Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Minseok, are you sure we have everything ready?”

“Yes, I’m sure, Chanyeol. You don’t need to worry, everything’s clean and tidy.”

Chanyeol paced around his apartment, practically jumping from room to room. He fidgeted as he readjusted the kitchen tools in a vase on the marble countertop. He moved them back and forth, attempting to create a symmetrical spiral that one would see on the home improvement channel. If Minseok had the ability to sigh, he would have done it already. Frankly, Chanyeol’s skittishness was driving him up the wall. Minseok could feel his stress level gradually rise to 20%, and he wasn’t even thinking about tonight yet. At the moment, he was imagining all the ways he could tie Chanyeol to the couch across the hall to keep him from moving for 0.0001 seconds.

“I just want everything to be perfect, Min,” Chanyeol whined, turning around to face Minseok from across the kitchen island. “I don’t want him to think I live in a rat’s den!”

Minseok rolled his eyes, “He already knows you have a messy apartment. He’s visited you hundreds of times. And besides, the entire house has been cleaned. What more could you possibly worry about?”

“And you’ve checked to make sure we’ve got everything off the list?” Chanyeol asked, partially ignoring Minseok’s comment as he aggressively fluffed golden throw pillows on the couch.

“Yes, Chanyeol. Everything’s been checked off. ‘Clean the kitchen’ , ‘Clean the bedroom’ , ‘Prepare ingredients for dinner’ , and every other task you put on the list.” Minseok opened up the to-do list in his focal view screen and read it aloud again before quickly minimizing it to look back at Chanyeol, who was now tossing the pillows back and forth in his hands.

Minseok couldn’t take this anymore. 

He walked over to Chanyeol and grabbed the pillow from his fist, set it down on the corner of the seat, and patted it in the center to redistribute the stuffing Chanyeol messed up.

“Yeol, I know you’re nervous about Baekhyun and Jongdae, but you’ve spent the past six hours cleaning the house when the original schedule said to only spend four. Take a break. You’ve done enough, I promise.”

Chanyeol stared at Minseok blankly, glancing down at the pillow, then back at Minseok again. He closed his eyes and sighed before cracking into a sheepish smile, “Haha sorry, Min. You’re right… I just don’t want Baekhyun, or Jongdae, for that matter, to see the place and change their mind about moving in with us. It feels like I’m being evaluated, I swear to God.”

Minseok placed a hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder, looking up at him with as reassuring of a smile as he could make for an android, “They’re not going to judge you that harshly. From what you’ve told me, Jongdae is really nice company. He doesn’t seem like the type of person to make a fuss over how the couch is arranged. And you know Baekhyun….he couldn’t care less about what the apartment looks like. Relax… they’ll be really impressed with how it looks.”

“Are you sure you’re comfortable with Jongdae and Baekhyun moving in with us? I mean, you haven’t met Jongdae yet, and you might just meet your mortal enemy the moment he walks in. I don’t know, Min... I don’t know how android friendships work.”

Minseok silently laughed, letting his arm down from Chanyeol’s shoulder, “Of course. We’ve been over this. I wouldn’t have agreed if I wasn’t comfortable. Moving in with Baekhyun is a good step forward in your relationship with him. And don’t worry about me and Jongdae. I’m excited to meet him. Baekhyun talks about him fondly. I’m looking forward to getting to know another android other than myself.”

Chanyeol gave Minseok a warm smile, satisfied with his answer. Chanyeol reluctantly resigned to not scatter across the apartment every other second, but Minseok’s badgering didn’t stop Chanyeol from picking with the vase on the kitchen countertop. Chanyeol’s warm smile was replaced by a smirk from across the room where Minseok was left standing. Minseok could feel his eyes rolling again, but he returned the smirk.

As Chanyeol reached into his back jeans pocket for his phone, Minseok took a seat on the couch, making sure not to sit on Chanyeol’s perfectly placed pillows, checking his schedule. He opened up the minimized window in the bottom right corner of his peripheral and scanned the events planned for the evening.

September 30, 2039 -6:24pm

Events scheduled:

• 6:30pm: Jongdae and Baekhyun arrive
• 7:00pm: Estimated time dinner will be ready
• 8:55pm: Estimated time dinner will be finished
• 9:00pm-11:00pm:
• (Possible movie night???)
• 11:00pm: Jongdae and Baekhyun leave
• 11:20pm: Tidy up apartment mess
• 11:40pm: Chanyeol heads to bed, stasis

Minseok maximized the “6:30pm” window and added another note to it, placing the note under the highest priority.

September 30, 2039 -6:24pm

Events scheduled:

• 6:30pm: Jongdae and Baekhyun arrive

• (Introduce yourself to Jongdae)

—————————————————————

The doorbell rang and Chanyeol jolted to rush to the door, struggling not to step on his own feet. Minseok got up from the couch to join him. He took a step back when Chanyeol opened the door. Standing between the apartment hallway and the doorway, he recognized Baekhyun standing alongside a character he didn’t recognize. He assumed this was Jongdae, so he performed a quick scan on him.

Identification in process… Identification complete!

• JD900-21, registered as Jongdae by Byun Baekhyun
• Activated 9/21/2034
• Android model specializing in pet-care

Minseok knew about Jongdae somewhat well before meeting him on the doorstep. One night, Chanyeol had come home practically skipping through daisies, as the humans say, after spending the evening with Baekhyun for the first time. He had told Minseok that Baekhyun had a dog and an android named Jongdae to help take care of him, among other rambles about how beautiful Baekhyun’s moles were. At this moment, though, Minseok could finally put an image to the android. Chocolate colored hair styled into a small left part, with strands of hair curving slightly over his forehead and his ear. A taupe shade of brown reflected in his eyes. Naturally upturned lips in the corners, greeting Minseok and Chanyeol with a shy smile; a surprisingly animated expression for an android. Minseok stopped his split-second analysis and tuned back into the present day as Jongdae introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you, Jongdae. I’m Minseok.”

“Nice to meet you too, Minseok,” Jongdae reached his hand out for Minseok, which Minseok took with a returning smile. As Chanyeol welcomed both individuals inside, planting a kiss on Baekhyun’s cheek, Minseok noticed how casually Jongdae was dressed, wearing an amber hoodie and black jeans. This wasn’t completely out of the ordinary for androids, especially after the demonstration two years prior. Androids were technically independent from their owners and were no longer forced to wear their uniform. They could wear whatever they wanted. However, with androids unable to earn money or own property, if there was nowhere else to go, some owners could still exercise their authority onto them. Minseok knew by Jongdae’s comfortable appearance that Baekhyun was not like this. Jongdae seemed like Baekhyun’s friend instead of his android. Minseok could feel himself loosen up; he had met Baekhyun a couple times already, but this just reaffirmed Baekhyun’s good character in his eyes.

“Dinner’s pretty much ready. I just gotta reheat some things real quick and take the thirium sauce out of the fridge.”

“Thirium food? That exists?? Isn’t that like... android blood ? Isn’t that problematic?” Baekhyun had an unmistakable look of bewilderment on his face.

“Baekhyun, I already told you about this. And no, it’s not problematic. Thirium is the only thing we can digest that gives us energy. You just can’t cook so I never bother mentioning it.” Jongdae spoke as the corners of his lips morphed into an amused grin. Baekhyun simply swatted his hand in Jongdae’s direction and huffed, then came Chanyeol snickering at Baekhyun’s attitude.

“It’s fine, Baek. I can teach you,” Chanyeol brought his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder, pulling him closer to his side.

“You better. This is embarrassing,” Baekhyun replied, placing his hand on his hips.

“It’s a pretty known fact that you’re not a great cook, Baekhyun. Is this really that embarrassing?” Jongdae continued to tease, as Baekhyun glared at him while Chanyeol temporarily detached from Baekhyun to head to the fridge.

—————————————————————

All four take a seat on the couch, Chanyeol and Baekhyun sitting in the center, Minseok and Jongdae once again seated in armchairs on either side. Chanyeol never imagined that he would need a formal dining table to eat at when he rented the apartment. At the time, it was just Chanyeol and Minseok. Minseok tried to convince him that it was a good idea for the future, but if he was successful, they wouldn’t have to put their plates of red-sauce and melted thirium noodles on the ottamen. 

As Chanyeol and Baekhyun chatted away, the two in their own world, Minseok looked across the sofa towards Jongdae, catching his eye. Jongdae was leaning slightly forward towards the ottamen, legs crossed at the ankles, while Minseok noticed he was the one sitting more upright. It was surprising how human-like Jongdae seemed, but it’s understandable given how he’s been active for almost 5 years.

Suddenly, Baekhyun broke the silence between the two of them, “So what have you been up to lately, Minseok?” 

Minseok turned his body to Baekhyun, but kept his eye contact on everyone. “Nothing more than making schedules about when you and Jongdae move in.” Baekhyun nodded, a smile growing on his face as he looked up at Chanyeol.

“What do you like to do in your spare time?” Minseok heard Jongdae ask.

“I enjoy watching soccer occasionally, but I also enjoy cooking with Chanyeol, especially making thirium cookies.”

“Thirium cookies?” It’s Jongdae’s turn to look bewildered, his eyes wide and staring at Minseok, “How does that work?!”

“Essentially, it’s the same process as making human chocolate chip cookies, except instead of chocolate chips, you add frozen solid thirium into the dough,” Minseok explained, watching how fascinated Jongdae seemed at the concept. Minseok thought if it was possible, Jongdae’s eyes would have been sparkling.

“That’s bizarre….but that’s kinda cool,” Baekhyun commented with a chuckle. “I’ve never even heard of thirium being able to freeze.”

“I’m sure that’s something you could actually make, Baek,” Chanyeol nudged Baekhyun.

“Oh, shut up, Chanyeol!” Jongdae laughed when Baekhyun firmly pressed himself into Chanyeol’s shirt, as if trying to escape any more ridicule by fusing with the fabric. Twirling his fork around the noodles, Minseok can only smile as he realized what chaos moving in together would create for him. 

—————————————————————

Minseok had recorded a reminder to clean up the apartment after Jongdae and Baekhyun left, but seeing as Baekhyun and Chanyeol were nearly dozing off in the middle of their movie marathon, he decided to get a head start. Efficiency was definitely a priority for Minseok, but could anyone blame him? Being an android originally designed to create schedules for their owners, there would always be a part of his mind devoted to organization. Even though he was fully deviant and encouraged to deviate from the start, Minseok took a liking to organization. He felt more secure when he was able to stick to a routine, when tasks and objectives were neatly laid out in front of him. Going through the motions felt more ordinary and simple when one created a time frame for everything. In a world as unpredictable as his, Minseok’s routines were his compass to guide him.

Minseok got up from the couch and made his way around the island towards the dishwasher. As he placed his and Chanyeol’s stained plates in it, he sensed a presence behind him. 

“Don’t worry, I can help.” Turning around, Minseok realized that this presence was Jongdae, who had two plates in his hands.

“Thank you, but it’s really no problem, Jongdae,” Minseok reached his hand out to grab the plates, but Jongdae shook his head, stepping closer to the dishwasher, next to Minseok. “You can go back to the couch and enjoy yourself.”

“Minseok, it’s not a problem for me either. I would feel bad if I wasn’t a respectful house guest who cleaned up after themself. Let me help.” Jongdae insisted.

Minseok wanted to persist, but something about the other android’s assuring tone made it clear that Jongdae genuinely wanted to help. Reluctantly, he stepped to the side and let Jongdae open up the dishwasher, placing his two plates side by side on the extended racks. Minseok put in his dishes after, closing the machine and setting it to cycle since it was fairly full. Minseok stood back upright, Jongdae still standing by the counter.

“Thank you so much.” Minseok smiled at Jongdae, who gave him a timid grin in return.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” Jongdae turned to look over the island to find Baekhyun and Chanyeol cuddled up together on the left side of the couch, near the armrest. Neither of them were watching the end of the movie; they were in complete slumber. Baekhyun was practically lying on Chanyeol’s chest like a bed, legs tangling together across the rest of the couch. Jongdae cracked up at the sight.

Seriously, how can he be this human? , Minseok thought to himself. He’s beginning to lose count over how many times this internal monologue has repeated itself over the course of the evening. He knew that JD900s were designed to have a friendly image in order for animals to not be scared by them, so naturally they were designed to look human. But seeing one of them in person was something that has never happened to Minseok before. He looked more animated than most people he had ever met, humans included. He had a suspicion that Jongdae could dethrone Chanyeol for that title.

“The time’s 10:49….it’s almost time for me to take him home.” Jongdae tilted his head back to Minseok with a soft expression.

“Yeah…” Minseok paused, looking back at the precious scene before them. He felt slightly guilty for having to wake them up at some point, disrupting their cuddle session. “Let them have their rest for about….10 minutes and 34 seconds. I’m sure if we woke them up even a second earlier, they would start whining.”

Jongdae chuckled, nodding knowingly while looking back towards the living room, “You’re right….I can’t afford to get on both Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s bad sides. It’ll make us all moving in together incredibly difficult.”

“You don’t have to worry about Chanyeol….he usually snaps out of being cranky around 2 and a half minutes, and afterwards, he becomes his most positive,” Minseok assured Jongdae.

Jongdae’s stance stiffened. “Good luck with Baekhyun then. He’s terrible when he wakes up. It takes him at least an hour until he stops whining,” he replied with a hint of laughter in his voice.

“I think Chanyeol will most likely be the most responsible for getting Baekhyun up in the morning once we’re all moved in, so I’m sure we won’t have to worry too much,” Minseok smiled to himself.

“Hopefully.” Jongdae grinned, keeping his eyes on Baekhyun and Chanyeol, still sound asleep on the couch. Before Minseok could even recognize it, Jongdae turned his head and body towards Minseok, still standing next to the other side of the dishwasher.

“In the meantime….could you tell me more about cooking with thirium? It sounds like an interesting concept.”

—————————————————————

Minseok noticed that 12 minutes and 20 seconds had gone while entertaining Jongdae with tales of Chanyeol accidentally setting the fire alarm off in his apartment. Which means that Chanyeol and Baekhyun got to enjoy at least an extra 4 minutes and 44 seconds of cuddling together. Minseok would have usually been a little more irritated by the fact his schedule was running late, but he found significant enjoyment in Jongdae’s company. Getting into discussions with Jongdae was certainly something he didn’t expect to feel so comfortable about immediately. It was most likely because both of them were androids and the two connected mentally easier, but there was something about Jongdae’s animated personality and visual reactions to the stories Minseok would tell that felt especially comfortable. The way his nose scrunched up when Minseok told him that Chanyeol forgot to turn off the stove. The way his eyebrows would curve on the inside when he learned how the entire apartment had to be evacuated, creating a slanted expression, as if he was pouting. However, at the same time, the way he seemed to nod along with his words, understanding what Minseok was talking about before Minseok got the words out. The combination of human and android traits seemed so familiar to him. It felt like Minseok was talking to someone who truly understood him, able to express that externally like a human, but also internally as an android. It only made Minseok more intrigued about Jongdae’s character, creating a small note in the corner of his peripheral to make more small talk later with Jongdae by themselves.

For now, however, it was time for Jongdae to take Chanyeol’s half-asleep boyfriend back to his apartment on the other side of town.

Jongdae tapped against Baekhyun’s shoulder, the one that wasn’t buried between the couch cushion and Chanyeol’s chest. He tapped again. And again. And again until Baekhyun finally showed signs of consciousness, squinting his shut eyes and groaning as he turned over from Chanyeol’s embrace. This, in turn, woke up Chanyeol, who lifted his now free arms to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Baekhyun’s eyes opened slightly, wrinkles forming under his eyes as he clearly struggled to understand where he was. With a subtle smile, Jongdae reached his arms under Baekhyun’s shoulders, gripping him from his back, pulling Baekhyun to his feet slowly despite stumbling several times. Jongdae let Baekhyun lean on his shoulders as he led him to the front door, holding onto his back to keep him from falling. Surprisingly enough, Chanyeol quickly brightened from his deep slumber and ran to the door, grabbing Baekhyun’s sneakers and slipping them on for him, tying the laces. Ridiculously in love , Minseok thought to himself with a smile of his own. Chanyeol placed a kiss on Baekhyun’s forehead and loudly waved goodbye, probably too loudly for 11:07pm. Jongdae whispered his quiet own goodbye, waving back to Chanyeol and Minseok with his free hand, before walking Baekhyun to the elevator at the end of the apartment hall. Minseok shut the door. Now, here come the rambles.

“Oh my god , that was so great!! Baekhyun was so great, wasn’t he so great?”

“Yes….he was absolutely perfect.” Minseok indulged the loopy, 10% sleepy Chanyeol leaning against the front door.

“Jongdae was so nice too ! Did you guys get along okay?”

“We did. We had very nice discussions while you and Baekhyun fell asleep.”

“......What did you guys talk about?” Chanyeol smirked smugly, staring straight at Minseok with intimidating eyes that Minseok couldn’t quite pinpoint the reason behind.

“We talked about cooking with thirium, Baekhyun’s lack of cooking skills in general, and my personal favorite topic, when you set off the fire alarm two years ago.”

“It was one timeeee, it was a MISTAKE ,” Chanyeol whined, his voice echoing across the walls so much Minseok was absolutely sure one of their neighbors woke up from it.

“Shhhh, we should get ready for bed, Yeol.” Minseok took Chanyeol’s wrist and pulled it in the direction of the hallway. Chanyeol got the hint and walked by himself into his bedroom at the end of it, shutting the door as he got some pajamas. 

Minseok opened his list.

September 30, 2039 -11:09pm

• 11:00pm: Jongdae and Baekhyun leave
• 11:20pm: Tidy up apartment mess
• 11:40pm: Chanyeol heads to bed, stasis

Minseok walked over to the living room, picking up the pillows Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s weight crushed while they were asleep, and placing them at 65° neatly against the couch. He realized that thanks to Jongdae, there wasn’t much else that needed to be cleaned up. All the dishes were put away and all that was left on the list was waiting for Chanyeol to get a shower and go to bed so Minseok could go into his own sleep as well. Before he closed his schedule window, he skipped forward to the next week.

October 8, 2039

Events scheduled: 

• Baekhyun and Jongdae moving-in day

• (Give house tour to Baekhyun and Jongdae)

Although there was already an important note under the date, Minseok made sure to put one last reminder for himself.

**October 8, 2039**

• Baekhyun and Jongdae moving-in day
• (Give house tour to Baekhyun and Jongdae)

• (Give thirium cookies for Jongdae)

And with tonight being done with, Chanyeol will definitely sleep well knowing that Jongdae and Minseok will get along just fine.

—————————————————————

Minseok found Jongdae’s reaction to thirium cookies amusing, so he figured that baking some cookies for Jongdae as a “welcoming gift” of sorts would help to strengthen their relationship. The day before, October 7th, Minseok prepared the cookies while Chanyeol left for work. 

Work at JM Entertainment was actually where Chanyeol and Baekhyun first met. They were both interns at the time and clicked fairly quickly when they became friends. While on the topic, Minseok realized that he seemed to click well with Jongdae in a similar way. Their relationship status at the moment was characterized as “Close Acquaintances” despite only having small talk for at most 30 minutes. He was already feeling fairly comfortable with Jongdae’s presence. The first time they met, the prospect of having a potential friend who was an android like him felt satisfying, especially since this one was so friendly. It was something Minseok didn’t expect, and he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to properly welcome Jongdae into his home.

Today’s date is October 8th. For once, the number of tasks to complete for the day were heavier than usual. Baekhyun and Jongdae were going to officially move in. The entire day’s schedule was already expected to be devoted to unpacking, but it took Minseok’s schedule to get Chanyeol slightly overwhelmed.

**October 8, 2039**

• Baekhyun and Jongdae moving-in day
• (Give house tour to Baekhyun and Jongdae)
• (Give thirium cookies for Jongdae)
• (Put together the new bed for the guest bedroom)
• (Move Baekhyun into Chanyeol’s room)
• (Move Jongdae into the guest bedroom with Minseok)
• (Organize all belongings)

It was quite the agenda, but Baekhyun assured Chanyeol that he and Jongdae were going to be able to get all of it done together. Minseok tried to assure Chanyeol of the same thing, but Chanyeol is almost always more willing to listen to Baekhyun’s words than his best android friend. It was funny how attached Chanyeol was to Baekhyun, and Minseok wondered how much more attached Chanyeol would get once Baekhyun was moved in.

But before that thought could build up in his system anymore, the doorbell rang and Baekhyun and Jongdae appeared once again on their doorstep, both holding a rolling suitcase in their hands. Minseok was definitely not one to expect surprises, but it was hard to not notice a presence cowering behind Jongdae. What is that? Its shadow is so tiny... And… a whimpering noise?

“Oh, that’s Mongryong,” Jongdae visibly perked up watching Minseok’s gaze behind him at the shadow, “He’s Baekhyun’s dog.” He let go of the suitcase and bent down to pick the dog, from the floor, cradling him in his arms in front of him when he stood back up. Minseok couldn’t help but be fixated by the creature, eyes wide. He had certainly seen images of animals, dogs included, as well as pets on the streets when he goes out with Chanyeol to the store; but to have a dog so close to him, a live animal with such tiny paws and chubby body, as Chanyeol put it, living in the same space as him had an entirely different feeling that left him completely unprepared. It was like a trance seeing life in the dog’s sleek, black eyes.

“He’s a Pembroke Welsh Corgi…,” Minseok managed to whisper out, barely able to scan anything. Jongdae cracked a smile, stepping closer so Minseok could take a closer look, but not so close that he could reach for the animal.

“Yep! He gets really skittish when he’s in a new environment, so I’m going to apologize in advance for the trouble he’ll cause to the house for the first week we’re here.” Jongdae laughed to himself, looking around the hallway, ignoring Baekhyun who was already giggling at Minseok’s dumb-founded expression.

“Do you think there’s any place we can put him for now? He needs to get used to a smaller space for him to process before he can roam around the house,” Jongdae asks finally.

“We could put him in the bathroom,” Chanyeol answers, “You can just get one of the blankets from the couch to use as a bed if he needs it.”

“I can show you where it is if you want, Jongdae.” Minseok adds, finally snapping out of his daze.

Jongdae’s lips turned upward again. “Oh, that would be helpful! Thank you, Minseok.”

Minseok nodded, grabbed a brown woolen blanket, and led Jongdae through the hallway, leaving the humans to converse amongst themselves. He turned to face a wooden door, the second one they passed on the right side of the hall, and opened it. Minseok pushed the blanket against the wall next to the tub’s foundation, and Jongdae bent down again to let Mongryong free from his arms. Mongryong immediately dashed towards the door that was only slightly open, but still wide enough for him to escape. Jongdae held onto his torso to pull him back towards the blanket, but Mongryong’s tiny feet were trying their best to run out of his Jongdae’s hands. Jongdae’s eyebrows pushed upwards, making a slanted expression at Mongryong, before looking back up at Minseok with a sheepish smile. Minseok felt his own smile grow on his face staring at this small domesticated animal trying to pull a model of the most advanced technology out the door. 

“Could you open the first pocket of my suitcase and get some of Mongryong’s things? There should be a rubber bone and two food dishes.”

“Of course,” Minseok answered, swiftly closing the door behind him and walking back down the hallway to Jongdae’s maroon colored suitcase. He opened the first pocket and sure enough, there was a white rubber bone, somewhat mangled at the corners with teeth marks, and two small, silver bowls. He zipped the pocket closed again and walked back to the bathroom door, opening it to find Jongdae sitting against the tub, holding Mongryong near his chest. He found it funny how this dog was trying so hard to escape, but by Jongdae’s expression, it looked as if he had a small chance of succeeding. If Minseok had an event predictor built into his programming, he would have been able to actually figure out how big this chance was.

Minseok lowered himself to place the rubber bone near Jongdae’s feet and the two dishes by the sink. Jongdae freed one of his hands, which was trying to hold Mongryong’s tiny arms in place, and quickly reached to grab it. Minseok shut the door by crawling back to lean against it, making sure Mongryong had 0% of escaping. Then, Jongdae let his grip of Mongryong go and lightly tossed the bone to the blanket pile. Instantaneously, Mongryong forgot all about his escape plan and darted towards the bone, chewing harshly on it as he laid down on the blanket. Jongdae laughed a little to himself, but Minseok found himself fixated once again at how short a dog’s attention span was. He was still fascinated, and certainly wasn’t ready for this reaction.

Jongdae’s voice as he stood up brought Minseok out of his mini trance. “Thank you so much, Minseok. This one can be a handful sometimes as you can see.” He reached his hand out towards Minseok. Minseok took it and Jongdae helped to pull him up from the floor. He didn’t need to though, Minseok was just as able to get up as Jongdae, but still he felt himself being placed back on his feet.

“I just realized... Since we’re already in the hallway, would you be interested in an apartment tour?” Minseok asked after a moment of silence.

“I would love that,” Jongdae responde with a smile, “Let’s just make sure we close the door quickly before Mongryong realizes we’re leaving.” 

Minseok exchanged a knowing grin and slipped through a crack in the door wide enough for both androids to swiftly exit the room. Jongdae left last, making sure to close the door shut with a click following.

—————————————————————

Miraculously, move-in day seemed somewhat successful. Minseok didn’t even need to check the to-do list to know that not every task was complete, but at the moment, forced into an impromptu movie marathon with Chanyeol and Baekhyun, that wasn’t of primary concern. No, what Minseok was more focused on was how flawed this “rom-com” was.

It was a movie about a woman who was planning to go on a date with an unimportant love interest when she gets into a car accident on the way there. She becomes a ghost of sorts and has to figure out how to return to her unconscious human body in the hospital when only her male best friend, also known as the convenient love interest, can hear her.

In Minseok’s experience with Chanyeol, approximately 57% of the movies under this genre have a noticeable flaw in its writing. Objectively speaking, the plots were stale. The characters had unrealistically linear development and literary clichés could be found everywhere in the story. Chanyeol was fully aware of this, but still he convinced Baekhyun, Jongdae, and even Minseok, to take a break after dinner to watch this movie.

He turned to look at Baekhyun and Chanyeol, who were both sitting on the other side of the couch. They were in their own world; as expected. Baekhyun was leaning his head on the side of Chanyeol’s shoulder, supported by Chanyeol’s arm around Baekhyun’s waist, pulling the two close. Minseok was amused by their public displays of affection, but he would rather not be subjected to having it go on at the same time as this terribly flawed film. He turned to Jongdae, who was sitting comfortably on the couch next to him, in hopes that maybe he wasn’t alone in his suffering. The two haven’t had an in-depth conversation in a while since the “Mongryong panic”, as Chanyeol likes to call it. Maybe this was his chance to talk with him again... There was only one way to find out, and that was by using one of an android’s most convenient abilities: telepathic messages. 

Minseok: “This is quite the movie, huh?”

Telepathic messages are about as equivalent to the concept of human texts being read aloud. The key difference is that unlike texts, the exact tone of the message could be understood. There’s no miscommunication. It’s incredibly useful, especially in silent situations like this.

And in no time at all, Minseok receives a message back.

Jongdae: “It certainly is... Personally, I’m not a fan.”

Minseok felt a whisper of a smile spread across his lips, relieved he wasn’t the only one tired of this.

Minseok: “I’m so relieved you feel the same.”

Jongdae: “How could anyone not? Nothing about this movie makes sense! Everyone in this movie is too dense, it is not realistic at all.”

Minseok: “Chanyeol can be very dense, but certainly not this much so. The main female protagonist thinks that the man who has been ignoring her for days is in love with her and is going to save her... I know that he will most likely be the love interest that she will end up with, but he has shown no signs of affection toward her this entire time. How does this kind of lackluster writing get approved for production?”

Minseok could hear a snicker being transmitted from Jongdae. Jongdae replied with the same baffled tone, getting more and more apparent in his confusion as his response continued.

Jongdae: “Not to mention, her friends only exist as a plot device to create comedic impact to the story. The writers tried to give them heartfelt lines reacting to her ‘death,’ but they just fall flat because the characters have nothing to do with the story’s progression. What’s the point of them even being there?”

Minseok: “Why did Chanyeol want to watch this?”

Jongdae: “Why did Baekhyun let him watch this?”

The two androids could hear each other’s laughter in their ears, reacting to the ridiculousness of the movie. They didn’t think that the movie could get any more outlandish. That was, until suddenly the convenient, standard brown-haired white guy love interest broke into a hospital and began thrashing the female protagonist’s coma-induced body in her hospital bed. And she miraculously wook up.

Minseok felt a strong sigh heave out of him, unable to look away from the absolute trainwreck he was witnessing in front of the screen. 

Minseok: “This universe doesn’t make any sense! Who in their right mind would wake up after being thrown back and forth in a hospital bed!?”

Jongdae answered back in a strangely casual, relaxed tone.

Jongdae: “Guess the next time Baekhyun sleeps through his alarm, I’ll just have to, and I quote from modern meme culture, ‘yeet’ him across the hallway.”

Minseok was forced to suppress all the laughter coursing through his body with very little success. He was not prepared to hear the word yeet coming from a piece of technological advancement like himself. He could barely send his witty telepathic reply back with Jongdae’s response echoing inside his head.

Minseok: “If that’s what it takes for him to get up from to get up from an alarm, what if he were actually in a coma?”

Jongdae: “...I’m going to be completely honest, I have no idea. If this universe is accurate to our world, I’d probably have to kill him.”

Minseok didn’t even try to hide his laughter, bursting into loud snickers in front of the two humans next to him.

Minseok: “OH MY GOD, JONGDAE!!”

“Hey, robo-nerds,” Baekhyun turned with a faked look of bitterness on his face, while Chanyeol simply turned down the volume by two, not batting an eye, “Quiet down with your superhuman telepathic chit-chat. If you have a critique, feel free to share with the class.” 

Despite not even speaking to each other in their minds, they both decided to play dumb to this accusation of telepathic conversations.

“Oh no, Baekhyun! We were… complimenting the movie. Discussing it between us two. It’s made with a unique style. It was all positive things though, I promise.” Jongdae replied with a hint of a smirk in the corner of his lips, teasing Baekhyun. All of a sudden, Baekhyun’s glare intensified and Minseok felt Baekhyun push Jongdae’s weight onto his shoulder, practically squishing him against the corner of the couch. Jongdae suddenly bursted into laughter, loud and thunderous. His laughter was almost so contagious that a grin of Minseok’s revealed itself, observing the child-like nature of this grown man and his boyfriend struggling to process both his roommates and the movie.

—————————————————————

To the surprise of no one except for Baekhyun and Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Chanyeol fell asleep on the couch while finishing the rest of the movie. It was now 7:23pm and in the midst of their slumber, Minseok realized that they both had forgotten to feed Mongryong for the night.

“Oh, shoot… Hold on, I’ve got his food in my suitcase. Let me go get it,” Jongdae whispered, heading down the hall to his room, also known as Minseok and Jongdae’s room. The two had to share a room for the sake of space, but it was no problem for Minseok. He just hoped that Jongdae wouldn’t make as much of a mess as Chanyeol sleeping in the same room. As an android specializing in organization, putting things in their place was something he prioritized both inside and outside of his systems. 

Minseok decided to wait outside of the bathroom door for Jongdae to come back. When Jongdae did, he held a small bag of Royal Canin branded dog food. Jongdae motioned towards the door, telling Minseok to open the door. Minseok twisted the bathroom’s door knob slowly and pushed against the door carefully in order to not distract the corgi, Baekhyun, and or Chanyeol. Unfortunately, only one of these tasks was successful. Mongryong’s nails skittered across the tiles, pushing his face against the crack in the door. Jongdae swatted his hand in the direction of the door again to get Minseok to keep going. Minseok opened the door just enough for him to slip inside the bathroom, just like he did before. The more steps he took, the more Mongryong backed away from the door, albeit to find a new direction around Minseok’s feet to dash into. Before Minseok could even attempt to pick up Mongryong or try to stop him, Jongdae slipped swiftly through the door’s crack and shut the door with a quiet click. Mongryong began charging towards Jongdae, whimpering and clawing at his feet when Jongdae sat down to pet him.

“You missed me, didn’t you, buddy?” Jongdae smiled, talking to the dog while scratching his fluffy cheek. Minseok was becoming familiar with Jongdae’s human attributes, but it took small moments like this, an android talking with a gentle voice to a dog like Chanyeol would do, for Minseok to be completely caught off guard. He found it very endearing to see; it was clear how much Jongdae cared about Mongryong. To see Jongdae so expressive with emotions and care for others was something Minseok deeply appreciated about him.

Jongdae turned from Mongryong to Minseok, picking up the bag of dog food he had pushed aside on the floor. Mongryong instantly sprang up, his ears perked and tongue out, as Jongdae lifted himself from the floor along with the bag. He placed it in Minseok’s hands before whispering, “How about you feed him tonight?”

Already overcomplicating everything, Minseok slowly moved toward the bowls by the bathtub, practically creeping up on them as if they were bugs. Minseok didn’t know what he was anticipating that seemed to put him on edge; it wasn’t something he could clearly identify. Perhaps it was fear of how Mongryong would react to the food being poured. Perhaps it was the fact he never fed a dog before and felt unknowledgeable. Whatever the reason, as soon as he opened the edges of the food package and poured a handful of food into the metal bowl, Minseok was surprised to see Mongryong in such a quiet, timid demeanor, the dog’s hind legs leaning backward in an almost impossible angle. It looked as if he found the food to be more of a threat than treat, piecing together whether a conspiracy was afoot. Mongryong didn’t even have to be an android dog for one to notice the processing at work in the corgi’s head. Slowly, though, Mongryong began to take one soft step after the other in the direction of the bowl, Jongdae watching with a perplexed look. It took Mongryong about three seconds hovering his head over the food before he dived right in, the dog’s suspicion evaporating into thin air. Minseok turned to look at Jongdae, who seemed to have a proud, content smile on his face, the corners of his eyes forming slanted half-crescents. Minseok couldn’t help but find this smitten Jongdae odd, a quiet half-chuckle escaping his lips. Jongdae’s eyes met his.

“What’s so funny?” Jongdae continued to smile as he whispered, stepping closer to Minseok. 

“You just had such a satisfied look on your face that just appeared out of nowhere...” Minseok replied, trying to imitate that smile, but only revealing a gummy smile that came with his model.

Jongdae’s smile only widened with the response, “I’m just happy that Mongryong didn’t get afraid and back off the food altogether.”

“What do you mean?”

“When dogs meet someone new, alongside a new environment, they might retreat into themselves. Some dogs are really friendly and immediately warm up to others quickly, but this is a really big shift for Mongryong, who’s already relatively introverted. The only way you can really gain his trust is by feeding him. That’s why I let you feed him. He’s still really unfamiliar with this environment, you included, so I’m glad that he’s eating. He’s showing a few signs that he’s beginning to trust you guys.”

Jongdae continued to grin while staring at Mongryong, who was now pacing around the blanket bed near the tub. He had completely devoured the contents of the bowl, now looking as if it had never even been filled.

“Interesting… Was he like this for you?” Minseok asked, wanting to continue the conversation between them.

Jongdae turned back to Minseok and snickered. “Yeah… He actually bit me when we first met because I didn’t anticipate him to be so afraid of strangers. Corgis typically have very big personalities, but Mongryong was not happy at all about me being in his presence for the first time. I think it was probably me being an android.”

“Was Mongryong able to identify that you weren’t human like Baekhyun?”

“Maybe… It’s likely, but I’m still not sure. Regardless, he eventually started to like me once I fed him everyday. He started to associate me with food, and then toys, and then his trust grew from there.”

Curious, Minseok asked, “Why food?”

“Dogs put a high emphasis on food. It’s a survival instinct; they will always gravitate towards food because they depend on it to survive. Put in a habit to give them food and they’ll tend to trust you with it. Eventually, that bond will extend beyond food to general care and affection.” 

This was the first time that Minseok could clearly recognize when Jongdae spoke more robotic than human, his tone clinical and neutral, his eyes losing a reflection of moonlight. He realized that his question would probably be very similar to what a human would ask Jongdae’s model. He wondered if he triggered an automatic reaction out of Jongdae, and felt a small twinge of guilt for doing so. Minseok tried to think of anything he could to say Jongdae back to his human-like self again.

“So, how long did it take for Mongryong to trust you?”

Immediately, the light returned to Jongdae’s eyes as the android spoke, returning Minseok with a feeling of relief. “Close to three and a half months.”

“That’s quite a long time,” Minseok replied.

“Yeah, I suppose it is. Still, I’m really impressed by how quickly Mongryong’s reacting to you,” Jongdae’s satisfied smile returned to his lips. “He didn’t respond to food this quickly with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when I first fed him, Mongryong had to make sure I was out of the room and out of sight before he started eating. Even then, he barely ate from his bowl, but with you, he seems to look a lot more comfortable in your presence. He devoured all the food you gave him and didn’t even hesitate with you in the room,” Jongdae motioned to the food bowl, which was now completely empty except for a few crumbs. Although Minseok gave him only a handful of the dog food, Jongdae was right. Compared to Jongdae’s experience, Minseok seemed to have it much easier.

“Maybe it’s because he’s familiar with androids now that he knows you?” Minseok suggested, turning his attention back to Jongdae, who tilted his head as if deeply processing the idea in his system.

“I… I guess that’s a pretty likely possibility,” Jongdae nodded, his smile widening more and more to the way it looked before. “You’re probably right, Minseok.”

A moment of silence stood between the two androids, watching over the corgi who was now cuddling up against the messy, heavy blanket, right along the wrinkles. With the dog deep in slumber like his human guardians, it seemed like the right moment to leave and head to bed for the night themselves. However, there just seemed to be something so tranquil to Minseok about standing next to Jongdae watching over this creature he had no experience with prior. Knowing Mongryong was already beginning to warm up to him, Minseok felt something in him longing to make sure that Mongryong became as comfortable in the house as possible. The tiny corgi seemed so innocent and peaceful sleeping in such a crammed, dark room for the night. It wasn’t ideal, he knew. Mongryong would eventually feel comfortable enough to roam around the entire apartment someday, but Minseok just felt like he wanted it to come sooner; an almost parental feeling washed over him that caught him very off guard. He didn’t just want Mongryong to be comfortable with the apartment and Chanyeol. He wanted Mongryong to be comfortable with him too, just like he was with Jongdae. He wanted to earn his trust too. Seeing Jongdae’s fond expression of the small creature made him want to experience the same attachment and joy as him. Minseok was about to make a note in his schedule for this when Jongdae broke the silence.

“I’m glad he seems to be adjusting to the apartment fairly quickly. I wouldn’t want him causing a lot of trouble in the house.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that, Jongdae. He’s a really special addition to the apartment for Chanyeol and I; I’m sure he will be just fine.”

In a lower volume, Jongdae laughed sheepishly, adjusting his voice to not wake Mongryong up. “I hope so. He can be a... handful at times.”

“At least we have extra hands to help with that when those times come,” Minseok quietly said in his most confident and knowing voice he could, wanting to display more human sides of himself through comedy. Apparently, Jongdae found this amusing and chuckled, albeit with a quiet volume. Minseok couldn’t really hear him, but he knew by Jongdae’s slanted eyebrows pushing towards his temple, his extremely upturned lips, and his smiling grin that Jongdae found this funny. Minseok felt a reassuring emotion’s presence inside him at this reaction.

“I suppose you’re right,” Jongdae eventually replied to Minseok, a timid smile replacing his loud grin. “I’m very excited to have this experience of moving in with you guys.”

Minseok felt himself returning the smile while noticing the greater presence of light in Jongdae’s eyes.

“Me too. It’s a very new thing for all of us.”

“I guess that makes it all the more exciting,” Jongdae replied, sweeping his chocolate bangs swinging from his part behind his ear.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

It was only at that moment that both androids realized that it was now 7:41pm. According to Minseok’s agenda, Chanyeol and Baekhyun would be heading off to work as the next day would be Monday. That would mean that Jongdae and Minseok would have to finish up the rest of the packing while they were away. Although there wasn’t much left to unpack, Minseok wanted to make sure that things were organized properly, and Minseok wasn’t entirely sure how organized Baekhyun and Jongdae were. He already got a taste from the scrubbed pot in the sink that Baekhyun was relatively clean, but only by a small margin when compared to Chanyeol. As for Jongdae, he would always help Minseok put away dishes in the dishwasher, taking them from the table or other furniture around the house. Jongdae’s main goal seemed to be just helping others and it would probably take a more extensive investigation to see where on the spectrum of orderliness Jongdae would lie.

But for now, Minseok suddenly realized he forgot to do something very important on his list: give Jongdae his thirium cookies. Minseok called Jongdae via telepathy to ask him to wait for a moment before going back into their room. Sure it was way beyond due, but Minseok couldn’t go to sleep if there was still something left undone on his to-do list. He quickly, but quietly stepped into the kitchen, slowly opening the fridge, where Minseok’s cookies were left untouched in a tin tray covered with a protective electronic seal, designed to be more protective than ordinary plastic wrap. It created a cubed seal across all angles of the tray, which Minseok removed by placing his finger on the top, causing it to retreat instantaneously. Minseok reached for the top shelf, taking down a plate, and slid two cookies onto it. Minseok was about to bring these to the room he shared with Jongdae, but to his surprise, Jongdae met him at the kitchen island, fixated on the plate in almost the same way Minseok was with Mongryong. He was certainly not anticipating this reaction from the android, who looked very deep in thought, as if processing everything about the cookie to its finest detail. 

“Are... Are these for me?” Jongdae looked up at Minseok, his mouth agape.

“Yes. You seemed so excited about cooking with thirium when we discussed it last, so I thought I would make cookies with it,” Jongdae’s eyes went right back to the plate, slowly lighting up as Minseok continued,. “They’re essentially chocolate chips that humans would have, but I replaced the chocolate chips with frozen pieces of thirium.”

Jongdae continued to scan the cookie with a look of wonder, his mouth forming an “o” shape.  His smile stretched from ear-to-ear and he looked back up at Minseok with crescent eyes. 

“Thank you so much, Minseok. You didn’t need to do this for me.”

“It was really no problem,” Minseok replied with an amused smile in return. He really was not expecting Jongdae’s reaction to something as simple as cookies to be so full of life. Once again, he was caught off guard by his happy, human-like energy as Jongdae still continued to stare at the cookies in deep thought. Jongdae looked back up at Minseok again.

“Can I... have one?” he inquires through a stutter, his mouth still open slightly.

“Of course, go ahead,” Minseok nodded and motioned toward the plate and reluctantly Jongdae took one cookie in his hands, trying to appear as polite as possible. It was entertaining for Minseok to see this shy reaction from him; for an android that seemed so bold and thunderous in his character, he really showed many timid and introverted attributes that balanced everything out personality-wise. There was so much depth in Jongdae’s being that always seemed to catch Minseok’s eyes, as he observed the other android slowly taking a bite out of the cookie, particularly the edge with more thirium pieces in it. After a moment, his eyebrows raised significantly above his eyes, a very surprised reaction, before Jongdae’s eyes closed and another smile plastered itself on his face.

“These are so wonderful, Minseok. Thank you so much!” Jongdae’s eyebrows slanted again in what Minseok began to realize was his signature facial reaction to show joy, before the android took another, much larger, bite of the cookie. Minseok felt another instance of warmth coursing through his biocomponents seeing how grateful and humble Jongdae was by something Minseok barely thought much of. “This was so nice of you.”

“You’re welcome, Jongdae.”

Before long, Jongdae finished the two cookies, engaging in another small conversation with Minseok, asking about how Minseok made these. Although Minseok knew he already explained this to Jongdae, he didn’t mind explaining the process again. At the corner of his mind, he wondered if Jongdae’s memory equipment was built less stable than Minseok’s, but that wasn’t his main focus right now. Jongdae joked with Minseok how Baekhyun would have never made things like this for him as Baekhyun is scared to do anything with android blood. Minseok laughed along to all the stories of Baekhyun initially freaking out about anything android-related when he first purchased Jongdae, including the time when Mongryong bit Jongdae’s finger and it started bleeding blue blood.

“He just couldn’t wrap his mind around it. He thought I was experiencing blood poisoning! He started screaming, ‘WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DO TO YOU? MONOPOLIES ARE ALWAYS NEGLIGENT, SHIT!’ and tried to squeeze the blood out of me. He ran to get a sponge from the kitchen cabinet to push on my finger, before I was able to calm him down and explain that’s what android blood looks like.” 

“Granted, thirium is certainly a sight for human eyes,” Minseok commented, “I wouldn’t blame Baekhyun. At least he didn’t react like Chanyeol when I accidentally cut myself with a knife.”

“Oh god, how did he react?”

“He fainted.”

Minseok could tell Jongdae was trying his absolute hardest not to crack up only a couple meters away from the two sleeping humans they were making fun of, silencing his voice’s volume but laughing with the peek of his tongue behind his teeth. His eyes were wide open for just a second before his eyes relaxed and his eyebrows slanted again, looking right at Minseok in disbelief. Minseok found it hard not to find this entire reaction funny.

At that moment, he realized just how idiotic it was that they were talking with some volume in practically the same room as Chanyeol and Baekhyun, who were still asleep. He would have suggested that Jongdae and him move the conversation to their room when it suddenly occurred to him that Chanyeol and Baekhyun should probably get up. They didn’t even need to go to bed until 10:30pm to get a standard 8 hours of sleep. Taking a nap for much longer would probably mess with their sleep schedule. It appeared that the artificial intelligence of the household would have to interfere.

Minseok pointed to the living room couch, Jongdae following along in his gaze. “We should probably wake them up. Sleeping for so long this early probably won’t benefit them.”

“You’re right,” Jongdae nodded before instantaneously walking across the hallway floor to the sofa. He sent a telepathic message.

Jongdae: Expect for Baekhyun to behave like a child.

A moment of silence passed through the apartment for the last time before Jongdae, standing over the couch, bent down to whisper in Baekhyun’s ear. Baekhyun groaned incredibly loud for 7:55pm in the evening and stretched his arms too wide, causing Chanyeol to be hit in the chin as he sat up. Chanyeol responded with an immediate screech of pain, accidentally pushing Baekhyun off the couch, who stumbled off the carpet into consciousness.

“I was not ,” Baekhyun whined in Jongdae’s direction, still waking up, “You’re so dirty !”

It was Chanyeol’s turn to sit up, his legs stretching across the other side of the couch. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he strained to reach the ottoman that had the remote resting on it.

“I’m turning on another movie before bed. You guys wanna watch?” he asked, looking at Minseok in the kitchen and then at Jongdae, who was helping a struggling Baekhyun to his feet. Jongdae turned to Minseok, his head tilting, asking for his opinion.

Minseok didn’t have any objections; he accomplished everything he wanted for the day. Besides, it would give him another excuse to poke fun at Chanyeol and Baekhyun, somewhat continuing the conversation he was having with Jongdae earlier. He shrugged, looking back at Chanyeol.

“Sure. What about you, Jongdae?” he answered, turning his attention to Jongdae, who seemed somewhat surprised he said his name, his eyebrows raising slightly.

“Yeah, I’m in,” he took Baekhyun’s arm and helped lower him back onto the couch. He looked back in the direction of the kitchen, “Can I have more of these cookies?”

“Of course.”

Jongdae nodded to Minseok’s approval and went to the counter, which had the tray of thirium cookies resting on top of it, picking up four more cookies onto the plate he was eating from before. Baekhyun, who was previously slouching on the couch from his post-nap sleepiness, sat up, leaning forward to see what Jongdae was doing in the kitchen.

“What are those?”

“They’re thirium cookies,” Minseok responded.

“Minseok made them,” Jongdae added, turning around with the plate in his hands and making his way back to the couch. A smug smirk somehow made its way to Baekhyun’s face.

“Awww, that’s adorable, you two! Makes me curious about what else the two of you were doing while we were asleep...”

Chanyeol lightly pushed Baekhyun down on the couch, an embarrassed look on his face as Jongdae and Minseok sat down on the couch next to Baekhyun, Jongdae pushing him back up.

“You’re ridiculous, Baek,” Chanyeol rolled his eyes, feignedly displaying his disappointment, as the screen reawakened. Somehow, that interaction reminded Minseok of a question still remaining in his head after Jongdae woke Baekhyun up.

Minseok: What did you tell Baekhyun to get him to wake up?

A mischievous smirk on Jongdae’s face didn’t even hesitate to appear in real-life.

Jongdae: I told him he needed to wake up and that he needed to stop dreaming about Chanyeol being naked.

—————————————————————

Once Chanyeol and Baekhyun actually went to sleep in their actual bedroom at 10:30pm (something Minseok was rather satisfied with getting Chanyeol to accomplish for once), Jongdae wanted to check in on Mongryong one more time for the night. It was a while since Mongryong made any noise, especially considering that he was locked in one area for a long time. Minseok stood outside the door in a pitch black hallway, watching Jongdae carefully push on the door knob, hesitant to make a single noise. Minseok couldn’t really see anything in a room that dark, however, Jongdae could. During Minseok’s scan of Jongdae when they first met, it revealed that Jongdae’s model had night-vision. He assumed the feature was needed for instances like this, but it was still unusual for sure. There truly was a lot to Jongdae; and he would be lying if he said he didn’t want to get to know more about him.

Quickly, Jongdae quietly pulled the door closed, turning around to face Minseok. Minseok knew how to get to the room from this part of the hallway, but he still found a level of security in following Jongdae through to the room. Jongdae turned on the lights with the wave of his hand on the wall panel, a golden glow illuminating from the ceiling. Their room was a standard bedroom with two twin beds in it, but besides that, there wasn’t much furniture in it. Androids didn’t really need much, after all. Still, there was a long shelf that doubled as a desk and storage unit where Minseok would like to write, standing right across from the beds on the opposite wall. Although Minseok could easily make plenty of notes about whatever he wants in his head, there was something appealing in writing things by hand. It made him feel more connected to the physical world. Other than that, there were about three boxes of Jongdae’s things that still needed to be organized on the floor, pushed under his bed near the windowsill. Luckily, Minseok went through much of his stuff recently and the second half of the table could be used for Jongdae’s things, as it had cabinets connected underneath. This is what Minseok and Jongdae would have to organize tomorrow.

However, it was definitely time for stasis for both androids. Jongdae was wearing an oversized pastel blue sweater, although you wouldn’t be able to tell that at this time of night. Jongdae was more than content with wearing the sweater to bed, even though Minseok offered him proper sleepwear for the night. Minseok laid down on his bed, turning his head to the left to watch Jongdae fall onto the bed with his back. Androids had self-charging batteries; much like human sleeping, shutting off processors for the night helped systems work better the next day, restarting them and allowing thirium to naturally flow through the body and charge them. Although sleep was not always necessary for androids, as a 9 hour shutdown would allow enough functionality for about a week, there wasn’t much Minseok and Jongdae could do at this hour. Might as well recharge as much as possible to pass the time until the next morning.

Jongdae turned his head to meet Minseok’s eyes and softly smiled. Minseok swiped his hand across the bedside table between the two beds, controlling the light switch panel on it and shutting off the golden hue of the room.

“Goodnight, Minseok. Thank you for everything today,” Jongdae whispered into the darkness.

“Goodnight, Jongdae,” Minseok couldn’t tell if Jongdae was shutting his eyes and going into stasis, but he replied anyway as he felt himself drift to sleep.

“It was a pleasure.”

—————————————————————

The first thing Minseok’s system could detect was a barking noise, knocking him right into consciousness. He made a quick search through his processors for what time it was, the top left of his vision telling him it was 7:34am, which was about 26 minutes before Minseok was set to wake up. Usually, he has an internal alarm set to wake himself up exactly at 8:00am on the weekdays and 8:30am on the weekends. Noises from outside would usually be automatically muted and not affect Minseok’s sleep at all. However, this didn’t seem like the average noise from the outside. Rather, it sounded much more inside than anything else. Minseok didn’t feel like he really had to guess where a barking noise could be coming from. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were already gone at this point, as they would usually leave for work 10 minutes ago, so there wasn’t anything they could do to calm Mongryong down. As Minseok stood from his bed, he turned to see if Jongdae was still asleep, but Jongdae’s bed was empty. How long has he been up? Unaware of where Jongdae was, he got up from the bed and headed out the door into the hallway. At this point, the barking had suddenly quieted down. The only noise Minseok could hear now was the air conditioner humming in the living room. He walked down toward the bathroom door, slowly turning the door knob, ready to crawl in through the cracks once again. In the back of his head, Minseok suspected that Jongdae was in there since he wasn’t in his room.

And he was right. The first thing Minseok sees is an android with frizzy chocolate locks cradling a small corgi in his arm, holding the tiny dog’s stomach with both arms, sitting on the floor by the tub.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t think that Mongryong would make this much noise in the morning,” Jongdae looked up with a hint of guilt in his voice.

“It’s alright, Jongdae. You don’t need to apologize,” Minseok replied, a whisper of a giggle escaping his lips. In that instant, the only way he could react was a grin, letting traces of his gummy smile show. After all, he wasn’t one to get upset about being woken up before his alarm. There was just something so cozy about the sight, an android cuddling up next to a creature as innocent as Mongryong, even exciting. Minseok couldn’t resist the urge to sit down next to Jongdae. Doing so earned him a whimper from Mongryong, who seemed to retreat more into Jongdae’s arms with Minseok’s presence. Jongdae noticed this and looked down at Mongryong, holding him tighter to his chest while speaking in a low, gentle voice.

“Awww, don’t be afraid of Minseok. He won’t hurt you. I promise.”

Of course, Mongryong didn’t understand Jongdae’s reassurance and continued leaning against Jongdae’s chest where he was being held. Jongdae looked back at Minseok, the light in his eyes even brighter now with the reflection of the sunrise from the windows. 

“He’ll get used to you eventually.” Minseok nodded, looking back at Mongryong. The corgi was glued to Jongdae’s sweater, which was new from last night. Jongdae must have changed into it this morning. It was a pastel yellow color, white stitches around the collar line and sleeves. Then all of a sudden, Mongryong practically wiggled around in Jongdae’s arms, adding wrinkles and pieces of fur onto the sweater. Jongdae loosened his grip on Mongryong’s stomach, lifting him down slowly from his chest onto the floor, which Mongryong was now trying to race his stubby legs across, his nails repeatedly skidding the tile. Jongdae let him go and Mongryong zoomed across the bathroom to the door, as if the presence of Minseok was no longer a concern of the corgi’s anymore. Mongryong was now clawing against the door. Thankfully, his nails were not extremely long and it felt more like small pounding noises instead of screeching noises that could cause damage to the door.

Jongdae’s mouth opened, a small gasp noise coming from his voice as he quickly got up and rushed to the door to pick Mongryong up. He seemed extra careful about causing damage to the door, even more so than Minseok, which was pretty thoughtful in Minseok’s opinion. Jongdae glared at the dog for a second before laughing at the dog’s desperate attempts to escape through his impossible grip. Minseok felt himself laugh along, Jongdae’s contagious laughter infecting him.

“I think I know why he was making so much noise this morning,” Jongdae explained, the remains of his laughter on his lips. “Corgis don’t really bark a lot with training, which Mongryong has been through, but when they do, it’s usually because they aren’t satisfied with the activity they’ve gone through. Mongryong’s probably ready to get out of here and explore the rest of the apartment, if that’s okay with you.” Jongdae’s head tilted, seeking a sign of approval before opening the door.

“Go ahead,” Minseok responded, motioning towards the door.

With that, Jongdae moved Mongryong into the grip of his left arm, freeing his right arm to open the door. For once, the entire door was open with no small cracks to slide through. Mongryong, once again, started racing his legs back and forth as if he were already on the ground instead of in Jongdae’s arms. Jongdae looked back to Minseok, who was standing up now. 

“You know… if Mongryong has this much energy, we might as well take him for a walk. Would you want to come with me? I can go by myself if there’s things we need to do today,” Jongdae offered shyly.

Minseok did a quick search through his system for his agenda for the day.

October 9, 2039 - 7:56am

Events scheduled:

• First day home with Jongdae and Mongryong

• (Make sure house is fully settled in)
• (Organize Jongdae’s belongings)
• (Figure out if we need to buy a second shelf)
• OPTIONAL: (check if we have enough food for the week)

There wasn’t much there, to be completely honest, and Minseok wouldn’t want to be stuck in the house by himself while Jongdae was out. He still wanted to improve their relationship, which was still at an acquaintance’s level. At least that’s what it was the last time he checked. So with a nod, and a reciprocating smile from Jongdae, he went into their bedroom and changed into a white t-shirt under a plaid cardigan with jeans. He brushed his hair as quick as he could and followed Jongdae and his leashed companion out the door.

—————————————————————

The air was brisk, the sun shining bright behind a somewhat overcast sky. Minseok observed all the signs of nature with every step outside; the autumn leaves were substituting for the grass as they started falling from trees. There was a slight chill in the air; about 16° Celsius, according to Minseok’s external sensors.

Walking with Jongdae and Mongryong was a very different experience than Minseok anticipated. He forgot how long it had been since he had gone outside last. Before they moved in, Minseok would have only left the house for something necessary, like going to the supermarket for groceries. However, that was only a week at most. It wasn’t like Chanyeol restricted Minseok from leaving the apartment at all; it’s just that Minseok never really saw a reason for leaving unless there was something he needed to do. Even after becoming deviant in his programming, there were some instincts he just can’t shake.

Something else he forgot was how nice it felt to be outside. He wasn’t expecting to feel so positive just from a change in environment, but there was just something about walking around with a dog that stuck with Minseok. Mongryong was fairly well-trained; he could tell by how Mongryong heeled in his feet instantly when Jongdae pulled on his leash. It made him wonder how much trouble the corgi used to cause for his owners. Still, Mongryong seemed full of wonder being outside. His tongue panting out, it was clear Mongryong was very excited to explore outside the apartment and stretch his legs instead of being in the bathroom for an entire night.

Minseok quickly realized by Mongryong’s intense excitement tugging against his leash when they first exited the apartment, and Jongdae’s sheepish laughter while trying to control him, that this neighborhood was probably very new for the two. Minseok decided to use this as an opportunity to show them around, which Jongdae was evidently very grateful to accept. Turning a corner a couple meters outside of the apartment, Minseok decided to show them the marketplace just down the road.

“That right there...” Minseok explained, pointing toward a wide orange-painted building, complete with light-up signs and two wide windows by its entrance, “is the supermarket in this area.”

“Wow, it looks cute! ...Do the signs always light up, even in the daytime?” Jongdae asked as he eyed the bright signs of the supermarket.

“Yeah, they do. I remember the neighbors on the apartment complex right across from us tried to complain about it and get them to stop to help preserve energy about a year ago.” Minseok explained.

Jongdae seemed to be thinking of something to say for a second, his lips pursed, while pulling gently on Mongryong’s leash to slow down their walk.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like it worked,” Jongdae commented with a chuckle, motioning towards the very bright sign, creating highlights on the building even in broad daylight.

“Oh, it did actually,” Minseok replied, catching Jongdae’s eyes.

“For how long?”

“A day.”

Jongdae smiled, an amused grin across his face and a slight snigger in his voice.

“That must have been a great one day for the neighbors then.”

---------------------------

“Oh, what’s that place for?”

“That’s the karaoke center.”

It appeared that the longer the walk continued, the more wonder and curiosity seeped into Jongdae instead of Mongryong, who seemed much more relaxed in comparison. Jongdae was taking in the community around the apartment complex, listening intently to the descriptions Minseok gave to him about places within it. He realized while on this walk that Jongdae was much more of a listener than he was a sharer. Minseok thought that with Jongdae’s lively energy, he would be very talkative, especially with their conversations in the past, but he was surprised to find the opposite was true. Jongdae certainly had an active energy, and an even more energetic laugh, but he seemed to listen much more actively than he spoke, giving his full eye-contact and expressive reactions as a response. Personally, Minseok believed he was more of the one to talk. He loved getting into discussions with people close to him; sharing opinions with others was something he thoroughly enjoyed. He found himself doing that with Jongdae throughout the afternoon, often sharing stories of his times at the coffee shop and toy store, which Chanyeol frequented often to buy Baekhyun teddy bears from when they first started dating.

“You like singing?” Jongdae questioned, a small excited smile hidden behind his lips.

“I do,” Minseok answered back, “I like getting out of the apartment occasionally to sing with Chanyeol.”

Jongdae’s eyes brightened immensely from that response.

“I do too! Well, where we used to live, we didn’t have a karaoke center, but Baekhyun purchased an application for his TV that played karaoke versions of songs. Baekhyun and I would sing together pretty often at the end of the week. It was really fun!”

Minseok paused for a moment before asking, “Maybe sometime we can all go to the center and have a karaoke night?”

“Oh, I’d love to-” was how Jongdae began to reply when Mongryong suddenly yanked against his leash, darting toward a pigeon resting on top of a mud puddle. Mongryong dashed so fast that Jongdae found himself being pulled along fast with him, no matter how hard he tried to heel the corgi. Minseok picked up his pace to catch up, walking quickly. All of a sudden, the pigeon began to open its wings and Mongryong managed to break himself free of the leash, tearing right from his collar, Jongdae stopping momentarily at the broken leash in shock. And just like that, Mongryong splashed right into the puddle, jumping up as the bird began to soar away. Jongdae took back off running again after Mongryong. As for the corgi, he was still jumping up and down to try to reach the bird who was long gone, only further getting himself dirty. Jongdae swooped Mongryong back in his arms, trying to restrain him from running away, caring nothing about his sweater getting mud all over it in the process. Minseok reached where Jongdae was standing, who laughed with a bit embarrassment as he met his eyes.

“Sorry, Minseok, but I think we’ll have to stop our tour of the town for right now.”

—————————————————————

That’s how Minseok found himself sitting on the bathroom floor, watching Jongdae give Mongryong a bath in the tub. During the morning, Jongdae had emptied out his suitcase for all of the dog items, including shampoo. HHe poured a handful of the shampoo into his hands and massaged Mongryong’s back. The corgi simply leaned into Jongdae’s gentle touch, eyes closed and relaxed.

Once again, Minseok was captivated by Mongryong. There was just something indescribable about being in the company of a pet that Minseok couldn’t turn away from. The fact that bathtime would probably become a part of the routine in his schedule would have initially been something that intimidated Minseok. He didn’t like to add a lot of items to his lists, but seeing how cute Mongryong looked when Jongdae scratched behind his ear, his tail thumping against the bottom of the tub, he was willing to make an exception.

“How do you turn on the shower again, Minseok?” Jongdae turned to ask.

“The panel over here,” Minseok motioned to the sensor by the wall tiles near where the curtains for the shower would close, “Let me do it. I think I have more free hands then you do right now.”

Jongdae smiled and nodded in response while Minseok reached up from his crouched position to swipe his hand across the sensor. The shower turned on instantly and Jongdae cupped the water in his hands to pour on soap suds on Mongryong’s head, who tried to squirm away. Still, Jongdae persisted. Soon enough, almost all of the bubbles disappeared in a matter of minutes and Minseok turned off the shower accordingly. Minseok thought the ordeal was over until Mongryong suddenly shook his body, his fur swishing around, causing Jongdae and Minseok to both get wet. With a chuckle, Jongdae swooped the corgi out of the tub with a towel, who suddenly seemed incredibly hyperactive.

“Could you open the door?” Jongdae asked Minseok.

“Okay…,” Minseok stared off, still confused as to why Jongdae, who was now sitting with a wrapped Mongryong in his lap, would want the door open, but obliging anyway. It seemed like this reaction was crystal clear to Jongdae.

“It’s because when dogs get baths, they get really energetic and I know that as soon as I let go of him, he’s going to head right out that door,” Jongdae clarified.

“Won’t he get scared of all the new space? That’s why he was kept in here last night.”

“Maybe at first,” Jongdae answered, looking down at the corgi, running in mid-air in Jongdae’s arms, “but I’m sure his energy right now will outweigh any fear he might have. Besides, if he stays in here, I’m almost certain he would make more noise, and I don’t want to have to wake you up again.”

All of that made a lot of sense to Minseok; Jongdae had a good way of explaining Mongryong and his antics to him. Minseok opened the door further so that it opened the entire way, leaving the whole door frame open. Mongryong’s eyes lit up immediately and Jongdae finally let him go, as the corgi pushed on his back legs and dashed right into the hallway, running straight into the wall.

“Oh my god!” Minseok shrieked, a sound he almost didn’t even recognize coming from himself. “Is he okay?”

Jongdae looked just as concerned as he stood up and ran over to Mongryong. However, to both of their relief, Mongryong was just fine. Thankfully, he had heeled on his own back legs just in time, pivoting so that his side hit the wall and not his head.

“He’s okay!” Jongdae called from outside the door, giving Minseok a thumbs up and a relieved smile. Minseok couldn’t help but sigh in relief, even though he didn’t need to since android’s can’t technically breathe. Somehow, doing so released his anxiety as if he was human, something he didn’t really realize ever until now.

Jongdae started laughing from the hallway, carrying Mongryong by his stomach again in the direction of the living room.

“Let’s make sure he doesn’t hit the wall again, point him in the right direction.”

—————————————————————

After a long afternoon of running around, making sure that Mongryong didn’t collide with anything else, and Minseok getting an opportunity to realize that Mongryong makes a mess equivalent to Chanyeol and Baekhyun combined, the corgi eventually tired himself out.

What that meant for the androids is that it was now cuddle time, further meaning that Jongdae was declared “trapped” on the couch. Although physically this was not possible with Mongryong and Jongdae’s size ratio, Jongdae certainly looked confined to the couch mentally. If Jongdae was a prisoner to the corgi, it certainly didn’t look like it. He looked very comfortable with Mongryong laying over his crossed legs on the couch. Usually, Minseok would still be slightly bothered by the fact that there were still things to do on his list. However, seeing how relaxed Jongdae was suddenly put things into perspective for him.

Jongdae was an android just like him. He may not be the same model and share the same features, but they were made of the same biocomponents, and just by that alone, he felt like he was more connected to him. Jongdae was certainly an orderly person; that much was clear by the organized boxes of items he had for his belongings. However, if it wasn’t apparent by the way the boxes were shoved under his bed for the time-being and the way he was visibly loosening up with Mongryong’s presence, Jongdae had a flexible attitude on life. The kind a human has when they perceive the world’s unexpected chaos happening one day at a time. Perhaps it was part of Jongdae’s natural instincts as a pet-care android, but a part of Minseok wondered if it truly was so. If an android can go with the flow, including one that, like him, decided to break out of his original obedient programming and develop his own personality, maybe Minseok could too.

Maybe he could learn to push his boxes under the bed for a while.

So that’s what he did, reaching for the remote on the ottoman and turning on the TV.

—————————————————————

“You two look like you had a long day,” was the first thing Minseok and Jongdae heard when Chanyeol and Baekhyun walked through the door later that evening. They were still attached to the couch thanks to Mongryong, still sound asleep on Jongdae’s lap, his paws tightening and untightening periodically. Jongdae slowly turned his head towards the two humans who were already on their way to the kitchen to ravage through leftovers, particularly Baekhyun.

“You have no idea.”

“Mind if we join in on the movie marathon?” Chanyeol asked over the kitchen island, cracking open a soda can from the fridge.

Minseok answered back, “Of course, take a seat!”

—————————————————————

The night went by quickly and soon after the movie marathon, Baekhyun and Chanyeol made their way to bed. Mondays have always been the days that Chanyeol struggled to stay awake for, so this made sense. Thankfully, however, Chanyeol was conscious enough to be able to drag himself and Baekhyun to their actual bed.

In the meantime though, it was only 10:38pm, and as stated before, androids did not have to worry about a bedtime. Besides, Minseok might have been able to push off his duties for the day, but he still wanted to be able to check something off. Luckily, the household had enough food in the kitchen; Jongdae was nice enough to check when Minseok read the list out to him. Minseok was fortunate that Jongdae was willing to tolerate his system; he wasn’t expecting him to, but he was glad that Jongdae was anyway.

They spent the next 1 and a half hours organizing Jongdae’s belongings, all organized in cardboard boxes the height of an armchair’s legs. They were conveniently labeled after the contents in them; Clothes, android supplies, and music. The last label peaked Minseok’s interest; Jongdae mentioned his interest in singing, but at the time, he didn’t mention anything about the music he liked. People typically didn’t buy albums anymore, at least not the same way albums were bought when androids didn’t exist. Usually, people bought them electronically, putting visual projectors on their wall if they wanted something to hang up.

Minseok didn’t want to pry, as Jongdae was finishing hanging up clothes in the closet at the moment, but he had to admit he was curious. For the time-being, he set that aside and tried to find a good potential place to put it. Thankfully, he didn’t have to try that hard. His desk had a lower open cabinet reaching towards the floor, perfect for displaying items, including albums. He noticed the clothing hangers decreasing on Jongdae’s arm, so Minseok decided to ask him what was in the box.

“Hey, Jongdae.”

“Hm?” the android hummed, turning around and tilting his head.

“I think I found a good place to put this,” Minseok moved the box towards the desk and placed his hand on one of the shelfs in the cabinet, “It’s a good place to display music.”

“Oh! Thank you, Minseok, but…” Jongdae suddenly looked uncharacteristically embarrassed and shy, looking as if there was something hidden, catching Minseok very off-guard. “These aren’t albums.”

Jongdae walked slowly towards Minseok, sat down on the floor with his knees, and opened up the box slowly. “This is actually music that I’ve written.”

Minseok peered inside the box and sure enough, there were folders of papers tucked at the bottom of the box. A few stray pieces that stuck out of the folder revealed themselves to be filled with lyrics that didn’t resemble any current music he was familiar with. Although Minseok certainly didn’t have the features to recognize music lyrics, that was something only domestic-family androids could do, but he could tell that Jongdae definitely wrote these himself by hand. It was strange, but encouraging to see another android like him appreciate the feeling of hand-written pieces of work. Somehow, he seemed to feel his connection with the android grow substantially more.

“I have a passion for writing music. It’s one of the first things I did once I became deviant,” Jongdae continued, looking deep into the box. “I would always listen to the radio with Baekhyun, and I remember when we would clean up the apartment, there would be these certain artists that created songs that...resonated with me. So, I wondered if I properly learned music theory and practiced, that I could write songs too. They aren’t really for display, but it’s a quiet hobby I enjoy.”

The more Jongdae spoke about his interest, the more he seemed to return his gaze back up at Minseok. It was apparent that Jongdae was still shy about revealing this hobby, but for some reason it made a lot of sense to Minseok. He looked as if he had never shared this with anyone before, given how surprised he was that Minseok found the box. Minseok didn’t really know how to react in the moment, what to say to make him feel at ease, so for the moment, he stuck to the task at hand.

“Where do you think we should put these?” he questioned.

“Um,” Jongdae paused, scanning around the room and then back at the shelf that Minseok had pointed out earlier. “We can still use the shelf. It’s actually a really good place to put them. I need to organize all the loose papers first, but I can take care of it from there.”

Minseok pushed the box towards Jongdae so the android could begin unloading its contents. He wanted to ask Jongdae more about the music he wrote, but he understood that privacy was something he should respect. Minseok wasn’t one to pry for sneak peeks of things that weren’t meant to be discovered; he took that very seriously. Still, Minseok wanted to get to know Jongdae more, and gain his trust eventually to do so. However, at the moment, Minseok located the third box of spare components and thirium bags to organize as a way to pitch in. He didn’t want to make Jongdae do all of the organizing alone while he just sat there. Minseok found a corner on the floor of the closet that seemed to be the perfect place to place the box.

“Is in here okay?” Minseok asked, pointing to the corner from where he stood outside the closet.

“Yeah, that’s good! You don’t need to worry about organizing all the parts though.” Jongdae assured, looking up momentarily before focusing back on his music.

Minseok took the lifted box in his hands and gently laid it down in the corner, pushing it back so it met the wall. As he went to go sit on his bed, he observed Jongdae from behind, quietly going through the box on the floor. By the looks of the outside, Jongdae wasn’t getting very far. How much music has he written? , Minseok found himself thinking. A part of him, the instinct in him, wanted to speed up the process by helping organize, but the rest of him, an overwhelming majority of him, decided to let Jongdae do it on his own. The silence in the house for once was intense. It made Minseok feel a little uncomfortable, so he started some small talk with the other android.

“What genres of music do you like?” Minseok suddenly asked.

Jongdae seemed surprised by Minseok speaking, turning his neck around to see Minseok on his bed. When they made eye contact, Jongdae turned around in his seat and moved his papers in front of him, so he could organize while talking. “I’m actually a big fan of rock and ballads,” Jongdae answered finally.

“That seems like an interesting combination,” Minseok remarked with a hum. “Ballads and rock music don’t typically share the same characteristics, do they?”

Jongdae smiled, a sprinkle of laughter in his voice, “Yeah, typically they wouldn’t. I just like a variety of music. It’s interesting to see how far extreme some genres of music can be from each other and still be able to produce an emotional reaction from inside you.”

Jongdae had a look in his eyes, just a small look of wonder. Minseok began to understand how personal this topic was to the android, but he seemed to be a lot more open than he did before. He still seemed somewhat bashful, but it made Minseok happy to see him open up.

“Are there any particular artists that inspire you?”

“Yes, I really love SUH0’s ballads. His recent album was really great. He had an amazing theme throughout his album of love, not just for yourself but for others. Those kinds of topics are my favorite for songs I personally write.”

Minseok felt somewhat surprised to hear Jongdae mention his own writing. It was clear Jongdae was opening up a lot more than before, and Minseok was excited for it, but he didn’t want to push open anything beyond Jongdae’s limits. His reaction seemed somewhat analytical, calculating what he could say to put Jongdae at ease. It was something familiar, but very new, probably because this was the first time he really had a situation like this with another android.

“Oh, and Sehun too! He’s made some great R&B albums in the past. He’s on hiatus for a little bit because he’s working on acting for a TV show, but I’m looking forward to his next album.”

Their conversation continued from here, just talking about the music industry and how android artists like SUH0 seemed to be getting a lot better reception from the media. Minseok was also passionate about the subject. He may not write songs like Jongdae, but he was certainly interested in ballads and jazz pieces.

After about 5 minutes, Jongdae seemed to have all the papers put into their places and stacked them against the shelf. A satisfied look appeared on his face as he stood up. Minseok was able to cross everything off his list for the day.

October 9, 2039

Events scheduled: 

• First day home with Jongdae and Mongryong
• *(Make sure house is fully settled in)*
• *(Organize Jongdae’s belongings)*
• *(Figure out if we need to buy a second shelf)*
• OPTIONAL: *(Check if we have enough food for the week)*

Although there were delays to the schedule, Minseok was proud to be able to get everything accomplished that he wanted to. In addition, those delays were actually pretty enjoyable. He liked being able to relax with Mongryong and Jongdae for a while. It wasn’t what Minseok initially wanted, but the day turned out well regardless.

Now, Jongdae was sitting on his own bed as well, looking at Minseok with a smile. For a moment, his eyes glanced elsewhere, from the shelf to the wardrobe and the ceiling, as if there was still something on his mind.

“Are you alright?” Minseok asked, imitating the softest voice he could create.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Jongdae slowly faced Minseok, but avoided his gaze. “I’m just...evaluating some things.”

“What things? That is, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Well,” Jongdae closed his eyes for a moment, “I’ve realized I’ve never mentioned to anyone that I write music.”

Silence temporarily rose within the space between the androids before Jongdae spoke again.

“It feels nice to be able to share that with you, but-”

“You don’t have to share any of your songs with me if you don’t want to,” Minseok suddenly interrupted Jongdae, meeting his distant eye-contact.

“I understand wanting to have your privacy. Besides, we met only a little more than a week ago. You don’t need to feel like you need to share very personal things with me to progress our relationship.” The words just flew out of Minseok’s mouth without him even realizing where they came from, but they seemed to be comforting to Jongdae, who lifted his head up slightly to actively look at him.

“I know, but...I was just worried that I wasn’t making enough of an effort to be better acquainted with you. This whole moving arrangement is very important to Baekhyun and Chanyeol. I wanted to make a good impression on you because I know how much his friendship with you means to him. I also really want to get to know you better because of all the nice things you’ve done for me already. I know from research and experience that bonds between people happen when you open up about personal things with someone. I want to open up more, but...it’s harder than I anticipated.” Jongdae trailed off, still evading Minseok’s eyes every now and again.

“You’ve made a great impression on me, Jongdae. You don’t have to worry about a thing,” Minseok felt all of his analytical functions silence, becoming more present and ignoring every android feature in his vision. “I had a lot of fun being around you and Mongryong today. You two are great company and bring a lot of comfortable excitement into the apartment. I understand where you’re coming from though. Relationships are a difficult thing. I don’t understand how humans do it half of the time, but from what I do understand, you don’t need to worry about progressing the relationship faster. If humans have taught us anything, it’s that good relationships form if the people in them want it to be good. I know that I also wanted to make a good impression on you and get to know you better too. Not just for Chanyeol and Baekhyun, but for you too.”

Another moment of quiet passed through the room. Jongdae’s eyebrows slanted, which initially made Minseok worried that he had lost control of his senses and upset him in some way. However, it was quite the contrary, Jongdae’s eyes lit up with the golden bed-side lamp between them; there was a shy, but beaming smile radiating on his face, looking very touched. A piece of Jongdae’s hair fell from his part over his face that he sweeped behind his ear, losing an upright position in his seat as he leaned over slightly.

“I’m glad to know we’re both in the same boat then,” Jongdae replied, his smile widening, his tongue peeking through his teeth. “God, it sounded so much more awkward in my head.”

“Chanyeol always thinks that androids are more awkward than humans.”

“He might not be entirely wrong,” Jongdae chuckled in response.

Minseok found himself smiling in the moment of vulnerability with Jongdae, enjoying the quiet of the night and the light that felt like it was brightening within Jongdae. It seemed that sharing something like this proved to be just as effective, if not more, than if Jongdae had revealed his music to Minseok. In some way, Minseok found this reassuring. In little ways, he found himself being nervous of making the wrong impression with someone like an android.

Minseok had barely ever met androids before, much less lived with one. Interacting with humans was something Minseok found very easy to do. Although it was somewhat offensive to say out loud, humans seemed to have much lighter expectations for androids in social situations. At least, Chanyeol did. However, talking with Jongdae made him realize how complicated android analysis works. Androids can notice small details in facial expression and body language that a human might not pick up on. One might think that makes relationships between two androids easier, but sometimes it would make this harder. Androids have had an experience of overanalyzing in situations they were new too, even more so than humans. This was certainly a new situation for Minseok. Not to mention, androids don’t always have the ability to express full body language as they were initially designed to stay emotionless and obedient at all times. And even though androids could talk telepathically or share emotions directly through interfacing, or touching without artificial skin activated, that was a very personal thing to do. There needed to be a very comfortable relationship for that to happen.

So to see this, Jongdae much more at ease, even when Minseok lost control of his tongue for a second, made him at ease as well. Maybe even more than Jongdae.

It was at this moment that Minseok received a notice from his system, reminding him aggressively in his peripheral that he was way behind schedule for falling asleep. An hour and 26 minutes, to be exact. Although Minseok and Jongdae could easily stay awake for hours, Minseok didn’t want to prevent Jongdae from sleeping if he wanted to. Mongryong was certainly a handful for the day, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Jongdae was more in need of going into stasis to reset his system for the night.

“I hate to ruin the moment, but I think we should probably get into stasis soon,” Minseok whispered, remembering the time and the neighbors. Jongdae’s head tilted, his eyes unmoving, as if he was checking the time for himself in his systems. After two seconds, his eyebrows rose and his lips parted.

“You’re right,” Jongdae responded. He stood up to the closet, pulling out a drawer from a wardrobe Chanyeol emptied for Jongdae to grab a set of somewhat eccentric pajamas covered in cartoon cats, before heading to the bathroom to change. Minseok, in turn, stood up to get his regular sleepwear: a white t-shirt and black sports shorts.

When Jongdae came back, he shut the door behind him. Minseok swiped the panel on the bedside table to turn the lamp between them off, causing the room to go black. He opened up the covers and slid into them, Jongdae doing the same. 

“Goodnight, Min. I had a lot of fun today–OH!” Jongdae exclaimed mid-sentence, jerking his head to the side suddenly in Minseok’s direction. “Oh my god, that nickname just slipped out, I’m so sorry! Are you okay with me calling you that?”

Minseok chuckled at Jongdae’s high pitched squeak, “I’m just fine with it, Jongdae. Don’t worry.”

“Okay...whew...okay…” Minseok could hear a sigh in relief, another small chuckle escaping his lips that he tried to stifle. “Anyways, goodnight Min... Thank you for everything today. It was great.”

All of a sudden, Minseok received an update from his relationship processor. Jongdae was no longer his acquaintance; he was now his “friend”. Minseok could only smile while slipping out of consciousness. 

“...I could say the same to you. Goodnight, Jongdae.”

—————————————————————

“Yeol, I can’t do this.”

“Baekhyunnie, you’re picking out salt.”

Minseok and Jongdae slowed down their pace with the grocery cart as they observed two of their dear human friends struggle in the spice aisle of the supermarket. Although silly, Minseok knew very well of the dilemma facing Baekhyun at the moment; choosing from a wide selection of salt brands for a sometimes picky Chanyeol was certainly a challenge.

This was when analysis for an android became more of a hindrance than an advantage.

“Here,” Minseok stepped back and swiped a bag of kosher salt into the cart, “I’ll make sure you don’t make the same first mistake I made.”

Baekhyun recognized Minseok’s knowing smile and scowled back at Chanyeol, who seemed like he was already preparing for a lecture about how picky he could be sometimes. All four beings have lived in the house long enough for Minseok and Jongdae to memorize how touchy the two humans behind them were about to become. This always happened when one playfully told off the other in a public space, something Jongdae and Minseok distasted. They just wanted to buy some groceries, not take care of two extra puppies.

It had been about three weeks since the night Jongdae gave Minseok his nickname, although with constant reassurement by Minseok, this changed to “Minseokkie,” which Chanyeol always seemed to coo at for some reason. He understood this sounded cute, and even a little like the name someone would give their romantic partner, but Minseok and Jongdae had very much a platonic relationship. The two grew a lot closer after that night, going on long walks around town with Mongryong often. That was where the two got their best conversations from, especially when tidying up the apartment at the end of every week. 

Jongdae quickly left with Minseok, leaving Chanyeol and Baekhyun to their shenanigans far away from them. They turned the corner, which had pet supplies all over the shelves. On their last shopping trip, Minseok did not forget to remind Jongdae to pick up a new leash for Mongryong and a few extra bags of treats to make sure the corgi isn’t motivated to run again. This time, though, the only thing Jongdae needed to pick up was a new bag of food, which Minseok kept safely written down in his files. Once Jongdae dropped the bag into the cart, Minseok reopened the grocery list in his head. 

October 24, 2039 - 12:29pm

Grocery List

• Salt
• Yeast
• Flour
• Cheese
• Milk
• Dog food
• Beef
• Ice cream (much to Minseok’s dismay)
• Lettuce

“What’s left on the list?”

“We just need the frozen and chilled stuff; like the milk, cheese, and beef,” Minseok responded.

“What about the ice cream?” Jongdae teased, smirking right in Minseok direction, the poor android trying his best not to hit him. 

“We’re not talking about that,” Minseok responded with a disillusioned tone, causing Jongdae to lightly punch him in the shoulder, trying to lighten him up. Minseok scoffed, but still met Jongdae’s glance with a slitted eye-smile.

“You guys ,” Baekhyun called from the aisle, which he and Chanyeol were clearly still loitering in, “Why didn’t you guys wait for us?”

“Were we being too gross for you?” Chanyeol joked, emerging into the pet aisle, dragging Baekhyun with a linked arm.

Jongdae crossed his arms, trying to fake a disappointed look at the two lovebirds. “You being gross was the least of our concerns. We just wanted to be able to get out of this store before 1 o’clock.”

—————————————————————

Against his will, Minseok let Chanyeol buy ice cream. Against Jongdae’s restraint, Minseok let Chanyeol buy two tubs of it.

All four of them unloaded the ingredients from the grocery bags, Jongdae and Minseok manning the pantry, and Chanyeol and Baekhyun putting away frozen foods. As soon as that was over, Chanyeol looked over at the clock hanging over the living room couch. It was 12:49pm. Usually at this hour on the weekends, Chanyeol would be making a meal meant to exist between the times of lunch and dinner. Apparently, this term was coined “linner” or “dunch”, a very strange sounding-word to pronounce.

Chanyeol turned back around towards the counter, looking at the blender hidden in the corner underneath the cabinets, drumming his fingers on the marble.

“What should we make for us to eat?” he asked aloud.

Baekhyun opened up the pantry cabinet, where Jongdae was currently standing next to, and looked through its contents. After a moment, he perked up.

“What if we made pizza?”

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae sighed, “you just had takeout pizza a week ago. Isn’t there any other food to make?”

“Listen, hear me out,” Baekhyun began, somewhat stammering on his words, his brain obviously way ahead of his mouth, “We have all the ingredients to make it: yeast, flour, cheese, and we still have that extra pepperoni in the fridge. It’s perfect for pizza! Besides, Chanyeol hasn’t actually made us pizza in forever. We can even use the salt that we got.”

Minseok had to stifle a laugh at that last comment, quickly messaging Jongdae inside his system.

Minseok: Who’s going to tell him that’s cooking salt that shouldn’t be eaten?

Jongdae: Let Chanyeol deal with that.

Both androids never left their sight off of the humans, making their internal chat a much better kept secret than during movie night. Telepathic messages were an aspect of Jongdae and Minseok’s friendship that also strengthened; they learned exactly where to look and how to hide their facial expression in front of Chanyeol and Baekhyun to avoid blowing their cover, with multiple successes under their belt.

“Look, all I’m saying is that it’s an option! What do you think, Yeollie?” Baekhyun leaned his shoulder against Chanyeol’s, slightly standing on his tip-toes to reach him, waiting intently for his boyfriend’s response.

“I mean, I could always make a healthier variation of pizza. We still have salads thatthere we can throw on top if we wanted.”

“See?!?” Baekhyun glared playfully at Jongdae, rubbing Chanyeol’s approval in his face as if it meant a lot to Jongdae, which honestly, it didn’t for that particular occasion. 

“I’ll let you guys make your pizza on the condition I get to check over it and determine if it has an appropriate amount of vegetables on it before it goes in the oven,” Minseok pipped in.

“It’s a deal,” Chanyeol reached out to grab Minseok’s hand like a businessman, Jongdae smiling with amusement as Minseok stepped forward to play in the charade.

Even though Chanyeol and Baekhyun had their human meal planned out, that still left a question mark on Jongdae and Minseok.

“I guess that means we get to make what we want for ourselves then,” Minseok spoke again, “because you guys got to choose what to make for yourselves.”

“Oooo, does that mean you’d be willing to make thirium cookies with whatever we’re having?” Jongdae chirped up. Ever since the first time Minseok offered Jongdae those cookies, the android had been a huge advocate for them. It made Minseok feel a lot more comfortable with cooking to hear that kind of feedback, not only because it made him feel proud of his abilities, but also because Jongdae’s passion for them gave him more opportunities to cook more.

“Hey, hey, hey, now,” Baekhyun started to raise his voice in disdain, “how come you guys get to scold us on eating healthy while also making yourselves a literal dessert?”

“Because we’re androids, Baekhyun. We don’t have to worry about our health to the extent you do,” Jongdae jabbed back.

“Look,” Minseok placed a hand on Jongdae’s shoulder to try to create distance between the androids and humans in the room, “it’s not like we absorb any other nutrients besides thirium. It doesn’t matter what we make as long as it has thirium in it, so I don’t see what the real problem is.”

“Jongdae’s only asking for cookies because he’s whipped for anything you make for him,” Chanyeol teased, mentioning Minseok directly while looking straight at Jongdae, who seemed to be unable to say anything, his voice silent while his mouth tried to speak, causing Chanyeol and Baekhyun to burst into laughter.

“I’m sure it can’t be just that,” Minseok decided to get into the fighting attitude of the kitchen now that everyone else was already participating, “It’s probably because I just make good desserts in general.”

“Oh, just you ?” Chanyeol placed a hand to his heart, faking an insult deeply hurting him, “Y’know what? Just for that, we’re putting the pizza on hold. We need to determine who actually makes the best desserts in this house. Min and I are going to bake cookies for Jongdae and then we’ll determine who makes the best desserts.”

Minseok laughed, following up with a smirk and an extended handshake. “It’s a deal.”

—————————————————————

“WHAT?!”

“No, that’s cheating!? Min, you probably did that telepathic-chatty-thingy and told him to say that!”

“I didn’t do anything, Chanyeol. Why is it so hard for you to accept you lost? I don’t understand.”

Chaos erupted in the kitchen, probably more than enough for the neighbors to send a noise complaint, as soon as Jongdae revealed his results. After testing both sets of cookies, Jongdae didn’t have to think too hard about who baked the superior batch.

“That’s disgusting. I can’t believe you would use your special android abilities to betray me like this. I thought we were friends, Min.”

“I didn’t use any special ‘abilities’. I simply just baked Jongdae cookies and he said that he liked them more than yours. I don’t understand what you’re not getting about the situation.”

“Honestly, you guys,” Jongdae giggled after letting the chaos fester for too long unattended, “I didn’t believe Min was telling the truth when he talked about how poor of a loser Chanyeol was.”

“I DIDN’T LOSE! I WAS BETRAYED BY MY BEST FRIEND OF OVER FOUR YEARS!” Chanyeol yelled, causing Jongdae and Baekhyun to double over, their laughter almost roaring as loud as Chanyeol’s voice.

Baekhyun held onto Chanyeol’s arm while struggling to stand up properly, almost pulling on Chanyeol’s weight to balance himself. “It’s not your fault, Yeol. It’s just Jongdae has a bias for Minseok.”

Chanyeol grumbled under his breath something incomprehensible, Jongdae’s laughter still continuing to liven up the room. Minseok hadn’t really heard Jongdae’s laugh in its true form. Jongdae always managed to cut himself off, but hearing it now, it was thunderous, standing out in the crowd by far. It screamed joy and happiness and it made Minseok’s spirit brighten to hear something so fulfilled coming from him. It almost felt like through his laugh, Jongdae was opening up to him again, even if it wasn’t on purpose and no actual words were being spoken.

And once again, all Minseok could wonder, even in the midst of all the ruckus of the household,

How was Jongdae so captivatingly human?

—————————————————————

Another day was left to Jongdae and Minseok, as Chanyeol and Baekhyun were off for work again. Usually like any weekday, Minseok learned there wasn’t much to do. Before, Minseok would have probably had to work on odds of ends in the apartment, small tasks that involved tidying up, but now that Jongdae and Baekhyun moved in, he had someone else willing to pitch in. Jongdae and Minseok seemed to have a lot more time on their hands for themselves. Well, and for Mongryong, who was gradually becoming more warmed up to Minseok. Jongdae was actually very surprised to see Mongryong sleeping right up against Minseok’s lap for the first time. He commented with his familiar proud smile about how Mongryong must be used to android company at this point. Minseok never made an objective in his list about gaining Mongryong’s trust like that, but somehow, he could sense it being accomplished more and more by the day.

Ever since being let out of the bathroom, Mongryong usually let everyone sleep to their normal alarm, and it took that happening for Minseok to find out that Jongdae wakes up slightly later than Minseok at 8:15. He had some time to kill before he and Jongdae would decide what to do for the day. Usually, Minseok would wake up with a plan; it was something he was always motivated to do, but there was something about Jongdae’s laidback energy that seemed to change that. It was a welcome, but natural change in his life.

In the meantime, he walked out of the bedroom and took the dog food from the counter, shaking it before pouring some of its contents into Mongryong’s food bowl. He found a place to sit on the couch. Mongryong awakening from his plush dog bed on the floor, something Minseok actually suggested to get on the last shopping trip. Jongdae had found this very sweet of him to offer, much like everything Minseok managed to do for others. The corgi yawned wide, closing his eyes and jumping up onto the couch. Minseok stroked Mongryong’s head and behind his ears, which he learned were the best spots to get a reaction from, to which the corgi tilted his head with his eyes drifting away from Minseok while leaning into his touch. After a couple of minutes, the corgi laid down next to Minseok’s lap again, although this time, he rested his head on Minseok’s leg instead of curling up in a ball and laying his head on the sofa. It didn’t look like a very comfortable position, as it looked like the dog was twisting his neck to an unhealthy degree from his body, but to each their own.

Minseok just sat there, watching the drowsy creature fall back asleep, time seemingly slowed down, and right on the dot at 8:15, Jongdae entered the living room in his most common cat-patterned pajamas. He took a seat up against Mongryong’s curled tail, which immediately thumped onto Jongdae’s lap as well. Baekhyun had joked frequently about Minseok replacing him as a “parent” for Mongryong, even though owners weren’t technically parents to their pets. Apparently, it was a figure of speech and Minseok wished he had heard about it sooner before Jongdae had to explain it in front of two cackling humans. Still, if one could see how warmly Mongryong was reacting to him, Baekhyun’s point would certainly have some validity. Jongdae simply replied that Minseok was more like an uncle to the corgi. Minseok liked the idea of that.

“So, what are we doing today?” Jongdae turned his head to Minseok, which was laying snuggly against the sofa cushions. 

Minseok opened the schedule, but he didn’t really need to. He already knew what was planned for the day.

November 2nd, 2039 - 8:08am

Events scheduled:

• TV marathon day

8:10am - Feed Mongryong

8:15am - Jongdae wakes up from stasis

8:20am-12pm - Go through Minseok’s favorite movies/shows

• Cuddle with Mongryong

12:15pm - Take Mongryong for a walk

1:00pm-7:30pm - Go through Jongdae’s favorite series (at Jongdae’s request)

7:35pm - Chanyeol and Baekhyun arrive home

7:45pm - Estimated time for dinner

• Humans will eat

10:30pm - Baekhyun and Chanyeol go to bed

11:00pm - Androids go into stasis

The idea of a movie marathon day was actually Jongdae’s idea, not Minseok’s. He remembered Jongdae stopping him in the middle of a conversation about movies to ask if they could have a movie marathon together like Chanyeol and Baekhyun did. Minseok didn’t really have any activities in mind to suggest, but that’s always where Jongdae filled in the gap. Whenever Minseok needed an idea or a conversation starter, Jongdae provided it. Vice versa, whenever Jongdae was struggling to find a topic to talk about, sitting quietly and shy on his own, Minseok always seemed to have the perfect story to bring up. Minseok learned that the two completed each other, their personalities not direct opposites, but more like puzzle pieces, to create an analogy. They had similar edges and ends, but weren’t exactly the same, and because of that, they fit together. Minseok was surprised by how quickly their friendship grew in the span of about a month, their relationship status changing to “trusted friend”, which was something Minseok was quite happy to see, but he didn’t have much time to ponder about it now that Jongdae gently tapped him on the shoulder to bring him back to the present.

“Oh, sorry. We have our movie day, of course,” Minseok responded, earning him a satisfied smirk from Jongdae.

“We sure do,” Jongdae reached for the remote and put it in Minseok’s hand, “and if I remember correctly, I get to choose what we watch first.”

Minseok smiled, getting himself into a comfortable position like Jongdae, Mongryong squirming around with his eyes closed to readjust with him.

“Have any special pieces of media in mind?”

Jongdae paused to think over the topic; unlike Minseok, he didn’t seem to have a list written down about this. He spoke into the remote’s microphone, a color dynamic wave appearing on screen, monitoring his speech to launch a film.

“Play The Doctors .”

Minseok tilted his head in confusion, unable to recognize the drama that appeared on the TV.

“Have you ever seen it? I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s quite an old show.”

Minseok shook his head. Jongdae grinned.

“Well then,” he pressed the play button on the remote, “I guess this will be an interesting experience for you!”

—————————————————————

“So, what did you think about that, Seokkie?”

“I thought it was very enjoyable. There were a lot more romantic clichés than I was expecting,” Minseok smirked. “I didn’t know there was a romantic characteristic to you, Dae.”

Jongdae giggled, a palm covering his upturned lips, “Look, clichés can be unrealistic if they’re overdone in a series, but they can be sweet. I have a soft spot for romance, don’t judge me!”

By 10:41am, the androids had gotten through two episodes, and Minseok had a lot of time left to show at least two more movies, but Minseok decided to take a quick break from the screen, grabbing a toy from under the couch to throw towards Mongryong’s bed. The corgis head jerked towards the toy, a small growl coming from the bed. After staring at it for a couple seconds, Mongryong leaned forward to bite onto it, pulling it to his bed with him, gnawing on the sides.

A moment of tranquility filled the air. It felt nice having nothing to do for once, even though it felt strange for that to happen. The peculiarity of not being busy was something Minseok was slowly getting used to, but still unnerving when he wasn’t by Jongdae’s side. There was just something about his presence that was so lively that it made him step out of his own system for a bit, take the world less seriously than it needed to be. He appreciated the moments when Jongdae would take him away from his organizational paradise for a while because it allowed Minseok to grow more flexible. Having Jongdae around allowed him to improve himself, which was an experience he had only felt before with Chanyeol, and even that wasn’t as strong as with Jongdae.

Jongdae just stared at Mongryong from the couch, still clad in his cat pajamas, which was something Minseok was always curious about since the first night they appeared.

“Where did you get those pajamas?” Minseok asked out of the blue, surprised the question came out of his mouth at all.

Jongdae snickered, more so to himself than to Minseok. “It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got plenty of time according to our schedule. I’m listening.”

“Well,” Jongdae began, pulling on the fabric of his shirt to loosen up the sleeves, “I got these as a gift from Baekhyun for Christmas. I told him at one point that I was more of a fan of cats than dogs. He got really bitter about it, so when Christmas happened, he bought me this...ridiculous sleepwear to get back at me.”

“Have you interacted with cats before?” Minseok tilted his head, trying to get a closer look at the cats on his pants.

“I have, but only briefly. Baekhyun brought me to a cat cafe once and he claims I haven’t been the same since.” Jongdae smiled. However, to Minseok, there was something different about his smile, something new that seemed recognizable. The mention of cats brought an image of one to his mind. Looking at Jongdae, he seemed to possess the same upturned lips as a cat, especially when he smiled. He was surprised he didn’t see it earlier, but it was a connection that he felt amused by making nonetheless.

“You’re staring off,” Jongdae waved his hand in front of Minseok’s face, which made him realize he had been staring at Jongdae for much longer than he should have been. “Did we forget something on the list?”

“No, no, it’s not the list.” Minseok paused for a second, weighing whether or not he should tell Jongdae what was on his mind or make up something on the spot. Unfortunately, androids can not lie well; it’s usually very evident. The android becomes paralyzed in its speech momentarily, unable to move or speak. Their mouth may move, but no sound would come out. As an android, Jongdae would know if Minseok was lying, very much aware of how that works. It felt silly to mention, but he didn’t want Jongdae to distrust him for trying to avoid the subject.

“I just noticed you resemble a cat.”

“Really?” Jongdae laughed, his hand covering his mouth.

“Your smile resembles a cat’s smile. Your lips share the same upturned feature,” Minseok replied, trying to smile as genuinely as he could to mask the awkwardness he felt by stating it. Something in Minseok’s system seemed to detect that this isn’t the usual conversation human friends would share with each other.

“That’s...wow,” Jongdae’s smile widened, only furthering Minseok’s point when his lips curved inwards. His eyelids extended in disbelief, leaving more of his coffee eyes in the sunlight. “I thought Baekhyun was lying to me.”

A grin appeared on Minseok’s face that he couldn’t even control for some reason. “Baekhyun said the same thing to you?”

Jongdae tucked his curly locks behind his ear, the ends of them twirling around his finger naturally. “Yeah, he said that if I liked cats so much, I should just be one since I ‘look the part.’”

Minseok snickered, a teasing manner suddenly being brought out of him, “To be fair, he was right about one thing.”

“Oh, shut up,” Jongdae looked away and pushed Minseok onto the couch, still smiling with crescent shaped eyes and an eye roll. “I didn’t need to hear that Baekhyun was right for once today.”

“It’s true, though,” Minseok pulled himself back up, grabbing onto the seat cushion to sit upright again, “and besides, it’s a nice-looking characteristic on you. You have such a warm, bubbly personality that your smile matches really well with it on the outside.”

Suddenly, the laughter died down and Jongdae just... stared at him. It wasn’t even the kind of eye-contact that Jongdae had when talking to him. It was more intense, as if Jongdae was lost, in a daze like Minseok sometimes would be when looking at his list. Jongdae didn’t have any of these features, so Minseok couldn’t understand what was going on with him. However, that staring didn’t last long and Jongdae’s facial expression morphed back into his normal smile, except this time, it seemed more bashful. Jongdae stuttered, which was very uncharacteristic of him.

“T-thank you, Minseok. That’s very sweet of you to say.” Still, Jongdae’s smile never faltered, placing his hand on top of Minseok’s. Minseok still didn’t understand what caused this reaction, but he found himself smiling anyway.

The artificial skin on Jongdae’s fingertips began to peel itself off as if Jongdae was trying to interface with him, but the android lifted his hand, staring at it for a bit with a puzzled look before turning to reach for the remote and holding it in front of Minseok. “Anyway,” he let out a small breath, “I believe it’s your turn to show me something now. We have to decide quickly before we have to take Mongryong out on time.”

—————————————————————

There was something wrong with Minseok’s system. Well, at least Minseok thought there was. 

For the past couple of weeks, he was beginning to get tasks on his lists and schedules that he never added himself. For example, on the last grocery trip, roses were suddenly added to the list. Minseok had never once recorded the need to buy flowers. No one even spoke about them, not even Chanyeol, who surprised Baekhyun with flowers often during holidays. It wasn’t even a holiday.

Not to mention, Minseok’s schedule wasn’t becoming as detailed as it once was. In fact, the schedule for today went as follows:

**November 24th, 2039 - 8:00am

• Chanyeol and Baekhyun are home
• Hang around with them
• Remind them to make work lunches in advance
• Talk to Jongdae
• Play with Mongryong
• Make thirium cookies

First of all, none of these events were arranged into time-zones. Minseok could have sworn they were, but when he woke up this morning, they seemed to vanish as if they never existed. How was Minseok supposed to know when a certain activity was supposed to happen? Second of all, many of the events for the day were either very casually written or never recorded down by Minseok. Making thirium cookies was never something he thought about doing, nor something anyone else in the house mentioned, not even Jongdae. Hang around with Chanyeol and Baekhyun ?; what was that supposed to mean? Minseok has never used the word “hang” in his schedules, but alas, there it was.

Minseok had done a security check on his systems, ensuring someone didn’t hack into his database, but it revealed that everything was fine. No one else had touched his system. He even went so far as to do a history check over all of his lists, as organization androids can make some of his lists public for certain people to edit. That’s when Minseok became even more shocked.

All of those items were added by him.

Minseok even checked his memory to make sure there weren’t any circuit breaks during his stasis, but it came back clear. He was frankly disturbed that his schedules and lists, something very personal to him, seemed to be changing. The only explanation he could possibly come up with was that his subconscious thoughts seemed to be pouring over to his other applications. This was a rare, but a recorded issue for some androids. Usually when this happens, androids would be experiencing emotional dilemmas or find themselves in mental states that were unfamiliar to them. Being unable to make sense of these factors, their internal feelings might reveal themselves in small clues throughout their system as a way of coping with it or even trying to recognize it.

That’s what made this even weirder.

Minseok wasn’t going through any emotional or mental trouble. In fact, things seemed to be going rather well in his life at the moment. His relationships with Baekhyun and Jongdae were healthy and solid, especially with Jongdae. He felt very comfortable and at ease while living with them. Even when plans weren’t structured to be completely set-in-stone, Minseok found it much easier to let delays happen if they were necessary. All in all, Minseok was doing great. He couldn’t imagine himself going through any “dilemma.”

In addition, Minseok wasn’t really finding himself in any new mental states, at least not significant ones. Although he would find himself being caught off-guard at times about how close he and Jongdae were, that wasn’t something that brought him worry or strife. He certainly was surprised by how quickly their bond grew over only a little more than a month, but it didn’t bother him. They just seemed to “click”, as Chanyeol had said multiple times, noting how comfortable they seemed to be together, which made a lot of sense to Minseok. In fact, it made him quite happy to be attached to someone as enthusiastic and cheerful as Jongdae. He couldn’t imagine that his friendship would lead him to develop any new challenges to his emotions. Not when things were going so great.

Still, Minseok knew he was functioning properly. There was nothing preventing his bicomponents from failing, so that was reassuring enough for the moment. He made a note on his list to look into how to fix this problem for later, and just to be sure, he made another note to remind Minseok he wrote the previous note.

Getting out of bed, Minseok heard something, a melody almost. He stood up from his bed and saw that Jongdae’s bed was empty. Mongryong was resting on the tidied sheets, snuggling against the pillow. It was clear that the corgi had nothing to do with this, deep in slumber. Today is just full of mysteries, Minseok thought to himself. 

Continuing outside, he spotted Jongdae in the kitchen hovering near the stove, singing a song to himself. It was unlike any other song Minseok could recognize, the tune very comforting, but new, and Jongdae was singing it to himself. Minseok heard him mutter words of love in this melody, crouching down to open the oven door, a faint burning smell in the air.

Wait.

“Shit,” Minseok muttered to himself, scattering to the kitchen, causing Jongdae to jump back in surprise. Minseok fanned the air, trying his best to eliminate the burnt scent from reaching the smoke detector, a look of concern all over his face. He looked in the oven, discovering burnt... cookies ? What was Jongdae doing baking cookies? It didn’t matter at the moment; all Minseok could focus on was getting the tray out of the oven, simultaneously pulling the towel off the oven handle and waving it below the smoke detector. He didn’t look for Jongdae’s reaction, his only goal was making sure the tenants wouldn’t have a repeated incident of this.

“Minseok,” Jongdae began, stammering and fanning the air with his hands covered in mitts alongside Minseok, “I’m so sorry. I just wanted to-”

“Why were you up so early making cookies?” Minseok cut off, a harshness in his voice that he felt cutting into Jongdae’s panicked presence.

“I-I just wanted to surprise you,” Jongdae tried to explain, barely unable to get the words out as he stepped farther and farther away from Minseok.

Minseok eventually stopped fanning the air, satisfied enough that the bitter scent seemed to be more of an aftertaste in the air. He felt the fans in his system start spinning, trying to calm down his temperature from overheating. Taking a deep breath, or as deep as he could for an android, Minseok turned to Jongdae, who was backing himself against the corner of the countertop. 

“I just wanted to surprise you,” Jongdae repeated, his face covered in shock and guilt. “I’m so, so sorry, Minseok. I didn’t think it would be this hard. I just wanted to do something nice for you to return all the nice favors you’ve done for me. I’m so sorry, I should have waited for you...”

Jongdae’s apology rambled longer by the minute. Minseok was very appreciative of the apology, but it made him feel guilty to see Jongdae so distraught. By the look in his eyes, his eyebrows pushing themselves into his temples, one would think that Jongdae was expecting Minseok to punch him, which was something Minseok couldn’t even imagine. Jongdae was a very caring person, always wanting to help others; it would make sense he would try to do this, and even though Minseok wasn’t sorry for being as concerned as he was, he didn’t want to make Jongdae’s gentle coffee eyes look so strained. It almost looked like Jongdae was on the verge of tears, which upset Minseok deeply.

Minseok cut off Jongdae by placing his hands on his shoulders. Jongdae immediately silenced, but managed to look even more afraid. Minseok spoke with the most calm voice he could use at the moment.

“Dae, it’s alright. I’m not angry at you.”

“You’re not?” Jongdae sniffled, evidently revealing the small tears in the corners of his eyes. Minseok closed his eyes, sighing while shaking his head, staring up at Jongdae.

“Of course, I’m not. I was just afraid that you were in danger and that something bad was going to happen to the apartment. I would have preferred you let me know you were doing this, but I appreciate what you were trying to do. I really do.”

“I’m really sorry, Minseok-”

“You don’t need to apologize anymore. It’s okay, Dae,” Minseok paused, watching a single tear finish bubbling up in his eyes and trail lightly-colored thirium down his cheek. “Aw, Dae...don’t cry.”

“I was just...really overwhelmed by a lot of senses all at once. I’m okay,” Jongdae smiled, a hint of sadness still present in his voice. Minseok felt his hand raise up on its own suddenly, freezing in his steps. When his brain caught up with his body, an urge to wipe away Jongdae’s tears came to his mind, overflowing his body. He didn’t know where this strong desire came from, but he supposed that this was what android friendships looked like. He had never gotten so intense of a feeling before; that had to be the reason.

“Can I…” the words never seemed to make it out of Minseok’s mouth, some biocomponent within him restricting the end of his sentence from being spoken. Luckily, Jongdae seemed to understand, looking from Minseok’s frozen hand to his eyes. He nodded and Minseok swiped away the tears on the rim of his eyelids and eyelashes, his fluttery, elegant eyelashes. Jongdae seemed to become stiff, awkward at first, but seemed to return to ease once Minseok’s finger moved across his cheek. A split second of emotions and visions suddenly rushed through his head, Minseok running from behind with a scared look, a desire to make all the fear go away, to protect him, the guilt of knowing that he started it. Minseok had no idea who he was, but whoever he was seemed like a familiar friend. And felt a lot like Jongdae.

Minseok put his hand back down to his side and Jongdae reacted with a quiet “thank you” and a slightly sad, but genuine smile. Minseok could have sworn he saw the area he touched flickered between Jongdae’s artificial skin and the white silicon he was made of, but it was so instantaneous, and Minseok felt so overwhelmed, that he found himself focusing more on taking a second to process what went through his mind.

Minseok shook off whatever anxieties he had, writing down a note to let himself process them at another time towards the end of the day. and turned to the kitchen island, where Minseok had shoved the cookie tray on to get out of the way. He chuckled to himself.

“It was a good effort,” Minseok began, “Where you went wrong, however, is that you didn’t set the oven to the right degree. It seems you had the perfect ratio of all the other ingredients when you made the batter, even the thirium was placed nicely in it. It was just the actual baking that gave you difficulty.”

Jongdae dumbly nodded, watching Minseok go to the pantry, grabbing sugar, flour, baking soda, and baking powder. He grabbed the used blender from the corner of the countertop, placing it in front of Jongdae as they stood side by side.

“C’mon, you can try again. I’ll help set up the oven right and supervise you in case something goes wrong,” he assured Jongdae, who blinked, registering what Minseok was saying before starting to measure the amount of sugar needed. Minseok patted Jongdae on the back, resting his hand along his shoulder, something he didn’t know he was doing at first until he noticed Jongdae almost leaning against the touch.

There was a lot Minseok had to think about by the end of the day.

—————————————————————

Chanyeol and Baekhyun got home from work later than usual, arriving at 7:55pm. As customary, on days like this, the two humans brought home takeout, much to Minseok’s dismay. Still, nothing could stop them from picking up a burger from the closest drive-thru.

Unfortunately, a consequence of Chanyeol and Baekhyun arriving late is that it reawakens Mongryong from his slumber at that time, and because it was too late to take Mongryong out for a walk, the corgi needed to get tired out through a lot of play.

Jongdae knew exactly what to do as soon as Mongryong stumbled into Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s arms and started scattering across the hardwood floor, reaching from under the plush bed and sliding a tug-of-war toy in the dog’s direction. Mongryong took the bait and snatched the braided toy away from everyone, hiding right along the kitchen island, tossing his head back and forth with the toy in his mouth.

Crouching, Jongdae approached the corgi and managed to grab hold of one of the ends and pull, Mongryong leaning back with his hind legs to avoid being pulled across the floor. The dog was putting up a good fight, but so was Jongdae. Minseok knew that the android could fight back against a threat as small as this in strength, despite his gentle, cute appearance. Before he knew it, Jongdae was dragging Mongryong across the floor, his paws sliding across the floor no matter how hard it tried to fight against the pressure.

Just when Jongdae seemed to be winning the fight by a long shot, leaning very far back on the floor, Mongryong, the sly corgi he can be, let go of his end, letting Jongdae fall backwards on the floor with a big thud. Minseok gasped, while Baekhyun and Chanyeol snickered at how Jongdae just decided to lay on the floor. There was nothing wrong, of course. Thankfully. Still, Jongdae didn’t take getting tricked well, especially from a corgi. Minseok was sure that Jongdae was wallowing in his slightly bruised ego for a small second, but just to be safe, he crawled over the android and gave him his hand. The incident from that morning played in his head, but when Jongdae pulled himself back up to a regular sitting position, it seemed like a one time event. Nothing happened.

Jongdae lifted his head above his head, closing his eyes and sighing, feignedly displaying surrender. 

“Minseokkie, I don’t think I can go on,” he pushed the toy towards said android, “You’re the only other one that stands a chance against Mongryong’s wits.”

Minseok smirked with amusement, deciding to play along with the charade

“Have no fear, Jongdae. I will avenge you…. You!” Minseok called to Mongryong, the corgi only tilted his head, clearly confused, forcing Chanyeol into a fit of laughter over the kitchen island. “I challenge thee to the death!” Minseok held out the toy for the dog, sweeping it from left to right to attract his attention. Again, Mongryong took the bait and bit onto one end, starting to pull.

Minseok took a similar approach, pulling just enough to overpower the corgi, dragging him across the floor to loosen Mongryong’s grip. Just like the last time, Mongryong put up a good fight, but Minseok was determined to “avenge” Jongdae, whatever that meant. Instead of waiting for Mongryong to let go, Minseok pulled so he was already close to the floor while he was leaning back. Then, suddenly he pulled himself back up while holding onto the toy, pulling Mongryong into his lap in the process. All he had to do was scratch the sensitive spot behind Mongryong’s ear, and the toy plopped out of his mouth. Victory secured.

Baekhyun cheered and clapped behind a camera, apparently videotaping all of this. Minseok smiled and held Mongryong in his arms, cradling his stomach much like Jongdae did when Mongryong was locked in the bathroom. The corgi’s ears perked up at Minseok’s adjustment, but then realized when he held up his hind legs and rocked him back and forth.

He noticed Jongdae staring at him from across the room, still seated on the carpet while Minseok was sitting on the hardwood. He looked like he was deep in thought, searching in Minseok’s eyes for something, which was practically impossible for androids. Android eyes were made of flexible glass; there was nothing in them like human ones. Minseok found it strange, but he found it captivating to see Jongdae so intently focused on him, as if he had something profound to say to him.

“Hey, lovebird,” Baekhyun called, “you’re staring!” Jongdae jumped and got stuck in his own words, struggling to speak at first.

“I wasn’t staring! I was just…” Jongdae paused, looking around Minseok’s person again before scooching closer to Minseok. He placed his hand on Minseok’s hair, short but slightly frizzy from the dog fight, and slowly followed his touch down to his cheek for a millisecond before pulling back quickly. “I was just noticing that, Minseok, you aren’t the only one with feline characteristics.”

Chanyeol stumbled over the island again, cackling at Jongdae’s almost paralyzed interaction. Baekhyun was obviously still recording, miserably failing to control his own laughter. Minseok, however, was just as frozen as Jongdae. He had no idea what the touch was for or why it made him feel so warm, his fans turning on.

“Your eyes…,” Jongdae spoke back up again, “they turn upward just like a cat’s eyes…. They’re very pretty, Minseokie.” Jongdae managed to say, practically whispering it.

Minseok found himself paralyzed, the circuits in his brain stalling to process the information around him. His thoughts were all in disarray, racing across his mind. The only thing he was able to do was meet Jongdae’s eyes, staring into their light.

“Thank you,” he managed to breath. Jongdae made a small forward movement in his neck, trying to node, before locking his eyes in any other direction, looking incredibly embarrassed for some reason. He stood up quick and excused himself to the bathroom out of nowhere.

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?” Baekhyun yelled in the direction of the hallway, letting go of his camera and laughing just as loud as Chanyeol. “Was that FLIRTING!? Oh my GOD , that was the best!”

The two humans in their own world, Minseok found himself in a world of his own, zoning out of the real world and into his own system. Thinking about everything that had happened today, he realized he had the same thoughts as Baekhyun.

What was that?

—————————————————————

Jongdae did eventually come out of the bathroom, but Minseok was as confused as ever. There is no need for an android to even use the room’s facilities. It seemed like he was simply hanging around there for a couple minutes before heading back out. Jongdae seemed a lot less flustered, but Minseok still couldn’t piece together why. Maybe if he understood the intense emotions in his own head, he would be able to, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. He didn’t even know what he was feeling; he couldn’t identify it and he knew it was affecting his systems. 

Chanyeol and Baekhyun decided to head to bed early as their day was extra long and they wanted to catch up on sleep for the weekend. Saying goodnight, Jongdae and Minseok soon decided to head to their own room. Jongdae let himself fall onto the bed from his heels and Minseok climbed into his own bed.

They had a conversation for a little while, but Minseok could hardly focus. Or maybe he was focusing too much? Minseok couldn’t figure out which it was. He found himself zoning out of the discussion, not really paying attention to the topic at hand, which the last time he could remember it was about the supermarket. Androids aren’t really supposed to zone out on their own, but when their system is overwhelmed, it will mute the outside world that causes drifts in thought to occur, similar to stasis. Minseok had a lot of thoughts on his mind. He thought about his schedules, still experiencing random changes. He thought about how he was apparently going through a mental or emotional change that resulted in it. He thought about the roses, the casual diction of his notes, and the close connections he was forming with everyone in the apartment.

Above all, he thought about Jongdae.

Eventually, Jongdae went into stasis, leaving Minseok alone in his mind. He couldn’t let himself sleep; there was so much to think about concerning Jongdae. He found himself thinking about Jongdae’s skin, the instances where it glitched between its artificial appearance. He found himself thinking about how hesitant Jongdae was to touch him. Minseok had no problem with it that evening, but it was strange to see Jongdae so shy and even flustered. The main thing he found himself thinking about was the array of emotions roaring in his mind. He couldn’t even define what happened. He felt like he was viewing the world through different eyes, like he was a different person for a split second, but that would be impossible. The only way that was possible was through interfacing.

Interfacing was a very personal connection between androids, needing complete vulnerability. It occured when two androids let their artificial skin fall and made physical contact with each other. By doing so, their systems would be linked together; their memories, their thoughts, their emotions would all be shared with the other android. This wasn’t something androids actively desired doing with another unless their relationship was strong or comfortable enough.

Another key part of interfacing is its basis of consent. Both androids have to agree to sync their systems together, aware that they would most likely be sharing something secretive and intimate about themselves.

Minseok never even thought about interfacing; there was no way he could have given consent. In addition, even if they had managed to interface accidentally for a split-second, Minseok had no idea what he was even sharing with Jongdae. There was no memory, no opinion that he wanted Jongdae to experience. He tried to think back to that moment, remembering how his body seemed to be moving ahead of his own mind, his arm raising to touch Jongdae’s cheek without even thinking about it. There must have been some sort of emotion tied to it, but it just seemed so foreign. It was such an instinctual feeling to comfort Jongdae, to make sure he was okay, that it almost scared him.

Maybe that was the emotion Minseok wanted to share. He didn’t actively remember wanting to share that, but in the back of his mind, maybe he did.

Maybe he wanted to show Jongdae how much he cared.

Still, that was just Minseok’s side of the interface; Jongdae was a whole other topic to delve into. He recalled the emotions he felt, the sights he caught in his eyes, opening the note he jotted down describing all the bursts of experiences into words.

“Thirium cookies, first night of trying cookies, sentimental, touched, ‘he’s so sweet’, Mongryong, close to everyone, works hard, schedule, safe, secure, protected…smoke, dark clouds, scared Minseok, angry Minseok, protect, guilt, ‘all my fault’, can’t protect; who is this voice?”

Looking back on this list, Minseok was more than certain this was Jongdae. The word “sweet” and the memory of the baking cookies for the first time all but confirmed that it was him. Still, Minseok had no idea if Jongdae had intended to share this with him or if it was an amalgamation of subconscious emotions slipping in through the transfer. That’s when it hit him.

There was a pattern. Whatever was affecting Minseok currently with his schedules was probably the cause for this interface to begin with. This meant that the malfunction in Minseok’s system could possibly be happening to Jongdae’s as well. In a sense, it made him feel better that he wasn’t overestimating the effect of whatever he was going through, but it did leave him asking more questions. What mental or emotional challenge was he going through that Jongdae could be going through? Is he even going through a challenge of the sorts? Did he manage to hack into Minseok’s system during the transfer? Does his goal of comforting Jongdae have anything to do with the schedules and list? Why is this feeling so overwhelming? However, the question that echoed in his mind the loudest was…

Why does it feel so happy?

—————————————————————

The next day, Jongdae and Baekhyun decided to go downtown to walk Mongryong, commenting on how “Minseok was stealing Baekhyun’s favorite android away from him.” Minseok was afraid that after last night, something in their relationship altered, that some form of trust was broken or there was a metaphorical wall between the two after that awkward evening. The last thing Minseok wanted was for Jongdae to feel uncomfortable around him after how close they had grown together.

Luckily, when Jongdae woke up, he had the same enthusiastic cat-like smile he had always had. Minseok knew something within him changed after that night; in fact, he had a small passing thought that something unknown within his system revealed itself. However, nothing about Jongdae seemed to change, which was incredibly reassuring to Minseok in the light of all his internal chaos. He knew he could depend on Jongdae’s chipper, carefree, intoxicating spirit when he needed his mind to process itself out. 

Intoxicating? Where did that come?

Minseok seemed like he had to put yet another thought in his notes when Jongdae rapidly waved goodbye to Minseok with a wide grin, crescent warm eyes, and shining friendly locks, but then Chanyeol cleared his throat, putting his coffee mug on the marble. 

“So, Min, what’s on the to-do list today?”

Minseok took a moment to open up the schedule, realizing he forgot to do so earlier when he woke up. However, suddenly, his event application crashed. His schedule vanished with his list slammed into Minseok’s focal view, but it wasn’t his regular to-do list. It was labeled as such, but plastered all over the writing was Jongdae’s name repeated across his eyes alongside activities that mentioned him. Make Jongdae smile , Protect Jongdae , Comfort Jongdae , Bake him cookies , and Make Jongdae laugh , were among the constants on the list. The words cluttered, expanding almost like pop-up advertisements all over his vision, always repeating, underlining, and bolding Jongdae’s name. Pictures of his face suddenly started appearing, zooming into specific memories that he had with Jongdae. The day that Jongdae tried his cookies for the first time, his surprised eyebrows were captured, with a small internal voice that read slanted eyebrows, gentle, cute expressions over and over again. The moment Jongdae gave Mongryong a bath and flashed a satisfied smile, his system pointed out, curled lips, like a cat; always smiles widely; exemplifies pouts connecting to a neighboring image of Jongdae’s protruding lips that pleaded for Minseok to buy a doll-shaped chew toy when the grocery cart was already filled to the brim. All of these small, but captivating, charming details of Jongdae came to his mind, overwhelming his mind and his system, his fans cranking up to the highest setting automatically. Minseok couldn’t even process everything he was seeing; he forgot entirely what he was looking at to begin with when Chanyeol called his name.

“Min!”

“Huh?” Minseok snapped out of his internal frenzy, some of the images minimizing, allowing him to have somewhat of a glance at Chanyeol, although mostly covered up by Jongdae’s name.

“The list? Do we have anything planned?”

“Uhhh, I...” Minseok stalled, trying to recover the missing to-do list, but all he seemed to be bringing up were more goals, more images, more notes that only had to do with Jongdae. No matter where he searched, his orderly schedule, his clinical notes… it all disappeared. Minseok didn’t want to alarm Chanyeol with what was going on, however; there was something in him that felt embarrassing to reveal. Minseok knew logically that this was an error and Chanyeol should know about it so they could fix it, but there was an emotional pull on this logic that kept him from telling the truth. He knew that Chanyeol would know he was lying; he was freezing up in his diction, but he reminded himself of the schedule he had before, as his memory storage was still fully intact. Luckily, there wasn’t much to do as far as he remembered as it was a weekend. He even remembered that Chanyeol had wanted to have another chance to cook thirium food for Jongdae, since he was still bitter about his previous defeat to Minseok. He held onto that memory in his head, focusing on its existence and validity primarily, as he tried to speak.

“I don’t think so… The only thing we really planned to do today… was that rematch in thirium cooking with me,” Minseok responded, the windows still dizzying up his sight. He was still able to see Chanyeol, but only his face and the cabinets above the island behind him. The notices still wouldn’t leave.

Chanyeol made an “o” shape with his mouth before he broke into a smug grin, completely unaware of Minseok’s internal crisis. “Oh yeahhh, I’m absolutely going to beat you this time. I’ve gotten some practice over the last couple months.”

The human made his way over to Minseok patting him on the shoulder, passing him into the hallway. “I’m going to change,” he called from the bathroom, “I’ll be out in a second!”

“Alright!” Minseok called back. Hearing the door shut, one by one, the windows disappeared. No more lists, no more notes, no more images. Minseok’s sight became clear again and he felt his fans turn slightly slower. A small smile appeared on his face, displaying his hidden relief.

Still, Minseok was still deep in thought. First of all, what just happened? Minseok felt mortified that his entire system was overwhelmed like that, the thought of this glitch happening taking precedence over the content of the glitch. Minseok closed his eyes, trying to lower his stress levels, which were rather high at 35%. Trying to redirect his attention, he tried to summon one of the lists that overflowed his screen, reluctant to maximizing it in his vision. He read over the rest of the list that was hidden by the surplus of images and notifications from before

• Make Jongdae smile
• Protect Jongdae
• Comfort Jongdae
• Bake Jongdae cookies
• Make Jongdae laugh
• Play with Mongryong alongside Jongdae
• Tell stories to Jongdae
• Hold arm around Jongdae
• Let Jongdae know you care
• Hug Jongdae
• Hold Jongdae’s hand
• Caress Jongdae’s cheek
• Kiss Jongdae
• Be with Jongdae

Be with Jongdae

The list was extensive; it was shocking. Seeing all of this, Minseok couldn’t believe this was in his system at all. He didn’t believe that he was the one that wrote it, but he’s learned enough about what’s going on to know that he was. It didn’t make sense to him. All of this was out of nowhere and completely irrational. Jongdae was Minseok’s friend, his close friend. Their relationship was platonic; his status tracker confirmed that. Minseok didn’t even imagine wanting to be romantically involved with Jongdae. It just didn’t make sense. They were already close; why would Minseok ever want to be closer. It felt as if he was looking into the thoughts of someone who wasn’t him, horrifying Minseok.

Although, the more he read over the list, one, two, three, four times, he started to make connections. Many of the items on that list were accurate. He did want to comfort Jongdae, make him smile his iconic smile, and tell stories to Jongdae to make him laugh. He did want to have physical contact with Jongdae too. That’s when he circled in on the morning baking scare. He remembered his hand raising towards Jongdae’s cheek. He remembered the split-second urges to assure him he was okay. He wanted to caress his cheek, making the tears go away. He wanted to hug him and not let him go until he felt better, although he was unable to at the time. He wanted to protect him.

And that’s not even where it seemed to end. During movie marathons, he remembered watching Chanyeol and Baekhyun sit close together. He remembered moving in his seat on the couch near Jongdae so that they were touching. He found Jongdae’s android skin cool, but familiar, contrasting from his warm hair, warm eyes, and warm smile. He wanted that feeling to stay with him for as long as possible. He remembered wanting to put his arm around Jongdae’s shoulder for some reason and place Mongryong on his lap between the two. He wanted to be around him, he wanted to be near him, he wanted to be a significant part of his life, and it was an overwhelming, undefinable feeling at the time. He wanted to feel closer to him, he wanted to be closer to him, he wanted...

He wanted to be with him.

—————————————————————

Minseok was right. He was romantically interested in Jongdae.

The afternoon of that realization, he confirmed that all the longings in his relationship with Jongdae were symptoms of romantic attraction. Minseok had trouble accepting it, not because he was scared of the emotion; in fact, having a name for what he was feeling made him feel more comfortable with having glitches in his software. No, where the trouble with Minseok lied was in its unfamiliarity. He had never had romantic attraction for anyone before. These feelings only appeared now in Jongdae’s presence. Because Minseok had barely ever gotten to know androids before, he felt at a disadvantage.

Not to mention, these feelings grew exponentially quick. All the articles Minseok looked up mentioned concepts like love at first sight or infatuation, but they seemed like ideologies that didn’t fit his current situation. Their bond grew from strangers to friends, and now for Minseok, to love interest, within the span of less than two months. It didn’t seem feasible to him. Human relationships don’t grow so intense in that short amount of time. At least, Chanyeol’s didn’t; that relationship was the only reliable reference Minseok seemed to have to navigate him. Minseok guessed that the reason for this was because he and Jongdae were androids. He liked to think that their additional features in communication contributed to the rapid growth of their relationship, but he wasn’t completely sure. After all, there weren’t many studies being done on romantic relationships between androids in the world. 

Minseok let himself fester in these reflections while staying somewhat tuned in to the movie marathon he was a part of. Chanyeol was staying at work later to help with the production of a song, so Baekhyun decided to use this free time he wasn’t spending all over his boyfriend, by organizing a movie night. Minseok watched Baekhyun’s intense focus on the two characters in the movie, staring at each other longingly in the rain under a single umbrella. It was near the end of the movie by this point. The characters had been through a bunch of trials throughout the movie, figuring out that despite being involved in a romantic relationship, they wanted to be with each other more. Minseok turned to Jongdae, who seemed equally invested in the movie, his eyes entranced by the confession that rolled on screen. It reminded Minseok of his first official movie marathon with Jongdae, of all the romantic cliches that Jongdae admitted to being attached to. He remembered how passionate Jongdae was about them, talking about unrealistic, but daring and attractive they seemed to be.

An idea suddenly popped into Minseok’s head.

—————————————————————

Over the next couple of days, Minseok began to form a plan. He decided to take the romantic clichés from the movies Jongdae had watched with him and recreate them for him as a way to express his emotions. Initially, he was apprehensive of going forward with it for many reasons. First of all, as Minseok has learned over the course of watching human-produced movies, exaggerated cliches can not always be applied to the laws of reality. Second of all, Minseok wasn’t even sure if he should try to show how he feels to Jongdae. He didn’t want to fracture their friendship when they were already so connected to each other. However, Minseok came to the conclusion after many hours of pondering that Jongdae deserved to know the truth. The one thing he found through those aforementioned articles about signs of romantic attraction is that it is important to display the right signals to make your feelings clear to your romantic interest. Using their reactions, one can determine if they should stop making advancements if they do not seem to feel comfortable with them, or if they should keep going if these advances are reciprocated.

Minseok thought it was at least worth a shot since he wanted to further their relationship to be as close as possible.

As part of this mission, he created a hidden list in his software that kept track of all the cliches Jongdae seemed most attached to. The first one that was jotted down was revisiting a promise. A couple weeks ago, Jongdae and Minseok had watched a movie where two best friends promised to give each other the best presents for Christmas. The next Christmas, the two had pronounced their love with those very presents, exchanging a pearled necklace and a sketchbook with heart doodles all over the cover. Minseok used this as inspiration to fulfil the promise he had made before to Jongdae.

“Alright, here we are, Jongdae,” Minseok pointed toward the karaoke building. Jongdae had a radiating smile on his face, exemplified by the sparkling snowflakes lightly falling on Jongdae’s hair. Minseok led the way, opening up the door for Jongdae, as they stepped inside. Minseok had booked a room in advance, something Jongdae was ecstatic about. It gave Minseok a small glimmer of hope that this would go well.

When they entered the room, it was covered in violet lights, glowing strings of light bulbs embroidering the large projection screen. A small wooden table was placed in the corner of the room, complimenting the lighter shade of wood on the floor. Jongdae wasted no time, walking up to the screen with a wide grin on his face, reaching for the remote to choose a song. Minseok took a seat at the table, ordering two pieces of thirium cake, one of the newest additions to the establishment to make it more android-friendly. 

After the desserts came, Jongdae finished putting together a playlist with three songs of his own choice, two of them by SUH0 and one by Sehun. Jongdae held the remote out to Minseok.

“It’s your turn now! Pick the songs you want, Minseokkie!”

Minseok grabbed the remote, taking a moment to acknowledge Jongdae’s excited face. His eyes were shaped like crescents once again, which Minseok began to realize was one of his favorite expressions that Jongdae could make. Turning his attention as convertly as possible, he selected three songs of his own, all of them from the soundtracks of his favorite dramas. He added one more at the request of Jongdae because “You brought me here! You deserve to have another song for that.” 

After a moment of finalizing the settings, and Minseok having to redirect Jongdae from accidentally deleting the entire playlist, the screen settled into a pastel yellow color, illuminating the wooden flooring. Jongdae’s shoulders raised and his foot tapped repeatedly against the ground enthusiasm. The instrumental track for Jongdae’s first song, Borderline by Sehun, began to play its intro. Jongdae giggled, shaking Minseok’s shoulder as he quickly shoved a microphone towards Minseok’s chest for him to hold. Jongdae’s reaction was so animated; he looked like a kid in a candy store. Minseok would be lying if he said he wasn’t smitten with Jongdae’s excitement.

With the lyrics appearing to queue up on the screen, Minseok readied himself to hear Jongdae sing in front of him for the first time.

—————————————————————

Within 47 minutes, most of the songs flew by quickly. Jongdae and Minseok had many opportunities to sing duets together. Stay up , a song that Minseok chose as an extra addition, turned out to be quite the hilarious moment between the two of them. 

It was certainly a sexual song, the lyrics describing a sexual encounter in a car, was awkward for Jongdae to sing initially. He said it was a while since he listened to the album. Minseok watched as Jongdae had to stop from his lines to laugh, doubling over, while Minseok giggled along to pull him back up. There were also moments where Minseok decided to be showy in front of him, singing Beenzino’s lines, while swaying his hips side-to-side and biting his lip seductively, although way more than necessary. He did it more so to cause Jongdae to lose focus on his singing and make him laugh, but a small part of him wondered if doing so would be an advance that Jongdae would welcome. He remembered Jongdae’s laughter roaring louder than the music, the android covering his eyes with his hands, but sneakily, looking through his fingers. At rare times, these moves would cause Jongdae to stop and stare, watching closely to Minseok’s hips rolls and the movement of his hair. The articles Minseok looked at said that this could be a good indicator of romantic reciprocation. Minseok kept this memory at his highest priority regardless.

Finally, the last song played, one of the songs Jongdae had picked: Curtain by SUH0. Minseok decided to sit back at the table, where the finished plates of cake were pushed to the side, and admire Jongdae’s performance as a spectator.

Minseok knew he was screwed by the end of it.

Jongdae’s voice housed a strong vibrato that enhanced the emotion of quieter notes during the beginning of the song and gave power to the louder, thunderous notes towards the end. His voice was smooth like his chocolate eyes, sliding swiftly from one note to the next, entrancing Minseok’s. He believed that Jongdae could have easily been produced as an idol android with the voice he had. When Jongdae sang, every notification in Minseok’s system silenced. Jongdae had an impeccable talent for replicating the emotion in certain lyrics, singing the pleas of a man who wants his lover to stay as if that was what Jongdae wanted for himself. In a way, Minseok hoped that Jongdae could actually relate to the song.

In a way, Minseok hoped that Jongdae was relating the song to him.

When the song ended, Minseok noticed that there was still 7 minutes left of their hour-long session in the room. Minseok had run out of songs to suggest and Jongdae felt guilty to suggest more to the list, even with Minseok’s encouragement. Suddenly, an idea passed by Minseok’s system, although he was reluctant to act upon it. Eventually, he decided to go for it, since he figured he had nothing to lose.

“I remember when you said that you write music,” Minseok spoke out of the blue, Jongdae turning around after placing his microphone in the holder next to the screen.

“Me too,” Jongdae looked at his feet for a moment before looking back up at Minseok. “What about it?”

“Um…” Minseok struggled to get the words out, a small warning in his system preparing him for the possibility of overstepping a boundary, “would you be comfortable with sharing a song you wrote with me?”

Jongdae stared at him in an unreadable expression, his fingers twiddling together while Minseok continued with caution. 

“I understand if you don’t want to. I know your privacy is really important to you. It is for me too. You just have a really beautiful voice, Dae, and it was a quick thought that passed by my mind. I can find another song to sing if you’re not comfortable-”

“I’d love to,” Jongdae interrupted him and smiled, giving Minseok a reassuring look. He stood oddly still for a second, looking a lot stiffer than before. “It’ll sound somewhat awkward without instrumentals, but I can still do it if you want.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Minseok responded. With that, Jongdae nodded, an almost giddy expression on his face as he skipped back to the microphone stand. He adjusted the mic so it was not longer on its highest setting, switching it to medium. He tapped the top of it to make sure it was connected to the speaker. Then, his eyes fluttered closed and with a small audible sigh, he began to sing. 

“This cold and empty room

That was closed for so long

Your scent that gently carried over in the air

Unknowingly, my heart fluttered because of it

The long night that couldn’t see an end

It’s already becoming brighter with the thoughts of you

My heart that grew far away

In no time, it returned again

You don’t know, my fluttering heart

I’m always gazing at you by myself

I will wait for you, please turn around for me

You don’t know my heart.”

Jongdae never once opened his eyes, but Minseok knew it was because the other android was focusing all of his attention onto the song. It was clear by his neutral expression, his eyebrows stationary in no one expression, that Jongdae took singing very personally, especially with his own music. This made sense to him, of course. Jongdae had a clear shift from his bubbly karaoke performance to his soothing, tranquil concert he was debuting for Minseok. The lyrics stuck with Minseok, finding himself in Jongdae’s words. He was surprised by how emotional Jongdae’s voice sounded while singing his ballad. It felt for a moment like Jongdae was interfacing with Minseok from a distance, singing the thoughts Minseok kept hidden.

“You smile while looking at me

Without even knowing my nervous heart

Instead, my self that is insistently drawn to you

Seems pitiful

You don’t know, my fluttering heart

I’m always gazing at you by myself

I will wait for you, please turn around for me

You don’t know my heart.”

In a way, Minseok wondered if Jongdae shared these thoughts too.

“You don’t know, my fluttering heart

I’m always gazing at you by myself

I will remember the moments we were together

Even if these moments pass by, forever.”

When the song reached its end, Jongdae slowly quietly finished his final note, Minseok clapped. His hands just started moving on their own by the time Minseok caught up with himself. He cheered for Jongdae, chanting his name loudly, to which the android bowed and giggled, his eyes closed and his eyebrows slanted. Minseok finally got to see Jongdae’s signature facial expression, a perfect combination of humbleness and pride, becoming somewhat flustered at his applause.

Minseok came to the conclusion that this look was his favorite.

—————————————————————

Minseok went home that night on a great note, happily crossing off the first item from his list. Jongdae seemed to respond well to the karaoke center. He also received encouragement from Jongdae opening up and singing one of his own pieces, something he knew was a sensitive topic for the other android. It made Minseok feel special and grateful that he was close enough to experience something so beautiful from Jongdae.

A couple days later, it only pushed Minseok further, waking up an hour early with the second objective clear in his mind: exploring nature. Another movie that Jongdae had introduced Minseok to during their marathon revolved around the story of a group of college students on an internship. Two of the characters, the side pairing of the film who happened to be Jongdae’s favorite, decided to get out of the musty environment of their dorms to stroll around the nearby park and have a picnic.

Minseok decided to follow suit and spent the hour and a half that he had until Jongdae woke up to prepare ingredients. He would have created an extensive meal if he could, but given the fact that androids don’t need to eat the same way humans in movies do, Minseok made sure to take it easy on the kitchen equipment. The only food he made were his admired thirium cookies. He placed them in a zip-lock cube and tied it with a bow that he found from an old Christmas present he received.

Later that afternoon, Jongdae and Minseok left the apartment and took in the sights of the family park around them. The maroon leaves all fell to the ground, leaving the trees bare, revealing their prickly wood patterns. Not many people were out on a day like this, as if it was very cold and not extremely nice outside, but as androids were able to turn off their temperature senses, this was no obstacle for Jongdae and Minseok.

They found a quiet spot by the lake, the only sound to be heard was the squawking of a loon in the distance of the forest. The water made small ripples with the minor gusts of wind that floated from behind the pair. 

“I don’t know what got in you to arrange a picnic for us, but this is really generous of you, Minseokkie,” Jongdae thanked the android, observing the wildlife around them.

“Just wait until you see what’s underneath the bow,” Minseok smirked, revealing the container from behind his back.

Jongdae scanned it for a second, a scoff escaping his lips as he glared up at Minseok. “You didn’t do the best job of hiding this, Min. I could guess what it was the entire trip.”

Minseok crossed his arms, pouting, “Still, can’t you just say I surprised you? You’ll hurt my feelings.”

Jongdae gently shoved Minseok, his shoulder tensing up, but he still hid a smile, “You already surprised me though. I never once expected you to invite me on a picnic like this. It’s...it’s really romantic.”

“Thank you,” Minseok whispered with a keen smirk, watching Jongdae’s smile gradually become more timid and small. He unwrapped the bow and lifted the top of the container with the tap of his finger. They each took one cookie as they let the wind float their sweater sleeves above their arms.

Jongdae was unusually quiet throughout the picnic, seeming to take in the quiet atmosphere of the park to the fullest. After a while, Minseok decided to get a change of scenery of the environment, leaning back against the grass. He watched Jongdae from below, staring down at him, realizing he was getting a fairly nice look at his high cheekbones, bringing out a sleek jawline. Minseok could stare at Jongdae for a long time, but Jongdae eventually joined him on the ground, looking up at the sky and the small silver clouds in the misty sky.

“I think that cloud looks like Mongryong.” Jongdae chuckled, pointing straight up in the air at a fluffy cloud that didn’t look significantly out of the ordinary to Minseok.

“What makes you say that?”

“It looks really soft and fluffy, just like Mongryong,” Jongdae explained, a captivated look in his eyes. Minseok snickered, reaching for the cloud, pretending to stroke it as if it were his treasure corgi. He heard Jongdae giggle in response, sensing the android turn his head toward him.

“I’m surprised he let us go out without him. I would have anticipated that he would have followed us to the door,” Minseok remarked.

“We left while he was half-asleep. As long as you leave during his mid-afternoon nap, you can go anywhere.”

“At least until 2pm.”

“That’s true. We’ll have to make sure to be back by then to avoid a noise complaint. We’ve already got enough from Chanyeol and Baekhyun,” Jongdae’s eyes smiled when Minseok turned to look at them.

The two spent the rest of the time laying on the grass discussing nothing in particular. Minseok simply enjoyed Jongdae’s company, listening to and telling stories, mindless drabbles usually. It was nice to be able to spend time by themselves. Sure having Mongryong around was exciting, but sometimes, Minseok wanted to have some more tranquil time with Jongdae like he was at the moment. Meeting his eyes every now and then, Jongdae seemed very relaxed and in his element. Minseok hoped this was a sign that this picnic was going well.

Soon enough, it was approaching 2pm; it was only 10 more minutes until that hour. The androids figured they should start to head back, sitting back up and tying the now empty cookie container back up in a neat bow.

“T-thank you for the picnic, Minseokkie,” a stammer coming out of Jongdae for a split-second. “It was really nice to be out here.”

“You’re welcome,” Minseok answered, “It was equally nice being able to spend more time out here with you.”

Minseok noticed Jongdae’s hands supporting the android in an upward stance, and he ultimately dared to reach for it, placing his own hand on top of Jongdae’s. He looked up at Jongdae who looked caught off guard, quickly scanning between the contact between them and Minseok’s face. Jongdae smiled, a curve in the corner of his lips, seeming to welcome Minseok’s advance. It seemed like time was slowing down, or more likely that Minseok was processing everything so fast.

Suddenly, he felt a surplus of emotions like rapid-fire. He didn’t even have time to identify what their names were when Jongdae quickly pulled his hand back, holding it by his wrist. His eyebrows furrowed, slanted into his temple, his smile replaced with a frown, his lips parted.

The interface must have happened again.

“Are you alright?” Minseok asked, tilting his head, trying to reach out for Jongdae’s shoulder, which Jongdae flinched away from.

“Yeah, I’m just..,” Jongdae paused, before showing Minseok a grin, “I’m just remembering that we should get going.”

Jongdae’s smile wasn’t genuine, Minseok could tell. The curl in his lips was flattened, stretched thin. It was an awkward expression to behold, but Minseok didn’t feel like he should press on further. He simply nodded and stood up, grabbing the box with him. As they walked out of the park, Jongdae laughed to himself, noting to Minseok that Mongryong would probably need to be taken out of the apartment to make up for their unprecedented absence, but Minseok couldn’t pay attention as much as he wanted to. His system was alerting him over and over again about that interaction. Clearly, another interface had happened accidentally, but it was shorter this time round. He couldn’t identify any of the feelings; Jongdae revoked his hand too quickly for Minseok to be able to process it properly. There was one peculiar thing he did notice, however.

Whatever emotions Jongdae was experiencing, they felt substantially more intense.

—————————————————————

The picnic still fresh in his memory, Minseok started to regret following this list. He began to regret even showing his affection to begin with. He liked Jongdae immensely, but he had something to hide in his interface, something that he wanted to keep secret from Minseok. The way he looked at his hand with disdain, and even an ounce of shame, Minseok’s confidence dimmed. It felt like the progress he had made gaining Jongdae’s trust was reversing itself.

He knew that Jongdae was going through an emotional or mental change too; otherwise, the interface wouldn’t have happened. A small fraction of Minseok hoped that he was experiencing the same overwhelming feelings as him, but the majority of him doubted the legitimacy of that. It felt like he was getting mixed signals from Jongdae, his actions never adding up. He would like to hold onto his hand, but still shove it away. Even after the picnic, Jongdae didn’t seem to initiate any physical contact with Minseok, not even in a teasing manner as per usual. It was all so strange and unusual. Minseok didn’t blame him for this; he just wished for things to be clear. He wished that he could understand. He wished that he knew if he was making advances too soon. He understood how quickly he seemed to have fallen for the android. It was always a limitation he kept in the back of his mind. Maybe Jongdae wasn’t ready to further their relationship yet, or ever?

Still, Minseok wanted to be clear in his intentions, but also be careful. Their relationship status hadn’t altered at all ever since he began his mission, but he made it his primary goal above all to keep it that way. At the end of the day, Minseok wouldn’t have minded if Jongdae didn’t return his feelings. He just wanted Jongdae to be happy; and whatever followed from that would be perfectly fine with Minseok.

These were the thoughts coursing through his mind when Minseok accompanied Jongdae and Mongryong for a walk around town. He was the one that suggested scheduling Mongryong’s walk later in the day, telling Jongdae that he wanted to show him how nice the town looks when it’s dark. This wasn’t a lie though; Minseok actually did want to guide Jongdae around town as the community around the apartment complex was known for its Christmas lights that were already on display. He had planned to do this later due to his hesitancy, but when Mongryong suddenly had to go out at 6:45pm, and Jongdae practically begged for Minseok to come with him, the idea of making his move reappeared.

The last objective on his list: confession in the rain .

This was the reason he was nervous about going through with the plan. It was such a bold thing he would have to do, the one moment that could build up or break down their relationship, and after the picnic, Minseok suspected that nothing positive would come from his confession. So he decided to be like a human, be like Jongdae, and push the boxes under the bed until the proper time to pull them back out.

Dressed in heavy clothing, although there was no need for that, Jongdae huddled in his scarf that he purchased from the clothing store next to the supermarket. The place was well-known for its artisan fabric that went into all of its products. Jongdae found the tiny shop charming and bought a bright red scarf decorated with small sparkly pom-poms to resemble ornaments, all varying in color. He also got Minseok a scarf that Jongdae noticed he was interested in, which was a pastel blue scarf knitted in puffed stitches. Minseok was ready to pay, but Jongdae insisted on doing it for him, claiming it was Minseok’s early Christmas present.

“But what if there was something else on my wishlist I wanted more?” Minseok teased as they exited the store, flipping the end of the scarf around the back of his neck.

“There was?” Jongdae’s eyes widened and his lips pursing out as he gasped, giving him a slight pout. Minseok’s eyes crinkled at the reaction and immediately Jongdae aimed his fist for Minseok’s shoulder, hiding a smile under his glare.

“No, but really was there something else you wanted for Christmas because I will get it for you. I promise,” Jongdae continued to ask the amused android, still giggling at him. “I know you don’t like surprises.”

Minseok wanted to send his wishlist to Jongdae, but something in the moment, being around Jongdae’s present energy compelled him just to speak it aloud.

“Okay, what I want for Christmas is the newest automated duster Roomba and the debut of your album you’re working on.”

“Wahhh Minnie, I think being around Chanyeol and Baekhyun has made you lose your rationality. I don’t even know what you’re talking about!” Jongdae whined.

“I thought I was being specific enough,” Minseok crossed his arms, playfully huffing in Jongdae’s direction. I want to see a copy of your songs for Christmas. You’ve sung a few snippets, but I want to see the entire thing.”

“I’ve told you,” Jongdae explained with remnants of a whine in his voice, “I don’t even know how to finish the song. All of the parts I’ve sung to you are all I know.”

“Fine, then I want the Roomba.”

Jongdae closed his eyes, then looked away before Minseok’s continuous stare met his eyes.

“I’m sure Chanyeol and Baekhyun have already gotten that for you.”

“Please, Dae,” Minseok pouted, “I just want to hear your voice for Christmas. Is that too much to ask?”

Jongdae walked a little faster around the corner of the street, Mongryong pulling at the leash, as Minseok caught up to him without delay. “You get to hear my voice everyday. What’s so special about Christmas?”

Minseok paused in his tracks when multiple raindrops began to fall from the sky, creating a light, but continuous shower on top of them. He pulled out an umbrella from his down jacket pocket, the shape and size of a Rubik’s cube, pressing on the top for the umbrella to extend outward and branched outwards. He held the umbrella in between the both of them, Jongdae giving a small tug to Mongryong’s leash to get him closer as they kept walking.

“Christmas is a season about giving and receiving gifts. Your voice is the greatest gift you could ever give me,” Minseok answered finally.

“Oh, come on,” Jongdae swatted his hand in Minseok’s direction, “you’re just exaggerating.”

“It’s true, Dae. You have the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard.”

Jongdae opened his mouth to rebut when a giant Christmas tree in the middle of the plaza revealed itself with large golden lights. The enormous glittered ornaments and shining star at the top of the tree were not a shock to Minseok; he was looking forward to being able to show this sight off to Jongdae. He was very satisfied with Jongdae’s reaction. His eyes shined brighter than they ever had in front of Minseok, the immense glow of the tree reflecting in them. His lips were parted as he looked deep in thought. Minseok took a step backwards from where Jongdae had froze in his tracks and looked at the tree alongside him, although he was paying more attention to the android than the tree. The rain continued to pour over the tree, droplets creating a shuttering noise on the sidewalk below them. Minseok smiled, turning his head to face Jongdae’s.

“Your voice shines just as bright as that star. Figuratively, of course,” he spoke.

Jongdae’s lips were still apart, staring back at Minseok, who found it very challenging to not look at them. Jongdae’s gaze never faltered as if he spotted something special floating on his face, hiding himself with Minseok under the umbrella in between them. The black of the fabric above their heads contrasted the light Minseok found in Jongdae’s eyes. The way Jongdae seemed to be staring at Minseok, he wondered if maybe he had that same light in his eyes.

He wondered if maybe he was just as fond of it.

Minseok felt himself take one step closer to Jongdae, the android making no signal of moving away.

“Your eyes shine bright too. They always manage to have a glowing light in them. They reflect you well.”

“What makes you say that?” Jongdae whispered, stepping forward by a half-step.

Suddenly, the words began to fall out of his mouth and Minseok didn’t feel himself process his dialogue at all.

“You have a very vibrant laugh. It has so much energy encompassing it that it astounds me every time you have something humorous. It reminds me of the sun and how it brightens the environment wherever its light touches. Your personality is vibrant as well. You act so human for someone who is an android, someone like me.”

Minseok felt himself step forward, only a foot of space between them in the glow of the tree.

“I’ve always been captivated by how vivid your character is. You’re always so caring of others and know how to bring me back to the present whenever I find myself stuck in my own software. You remind me to live life like you: one day at a time. You have no idea how fortunate I feel to have you in my life and in my apartment. Our bond has grown so quickly that I could barely process it. Even in that short amount of time, I’ve come to admire you and your energy. I feel like we share so much in common as androids, but I have so much to learn from you. I trust in you, but I’m always inspired by you. I think the way things have been going are happier than they’ve ever been. Figuratively, days feel brighter spending them with you. I don’t think I can accurately convey how thankful I am that you’re in my life, Jongdae.”

Jongdae’s mouth went wide open, his irises making miniscule darts in the center of his eyes. He stood in his place, not moving an inch. Minseok hadn’t even planned to actually confess today and was caught off guard himself by what he just said. He wanted to push himself back, to create distance between the two of them, to tell Jongdae that he went on an unnecessary tangent about their friendship, but that would mean lying to him. In reality, Minseok didn’t want to push back; he wanted to pull in closer. He didn’t want to create distance; he wanted to eliminate it. He didn’t want to call his speech a tangent or unnecessary; he knew exactly what he was saying and he knew it was necessary. He wanted to be honest about what he felt about Jongdae. Doing anything less would be hiding the truth.

And Minseok wasn’t going to be the one to keep hidden.

Minseok’s system was analyzing everything around him so quickly, the rain, the lights, Jongdae’s lips, that he couldn’t tell if he was leaning forward or Jongdae. He noticed Jongdae’s eyes slowly fluttering closed. He knew from watching romantic movies, including the one that inspired Minseok to confess in the rain, that this could be a major indicator of a kiss. This came completely out of nowhere for Minseok and for a moment, he felt vulnerable, never even imagining sharing a kiss with someone before. At the same time, there was a shutdown in his software. The warnings disappeared. His analyzers silenced. All that he was focusing on was Jongdae and he loved it.

And then Jongdae’s eyelids open.

Jongdae’s lips shut tight, stepping a big step back and almost leaving the umbrella’s protection. He blinked hard repeatedly, staring at the ground, avoiding Minseok’s concerned gaze for a couple seconds. A gut-wrenching feeling began to bubble in Minseok’s gut that he had no idea he had the capability of experiencing. He tried to check in with Jongdae, reaching for his shoulder, but Jongdae flinched, only then looking into his eyes.

“Are you okay?” Minseok questioned, quickly placing his hand by his side, but extending his umbrella outward to cover Jongdae, pulling away and placing distance between the two. 

“Yeah... I... I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” Jongdae stammered. “I... That’s really nice of you to say, Minseok. I’m glad you’re my friend too.”

It took Jongdae a second for his eyes to leave the ground, still tied to it. He tried to smile again, but Minseok knew it was an anxious one. The emotion inside him was building up even faster now. Mongryong tugged at Jongdae’s side, ready to leave the plaza and head home. Minseok didn’t have any objections to that.

Not many words were spoken on the way back, but too many were swarming Minseok’s internal dialogue. When he walked through the door and saw Jongdae pick up Mongryong to the bathroom without a second glance back at him, he recognized the feeling.

Rejection .

—————————————————————

The next day was awkward, to say the least. However, Minsoek found himself dealing with overwhelming feelings of confusion, guilt, and sadness. Usually when these uncomfortable moments happened between the two, Jongdae would wake up bright and cheery, greeting Minseok with a radiating smile, disregarding any prior moments of tension. When he woke up this morning, Jongdae could barely look at him. He didn’t even have enough time to identify the facial expression to figure out what Jongdae was feeling, but it was clear he was avoiding contact. Their morning interactions were only short moments of small talk about getting enough sleep, a pointless, unnecessary discussion.

It didn’t make sense to Minseok. All this time, he thought that maybe he had a chance. The playful banter, the comfortable teasing, the long stares and gazes into each others’ eyes, their frequent physical contact; all of these were signs that Minseok interpreted to be signs of his affection being shared with the other android. However, Jongdae seemed to be limiting that physical contact, supposedly one of the key symptoms of romantic attraction, ever since Minseok decided to pursue him. The patterns were clear: the picnic and the plaza were two examples of Jongdae avoiding Minseok’s instances of touch between the two. The conclusions were also clear: Jongdae wasn’t comfortable furthering their relationship romantically. 

He knew that he overstepped a boundary. He felt immensely guilty for only now realizing. Still, despite all of the distance Jongdae was putting between them, their relationship status didn’t falter a bit. They were still close friends, according to his relationship tracker. Even more than he did before, Minseok felt like he was being hidden from something from Jongdae. Maybe the tracker was having errors? Maybe Jongdae actually didn’t regard him as a friend anymore and was too scared of changing their status to hurt his feelings? Minseok couldn’t tell.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol woke up fairly quickly after Jongdae, both dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans. He announced he was going to the store, something that Minseok hadn’t realized he had put onto his schedule until he checked right then. He asked if anyone would want to join him on the trip and Jongdae quickly stood up from his seat on the armchair and volunteered. Minseok remembered how Baekhyun stood still, making a cursory glance between him and Jongdae, then at Chanyeol for a moment before closing the door.

Once the door had shut, Chanyeol looked at Minseok, a perplexed frown on his face.

“Why didn’t you go with Jongdae? Don’t you always go to the supermarket with him?” he asked.

Minseok didn’t know what to answer with. He knew he couldn’t lie to Chanyeol again; not only did it make him feel guilty for doing so the first time, but physically, it was painful to fight against his system. He didn’t even know how to answer. How does one summarize the rollercoaster that seemed to be Minseok’s android love life to a mere human? He hoped Chanyeol would understand, but he wasn’t always right about everything. No human was. Minseok wished he had answers.

The only thing Minseok could do was nod as an answer to the second question, unable to compel his mouth to answer in complete sentences.

Chanyeol stared at him with slight interrogation, his head tilted and eyebrows bordering flat above his eyes. He took a seat next to Minseok, placing a hand around his back as an attempt to comfort him.

“Did something happen between you two?”

Minseok met Chanyeol’s eyes and slowly nodded, feeling the melancholy sneak in. Chanyeol began to look gradually more concerned with every second.

“Did you two fight?”

Minseok took longer, pondering over the word and its application to his current situation. He didn’t move. He heard Chanyeol sigh, knowing that he was assuming that Minseok was unable to answer yes. He wanted to reassure him that it wasn’t so, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up, his eyes being drawn to anything other than him. A part of Minseok felt ashamed; he initially wanted to get to know Jongdae better so Chanyeol and Baekhyun could live together without trouble. He felt as if he was putting a burden on the gentle human by letting him know of the chaos.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Chanyeol soothed, rubbing his hand on Minseok’s back in circles. The human often did this to bring Minseok out of his own thoughts, finding that it grounded Minseok mentally to the physical world. The android didn’t want to tell Chanyeol about the extent of it, but at the same time, he needed to be honest. Even if being truthful didn’t seem to help his relationship with Jongdae, the four years he spent being Chanyeol’s friend proved that it built theirs. Minseok opened his mouth, trying to relax and summon all the words he could muster.

“I told Jongdae I liked him and he rejected me.”

“WHAT?!” Chanyeol jolted backward on the couch and gasped, his hands covering his mouth to silence the screech. His eyes were covered in shock. “You actually confessed to him?”

“Yeah,” Minseok trailed off, “I confessed to him in the rain. I thought he was leaning in to kiss me, but he didn’t.”

“Wait, STOP,” Chanyeol practically interrupted, one hand still grasped to his face and the other supporting him from falling off the couch. “Slow down, slow down, slow down. We need to backtrack. Tell me everything from start to finish.”

So that’s exactly what Minseok did. He told Chanyeol about the close connection he felt with Jongdae and how quickly he seemed to develop his affection for him. He told Chanyeol about the list he made of romantic cliches that he wanted to use to confess to him. He told Chanyeol about the karaoke night and the seemingly keen stares and all the things that seemed to be going well. However, he also told Chanyeol about the accidental interfaces, the picnic, Jongdae’s hesitancy to come into contact with him recently, and of course, he told Chanyeol about the plaza.

“Now, remind me again,” Chanyeol rested his face on the conjoined palms of his hand standing on top of his knees, propping it up on his knuckles, “what did you tell Jongdae?”

“I told him that he had a vibrant laugh and personality that reminded me of the Christmas lights and the sun, that he always manages to bring me back into the present, that I was fortunate to have grown so close with him so quickly, that he inspires me, and that I’m thankful he’s my friend.”

“Okay….” he paused, clicking his tongue in thought, “but did you actually tell him you liked him?”

Wait... What? Minseok didn’t even know what Chanyeol was asking him. Minseok complimented Jongdae, and went on a long speech about the aspects of him that he admired, just like in the movies. He thought he made his message pretty clear.

“...Didn’t I tell him though?”

“Going by what you said, it doesn’t sound like you did at all. You told him you were happy to be his friend, right? So, didn’t you actually tell him you liked him romantically?”

Minseok’s eyebrows furrowed, trying to remember the plaza although it hurt to do so. He revisited the scene and everything he had confessed to Jongdae. He mentioned how much he adored his laugh, his personality, his presence in his life, how much he was inspired by him. He mentioned how much he appreciated their friendship-

Oh shit.

“...No, I didn’t.”

Minseok realized that he had mentioned everything except his actual romantic interest in Jongdae. He thought that Jongdae was the one giving mixed signals, when truly, Minseok had accidentally made his intentions blurry and vague. The pieces were starting to fall in place.

“OH MY GOD” Chanyeol shouted, leaning back so far that he fell off the couch and onto the carpet. He stood back up and stumbled backwards, immediately waking Mongryong from his slumber on the dog bed and running towards him to interpose a threat. Chanyeol stared at him with wide, incredulous eyes, a disfigured smile on his face that Minseok could not identify the emotion for.

“YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME! YOU FORGOT TO TELL HIM YOU LIKED HIM!?”

Chanyeol continued to bend over laughing, almost falling to the ground, until Minseok’s glare brought him back to the topic at hand. Awkwardly, he cleared his throat as if his giggle fit had never occured and sat right back on the couch.

“Okay, okay,” Chanyeol looked around the room to gather his thoughts and concentration. He took a breath, the remnants of his laughter escaping finally. “So that’s probably the issue there. Jongdae probably thinks you friend-zoned him, so he might be avoiding you because of that.”

Just as soon as the pieces of what was hidden from Minseok began to arrange themselves, they immediately stopped in their tracks.

“Why would friend-zoning have anything to do with Jongdae avoiding me?” 

“If you didn’t mention that you actually liked him at all, he probably thinks you weren’t interested at all. That’s probably why Jongdae wasn’t talking to you today.”

Still, Minseok was thoroughly confused, not following Chanyeol’s line of logic.

“Why would Jongdae care about me being interested in him? He turned away from me when we held hands at the park and when I almost kissed him at the plaza.”

Chanyeol looked at Minseok with a blank expression for several seconds. He sighed and shook his head, a smile strangely appearing on his face. Minseok heard a muttered, “oh my god,” coming from the human. Minseok felt like he knew even less than he thought he did at that moment.

“Okay,” he looked back up at Minseok with a pitying grin, as if he was seeing a baby in Minseok’s eyes, “Okay, okay. Don’t tell Baekhyun or Jongdae I said this, but Jongdae likes you.”

Minseok’s mouth dropped wide open, his eyes practically popping out of his head if it were physically possible.

“Really?!” Minseok couldn’t believe such an outrageous claim. No. He wouldn’t believe such an outrageous claim. Chanyeol had to be joking with him. Baekhyun must have influenced him to joke about things like this. There is no way that Jongdae could actually like him back after everything they went through.

“Oh lord, Min. You can’t possibly be that dense. You’re like, the smartest person I know,” Chanyeol chuckled, placing his hand on Minseok’s shoulder. “It’s so clear that he likes you back. He always has this sparkling, adoring look in his eyes when he watches you. Baekhyun and I noticed it ever since our baking competition. He has never looked at me or Baekhyun that way.”

Minseok was familiar with this look. During many of their interactions, he always seemed to find the light reflecting in Jongdae’s eyes. He never realized that he was the only one who got to see it.

“You have to know he likes you.”

“But what about the picnic? If he liked me, wouldn’t he have stayed holding my hand? And what about the plaza? If he liked me, shouldn’t he have kissed me?”

“People react to romantic situations in different ways,” Chanyeol explained, taking his time to speak slowly, “Not everyone reacts in the same way people do in trashy rom-coms. Jongdae is more of a shy person. I know you know that. I remember when I first got to know Baekhyun and started to like him. I was terrified. I wasn’t ever scared of him; I was just scared of showing any signs that I had feelings. Baekhyun was such a confident person with everyone he knew that I didn’t believe he would ever fall for someone as clumsy and panicked as me. Whenever he put his arm around my shoulder or grabbed my hand to pull me to an ice-cream stand, I froze up. I fidgeted from his grasp a lot. I was afraid of leaning too much on him or holding his hand too tight. I didn’t want to ruin what we had.”

Minseok took his time processing everything Chanyeol was describing to him. He was surprised to see a lot of the parallels between Chanyeol’s behavior and Jongdae’s. He didn’t want to get his hopes up to a significant degree, but he felt some form of comfort from Chanyeol’s story.

“So what did you do about it?”

Chanyeol paused for a second, falling deeper into the couch cushion behind him and holding a pillow in his lap.

“I didn’t do anything. I was too scared to. You remember what I was like every time I came home from the agency, right? I was constantly undermining and overthinking everything at the same time, even the most obvious hints. I was just too afraid to ruin our friendship because he was already so close to me. Luckily, Baekhyun pulled me to the side after we worked on an artist’s instrumental track and asked me out to a movie, and eventually, we went on more and more dates and I learned just how much he was admiring me all this time and I had no idea. As you can clearly see, it all worked out in the end thanks to that one movie date.”

Minseok didn’t really know how to respond. It all made sense, but he struggled to tie it completely to his situation. He definitely wanted to draw the parallels between Chanyeol and Jongdae’s actions and conclude they both shared the same romantic feelings for their interest in question, but he felt like he was overstepping a boundary by still having hope. All he managed to do was stare at the floor. Chanyeol tapped his back to get his attention and looked at him with a gentle, compassionate smile.

“Look, all I’m saying is, the only way you’ll find out if someone likes you is to be completely honest about the fact you like them. Baekhyun had to spell out for me that he was interested in a romantic movie date with me for me to get the clue. It may sound awkward, but if you truly believe that there is something being reciprocated, and believe me, Min, there is, then you need to go for it. Some people might not feel comfortable enough to make the first move and you will have to give them a little nudge by opening up first to hear what you want to hear. You need to be completely transparent in your feelings and what you want in your relationship. It’s the only way you two will grow.”

Slowly, but surely, it began to click for Minseok. He had been telling himself this entire time that he needed to be honest with Jongdae about how he felt, and Chanyeol confirming it was the right thing to do gave him a small amount of reassurance back. The last couple of words Chanyeol mentioned about transparency guiding the development of a relationship echoed in his memory chamber. He suddenly remembered when Jongdae was scared to show Minseok his music all those months ago. He remembered how candid and open Jongdae was, admitting to wanting to push his boundaries to extremes because he wanted their relationship to grow from it. Minseok realized that was the reason their bond grew so substantially. Their communication made them grow even more comfortable in each other’s company, causing them to develop closer bonds and attachments to each other, leading Minseok to the place he was in now.

He knew what he needed to do.

Minseok gratefully smiled at Chanyeol, “Thank you, Yeol.”

Chanyeol flashed a smile back at him. With a final pat on the back, Chanyeol brought his arm back around to his lap, hugging the throw pillow in his chest and digging the remote out the couch seat. 

“Now, how would you feel about turning on the TV for a bit before they come back home?”

—————————————————————

When Baekhyun and Jongdae returned from the supermarket, the first thing he noticed was Jongdae’s eye contact. More specifically, he noticed Jongdae’s eye contact finally being directed at him. He even saw Jongdae wave at him with a shy smile. His lips weren’t curled as much as Minseok would have liked, but at least Jongdae didn’t seem to be hiding from him as much.

Minseok and Chanyeol got up from the couch to the kitchen, picking up the reusable grocery bags that were laid carefully on the ground. Minseok took the pantry items, while Chanyeol and Baekhyun put away most of the frozen or refrigerated ingredients. Jongdae didn’t spend a lot of time rearranging groceries; his facial expression became neutral and frozen as he stared over the island from the countertop sink. He seemed to be deep in thought, something Minseok didn’t expect to see from Jongdae.

The bags were soon emptied and placed under the sink for future shopping trips. Jongdae still had a dissociative look on his face as if he were lost in his own thoughts, leaning against the island now close to the doorway. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were entertained on the couch together by the soccer match currently playing on the TV. Minseok realized this was the perfect time to talk to Jongdae on his own. He reminded himself of what Chanyeol had told him: he needed to set the record straight, no matter if Jongdae shared his feelings or not. Minseok didn’t want to interrupt Jongdae’s daze, but he knew this was necessary for the both of them.

Instead of walking up to him, Minseok decided to send Jongdae a telepathic message to subtly get his attention.

Minseok: Hey, Jongdae, can we talk in our room for a couple minutes?

Jongdae’s shoulders perked up as he turned his head around to face Minseok near the pantry door. He nodded. From there, both androids walked in silence to their room, Minseok clicking the door shut behind them. Jongdae took a seat on his bed; Minseok was about to do the same on his own bed when Jongdae tapped against the free space on the covers at the edge of the bed next to him, asking him to sit next to him. It was obvious Jongdae knew what this was about.

Minseok closed his eyes for a second, rethinking the outline he wrote in his notes about what he wanted to say to Jongdae. He mustered up the courage, ignoring all the warnings and doubts in his mind, and let the words fall from his mouth like waterfalls. 

“I just wanted to be completely transparent with you,” Minseok began with slow diction, “I’m really sorry for initiating too many advances towards you in our relationship. I never wanted to make you uncomfortable; that was my last intention.”

“The thing is, I like you, Jongdae. I’m interested in you romantically, and that’s something that I have never had experience with. I thought that if I applied romantic human gestures to our relationship, it would accurately convey how I feel. However, I realize now that my words and my actions didn’t line up and I’m sorry if I provided mixed signals of what was going on in my head.” 

Minseok didn’t need to breathe, but his thirium pump beat so fast, he felt like he desperately needed to, anticipating the tension building up more and more between him and Jongdae.

“Back at the plaza, I told you that I was thankful that you were my friend. That wasn’t a lie. I value our relationship immensely. I feel very connected to you. Unfortunately, I forgot to mention the fact that I liked you. That speech was supposed to be a confession in the rain, like the movie you showed me a while back. However, I didn’t get my message across efficiently. I just wanted to clarify that I was trying to tell you I liked you then.”

The air became more and more suffocating, Jongdae’s neutral expression completely unreadable with no trace of a smile in sight. The room felt so much darker and smaller as he tried to navigate himself through his monologue without freezing up.

“I know from your body language that you’ve been uncomfortable with the more physical advances I made toward you and I’m really sorry for doing that. I never ever want you to make you feel like you have to put distance between us. I am completely fine with being friends as we were, and if you do not have the same feelings I do, I’m not going to make more advances toward you. Still, I thought you deserved an honest explanation and apology about what’s happened between us recently. I hope you can forgive me.”

Minseok trailed off, closing his eyes again to stop his internal fans from disrupting the chilling silence in the room. He reopened them to find Jongdae absolutely shocked. His face was frozen again, but in shock, his mouth shaped like a wide “O” and two hands covering it up. Slowly, his face morphed into one of disbelief, then of guilt, his eyebrows slanting to the top of his forehead and his eyelids folding saddened cracks under them. He stuttered trying to respond to Jongdae.

“I... Minseok. Oh my god, Minseok, no, no, no, this is all my fault. I should have... I’m so sorry…” Jongdae could barely speak a complete sentence out loud, looking more and more guilty the longer the pauses between his words became.

“I like you too.”

It was Minseok’s turn to be in shock now, although it manifested in a more dumbfounded tilt in his head. 

“What...?”

Jongdae opened his mouth to speak, but he held a finger up, asking for Minseok to wait for a second. Minseok patiently watched his shoulders rise and fall, as if imitating a human breath. After a moment of seemingly calming himself down, a dormant smile from Jongdae’s wardrobe reawakened. It was one of the most cheerful, warm smiles Minseok had seen in weeks. It resembled the moment Minseok baked him thirium cookies back from when they were just getting to know which other. The touched, relieved smile returned. Minseok began to feel like the world around him was enveloping him in love and he felt right at home.

“I like you too, Minseok. I like you the exact same way. I was... I was just too afraid of confessing that to you. You have no reason to apologize for anything, Minnie. If anything, I should be sorry. I never felt uncomfortable with you trying to make a move on me. I was only avoiding your touch because my interface technology always goes haywire when we do. I guess my inner emotions were leaking in through my skin without me even realizing it. It started out small, but when I actually began to develop really intense feelings for you... I didn’t want to share that with you in case you didn’t return them. That’s why I always dodged you. It was never because you were making me uncomfortable. I was just afraid of letting you know how I felt.”

Minseok couldn’t even believe what was coming out of Jongdae’s mouth. It was everything he ever wanted to hear and in the back of his head, he wondered if his audio processors were malfunctioning. He didn’t have anything to say. He had so many thoughts on his mind, so many sudden impulses to hold him tight now knowing that Jongdae had always wanted that, that all he could say was…

“...R-really?

“Yes,” Jongdae smiled, cracks of laughter in the corners of his upturned lips, “Yes... I’m so sorry you misunderstood all of this. God, I should have been braver. I would have been much more upfront earlier if I knew you liked me back then we could have avoided all this stupid miscommunication.”

“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that. If I could have a heart attack, I’m certain it would have happened already.”

Jongdae slowly broke into laughter, giggling while he leaned over the bed. He tucked his legs in a crossed position, turning to face Minseok. Minseok followed suit and sat crossed when Jongdae reached out to hold his hand. Minseok half expected for the interface to happen, to feel all the instances of love and affection Jongdae had kept hidden away from him, but nothing happened. All he felt were Jongdae’ smooth fingertips caressing his hand. A calm, tranquil quiet flowed through the room, the two in their own element separate from the rest of the apartment. Minseok placed his other hand on top of Jongdae’s, creating a sort of hand sandwich. 

“You know... I had an entire list dedicated to confessing my feelings for you.”

Jongdae snickered, his smile bursting with energy and love with crescent eyes only focused on Minseok’s. “Oh my god, really?!”

Minseok chuckled, slightly embarrassed to be completely transparent to Jongdae. “Yeah. It had a list of romantic cliches from all the movies we watched together. I was trying to replicate those scenes you liked to confess to you. Obviously, it didn’t work out quite as planned.”

Jongdae’s smile only curled up higher at Minseok’s bashful expression, cooing at it. “Aww, that’s really adorable, Minseokkie. You went to so many lengths for me.”

“I had no idea how else to confess to you.”

Jongdae looked back down, closing his eyes and grinning. Minseok caught a clearer peek of Jongdae’s tongue, teasing at the roof of his mouth. “Honestly, the most romantic thing you did was confessing your feelings to me right now.”

Minseok, recognizing a hint of teasing in his voice, which he realized now was flirtation, he suddenly got the desire to outperform it.

“I’ll keep that in mind for the future,” he whispered, staring deep into Jongdae’s chocolate eyes. Now that he knew he had the full privilege of viewing them, he realized through a closer look that the rim of his iris illuminated the chocolate color of his eyes with a dark caramel hue.

Jongdae lightly pushed Minseok, scoffing but still cracking up to hide how flustered he was. 

“Okay, but I have to know,” Minseok suddenly spoke again.

“Yes?”

Minseok gently rubbed the knuckles on Jongdae’s hand with his thumb. 

“Back when we were out at the market and it was raining… Were you actually going to kiss me?”

Jongdae’s eyes crinkled and his head bowed for a second. “Yeah, I wanted to. I was just too much of a coward to do it. I thought about all the romantic things you were saying, but then it suddenly occurred to me that you mentioned the word ‘friend’ in relation to me and I stopped myself dead in my tracks.”

“Ohhhh,” Minseok grinned, pleasantly surprised and relieved to hear the answer to the question that had been on repeat in his mind for the last half-day, “that makes a lot of sense now.”

Jongdae suddenly stared down at the space between them on the bed, their knees touching. He looked back up at Minseok with an unusually confident, suggestive look. 

“I could make it up to you if you wanted.”

Caught completely off guard, Minseok stared dumbly at Jongdae who seemed to be leaning in with the lick of his lips.

“...What?”

“Like this~” he whispered, brushing his lips against Minseok’s. It took a split-second for Minseok to react to what was going on, unable to believe Jongdae was actually kissing him, but once he did, he leaned himself forward, catching Jongdae’s lips with the tilt of his chin. He reached to stroke Jongdae’s cheek and nape as his lips began to part. An overwhelming feeling roared in Minseok’s system, coursing through his blood, but it was no longer one that brought him sadness or pain.

It was love and it brought him home to Jongdae, where he felt light unlike he ever had before.

Jongdae’s lips left Minseok’s, but Jongdae still leaned over Minseok’s lap, holding onto his arms, particularly his biceps. Minseok picked Jongdae up from the hip and dropped him gently onto his crossed legs, letting Jongdae’s legs fall over the edge of the bed as the android wrapped his arms around Minseok’s neck. Jongdae stared up at Minseok, the latter android noticing that Jongdae’s eyes didn’t reflect light; they reflected him. He looked at him with so much love that Minseok suddenly began to feel intense emotions, realizing the skin around his neck was unfolding alongside Jongdae’s palms. 

This was the first time they had interfaced with both aware of it happening; that only made this deep emotional connection even more powerful for them. Minseok felt Jongdae’s safety whenever Minseok organized a schedule for the household. He felt Jongdae’s sense of security when he opened up to Minseok about his music, feeling even more protected when he finally sang for him at karaoke night. He felt Jongdae’s infatuation for Minseok’s performances, the serenity of Minseok’s cool touch, offering clarity in the midst of his internal chaos, the intense longing to kiss Minseok until their systems collapsed.

Minseok finally began to understand why Jongdae was starting to fall for him, and in a way, he started to realize Jongdae knew too.

Jongdae’s smile met Minseok’s lips once again, a brief, but warm touch. “I really like you, Minseokkie,” he spoke lovingly, holding him tight around his back and nuzzling his head into Minseok’s neck.

“I like you too, Dae.”

Minseok hugged him back, wrapping his arms around Jongdae’s tiny waist, letting his shoulder relax.

“Would you want to be with me?” Minseok murmured over Jongdae’s shoulder. Jongdae responded to that with a tighter embrace. 

“I would love nothing more.”

Suddenly, Minseok received a notification about a list in his applications that needed to be checked. Trying to open it as fast as he could to get back to focusing on his Jongdae, he scanned through it as swiftly as possible. Upon further inspection, the android stood to realize that one of his most important lists had been completed with Jongdae’s arms snug around his body.

Jongdae

• Make Jongdae smile
• Protect Jongdae
• Comfort Jongdae
• Bake Jongdae cookies
• Make Jongdae laugh
• Play with Mongryong alongside Jongdae
• Tell stories to Jongdae
• Hold arm around Jongdae
• Let Jongdae know you care
• Hug Jongdae
• Hold Jongdae’s hand
• Caress Jongdae’s cheek
• Kiss Jongdae

• Be with Jongdae

The boxes were all put away.

—————————————————————

10 months, and 19 days later.

Minseok led Jongdae through the hallway, covering his eyes from behind him. He guided him by stepping him forward one foot at a time, holding his arms.

“Minseokkie, you know that androids can sense objects, right?” Jongdae teased.

“Shush, it’s the idea that counts. Be thankful,” Minseok playfully bit back.

When Minseok finally let go of his eyes, beckoning Jongdae to open them. Although the element of surprise was ruined, Minseok could still see Jongdae’s smitten smile on his lips as he looked at the object on the kitchen island.

“SURPRISE!!!” Baekhyun and Chanyeol cheered, jumping up and down and clapping. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAE!!!!”

Yep, September 21 was Jongdae’s birthday. It was the day that Jongdae was activated for the first time when Baekhyun purchased him. In response, Chanyeol decided to throw a surprise party for Jongdae, although Minseok warned that it most likely wouldn’t be a surprise. Jongdae was an incredible listener and paid close attention to detail; it was impossible to throw him off.

Well, ever since the plaza incident.

On the kitchen island, there laid a thirium cookie cake, made just the way Jongdae liked them: plenty of thirium chips plus an additional glazing of liquid thirium dripping off the sides of it. Minseok felt Jongdae lean into his side, his head against his shoulder.

“This is really sweet, you guys. I don’t think I need to guess who made this for me,” he joked while pointing at the dessert.

“Obviously, it was me!” Chanyeol feignedly scowled, crossing his arms. Jongdae’s eyes suddenly grew larger.

“ You made this for me?” Jongdae gasped, his lips pursing outward as his mouth stood open, looking as if he was about to pout.

“Haha, no I was just kidding. Minseok and I made it together.”

“I made the dough for the cookie and Chanyeol decorated it. I can’t be the only one you rely on for cooking,” Minseok continued, holding Jongdae close to his chest, the android’s back against his. Jongdae turned his head around to get the best glance he could, too comfortable to leave Minseok’s embrace.

“Look, the verdict still stands. No one matches your cooking skills.”

“That’s because everything I make for you has a secret ingredient of love in it,” Minseok flirted, Jongdae whined and rolled his eyes as a response. However, it was clear that Jongdae had a soft spot for Minseok’s romantic catch-up lines. Minseok tilted Jongdae’s body so their chests touched and kissed the scowl off his face. It was a soft kiss, innocent in every way, but it was warm and domestic. He felt their emotions combine together once again as Jongdae pulled back, his tongue curving around the corner of his lip as he smiled gently.

Minseok could hear the gags of Chanyeol and Baekhyun in the background, being forced to watch this romantic act, but he was of the mentality that it deserved to happen. After being subject to Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s shenanigans as boyfriends, Minseok believed he had his turn to subject them to his with Jongdae as his boyfriend. To him, this was such a foreign concept to comprehend for a while. Never had Minseok expected to fall for someone so quickly and develop a desire to be anyone’s boyfriend. However, he knew that no one could fit the mold of a romantic partner for him quite like his Jongdae.

Ever since they began dating, Minseok has kept track of all of his lists. He records and schedules everything that needs to happen, but he knows the importance of moving around tasks and events, something he has a much better time processing within his system. However, there was one list Minseok could never delay looking at: Jongdae’s list. Although he crossed everything off that list already, he decided to add one last item.

• Make Jongdae happy forever

That was one task that Minseok had no intention of ever crossing off of his agenda.