It ING DID IT AGAIN. I was THIS close to finishing it and I pressed the update button and BAM it didn't work and oh for 's sakes why is it always me I just want to take this laptop and douse it with gasoline and set it on fire like I'm some sort of ing pyromaniac and then I'll steal alcohol and make a goddamn molotov cocktail and ing set it on fire AGAIN and AAAAAARGH my goddamn pyromania urges are prompting me to hate this laptop very very very much

:D

Ihaveofficiallybecomecrazydon'tjudgeme

You couldn't concentrate all throughout the evening. All you could think of was those strange boys you met at the ramyeon shop. 

Finally, Youngjae slammed down his bowl of rice in exasperation. "Alright, Lina, what's wrong? You're completely zoned out."

"What? No, I'm not, I'm fine," you said dazedly.

"You're missing your mouth."

You noticed the slice of meat you were holding kept hitting your cheek and quickly ate it. "Uh, whoops!"

They all stared at you. "Lina, did something happen at the ramyeon shop?" Jongup asked quietly. 

"N-no," you stammered. They were not fooled.

"Did someone hurt you? Did they threaten you?" Daehyun demanded, jumping to his feet. "I'll hunt down that earthling!"

"W-wait, guys! Hold on!" You yelped. "It wasn't an earth ... ling ... I ... think ..." You faltered under their shocked gazes.

"What did you just say?"

"N-nothing, I'm probably making a big deal out of it ..." You stammered, unnerved by their stares.

"Lina," Yongguk ordered, "Tell us what happened. Now."

You told them everything.

Himchan dropped his spoon with a clatter. "Lina, are you serious? Are you certain that's what they said?"

You nodded helplessly. "I ... I swear it is! There were six of them, and they all wore dark clothes, they were kinda good-looking, they had dark eyes ... they didn't understand ramyeon or the currency. And there was something off about them. I had a weird feeling in my stomach when they walked in."

"This is serious," Youngjae said darkly, shooting glances at the others. "If there are other Matonians here, that means something happened back home."

Zelo's eyes suddenly went wide with fright. "Did ... did anyone hear from Hyosung noona?"

There was silence.

"She hasn't called for at least a month now," Jongup mumbled in horror.

"Himchan, didn't you --?" Yongguk started to say.

Himchan shook his head. "Never got a call. I thought Lina --"

"I haven't received anything either," You added nervously.

"," Yongguk growled, standing up and slamming down his chopsticks. "I can't believe I never noticed this ... if Hyosung just forgot, then Jieun would call instead ... this planet's been dulling my senses! War meeting! Now!"

The aliens all stood up and began to follow him to the basement. Himchan gave you a weak smile. "Yeobo, maybe it's best if you stay up here, alright? Tell us if anything happens."

You nodded, feeling a bit lost as they all left the kitchen. You noticed Zelo had only finished half his bowl of cherry tomatoes, and you held it up. "Zelo? Do you want to take these down with you?"

Zelo shook his head. "Sorry, noona. I'm not hungry."

You stared at their backs and looked down at the bowl of cherry tomatoes. You halfheartedly popped one into your mouth, but it was tasteless and hard to swallow down. You physically couldn't eat due to worry now.

Slipping through the basement door, you crept down a few steps so you could hear what they were saying.

"... and once we get news from Hyosung back at Mato Planet, we can figure out what to do accordingly," Yongguk was saying. "For starters, let's find those guys Lina saw at the ramyeon shop. We need to make sure we know who or what we're dealing with. If we find them, capture them and get information."

"That'll take too long," Daehyun's voice growled out. "We need to hunt them down and kill them! Before they get the chance to kill us!"

"Daehyun, that's not what we came here for," Himchan started to say.

"DON'T YOU GET IT?!" There was a smashing noise, and it sounded as though Daehyun had thrown something glass onto the floor. You cringed, having never heard him yell like that before. "If we let them walk free, sooner or later they will find us and get rid of us first! Or they'll find Lina and hurt HER! We can't just sit here talking! We have to get out there and FIND them!"

"Daehyun, sit down," Yongguk said.

"But --"

"I said, sit down." There was a menacing tone in Yongguk's voice now, and it sent shivers down your spine. You've never heard him speak like that before. "Remember who you're talking to, Daehyun. Himchan and I are your superiors. Don't think titles don't matter when we're on Earth."

There was a short silence which you took to mean Daehyun had finally taken a seat, before he spoke up again. "But, if we don't kill them now ..."

"We're not murderers, Daehyun." He sounded tired now, weary. "We may have done things when we were following the Company's orders, but while we're outside of their jurisdiction, I will not have anyone in my Sector kill in cold blood. Understand?"

There was a few moments of quiet, then Daehyun muttered, "Sorry."

"It's fine. Now, what we WILL do is find them, first of all, and I want them captured alive. At least until we know if they are aliens and what's their purpose on Earth."

"Yongguk hyung?" Youngjae's voice popped up, and it was tiny and nervous. It was also the first time you ever heard Youngjae call anyone 'hyung'. "If they are Matonians, and if they are here for us or Earth ... what'll we do? Will we fight?"

"We won't have much of a choice, would we?" Yongguk muttered. "But let's choose a few of us to take Lina somewhere safe if that does happen. She is our top priority."

There were murmers of agreement.

"Alright. If there is a fight, let's make some plans. Himchan --"

You couldn't listen to it any more. Feeling sick to your stomach, you went back upstairs as quietly as you could. When you were back on the first floor, you buried your face into your hands.

Only yesterday, less than 24 hours ago, everyone was cheerful, happy, telling jokes, and curled up in the living room throwing smarties at each other and laughing over some stupid sitcoms.

You hated this feeling of dread, anxiety, fear, that something out there is hunting you and your friends down. You hated the thought that their 'top priority' was to get you safe. What if Earth got destroyed? Wasn't that more important? And if they saved you, what home could you go back to?

And most of all, you hated the helplessness. The sense of burden. That you were there to get in the way of their plan. They came to Earth to save their planet, and all you did was distract them. Now it might be too late.

Suddenly, you started to hear a strange buzzing noise coming from the living room. When you went over to check, it was the laptop they always used to talk to Hyosung.

Curious, you walked over to it and noticed it had a funny little pop-up icon in the lower screen of an angel wing saying 'CLICK ME!' in bright, bubbly letters. You clicked on it and a window popped up.

In the window was a pretty girl with long straight hair, and wearing a simple, white dress.

"Oh!" The girl blinked at you. "You must be Seo Lina, right? Hyosung has told me all about you!"

"H-Hyosung-ssi?" You stuttered, slowly sitting down on the floor and staring at the screen.

"Oh, yes, I should introduce myself. I am Jieun, the Guardian Angel."

"Guardian ...?"

"Well, really, my title is Lieutenant-Governor, but Hyosung made them change it. She thought this sounds prettier. Incidentally, she wanted to change her title of Governor to Goddess, but administration rejected it."

"I-I see." That sounded very Hyosung-like. Then you remembered. "Ah, yes! Can you get Hyosung-ssi, please? The boys have been wondering when will she call us, it's been over a month since she last checked in."

"Yes, about that ..." Jieun's face was troubled. "Things haven't been going well for the past month or so since you last had contact with Hyosung, Seo Lina. Or should I say, things are bad. Very bad. In fact, I need to tell you this right now: you have to leave."

"W-what?"

"Leave. Get off Planet Earth with the others, and find somewhere far away in the Universe to hide in. Please, I need you to tell Sector B.A.P that. Tell them ... it's over. The Company has won."

"Jieun-ssi, what happened over there?" You felt panic rising in your voice. "What happened in Planet Mato?"

"They've discovered our plan. Hyosung's lied to them long enough, and they finally found out about the rebellion. they've excommunicated us from the Army, which means our status and titles are useless. We're all branded traitors to the Company's regime, Lina, and they've been hunting us down one by one."

"Oh god!" You covered your mouth to fight back a gasp of horror. "How did you --?"

"Several of the remaining rebels sneaked into a technology lab and stole this laptop. It was the only way I could get this message to you; they've blocked off all our accesses to Mato's technology. If we try to use our old passwords and codes, they'll instantly discover our location. Lina, the Company has won. You all need to escape before it's too late."

"Does this have to do with the aliens I saw today?" You demanded. "I-I think I saw some of them at a restaurant ..."

Jieun's eyes widened. "So they've found you. The Company sent Sector Beast to Earth a month ago to hunt you down. They've been combing the world for Sector B.A.P. It'll only be a matter of time before they find you too."

You couldn't believe it. They've been on this planet for a whole month already. "B-but, Jieun-ssi, what about Earth? What'll happen to my planet after this is over?"

Jieun frowned, looking miserable. "I'm so sorry, Lina. We can't do anything. Once they completely control Planet Mato, it's a definite possibility that they'll come after Earth, too. If ... if only Hyosung was here, we might stand a chance ... but three weeks ago, she was kidnapped by the Company and has been trapped in the Army base. We've tried to rescue her, but I've lost too many soldiers, I can't afford to risk any more."

Hyosung was kidnapped. Planet Mato was dying. Earth might be next. Your head was spinning, and you felt like you were genuinely going to throw up. You read about world wars, you've watched documentaries. But this war was real. It was happening right now. You've never felt more scared.

But stranegly enough, the fear was pushing your adrenaline to move faster, and your brain suddenly felt incredibly clear. You made your decision the instant you started to think it.

"Jieun-ssi, I don't want to run away, I-I ..."

"You have to," she said earnestly. "It's your only chance to survive. If you go now --"

"N-no, Jieun-ssi, it's not that I don't want to run away, it's that I can't." Your hands were shaking violently, and you gripped them into tight fists and set your shoulders firmly. "I can't run away, Jieun-ssi. I can't turn my back on the only home I've ever known, and the only people I care about." You thought about Ramyeon Ahjusshi, Antonio, and the few friends you had at school, especially Jisu and Hyoju. And B.A.P.

"And if we run away, Jieun-ssi, it won't make the situation any better. We'll either delay it or make it worse. We have to ... we have to stop this somehow. We need to get to Mato Planet."

"A-are you serious?" Jieun squeaked. "You want to come HERE? To Mato? Do you realize how dangerous that is?"

"We can't do anything if we're sitting around here," you said grimly. There's no turning back now, Seo Lina. "If we can reahc Mato, we might be able to think of a plan to ... to save Hyosung-ssi, at least. That's a start. I can't just NOT do anything, Jieun-ssi!" Your voice was rising, and you felt more and more strongly about what you were saying. "I'm tired of running away from my problems! I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself, moping over Taena bullying me and having no friends and feeling all alone and weak and hopeless! I need to change, and if now isn't a good time then I never will!"

There was silence as Jieun stared at you. Then she smiled.

"You reminded me a bit of Hyosung there," she said. "She always sounded like she knew exactly what she wanted and what to do to get it. She always had this unshakeable confidence. You sounded like her just then."

There was a sudden change in her expression, and you knew she made her decision as well.

"If this is what you have decided, Seo Lina, then I will follow you to my death! Tell Sector B.A.P this: if you manage to get to Mato, I need you to find me in the forest behind the Matoki Factory in a week. Can you remember that, Lina? Behind the Matoki Fields, a week's time. If you can manage to meet me there, we will work out a way to save Hyosung."

You nodded. "Got it."

"Good luck, Lina."

The window turned dark and shut off. You sat there, staring at the blank screen, for a long time. Your stomach was queasy, and your hands were still shaking, and your heart was still jumping erratically in your chest.

No turning back. I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself. No running away.

Then you jumped to your feet and ran to the basement.