Thirty minutes more till midnight. Darn it. Where could they have been? The date was supposed to be only until eleven! I ran my fingers through my ebony locks, my feet pacing swiftly back and forth in this sullen living room. The dish I made for her got cold from waiting, and I’ve drank almost three cups of coffee, hoping to ease this jittery feeling in me. Just when I thought it would help me calm down, the caffeine was already taking its effect, making me feel more tense. This is stupid… I could barely keep my feet from walking around the house like some parent worried sick waiting for his child to come home from a prom date.

I fought the urge to press the call button to Jiyoung’s number, as he might think I’m meddling with their romantic life by appearing like some drunkard on the scene. Ah the shame.

I rubbed my temples and ran through a series of scenarios—what if Jiyoung’s car went down and they were stranded in some deserted place? Psh. With just a phone call away, I’m sure he can summon the same exact car to where they were stranded. What if they went some place aside from the ball? Would’ve they got lovey-dovey and then proceeded to the ? No. No. No. That will never happen. Bom wouldn’t allow it. But then again… Curiousity always got the best of her..

Seunghyun’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the flash of lightning followed by the sound of raucous thunder from outside. Another sudden flash caused his eyes to squint for a second. It has been raining since ten-thirty, and from the looks of it, there was no way this rain will be stopping so soon.

Maybe they did have a stopover at Ji’s place, he concluded as he drew the curtains to a close. He flicked the remote to the television, bringing it to life. The rerun of Bom’s favorite movie, My Sassy Girl was currently playing.

The couple were running under the rain, with the useless, drenched jacket hovering above their heads as they walked back to the girl’s home, soaked to the bone.

If Bom was here, she could’ve been peeking behind one of these throw pillows, looking innocently scared of the rainfall.

“Isn’t that scary?”

Sudden adrenaline rushed to Seunghyun’s veins as he flipped his phone, immediately pressing the number he was gazing at a few minutes ago. The other end answered the line within a few rings.

“Yeah?” A weak and slurred voice resonated.

Let’s cut to the chase, Seunghyun thought. “Ji, is Bom with you?”

A female’s snigger sounded in the background, “H-Hold on baby…Wh-What? Who?”

Seunghyun’s lips formed a straight line, his eyes beginning to round. Holy . I’m not interrupting something right now, am I?  “Bom. Is she with you?”

Jiyoung let a small snicker, obviously distracted, “B-Baby, w-wait… Oh Bom?”

Please, please don’t tell me she’s with you right now. For some reason, imagining them both in bed was making the hairs on his arms stand up. Seunghyun was confident that she would never allow that to happen.

“Hasn’t she arrived home yet?”

Seunghyun’s heart thumped madly as he gazed towards the slate blue curtains. The window was covered with continuous raindrops, matched by the occasional blink of the lightning. The clock implied eleven forty-five.

He tried his best to keep a composed face and tone, “Not yet, Ji.” The nervous tension he had already gotten over a few minutes ago was coming back to life, and the caffeine was kicking in once again.

---

“BOM!”

Seunghyun’s voice resonated towards the empty playground of the Seoul Park. Wearing his dark gray raincoat and matching gray rubber boots, he held his coal-black umbrella on his right hand, and a flashlight on his left. Tonight was definitely gloomy as the heavy gray rainclouds added a darker shade to current night sky.

“I swear I dropped her here,” Jiyoung mouthed, his voice trying to stand out against the loud splashing sounds of the rain.

Why the heck would you do something like that, Ji? Leaving a woman alone in the night, even if she persisted, is a really idiotic decision, Seunghyun thought. Aish. I swear if I find that alien, I’m going to make her regret this. For now I can only hope that she wasn’t abducted by some s in this city. Surely, that would give her a taste of how diverse human beings can be.

“She told me she would go look around for a while,” Jiyoung explained as he ran his fingers through his ruffled blonde hair. “…I assumed she knew how to go back to your place.” He gritted his teeth in slight frustration, “Dude, I’m sorry about this. If I had known…“

Seunghyun pressed his thin lips into a straight line; taking in a deep sigh. What else is there that we can do? Obviously I cannot blame him for assuming her safety. That alien’s tenacity really allows her to do great things—even if it means bringing trouble and worry to other people.

“This is hopeless, hyung,” Jiyoung muttered as he pointed his flashlight towards the tree covered area of the park. “Maybe we should call the police for help.” 

And risk her identity to the public? Hell, if they’d look up for her identification, lunatic would be the only word they could come up for Jiyoung. But then again, he is one of the highly acclaimed wealthy investors in the city—I may never be able to see the light if I’m behind bars. What about my house? My family? My TOP? The cats living outside the apartment? My salary? My boss? My life?!

“Hyung! Hyung!” A hand shook Seunghyun’s shoulder , snapping him back to reality. “We might be chasing our tails. We can’t afford to waste time.”

Throwing away all the worries of the possible consequences, Seunghyun agreed to Jiyoung’s plea. He watched Jiyoung slosh his leather boots towards the numerous puddles on the pavement of the damp park, taking further steps away towards the city streets.

Seunghyun on the other hand, turned the opposite direction, towards the grand courtyard--squinting his eyes as he tried to focus his vision through the foggy rain. All he could see were little balls of light, illuminating and floating as the body of the lamp posts were merely visible to his sight.

“Bom!” he cried out once more. He must’ve been mouthing the same words a number of times already, he was getting used to receiving no reply. He walked towards the east side of the courtyard, pointing his flashlight towards the thick array of trees; hoping that he might see even just a silhouette of her. Searching inside the woods was the last thing he wanted to do—not that he was scared of the dark, but more of the fear of what’s inside it. And if ever he did take a step there, he‘d might as well consider himself as one of the idiots in the movies who gets lost, trapped, and eventually killed by the dark elements inside the forest due to their wretched curiosity.

He ignored the thought for a while, and headed north to search more on the open courtyard. He dragged his heavy rubber boots towards the end of the courtyard, and found an open street there. Calling out her name once more, he earned a couple of stares from passerbys on the other end of the sidewalk. He turned his flashlight off, as the city streets already illuminated his sight.

Darn this chase, alien. You told me you still have a few days left… Don't tell me you're taking off just like this?

He was staring at the green flashing neon lights too long that when he shifted his eyes to another scene, the remnants of the green-colored letters appeared on his sight. Loosening his unconscious tight gripping on the flashlight, he shook his head and narrowed his slightly small eyes. She still has to be around here.

There was a nearby waiting shed, and it only took a few paces for Seunghyun to approach a mendicant old lady, sitting comfortably on the empty bench. She wore a thick layer of clothes; her neck covered by a tattered teal scarf; her hands covered with thick gray mittens; two large plastic bags filled with empty plastic bottles sat on her feet, and beside her laid a large woven basket with empty glass bottles inside.

“Excuse me, ahjumma,” Seunghyun coughed as he raised his voice, hoping to beat the loud sound coming from the pouring rain, “Is there by any chance you have seen a young lady walking around here at this hour?”

The old woman shifted her eyes to him; creases appeared on her forehead, cheeks and especially around the eyes. She smiled back at him, her eyes forming into slits. Setting aside the ratty peasant appearance, she looks much like my grandma, Seunghyun thought.

Seunghyun tried to reiterate his question; this time in a gradual pace. But the woman only responded in a smile; thus drawing Seunghyun to a conclusion that the poor woman must be deaf or in some kind of ailment.

Strange enough, he was startled by the presence of a male sitting on the other end of the bench. He wasn’t there a while ago. The stranger wore a regular office suit; like any ordinary office worker who’s waiting for the bus to arrive. The man had his eyes on Seunghyun for a while, then gazed away as he tucked his hands into his jacket pockets.  The man was relatively young, not to mention good-looking; short wavy hair, sharp nose, thin lips, deep-set eyes, and the usual dark crescents hanging under his small eyes. Seunghyun was about to approach the mysterious man when Jiyoung’s voice called him from behind.

“Hyung!” He called out, holding his knees for support as he began catching his breath, “…No luck. One of the officers claimed to have seen her, but she stayed at the park for only half an hour or so after I dropped her.”

“How about we go around the park boundaries once more?” Seunghyun suggested; feeling a tiny piece of hope crumbling down inside, “We might have missed her in the forest.”

“ hyung!” Jiyoung’s eyes widened, “There’s no way I would lose myself into those trees. If its daylight, I would agree on this. But come on Hyung—are you serious? A-And we have to split up to search?”

Seunghyun sighed, “Look Ji, I didn’t want this either. But we have no choice—You’re not chickening out now, are you?” he finished with a playful smirk.

“It’s not funny Hyung,” Jiyoung frowned as he flicked his flashlight to life, marching back to the park’s entrance, “If I die in there, I swear to haunt you forever.”

Seunghyun chuckled as he watched him turn left towards the entrance. He tapped his flickering light a couple of times before it finally came to life. Glancing back to have a word with the mysterious man, surprise and chills ran down to his spine as he found the entire bench empty.

---

“Bom!” Seunghyun exclaimed as he took cautious steps on the stone pathways in the forest. Although I’m very impressed with the country’s preservation of nature, I do hope that they would take into consideration putting adequate lights into pathways like this, he thought. This is freakin’ scary for Pete’s sake!

Trees were soaking wet due the seemingly endless rainfall, followed by occasional swaying of the branches brought by sudden gust of wind, making the forest appear like a forbidden, haunted forest. Although he kept a calm expression and mindset, convincing himself a number of times he’s only seeing trees; sudden tension still filled his mind whenever he hears eerie sounds which were oftentimes caused by branches swaying, leaves brushing on the ground, and twigs that he occasionally crushes with his own feet.

this, Seunghyun. Be a man! His ego screamed as he took cautious steps on the stony pathway. From afar, there was a traditional-style pavilion, with six, red, swirling shaped posts and a sloping roof. Three lights illuminated the structure; two posts standing by the entry porch, and another one settled inside. Setting aside his growing fear, his feet made its way to the porch; instantly halting when a gust of wind suddenly passed, and a tiny mewl resonated inside, followed by a purr of a cat.

“Bom...Bom! Bom! Are you okay?” He called out to the drenched alien; her long hair sticking on her exposed neck, and her dress looking tighter than ever. Seunghyun found her crouching in the hidden corner of the pavilion floor, shaking, eyes closed, while hugging an orange-furred cat in her arms.

Bom instantly eased her stance upon hearing Seunghyun’s voice. He took her shoulders carefully and helped her adjust to a sitting position, helping her lean back onto a post. He covered her cool body with his thick coat and wrapped his scarf around her neck, hoping to warm her body immediately. She tried to open her eyes, but she felt so weak, she could only raise her eyelids a little bit and let out a small smile.

“Bom. Stay with me,” Seunghyun uttered as he rubbed his palms together and placed it carefully on her cheeks repeatedly, “…You’re going to be fine, you hear?” He held her arms and began rubbing the coat against her shoulders. All his fears and worries about the forest were immediately replaced by worries of keeping this alien alive. But even after a few rubs or so, her temperature was constantly declining, making Seunghyun feel more tense. . She has to make it.

The darkness has completely succumbed the night; thus making it incapable to tell how far they could be from the courtyard. If he decides to carry her there, there was no way of knowing how much the rain will continue to damage her.

All of a sudden, a loud rustling sound from the bushes emanated; the wind was definitely low-key at the moment, and as much as he didn’t want to imagine it, the scrunching sounds of the fallen twigs and leaves indicated nearing footsteps. To make things worse, the stray cat that Bom was holding jumped out from her arms and began hissing in a protective stance.

Holding onto that little amount of courage, he stood up, and gripped his flashlight tight enough to prevent himself from shaking. A few meters away from the pavilion, two pairs of glowing yellow eyes appeared in a bush, sending Seunghyun near the brink of insanity brought by intense fear.

“Come out you s! O-Or I’ll come and get you!” . Who am I kidding? I don’t even know a single thing about self defense! Maybe I should’ve taken Umma’s advice to take taekwondo lessons back then… Oh regrets.

The pair of eyes soon came out from the bush, and silhouettes of human figures appeared. One was a silhouette of a woman, whilst the other was a tall man. They paced closer towards the pavilion in a stiff manner; slowly revealing their physique.

Seunghyun immediately turned pale when he recognized the two people approaching…

The mysterious stranger and the peasant old woman...

 “Ji! Jiyoung!!! Kwon Jiyoung!!!” Seunghyun exclaimed in panic, hoping he could be heard through the thick forest. He fished his only gadget in the back pocket of his jeans, only to found out his cellular phone was dead.

----

Okay. Kill me. I haven't made an update for a month. I'm so sorry. :(

Same old reason: School. Yeah, yeah. Priorities first.

I got lucky I was able to update today because we had a week suspension due to the recent calamity here in the country. :/

But I'm so thankful for my subbies who keep on holding on to this. :) (Plus there was a new subscriber recently~ :D) You guys are my inspiration (and my whispering conscience) to continue writing this. <3

SUPER LATE Story comment replies!
@Adelyn: Thank you soo much for reminding me~ :3 Hope you like this update. :P
@Kwon_Aj: Thank you! I'm glad you liked both! <3
@bombomtoptop: Katy Perry's E.T. is a really nice bgm for this eh? :) Might be even better if it was the theme song of the story~ :DDD
@miszleexiahjoonsu: Haha~ thanks for commenting! Stay tuned! (I like your long username by the way. :D)
@cikjue_2688: Aigoo~ our alien couple has definitely complicated hearts and feelings eh?? :3 Hihi~ Thanks for commenting! :)

As for my next update, I'm still not sure when. Preliminaries (or Midterms) are up next week, so... you know the rest. :/

Well well. A big thanks for reading this chapter, , and to all my loyal subbies~

I <3 you guys so much! ^^ See you next chapter!