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Myungjun had given him a name.
It made him so happy. He could feel the happiness in every inch of his wires. He knew the signals being sent to his database were code for happy . He should feel happy because Myungjun gave him a name.
He liked Myungjun.
There was a difference between Sanha and Myungjun. Bin couldn’t pinpoint it. He cared for both humans very much, but he knew he liked Myungjun in a way he did not like Sanha.
He would follow every order Sanha gave to him. He would not follow Myungjun’s orders. But that was because Sanha was his owner and Myungjun was not. Therefore, Myungjun had no right to give him orders.
But that wasn’t it.
Bin glanced over at the small bathroom to his right. He could hear a shower running. Myungjun had requested to be bathed, and Bin obliged.
“You don’t even have any clean clothes for me?” Myungjun had asked with a loud sigh. “I pissed in these clothes.”
Bin could not tell. “I think the clothes are fine.”
“Humans need clean clothes.”
Bin looked at the clothes Myungjun had on, then said, “I will wash them for you!”
“Do you know how to do that?”
Bin did not, but he had learned. He had been watching television for the past few days, holed up in the abandoned hotel room with Myungjun by his side, and he had learned about a few different things. Washing clothes was one of them.
Of course, he scrubbed a bit too vigorously, and the clothes tore. He didn’t know what to do about them. He stared at the shredded fabric and looked back at the door, where the shower still ran.
“Myungjun!” he called out. He didn’t receive a response. Perhaps Myungjun could not hear over the sound of rushing water. Bin believed that to be the case.
He snatched the clothes from the bucket of soapy water he had and walked over to the bathroom door. Knock , he reminded himself, thinking of the dramas he had seen.
He knocked twice. “Myungjun!”
“What?” Myungjun yelled back. Finally, a response. Bin smiled at how smart he had been to knock.
“Myungjun, I have accidentally ruined your clothes.”
There was silence. And then Myungjun repeated himself, louder this time. “What?!”
He still could not hear.
Bin opened the bathroom door so he could be heard better. “I have ruined your clothes.”
Myungjun poked his head around the shower curtain. Water dripped from his slicked-back hair, cascading down his cheeks, and Bin watched him with interest. He had only seen a human wet before on television. He had never seen it in person.
Myungjun looked pretty when he was wet.
“You ruined my clothes?” Myungjun asked, gripping tightly at the shower curtain.
Bin held them up. “I have scrubbed them too harshly. I was looking forward to cleaning them for you. I apologize for this error.”
Myungjun stared at the clothes. His fingers curled around the fabric of the curtain and his chin began to quiver.
Then, without warning, he burst into tears.
He had cried many times in the past few days. Bin understood that it meant Myungjun was sad and scared, though he didn’t know why Myungjun was sad and scared. However, they had been doing well together for over twenty-four hours. Myungjun hadn’t cried once in that period of time. Why now , then?
What did Bin do?
Bin held the clothes close to him. Did he upset Myungjun by ruining the clothes? That seemed to be the most reasonable explanation. He would have to apologize again.
“I apologize for this error,” he repeated himself. “It was a mistake. I accept full responsibility for my mistake.”
Myungjun didn’t answer him. He was too busy. He disappeared behind the curtain and the water was turned off.
Bin stood there all the while, unsure of what he should do next.
“Myungjun?” He moved, looking into the shower, and frowned.
Myungjun was seated, knees up to his chest and arms wrapped around himself as he sobbed. He was naked, and while Bin had learned from his television that naked people ought to be avoided for matters of decency, he was not embarrassed to seeing a human in such a state.
Besides, Myungjun’s sadness trumped modesty.
“Please, do not cry,” Bin told him. “I will leave you here and find new clothes for you. I still have money for that purpose.”
Myungjun cried harder at that.
Ever since Bin had started watching the television, he learned many things. He learned that if someone was crying, they would become happy with a kiss. That was a common theme within the television he would watch.
If he kissed Myungjun, perhaps the crying would cease.
He placed the clothes on the countertop with the sink, then opened the curtain to the shower wider. Myungjun looked up in alarm, his face streaked with tears and eyes red-rimmed.
“What are you—” he started.
Bin leaned into the shower and gently reached out to touch Myungjun’s cheeks.
The man winced once, but then closed his eyes and shook his head. “I-I’m fine. Sorry. Over-overwhelmed.”
He wasn’t fine, though. He was still crying. Little sniffles were audible, and his mouth still trembled as he held back his wails.
He was not yet happy. Bin would make him happy.
He brought their faces close together and planted a kiss onto Myungjun’s lips.
It was an odd experience. He had never kissed a human before. He had never kissed anything before. But he copied the movements he had seen on his television. He tilted his head, as the man in a relationship always did, and he closed his eyes, as was customary in kissing scenes, and he wrapped his arms around Myungjun’s body and held him close.
Myungjun was still at first, tense, but the moment Bin’s hands touched his back, he jolted and shoved Bin aside.
His eyes were wide and he scooted away from Bin. “Wha-What the fuck are you doing?” he exclaimed, wiping at his face.
“I am kissing you,” Bin responded. “In the television programs I have seen, they will kiss the person they love.”
Myungjun shook his head. “Bu-But...that’s a drama. And, be-besides, you don’t love me.”
“I do.”
“You’re a robot! You don’t even know what love is! ”
Myungjun was wrong, and Bin wanted to prove him wrong. “Love is an intense feeling of deep affection,” he countered. “And according to the television, love is felt between two humans. I have coding within me that allows me to experience emotions. I believe what I experience when I am around you is love. I do not feel this way with any other humans I have met.”
“How many other humans have you met?” Myungjun snapped at him.
Bin thought. “My scientists,” he said. “Four of them. There is my owner. That is five. You now make six. I have met six humans. Out of the six humans I know, I love only you.”
Myungjun swallowed thickly. He ran his fingers through his wet hair and replied, “I don’t think you know what love means.”
“I do.”
“You don’t.” He sighed and gave another sniffle. “Can...can you go get me new clothes? Please? I’m wet and cold.”
Bin blinked and then smiled. “Humans like to be dressed,” he said. “Humans do not like nudity.”
“Yeah, and you’ve been staring at my naked body for the past five minutes.”
“I do not mind nudity.”
Myungjun sighed. At least he was not crying anymore. The kiss worked in that regard.
“I will go find you clothes. You should not try to escape again, or else I will have to bind you back to your chair.”
The human nodded his head in defeat.
Bin smiled again. “I love you, Myungjun,” he said. It felt nice to say them. He had heard the people on television say them, and now he had the chance to. He liked those words. He repeated himself. “I love you, Myungjun.”
“I heard.”
He didn’t get the response back that was normally given from the television programs, but that was alright. He didn’t mind. They were happy together. Myungjun was no longer crying and Bin felt joy blossom within his coding.
And perhaps one day Myungjun would fall in love with him and they would never be apart.