LAYLA'S HOME

"Layla." My aunt glanced up at me as we sat at the center table.

"Yes aunt Maria?" I slightly raised my brows, waiting for her question. She pursed her lips together as her eyes averted to the garden.

"Where did you meet that boy?" She calmly spoke while still watching him play with his fuzzy hair.

"I told you, Mars University." I replied to her, reaching for a can of Marscola.

"I know, but—" She paused, before sighing. "He just seems so, you know—"

"Odd? Weird? Crazy? Insane?" I raised my brow. "I know exactly what you're talking about."

"You do?" She tilted her head.

"Of course I do." I shrugged my shoulders. "Jimin's a really nice guy, but he's definitely a unique person."

"You don't say..." She tapped her long nails against the glass cup. "Anyway, I'm gonna head down to a pottery shop that just opened up. You take care of Cyprien and your friend I guess. I'll be back soon."

"Got it." I put both my thumbs up, learning the odd habit from Jimin. My aunt looked at me with a very confused expression, before finally leaving.

I waited till she left, and then walked toward the open garden, where Jimin was. "Human." I spat, trying to get his attention. "I'm taking Cyprien to dessert Marsonia for his hover car lessons. That means, you're coming too."

"Gross, why?" He muttered, intrigued by the many beautiful flowers. Yes, Mars has flowers. They may be more on the artificial side, but who cares.

"Because there's a giant sand track, where the older racers practice and race for fun. I want you to come so that you get used to racing in the sand, or in the air, should I say."

"Are you being serious?" Jimin lifted himself off the ground and patted the dirt off his hands. "I'm down, as long as I get to race."

"I'm glad you have that attitude." I grinned at him, which is something I usually do when I know some thing someone else doesn't.

"Wipe that little smirk off your face, before I kiss it off." Jimin squinted his eyes as he spoke.

"What?"

"Nothing." He casually whistled the tune to dna.

—

"Let's go Cyprien, we don't wanna be late." I tried calling for him as he was busy skipping around in the sand. "This always happens." I quietly groaned.

"Why are you so stressed all the time?" Jimin asked randomly. "What I meant was, why are you so hard on yourself. You're always given the responsibility for literally everything."

"It's not easy when your parents are dead." I bit my bottom lip as I stared at the sand below me. "I can't just leave everything and everyone behind, because of my emotions. That doesn't happen here. There's never a discussion about happiness and sadnesses, that's what makes us seem so uptight all the time."

"Well that's a shitty way of living." Jimin poked his tongue against his cheek while sighing. "I mean,for fucks sake, you couldn't experience love even if you wanted to. That's how fucked up Mars society is. If you want to raise good people, you treat them well growing up. You have to give them the opportunity to explore themselves and their personalities. How the hell are you gonna be in a relationship, if you're not even allowed to show any emotion?"

"Do you even know how to cry?" Jimin blurted out after a couple seconds of complete silence.

"Yes, I know how to cry." I rolled my eyes at his comment. "I just don't do it in front of people."

"I mean, I saw the way you talk to the kid." Jimin pointed at Cyprien. "Whenever he gets hurt, I see pain in his eyes. It's like he wants to cry, but he's trained not to. Society tells him to be this tough, strong, emotionless man. It's brainwashing you."

"How do I know what you're saying is good for us. It could be the way you humans deal with things back on Earth, but Mars is different. We're just far more strategic, if you know what I mean. We don't do all these wars and fighting like Earthlings do."

"You think that people on Earth are constantly at war?" Jimin raised his brows in amusement. "We send memes to people from different continents, then wait to receive one back. And that's the main reason everyone wants us to go extinct."

"Thanks for your advice human, but I don't think Martians will change anytime soon." I gave Jimin a faint smile, before walking ahead of him.

"Well at least let me change you." He softly spoke as his hand grabbed mine. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing this time." He looked down at our hands, and sighed. "Layla, I want you to kiss me."

My eyes widened and I quickly jerked my arm from his grip. "W-What did you just say?" I narrowed my eyes, and took a couple steps away from him. "You want me, to kiss you?"

Jimin slowly nodded.

"And why in the Mars-hell would I do that?" I folded my arms against my chest.

"Because, I want you to experience every single emotion out there. Sadness, pain, fear, surprise, anger, happiness, disgust, envy—" Jimin took a bigger step forward after each word. "—anxiety, guilt, embarrassment, shame, disappointment, amusement, grief, anticipation, lust, and love."

I didn't say a single word, and instead just stood speechless. "That's a lot of emotions." I suddenly whispered, breaking the silence.

"I want you to feel them all." Jimin looked directly into my eyes as he was speaking. "Not only just the inside feelings, but also from the outside. You have to show your emotions and act on them."

"Let's make a list then." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Okay." Jimin pressed his lips together. "So, if you show any of those emotions, they'll be crossed off, and we'll keep doing that until you get all of them."

"Fine." I glanced back at the sand and thought to myself for a couple seconds. I really do feel like a coward sometimes. It's time to really change that.

I gently grabbed his face and quickly planted a kiss on his cheek. That's as good as it's gonna get right now. Jimin's lips curved into a grin as he raised his brows. "I kind of meant the lips, but that's a pretty good step forward. You still don't get any emotion crossed off the list."

"What, why?" I whined as he kept walking. Jimin grabbed a piece of paper from his pocket, writing down all of the emotions.

EMOTIONS

sadness, pain, fear, surprise, anger,
happiness, disgust, envy, anxiety,
disappointment, guilt, amusement,
grief, anticipation, embarrassment
embarrassment, shame, lust, love.

"Because in order for it to really count, you need it to be real love." Jimin mumbled as finished writing the other emotions down.

"Then why'd you make me kiss you?" I narrowed my eyes, still really confused.

"Because I wanted you to kiss me, it's as simple as it sounds." Jimin shrugged his shoulders and lightly chuckled when he saw my blank expression.

"I'm gonna add flustered to the list." He smirked at me. "Because I know that's gonna happen a lot."

"Wow, you really have a smackable face." I tried to smack his head, but he quickly dodged me and ran off before I could get a hold of him.

Surprisingly, the strange human ran in the exact direction of the racing grounds, making my job a marsillion times easier.

"Hey Cyprien!" One of the trainers for younger kids greeted him with a smile. "You ready to practice?"

"I p-practiced this much on my own." He spread his arms out as far as he could.

"Good job!" She gave him a high five, then walked with him to wear the kids trained.

I glanced over to my left, and Jimin was no where to be found. "Why am I always losing him?" I groaned.

"There's my cuddle muffin!"

I felt a heavy elbow rest on my shoulder, and lowly glared at the guy. "Great to see you Jungkook..." I forced a nervous smile, and shoved his arm off my aching shoulder. "But I'm a little busy, so Ive gotta go—"

"Where are you going honey bun?" He genuinely seemed concerned enough to follow me.

"Uh, somewhere other than here." I tried to seem a little uninterested so that he'd leave, but Jungkook has to be the most stubborn man I've ever met.

"There's no better place than right here in my strong and muscular arms." He wiggled his brows as soon as our eyes met. "Did I ever tell you I work out in the shower?"

I scrunched my nose and backed away from his oddly close body. "Too much information!"

"Was that too much for you sweet pea—"

"Enough with the awful pet names!" I finally broke out of my calm state of mind. "I'm actually about to vomit, and I never vomit!"

"Would you like it if I called you sugar plum instead because I really think it's g—"

I threw a shrub at his face, watching him choke as some of it got in his mouth. There were a lot more problems, bigger than Jungkook and his annoying flirting. I had to find Jimin before he ended up in some kind of trouble.

"Hey, have you seen a guy wearing grey hat? He's not that tall, kind of acts weird?" I tried to clarify.

"Oh, that guy?" The random dude scratched his head as he looked to the right. "I think that's him, right by the group of delinquent Martians about to have the death race."

I had to take a double take, when his words didn't sink in the first time. My eyes widened as I looked over at him. "D-Death race?"

"Yeah, you know." He shrugged his shoulders. "The death race."

"No." I raised my brows at him. "I don't know."

"Well, they're about to start and I'm hyped to see who's gonna plunge down the sandfalls this time."

"That's not good." I suddenly shouted like a maniac and ran off as fast as I could. "Jimin!" I waved my arms around, and finally caught his attention.

"I don't know her guys." Jimin nervously chuckled as he quickly turned the engine on.

I got a hold of Jimin's shirt, before he could race away. "What in Mars hell are you doing?"

"Racing, what does it look like." Jimin shrugged his shoulders and placed his hand on the steering lever.

"Jimin, this isn't a normal race." I tried to whisper so that the rest of the boys around us wouldn't hear. "If you didn't know, they race to see who will fall off the sand hill. You know, death race?"

"Don't worry." He patted my head and gave me a smile. "I can't die on Mars if I was never born on Mars."

I blinked a couple times, before harshly smacking him on the head. "Stop being so stupid and listen to me." I whispered. "Do you even know what kind of guys you're playing against. You're gonna lose."

"I don't lose Layla." Jimin crossed his arms. "I'll win and then you'll be taking back every single word you said, oh wait. That's on your list." He leaned close to me. "Regret, is it?"

I narrowed my eyes as he started the engine again, and this time I wasn't gonna stop him. "I won't say that I told you so, but I told you so." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Layla, everything's gonna be fine." Jimin tried to make me feel better, but it wasn't working. "Plus, when I win this thing, I can finally get my kiss."

"But I already kissed you." I crossed my arms.

"What am I, you're nephew?" He scoffed. "I meant the lips. No man likes to be kissed on the cheek."

"I'd have to disagree." A taller man stepped in.

Jimin slowly glanced behind his shoulder, as he blankly stared at the unfamiliar man. I could tell who he was by his irritating voice and shook my head. "Isn't this just great..."

"Oh, it is pumpkin." Jungkook lifted his helmet from his face, and ran his fingers through his hair like he was Prince Charming. "I'm racing for you, Layla."

I'M CRYING GUYS HDHSKSHS 1:07 IS DEFINITELY JUNGKOOK IN THIS FIC

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