Chapter Text
Luna doesn’t know when it has started for her. She knows at least that it started from interest. When she was reestablishing the Astronomy club, she needed one more member to fulfill the requirement of starting a club. The little sister of her best friend Alpha, Ongsa, mentioned their cousin who is obsessed with alien and space stuff.
“I don’t know if you can get through to her, she behaves like an alien, and doesn’t take an interest in human activity.”
Despite Ongsa telling her that, Luna goes on to look for this person they refer to as Aylin. Surely, anyone with an interest in space would be able to appreciate Astronomy, right?
Luna spotted her going to the library, so she approached her. She poked at her shoulders gently and that was their first contact. Aylin faced her with a cautious expression. “Are you Aylin? I am Luna. I’m wondering if you want to join the Astronomy Club. Interested?”
Aylin didn’t say anything and just walked away from her and proceeded to the bookshelves. But Luna still followed her. She tried to appeal to her about the benefits of joining her club like the telescope, and the Apollo 11 rocket model.
Aylin continued to ignore her. Her junior took a seat after taking an Outer Space encyclopedia. And yet, Luna was persistent. Maybe her junior just didn’t want to speak? So, when she noticed the paper and marker on the other table in the library, she wrote her message there, crumpled the paper, and threw it at Aylin.
This time, her junior’s expression showed annoyance. She slammed down her book on the table, making a loud sound. “Why did you throw that at me?”
“Because you won’t talk to me. So, I sent you the message.”
They were both reprimanded by the student on duty to keep quiet. Luna had no choice but to signal for Aylin to open the paper and read her message. When her junior threw the paper back at her, the only reply she got written on the paper was a big “NO” with a circle around it. Aylin did not only reject her, but also got away from her. She was nowhere to be found in the library.
“Is she really an alien?” Luna said to herself, putting both her hands on her waist feeling her defeat.
But Luna couldn’t just give up on her. Other than her need to have one more member to open the club again, she had also become intrigued by this girl who seemed to isolate herself from the rest. Looking at her wearing her unique, but cute, cap while carrying around some kind of controller without a care about the stares she was getting from other students, planted a seed of admiration in her for this strange alien. It takes courage to pursue one's obsession that others find strange fully.
At the same time, when she found Aylin alone on the school rooftop with her devices, she couldn’t help thinking how lonely she seemed. It was her last day to get one more member for the club and she decided to try one last time to talk to her. The realization of the girl’s possible loneliness tugged at her heartstrings when she found her there. Even so, Luna chose to knock on the door of her world with a smile.
“What are you doing?”
Aylin paused what she was doing to face Luna smiling at her. Then asks her the same question.
“What are you doing?”
She looked at the device her junior was holding with interest and curiosity. “Nothing. I’m just asking.” Luna continues to peek at the device Aylin is holding as if peeking into a glass window of her junior’s world.
Her junior’s attention was now back on her device, turning some knobs on it for tuning. “You can't invade this premise. Get out.”
“It's not an invasion. This is school property.“
Aylin turns to her again and looks at the paper in her hand. “Don't talk about the club. It's a waste of time.”
“I didn't come to talk about anything. I'm just here to get some fresh air.”
“Why don't you get it somewhere else?” Aylin said, her focus back on her device.
Luna lets out an exhausted sigh. It seemed that the door was still shut close for her. “Now I understand why people call you Alien.” It’s because she alienates herself from the rest of the world. Or at least that’s what she can conclude for now.
She began telling her junior how Galileo was thought to be a madman, and treated like a freak when he came up with the round-Earth theory only for his theory to be proven true hundreds of years later.
“Aliens. The stories about them. Though it has yet to be proved that there are living things like us beyond the Earth, I do believe aliens are real.” She glanced over at Aylin and noticed that her junior was just fidgeting on her device by then, pretending to ignore her.
“What you believe in is not insane or nonsense at all.” Luna hoped for those words to come across as words of affirmation for her. "I reopened the Astronomy Club because I, too, believe that we are not the only ones in the universe.”
Luna wasn’t sure how much of her words were getting through Aylin.
“Exploring the universe on your own could be a lonely thing.” She leaned closer to Aylin’s back and peered at her face. “Won’t you explore it with me?”
But she could almost feel that the tightly shut door to Aylin’s world was not as closed off anymore to her. She didn’t miss to see that one moment Aylin stopped moving after what she just said.
“Here. Apply now and you'll get free insurance.”
Luna gave Aylin a hopeful smile as she placed down the paper on Aylin's stuffs, while the younger continued to ignore her. Or at least that’s what she was pretending to do. They continued for a few more moments like that, Luna moving close trying to peek at her face, and Aylin moving away trying to focus on her device, until Luna finally decided to leave. She continuously bid her goodbye while reminding Aylin to take a look at the application form, and about the free insurance that comes with joining the club.
Later that day after classes, she met up with Ongsa and Sun in their club room. The two said they had something important to talk about with her, which she already had an idea of what could be.
“So, you two are quitting because you’re scared of the curse?” She asked them directly when the two seemed hesitant to speak.
“Yes.” They both said at the same time.
Personally, Luna doesn’t believe the curse. From what she heard so far from Alpha, Ongsa was already hapless even before joining the club. She doesn’t know yet what happened with Sun to change her mind like this. And as for Teacher Bambam, she is just like Ongsa, already hapless to begin with, plus being clumsy. But she can’t do anything if her juniors are scared.
“Actually, you don’t have to quit. Because if we don’t get one more member today, the club can’t open anyway.”
She couldn’t hide her disappointment. She was so close to reviving the club after all. There’s also Aylin, whom she’s taken an interest in now but remained her world closed off from her.
In the end, she wasn’t sure if she got through to her. But she had a simple wish. That if Aylin would not be joining her club, she at least hopes that she could become friends with her.
She was looking at Ongsa and Sun’s downcast expressions when footsteps suddenly were heard in their room. She turned to where the sound was coming from only to see the person she had been waiting for.
Aylin dropped the application form on the table, in front of her. Luna almost couldn’t believe it, but it was real. And once again, she felt that maybe the door had been unlocked by now. She took the paper to see if Aylin really filled up the form, to which she did.
“Am I in time for the free insurance?” Aylin asked, to which she couldn’t help but cheer.
She was so ready to get things started now that their club had four members, but Ongsa and Sun still looked worried.
“Aylin, there's a curse on this club. Aren't you scared?” Ongsa asked, walking up to her cousin.
“Superstitions have no effect on aliens.”
Delighted with her response, Luna stood up excitedly. “Okay! I'll get this club open and running! Teacher Bambam will be so happy when she gets back and learns that after five years, the club will run again.”
And as for her, she was far happier than she had expected to be able to revive the club. Somehow along the line, her interest in Aylin became part of her reason for wanting to revive the club. Because being in the same club as her would give her opportunity to get to know her junior better. To become friends with the human who calls herself an alien. To meet Aylin.