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It’d become a tradition of theirs to celebrate Christmas together every year. Not just Christmas, every holiday was spent with each other, but Christmas was the most exciting. To Yuta at least.
It started out as Doyoung’s resolution to lonely nights spent wasting away in glasses of cheap champagne bought from some third world country, wondering what holidays are like in the normal world. He’d designed Yuta to be useful in practical situations, so the thought of coding him just to have another not-quite-warm body accompany him on these days was absolutely redundant at first. But the exceeding loneliness got to him and one late Christmas night, he found himself doing just what he didn’t want to do.
This was four years ago, and despite feeling a little more satiated, a part of him was still empty, void of something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He decides to ignore it and let his last resort of an android satisfy him each holiday.
The holidays were Yuta’s favorite days, or at least as much of a “favorite” they can be for an engineered and encoded scrap of metal. These days he isn’t being used to fetch parts or regurgitate information. Instead, he gets to spend his time decorating, baking cookies he can’t eat, and all the other mundane Christmas-y bull shit normal people do on the holidays. But to Yuta they aren’t mundane, he spends every day counting down to the times he gets to do this.
And it’s not just the cliche holiday activities, it’s also getting to spend time doing those things with his inventor. Doyoung always shrouds himself in work, and if brainstorms were a storm one could actually see, the man’s head would be completely covered by such a cloud. Seeing Doyoung take a step back from his never-ending tasks is always a relief to Yuta.
This year goes no differently than the norm: Yuta powers on at the early time of 5 AM to make breakfast for Doyoung, he decorates the spacecraft with festive knickknacks accumulated over the years, and starts some Christmas movie on their projector bought specifically for this use.
It’s all typical until it isn’t. Doyoung is a light sleeper and always wakes up on his own, nose roused by the smell of bacon and eggs. But it’s been 30 minutes since Yuta sat on the mass of piled blankets in the common area waiting for the inventor’s arrival. By now Doyoung would be finished eating breakfast and Yuta would’ve started making lunch, but there is no sign of the man.
The strange phenomenon makes Yuta curious and mildly worried. The android is hesitant to check, but curiosity gets the better of him as he makes his way to Doyoung’s chamber. Yuta’s artificial wrist raps on the thick, metal door. No response. He waits a bit before knocking again, but there is still no answer.
It is very possible that Doyoung had left before Yuta had powered himself on, but it seems rather unlikely considering the unusualness of it and the fact that no rational human being would be willing to get up before 5 AM on their own time.
A loud whirring sound catches Yuta’s attention, and the android recognizes it as the doors of the spacecraft opening and closing.
Yuta makes his way to the entrance to greet Doyoung but is met with much more than just a tired traveler.
In comes Doyoung accompanied by a short, red-haired boy. But the boy not only accompanied Doyoung, no. Instead, the two were attached to each other, lips connecting in a frenzy and hands wandering. Yuta’s database supplies this occurrence as “making out.”
The two must not have noticed Yuta, obviously preoccupied with better things to do, but Yuta looks on with null emotion.
“I like what you’ve done with the place,” The red head’s comment startles Yuta a tiny bit.
“Hm?” Doyoung takes a second to notice his surroundings, walls covered in paper snowflakes and every corner with tinsel at its perimeter, but he doesn’t break from the kiss.
“Oh,” Doyoung follows up unintelligently. “My android must’ve done this.”
“Android?” The two finally break from their frenzied kisses, only then noticing said droid stood a few meters away from them, staring.
“Hello, master,” Yuta gives a meek wave at the two.
“H-hey Yuta,” Doyoung doesn’t know why he’s stuttering, he has no reason to. Could it be possible that the android being aware of the third presence on the room makes him nervous? Doyoung wouldn’t like to think so. “When you’d turn on?”
“Same as usual.” Yuta’s response comes out monotone. Doyoung curses inwardly just now remembering their annual Christmas tradition.
“Well, uhm,” Doyoung awkwardly scratches at the nape of his neck. “Yuta, this is Taeil. Taeil, Yuta.” The two shake hands just as awkwardly as they were introduced. Taeil’s hand jumps a bit when it meets the cold, stiff hand belonging to Yuta despite knowing it wasn’t a human he was shaking hands with.
“Fascinating…” Taeil stares at the android in awe. “Did you make this?”
“Indeed I did. Uh, Yuta how about you go start on lunch. Sorry I couldn’t be present for breakfast.”
“Right away, master,” Yuta sets off to the kitchen, leaving the two alone in the common area once again.
Every once in a blue moon, Yuta has these weird days where he doesn’t feel compliant to Doyoung’s orders or has opinions on a certain thing Doyoung does. His database defines them as ‘feelings’ or, synonymously, ‘emotions,’ but it couldn’t possibly be. An android with emotions of its own has never been heard of as it is simply impossible.
But this doesn’t stop Yuta from feeling some sort of way about the scene he just witnessed.
It’s Christmas. Doyoung was kissing another person on this day. Was it expected of Yuta to do the same? Did he fail the duties given in his master’s programming? No, but Doyoung would’ve done something about it if he was.
This dilemma is the only thing he strangely computes as he prepares lunch for not two, but three now. (Even if Yuta couldn’t eat the food, to begin with. Doyoung claims it made it feel ‘more natural,’ so Yuta complied, as always.)
Yuta begins to believe that he isn’t the only one Doyoung needs, not the only one Doyoung relies on upon times of want and need.
The droid picks up three plates. He hesitates. He sets the third one back on the counter.
Yuta begins to believe he’s nothing but a meaningless robot, only designed to be convenient and carry out a specific set of actions.
He heads to the common area where Doyoung and Taeil were sat, chatting. Yuta had never seen such a glint of happiness in Doyoung’s eyes.
And a meaningless robot he would remain.