Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Landing safely on Earth was just as easy as landing on any other planet. ẞ, with all their research and preparation, had not been prepared for that. From all the talk they'd heard from his fellow colleagues about how different Earth had been for them, they'd expected the abnormalities to start right away. 

"Are you ready to leave?" Their senior, Æ, asked. They had been one of the first ones to make contact with Earth and had established the Beta transfer program for humans and donisidates all those years ago. Being Æ's youngest nephew had been a boon as the fee to take part in such a program would've been too much on their elder siblings. "Put on ear processors now," he hummed, "Maybe put the goggles on later? You won't be able to see any of this." He gestured around. " The sight may get overwhelming for you." 

"Is it very bright?" ẞ asked, fitting their ears with the devices. 

Æ laughed. "Not quite. Humans call it…" their uncle waited for them to switch their processors on. "They call it colourful."

"C... colourfu… r," ẞ mimicked the frequency. Not exactly getting it right, they repeated, "Co…lour… ful… " and brightened when their tongue didn't get the sounds mixed up. 

"Great job!" Their uncle patted their back. "Remember your name can't be pronounced as… bestly… properly as on our planet. Your name right now is Jimin. Not ß. Ji-min. Say it, ẞ, Ji-min ." 

"Ji… min," They repeated with a furrow of their brow. It wasn't a hard name at all. Very simple. Only two syllables! Many words they had to mimic were more than two and ß- Jimin had had a hard time wrapping their head around so many patterned frequencies. They wondered why they had so many different syllables, so many languages and so many ways to say them. 

"You're doing better than me. When I first came onto earth I couldn't open my mouth without making at least a few humans wince," Æ told them, helping Jimin get their bags. "I'm sure I burst my colleague's eardrums." 

"You were first so you make mistakes. No… no problem… deal… no big deal?" Jimin asked with a tilt.

"Hm… the sentence makes some sense with context. You're still reading up on your grammar?" 

Jimin nodded, "Makes sense sometimes; sometimes makes no sense at all." 

"That's human language for you. All the languages are so different. Makes your head hurt after the tenth one." 

"Ten? Has… have to learn ten ?!" 

"No, you don't. I have to though."

Getting out into the hallway, their uncle tapped their shoulders and pointed towards the many windows that were all shut, for their safety really. "Want to see colors for the first time? It's an interesting experience." 

Jimin nodded shyly, stepping towards the shutter windows. They put their goggles on, closing their eyes to prepare.

They'd heard about colours before. Something about human eyes processing frequencies and wavelengths differently through their eyes and therefore colours . They were sure there was more to it but they weren't that great at the technicalities. They were here only to feed their curiosity and to ease their siblings' worries. 

Their siblings hadn't been as affected by the deaths of their parents but Jimin had been. They had been the youngest of the six, the youngest in their generation even. When they passed on last year, Jimin was still living with them as he had been a youngling still. Now, though having the age of a complete adult, Jimin had been struggling. It wasn't recommended for a Donisidate to leave the nest— their parents' protection— before full maturation. It had taken a big toll on their mental and emotional development. That's why, their uncle, who had been so busy, had taken pity on Jimin and brought them out. 

"Changes, ß, changes help. And witnessing Earth will be amazing for your development. Maybe you'll even finish your maturation there," he'd said.

With a click of a button the shutters opened and the brightness of the outside world made them flinch away and shield their eyes. "Uncle said no b-bright. Colour… colourful!" They whined at their uncle. "Lies!"

"Sorry, sorry. I forgot it's still daytime," Æ smiled apologetically, not that Jimin could see him. "Squint your eyes and open them slowly. Get used to it. It'll be worse if you open them right away." 

Jimin squint their eyes, peering through their long eyelashes at the sky before them. Tilting their head, they pressed their hands on the glass and breathed. They knew what this colour was— it was white . The building in front of them was the same as from the pamphlet— the one thing they had been allowed to read fully with the help of their goggles. They were so expensive and delicate, Jimin had felt their hands clam up with nervousness when they sat down and tried to process the colour white. They could remember his eldest sibling holding their hand to ground them as everything around them faded away. It was the first time they'd realised everything around them was vibrating .

"White," they murmured. " White ?" 

"Yes, it is. The ground? That's grey," Æ pointed, "It's a mix of black and white. Your hair? It's black too." 

Jimin reached for their hair, feeling its silkiness. Their hair was black. Then, catching the sight of their hand, they gasped. "I'm… white?" 

"No, you're pale," Æ laughed. "Let's not get into colour of skin. Humans have weird reactions when you talk about that." 

Jimin furrowed their eyebrows. "Weird?" 

"Yes, they get not comfortable— Uncomfortable . Maybe your human buddy will be good… nice enough to explain it. And if he isn't, my colleague will," Æ ruffled their black hair. Their hair was black and their skin was white— pale. It was pale . It was fascinating. They were colourful. 

" Æ ," Jimin called with an excited grin. "Jimin colourful!" 

"Yes, you are buddy," his uncle nodded, " You can be even more colourful with clothes ." 

Jimin nodded. They will be very colourful with clothes . 

Chapter Text

The waiting room was very colourful. Jimin couldn't wait to know what they all were. It was very vibrant , Æ told them so. Jimin wanted to get up and look around, touch the shiny rock in the table, stare at the plant— green plant, plant were green!— but they needed to sit. It was good human manners. Æ said the human would help them and answer their questions, but they wanted to make a perfect impression. 

Then the door opened, and a human woman showed a human man in, and Jimin widened their eyes. 

It wasn't a secret that humans and donisidates had similar features but Jimin could see colours and their own human buddy was pale just like them. He had brown hair though with brown eyes. They reached for their eyes, only to be obstructed by their goggles and wondered if they had brown eyes as well. 

They silently watched as Æ and the human bowed in greeting. They could hear Æ talk for them, asking the human man to sit, introducing them. The man was Jeon Jungkook and his voice was soft, soothing, nice . Jimin wanted to speak, but their eyes wouldn't leave Jungkook's face, his lips and his hair. 

'Human like me,' they buzzed with excitement, ' Pale, like me.' 

Then they felt fingers thread through their hair, and they leaned into the touch, knowing full well it was Æ. Every single donisidate had a different way of showing affection, and Æ made it a point to always pat their head, ruffle their head, and press kisses onto their forehead. Often, their siblings were reluctant receivers of this too. 

Jimin's parents used to do the same, ruffling their hair and muzzling their noses with their's. It was a must to have skinship for full development and as all their children, except jimin, had left the nest, they had poured so much adoration and affection onto them. Having been cut off after their death, had stunted their growth, making them fixated on the stage before they could full mature. They didn't even have their gender yet! They could understand their situation somewhat— they were mature enough— but they just couldn't emotionally comprehend things properly. Everything felt too much. Their sadness, happiness and grief came over them like a tsunami, taking every rational thought away as they consumed their mind. 

" Æ?" They crooned.

"You feel better?" Æ asked, "You zoned out there for a bit." 

Jimin hummed, blinking their eyes slowly. " Human colourful like ß." 

"Oh, yeah," he glanced at Jungkook, who had been standing with his tilted head, a confused smile on his face. "Yes, Jungkook is pale. Just like Jimin." 

Jimin felt himself shudder. "Like me." 

"He isn't like any of the others I've met," Jungkook remarked thoughtfully.

"Ah, yes. Jimin hasn't gotten their gender yet. They would've fully matured. But… after their parents…" Æ pursed his lips, hoping he wouldn't have to say it out loud. He wanted their meeting to go well, so that when he leaves, Jimin wouldn't be left in an environment that stunted them, or worse, caused them to regress. 

Jungkook winced. "I see. You don't need to explain… that . It's my first time being a buddy. I've only babysat my siblings and my cousins. I do have a major in Alien Relations but I… don't know, really. Do you… do you think I'm qualified for such a thing?"

"Well, before maturation, we all are child-like. Jimin needs someone to tend to emotions. They are mature in mind, not in heart." 

"So, I'm just a very glorified babysitter?" 

"Ah, yes and no." Æ ruffled Jimin's hair. "His senses are not yet settled. Besides, Yoongi spoke highly about you. I trust him."

Jungkook scratched his neck, with a sheepish smile. "Of course he did… well then," he coughed into his hand, catching the attention of the very dazed Donisidate. He extended his hand and smiled, making Jimin's eyes widen. "I'm Jeon Jungkook. I'm freshly out of college and in between jobs but, uh, I hope to be a good human buddy for you."

" Kook ?" Jimin murmured. 

"Yeah! Or… if that's too hard, Kookie? That works, right?" 

Jimin stared at his buddys ever present smile and then at his hand. They slowly reached for it, letting their cold hands brush against the human's warm ones. But then jolted when Jungkook squeezed his hands firmly. They looked up, surprise and apprehension in their eyes, asking for a reason for Jungkook's hostility , only to find kindness and joy in his eyes. 

"It's a handshake," he explained patiently, "a formal greeting. Let's take care of each other, hm?" Jungkook asked patiently. 

Jimin nodded, squeezing their hand back. 

Chapter Text

Jungkook claimed he lived separately from his parents, something they couldn't comprehend doing. 

“I wanted to be independent. I'm an adult now. Can't rely on them forever right? Though, it's pretty nice that they bought me my own car. So I repay them by babysitting.” He explained with a smile, driving them to his home, while Jimin paid half attention, staring at the steering wheel in curiosity. The vehicles back at their planet didn't have those… or maybe they did. They hadn't been allowed to drive on their own, with and without their parents. 

“Never seen a car before?” Jungkook asked as he glanced at him. “Like, in a picture or a video?” 

Jimin shook their head. “Want surprise.”

“ Wanted , you mean,” he corrected casually, “I'm sure Earth’s pretty surprising. But you'll get used to it, don't worry.” He pulled over into the parking lot and quickly got out. Jimin watched as he made his way over to his side, opening the door and unbuckling his seatbelt. “That's how you do it, in case you didn't know,” he scratched his neck, a nervous habit they noted, much like how Jimin fiddled with whatever they had in hand.

“I have a room set up for you. if you find a toy or something, don't mind it. Just chuck it in the closet or something” Jungkook said, getting Jimin’s assigned stuff from the back seat, “It's not a lot but there's two rooms and a kitchen. It's sufficient.”

“Suffi… shent?” Jimin murmured with a frown.

“You know, enough for me and my siblings to crash at my house?” he gestured for him to follow. Then he paused, whipping his head to them. “Wait, I didn't mean to crash as in crash land! I meant they sleep at my house when we want to hang- uh, spend time together,” he laughed hesitantly, “Sorry, I think I use a lot of figure-of-speech…”

Jimin pursed their lips, adjusting their goggles. “Sorry, Kook.” 

“Hey, it's fine,” He jerked the bags up to hold them better, “I used to have to explain myself a lot when Yujin was six. She thought I was gonna hang her on the balcony or something once. Hansung wouldn't stop laughing. I just have to, you know, get used to it again.” Then he sighed, “God I say ‘You know’ too much. I hope you don't catch that. Yujin started saying it recently and my mom told me to get my shi- my stuff together.”

“Did Kook get stuff together?” they asked as they headed up the stairs. Their hands lingered in the black railing, their hands caressing it and wondering why their hands weren't black now too. Was it not… contagious?

“I'm trying. Don't know if it's working.” Jungkook grinned at Jimin, and they mimicked it. 

When they reached the door, Jungkook put the bags on the floor, rummaging in his pocket to pull his keys out, the keys jingling out and alerting whatever was inside the apartment. “I heard you like animals, well, that's what your uncle said,” Jungkook muttered the last part, as he inserted the key in, “I’m babysitting a dog. Like, a very small one. He's a Teacup Pomeranian— Yeontan. He's my best friend's. He was supposed to leave today, before you came, but Taehyung is pretty bad with his schedule; thought he was supposed to pick him up tomorrow.” 

The door clicked open, the creature- the dog’s barks grew louder, and it was freaking Jimin out. 

“Maybe this is a bad idea,” Jungkook calmly said, reaching for Jimin's hand and squeezed it, “But don't worry. He's so fu- freaking small. He can't hurt you even if he tries.”

Jimin whimpered. They didn't even know what a dog was. They wished they'd been told there would be a predator on the prowl. Inching away from the door, they wondered how such a thin slab of white could protect them both from anything.

And as the door opened, the smallest creature Jimin’s ever seen jumped out onto Jungkook, making them squeaked so loud it wasn't even hearable by human standards, but somehow it quietened the creature, its ears perking up. Now, it stared at Jimin with new found attention, making them even more nervous and panicky. Their palms were getting sweaty and their breaths erratic. Did they br—

“Oh god, did you just-” Jungkook looked to Yeontan and then to Jimin, “Did you just tame Yeontan by… what did you even do ?” 

Jimin breathed in and out, trying to calm down. “Noise. T-too high,” they whispered, staring at the creature. “Creature… Jimin broke it?” 

“Oh… oh no!” Jungkook exclaimed with a grin, “You just… dog whistle -ed him? Is that a thing? It's a thing now., I guess.”

“Dog whistle,” Jimin tilted their head. 

“Dogs can hear higher frequencies than humans. He probably sees you as a dog whistle. Or maybe he thinks you're some kinda threat,” Jungkook said, picking the dog up, petting its ears. Jimin wanted to pet the dog too but if it saw them as a threat… they winced. 

“We can remedy it though. Just give him a treat and he'll be in love with you.” 

“Dog creature shall love Jimin more than you,” they solemnly declared as they followed his buddy in. For Jimin's safety, the dog would have to love them more.

“That won't be that hard,” he laughed, “You already have an advantage, my dog whistled friend.”

Jimin nodded. They really hoped Jungkook was right. They didn't want to be dog food.

Chapter Text

There was just too much green everywhere, with small spurts of colour. So much colour. Jimin could feel themself vibrating in Jungkook's hold. They wanted to be freed. They wanted to go and touch, feel, smell the colours. So much colour! So vibrant! 

“Kookie,” they breathed out, as they jumped on the spot, “Jimin. Colors. Now.” 

“Man, you must be really excited if you've forgotten your words,” Jungkook laughed. It probably reminded him of the time Jimin discovered ice cream, ate too much of it and got a brain freeze. That, though, wasn't Jimin's fault. They just wanted to eat the colours , and they tasted nothing like what Jimin thought they would. They were so sweet and addicting and now Jungkook wouldn't let them order anything anymore. 

“Kookie,” Jimin whined as they stared at the field. 

“The park won't up and leave us,” he told them. “I'll let you leave if you help me with the blanket. Then you can just… I don't know… roll around on the colours .” 

This, Jimin decided, was a great deal. 

After the blanket was hurriedly put up, Jungkook had given them another rule to follow: “Do not leave my sight. I've heard people abduct aliens nowadays and sell them in the black market or something. I don't care if it's a myth. We need to be careful. Okay?” Jimin didn't understand what a black market was, but they did get it was a bad thing. So they laid down on the grass just beside the blanket.

“Your clothes are getting wet,” Jungkook told them. He was munching on his sandwich with such relish.

“Like wet,” Jimin sighed. 

“Uh-huh. It won't be as fun when you get up. It'll be soggy, sticking to your freaking clothes. You might even get sick,” he told him. “Maybe you should get up.”

Jimin frowned. The thing about Jungkook was that he said things in such a way that it didn't feel like he was ordering him around. He said things as suggestions and didn't force them to do them. Jimin's siblings had been forceful, having never dealt with a child of their age before— someone who wasn't a child or an adult. Jungkook, though, made them feel like their decisions had weight, real weight. 

“Five minutes,” Jimin decided. 

“Okay,” Jungkook nodded. Then, he got up and left Jimin to their grass rolling antics. They closed their eyes, feeling the sun and the wind and the vibrations. Their goggles felt non-existent and they vibrated along with the earth, as if they were one being. 

Then, there was a shadow cast over them, and they felt Jungkook. 

Opening their eyes, they saw yellow.

“Thought you'd like to smell the colours too,” Jungkook handed them the yellow. “It's a sunflower. I asked if I could have one to show you.”

“Sun?” Jimin murmured, caressing its silky appendages. “Sun in the sky, Kookie,” they told him with confusion. The star was Sun, wasn't it? Had Æ lied to them? They wouldn't, would they? 

“It's just its name. It's a flower,” he explained as he plucked it from their hand and picked it behind their ear, under the strap of their goggles.

“Now, you have the sun in your hair,” Jungkook laughed, “God, that was terrible. I'm terrible. How do you put up with me, hm?

“Jungkook great,” Jimin frowned, cupping his cheeks with both their hands. “No slander. Only good things.”

“I-” his human stammered with red in his cheeks. Jimin traced it with fascination as it grew brighter and spread across his body. “I was joking, I swear— Jim-Jimin, please stop .”

With a nod, they slowly took their hands off. “Didn't mean to make you… uncom… table.”

“Uncomfortable,” Jungkook sighed, the red disappearing. “You are so mature but so… you. This is going to be really hard.”

“Hard?” 

“You're a sweetheart,” Jungkook told them, handing them a sandwich. “Eat. Let me think about my heart problems…” 

“First phone,” Jimin gestured to his pocket with their sandwich,  as Jungkook hummed in confusion. “Take picture. Send to Æ.” 

Jungkook’s eyes softened. “Of course. I'm sure he would want to see this.” 

Later, Jimin would find out that everyone back home, quite literally everyone, knew that they had tamed the Sun of planet earth. Too embarrassed to correct them, they let it be. 

Chapter Text

There was a little human in the room with the television, Jimin observed as they stood in the hallway, trying not to fidget.

A small one with two ponytails, sitting on the small dining table, her legs swinging back and forth and a bigger one rummaging in the kitchen. They were talking about their human and ice cream . The thought of them eating Jimin's chocolate cone was dreadful— but it was a small human that wanted it. Maybe they could spare one for little human. That's what Jimin's parents used to do for them. Jimin wondered if they were allowed to introduce themself to the humans. Back home all younglings were introduced to other adults by their parents or guardians. 

Jimin frowned. Was Jungkook a bad human who neglected his responsibilities? Or were human younglings different?

As their silent contemplation continued, their eyes met with the brown ones of the bigger human.

“Uh… are you my br—Jungkook's friend?” the human asked with a smile. It looked just like Jungkook's when he would still scold Jimin to moderate their screen time (which made no sense to Jimin. They wanted to watch as many videos of the dog as they could before going home).

“Hi!” The little human waved. “I’m Yujin. Do you want to do my homework together? Do you know if cats can be purple?” She asked as Jimin drew closer. They could feel the bigger human’s vibrations rising in frequency. Jimin smiled at him. “Look like Kookie,” they told him, hoping he'd understand. 

“Oh… oh! Wait, are you the new roommate? Jungkook did say we might wake you up if we were too loud,” the human scratched his neck. (‘ Just like Jungkook,’ Jimin thought.) “I'm Hansung. Nice to meet you.” 

Jimin hummed, turning their attention away from Hansung and down at the drawing of what looked like the creature that had almost struck Jimin's hand at the cat cafe. The cat had been adorable but Jimin had been too rough with it, making it hostile. Jungkook had apologised profusely to both Jimin (‘ I didn't even explain how to handle cats. I'm so fuck- friggin’ sorry!) and the staff. 

“Scary,” Jimin told Yujin with a grimace. 

“No! Cats are friggin' adorbs!” Yujin exclaimed, slamming her pencil on the table. 

“Yujin. No smacking the table,” Hansung scolded with narrowed eyes, placing a cup coffee onto the table and sitting down right in front of them.

Huffing in response, Yujin turned away. “You just haven't met the right cat yet, mister. It's like what mama says. It's like Goldilocks and her chairs.” Then she frowned. “But she's a Tree-passer. We don't like her.” 

“Tree… passer?” Jimin asked, tilting their head

“ Trespasser. It means to enter someone's house without permission,” Hansung explained for her. “Why don't you sit down with us? Jungkook said something about emergency grocery shopping before he left us here. Told us not to make any noise while we were here.” He leaned in and whispered. “The old lady who used to live next to him used to taunt us whenever she saw us in the hallway cause Yujin here wouldn't shut up about Barbie.”

“I don't like Barbie anymore. I'm a grown woman,” Yujin huffed. “Mama said I am.” 

“You're still a pipsqueak to me.”

Jimin watched as they both bickered, not knowing what to do with themself. They wondered if all human children bickered like this, all vibrant and snarky (Jimin was proud they remembered that word). It reminded them of their elder siblings who were closer in age and often bantered back and forth. Jimin, being young, couldn't quite keep up a lot of the time. But they did remember that when the play fighting got out of hand and when the vibrations were unpleasant and borderline violent, their brood parent used to clap their hands, making a loud vibration to make them stop. 

So, in true brood parent fashion, Jimin clapped their hands loudly as Yujin raised her hand to throw a pencil at her brother who moved to duck. They both whipped their heads to them with an uncanny alertness. They'd forgotten Jimin had been sitting there, they mused.  

“No throwing,” Jimin said, slowly prying the pencil out of Yujin’s small ( human was so small ) hands. They made eye contact with Hansung and said in a solemn tone, “Tease too much and will hurt.” 

The siblings looked away ashamed and sheepish. 

“Jungkook-oppa doesn't get hurt when he gets hit with my pencil,” she murmured through her pout. 

“He probably does. He just doesn't tell you,” Hansung said with a sigh. “I'm still older so I'm gonna apologise. Can't believe I was picking a fight with a nine year old on a Sunday morning.” Taking a huge gulp of his coffee, he patted her head. “I'm sorry, Yujin-ah, if I hurt you.” 

Yujin, however, stared at him in bewilderment. “You're just apologising cause there's a guest!” 

“Probably,” he shrugged, “But I'm still sorry.” 

Looking away, she exclaimed, “I'm sorry for trying to hit you with a pencil too.”

Jimin clapped their hands lightly, pleased that the vibrations around them had quietened into a pleasant hum. “Good humans,” he praised them.

And that's when Yujin, in all her nine year old glory and no filter, asked, “Are you Jungkook-oppa’s new boyfriend?” 

“Yujin!” 

Jungkook hadn't known what to expect when he'd reached home from his little grocery shopping trip with his mom. 

Or at least it had been a little trip at some point. 

His mom had then requested him to help her with home appliances right after and he, being someone who couldn't say no to save his life, had said yes. They'd then went out to buy a new microwave because Yujin had accidentally put in metal in the old one (and his mom refused to tell him what happened next because ‘Jungkook -ah, you're taking too much joy hearing about this.’ ) and a fridge because that was something they should've done years ago. Their old one had been at death’s door for ages.

Now, after dropping his mom off with a promise to get her little prince and princess home by nine, he had just reached his front door. 

He wondered if Jimin had woken up. He bet they had. Yujin and Hansung loved each other but they had been rivals for attention since Yujin had been three. They were civil with each other until a third person entered the room and then World War Three would start. The bigger problem had been the bad habit Yujin had been developing of throwing whatever was in her hand at him or Hansung to show her displeasure.

“Oh god, what if she hit Jimin,” Jungkook murmured to himself as he twisted the key to his apartment. The mere thought of Yujin chucking a spoon at Jimin, innocent, sweet Jimin, was horrifying. 

‘Seokjin would have my head,’ he thought going inside. 

Strangely enough, the apartment was quiet. There was not a single noise that he could hear that wasn't the ongoing traffic outside. Even with someone as silent as Jimin there was bound to be some noise. 

He tiptoed into every room, peeking in and stepping out, until he finally found them.

It seemed they had been watching an episode of Pokemon, with Hansung and Yujin resting their heads on either side of Jimin’s shoulder. But now, they were fast asleep with the episode long finished. Yujin's arms and legs were all over Jimin and Hansung and Hansung’s hand was over Jimin’s stomach. 

‘I need to show Mom, ’ Jungkook thought, his heart pounding, “ Fuck, this is so adorable.’  

As he hit send on the picture, he heard the slight sleepy groan come from the cuddle pile. 

“Kookie?” Jimin murmured, looking at him through squinted eyes. 

“Hey,” Jungkook whispered, settling down right next to Yujin and brushing Jimin's hair back, “How was your afternoon?”

“Love little humans,” Jimin told him nonsensically, “So small. Adorbs.”

“Oh yeah,” he laughed, “Totally adorbs.”

“Kookie,” they whined, “Can… Can we get a small human?”

“We can't. Those are big responsibilities. You know, cause it's a whole ass child.”

Jimin pouted, closing their eyes and murmuring to themself. “If… me is… Kookie ‘s boyfriend… then we get small human, yes?”

Jungkook blinked, before his whole face bloomed into hot red blush. It almost sounded as if… ”Oh god, is this a proposal?” But he got no response, as the alien in question had fallen back to sleep, leaving Jungkook to stew on what has just happened. 

“Dude, I can't believe you just fell back to sleep,” Jungkook laughed incredulously. He tried so hard to ignore his beating heart, but alas, it didn't calm down a single bit.

Chapter Text

Jimin had been looking forward to the amusement park, even if they didn't like the idea of crowds. They had watched a lot of movies with Jungkook and some of them had this giant wheel that humans sat on, the Ferris wheel and he— they wanted to get on it and tell Jungkook about their newest secret. They had been so excited to go. It felt special to be on top of the world— or so it seemed— and tell the most special human his— their secret

But the window was filled with water droplets, the atmosphere was filled with water droplets and everything was just water droplets. 

Jungkook had been right all those weeks ago. Wet wasn't that fun. 

Now, with their plans trashed by the water, they stay in Jungkook’s bed, Jimin's head on his shoulder, watching a dubbed romcom on his human's laptop. Jungkook had called it cheesy, a word Jungkook couldn't explain to them because it was something you get after you experience it, Jimin. I t was not a genre Jimin had seen before as Jungkook preferred sci-fi, fantasy, action and whatnot. This, however, had been Jimin's choice. He— they had whined and whined and whined , until Jungkook had succumbed to the whine. 

“You know,” Jungkook murmured into his— their hair with a yawn, “Feelings are very weird.”

“Feel- ings ?” Jimin frowned. They knew what feel was, they felt a lot of things from everything around him— them. But what did the word feeling mean for humans? 

“Like the shit you feel when you see your colours,” he waved his hand around. “When you feel giddy or jump around… or you used to, cause you couldn't compute it so you went all ‘toddler with a new toy’ on me? Yeah, that's happy. You were feeling happy, you know what I mean?”

Jimin slowly nodded. It made some sense. They raised their head, to watch his human’s tired face, that was struggling to stay awake. Their eyes were droopy and their vibrations so less vibrant that it made Jimin feel less vibrant. They needed to be colourful together, or it felt like it was the end of the world! “I happy— I'm happy with you,” they told him slowly as they turned to stare at the couple on the screen bantering.

Jungkook huffed. “Oh yeah? Me too, sweetheart, me too.”

“And… secret. I tell you now,” Jimin got up, cupping his hands around Jungkook's ear with a gleeful smile that was now creeping up on Jungkook’s tired face. “I feel male now. Is this okay?”

Jungkook blinked. “Oh fuck, really? I mean, shit, of course it is— congratulations.” He let out a shuddery breath. “I… can’t comprehend my feelings right now. It's still here computing,” he pointed to his forehead, “But I swear as soon as I'm feeling like less of a shit we'll have all the ice cream you want. Deal?”

Jimin smiled, burying his face into Jungkook's hair. “Deal.” 

Chapter Text

Jimin didn't understand much about humans before he came to earth. He didn't understand their needs for intimacy when Æ had told him that humans were tactile creatures. For Donisidates, intimacy was something you had with family and the one you resonated with. 

The first time Jungkook had taken Jimin's hand and dragged him away, Jimin had been perplexed. He kept glancing down at their intertwined fingers and the nonchalance that Jungkook exuded. Later, when Jimin asked about Jungkook had apologised for dragging him to places, but Jimin kept thinking about how well their hands fit. 

Jimin had had hugs with his parents; the last interaction he'd had with them was when they'd hugged each other. And then they'd been lost. Hugs were reserved for family, but now Jimin had no problem imagining himself hug Jungkook. It made him feel jumpy when he thought about it though, as if all three of his hearts would fall out of his body. 

Laying on top of Jungkook, resting his face on his human’s shoulder or chest while they watched something on his laptop had been normal before, but now Jimin couldn't stop thinking about how if he looked up he'd see Jungkook's face. It would be close enough to hear his breathing. He could hear Jungkook’s heartbeats, and sometimes one or two of his hearts would try to match his human’s. 

It worried Jimin but it also made him pleased. It didn't make any sense. It was as if all his instincts were rejoicing. 

He wanted to be small, to not feel anything while he thought about his new problems. 

And that's how Jungkook found him curled up into a ball in the corner of the kitchen. 

“Jimin?” Jungkook had asked with a yawn, “What are you doing?” 

“Think,” Jimin had replied with a frown, refocusing his eyes on his small fingers. 

“Oh. What about?” he walked towards him, stopping just in front of him. 

“Problem.”

“... You wanna talk about it? Or is it a Donisidate thing?” 

“Second one,” Jimin sighed, “Hearts problem.”

“ Heart problem,” Jungkook corrected, crouching down. 

“No. Hearts . Three,” Jimin pointed at his chest. “Humans are weird. One heart too little.”

“W-wait. You have three hearts?” Jungkook asked, his eyes wide open. “Where the fuck do you fit em? You're too small for three hearts, man.” 

“Not small. Humans bigger than us,” Jimin frowned, “Jimin normally sized.”

“Yeah, yeah. But in human eyes you're fun sized,” Jungkook ruffled his hair, resting it a bit longer on him when he leaned in. “You wanna talk to Seokjin about whatever your problem is? If it's like a health problem I don't think any human doctor would be able to help.”

“Mm. Æ,” Jimin nodded. “Æ is smart.”

“He sure is. And protective.” Jungkook got up, holding his hand out for Jimin, “Let's get you back in bed, Jimin-ah.” 

Æ, or Seokjin as the humans called him, had been living with his business partner, Yoongi, since their race had made contact with Earth. In fact, when Seokjin had crashed into Earth five years ago,  Yoongi had been the one to teach Seokjin how to talk within human frequencies, and Seokjin had been so fascinated by humankind that as soon as he'd gotten home he'd convinced multiple people to fund his exchange program and make contact with Earth. 

Now, though, Seokjin and Yoongi lived together in a house away from the hustle bustle of the city. 

“Oh my god,” Jungkook murmured under his breath, as he parked the car in front of the house, “They are roommates…” 

“Kookie?” Jimin tilted his head. 

“It’s a vine,” he explained, only for Jimin to furrow his eyebrows. “Remind me to explain vines to you one day,” 

Unlocking the car doors, Jungkook watched as Jimin took off his seatbelt and grabbed his bag. When Jimin's eyes met his own, he said, “I'll pick you up in three hours. If you need me to drop by earlier than that just call me, okay?” His human asked, laying his hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. “Okay?” 

“Okay,” Jimin nodded, getting out of the car. “See you, Kookie,” he waved. 

“Yeah. See you later, sweetheart.”

Jimin felt his ears warm up as he looked down at his shoes, hearing the engine of the car thrum into life. The nickname sweetheart had gotten a bit too much for him nowadays. He hadn't grown out of it— he still liked hearing it used for him— but it made him feel warm everywhere. It took his breath away when Jungkook smiled at him and called him a nickname. (This was one of the many questions Jimin had for Æ; if humans can take breaths away, doesn't that mean they are dangerous? )

Jimin often hoped Jungkook would one day use one of the corny nicknames from the romcom they'd watched on him. His imagination had often gone wild as he daydreamed about it. It was embarrassing to think about. Did everyone daydream about their human, or was he the odd one out? Did everyone experience the unusual urge to cling to their human, to bask in their warmth, to resonate with them thoroughly— 

That was when it clicked for Jimin. He wanted to resonate with Jungkook. He wanted to— 

‘Oh ,’ Jimin thought, tearing up. ‘Oh no.’  

So when Æ answered the door, all he got was a handful of sobbing donisidate and incoherent words. 

“Do you need me to be here for this?”  Yoongi asked as he placed a glass of water in front of Jimin. He was dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie, and had been watching reels on his phone when Jimin had broken down on Æ. 

“ Do you want him to stay ß? ” Æ asked Jimin as he hugged him. 

Jimin didn't want to burden the two by making them split up— their hearts beat in resonance and oh— it made him cry. Did he really want to mate with Jungkook? Was Æ mated to his roommate? Was this a normal occurrence? He didn't want to force Jungkook into something he didn't want but… Jimin sobbed louder— he wanted Jungkook to be with him, just like Æ was with Yoongi. 

“ Do you want him to stay?” Æ asked again. 

“ Leave, but stay close,” Jimin whimpered. He buried his face deeper into Æ’s neck, hearing Æ talk to his lover and reassuring him that he could handle this. 

“ What is this about, dear nephew?” Æ whispered to him, rocking him back and forth. 

“ I want Kookie,” he told him. 

“ ... Oh. It's about time I think,” Æ told him in all seriousness. 

Jimin, feeling so taken aback by his tactless uncle, pushed out of his arms and stared at him in betrayal. 

“ Don't look at me like that,” Æ scoffed, “ All you have talked about since you've gotten here has been “Jungkook did this for me, Æ”, “Jungkook doesn't like coffee but I do. Would he be mad, Æ?” And “Jungkook's siblings are so small I want a small human just like Jungkook too’. I thought it would be a small fleeting crush but now that you have the urge to resonate with him, you can just court him. You are mature enough to.”

“ I did not talk about Kookie so much,” Jimin argued weakly, only to receive a very deadpan stare from his uncle. “So Jimin court?”

“Mhm. Human courting is way simple. Not like ours. No hunting or finding lost treasures. Just give him flowers. Or a pillow. That worked for me,” Æ patted him. “If you ever need help you can text me, you know that, right?” 

Jimin stared at his fiddling fingers. He felt a rollercoaster of emotions. Actually, he felt as if a rollercoaster had rammed into him. And he did not love rollercoaster (he was sure they were human torture machines). 

He hadn't cried because he was against mating with a human. He loved humans, and he loved spending time with Jungkook. The places Jungkook took him to filled him with such joy. It made his world so much more colourful and vibrant. Back home, he wouldn't have been able to see any of these colours. He would've lived in a world full of two dimensional vibrations with his undeveloped senses, but now he could compute them so much better. The problem was that…

“ Would Kookie ever like me back?” he murmured. 

“ Of course he would. If not, he's missing out,” Æ hugged him. “ You don't need to be with the first person you want to mate with. You'll find so many different people as you grow. Maybe you'll find a new planet, meet a man there, eat all his cereal and then fall in love with him. And maybe you won't. You don't need to fit any standards, okay?”

Jimin nodded, but he guessed he'd feel better later. Right now, his mind was filled with negatives.  

“You want cookie dough? We have cookie dough. It's nice,” Seokjin asked, getting up. “or we can order anything you want.”

“Ice cream,” Jimin rubbed his eyes. 

“Ice cream you will have, dear nephew.”

After demolishing a bucket full of ice cream and getting brain freeze, Jimin was sent back with a panicky Jungkook who fussed over his swollen eyes, and all the alien in question did was smile. 

Chapter Text

It was the last night Jimin would spend on Earth, and tomorrow would be the last day he would see Jungkook. Looking up at the stars from the roof of the apartment building, he thought about how their two months together had just passed by so quickly. It felt like just yesterday when he'd realised he had fallen for his human. The stars twinkled in the sky, and he knew the science behind it and all, but the only thing he wanted to know was whether the stars twinkled the same back home. 

He sighed, looking down at his socked feet. Jungkook would be mad about him not wearing any shoes. 

Maybe he'd done it to hear the scolding. 

For the past three weeks he'd been trying to find ways to court Jungkook. He bought him a carefully selected flower when they went to the park, he helped him with small chores, spent more time with him, telling him about his siblings and his parents (sharing a piece of himself that he hadn't with anyone else felt like a big gift; he hoped Jungkook thought so too) and he spent time appealing to his younger siblings who were Jungkook's whole world. 

Æ had told him he should confess. 

But Jimin was hesitant. He wasn't a permanent guest. He didn't know if he'd be back. He had a lot to do back home. He would be moving out of his eldest sister’s house and finding a passion that suited him, just like Æ had. He loved Earth, he wanted to be on it, but before he could do so he wanted to find a way to be needed by humanity. 

When he'd told his uncle about his plans, Æ had grown silent. 

‘You've grown so much ,’ Æ finally sighed, his voice laced with emotion. A normal human wouldn't be able to tell, but he could hear Æ crying silently, his breath shaking as he talked to him. ‘ I'm so proud of you, ß.” 

‘Do you think my parents would be proud too?’ he had asked. 

‘They'd be so proud , dearest nephew, so proud. ’ 

Jimin didn't need to turn around to feel the footsteps of his human coming closer. He could feel them when he was trudging up the stairs, cursing them for being so steep. He could feel his eyes on his back, hesitant to speak out. 

“Hey,” he called, “What are you thinking about?” 

“Stars.”

“Hm? What about them?” Jungkook came closer, settling down beside him. 

“Do stars twinkle back home? I don't know,” Jimin murmured.

“I'm sure they do. And even if they don't, you can always come back to Earth and see them again, right?” Jungkook said, bumping his shoulders against his. 

“I… will be going for high education. Don't know when Earth visit,” Jimin struggled to say. “I want be on Earth. Without Æ help. Without program. Want to settle with you” he felt his eyes tear up. “ I want to be here with you .” 

He closed his eyes, not willing to see what the other thought of his declaration. He did hear his human’s breath hitch, but he didn't want to know whether it was a good or bad thing. 

“This is the second time,” Jungkook snickered under his breath.. 

“Hm?” Jimin raised his head. 

“Dude, I'm so glad you're not sleepy today.” His human cupped Jimin's cheek and pressed his lips to his cheek. “God, I want to kiss you but I don't want to do it when you're crying. I want it to be a happy memory. I wanted it to be when you come back to me. I wanted to be in a fancy restaurant, after I saved up enough money. I wanted it to be when I confess to you finally and show you home much I've fallen for you.” He laughed against his cheek, making Jimin's hearts beat faster, matching Jungkook's heart beat— resonating with him. “You just had to one up me, didn't you, sweetheart?” 

“D-didn't mean to,” Jimin protested weakly. 

“Hey, it's okay.” He pressed closer to his body. “I'm a pro at waiting. I'll wait for you to finish everything you need to be here with me. So, think of me when you're on your planet, okay?”

“Will think of Kookie every moment,”  Jimin nodded seriously. He would try his best to keep Jungkook in his thoughts. It wouldn't be hard either, he thought of him plenty anyways. 

“God, I like you so much,” he laughed breathlessly. “I'm glad you want to be here with me.”

Jimin hummed. “Even if the world ends, I want to be here with you,” he confessed solemnly. It felt like a vow, and maybe it was. 

“Me too,” Jungkook replied, “Always.” 

It felt like the end, yet it was just the beginning for them both.