"Ni hao and Huānyíng to Han's Chinese food! My name is He-Jin, and I'll be your waitress for the day." I smile to the family.

 

Okay. Let me give you a heads up on what has happened. It's my first day, yet it's still 5 in the afternoon. My job was supposed to end 4 hours ago but Han asked/begged me to stay longer and even promised a bit of extra money. Within the 240 minutes, I met lots of nice people, who gave me big tips (Yay!) and lot of little children that loved to call me unni and noona. So cute...

 

Well, anyway. I got a few breaks, and I got to eat more food. It was very yummy. I talked to Jongup but he seemed shy and a little reluctant to talk. Either that or he's scared of me, considering he did look like he was trying to avoid eye contact. Some random pretty girl (you know, the skimpy, 11lbs of make up kind) barged into the restaurant with some other guy, walked right into the kitchen and landed one heck of a hard slap on Han's face. I watched in terror while Hangeng tried stifling a laughter. But the worst part was, when Han looked at this girl, all he did was 'mehrong'!

 

 Da heck?!

 

The girl grabbed the arm of the guy beside her and stormed off. As soon as the doors closed behind her and her companion, Han gave his cousin the best high five and a few of the customers clapped and cheered. He later explained that that was his girlfriend and a friend who worked here, but Han found out that not only was his girlfriend rude to some of the customers, she was cheating on him with the guy that came in. He said he got his revenge in two ways. By firing her, and another way he refuses to tell me, no matter how hard I harass him!

 

I asked him if he was okay and he answered 'I'll probably go home and cry my eyes out' with a convincing smile. I swear, the only thing I wanted to do was comfort him by hugging him, but Zelo stole my chance...

 

Later on, just about 20 minutes ago, Han asked if I was busy any other day of the week. When I told him of my second job at 7 pm, he asked if I could stay 'till 5 on Saturdays and 'till 7 on the days I work with him.

 

It shouldn't be too hard, right? It's a few months until year end exams, so I should have my schedule sorted out by then.

 

Anyway. Right now, the last family left and I'm cleaning up by sweeping the floors and tending to tables Zelo failed to clean properly. Daehyun, Himchan and Youngjae are either taking out the trash or sweeping the floor in the kitchen. I think Yongguk is cleaning the bathrooms ( FOR HIM!!) and Jongup is helping me sweep.

 

"He-Jin-ah, have you already done that corner?" Jongup asks, pointing in the direction of which he speaks. I nod and he walks there.

 

"Noona, are you feeling okay?" Zelo asks, taking long strides towards me.

 

"Huh? Yeah. I'm just tired..." I close me eyes and continue sweeping.

 

"I have been watching you, and you seen to be swaying a little more each step. Do you want to sit down and let me take over?" Zelo stands on my broom, denying me my sweeping rights.

 

"Nah, I'm fine." I stand up and stretch a little. "Besides, little dongsae can barely wipe the tables!" I stand on my tippy toes to pat him on the head.

 

"Why do my noona's always bully me?!" Zelo pouts and slumps to the floor.

 

"Oh come now," I bend down to meet his eye level, "I'm not bullying you. Here, we'll sweep together." I hold out my hand and he takes it and stands up. 

 

I pass him a broom and he rushes to sweep the area around me.

 

I take that as a challenge.

 

After a while, Zelo and I find ourselves going head to head in a game of broom hockey using a coaster as a puck. We call Jongup over, and he joins in on the fun. I swear, these guys are crazy!! Jongup is incredibly agile while Zelo is fast (curse his long legs).

 

As soon as I have the 'puck', Zelo accidentally bumps into me, sending me and Jongup straight down to the floor. I manage to land of him without much pain, but I hear him groan from under me.

 

"I'm so sorry!" I scurry off of him and try to help him up.

 

"It's," he stretches backwards and his back cracks, "no problem."

 

Zelo breaks out into laughter. "Hyung has a tomato face~! Hyung has a tomato face~!" My dongsae points and laughs.

 

I look at Jongup and giggle. He's completely red.

 

"Great first day, guys!" Han comes out and pats Zelo's back. "At the end of every month, you'll get your pay checks, and since today was your first day, I'll cook anything you want from the menu for your dinner!" He throws his hands into the air dramatically.

 

We all cheer. Especially me and Daehyun. I would have had to go home and cook dinner for the Matokis, but this way, I can ask for a little extra. Wonder what's Daehyun's excuse...

 

My boss pushes all seven of us into one of the fancy lounge chairs (Zelo and Hangeng have to sit on normal chairs due to lack of space and Zelo's height) and gives us all the menus. The seating is like this:

I'm squished against the wall by Yongguk and Daehyun. On the other side, Jongup sits across from me, Himchan sits across from Yongguk and Youngjae across from Daehyun.

 

Han comes back out and holds a note pad.

 

"What shall my guests have tonight?" He asks, the tip of the pen before placing it on the paper.

 

We all give him our orders, Daehyun with the most desserts, and he disappears behind the kitchen doors. I rest my head on the wall beside me and close my eyes.

 

Though the people at my table are barely talking, there is no awkwardness between any of us. Even with the amount of space we lack, Yongguk makes sure that he doesn't touch me. I guess he's not that bad. It's as if we all know each other perfectly, like we've been living to get her for some time.

 

Because of the busy night yesterday, and the busy day today, my eyes refuse to open and my body remains stuck to the wall. 

 

Oh well.

 

You know that point, just before you fall asleep, where you are halfway? That's what I'm drifting into now. The pictures and memories floating in my head like an old fashioned video camera slow down, my thoughts becoming ever more blurry. I feel all my tense and tired muscles start to relax as the world in my head changes. Psychedelic symbols and crazy colours cloud my thoughts, until all is overcome by black.

 

Then, I hear a breeze.

 

I blink a few times, and a landscape of only sand stretches out before me. The finely crushed rocks seep in between my toes as this new world becomes more and more visible. I look to the horizon, where the sand and the sky dissolve into each other, making it hard to distinguish where one stops and the other starts. My eyes follow the flow of the sky, uninterrupted by clouds of varying shapes and sizes. My body starts to turn as my view becomes unchanged. 

 

Until a lonely palm tree stands before me.

 

Having turned 180 degrees, I now stare at a palm tree, corrupting the increasing feeling of isolation the area gives off. Not even a sun is visible is this unknown area. I follow the patterns of the palm tree's trunk to the top, where it's green and luscious feathers sway gently from an anonymous breeze. Resting like a bird in a nest, the Matoki space ship lies motionless. It's colours and shape have been returned to it's original state, gleaming, it's windows reflecting the sky in a different view. The sky is blue with quite a few clouds in the reflection, while the sky I stand under remains cloudless.

 

No signs of life can be seen, nor voices of the living can be heard.

 

"We don't have any way to go home. Any way, to leave."

 

I spin back around, happy to hear Dada's voice, but instead, Jongup stands before me.

 

"Do you want to go home?" I ask.

 

No, I didn't ask that. My mouth, and my voice, work on it's own. My mind thought of something else, like how did you get here? Why are you here? But instead, I ask that question.

 

Jongup looks at me, then back up at the spaceship. His face twists into confusion, as if it's his first time seeing the spaceship. 

 

Why wouldn't it be? He's not a Matoki, he's a human. A mere human. His home is somewhere on Earth, not on some distant planet on the other side of the cosmos. He hadn't grown up with short, black alien bunnies. Why would he say that? Why does his voice sound like Dada's?

 

Why?

 

"Noona, we love you, but we also miss home." I hear Toto say.

 

I spin around and find Zelo leaning all his weight on the palm tree. He gets off, shaking the tree, and walks closer to me.

 

"We are causing you problems, aren't we?" Daehyun smiles from beside me, Youngjae with his arm around his shoulder.

 

Jongup chuckles and stands beside Zelo, followed by Himchan and Yongguk.

 

"Our stupid little He-Jin..." Yongguk smirks. 

 

He takes a few steps forward until his body is only a couple inches away, and our height difference becomes more apparent. He puts his hands under my chin and brings his face closer. My breath gets caught in my throat as I feel his breath on my lips. Yongguk puts his head against mine and looks into my eyes.

 

Suddenly, I feel water beneath my bare feet.

 

"Wake up..." Yongguk whispers.

 

My heart races with uncontrollable speed. A tsunami-like wave appears behind them all and looms over us with ominous intent. Yongguk backs away and smiles, along with the others. I open my mouth to warn them, but nothing comes out.

 

The wave crashes down on us and everything disappears.

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