A small pendant of your necklace caught your attention before you managed to close the wardrobe’s door, and you stared at it for a moment. The pendant was in a shape of the Saturn, or – to be honest – any other planet with remotely similar proportion of rings around it.

“Do you have a room, actually?” Necklace forgotten, you moved on to another section of your cluttered floor. “Like, you know, do you also have to clean it before guests come over? I never thought about it. I’d like to see it one day. Can you take photos? Do you even have a camera? I can lend you one. Show me more of your place sometime. I really wish I could see more of it.”

“There’s not really much to see there” he finally announced, making you lose focus on whatever you were cleaning at the moment and bring all of your attention to his person. The man was just about as relaxed as any friend would be when coming over for a chat.

Except he came to visit  you from quite far away, to say the least.

“I don’t think your camera would handle that. I mean… it is a different atmosphere. Different light. It might break the mechanism” he tried to elaborate. Frankly, you didn’t know much about how cameras were made exactly, nor what kind of extreme conditions would they have to be facing for a mechanical failure to occur, but you supposed that he had higher chances of being correct than you were.

“Do you know how cameras work, actually? You don’t have those there, do you?”

He stuttered just a bit before answering.

“We don’t, but… I’ve read a bit” he reassured. “Oh, by the way, can you get me a smartphone?”

You tilted your head to the side.

“Huh? Why?”

“I saw it’s easier to look up stuff on one. So I don’t have to use your PC all the time. And I could use it outside, too. That would be cool” he shrugged, not looking at you anymore, and choosing to sit up and stretch instead. You took it as a cue that he got bored of watching you clean and was ready to either cause you some disturbance, or – more likely – go out.

“I can get you an used one, I think. It won’t run very smoothly but it will do” you said. “But I need something in return. We’re talking about my hard earned money here. Can you offer me something in return?”

Now it was the man’s turn to tilt his head, a small smirk appearing in the corner of his lips.

“Space rock will do?”

You pressed your lips together. A space rock.

You nodded.

A thought ran through your head – didn’t you sell your skin too cheap? Just a rock, one he will pick up on his way here, no big effort, just a rock.

No.

A space rock. Possibly a mineral that doesn’t exist on the Earth, one that no one will ever know about, because if anyone ever found out that something like that is in your possession, you would find yourself in serious trouble. After all, what could it do at a place of a mere civilian, if not acquired by some illegal means?

No, you would take the secret to your grave, undoubtedly.

But it was a space rock, after all. Who wouldn’t want a space rock?

“Just please make sure it’s not radioactive” you commented, to which he laughed softly. As if it was a joke.

You weren’t laughing last time you almost traded a hoodie for uranium. But you let him keep that hoodie.

The two of you laid on top of a hill.

You were lucky enough to have a car license that managed to get you there safely. The road ended a few minutes behind, so you sat in a pleasant, quiet atmosphere of wild berries and tall stems of grass, bending underneath your bodies into a soft bedding. You were wrapped in a blanked you brought along, laid on your back and with your gaze fixated on the sky above, partially covered with clouds that were growing denser and denser with every minute. Eventually, you knew, a rain would force you back into the car. But for now, you allowed yourself to enjoy.

“It’s romantic, isn’t it?” the man suddenly stated.

You turned your head to the side, realizing he had been watching you, instead of the sky above. You cringed a bit and hit his shoulder.

“Argh, Baek, is that what you’re reading on my PC?”

“I’ve been through your search history, actually.”

You gasped.

“I don’t even want to know what exactly you saw in there. But if you want, we can watch a romantic movie. But, just so you know, movies aren’t the best replica of real life” you murmured.

“So the night sky is not romantic to you?”

“Well… Depends on what you consider romantic, I suppose” you shrugged. “Is it for you? How does it make you feel?”

He pondered on your question for a moment, looking at you, and then up, as if trying to make something out of it – something you weren’t sure was there in the first place.

“The night sky on the Earth is pretty… lame” he finally admitted, to which you gasped again. “From some places I’ve been to, you can see all the constellations as if you were among them, and all the colors of the galaxies, everything is so intense, as if you were a part of the world. On the Earth it’s all so… distant. I guess it does put some perspective on the humanity, but… I wouldn’t say I’m a big fan” he elaborated. You chuckled at his choice of words. “But the daylight, it is impressive. Just one star that keeps everything alive. I think that’s… powerful” he elaborated.

“How does the day look like where you live?” you asked curiously, now deciding to pay him more attention again.

“The planets rotate, so the lighting does change. But there is sixteen different stars with always a few of them visible, and each is stronger than your Sun. We don’t have a Sun that we rotate around, instead, it is… something like a black hole, but emanating its own light. A portal, in a way, maneuvering the gravity of our planet. One we use to communicate and transport between galaxies. Humans haven’t come across one yet, so there is no word for it, so I’m afraid I cannot explain it better. But either way, there is light everywhere, at all times, much stronger than the one here. I’m afraid that if I took you there, you would lose your sight on spot. At least that’s what I’ve read might happen.”

You listened to every single word as if enchanted, your hunger for knowledge growing faster than it was being satiated, curiosity tickling your mind in the most adamant way.

“So, it means your body is adjusted to completely different conditions” you reasoned. “How is it possible that you look like a human, then?”

“Or is it humans who look like us?”

You stared at him for a moment with your eyes wide open.

“But what about evolution? If we were copied from another race, there wouldn’t be one, right? Are you certain about that?”

Baekhyun released a breathy laughter.

“I’m just messing with you, don’t worry. But it is not how I look like when I’m at home. I’ll tell you more another time, I think this has been enough.”

“It’s funny. If I was the one to say it, the worst I could do would be wearing no makeup and a messy bun. For all I know, your true form could be a tentacle monster.”

The man’s eyes widened.

“Tentacle… monster…? I don’t think I came across that during my research.”

You pressed your lips together.

“Let’s keep it that way. Don’t worry about that. There’s many more interesting things on the Earth, I promise.”

“You’re the most fascinating thing to research, really.” He reached his hand and touched your cheek gently. It shouldn’t feel romantic. It was nothing like a significant other’s caress – more like one would touch an interesting item; affectionate, but in a somewhat unnatural way.

Yet, your heart picked up the pace.

You wouldn’t take it against him, though. Of course. It was already impressive how much he learned of human customs over the past few months of visiting the Earth. He soaked in any kind of knowledge, any piece of art, research papers, experiments, anything that told him more about what your life was like. But it made you think – what was his own?

He told you some things, small pieces at a time, making you jealous that you couldn’t visit him. But, truth be told, if you brought him to a party and told someone he’s an alien, no one would believe you, because of how well he managed to blend in despite small lacks in nuances such as body language.

“That sounded like you’re flirting with me” you joked, finally turning around on your side and reciprocating the stare. “Be careful when you tell girls stuff like that.”

He frowned.

“Why would I flirt with you? We are different species. We cannot reproduce.”

You choked on your saliva.

“W-well, reproduction is not the only reason humans get together. A lot of people willingly choose not to. They also get together just because they want to spend life together like that.”

He let out a small sigh.

“I know that already. I was messing with you.” There was an ever-so-slight frown on his face, as if he was deep in thought despite the lightness of his words. “Wouldn’t you be mad if I flirted with you, though?”

You tilted your head to the side, now letting the light atmosphere flee and focusing on him only, noting the serious look.

“Why would I be mad?”

“Because it wouldn’t work” he replied almost instantly. “You cannot depend on me like on another human. When I’m not here, I’m not even in your world, and I cannot be here at all times. There is no law to acknowledge my existence. And my life span… is not exactly the same as yours.”

He oozed with what for a human would be a need for closeness, maybe affection. A deep sorrow and longing that you couldn’t tell if was natural for his own species as much as it was for yours. When you thought about it, you still didn’t know much about how his life was to be, what was he doing while at “home”. You took a mental note to ask him all about that – but later.

“I wouldn’t be mad at you. I don’t want to reason too much. There are always some issues to tackle, really.” You pondered for a few moments. “But now that I think about it, why would you flirt with me, actually? Wouldn’t you flirt with your own specimen?”

A hue of redness crossed the man’s face, implying that your inquiry embarrassed him enough to throw him off all the serious thinking.

“It works a bit different for us… We’re a very utilitarian community. We don’t do couples like humans do. But it’s just… really fascinating that humans do that. It sounds much nicer than what I’ve known so far. Much more individual and intimate” he elaborated.

You lifted your eyebrow.

“So you actually flirt with me because I’m the only human you know?” You crossed your arms, although it was not very easy from the lying position.

“N-no, it’s not like that…”

“Oh, so you are meeting other humans behind my back?” You were sincerely impressed you still managed to keep a straight face throughout this conversation.

“Hm. I’ve read about this somewhere” he pondered, suddenly unbothered. “Humans call that jealousy, isn’t it right?” It was your turn to stutter lightly. Baekhyun’s face twisted in a mischievous smirk.

“You’re getting too good at being human, you know that?” you huffed.

“Pretending to be human” he specified. “I’m not… ah.” He shook his head.

“Would you choose to be if you could?” you asked, trying not to sound too intrusive, but genuinely curious about his answer.

“Would you? If you could choose to be born as my kind, would you?”

You hummed. Would you?

“I’d like to say I would, just because it’s your kind, but… I feel like I would be missing something” you reasoned. “I would love to learn more about you, but it just feels like it wouldn’t be… me.”

“I feel the same when I think about it” Baekhyun replied almost immediately. “Although I am aware that neither of us would feel any loss if we were simply born into another culture. We could think about the advantages… or disadvantages of being one or another, but in the end, in another life, there would be no sentiment to share.”

He looked you in the eyes with a light smile on his face – somewhat not human, yet more sincere than any smile you’ve seen in your life.

“But, regarding what you actually wanted to know… If I had the choice to exist as the same kind as you, I would.”

The words brought more hope and warmth into your heart than you would like to admit, as if they opened an entire new world in front of your eyes. Slightly embarrassed with how easily he read right through you, you only nodded awkwardly, avoiding his gaze.

“May I touch you?”

You blinked at his sudden question. The choice of words confused you a little, but you only nodded, trusting his decision.

His arms creeped around your silhouette, rather awkwardly, and you realized – it must have been the first time he touched a human so deliberately, rather than with random, easy brushes of skin against skin that the two of you shared casually.

Pulling you into him like he must have seen in movies, he engulfed your silhouette in his embrace, resting his cheek on top of your head.

You relaxed in the sensation rather easily, enjoying the closeness and intimacy. It seemed that he struggled to find the right angle, so you pushed him down on his back and wrapped your own arms around him in a position that you knew would be easier to accommodate to. He exhaled in content.

You let out a hum before speaking.

“I wonder how it-”

“Stop thinking” he cut you short. “You think too much.”

His words made you stutter before you closed your mouth. His hands rested on your back and took on a slow, stroking motion, soothing you, making your eyelids soon slip closed as well. How come that someone who visited the Earth less than a year ago for the first time knew your body language so well?

When some more thoughts started to appear, it was as if Baekhyun could already tell.

His hands started tapping your back a bit more forcefully in a rhythm of some song. The impact made your whole body shake to the pace and you scrunched your eyebrows in mild annoyance.

“Stop thinking” he hummed. “You do this a lot.”

“I can’t stop thinking.”

“I noticed. It’s endearing. But you need to learn to just live in the moment a little. You keep getting so worked up that you don’t notice the present.”

You narrowed your eyes at him.

“That sounds like a suspiciously human conclusion to have.”

Baekhyun’s shoulders shook in a genuine, uncontrolled laughter.

“I told you, I’m a quick learner. And I enjoy reading you” he explained. His hand moved to rest on top of your head. Warm. Like all of him. His body was such a perfect imitation you didn’t think you would ever be able to tell if you didn’t see him arrive here like he did. “And I like being in the present with you” he added quietly. “When you mentioned…” He hesitated and you pushed yourself up, resting your forearms on his chest and looking at him curiously. He seemed to ponder for a moment about the way to put his thoughts together. “When you said you wouldn’t be… mad at me, if I flirted with you… did you mean it?”

You stared at him with your lips parted for a few moments, thinking over the real meaning behind his words.

“If I said I meant it, would you… want to flirt with me?”

“I…” He looked at you so intensely, searching your gaze for something more than the words could provide. But it was as though the thoughts, too, couldn’t quite portray the meaning of it all.

So, before you could ask anymore questions, or think of it any longer, Baekhyun lifted his head, simultaneously pulling yours towards him, making your lips meet in a gentle kiss – unpracticed, rough around the edges, awkward and shy. But genuine in its intention, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

It lasted just a few seconds. Too short for you to even ponder over what was happening, your body melting in his embrace and your mind fixated fully on the sensation of his soft lips against yours, his hands steadying you with ease. When the two of you parted, your eyes were calm, and so were his. As if an unspoken agreement was just made, something hard to define per terms that you were familiar with, given the peculiarity of your relationship.

The silence lasted for a while before Baekhyun suddenly broke it, stuttering a little.

“Did you… um… like it?”

The corners of your lips lifted involuntarily.

“You need some practice I think, can’t get it right with just books and TV” you teased. Baekhyun pouted. “But yes, I liked it. I like you.” As if to reinforce the last statement, you leaned down and pressed a quick peck onto his lips. “What about you? Did you like it?”

His pout only deepened.

“I will be honest, I am not certain what is the thing humans enjoy about it, but it was… interesting” he announced awkwardly, avoiding your gaze. If you heard it from anyone else, you would consider getting offended. From him, it sounded nothing but amusing, and you laughed, even louder when you noticed the tips of his ears turning red in embarrassment.

Staring at him dreamily, taking him in from up close, admiring the bits of his appearance you had never seen this clearly before, you eventually let out a puff of air and gently poked the tip of his nose.

“Maybe you were just thinking about it too much” you announced with a grin. “Next time you should try living in the moment a little.”

And he didn’t seem to mind giving it a try again.

A/N: Please reblog if you enjoyed and follow if you would like to read more in the future. Thank you for your time!

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