibum was an alien, the antennae similar to Jinki's did.
“What are you doing here? How did you find me? And you brought your new glasses, and you put the braces on...” Jinki was so overwhelmed to see Kibum here that he couldn't even piece himself together enough to introduce him to the humans.
“I came to find you, silly! When you didn't come home, I tracked you via your antennae. And if I'm going to meet some of the cute little humans,” Here, he squeezed Taemin's cheeks by cupping his chin and using his thumb for one cheek and the fingertips for the other cheek, “then I wanted to fit in with all their bright colors and looks. I've been reading the Cosmopolitan nonstop when I decided to come here,”
“What is 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡?” He questioned before the other two could speak, his gaze pointed at the nearly finished spaceship; it just needed a few touches here and there and it would be done.
“Did you build that yourself? Smart 𝑎𝑛𝑑 cute. I like it,” He winked at Taemin, then walked in with Jinki following.
“Actually, it was a collaborative effort. Kibum, this is Jonghyun and Minho. The earthling you met before was Taemin,” Jinki said, and Jonghyun and Minho glanced up in surprise; they too, like Taemin, stared dumbfounded. But it wasn't about the fact that there was another alien - Minho knew about it anyway - it was more about the fact that they had relatively finished the spacecraft and now someone was just pitching up with their own!
Minho spluttered a few incoherent words and sentences as he stood up, his brain fried with irritation. He placed his hands on his hips as he stared at Kibum who looked him up and down, tickling him under his chin, “so uptight. What a cutie,”
Minho's face puckered up like he had eaten a lemon.
“First, you show up when we're nearly done with the UFO. We've been working on this for just about a whole week, and now you just pop up?! You couldn't have done this a few days ago?” Minho was furious now, “all our hard work has gone to waste, and for what? Just because you were too busy...doing...what up there? Stuffing your face with plants and going to parties?”
Kibum folded his arms, highly unimpressed with what he was seeing right now. The magazines definitely hadn't informed him that these humans were so rude!
“I've just arrived and there isn't even a welcoming party for me? You're yelling at me! No one said anything about this being something kind from you earthlings. Jinki! How could you be friends with them? They're so disrespectful!” He seemed to be missing the point Minho was making completely.
“Second, you walk in here like you own everything. Who do you think you are?” Minho continued on anyway, stepping closer to the alien. Like this, their height difference was quite apparent. Then again, Minho was one of the tallest guys at school, so it shouldn't have been too surprising to find Kibum was short beside him.
“Easy there, you chunk of broccoli. With your broad shoulders, and broad chest...” Kibum purred as he ran his palms over Minho's said body parts, “why are you trying to be so mean to me? Have you been mean to Jinki like this too?”
Minho stepped away when he realized how touchy Kibum was being.
And just like that, his anger evaporated and was replaced with something similar to a certain shyness.
“No, no. Of course not. I just feel like it would've saved us all a whole lot of time if you had just come sooner,” Minho was extremely bitter that they had gone through all this effort for nothing, and while he tried not to show it, he couldn't help it.
Kibum still seemed disgruntled, so he moved away from Minho and looked down at Jonghyun who still sat on the floor.
“I'm Jonghyun. Hi. Kibum, right? Yeah...you said that...hi! Yes. Hello,” It was clear Jonghyun was nervous - there was something very domineering about Kibum's presence, and in a way, he reminded Jonghyun of a diva.
“I guess I have my first lovesick admirer here. And one with gorgeous, brown puppy eyes! I haven't even done anything yet,” Kibum poked Jonghyun on the nose, and a blush spread across the human's cheeks automatically.
“Let's go get some food! How about pizza? I've been dying to try it...” Kibum wandered outside with Jinki following, and Minho frowned at Jonghyun who still looked like a child who had been visited by the tooth fairy.
“I thought you're dating Taemin. Keep your tongue in your mouth, will you? Stop drooling like a dog,” Minho snapped at him - he didn't want to see his best friend hurt. At this rate, both of them would be hurt. Kibum and Jinki would leave, and since Jonghyun seemed about eager enough to kiss Kibum's shoes, that would break Taemin's heart and eventually Jonghyun's when the extraterrestrials left for their home planet.
He sighed heavily as he followed the aliens and Taemin with Jonghyun beside him; was Minho the only one who hadn't lost his mind at this point?

They all went to the small pizza place that had seen Minho, Taemin, Jinki and Jonghyun often since they went there for an early lunch or early dinner most of the time. Some of the waiters even knew them by name and what they liked to order at this point.
Taemin sat beside Minho, Jinki sat beside Kibum, and right on the other side of Kibum sat Jonghyun.
“What happened to you wanting to leave immediately?” Minho grumbled once they had ordered two cheese pizzas.
“I changed my mind. I've been waiting for this opportunity since, like, forever!” Kibum said, “and it looks like Jinki is enjoying himself here anyway. Aren't you, my honeybee?”
Minho frowned at this nickname he heard; not only that, he felt a little spark of jealousy in his chest when he saw Kibum pinch Jinki's cheek affectionately.
“Are you two—”
“It's what you guys would call ‘dating’. Back home we just call it connecting,” Kibum interrupted Minho before he could finish his sentence, and Kibum leaned in to rub his nose against Jinki's.
“But...you...you flirt with everyone! You flirt with me, with Taemin, with Jonghyun! Jinki, you're okay with this?” Minho suddenly exclaimed, the edges of his eyebrows lifting up while the insides slid down.
“Don't be so dramatic, darling,” Kibum dragged the last word out as it dripped with disinterest, “it's accepted back home to have more than one partner,”
Jinki nodded, his head bobbling back and forth at a fast pace.
“Really? Tell me more,” Jonghyun said as he leaned towards Kibum. Taemin, unsurprisingly, was sour for the rest of the night. Who wouldn't be? Seeing their partner snuggle up to someone else while they told a story or gossiped about someone from another planet.

“This blows. Can't we go home? It's not like they'll notice we've left,” Taemin grumbled as he folded his arms tightly over his chest and sunk into the chair like a bratty teenager forced to be somewhere. He felt like kicking Jonghyun under the table, and he did so once or twice, but the shorter one had just given him a look and continued his conversation with Kibum. There was a lot of giggles present, not to mention smiles and whispers. Taemin couldn't believe his eyes, it was like he wasn't even there!
“We might as well. Jinki's sorted with a way home and I'm sure Jonghyun won't have a problem getting home either,” The sourness in Minho's voice was evident. So evident that it halted conversation at the table and they all looked at him.
“Real nice, Jjong. Real nice,” He spat, then grabbed Taemin's wrist to pull him with as they left the table. Minho was protective over all his friends, but especially Taemin since he hid his feelings a lot and holed himself up at home so he wouldn't have to confront his sadness or negative emotions. Jonghyun, on the other hand, just bursted at the seams when it came to showing how he felt. Minho never had to worry that Jonghyun was secretly angry at something since he quite literally exploded (and immediately felt bad afterwards) whenever something bothered him too much.

“You seem more upset than I do,” Taemin murmured as they started walking to his place first. There was an imaginary dark cloud floating over Minho's head, and every now and then his face would flash with frustration, sadness, anger, and then back to his normal expression. Taemin wanted to say he was glitching, but he didn't think a joke would go down so well right now.
“I'm fine,” It sounded like there were rocks in his throat.
“You don't look or sound fine. You always follow me around until I tell you what's wrong. Why can't I do that with you?” Taemin asked, and the corner of Minho's lips pulled upwards into a slight smile.
“Because I'm fine,” Then his smile vanished again. He was always so difficult to get through to when it came to things like this, and while maybe it would've been better to just leave him be, Taemin was way too curious to let this go. Minho was almost never in a bad mood, and when he was, it was for a good reason. He brushed insignificant things off with a joke or laugh, and that was the end of it. He never let them get to him. But if he was still stomping around like an angry giant, then Taemin couldn't help but want to investigate the matter further.
“It's about Jinki, isn't it?” He said softly, and Minho kept quiet as his eyes trailed down to the pavement in front of them.
“It's about everything. Jinki, him leaving, the spaceship we didn't even need, Jonghyun...” Minho finally admitted, “and all because of one stupid, little alien!”
Taemin felt his heart ache just a little at the mention of Jonghyun, but he didn't say anything for a while.
“So...what are you going to do now? Being in a poly relationship might not be that bad,” Taemin shrugged, “I'd never do it but maybe you'd like it,”
“You're just going to break up with Jonghyun, then?” The taller one asked; he wouldn't be surprised whether Taemin decided to leave him or stay with him.
“I guess I'll have to. I don't want to share him. It just hurts that for a whole year, I've liked him and worked up the courage to tell him, but the moment someone else comes he just...forgets all about me like I never existed,” Taemin said, then let out a loud breath. If he continued, he'd surely cry, and he preferred to do that in private.
Minho knew this, so he didn't push the subject further.
“Kibum and Jinki are here to stay for a while longer, I think. How about we just wait it out? Maybe Jonghyun will come to his senses,” He nodded, and Taemin glanced at him from the side of his eye.
“Maybe Jinki will too,” He said.
“What? No. I don't expect that. Kibum stays on his home planet with him and they've probably been together forever,” Minho shook his head with a disappointed chuckle.
“You might be right, but you still showed him things Kibum couldn't. Doesn't that make you just as special? Sure, you haven't known him for years, but you two get along like you have. When you're around, it's like everything else around him vanishes. Really! You should see how excited he is to talk to you. It's not nearly the same when he talks to me or Jonghyun. And besides, there's nothing wrong with a poly relationship. At least consider it,” Taemin rattled on until they reached his house, and he turned to his friend now with soft eyes.
“It might be difficult, or even impossible, but you never let that stop you before. I mean, we broke into the science facility and got into the confidential wing!” Here, Minho had to quiet Taemin down before his neighbors heard, and the shorter one giggled before speaking a little quieter.
“Just be more open to it, okay? Let things happen. Don't resist them,” Taemin said, and Minho turned him towards his front door with a chuckle, “okay, Yoda, I got it. Now go inside,”
“If you want me to quote some of Yoda for this situation, then I ca—”
“I'm good! I'll see you tomorrow!” Minho said as he shut the front door of Taemin's house once his friend was safely inside, then jogged off to his own home. He definitely didn't want to set of Yoda Taemin; 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 usually lasted for days.

When Minho got to his house, he found Kibum and Jinki outside.
“What are you doing here? Can't you sleep in your spaceship or something?” He had felt a little uplifted after his chat with Taemin, but now that he saw the two extraterrestrials, he felt down on the ground again.
“Don't be silly. Do those tiny things look like they have enough space for a pod?” Kibum shook his head with a 𝑝𝑓𝑓𝑡 sound, then looked at the house in front of him.
“This is where you stay, Jinki tells me. So this is where we stay until we leave. I'd love to see the inside. It's filled with glitter, isn't it? And a disco ball, I bet. It's all in the human magazines we get shipped,” Kibum said, and before Minho could stop him, he went inside the house.

The excited smile plastered on his face dropped immediately, and he looked around the living room with a perturbed ℎ𝑚.
“Hey, Kibum? I don't think your magazines are accurate,” Minho laughed as he walked in, and all Jinki could do was shrug at the other extraterrestrial in a “he's right” type of way.