Heejin’s POV

I’ve been thinking for a while now. Regardless which Heejin I am, the fact that my heart still races when I see him proves that my feelings didn’t change. Not at all. Luhan sits across me reading Ender’s Game. The look he has never fails to amaze me. Those focused, narrowed doe eyes and that little frown on his forehead. He looks so relaxed, so boy-next-door or probably pass off perfectly as a typical high school student. Nobody would’ve known that he was some “alien” from outer space. He doesn’t like it when I used that word, it made him feel ‘un-human’.

Every second and every minute, I secretly wished for a miracle to happen. There will be no war, no danger, no enemies, just me and him sitting across each other enjoying a normal mundane evening. But of course, I know I couldn’t live a normal life again.

‘Luhan ah, are we really not telling Chanyeol Oppa about this?’ I ask and he looks up from his book with raised eyebrows. I watch his brows drop then he frown, just slightly but it was a frown. Then he nods.

I nod too.

I understand. I don’t want Chanyeol and Chaeri to come to harm. Luhan had already told them that we’re going on a trip for a while and all the time while we’re on the phone, Chaeri was worried about my school and that final year project. I can only laugh bitterly because I’m sure all these ridiculous unbelievable things that’s happening to me right now, could sell better than my art.

I hear the sound of his book snapping shut and he sits down beside me, wrapping his arms around my shoulder. I lean again his chest and hope he doesn’t hear my heartbeat because even this one simple gesture still sends my heart racing. The fascinating thing is how I could feel his steady beating heart. It calms me somehow and I close my eyes, matching my breathing to his.

‘It’ll be fine. We’ll make it through. We’ll win.’ He says it matter-of-factly like it was already a planned victory.

That must be what he was discussing with the rest of them every afternoon. Luhan spends the whole afternoon with them and sometimes I got worried that Tiffany would try to make a move on him. Of course I was envious, at how skilled she was with blades and scoring perfect in all shooting exercises. How she still manages to look y every single time even after doing a full spin kick mid-air. But you’ll see Yongguk clapping and coos even though he was given the cold shoulder all the time.

Meanwhile Daehyun’s still avoiding me. Even though he always tries to act like he doesn’t care, I know I was hurting him. So I get out of his way too, tries to smile but briefly whenever we pass by each other. I want to tell him how sorry I was, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t say sorry to Daehyun for loving Luhan. It wasn’t a mistake.

My dad on the other hand doesn’t forbid my relationship with Luhan nor did he give us his blessings. And the look he gives me now always puts a lump in my throat. It was self-explanatory. He was putting all the blame on himself and feeling regretful. He still thinks of me like a child, someone who needs protection. A normal teenage fantasy drama would say something like ‘I can protect myself’, but not me. It is pretty obvious I’m just a weak puny useless human compared to them, GMIs, agents, advanced human beings. I might be weak but I’m not stupid.

Despite saying these, I still wake up at night in cold sweat and Luhan will wakes up too immediately and hold me in his arms. I always dreamed of the same thing; that I was running towards everyone but they just suddenly vanished, leaving me alone in the dark.

‘What are you thinking about?’ He asks drawing circles on my arms with his thumbs. I shake my head. This isn’t the time to let these thoughts affect me. And I turn around to give him a quick kiss on his lips. He gives a look of surprise and narrows his eyes playfully. I am about to start running from his grip when there was a voice from the speaker on the ceiling.

Both of us freeze upon the announcement staring only into each other’s eyes.

 ‘CODE RED. ALL MEMBERS TO GATHER AT THE FOYER RIGHT NOW.’ Says a robotic voice and it repeats itself.

The time has finally come.

This, means war.