"Mom!" I gasped when my mom halted a couple inches away from where the oil covered the floor. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

My parents lived in one of the metropolitan towns around the main city where my Sharehouse was, almost an hour's drive away.

"You!" Mom ignored me and jabbed a finger at Jimin. "Let go of my daughter, alien."

I realized Jimin was still grasping my arms where he'd been smearing oil. His dark eyes were wary, along with another emotion I couldn't identify. He slowly released me, eyes never wavering from my mom's.

"Mom no." I snapped my head back and forth, trying to understand her hostile behavior. I knew my parents had prejudice against the Outworlders. But I'd never known for her to be so openly adverse. "It's not... we were just having fun."

"Fun?" Now my dad was standing beside Mom. His eyes glared at Jimin contentiously. "You really think having fun with a terrorist is a good idea?"

My jaw fell open. Jimin looked absolutely taken aback but he remained silent.

"What the hell? Mom! Dad!" I tried to stand but only slipped again. "What is your guys' problem? How can you say something like that?"

"Have you not seen the news yet?" Mom demanded.

"What? No but..."

"Follow me. Both of you." Mom whirled around and marched towards the living room. Towards the TV.

I looked over and exchanged looks with Jimin. He just shook his head, clearly as baffled as I was.

It took a few moments for both of us to get on our feet and even then the short journey to the TV where Mom was flipping through the channels angrily was a precarious process not to fall.

"There!" Mom finally settled on a news channel just as Jimin and I reached the living room.

We both halted, neither of us daring to put a single oily step onto the thin rug of the living room. Nevertheless, we could clearly see the screen from where we stood.

My stomach twisted at the sight. A shaky footage of what looked like a mass of twisted metal and smoke filled the screen. Red headlines at the bottom of the television screen read: 'DEADLY AIRCRAFT CRASH. KILLED HUNDREDS. OUTWORLDER SUSPECTED AS CULPRIT.'

After the Outworlders landed on earth and became more integrated in our society, they also introduced some of their forms of technology. Airplanes became faster, more efficient, and safer. The planes also evolved into larger aircrafts for transporting goods, architecture, you name it. Air travel had become almost as common as taking the local city bus.

"You see?" Mom gestured at the screen with dark triumphant.

"I see that there was a tragic aircraft crash," I began slowly.

"'Tragic'? Read the headlines, Jiyeon. It was a terrorist attack!" Mom yelled. Dad silently crossed his arms, eyes smoldering.

"It does not say terrorist. And besides, what the hell does this have to do with Jimin?"

"Jimin?" It took a moment for my dad to realize who I was referring to. "You guys have known each other for just a little over 24 hours and you're on a first name basis huh?"

"What is wrong with you two?" I knew I shouldn't talk to my parents so disrespectfully but the shock of their accusations and hostile behavior pushed me past caring. "Just because an Outworlder was suspected for this crash doesn't mean you can just start pointing fingers at every Outworlder out there."

"Naive girl." Mom threw the remote down on the couch furiously and stalked over to me. "You weren't even alive when these... these creatures invaded Earth. But I've always known the moment I saw those massive airships of death in the sky it'd be the doom of us. They're too dangerous. They don't belong here with us."

"That." She pointed at the screen again. "That is finally going to open people's eyes and make us realize just how dangerous these morphing monstrosities are."

"With all due respect..."

We all turned as Jimin spoke for the first time. His eyes were fixed on the screen but he looked over to meet each of our gazes levelly. "With all due respect, may I point out that you humans used to attack each other every single day. Yet you don't see us Outworlders calling each one of you terrorists just because some person who's the same species as you killed hundreds of people."

"Don't you dare smart-talk me young man." Mom began to move forward but I grabbed her arm, struggling to maintain a firm grasp with my slippery hands.

"Leave him alone!"

Mom easily wrenched her arm from my hands but at least she stopped approaching Jimin. "You've been an alien sympathizer for too long, Jiyeon," she sneered at me. "When will your eyes be open? What will it take for you to realize the aliens don't deserve to be with us?"

"'Deserve'?" I gaped. "Mom what—?"

Before I could reply the volume of the TV turned up. Dad had moved to take the remote control and we all looked back to the screen.

The scene was now in a large, clean official room. There was a large table with about a dozen people sitting around it. Several of the people had clear glowing Marks across their bodies.

The Infinity Council.

At the head was a tall, broad shouldered man in a neat, dark uniform. Dark scarlet marks spiraled up his neck from the collar of the uniform and several marks framed his cheeks. I immediately recognized him.

General Konu, head of all military departments and warfare.

Both my parents and Jimin tensed when the war general stood up at the table and faced the camera. I didn't blame them, really. The general was intimidating and it almost felt as if those piercing eyes of his shattered right through the screen and were staring directly at me.

"I apologize to all families and persons affected by this attack," the Outworlder general said, voice clear and sharp. I could easily see him barking orders to soldiers with that voice. "We will get to the bottom of this case and prosecute any and all individuals involved in this terrible attack."

"Sure," Mom sneered at the screen, resentment shining in her eyes. "Put an Outworlder in charge of prosecuting another Outworlder. They'll either pretend they can't find the terrorist or if they do they'll let him go off easy!"

"Jiyeon." My dad switched off the TV finally when the camera shifted back to the news reporters. "We're going back home and you're coming with us. Start packing your things."

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Cover by Peachy_Jibooty

Concept Drawing by relene369