-', ❝(002: 𝘁𝘄𝗼) ꒱ ↷👽🛸❞

"둘"

"AN ALIEN?" Aspen almost laughed at the claim. Aliens don't exist. You only see those in horror or science fiction movies, not in real life. All those conspiracy theory nuts who cry alien at any and all sorts of lights in the sky are fucking insane. But here she was, standing in front of a guy who just claimed to be an alien.

The man, alien, whatever he claimed to be, nodded. "By your human terms and standards, yes." And with that, he went on to another cabinet, reaching in to take out a box of dry pasta. He shook it and was almost amazed to find that it made a noise. He shook it harder. "Your boxes make noise? How fascinating."

How though? He looked so normal. Well, not normal, he was probably the most beautiful person Aspen's ever met in her life, but he looked... Human. Weren't aliens supposed to be these weird, big-head, green things?

Aspen never thought about the possibility that if there were aliens out there, they could look just like humans. Live just like humans, exist just as they did.

It would make sense if he was an alien. He crash-landed in her backyard, leaving only a ditch and crater in his wake with no explanation as to how he got there or why he was there in the first place. He's calling her and the rest of humanity "humans" as if he isn't himself, and he seems just out of place in general.

Aspen couldn't believe she was even entertaining the idea. She was a believer in cold hard facts, science, numbers, solid proof.

This man was psychotic.

"Okay, say you are an alien and I believe you. Why are you here?"

Taehyung carefully closed the cabinet before going back over to the beeping refrigerator. "I crashed here by accident. My vessel hit an asteroid and fell."

The metal scraps.

Aspen cautiously crept her way past the gorgeous alien, still wary of the stranger who intruded into her fridge, towards the back door to look out the back window.

But when she looked outside, it was all gone. The ditch, the crater, everything. It was as if nothing happened, as if she had dreamed the whole thing. But there stood that strange man rummaging through her fridge, opening random containers, and eating what was inside, evidence that it wasn't a dream. It was real and it happened.

"Um...Taehyung. What happened to your vessel and the mess outside?" Aspen turned around just in time for Taehyung to retreat from the fridge with some leftovers from the Thai restaurant she had ordered from the day before.

His rosy lips pulled slightly. "My vessel was damaged severely after hitting the asteroid and it broke away while I was entering the atmosphere. I cleaned up the mess outside while you were asleep." It was incredibly hard to believe he cleaned all of that up within a few hours all by himself.

It was impossible.

"Alright," her hands found their way to her face, the tips of her fingers rub over her temples in an attempt to soothe the throbbing headache that ravishes her brain. She paced the kitchen and stopped just at the entrance. "So an alien crash-landed in my backyard, knocked me out, and is now in my house, raiding my kitchen. If I told that to anyone they'd think I'm a nutjob."

"I did not know nuts could be in occupation. What a curious world this is." Taehyung was suddenly behind her, almost appearing there out of thin air. His low voice seems to enter directly into her ear without having to travel through air. Aspen jumped forward, her hand clutching her chest right over her heart. "Holy shit! Don't fucking scare me like that! I nearly had a heart attack!"

A rather panicked look came into the man's face. "My apologies, I did not mean to nearly send you into cardiac arrest." His words were proper and polite, though there's a tone of fear underneath. He wouldn't know what to do if he killed the feeble human before him. She may be his only chance to get back home.

Aspen willfully ignored his apology and took a large step away from him. "So what am I supposed to do with you?" She could kick him to the curb but Aspen had no idea what havoc he would create if left unattended. But all at the same time, she had no idea what havoc he would wreak if left unattended inside her home. He seemed docile enough, just rummaging through her kitchen with curiosity.

"It is your decision but I would appreciate it if you didn't call your Earthy authorities on me." He glanced down at the phone in her hand that still had 911 on speed dial. Plea reflects in his dark chocolate eyes. Taehyung was simply a scared animal forcefully thrown out of his natural habitat and into one he was unfamiliar with.

Aspen couldn't believe she was even considering letting him stay here with her. What was wrong with her, not even a day after her most recent breakup, here she was taking on another man, even if it wasn't romantic. Would her job even allow her to support another human being?

"Okay-" She let out in a sigh. "I'll let you stay here until you find a way to get back to wherever you came from. Until you do, you will not go outside and if you do, you will not do any weird shit or be strange in any way, shape, or form. Got it?"

With wide eyes, Taehyung nodded. He could sense that she was being deathly serious, no funny business. He was grateful that she was being hospitable, letting him stay with her until he could find a way to get back home.

"Thank you, human."

Aspen frowned. "I have a name. It's Aspen." Taehyung smiled. It was a strange smile, like an awkward, boxy, rectangular shape. "Like the Populus tremuloides?"

There was nothing but confusion.

Aspen paused for a moment. "Like a what?"

His smile faltered a bit. "A Populus tremuloides. An Aspen Tree. You don't know the name of the plant you're named after?" He spoke as if she was supposed to know what that was.

"No, I don't." Her voice fell flat and bland, unamused by his miscellaneous knowledge of random trees on a planet he's supposedly not even from.

"Alright," Aspen took a moment to bring together her thoughts. She needed to think of what to do next. "If you're gonna be staying here, it's not going to be for free. You'll have to do chores." She's had a boyfriend who used to live with her and would simply lounge around. He never cleaned or cooked or anything. Aspen wouldn't make that same mistake.

Taehyung's lips turned to a frown and his brows furrowed, pinching and wrinkling the skin between them. "What are chores?" He didn't know what cleaning was, so Aspen elaborated. "Like cleaning the house, doing dishes and laundry, that kind of stuff."

Taehyung looked as though he was struggling to understand, but nonetheless, he nodded despite the confused expression that crossed his shrewd features. "Okay?"

"And that reminds me. We gotta get you clothes, you can't just be walking around in that." Aspen looked him up and down, eyeing the all-white outfit he was wearing. It made her feel as though he had run away from the nearest mental facility.

Taehyung looked down at his outfit as well. And without warning, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and began to pull it up over his torso.

With a surprised yelp, Aspen reached out to stop him and pull down his shirt for him. "No, Taehyung, don't do that. What is wrong with you?" So quickly she had forgotten that he wasn't used to human customs.

His head tilted to the side, dark locks brushing over his widened eyes sparkling with confusion. "I'm sorry, but I am confused. You just told me I cannot walk around with these clothes on, so to compensate, I am taking them off."

Aspen shook her head. She knew she was in for a lot. To teach a being how to act human was something she was unfamiliar to. Was it like raising a baby? A really big, handsome baby? "Okay, lesson one of being human, you can't just take off your clothes in front of a woman. Put your shirt back on. I'll find you some other clothes you can wear." Her voice was soft now. "Just stay here. Don't touch anything. I'm gonna go find you some clothes." Aspen ordered as she walked away back upstairs.

This was insane. She finds this random guy in her house, he claims to be an alien, she lets him stay with her, and now, she's fetching clothes for an alien.

This had to just be a very weird, caffeine-induced dream.

Aspen quickly went over to her dresser and rummaged through the drawers, trying to find some oversized clothes that might fit the large man downstairs. Maybe something left behind by her many ex-lovers that may have been abandoned in her possession.

The sound of the drawers being pulled open quite abruptly reached the sensitive ears of the small Pomeranian sleeping on the bed nearby. Yeontan's ears perked up and his eyes cracked open. Immediately, he jumped off the bed and trotted over to Aspen, who had now grabbed an XL plain black shirt and some large, black sweatpants.

Aspen paid him no mind whatsoever as she made her way back down her creaky stair and into the living room, only to find Taehyung stripped down to his underwear.

"Taehyung! What did I just tell you!?" Aspen quickly turned her head away, nearly falling down the stairs. The moment Yeontan saw Taehyung, the dog raced downstairs as fast as he could towards the stranger in his home.

The dog barked as loud as his tiny body would allow him to. Taehyung grinned with amusement at the tiny animal. He watched as the dog raced around him, yapping away and leaping up onto his legs. "I have heard humans domesticate wild animals and accept them as family members, but I never thought it was true."

"Yeontan." Aspen groaned, picking up the dog, but was sure to keep her eyes on the floor. "Stop barking. You're giving me a headache." Aspen sends him off to his tiny bed under the coffee table before turning to Taehyung.

She tried her hardest to keep her eyes on his face and nowhere else. "Tae... Taehyung. What did I just tell you?" Her voice was calm. Nothing good would come out of yelling at him.

The black-haired man in front of her swallowed nervously. "Not to take my clothes off in front of a female, but I didn't. I waited until you were gone."

Well...she can't knock his logic.

Aspen sighed, something she feels as though she's been doing far more today than she has in her entire life. "I don't got time for this." She tossed him the shirt and pants. "Just get dressed."

Taehyung did as he was told, first pulling in the sweatpants that were slightly too small and the black shirt that was also kinda tight-fitting, enough to see the clear outline of his muscles and the slope of his thin waist.

He looked just like a regular person. Five fingers, 5 toes, no additional arms or legs. Nothing. Taehyung was simply a...person.

But he wasn't. He wasn't human.

*.✧ Kᴀʏs Eɴᴅɪɴɢ Nᴏᴛᴇs

Completely unrelated to this book, but I love watching video essays and commentary videos. Idk why, they're just so interesting to me, especially when it's about controversial tv shows. I'm watching one Abt Thirteen Reasons Why. Some of my favorite YouTubers who do these types of videos is D'Angelo Wallace, The Right Opinion, and J Aubrey.

Thank you all for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed and I wish you all a wonderful day/night.

사랑해

~Kay (人 •͈ᴗ•͈)