School Festival 3.0: Operation: Flirtation
B1A4 Ver. 2.0: Humanoid Robots
*Gongchan*
“He won’t…he won’t…”
Gongchan kept his mouth shut as Sandeul chanted those words beside him, eyes narrowed as they surveyed the couple (“Not a couple!” Baro hissed) before them. It was Jinyoung and Jungsun, leisurely walking along the school grounds. Gongchan actually felt a pang in his chest as he watched Jinyoung take Jungsun’s hand, a tight, constricting feeling that he did not understand.
“HE DID!” Sandeul suddenly yelled, almost taking his ear off. “I can’t believe this-he dares-no, why would he-Let me-Let me at him-“ Sandeul started to run towards Jinyoung, only to be pulled back by Shinwoo. The latter casually reached out and grabbed Sandeul’s collar, then stuffed the duck robot into Baro’s (“Why me again?”) arms.
Gongchan sighed. Jinyoung and Jungsun (and he really couldn’t help but think the girl’s name with scorn) were standing at the target shooting booth, the very one they visited on the first day of the festival. Jinyoung was smiling sweetly as he took a toy gun and aimed at the moving targets—a line of yellow ducks on what looked like a conveyor belt, moving lazily, and falling to the ground as Jinyoung hit them with a few casual presses on the gun’s trigger.
Sandeul was still whimpering.
“Let’s go,” Shinwoo said after a while. None of them moved, so Shinwoo spoke again, this time with a note of authority. “Let’s go. Snooping around won’t help. We need to plan.”
They were all exempt from work because some teachers found out that they weren’t students after all, and therefore they shouldn’t be part of the café’s staff. Mi Ra’s class was let off with a reprimand, but they were forbidden to join the café staff again, or else Mi Ra’s class will be disqualified. A good thing too, because it meant that they were free to follow Jinyoung around.
Up until midnight yesterday they all stayed up speculating what had happened to Jinyoung, but they only found out exactly what happened this morning. It was almost uncanny, really, how Mi Ra received another letter from the still unnamed salesman. What was even weirder was that the letter answered their very problem.
Jungsun has Jinyoung’s key chain. She must have pressed the reset button, by mistake, Gongchan was sure, because there was no way that the girl knew exactly what they were. To cut the story short, Jinyoung’s system underwent a reboot, his settings were reset, and that was why he didn’t recognize who Mi Ra was. That was why he believed Jungsun was his owner.
“What do we do?” he asked as they sat on the soft grass. They went to the garden just behind Mi Ra’s school to plan their mission. “We have to get Jinyoung back no matter what happens.”
Baro scoffed. “What for? If he wants that Jungsun, then he can be with her. I don’t care.”
He glared at the squirrel. Baro looked surprised for a moment, then recovered. Baro merely shrugged. “What?”
“What if it happened to you?” he asked. “Or to Sandeul, or Shinwoo, or me? Do you think Jinyoung would just let one of us go off to a new owner, just like that?”
Baro opened his mouth, then thought better of it.
“He wouldn’t,” Sandeul answered for him. “He’d try to get us back.” Sandeul sighed. “How do we do that, though?”
“We have to think of a way,” Shinwoo stated calmly.
“Well, you two do the thinking,” Baro said and leaned back against the tree and pulled Sandeul as well, so the latter was leaning against him. “We all know that’s not what Sandeul were meant for.”
“What if we try to get Jungsun alone?” Sandeul asked from where he was leaning against Baro. Baro had his eyes closed and was absentmindedly running his hand all over Sandeul’s face, and Sandeul kept swatting at his hand as he explained. “And, you know, just ask her to give the key chain back?”
Baro’s immediate response was to squash Sandeul’s cheeks. “That’s exactly why I volunteered for us not to do the thinking. There was a glitch with the production when they built your system.”
"So you're saying there's something wrong with you as well?"
"Nope, just you."
“What’s wrong with my idea?” Sandeul demanded.
“Well, if we do that, then Jungsun would know that there’s something wrong, and that the key chain may somehow be connected to Jinyoung’s sudden change. It would be harder for us to get Jinyoung or the key chain back,” Shinwoo explained.
“What if we throw Jungsun over a cliff?” Baro asked aloud.
Sandeul shook his head. “I don’t think there’s a cliff nearby…”
“Over a bridge, then?”
“People would see us, there’s no way she’d come with us willingly,” Sandeul countered. “Oh hey, I know! Let’s stuff her into a cleaning closet!”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Baro agreed. “And the third floor is almost always empty, people wouldn’t find out if we did that…”
Shinwoo let out a long-suffering sigh, then turned to him. “Chan, are you okay?”
Gongchan bit his lip. He didn’t know what to do either. He always looked to Jinyoung when he was faced with a difficult task—they all did. It was Jinyoung who was the most level-headed, the one who always knew exactly what to do at various situations. Jinyoung, he thought miserably. What could we do to bring you back?
Shinwoo patted his hair and pulled him close so he was leaning against the former’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll get him back,” Shinwoo said.
He cheered up a bit.
“Although,” Shinwoo continued, looking at the BaDeul pair with a weary sigh,” it looks like he’s gonna have to wait a little bit longer.”
He felt his heart sink a little.
“If I’m not a genius, then you can roast me for dinner,” Sandeul declared with an air of pride when he finished telling them his plan for getting Jinyoung back. He even had a name for it. Operation: Flirtation.
Baro, to nobody’s surprise, actually went for the plan, and the two started animatedly discussing further actions, with Sandeul looking extremely proud with himself.
The plan, mainly, was to seduce –just thinking the word makes Gongchan go all squeamish inside. He knew how to act cute, but seduce? It sounded wrong, on so many different levels— Jungsun and very subtly take the key chain from her. To do that, though, they need to take Jinyoung out of the picture, and that would be Shinwoo’s job, since the bear robot plainly refused to be associated with Sandeul’s crazy scheme.
“Are you even sure it would work?” he asked Sandeul.
Baro slung an arm around him and whispered. “Channie, I know you’re still innocent and you probably don’t know the first thing about making girls like you, but trust me, we do. Sandeul and I must have watched all movies known to man last night, and you can practically call us girl-experts now. We’d have that girl wrapped around out little finger in less than a minute, I swear.”
“Yeah,” Sandeul piped up, leaning in to whisper as well. “We can teach you a few tricks we learned, if you like.”
Just then Shinwoo placed a hand on either side of his head, covering his ears. “No, you will not teach Gongchan anything. He’s coming with me.”
“Aww…but Shinwoo,” Baro complained. “Why waste his good-looks?”
“Why?” Sandeul asked. “Aren’t you satisfied that our good-looks can pull this off?”
“Well, I’m satisfied with mine, but I’m actually a little worried about you.”
Sandeul pouted.
Shinwoo rolled his eyes. “I just don’t want you guys corrupting him, okay? Jinyoung would agree with me on this. You all remember the plan, right?”
Baro and Sandeul nodded. “Operation: Flirtation, begin!”
“Shut it, you guys!” Shinwoo hissed at Baro and Sandeul for the millionth time that day. They were hiding behind a stone bench, spying on Jinyoung and Jungsun and waiting for the perfect time to execute their plan.
“Not my fault!” Baro whispered back. “This duck’s hugging me too tightly!” As if to prove his point, he wigged his shoulders, trying to get Sandeul off.
“How could you,” Sandeul retorted. “Shaking me away just like that. After hugging me so tightly yesterday, too. You dare throw me away?”
Gongchan kept his eyes trained on Jinyoung, absentmindedly patting Shinwoo’s back as the bespectacled robot groaned and banged his head against the bench in frustration. Obviously they can’t simply walk in and manhandle Jinyoung out. What they needed was a reason for Jinyoung to be away from Jungsun, even for just a few moments, and Baro and Sandeul can work their charms—whatever those were—and maybe succeed in getting the key chain from the girl.
“Do you want something to drink?”
Gongchan’s ears perked up at the sound of Jinyoung’s voice.
“Are you sure you won’t get lost?” Jungsun asked, a little uncertain.
He saw Jinyoung smile at Jungsun. The same crinkly-eyes smile he used to see very time, but this time it wasn’t directed at him, or Mi Ra, or even to the other robots. It was directed to a person who, by all rights, he considered as a stranger. He disliked the idea of Jinyoung giving his smiles to others.
“I’m sure. I won’t be long. Wait for me, okay?”
They watched Jinyoung walk off, and waited a few moments before following. He and Shinwoo made sure they were a good distance from the fox prototype. They couldn’t risk getting caught and end up screwing up the whole plan.
“Do you think Baro and Sandeul are okay?” he asked Shinwoo after a while.
“I sure hope so,” Shinwoo muttered. “Although I’m more concerned about the girl. She would probably end up being emotionally scarred, what with Baro and Sandeul’s tricks.”
“What are they planning?”
Shinwoo actually winced. “You wouldn’t want to know.”
“Channie! Shinwoo!” A loud whisper from behind made them turn. Baro and Sandeul were hiding behind a booth, waving for them to come closer. They went over to the two robots, and Gongchan made sure Jinyoung was still within his line of sight.
“What’s that?” Shinwoo asked, nodding towards the sheaf of papers in Baro’s hands.
“Directions, duh,” baro said, rolling his eyes. He handed the papers to Shinwoo, and Gongchan could just make out the words printed in it: This way to find Choi Jungsun’s favorite drink ---->
Shinwoo gave the BaDeul pair one his famous withering looks. “You guys. Seriously? You’d have to be the densest person in the world to be fooled by these.”
“Actually, you might want to rethink that,” Baro said smugly, pointing over their shoulders. Behind them, Jinyoung had spotted the very same paper—apparently Baro and Sandeul had a head start and had stuck a couple of the signs to the walls— and he beamed upon reading the words, immediately following the directions the arrows pointed to.
“I can’t believe this…” Shinwoo sputtered.
“Well, see ya, guys!” Sandeul waved cheerfully. “Got a girl to take care of!”
“Reuse the signs, though,” Baro said. “I only got enough paper to make a few.”
For the next hour that’s exactly what they did, sticking the papers in random directions, always making sure to steer Jinyoung away from where Jungsun was. What drove Gongchan crazy though, was that Jinyoung never seemed to catch on to what was happening, never even noticing he’d been passing the same booths at least six times.
“I wonder how they’re doing,” Shinwoo muttered as they stuck yet another sign to the wall. “They should have gotten the keychain by now, confident as they were of their skills.”
They hid behind a partition as Jinyoung came into view, checking the sign and sauntering off to the general direction it pointed. Gongchan guessed being directionally-challenged had its advantages.
“Chan, would you mind checking on them?”
Gongchan glanced at Shinwoo, then at Jinyoung, then back at Shinwoo. “W-well…”
Shinwoo nodded and smiled. “Nevermind. I’ll go check on them. Keep on misleading Jinyoung, okay?”
Gongchan smiled gratefully, and waved as Shinwoo began to walk away. He was just turning to stick another paper to the wall when he came face to face with Jinyoung.
“Why have you been leading me astray?”
Gongchan swallowed.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
*Shinwoo*
“My ego.” Shinwoo rolled his eyes as Sandeul sat with his back to the wall, slowly rocking to and fro. “My poor, bruised, damaged ego…”
“What happened?” Shinwoo asked.
Baro sniggered before replying. “Sandeul got turned down.”
“How could she not see how good-looking I am?” Sandeul moaned. “Even Mi Ra says I’m cute and adorable, how could that girl not see that?”
“Aw, it’s okay Duckie,” Baro crooned, patting Sandeul on the back. “I know how you feel.”
“You do?” Sandeul turned to Baro with shining eyes, grateful for the sympathy he was getting.
“Yup,” Baro confirmed. “I told you before, right? I was already concerned about your looks. I wasn’t expecting you to do well at all, so it’s okay.”
Sandeul pushed Baro away and pouted even more. Baro laughed harder, rolling on the floor and clutching at his stomach. Sandeul kicked him away, but he never stopped laughing. Shinwoo shook his head. He turned to Baro.
“And you’re still here because?”
“I was trying to comfort Sandeul,” Baro said with a straight face.
“By laughing at me??!!”
Shinwoo pressed his fingers on the bridge of his nose. Yes, he’s a robot. Yes, he’s not supposed to experience headaches or pain of any kind. But as he looked down at the still-moping Sandeul and the still-laughing Baro, he somehow felt that maybe, just maybe, a gargantuan headache might be coming his way.
“Just go,” he said and nudged Baro with his foot. “We don’t have much time.”
Baro stood up and straightened his clothes. “This is how you catch a girl,” he told Sandeul seriously. “Watch and learn.” He winked and sauntered off to where Jungsun was.
Not even five minutes later, he came back, sputtering words Shinwoo couldn’t make out.
“What happened?” Sandeul asked.
Baro sat beside Sandeul. “I hate her. I hate her. How could she say that I’m not cute?” baro looked up at Shinwoo and gave him his best puppy eyes (or squirrel eyes, or whatever, Shinwoo still thinks Gongchan is cuter) and stuck his lower lip out. “She said I’m not her type. Well, she isn’t my type either!”
Shinwoo sighed and adjusted his glasses as he looked down at Baro and Sandeul, who were both rocking back and forth, looking grief-stricken. He sighed.
“Didn’t you just tell Gongchan and me that you’d have that girl wrapped around your little fingers in less than a minute?”
They both glared at him. “You try it then,” they said in unison. “That girl is not human, and she has no heart!”
Shinwoo shook his head and walked towards the bench where Jungsun was sitting. He was here, and he might as well try to get some information out of her.
“Hi,” he greeted when he got near enough.
Jungsun’s eyes widened for a moment, and she gave him a wary smile.
“I came to apologize. Baro and Sandeul must have disturbed you a while ago.”
She frowned a bit, then smiled up at him. “Yeah, but its okay. You’re Mi Ra unnie’s friend too, right? And Jinyoung oppa’s?”
Shinwoo nodded. “I’m Shinwoo, nice to meet you.”
“I’m Choi Jungsun.” She looked around. “Have you seen Jinyoung oppa anywhere? He was going to get me something to drink, but he’s been gone for more than an hour. Maybe he got lost again…”
“I think he’s with Mi Ra,” Shinwoo said, and he noted how Jungsun’s otherwise pretty face darkened with a little bit of scorn.
“He really likes unnie, doesn’t he.” It came out as a statement rather than a question. She sighed. “I thought he might’ve changed his mind, you know. When he said he’d spend the day with me.” She started fiddling with her bag, and Shinwoo noticed something hanging from the bag’s zipper. Jinyoung’s fox key chain.
“That’s cute,” he said, nodding to the key chain. “Where did you buy that?”
“Oh, this? I found it yesterday.”
“Can I see it?”
Jungsun detached the key chain and handed it to him. He hoped Gongchan was still following Jinyoung, and that Mi Ra was somewhere nearby. He was just about to press the switch when—
“Don’t!”
He turned to Jungsun. “Excuse me?”
Jungsun reached out and took the key chain from him, then stuffed it into her bag. “Sorry. But you see, after I found this key chain, Jinyoung oppa asked me out. I think it’s my lucky charm. So, I have this idea that if I press that button again, oppa might change his mind about me, and I don’t want it to happen.”
“You like Jinyoung?”
Jungsun nodded, blushing furiously.
“What did you like about him?” He kept the questions coming, but in his mind he was already processing how they could get the key chain. She didn’t know they were robots, that was a good thing. She didn’t know just how important that key chain was, that was even better. He only hoped Gongchan could mislead Jinyoung a bit longer, because he might need more time to actually formulate a plan. In this distance, his sensitive ears could pick up the BaDeul pair, apparently completely over their previous failure and the dent it induced in their ego.
“Wow, Shinwoo,” he heard Baro mutter. “I never thought he had it in him. After everything he said about our plan being useless…”
“Maybe he secretly watched all those movies?” Sandeul suggested, which made Shinwoo wince a bit, because he had done no such thing. “He probably picked it up from the movies.”
“Why couldn’t we do that? You got turned down in three seconds flat—“
“Hey. You’re pushing it.”
“Okay. Five seconds?”
“No way.”
“I kept count, Duckie. You didn’t even last more than ten seconds out there.”
Shinwoo sighed, and made himself focus on what Jungsun was saying.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mi Ra's not in this chapter. ^_^
Should I let Jinyoung stay with Jungsun after all?
Ah~ But Channie misses him...
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