Chapter Text
“Why are we leaving?” Hyunjin whined, folding himself over Jeongin as they left the club. He was feeling a little sad as he had been having fun dancing even though no one had wanted to join in.
“Because it’s late, hyung,” the maknae of their group answered, shoving the older man off to the side although his tone was affectionate.
At least Hyunjin had that going for him, besides being a member of their chaotic alternative rock group Lost Boys.
“It’s not late,” Jisung said, voice just a little slurred as he bobbed between Minho and Chan. “It’s actually early - early in the morning!” Suddenly laughing, the nightmare of 3RACHA (the production side of LB - yes, they all liked hot sauce, even if their leader could barely tolerate it) took off running.
“No!” Chan yelled, taking off after him, while Minho grimaced momentarily (or was he grinning?) before following.
“Why do we let him drink at all?” Seungmin asked, with a long, suffering sigh.
“I know why I let him,” Changbin said cheekily, moving right up against Seungmin’s side. “It gets you all annoyed and you know how much I love that…”
“You’ve got it wrong - as usual,” Seungmin countered quickly, but Hyunjin could see the satisfaction in the subtle way his member’s face settled. The menace was pleased and practically preening.
“Where did they go?” Changbin asked, curious, as the foursome kept walking without seeing a trace of the other three.
“Don’t know,” Hyunjin responded, but then he felt a pull in the center of his chest. It wasn’t sharp, more like the gentle, slow tug of an elastic band. “But,” he continued carefully, as the certainty threatened to overwhelm him, “I think they are down that alley.”
Pointing, he began to walk in that direction, not noticing the other members or if they even bothered to follow.
The streetlight barely illuminated the alley, with its trash bins, fire escapes, and copious amounts of random discarded items. He walked further into the dimness anyway, the pull in his chest feeling just a tad more urgent. “Chan?” He called out, stepping over a dilapidated, cardboard box as he scanned, trying to spy the figures of his band mates.
“Here,” their leader responded, voice just a little tight, like he was right on the edge of not knowing how to react.
Frowning, Hyunjin made his way forward. Up ahead he could see his three members standing and staring down at something that must be glowing as their shocked expressions were lit up in stark contrast to the dark buildings behind them.
Whatever it was, it was bright and the closer he got the more confused he became. Was it a small fire? No it couldn’t be, the light was far too steady - completely devoid of the flickering of flames.
Taking a hesitant step closer, Hyunjin felt the pull in his chest intensify. It wasn’t painful, but he did find his brow furrowing at the odd sensation. Despite it, he felt no real unease, besides usual human wariness when confronting the unknown.
The dumpster looming to his left, caused the light his bandmates were staring at to appear impossibly brighter as he hesitantly stepped up behind Chan. Swallowing, he peered over his leader’s shoulder. “What are you - ” he began, bumping into the older man slightly in order to see better, only to freeze as the words died on his tongue.
There, in the ugly, dirty alley, a broken beer bottle a mere two feet away, was a literal sphere of shifting, gleaming, pure light.
Hyunjin blinked.
He blinked again. The brightness leaving an impression on the back of his eyelids, like when you accidentally glance at the sun.
How was this possible?
Is that… Is that a star?” Jisung’s voice wavered in disbelief. “I mean, what else… could it be? An - an alien?” He laughed nervously, shrinking into Minho’s side. “Am I really that drunk?” He whispered, apparently to himself, since no one bothered to answer.
“What the fuck is that?” Changbin’s needlessly loud voice cut through the tense atmosphere, and Hyunjin whipped his head around to look at their bass guitarist with irritation. Couldn’t the man keep his voice down for once?
“I - I don’t know,” Chan answered, sounding a little dazed.
For a long minute, the seven of them simply stood there staring. Hyunjin wondered if everyone else was just as surprised as he was about his lack of fear… He should be terrified, shouldn’t he? It only made sense, yet…
“Uh, Chan-hyung?” Jeognin’s voice was low, respectful (as it should be, given the situation, Hyunjin thought). “Should we, I don’t know, call someone?”
“Like who?” Seungmin asked. “The AeroSpace Administration? Dr. Who?”
“I just feel like we should do something,” the maknae grumbled, obviously unimpressed by the other lead vocalists answers and Hyunjin felt the corner of his lip twitch upward - cute. But also, they really should do something, shouldn’t they?
Focusing back on the ball of light, Hyunjin did his best to assess what he was seeing, but it was honestly not more than what it was: A ball of brightness that was roughly three or four feet in diameter. It was hard to tell if it was hovering or resting on the ground, as it was so glaring the edges blurred.
Suddenly curious, Hyunjin stepped between Chan and Minho, only to have a few hands grab onto him, halting his progress.
“Jin! Woah! Hey!” His leader sounded panicked. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Getting a closer look?” He muttered, as if it was obvious. How were any of them going to know more if they kept just standing around like idiots?
Twisting out of his hyungs’ grasp, he knelt down, squinting slightly against the light. He could hear the frantic protests of his friends, but he couldn’t care less. If they really wanted to stop him, they would need to come closer themselves and it seemed as if none of them had the guts at the moment.
Not his problem.
Surprisingly, despite its size, the heat emanating from the sphere was warm, comforting, familiar (?), and not the searing heat he had been imagining. It almost seemed to caress his skin and Hyunjin felt a tingle run down his spine. It certainly wasn’t fear, of that he was sure, but the reason didn’t quite have a name.
Clenching his hand briefly, he lifted it, reaching out towards the sphere. His heart pounded in his chest and he heard someone (probably Jisung) scream, but he ignored it. It was definitely insane behavior since Hyunjin realized he fully expected to be burned, but he felt compelled - getting institutionalized was for later, right now was for answers.
The millisecond his fingertips came in contact with the light, he gasped, instinctively pulling his hand away and cradling it to his chest.
“Hyunjin?!”
“Did it hurt you?!”
“Are you okay, hyung?!”
Releasing a shivery breath, Hyunjin gazed down at his completely unaffected hand - at least on the outside. On the inside, the warmth was intense and spreading. It flooded past his wrist, to his elbow, then his shoulder, and before he could really consider what was happening, the heat filled his chest.
Overwhelming didn’t even cut it.
The heat wrapped around his heart, holding it gently, but firmly where it continued to pound against the inside of his ribs. Hyunjin squeezed his eyes shut, palms dropping to the dirty pavement to stabilize himself as his breaths came frantically, dragging at the back of his throat.
He barely registered hearing his name being called repeatedly, but then… then it was over. He blinked as he felt the intense warmth recede, leaving only a soft, heaviness behind. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but definitely present. Just a lingering reminder of whatever the fuck had just happened.
Inhaling slowly, Hyunjin tried to straighten back up only for the world to tilt oddly, his vision graying at the edges. Thankfully, before he could eat it on the shards of broken glass, someone grabbed him and hauled him upwards and backwards.
“Shit,” the person (Changbin?”) hissed in his ear. “Are you okay? Fucking pabo.” (definitely Changbin) “What were you thinking?!” The bass guitarist's strong fingers dug into Hyunjin’s sides and he winced.
“Stop, hyung,” he said as firmly as he could, while doing his best to squirm away. “I’m fine and that hurts. I thought you were trying to save me, not hurt me more.”
“I did save you -”
“Yeah, well, next time don’t forget your own strength, you gym rat,” Hyunjin huffed out when he was released, straightening his shirt in anticipation of the backlash his words would cause, but his lack of respect was only met with silence.
Well, that couldn’t be good.
Glancing up at his friend he noticed instantly that Changbin wasn’t looking at him, not even close. His eyes were trained on something over Hyunjin’s right shoulder and a wave of anxiety washed through him at the combination of wonder and fear on the older man’s face.
Shit.
Okay.
Taking a second to steady himself, which did absolutely nothing, Hyunjin turned around.
“Do you guys see that?” The usually composed Minho sounded positively shaken, and he had every right.
Hyunjin shook his head, as if to dislodge the image that was actually right in front of his face. He blinked, squinted, and even raised a trembling hand to rub at his eyes just in case it would change the view.
It didn’t.
Fuck.
Maybe it was like what Jisung said, he was just hammered. That was the only explanation and this was an alcohol induced dream - a very vivid dream.
The light had dimmed significantly in the time it had taken for Hyunjin to pull himself together, but there was still a rapidly expanding glowing haze, like the beginning of a sunrise and all seven men took a stumbling step back. The glow highlighted the form of the dumpster and glinted off the shattered glass of the beer bottle that was annoyingly, and obviously, still there. Somehow, the sparkle only added to the surrealness of the moment.
Wait.
There was something in the center of the haze, something that was moving, something that…
“What IS that?” Jisung shrieked, and as if on cue, the group broke. Chan and Minho began forcing the younger members back in tandem, arms out as if they were body guards, Changbin reached out and grabbed Seungmin who almost looked like he was about to take a step closer to analyze the situation, while Jeongin hovered - his face shifting from curious to terrified and back again.
Hyunjin remained still for a few chaotic seconds. The pull was still there and he narrowed his eyes at the figure in the light. Was he afraid yet? No, not if he was being honest with himself, but his more primal instincts were screaming at him like phantoms to step the fuck back.
His mind, and something recently ignited in his chest, said no. Emphatically.
Zeroing in on the crouching figure still encased in the diminishing light, he noticed that it looked, well, decidedly human. Two arms, two legs, one head… person shaped. Although, he couldn’t yet see much more than a shadow..
“Hello?” He said softly, but loud enough to be heard over the panic behind him. There was a sudden stillness.. He figured his bandmates had registered, probably with horror, what he was doing.
“Don’t,” he heard Jeongin whisper, sounding strained. “Hyung…”
“Hyunjin.” Chan this time. He could tell the group leader was trying to sound commanding. “Can you not -”
“Hello?”
Hyunjin froze and melted at the same time. The voice was like deep seas and velvet with just a hint of gravel. It was slightly accented, but nothing he recognized. It was like the voice was trying to emulate him but was finding it challenging.
There was a long pause and then it happened again.
“Hello?”
Hyunjin swallowed hard as he watched with trepidation as the figure slowly stood up. He’d been right: it was person shaped, and from the looks of it, perfectly proportioned.
Now, why did he have to go and think that?
“Um, hi?” He found himself saying, mouth moving faster than his brain. What the hell was he doing?
“Um, hi?” The voice replied, as the glowing haze began to fade, leaving behind long shadows from the closest street light.
“Are you…” Hyunjin began slowly, but then his words got stuck in his throat because the figure stepped forward right into a shaft of light just as the last of the alien glow faded away.
It was a man - or it looked like a man - and he was completely, utterly, naked.
Oh, fuck.
After the briefest of seconds, Hyunjin yanked off his leather jacket before fumbling with the only button of his oversized red plaid shirt that was still hanging on after his dance marathon at the club. After struggling for too long with his shaky fingers, he gave up and ripped the fabric and shrugged the shirt off and held it out towards the man (?).
“Here, put this on.”
The man tilted his head, large amber eyes flicking from Hyunjin’s face to the shirt and back again. “Here,” he said, sounding hesitant. “Put this on.”
It finally clicked - fuck, he really was dumb. The man creature thing was parroting Hyunjin’s words back to him. Because why would a potential alien or fucked up top secret science experiment know Korean?
Cautiously, Hyunjin looked into the creature’s eyes and felt his heart do an odd thing in his chest. What he saw gazing back at him was so incredibly vulnerable it made him physically ache.
“Okay,” he said softly, forcing his feet to step even closer. “Let me help.”
Shaking out the shirt, he slowly wrapped it around the shoulders of the man, noting how the other tracked his every movement curiously. He didn’t seem remotely afraid of Hyunjin and the drummer felt an unexpected flicker of satisfaction at the realization.
But then, just as Hyunjin straightened the shirt for the last time, his hand - for a fleeting second - grazed the foreign skin and what felt like sparks traveled up his arm from the point of contact, lightning up his nerve endings so intensely, he couldn’t help but inhale sharply and take an unsteady step backwards.
“What the hell, Jin! You can’t be serious right now!” Changbin whisper yelled, once more dragging him unceremoniously away.
“What?” Hyunjin snapped. He was beginning to feel irritated by all the manhandling. “Should I just have left him standing there naked?
“What the hell, Jin! You can’t be serious right now!”
Hyunjin froze, and just from the tension in the air, he knew so had all of his friends. Then the deep, melodic voice continued.
“What? Should I just have left him standing there naked?”
Looking up, he focused on the very human hands that were now clutching his shirt close. They were delicate, smaller than his own, with short, clean nails. Not at all alien. Unconsciously biting his lip, Hyunjin allowed his gaze to drift to the surprisingly broad shoulders that were currently curled in just a bit, from uncertainty or cold, he wasn’t sure - probably both. His eyes continued upwards to the smooth column of the man’s neck, taking a moment on the sharp edge of his jaw, before they landed on a pair of perfectly pink, plump, heartshaped lips.
Oh…
“Hello?” The lips moved and Hyunjin flinched, startled out of whatever reverie he had just inadvertently fallen into. “Hello?” The man said again, and this time, the drummer registered that the addicting voice had taken on another quality - distress.
*
Shrugging off Changbin, which was easy now that the bass guitarist was distracted, Hyunjin stepped towards the man again, strangely determined to make sure he never heard that tone of distress ever again. Softening his expression, he attempted a smile. “Hello. It’s okay,” he said, gently holding out his hand, palm up. He wasn’t sure, but it felt like a universal sign of safety and the offer of help. Whether the man knew that or could understand, was unclear. But, he didn’t have any other ideas. “We’re not gonna hurt you.”
“As long as you don’t hurt us,” someone mumbled behind him.
“Shup up,” Hyunjin hissed over his shoulder though clenched teeth, trying to keep his smile as disarming as possible despite his words.
The man tilted his head again, long strands of shimmering, pale blonde hair brushing the collar of Hyunjin’s shirt. The action reminded Hyunjin of the golden retriever he’d had as a child. It was endearing and somehow innocent, as if the man was doing his best to understand.
“Don’t hurt?” It was spoken slowly, but the distress was gone. Hyunjin sighed with inexplicable relief.
“Yeah,” he said, his smile widening. “Don’t hurt. You’re safe.”
“Safe?”
Hyunjin nodded encouragingly. “Yes. Safe.”
Then something happened that caught everyone off guard. The blonde man smiled.
The collective gasp from behind Hyunjin was only overshadowed by his own, because that smile?
It was the most breathtaking thing he had ever seen.
He thought he heard someone curse, but all Hyunjin could do was stare, just a bit slackjawed, until the smile faded. Finally, he dragged his gaze up to the amber eyes, but realized he’d made a mistake, because they were sparkling - sparkling!
Fuck.
“Do you, uh, have a name?” He managed to get out, the words tripping over his tongue, before realizing how inane the question was.
“How is he supposed to answer that?” Seungmin asked to his left. Huh? When had the vocalist gotten there?
“I don’t know,” Hyunjin admitted with a sigh.
The younger man shook his head, as if exasperated by Hyunjin’s stupidity, while the blonde looked back and forth between them expectantly. Then, Seungmin tapped on his own chest, catching the man’s full attention. “Seungmin,” he said clearly, tapping again.
The man blinked a few times before releasing the grip he had on Hyunjin’s shirt and tapping his chest. “Seungmin.”
“No,” the vocalist said patiently. This time he only pointed to himself. “Seungmin.” He then pointed at Hyunjin. “Hyunjin.” Repeating it a few times, he finally pointed at the blonde, raising an eyebrow questioningly. The man slowly pointed at himself but didn’t speak. It looked like he was considering something.
Suddenly, the screaming roar of a motorcycle shattered the silence and the blonde’s eyes flew wide as he took a startled step backwards, flinched, gasped and lifted his bare foot off the ground, staring down at it in shock.
Instantly, Hyunjin knew what had happened. “Fucking broken glass,” he muttered, swiftly stepping forward, the offensive shards crunching beneath his combat boots. “You’re okay,” he said quickly, reaching out to grasp the blonde’s shoulders as he teetered on one foot. “I’m sure it’s just a small cut.”
The sound of a second motorcycle followed by the sharp wail of sirens made Hyunjin have to hide a grimace as the blonde trembled slightly under his hands. “We have to get out of here,” he said over his shoulder.
“Uh, yeah,” Jisung said. “We should have gotten out of here yesterday.”
“What’re we gonna do with, you know, him?” Jeongin asked. “We can’t just leave him here.”
“I don’t think anyone is thinking that, Innie,” Chan said, a hint of resignation in his tone. “Let’s bring him to the Loft. Bin, you good to drive?”
“Yeah,” Changbin replied with a quick nod. “I can go get the van and meet you guys on the street.”
“Sounds good,” their leader said, and the the bass guitarist turned to head out.
“I’m coming with you,” Seungmin said, accidentally on purpose bumping into Changbin as he followed.
“Yah! Kim Seungmin! It’s called personal space!”
Hyunjin bit back a little laugh. Those two.
Then he realized he was still holding the blonde man’s shoulders, when he felt them shift under his hands. Right. Looking back at the disturbingly perfect face - wait, were those freckles? They were definitely - fuck - focus! He weighed his options before landing on the only viable one. But, how was he going to go about it?
Exhaling slowly, he gently squeezed the other’s shoulders, drawing his full attention. “Do you mind if I, um, pick you up?”
“Pick you up?”
“Yeah,” Hyunjin said. How was he going to… Then he got an idea, scanning the ground he spotted what he needed. “Hey, Ji, can you pick up that brick?”
“Yeah,” the guitarist responded before pausing halfway there. “Wait, why? And why me?”
“He’s obviously trying to demonstrate what ‘pick up’ means,” Minho explained, gesturing between the blonde and the brick.
“Oh,” Jisung said, flashing a grin. “Right, yeah, so…” Dramatically he reached down to grasp the brick. “See, blondie? Pick up.” Lifting it, he held it in his hand for a moment. “Get it? Pick up.”
“Pick up,” the man repeated softly as he watched. Then, his eyes returned to Hyunjin’s and he rested a hand on the drummer’s chest, causing his breath to hitch. “Hyunjin pick up.” The hand retreated and went to the center of the blonde’s chest this time.
Reeling at being touched and hearing his name in that damn voice, Hyunjin didn’t say a word for a beat too long.
“Yes,” Chan said quickly, seeming to register that the drummer had been struck dumb. “Yes, Hyunjin pick up you.” He pointed and nodded.
Coming mostly back to himself, Hyunjin nodded along with Chan. “Okay?” He asked, trying to sound steady, trustworthy.
For a minute the amber eyes looked into his own, searching for something. What it was, Hyunjin didn’t know, but eventually the blonde seemed satisfied with whatever he saw because he nodded. “Okay.”