Made For Me

“Wow. His genetic make up is incredible.” I stared wide-eyed at the DNA sequence on the paper he had handed me.

My friend Jongin smiled with pride. “Isn't he perfect? You should've seen how long it took me to get it just how I wanted. It took me practically a week to get his lips right.”

I frowned. “I wish I had your talent. Maybe if I had gone to a better school then-”

“Yuni. We're both great at what we do. Don't beat yourself up about our back rounds. You're here aren't you? We have the same position, so we're both at the same level.”

 

The year is 2089 and genetic engineering hadn't stopped at animals. Over the years, the human population decreased drastically for another plague had wiped out nearly 1/3 of the population. To prevent this in the future, scientists have been experimenting. If we can create animals with specific traits, why not humans?

The program is still being tested and hasn't been confirmed but so far, all of the experiments have been successful because all of the humans have grown perfectly healthy and most importantly, they're fertile. But the government is still not sure about this because many of the survivors of the plague are against genetically creating humans, even if it's better for the human race. If another epidemic were to break out, there is no question that this opportunity couldn't be given again.

Jongin and I both work in the embryo department where we sequence the potential humans DNA and pick the traits. Since this is just a trial, we are able to create any human we would like. Jongin wants a lover. I want a companion.

 

Something 'dinged' in the back round and Jongin clapped. “He's ready!”

A metallic tank, about the size of a casket, rose from the floor and slid over to us. We were currently in one of the housing rooms built just for this program. The room always got so much colder when it would come up, so I hugged the white lab coat tightly around myself and rubbed my arms to create more friction.

The lid to the tank opened and a white mist filled the air. I watched with interest as Jongin clamped his hands together in anticipation

Jongin's 'lover', who he named Kyungsoo, opened his eyes and I chuckled. Of course he would have him be wide-eyed. Jongin is a er for big eyes. His body sat up and looked around.

“So you like innocent guys too?” I asked.

He nodded and smiled at him. “He's perfect...”

At our voices, Kyungsoo whipped his head around and his eyes pierced into ours. I had to admit he was adorable. Jongin isn't our top embryologist for nothing. He's amazing talented at what he does. I've always envied him.

 

“Hi Kyungsoo.” Jongin waved.

He blinked and waved back. “Where am I?”

I recorded on my clipboard, 'First words: Where am I?'

“You're in your new home now. And I'm Kim Jongin.”

“I love you.” Kyungsoo blurted.

Jongin smiled.

“Not much personality, huh?” I asked, writing more notes.

“I feel like if I put too much personality in him, I wouldn't like him. You know how I always change my mind. Besides, if I don't like him, I can always make another one if the Head Chairman Joonmyun allows. And he lets me do anything..”

I nodded at Kyungsoo. “But he loves you. That's just cruel.”

I stared at him as he continued to look around and his eyes landed on the stove. Guessing Jongin likes guys that can cook too...

“Can I?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Sure. Let me get you some clothes,” Jongin said and went to the dresser.

I continued to observe their actions, most importantly Kyungsoo's. He was very responsive.

Case 112 – Successful

 

After observing Kyungsoo for another hour, I decided to go to the embryo room to work on my own case study. I was practically done and I could put it into the germination room where he would grow, but I felt like he was missing something. Something important and essential.

I read over my list one more time.

1. Gene sequence #242 – Blonde, curly hair (I like ramen)

2. Gene sequence #178 – 185cm tall (I'd rather look up then down)

3. Gene sequence #603 – Bright personality (No one likes a downer)

4. Gene sequence #098 – Brown eyes (Perk)

5. Gene sequence #340 – Deep voice (Double perk. Come on, who doesn't like deep voices?)

I continued down the long list and pursed my lips.

“What am I forgetting?” I whispered to myself.

A light bulb went off in my head and I quickly looked up the sequence number. Once I had found it, I grabbed my laboratory notebook and jotted it down so I could quickly inject it into the embryo.

308. Gene sequence #112 – Beautiful smile (So I can forget my worries)

 

A week later, I stood in another housing room, waiting for the tank to come up with my hard work. I put my sweat, blood and tears into him and if he wasn't what I wanted him to be, I don't know what I'd do.

Jongin was currently working with Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo made a lot of improvement over the last few days. He's already fit to mingle with the other studies.

I was a little glad that my friend was too busy to see my first study. I'm not one to take criticism well, so it would be best if he weren't here.

I heard the familiar 'ding' and the room already started to get colder. I hugged my arms and bit my lip nervously as I watched the tank come up agonizingly slow.

The lid plopped up and there was mist everywhere. Normally, the being would sit upright automatically but he didn't.

Oh great, I failed already.

I walked closer and swatted the mist away from my face so I could see clearer. And there he was, pale skin, curly hair, plump lips, eyes closed. He was beautiful. And I failed him.

I frowned and leaned in to check if he was breathing. His eyes suddenly shot open and he sat up abruptly, causing us to bump heads.

“Ow...” he muttered. His voice was deep.

“I'm sorry. I'm Cha Yuni. Your friend.”

“Hello Yuni! I'm Chanyeol! And I'm your friend. Well aren't you pretty?” he poked my cheek and smiled brightly.

I took note of his left eye twitch. Mistake...

But then I took note of his smile. Success.

I grinned and wrote down in my notebook, 'First words: Ow'

 

“Hey. He's cute.” Jongin told me the next day as we were observing him. He was watching TV with his legs crossed Indian style on the couch. He clapped and laughed loudly when Dora went the wrong way. “Dora! You're so silly!”

“He is, isn't he? But...I've made a couple mistakes.” I sighed.

“Yeah I noticed it too. The twitch. The clumsiness. Unless you put that in yourself.”

I shook my head. “I didn't...”

“What age did you inject into him?”

“Physically, twenty. Mentally......twenty.”

“Well...”

“I know. He's like eight or something right?” I threw my pencil and notebook away from me in frustration.

“Hey, it's okay. It's only your first study. Try again next time. I'll go to the lab with you later if you want.”

 

Chanyeol looked over to me with a worried look and tilted his head. He sensed my anger.

“I can't bring myself to neglect him,” I said. “I'll work on him a little more. Maybe with social interaction and learning, he'll mentally grow faster and reach twenty.”

Jongin nodded. “Good luck. I'm going to go see Kyungsoo. He promised me he'd cook for me today.”

“Well I'm glad you're enjoying work.”

He grinned and patted my shoulder. “You should too. This is interesting stuff. Just think about it.” He leaned in closer and brought his voice down so Chanyeol couldn't hear. Not like he was paying attention anyways. He was too busy yelling at Swiper to not swipe. “You created him. He's yours. Science is fascinating.”

“Yes. I created him. So I have to take responsible for him. I'm not going to throw him away and start on a new project so quickly. When I show my lab notebook to Joonmyun-sshi, he won't be happy with my progress.”

“He's understanding. He knows this is only your first study. You'll be fine. Just do like you said. Talk to him, teach him. He'll probably grow.”

“Easy for you to say. Your experiments are always perfect.”

“I've made mistakes too. Seriously, Yuni-ah. Don't lose sleep over it.”

“Yeah yeah. Go back to your lover.”

“Gladly. See you later.” and he was gone.

 

I sat back as Chanyeol continued to watch cartoons. I spaced out and hadn't noticed that he was trying to pour a glass of apple juice. He accidentally spilled it and it had gotten all over my lab notebook. In short, my entire job was in that book.

“Oh my God! Chanyeol! What have you done?!” I lifted it up and it was dripping.

He sat there, still clutching onto the pitcher. “I-I'm sorry. I'm thirsty and I was going to ask you but you looked sad so I didn't want to bother you. Do I make you sad?”

I ignored him and flipped through the pages. Luckily, when I threw my notebook, it had landed face down and only the empty pages in the back got drenched. I sighed in relief. I still had to copy my notes into a new notebook, but it was better than it being lost forever.

I looked up and Chanyeol's bottom lip was quivering and his eyes were moist.

“No no. Don't cry. Look. See? The book is okay! Don't be sad.”

A single tear fell down his face and my heart broke to pieces. “But I make you sad. I make my only friend sad. I don't deserve you.”

I stood up and sat next to him. “No, you don't make me sad. You make me happy. See? I'm smiling.”

He looked at me with watery eyes. “I do? I make you happy?”

I cupped his face and wiped his tears with my thumbs while nodding. He grinned and hugged my torso, head resting on my chest.

“Can I have some juice now?”

 

Throughout the day, I wanted to see where Chanyeol was at mentally so I could plan the pace I would teach him.

He knew the alphabet and could read simple third grade books. He also new simple math, going from addition to basic multiplication and division. I also found that he was really good with fractions and decimals. That's a start right? At least I made a smart 8 year old.

When it was time for bed, Chanyeol complained that 'the pajamas aren't bright enough' and that he wanted 'ones with the cars on them'. I sighed and told him that I would buy him some tomorrow and he smiled. His smile could stop world hunger. Or maybe I'm over exaggerating.

“Can you tuck me in?” he asked.

I laughed. A grown man asking me to tuck him in will forever be hilarious to me. But I realized that on the inside he's still 8 so I nodded.

As I tucked him in, he stared at me. “Yuni...”

“Hmm?”

“Never mind.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Maybe I'm asking too much.”

I pushed away some curls that were blocking his eyes. “Tell me. You can tell me anything. Really. You can trust me.”

“Can you sleep with me?”

My jaw dropped. With that face and deep voice, my mind went straight to the gutter. “Uh, I...”

He pouted. “It's okay. You haven't showered or anything yet so I get it. See you tomorrow then?”

I smiled. “See you tomorrow.” I walked to the door and looked back. Chanyeol waved and turned so his back was facing me.

I heard him whisper faintly, “Good night.”

 

When I told him I was going to buy him new pajama pants the next morning, he was so excited and started jumping up and down, causing his golden locks to bounce around too.

“Can I come?! Can I come?!”

I frowned. “I'm sorry. You have to stay here.”

And there were those puppy dog eyes again.

“Why can't I come?”

“Because-”

“Please? Or am I not allowed to leave this room?”

“Chany-”

“Fine! Go! Hmmph.” He plopped himself down on the couch and folded his arms with a pout.

I frowned and made my way out. “I'll be back later. I promise.”

He didn't reply.

 

When I came back a few hours later, it seemed like he had forgotten the whole thing because he was bouncing on the couch while singing along to a song on the TV.

“I'm back!”

He perked up and ran over to me. His face was so full of anticipation.

I reached into the plastic bag and pulled out the shorts I had bought him. “I'm sorry they're shorts. They didn't have pants with cars on them. The only ones they had were too small for you.”

He grinned and took them from me. “I love them! Thank you!” He kissed my cheek and started jumping up and down around the room.

My face turned bright red as I touched the slightly wet spot on my cheek where he had kissed me. I shook my head and snapped out of it. I reached back into the bag and hid the surprise behind my back.

“Chanyeol!” I called.

“Yes?”

“I have a surprise for you.”

“Surprise?! I love surprises! What is it? A puppy?” he ran back over to me, body towering over mine.

I laughed. “No.”

“What is it?!”

“You can't tell anybody I got this for you okay? I'll get in big trouble.”

He nodded eagerly with those bright eyes and I pushed the car shaped lollipop in front of his face.

“UWAHHHHH!!!!!” his deep voice filled the room.

I laughed as I watched him jump up and down while saying 'thank you' a million times. His curls kept bouncing with him.

I could definitely get used to this.

 

The next day was a huge change. Yesterday, he was a clumsy 8 year old, now he's a hormonal teenager going through puberty.

I had to learn the hard way.

I walked to his door and passed several co-workers. I greeted them and we chit chatted for a bit but I was in a rush because I wanted to see Chanyeol. I think they sensed it because they quickly excused themselves.

I placed my finger on the scanner and the door slid open. I placed some toys I had gotten from the other rooms that housed the genetically created kids on the table and walked over to the sleeping mop of curly hair. That's weird. He's normally awake by now.

“Chanyeol! Wake up!”

“Hmmm...” his deep voice groaned.

The noise gave me chills.

“WAKE UP!” I started to shake him. He placed his head underneath the pillow to drown out my voice. “Five more minutes...” he muttered.

I raised an eyebrow. The last time I had ever said those words was when I was 15 before getting ready for school because my mom would wake me up.

Wait. 15...

 

After the realization hit me, I threw the covers off of him, hoping it would wake him up so I could prove my hypothesis.

I gasped.

Chanyeol threw the pillow off of his head and sat up with bed hair. “Ah, what the hell. I said five min- What are you staring at?” he asked and followed my gaze....to his morning wood.

Morning. Wood.

“YAH!” he screamed and quickly tried to find something to cover it but I had thrown his blanket and he had thrown his pillow. He resulted in flipping over onto his stomach.

I quickly turned around with a flushed face. I didn't know why I was so flustered. I had 'created' him, but this is a male reproductive organ we're talking about here.

“I'll leave so you can...er...take care of it.” I quickly sped out of the room to look for the one and only Kim Jongin.

 

Jongin was literally rolling on the floor laughing after I told him about the incident. Kyungsoo watched him with amusement as he continued to fold clothes while I face palmed. When he finally calmed down, he sat up and wiped his tears while saying, “At least we know he's growing mentally....and physically if you know what I mean.”

“I'm serious, Jongin. What do I do now that he's a teenager? Teach him Calculus instead?”

“When is he ever going to use calculus? I'd start with anatomy and education.” he started another fit of giggles.

Kyungsoo ran to the kitchen and held up his spatula. “How about I teach him cooking? It's lonely here.”

“But I'm always here!” Jongin yelled.

Ignoring him, Kyungsoo stared at me with those eyes.

“I'm sorry. I don't think he's ready to socialize with others yet. Maybe in a few weeks? Days if we're lucky.”

Kyungsoo nodded in understanding and Jongin went up to him to wrap an arm around his waist.

“Looks like you're stuck with me.”

“Oh wonderful.”

“Shut up, you love me.”

“I do.”

 

I couldn't stand anymore fluffiness so I decided to go back to Chanyeol's room again. I took a deep breath before scanning my finger.

Once the door slid open, I walked in and the boy was sitting on the couch watching a variety show that was on.

“No Dora?” I asked, opening my notebook.

“It's not as entertaining anymore. Kind of boring actually. So I decided to turn on some shows,” he said.

I nodded and took note of his more calm and collected behavior but his smile was still bright.

“I'm sorry about this morning by the way. Won't happen again. I'll make sure to knock,” I told him.

He shyly looked away from me and continued to watch. “I took some milk and cookies out for breakfast. I poured you a glass.”

“Oh, it's okay. I already-” I stopped when he gave me those puppy dog eyes and sighed. “Okay.”

 

After I ate a couple of cookies, I turned off the TV and told him that I'd start today's lesson. I was going to grab the math book but he shook his head. “No need. I already finished it when you were gone. I had nothing else to do.”

My eyes widened. “The whole book?”

He nodded, curls bouncing.

“Even up to Algbera?”

“Yeah. It just came to me.”

“Interesting...” I whispered and recorded his fast learning in my notebook. I guess I hadn't made a mistake in his knowledge gene sequences. He remembered everything over night.

I took a sip of milk and flipped some pages in my Biology textbook. “So let's start with anatomy today since you're oh-so smart at math now.”

I suddenly heard a clap and looked to see Chanyeol laughing with his mouth open and twitch visible. He continued to laugh and clap like a seal for a couple seconds before calming down.

“What?” I finally asked.

“Your mustache.” He pointed with one hand and hit his thigh with the other.

“What?! I don't have a mustache!”

“Milk...mustache.” He grabbed a napkin and started wiping my upper lip.

“Oh,” I said stupidly and stared at him as he did so.

He grinned and clasped his hands together. “There! All better. So what did you say? Anatomy? That's boring. I wanna learn about the cool stuff like fire.”

“Fire?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah!” His face had lit up. “Like how it's made. And what you can do to it. Oh! And blue fire.”

“No. No fire.”

“Why?” he pouted.

“Because I'm an embryologist. I don't know anything about fire.”

“Oh. Lame!” he stuck out his tongue.

“And there is a stove over there. I don't want you playing with it.”

“Tch, fine.”

 

“When can I leave this room?” Chanyeol suddenly asked in the middle of my lesson.

“Whenever you prove to me you can.”

He never pressed the subject any further.

 

The next day, I walked into the room at around noon to see Chanyeol cooking.

“Good morning. Or shall I say, good afternoon? Where have you been sleepy head?” he asked, glancing at me for a moment before returning to his food.

“I had some stuff to do. But it's all done now. What are you cooking?” I asked.

“Ramen. I was thinking you'd come so I made two packets. Hungry?” he grinned.

“Extremely. I didn't have breakfast.”

Chanyeol clicked his tongue a few times. “This is can't do. I need to put another egg in here. And you better eat it!”

I laughed and nodded while walking over to the counter. I noticed his clothes and my eyes widened. He was wearing the jeans and blue button up shirt I had bought him before he was made, the days that I thought he was going to be twenty from the start. But since he was younger, all he wore were shorts, sweatpants and t-shirts. Now he was dressed like how he looked and the realization hit me again.

“Chanyeol.”

“Yes?”

“How old are you?”

He tasted a sip of his ramen and said, “Twenty. Why?”

“Span of mental growth....4 days,” I whispered to myself and ran to grab my lab notebook from my bag to write it down.

“You're always writing in that thing. What is it? Your plan of world domination?” he asked playfully with that twitchy smile I've grown to love.

“Ha. Yeah right.”

“I think you could do it. You can do anything.” he gave me a thumbs up and before I realized it, I had butterflies.

 

A few days later, I continued to bang my head on the lab table as Jongin was continuing to mix some genes together in a petri dish.

“What is it now?” he asked, surprisingly calm.

“I screwed up.”

“We all know that.”

I glared at him. “Seriously.”

He took off his goggles and sighed, swiveling in his chair to face me. “Let's have it.”

I sat up and bit my lip. “I think I might have feelings for my creation.”

Jongin smiled. “That's great! Then we can go on double dates in the common room!”

“Jongin, you don't understand.”

He tilted his head.

“You created Kyungsoo for love. You put all the right sequences in him to love you. I wanted a friend. I only put companion qualities in him. He will never love me...”

Jongin frowned at this. Then he snapped his fingers. “Just recreated him! You have his data and gene sequences right? Just make him again. And then you can fix all of the mistakes you made before and he'll be perfect!”

I shook my head. “It's not the same. The twitch and the cute memories we have when he was 'younger' make him, him. I can't start over. It's not right.”

“You're such a sap.”

“I should've made him a girl...” I resumed my banging.

 

Chanyeol was watching an action movie while I was scribbling some notes down in my notebook.

“What are you always writing in there? Can I see?!” he plopped down next to me and tried to look.

“No! You can't!”

With a slight pout he said, “Why not?”

“Cause.”

“Tch...you've never told me about your job. The only thing I know is that you wear that white coat every time I see you. Chemist? Biologist?”

“I told you, I'm an embryologist.”

Ignoring me, he continued, “Oh I know! Doctor! I'm not sick right?”

“No. You're not sick.”

“Then why am I here? I can never leave, you're the only one I see, and I'm trapped here.”

I looked at him and this was the first time I haven't seen a hint of happiness in his expression. He was always so bubbly. And this was the first time a subject had ever questioned it's existence. Normally they would be created and lived their lives like nothing was wrong. Chanyeol was more human than any of them. And it scared me.

I was going to jot down my thoughts when Chanyeol shoved the book away from me and grabbed my wrists. He pinned them to the couch and hovered over me.

“Answer me,” he whispered, face close to mine.

“You don't trust me?” I whispered back. “I'm your friend.”

At the word, his face softened.

I continued, “Do you think I'd harm you?”

“N-no.”

“So what's the problem?”

He sighed and his hot breath blew in my face and I shivered slightly. He released my wrists and sat back. I regained my posture and watched him as he threw his head back to rest it on the back of the couch. He swallowed, causing his adam's apple to bob and I my lips.

He turned to look at me. “I'm sorry.”

But in all honesty, I should be the one to apologize.

 

For the next couple of days, the subject of my job was never brought up again and I felt guilty because it felt like I was hiding basically his entire life from him but no one had ever questioned their existence before in this program so I had no idea what to do. I probably made another mistake and I couldn't afford to write down any more mistakes in my notebook. If Chairman Joonmyun saw, he would definitely order me to get rid of Chanyeol. And I would never let that happen, ever. But the government was already up his about the program so he needed everything to be perfect.

“I think you're ready to meet the others here,” I told him one day.

His face lit up and I automatically smiled. “Others?”

“Yeah. There's a common room where every one hangs out. I think you're ready to socialize.”

“I'm so ready!” he smiled and took my hand. His hand was so warm and big compared to mine. I wanted to hold it forever.

I playfully pouted. “You hate me that much?”

“No! Of course not! I'm just...excited to see what the outside of this room looks like. That's all.”

“Okay okay. Come on.”

 

I scanned my finger and walked out of the room. Chanyeol followed silently beside me, taking everything in. The walls were gray and boring so he didn't say anything. He seemed a little disappointed that the outside was just as boring as the inside. We reached large double doors and I swiped a card.

“And the common room!” the doors opened and everything turned brighter.

“Woah...”

The large windows allowed us to see the view of the city with the tall buildings and flying subway trains. In the center of the room, there was a buffet bar where people could get food and there were lots of tables and chairs. There was a large TV on one side where they often played movies. And on the other side there was an arcade with lots of games.

“There are a lot of people with white coats like you.” he pointed out.

I nodded. Every subject had to have at least one supervisor with them.

“Come on. I want you to meet Jongin's...er...lover. He's really nice,” I said and took his arm.

“Lover?”

 

We spotted Jongin and Kyungsoo cuddling on the couch watching a movie. There were other guys with them too.

“Oh! Yuni! Glad to see you're here. You too Chanyeol,” Jongin said. “This is Kyungsoo.”

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo shook hands with a smile.

Chanyeol and I sat down on an empty spot on the couch and Chanyeol was quick to make friends. Especially with one of our older experiments, Baekhyun.

While they were talking, I went to the food stand to bring Chanyeol some food. He gets hungry easily and eats like 5 meals a day.

As I was walking back, Chanyeol ran up to me with a frantic expression.

“Where were you?!” he asked.

I gestured to the food. “I was just getting you some-”

He suddenly hugged me and it took me by surprise.”

“Don't leave me.”

“Chanyeol. I was just getting some food.”

“I don't like it when you're not beside me. Friends always have to be by each other's sides.”

As he continued to hug me, I met eyes with Jongin from across the room.

 

Much to his protest, we had to go back to his room. “But I like it there!” he whined as we were walking back.

“We can go back tomorrow. And the day after that and the day after that if you want.” I told him.

“Not everyday. I still want alone time with you.”

I couldn't help but smile. “So you and Baekhyun are friends now?”

“I don't know about friends. More like acquaintances. He's really funny and ridiculous. I feel like I can't watch a movie with him though. He doesn't shut up.”

I laughed. “That's how Jongdae wanted him.”

“Huh?”

I shook my head quickly. “Nothing.”

 

Once we reached the door, I told him to go in.

“You're not coming in?” he asked, disappointed.

“No. I have to go home now. I'm kind of tired.”

“When can I visit your home?”

I bit my lip. “Soon.” I lied. But I knew there was no way he could ever visit my home, let alone leave this part of the building.

“Okay! I'm going to shower and sleep too then. See you tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

“Bye bye~” he waved and the door slid shut.

I smiled to myself and turned to leave.

 

When I was driving home was when I realized I had left my notebook on Chanyeol's counter. I cursed to myself because I had to go to the lab early in the morning to run some tests for Jongin. I quickly turned my car around to drive back to the building. I reached the door and hoped that Chanyeol wasn't already asleep. I would hate to wake him up. I scanned my finger and the door opened. I sighed in relief when I saw him seated by the counter, in his pajamas, wearing the car shorts I had bought him. I laughed to myself. “Hey. Sorry, I left my-”

Chanyeol turned around to look at me with a red face and fresh tears.

“What's wrong?” I asked, closing the distance between us.

I looked at what he was looking at and realized it was my lab notebook.

“So I'm just a 'subject'?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“No, Chanyeol. It's not like that.”

He stood up. “Yes it is! It says it right here! I'm just made in a petri dish from sequences you put together. And apparently I have many flaws.”

“You don't have any flaws Chanyeol. They're just scientific mistakes on my part.”

 

“It all makes sense now,” he said staring at the ground. “Why you're always wearing that lab coat. This is your job. Why I can't leave this place. It's because you don't want me to show scientific disadvantages. I'm just an experiment to you, aren't I?”

My eyes started to water. “No. No. Please don't think like that. Chanyeol.” I started to walk towards him but he backed away from me. That was when I started to cry.

“How could you hide this from me?” he whispered.

“Not just you...”

“You mean none of them know? Not Kyungsoo? Or Baekhyun? How...how?!”

“You're the only one who has ever questioned your existence, Chanyeol. Everyone is happy. They never think about how they've come into this world, or why they're here, or what their purpose is. They're just living their lives. But you...”

“I'm just a failed experiment.”

“No. You're more human than anyone else. You have curiosity, you have doubts, you have preferences. To me, you're perfect.”

 

After a moment, Chanyeol looked up at me and I looked right back at him.

“But humans aren't all perfect, why must you expect us to be?” he asked.

“We don't expect you be perfect. We expect you to be exactly how we make you.”

“And I'm not. As it's written right here.” he held up the notebook.

“No, but like I said before. To me, you're perfect.”

He slammed the book down on the counter and stalked towards me. “But what you think doesn't matter here! All you seem to care about is that ing book! In the end it's all about the facts! And if that book says I'm not worthy of living, then I'm not since that's all the experiment revolves around right? You created me, why don't you just destroy me too?”

I stayed silent.

“Answer me!”

“Because I love you, okay?!”

Chanyeol shut up at this. His eyes widened and he stared at me in disbelief.

“I ing love you! Why else do you think I have the patience to keep you around?! If I was Jongin, I would've started over on you the second you were created! But I couldn't bring myself to. I wanted to take responsibility for my mistakes. But as time went on, those mistakes weren't mistakes anymore. They turned into miracles.”

He just continued to stare at me.

“But you can't love me back. I only made you to be a friend. The act of loving isn't even in your brain. You don't know what love is, do you?”

He stayed silent.

I shook my head and wiped my tears with the back of my hand. I grabbed my notebook and quickly left without another word.

 

I couldn't sleep that night. I kept tossing and turning and before I knew it, it was 7:00am and I had to get up again. Chanyeol entered my brain at horrible times. When I was at a red light, some car honked at me because I apparently was still sitting their even when the light turned green. I was thinking about Chanyeol's laugh. Or when I was measuring acid in a container, I almost burned my hand because I spilled it. I was thinking about Chanyeol's lips and how it would feel to kiss them.

But I got my answer soon enough because the second I walked through the door, he grabbed my face and kissed me. I was utterly shocked at first but his lips were so warm and soft that I couldn't hold myself back so I returned the kiss.

He pulled away and placed our foreheads together.

“What was that?” I whispered.

“I did some research. Isn't that what people do when they're in love?”

I nodded. “But you don't love me.”

“I can learn. You put 'fast learner' in me. I saw it yesterday in the book. I can learn how to love. And you'll be my teacher.”

I could feel hot tears rolling down my cheeks as I nodded.

“Thank you for having patience for me and sticking by me like a true friend. Now we can take it to the next level. I've thought about it and I want to be like Kyungsoo and Jongin too,” he said, hugging my waist.

I just sighed in happiness.

“And thank you for helping me realize my true existence,” he continued on. “I was made for you and only you.”

Burying my face in chest, I whispered, “Only for me.”

 

Right when I thought everything was in the right place, it came tumbling down.

Joonmyun wanted to speak with me for our monthly conference to see my progress. When he asked to see my notebook, I suddenly regretted not burning it when I had the chance. But if I had no notebook to show him, I would lose my job. I had also thought about erasing mistakes and stating that everything had gone well, but once an inspection would come around, I'd be screwed.

“Wow, there are lots of malfunctions in here,” he said, flipping through the pages.

“I know. But he has grown and there's nothing wrong with him now.”

Joonmyun nodded in understanding. “I don't expect your first study to be perfect. But I assume you found your mistakes and can fix them next time?”

I nodded. “I injected the gene too deep in the cells nucleus.”

“You'll need to work on that. So when are you thinking about putting him down?”

“Putting him down?” I blinked.

“The government had said to only keep the absolute perfect subjects. He clearly isn't. You're going to have to put him down.”

I started to shake. “No. I can't. He's human, he has feelings, he has a future. I can't just put him down.”

“If you don't, the program will.”

 

I went to Kyungsoo's room because I knew Jongin would be there. When I walked in they were face on the couch but I was too hysterical to care.

Jongin sat up in alarm and ran over to me. “What's wrong? Why are you crying?”

“I can't give up. I can't give up now. I've gone too far.”

“What are you talking about?!”

“Chanyeol...they want to put him down.”

Jongin's eyes widened.

“What do I do? I love him, Jongin-ah. I love him so much.”

“I have an idea. You're going to need me and my high status for this.”

I was desperate at this point, so I had no choice but to oblige.

 

“Do I look smart?” Chanyeol asked, pushing up the glasses.

Jongin had managed to snag a lab coat as I was trying to find nice clothes for Chanyeol. We were trying to sneak him out of the building without getting caught. The only way to do that is to disguise him as a scientist.

“Yeah. Kinda hot actually.” I nodded in approval.

Chanyeol grinned and winked at me.

“Okay. Ew.” Jongin pretended to gag. “Yuni, go get some scissors.”

I nodded and got them. Jongin cut the blue plastic bracelet on Chanyeol's wrist labeling him as a subject.

“Now you're ready.”

 

“Act natural and don't look anyone in the eye,” Jongin ordered and Chanyeol nodded.

As we were walking down the halls, we greeted co-workers with a smile like normal and everything was running smoothly. We reached the end of the tunnel where the guards checked your identification cards.

“You ing owe me Cha Yuni. I could lose my status,” Jongin said through gritted teeth.

“I'll sneak in snacks for you and Kyungsoo for a month.”

“Deal. Hello fellas.” Jongin greeted the security.

“Dr. Kim.” they bowed to him and turned to me. “Dr. Cha.”

Jongin smacked Chanyeol's back with a smile. “We were just showing our new co-worker around the building. He's starting next week. He's Dr. Park.”

They bowed to him as well and Chanyeol bowed back, looking at the ground.

Jongin laughed nervously. “He's just a little shy, but he's got some steady hands. Good with the pipet. I'll see you both later.”

During all that talking, Jongin managed to get Chanyeol through the gates without the security even noticing. If it was me by myself, the guards would've insisted to see an ID card on Chanyeol.

 

I turned to Jongin. “You're a genius, thank you Jongin.”

“Yeah yeah. Don't forget our deal okay?”

I nodded and took Chanyeol's hand to lead him to the parking lot.

As we were silently riding in the car, Chanyeol spoke up. “I'm not going back there right?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Out here, you're free. And as long as you don't have that blue bracelet, no one will know who you are.”

He smiled brightly. “I can't help but ask. Why?”

“They....wanted me to kill you. But how could I kill the one I love?”

He just stared at me and leaned over to press a wet kiss to my cheek.

 

“Woah! You're house is awesome.” Chanyeol continued to run around my house screaming.

“I'm glad I get to live in it with someone else. It gets kind of lonely with all this space. But the only down side of all of this is that I can't be with you as much.”

He poked his head from a room and pouted. “Why?”

“Because I have to go to work.”

“Oh...right. It's okay because when you wake up, come home and go to sleep, I'll be here. And every time you come back, I'll have a nice meal on the table for you too and greet you with a kiss.”

I smiled and gestured him to go upstairs with me.

“This is my bedroom. And that's my bed. That's where a lot of love will take place.”

He nodded and looked around, not catching my drift.

I rolled my eyes. “Chanyeol.”

“Hmmm?”

“Let's make out.”

“Oka-” but before he could finish I pushed him onto my bed and kissed him.

 

After a few minutes, he pulled away breathing heavily. “So is this what love feels like?”

“What does it feel like?”

“I feel tingly inside and I feel like taking off my clothes.”

I laughed harder than I should. “I think that's lust...”

“But not just now. Whenever I see your face or think about you, I feel tingly too.”

I nodded and kissed him. “That's love.”

“So am I your lover now?”

I nodded again and brushed our noses together. “You're my lover. Only mine.”

“I know. Because I was made for you, right?”

“Only for me.”