Chapter Text
“Hello, Beomgyu. I’m Yeonjun and I have been waiting my entire life to meet you.”
Beomgyu stared, blinking slowly as he felt his mouth hang open. This wasn’t happening, Beomgyu thought to himself, there was no way that this was happening. Why was this happening to him right now?
There were many rational reactions that one could have to a situation like this. While Beomgyu could have easily taken one of those many options, all he really wanted to do was run away and scream. Unfortunately, screaming was not the most viable option – it was nearly 10 PM and a scream of anguish from his balcony was not the smartest decision. He could almost hear the ruckus that his neighbors would make.
“Yeah, mace him,” Soobin repeated his suggestion. There was a hint of amusement lingering in his tone as he repeated, “ Please mace him. Please .”
“You could mace me, but the SVT Company opted out of adding pain sensors in my eyes. They didn’t I actually needed them,” Yeonjun noted. The smile he previously had on dropped as he fell into silent thought. He nodded, concluding his thoughts before he looked over to Beomgyu and added, “Though, if you want me to have pain sensors there, I can put a request to the SVT Company to add sensors in accordance with your kink preferences.”
“ You were sent a sex bot!! ” Soobin practically shouted with excitement. There was a poor attempt to stifle his laughter, but Beomgyu could easily hear all of it. Although Taehyun could be heard scolding Soobin for laughing at this situation, the strain in his voice was obvious – even Taehyun could stoneface the ridiculousness of this situation.
“I am hanging up now,” Beomgyu announced, “Unlike the two of you, who find this very amusing, I have to figure out how to handle all of it. My entire life is at stake, you dicks.”
In a quick succession of movements, Beomgyu hung up the phone and stuffed it into his pocket. With his two favorite distractions finally silenced, he turned his full attention back to the problem at hand: Yeonjun. “You,” Beomgyu said as he glared at Yeonjun, “Come with me.” Without any additional direction, he grabbed Yeonjun’s wrist and dragged him from the balcony and into his apartment.
The moment that they were both inside of the apartment, Beomgyu shut the door and immediately locked it. He drew the curtains, pulling them as tightly as he could with one hand. He had never realized how difficult it was to do this with one ha– Why was he doing this with one hand? Beomgyu turned his head, allowing his gaze to follow where his right hand had latched onto … he was still holding onto Yeonjun’s wrist. He blinked a few times, staring at where they had been connected.
There was an issue.
Yeonjun’s wrist didn’t feel like it belonged to a robot or an android. It felt real. It didn’t feel synthetic … it felt human. Beomgyu’s gaze remained focused on the grip he had on Yeonjun’s wrist. It felt so human. If Beomgyu hadn’t known that Yeonjun had been an android, he would have never known … the SVT Company really did some of the best work when it came to manufacturing and creating robots and androids.
“Ah, I see,” Yeonjun chimed in, practically smiling as he looked at Beomgyu. His voice pulled Beomgyu’s gaze to him. Yeonjun greeted their sudden eye contact with a smile as he noted out loud, “You’re dominant. I’ll remember that. Recalibrating .”
“No, no!” Beomgyu shouted, immediately releasing Yeonjun’s wrist. He practically jumped away from him, creating distance between them. “Do not recalibrate! In fact, do not calibrate anything!” Beomgyu demanded, “I don’t consent to calibration! I don’t agree to it. No approval for the terms and conditions that have never been explained to me! I need the fine print before you start recalibrating again!”
“Oh! Oh, I apologize,” Yeonjun bowed his head gently. His eyes were filled with regret, almost believably apologetic. “I will wait for your approval to recalibrate,” Yeonjun said before he turned away. He pleasantly walked away from Beomgyu; he looked around the apartment, inspecting and admiring the decor that filled its walls. He hummed a song that Beomgyu swore no one else in the world had known and yet …
“Ugh,” Beomgyu groaned as he flopped himself down on the couch. He leaned back into the cushions, letting his head rest against the top of it. He looked up at the ceiling, blinking for a few seconds before he closed his eyes. He let out a sigh as he finally admitted, “I am getting such a migraine.”
“A migraine? Is your head hurting that badly?” Yeonjun asked before easily offering, “Would you like a massage?”
“A massage sounds nic–,” Beomgyu caught himself, stopping the rest of the sentence from being finished. He opened his eyes just in time to see Yeonjun drawing closer to him. “No! No massages! No touching me!” Beomgyu warned. Before Yeonjun could attempt to protest, Beomgyu pointed to the armchair across from him, “There, just sit there.” He frowned as he muttered, “There’s an angel about to fall from grace.”
“ Oh, Beomgyu-yah!! ”
No matter what time of day Beomgyu had the pleasure of interacting with Jeonghan, it always sounded as if Jeonghan was scheming something (perhaps, that was just a historical prejudice brought on as an occupational hazard). He took in a deep breath as he tried to figure out to calmly approach this situation. Despite the attempt, Beomgyu couldn’t find any rational approach to this situation.
“Jeonghan-hyung …,” Beomgyu started.
“ I’m surprised, Beomgyu. You usually only call me during business hours .”
“This isn’t a business call,” Beomgyu cleared up. Technically, this was a personal call – he wasn’t being paid to deal with this (although, he really should be paid to deal with this). Actually, he hoped this wouldn’t be a business call. They literally just wrapped up the most recent case today. As unpredictable as Jeonghan could be, Beomgyu really hoped that the man did not get into another lawsuit … only a couple of hours had passed. Though, in all honesty, it was a very high possibility.
Jeonghan laughed, entirely bemused. “ A personal call from Choi Beomgyu? I’m flattered .”
“Hyung, you probably know exactly what I am calling you for,” Beomgyhu started. If there was anything that he knew about Jeonghan, it was that the man always knew more than he let on; it was best to assume that no matter who the smartest person in the room was, Jeonghan was always a few steps ahead of them. Beomgyu sighed and admitted, “I’m calling about the robot that you left in my house.”
“ In your house? That’s weird,” Jeonghan sounded confused. There was a pause in the conversation. For that one moment, Beomgyu felt the slightest bit of relief – maybe, Jeoghan wasn’t involved in any of this. All of that relief disappeared the moment that Jeonghan noted, “ I left an android on your balcony. Did someone try to steal my idea? ”
“Jeonghan-hyu–”
“ Regardless!! I’m glad you met him. The SVT Company and I wanted to thank you for all of the help that you’ve given us. You’ve been the best lawyer that we could have ever had. More than we could have ever dreamed of. We wanted to find a proper way to thank you .”
“While I am happy to help you and your team, leaving an android on my balcony without notifying me …,” Beomgyu stated and then let out a sigh, “That’s a bit much, hyung. You can’t jus–”
“I did notify you. At the courthouse. I said that something exciting was about to happen. ”
This was the hard part of dealing with Yoon Jeonghan. It is also one of the parts about the man that Beomgyu did admire – he always found a way to make sure everything went how he wanted it to. That was a talent.
“I hope you do know, Yeonjun was created for you, Beomgyu .”
At that revelation, realization silently settled in. Beomgyu blinked a few times, feeling oddly stupid as he recalled their past conversations. Jeonghan always asked questions that Beomgyu brushed off and answered without too much thought. His eyes widened as he finally understood. All of those questions about whether or not he was dating someone, the type of person he would date … it all made sense now. But … how did Jeonghan do all of that so quickly ?“What do you mean created for me?” Beomgyu asked, “You can’t just cre–”
“Yeonjun is Your Empathetic Optimistic Nurturing Joyful Understanding Noble android …we’re still working on the acronym but he’s the first model of our brand new ‘ Your ’ Soulmate series. It took us some time but he is outfitted with the top-of-the-line SVT Company signature sentient science.”
“You don’t mea–”
“While we were at the courthouse, my team was working on its final steps,” Jeonghan explained but paused. It sounded as if he was in the middle of a conversation with someone.
“Hyung, we were literally in court about how your team toes the line with your robot and android crea–”
“Yes, I know and it was embarrassing for us. Our promise is top quality, Beomgyu. It took us so long to figure out what kept going wrong. Honestly, we felt a little silly that it kept going wrong and that it took us this long to figure it out, ” Jeonghan happily explained For someone who played hopscotch with the parameters of the law, Jeonghan sounded too calm. Beomgyu swore he could hear the older man smiling. Then Jeonghan finally said the worst thing a robotic lawyer could hear: “For all of the trouble we had with our robots and androids, it turned out it was simply missing one key ingredient: free will . ”
Beomgyu froze in his seat, feeling unable to even take a breath. His eyes moved slowly across the room before finally landing on Yeonjun. The android had shuffled out of his seat and started to leisurely pace the room. He was inspecting the picture frames that littered the room. Everything about him didn’t seem manufactured – he moved like a person, spoke like a person, and even smiled at Beomgyu like a person … Beomgyu knew that android technology was getting insanely life-like but …
“So, let me get this straight,” Beomgyu said, moving his gaze away from Yeonjun. He stood up, heading into the kitchen (he would probably need a drink soon). He took a breath and asked, “You had your team build an illegal robot, and then, for who knows what reason, you sent it to your lawyer?”
“Oh, don’t be silly. He’s not a robot, Beomgyu,” Jeonghan chuckled before he corrected, “He’s an android. There is a difference.”
“Hyung,” Beomgyhu said, practically forcing the word out. The longer that he spoke to Jeonghan, the more tired he felt himself become. This situation was bad enough as it was – an illegal android with free will in the home of a very well-verse Robotics Intelligence lawyer – but the pure nonchalant attitude that Jeonghan somehow made things worse. There were already enough problems in Beomgyu’s life. He really didn’t need to add any more of this into it. He resigned to the idea that any logic would appeal to Jeonghan at the moment. On the verge of surrender, Beomgyu simply asked, “Why? Why would you do something like this?”
“Why not ?” Jeonghan asked but didn’t give any time for Beomgyu to answer. He simply responded with, “No one deserves to have their happiness sabotaged by loneliness, Beomgyu. I just wanted to help you out a little bit .”
The sentence caused Beomgyu to frown. He wasn’t sabotaging his loneliness wasn’t sabotaging his happiness. He had plenty of friends … Soobin, Taehyun, Kai …and there were others that he met up with! Well …once or twice a month, at most! Work was his constant … or did he constantly use work as a way to push aside his loneliness? Beomgyu frowned. When did he become like this?
“Oh,” Beomgyu breathed out as realization hit him “I see.” He felt his eyes wander back to Yeonjun in the living room. As frustrated as Beomgyu had been, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how much more unsettling this had been for Yeonjun. The android literally just woke up from whatever slumber he had been in and was greeted with a very frustrated and very annoyed Beomgyu.
“Yeonjun is programmed to love you, Beomgyu. The team has taken all of my notes from whenever we hang out and program him to be perfect for you in every way imaginable. All of those hours we spent together have finally paid off .”
“First of all, we weren’t hanging out, hyung. We were going over your cases and I was making sure that you don’t get sent to jail,” Beomgyu corrected. He pressed his lips together as he thought about what Jeonghan revealed He shook his head as he slowly became more confused about it. Finally, he asked, “Hyhung, you said he has free will but he is programmed to love me? That’s not free will at all.”
“Alright, so he has free will in all aspects except romance. In terms of love, we just gave him a little push .”
“That’s not free will,” Beomgyu grumbled. He was ready to argue about the nuances and depth of free will and its conditions regarding programming (this would have been a lengthy argument granted that this was literally the philosophy behind Beomgyu’s job) but there was a knock at the door.
It didn’t even take Beomgyu a second to guess who was at the door. Soobin was as subtle as a car crash.
“Ah, I believe your friends are here,” Jeoghan chimed in happily. He sounded far too relieved for Beomgyu’s taste, “ That’s my cue to exist. It seems a tiger has been let loose in the factory – don’t ask, but it’s quite common. Regardless, I want to ask you to be please be kind to Yeonjun. ” He paused for a moment. It sounded as if he was hesitant to say something. “Mhmm,” Jeonghan added, “ I do think it’s time for you to accept the love that you actually deserve, Beomgyu. It’s far different than the love you think that you do. ”
“BEOMGYU!! ”
It was rare to hear Soobin raise his voice, even when he was panicked. Beomgyu smirked as he walked toward the door. He paused for a moment, listening to the pounding on the door and conversation beyond it.
For as much as Soobin and Beomgyu bickered with and teased each other, they never shied away from making sure the other person knew how much they cared. For every time that Beomgyu fun of Soobin, Soobin was always the first person to show up whenever Beomgyu called – for all of the times that Soobin teased Beomgyu, Beomgyu was always next to him when the tough times came. Friendship had never been single-faceted; friendship was complex and complicated. Soobin had been teasing Beomgyu earlier, but his worry was visible with each pound on the door.
Beomgyu loved his best friend, very dearly.
“Beomgyu! Hurry up, open this door! The android better not have killed you! I don’t want to replace my best man!! ”
Beomgyu walked to the door. He stood for a moment, nodding to himself as he listened to Soobin calling out for him. He was pretty sure he could hear Taehyun telling him to settle down – he mentioned how Beomgyu’s hallway was too long (well, more complained that it always took at least 5 minutes for anyone to get to the door).
Despite the previous conversation with Jeonghan, Beomgyu knew that he wasn’t lonely. Not when he had friends like this.
“If I get complaints from my neighbors, I will sue you, Choi Soobin,” Beomgyu threatened as he opened the door. He was greeted by a very worried Soobin. “I appreciate your concern but my neighbors are going to form an angry mo–”
“Idiot,” Soobin grumbled as he forced himself through Beomgyu’s door. He hugged Beomgyu tightly, “I’m glad the sexy android didn’t kill you.”
“Do you really think I would just die at the hands of an android?” Beomgyu asked, returning the hug. He pulled away and asked, “Did you just say the sexy android ?”
“He did. He kept trying to explain what the android could possibly look like,” Taehyun explained as he stepped in after them. He shut the door and locked it behind him. “He had me speeding over here out of worry at how things could escalate with you and the android,” Taehyun continued. He waited for the pair to break their embrace before he hugged Beomgyu, “I’m glad that nothing bad happened.”
“Well …,” Beomgyu said as he tilted his head to the side, “That’s putting it optimistically …”
It was so … awkward.
That was the only word to describe this entire situation.
Beomgyu was sat between the armchair Yeonjun was on and the sofa that Taehyun and Soobin had settled on. After he finished explaining the situation – he made sure to emphasize that Jeonghan and his team created Yeonjun) – they all fell into a tense silence. Beomgyu’s eyes moved from Yeonjun, then Taehyun and Soobin; his eyes bounced back and forth, uncertain of who would react first.
“So,” Soobin finally started as he looked over to Beomgyu, “You’re just out here doing crime?”
“I’m not out here doing crime!” Beomgyu immediately defended himself. He glared at Soobin, “I didn’t ask them to build him. How is any of this my fault?”
“I’m not going to blame Yeonjun. He is literally 2-hours old,” Soobin explained. He gestured to Yeonjun, “2 hours old! He’s a newborn infant!!”
“Technically, I’m programmed to be two years older than Beomgyu,” Yeonjun interjected. He nodded before he continued, “Through Jeonghan-ssi’s extensive field research with Beomgyu, The SVT Company concluded that Beomgyu enjoys the company of older men …but those weren’t too old.”
Beomgyu’s expression paled at this particular revelation. It was hard for him to deny the truth, after all. Why the hell was The SVT Company so good at their jobs for? Beomgyu took in a deep breath. He saw the way that Soobin’s eyes flickered, ready to question what Yeonjun just said. Before Soobin could even begin, Beomgyu hurriedly stated, “That’s not the concern here. The concern is that there is an android with sentience sitting in my house – me, a Robotics Intelligence lawyer.”
“Yeah,” Taehyun nodded in agreement. He frowned as he said, “This is an unfair situation to the both of you. It’s not like either of you were given a choice in this.” He looked over at Beomgyu and noted, “It’s not like you’re going to just kick him out into the street either. You’re not heartless enough to do that.”
“Did you not hear what I said?” Beomgyu asked, staring at Taehyun with confusion. He gestured toward Yeonjun, “This goes against everything that my entire career stands for.”
“Your career,” Soobin said, finally throwing himself back into the conversation. He looked over to Beomgyu and pointed out, “Just your career, not you. Your career doesn’t define you, Beomgyu-yah.” He nodded at Beomgyu before he blinked his expression aside. It changed, almost too quickly – in mere moments, Soobin had the biggest puppy dog eyes as he looked at Beomgyu, “The Choi Beomgyu I know would never kick out an infant and leave them in the streets.”
Beomgyu’s eyes narrowed, forming a glare as he remained silent. He folded his arms over his chest, fully annoyed at the implication. There was a sigh before he said, “Yeonjun-ssi can stay. You two can go.”
“No,” Soobin shook his head, “We’re going to eat dinner with you first and then we can go. We drove all the way here. With alcohol .”
“The alcohol can be a peace offering since you’re mean to me,” Beomgyu said before he childishly stuck his tongue out at Soobin. He shook his head as he let the tension in his shoulders disappear, “Honestly, eating will probably make me feel loads better.”
“Food always puts everyone in a better mood,” Taehyun noted.
“You good?” Soobin asked, approaching Beomgyu in the kitchen. Dinner went by rather quickly, almost as if everyone had used the food as an excuse to not talk. He placed the emptied plates in the sink as he checked on Beomgyu’s expression. “I know I was teasing and making fun of you earlier, but how are you doing?”
“Honestly?” Beomgyu asked, letting out the heaviest sigh that he had held in for so long. He stared, letting his thoughts soak like the dishes in the sink. He frowned as he said, “I feel a little defeated, which is unfair because I literally won a court case today, you know? It’s just the timing of it is just so bad.”
“Yeah,” Soobin agreed as he leaned against the counter. He folded his arms over his chest, letting out a sigh as he said, “It’s that saying, you know? When it rains, it pours.”
“Feels like a full-throttle typhoon right now,” Beomgyu admitted. His hands were over, scrubbing over the plates and utensils as he spoke, “I feel like such a loser. Like, it was bad enough that I haven’t found a date for your wedding. Then, I need a partner to make partner at the law firm. Then, I came home to an android created for me. It’s such a reminder that I am so unlovable that no real person wants to date me in the real world. Something had to be created for me. It’s pathetic.”
The moment Beomgyu said the words, he felt the frown deepen. Despite trying his best to hold it back, his lips formed into a shaky frown. It was embarrassing, almost stupidly embarrassing that he had to admit all of this out loud.
“First of all,” Soobin started, “You aren’t a loser. I will not allow you to call my best friend a loser. The only person allowed to do that is me …okay, there are two people allowed to do that. Me and Taehyun. If you want to argue with him about that, you can but I have to let you know, his headlock has gotten much stronger.”
Beomgyu let out a quiet chuckle. He’d experienced a headlock from Taehyun so often, that warning was unnecessary.
“A romantic relationship isn’t everything and I know. That sounds so shitty coming from me. I’m literally getting married in a few months,” Soobin said as he rolled his eyes but continued on, “You’re killing it in your career. You’re seriously the best Robotics Intelligence lawyer and the youngest one causing an upset in the field. Your track record is insane. You don’t need a relationship to define you”
That wasn’t the first time that Beomgyu had heard those words. A few days ago, he was telling himself those words. However, as the events recently played out, it was hard to remember the affirmations that he told himself.
“Lastly, what the hell do you mean unlovable?” Soobin asked, sounding the most annoyed that he had been tonight. He shook his head before he looked over to Beomgyu, “You are so loved, Beomgyu. Legit, being honest, you are such a good person. In my opinion, you’ve been so focused on your career, you don’t even know how many people admire and love you.”
“If I am so loved, why did I need something built for me to even have a chance at romance?” Beomgyu spat the question out before he shook his head, denial heavy in his eyes. He frowned and said firmly, “I am so unlovable.”
“Actually, if I’m being honest,” Soobin admitted, “In my opinion, you are loved. So loved that someone took the time to craft something perfect for you so you can get the love that you deserve.”
“That’s such an annoyingly positive way to view this.”
“I don’t know, just judging from how realistic every part of Yeonjun is …It’s not something that I could see someone doing for someone that they don’t love,” Soobin shrugged, “I can only imagine the amount of work they put into it.”
Beomgyu paused. His eyes moved over to Soobin, staring at him as Beomgyu thought. He nodded slowly and said, “Maybe you can …you are a programmer.”
“I don’t like where this is going,” Soobin admitted.
“You don’t even know where this is headed.”
“Even if I got permission from Yeonjun to get into his code, there’s no way I would be able to remove his free will,” Soobin admitted. His eyes widened as he explained, “I am well-versed in so many different coding and programming languages but any time I’ve ever looked at code written by The SVT Company, I feel like a kindergartener.” He sighed as he shrugged, “That I’ve never even attempted to uncover free will coding …because it’s illegal and I don’t go around just doing crime.”
“I honestly don’t think we’ll get anywhere with removing that,” Beomgyu grumbled, “If I recall the SVT Company’s data logs, that part sounds like a headache to deal with. I wouldn’t put that on you, even if you could handle it.” He pressed his lips together as his eyes moved from the dishes over to where Taehyun sat in conversation with Yeonjun. He nodded before he explained, “Would you be able to remove the code in him that forces him to love me?” His frown deepened as he reluctantly stayed in his tone, “If he’s going to have free will, then every part of him should have free will. Especially who he wants to love.”
“It’s you. He wanted to love you.”
“Programmed to love,” Beomgyu corrected, “If they’re going to give him choice, then all part of him should have that choice.” Beomgyu shook his head as he said, “Being programmed doesn’t give him a choice. Not having a choice doesn’t allow him to consent. For all that I am, I can’t let someone not have the choice to consent to something.”
Soobin paused, staring at Beomgyu for a long time before he said, “I cannot believe a lawyer is asking me to do crime.”
“Shut up.”
Beomgyu was tired. He was thankful that at the end of their super late dinner, Soobin and Taehyun were quick to leave – there had been too many events that had happened today, even for those two. He finally sat down on the couch, feeling all of the energy in him drain out as he leaned back into his seat.
“Why can’t I ever just have a normal day without any issues?” Beomgyu asked. He closed his eyes, feeling the weight of weariness tugging them shut. This day felt like an entire week had gone by.
“Here,” Yeonjun’s voice came through, bringing Beomgyu back to reality. He placed a cup of hot tea on the coffee table in front of Beomgyu. “Hot tea is good after meals,” Yeonjun explained, “It’s chamomile and lavender. So, it’ll help with your headache and then help you get sleepy.”
“Do you just have a sensor that tells you if people have a headache?” Beomgyu asked.
“Fine,” Yeonjun shrugged, “Don’t drink the tea.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to,” Beomgyu sat up and reached for the tea. He snatched the cup in hand, then stuck his tongue out at Yeonjun. He blew on the teacup, trying to cool it down. “Sorry, I realize that was pretty rude to assume,” Beomgyu apologized.
“Why are you apologizing if it’s true?” Yeonjun asked with the most straight-faced expression that he could muster.
“So, you do have a sensor that tells you if pe–”
“No,” Yeonjun answered, shaking his head. “The SVT Company can create many things but they didn’t install something like that for me. Probably kept it for the medical droids. Those guys need it more than I would.” He looked over at Beomgyu, smiling at him gently before he admitted, “I just paid attention to you.”
“Oh …,” Beomgyu said, immediately looking away from Yeonjun and staring into the teacup. The steam from the cup swirled, rising as Beomgyu stared into it. Heat rose in his cheeks, peppering them with the softest shade of pink – he did everything he could to talk himself out of having a more noticeable reaction to Yeonjun’s words. He’s an android – that’s what he’s programmed to say. He sighed and said, “I want you to know, I don’t like cheesy pick-up lines.”
“Noted, I’ll recalibra–”
“No, do not calibrate,” Beomgyu said. His eyes moved toward Yeonjun, staring at him with seriousness as he said, “Don’t calibrate to my liking.”
“But I’m programmed to be your perfe–”
“You have sentience, yes?” Beomgyu asked. He paused, waiting for Yeonjun to nod in agreement. Once Yeonjun did, Beomgyu nodded alongside him before continuing, “If you have sentience, then I want you to use it. I don’t want you to keep recalibrating and reprogramming like that.” He frowned and said, “I don’t like that.” Beomgyu took in a deep breath as he said, “You realize me saying this goes completely against everything that my career stands for. Why am I even catering to this?”
“For love?” Yeonjun said, adding a very cheesy smile as he did.
“Didn’t I just say I didn’t like cheesy lines?”
“You told me not to recalibrate,” Yeonjun frowned and shrugged, “Beomgyu has no idea what he wants.” He paused and smirked, “Recalibrating.” He stood frozen for a moment and then broke back into a smile as he explained, “I’m not actually recalibrating. I’m just teasing.”
“You’re impossible,” Beomgyu sighed.
“No, you’re impossible,” Yeonjun returned the statement as he sat on the chair next to Beomgyu.
A comfortable silence befell them. As much as Beomgyu didn’t want to admit it, it was nice not being home alone. He shook his head – don’t get attached, idiot. He remained quietly, grumbling in his mind as he sipped his tea.
“Are you goin–do you want me to leave?” Yeonjun asked quietly. His face formed a frown as he stared at his hands. “I know, I was created for you and all of that but because I was created for you, I know that my very existence is bad for you,” Yeonjun said, then added, “Setting aside the irresistible temptation because of me, I know all about your job and all of that …I’m programmed to be the perfect person for you. So, I know how important your job is. You’re working so hard to be par–”
“PARTNER!” Beomgyu shouted as the realization came to him. He looked over to Yeonjun, staring at him with bewilderment. “Why didn’t I think about this before? Why did it take me so long to realize this?” Beomgyu said, practically laughing at himself. He set the teacup back on the table as he turned to Yeonjun, “Will you be my date to my work picnic?”
Yeonjun remained frozen for a moment, unmoving as he stared at Beomgyu. He blinked a few times – Beomgyu guessed that he was recalibrating (he hoped that he didn’t cause him to short-circuit). “Ah,” Yeonjun started and then nodded. He closed his eyes for a moment but nodded, “Okay, yeah. That sounds great. Good idea, I would love to be your date for your work picnic.”
“Technically,” Beomgyu corrected, “You wouldn’t just be my date. You’d basically have to pretend to be my boyfriend at the picnic. Enough so that everyone will find it believab–oh, shoot .” Beomgyu smacked his hand to his forehead as realization dawned on him. His hand slid down as he muttered, “I forgot.”
“Forgot?” Yeonjun tilted his head to the side.
“We can’t tell Kai,” Beomgyu said. “He’s one of my best friends but we can’t tell him.”
“You keep secrets from your best friends?”
“He works at the firm with me. I’ll tell him eventually, once I figure out how to tell him without me getting criminalized,” Beomgyu explained. He looked over at Yeonjun, “For now, if Kai asks you, you’re my human boyfriend.”
“As opposed to an alien boyfriend,” Yeonjun remarked.
“Oh, you’ve got jokes.”
Yeonjun shrugged as he admitted, “I know what you find funny. Again, not by programming. I paid attention to what you laughed at.”
“Th–that’s fine but it’s not helpful right now,” Beomgyu quickly said as he got up. He nodded, “Until I figure it out, you have to convince everyone you’re my regular, human boyfriend. Got it?”
“Easy, I was made for you, remember?” Yeonjun smirked, “I’m sure I can convince everyone I’m your regular, human boyfriend.”
“I’m going to pretend that didn’t sound awkward,” Beomgyu nodded. He stretched his arms upward as he announced, “I’m going to sleep.” He stopped mid-step and turned to Yeonjun, “You should sleep …do you have a sleep mode? Or–”
“I can go into sleep mode,” Yeonjun said. He gestured to the patio doors, “Am I allowed to get my charging station from your balcony or are we still playing don’t let the neighbors know?”
“We left your charging station on my balcony?” Beomgyu blinked a few times.
“After I said I loved you, you panicked and dragged me inside,” Yeonjun explained, “I didn’t exactly have the chance to tell you that the SVT Company provided me with a charging station, a few changes of clothing, and all of the paperwork needed to be believably human. I’m not sure how they conveniently have connections to create paperwork like that but …you know?”
“There’s 13 of them. They probably have a guy for ever–,” Beomgyu stopped. He blinked a few times, abruptly ending his sentence before he incriminated his own client even further. He sighed and said, “It’s better for all of us not to think about how the SVT Company works.” Beomgyu nodded, “But yeah, please get your charging station. You can plug it into the guest room for the time being and we can figure everything else out tomorrow. My brain is so tired today.”
“Yeah, you’ve had a long day,” Yeonjun agreed. He smiled and said, “Good night, Beomgyu. You did great today.”
“Thanks,” Beomgyu said before quickly heading to his room.
The night faded into morning. Even if Beomgyu wanted to linger in the land of slumber, he couldn’t – his alarm reminded him that he wasn’t privileged enough to stay in dreamland but was welcomed in the jarring existence of reality. He stared at his ceiling, focused on it with the hopes that maybe he could be swallowed up by his bed. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting his mind drift away …until he heard movement in the kitchen.
“What?” Beomgyu asked as he forced his eyes open. Instinctively, he reached under his bed …but nothing was there. He really should invest in a heavy aluminum bat or get a sword or something. Luckily, his trusty mace was close by. “Literally, a life-saver …,” Beomgyu whispered as he picked it up.
With his mace in hand, Beomgyu was ready to face the intruder …
… except, it wasn’t an intruder.
“Mace is not going to help you eat breakfast,” Yeonjun greeted Beomgyu with a smile. He set a plate of freshly made scrambled eggs on the table. “I hope I didn’t wake you,” Yeonjun apologized, “It was written in my code that you never give yourself enough time for breakfast. So, I figured I could make it for you.”
“Oh …,” Beomgyu said, feeling the worry dissipate. He stood in the doorframe to his kitchen, staring at Yeonjun in his kitchen. He watched the android whisk away and make breakfast for him. Yeonjun was humming that familiar song again. Every so often, Yeonjun would glance over to Beomgyu and give him a smile …and that made Beomgyu get flustered.
It could be like this. Beomgyu blinked as he watched the android continue on. It could so easily be like this if he just –No. No matter how easy it could be to fall into this temptation, it couldn’t be like this because Yeonjun didn’t have a choice …not yet. He didn’t have a choice yet …
Beomgyu smiled at Yeonjun. He would sure Yeonjun also gets a chance– gets a choice.
“Those eggs smell amazing,” Beomgyu said. He gestured to the bathroom, “I’m going to wash up but I’ll be back to eat all of them.”
“You’ll love them,” Yeonjun grinned, “They’re the best. The secret ingredient is–”
“If you say love, I will scream,” Beomgyu smiled.
“It’s …ramen seasoning,” Yeonjun said with a laugh.