The brick steps echoed when Yixing walked down the short stairs, his heels clicking loudly in the night. In his cold hand, he gripped Lu Han’s cell phone, the smooth texture of his skin making it difficult to hold tight. In the night, the automatons were kept under Lu Han’s watch rather than their personal Lee Robotics workers, those human leaving the factory and its grounds to live their lives at home. Of course, Lu Han couldn’t just keep the bots stuck inside all night, and Yixing’s small smile and fluttering lashes made the human sigh and pull his phone from his pocket. “You can pay with my phone for whatever, okay?” he had said, before Yixing waved him off and skipped outside.

     Yixing’s mouth hung agape as he stared at the slab of technology in his hand, refusing to look at the bored clerk that was progressively getting more annoyed. “Sir, you’ll have to move on if you can’t pay.”

If Yixing had blood in his body, it would have all ran up to his cheeks and stayed, pouring red over his face and chest. He opened his mouth again but couldn’t find his words, especially when someone behind him put their purchase on the counter. “I’ll pay for his,” the person said, and when Yixing had the heart to look up, he found Yifan showing his own phone to pay. At the gesture, Yixing felt as if something in his body had been dislodged, like a tube had been split and oil was filling his gut. It was a running feeling in him, almost, like a bird was fluttering around where his heart should have been.

     “Why weren’t you with your helper? That Jongin guy?” Yifan asked after leading Yixing back to the candy shop, where they ate their later dinners at the counter. The lights in the store seemed so dim in the night, with the assistance of the natural shine of the moon and streetlights through the windows. With the low visibility, Yixing couldn’t determine why Yifan was staring at him so intently, but he was quite fond of it.

     “All workers go home at eight o’clock,” Yixing replied, setting his sandwich on the paper bag it came in. “Jongin doesn’t take care of me at night. Lu Han does; he takes care of the three of us at all times.”

     “Then why wasn’t Lu Han with you?”

     Yixing smiled up at the man, who was still rather tall even from where he leaned on the counter. “I have a certain charm to me to help me get my way, don’t I?”

     “That’s for sure,” Yifan chuckled, and then he was smiling at Yixing with that same grin he always gave.

     The automaton fidgeted under his gaze and turned his head away, revealing the blue rust of his cheek. “Why do you look at me like that?”

     The comment made Yifan shoot up, his tanned face fully red. His long fingers gripped around the edge of the green marbled counter. “I didn’t realize I was staring. I just… You’re really captivating.”

     Humming, Yixing followed the length of Yifan’s arms, to his broad chest covered in a button-up and a green vest hanging open, and finally to his face. He smiled the same way Yifan would, which seemed to send another rush of red over the human. “Are you blushing?”

     Yifan’s hand went up to his own cheek, and he laughed, embarrassed. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

     “Does it feel strange? Is it warm?”

     The taller furrowed his eyebrows and looked into Yixing’s eyes when he said that, and then it was like realization hit him. “You don’t have blood to blush, huh?”

     “Oil runs through my veins,” Yixing nodded, tapping his metal fingers against the countertop.

     “I almost forgot,” Yifan muttered, then shook his head slightly, “Almost forgot you weren’t human. You just have such a personality, it just makes you seem…”

     “Real?” Yixing supplied. He smiled when Yifan nodded his head. “Well, I’m very real. I’m just made of metal and wires, not flesh and bones.” He took hold of Yifan’s wrist, wrapping his thin, metallic fingers around the warm flesh, and pulled the other’s hand to his cold cheek. “See? You can touch me. It’s real metal.”

     Yifan swallowed and nodded, and Yixing decided he liked the bashful side of Yifan the most.

     When Yixing arrived back at their quarters at the factory, he was immediately interrogated by the two shorter robots. He didn’t even have the time to remove his leather shoes before they were both pulling him onto the sofa in the center in the common area. “Did you see that human again?” Junmyeon asked, sitting on Yixing’s right.

     “You did go to the shop next door like I told you, right?” Minseok added, from his left, looking like a child who just found his hidden Christmas gifts.

     “I did, calm down. I did see him.”

     “Did you feel it again?” Minseok questioned, his voice hushed. Yixing could only assume it was because Lu Han was sleeping in the room next door, but why the elder decided now was the time to be quiet was beyond him.

     Yixing shrugged his shoulders, acting indifferent though his chest was still aching for the human. “I suppose I did. I don’t know. It’s just such a strange feeling. Like someone lit a boiler inside me. I just… I don’t know what it is.”

     “Can we ask Lu Han?” Junmyeon suggested, rubbing his silver chin.

     “Like Lu Han knows anything about us other than programming and repairs. He’d just think Yixing’s malfunctioning. Which, I doubt is it.”

     “Now, Minseok-”

     Yixing stood up from the couch without a word to his band members, walking towards the room assigned to him. All he heard was the two bickering as he shut the door. Yixing let out a heavy breath, seeing a small amount of steam escape from his lips before he collapsed on the bed he didn’t need. He wanted whatever he felt inside of him when seeing that tall human to leave his system; it was as if a virus was attacking him whole. It was surely a virus, he decided, as he was always told robots couldn’t feel anything but electricity.