“What do you think?” asked Yongguk apprehensively. The King was staring, silent and pale faced, at the creation that Yongguk and Youngjae had worked so hard to build.  It was the first time that he’d ever seen Himchan at a loss for words. The guard decided to continue speaking to break the uncomfortable silence. “He’s entirely autonomous. Constantly taking in his surroundings, calculating threats and motivations, defensive positions and plans of attack. He’s state of the art.”

Himchan raised a hand and carefully touched the android’s arm, looking both terrified and mesmerized. The robot blinked quizzically, focusing its unnervingly human eyes at the man, causing the King to pull away as if burned.

“Well?” Yongguk was growing impatient. He and Youngjae had put their hearts and souls into the project. Some sort of recognition of their hard work was not very much to ask for.

Himchan stepped away, removing his ostentatious golden crown and running a hand through his dark hair. He was not meeting Yongguk’s imploring gaze. In fact, the King wouldn’t look directly at Yongguk, Youngjae or the android, and that was completely out of character for the man who had always demanded to be at the center of attention. It was odd enough behavior that the leader of the King’s personal guard took note of it immediately.

“Isn’t this…” Himchan trailed off and sighed heavily, looking for all the world like he would rather be anywhere else at that moment. He waved a hand in the direction of the robot. “Isn’t this kind of sick? I know that you’re having a hard time dealing with everything, but--”

“Your Majesty, if I may interrupt?” Youngjae cut in. Himchan narrowed his eyes in annoyance but nodded his consent.

The lead scientist pushed his black framed glasses up his nose and began talking eagerly, waving his hands in exaggerated movements as he spoke. “We needed to make the android as lifelike as possible so that it would be able to successfully infiltrate wherever the rebels are holed up without being discovered. He’s entirely created from synthetic materials so that he looks and feels human. He even bleeds, although, it isn’t actual blood. The whole process was made a lot easier by basing the design on a real person.”

“Yes, that’s all well and good, but what I don’t understand,” Himchan gestured impatiently toward the android, “is why this particular person?”

“You know why,” replied Yongguk in a low, hurt tone. Himchan paled even further.

There was nothing but tense silence for a long moment. The King appeared to be doing his best to ignore the sheen of unshed tears gathering in his guard’s eyes while Yongguk, the guard, was simply trying to keep his pain held inside long enough to get back to the privacy of his rooms.

The android moved so quickly that it hadn’t even registered to anyone until it was beside Yongguk, rubbing a comforting hand over his shoulder in a move of surprising familiarity.

Himchan’s glare went unnoticed as both of the creators began inspecting the machine earnestly. “What’s its name?” He tried to bring their attention back to himself.

Nobody answered, being too busy running data checks and questioning the robot for the reasoning behind its actions.

“I said I want to know what that thing’s name is!” Himchan shouted as he stomped his foot childishly.

“Zelo,” was Yongguk’s distracted answer. He was more focused on watching Zelo’s reactions: the narrowing of his eyes, the downward quirk of his lips, and the protective way he placed his robot-self between the King and his guard.  The android had been programmed to protect the country’s leader at all costs; to Yongguk, it was disappointing that a malfunction was occurring so soon.

“What kind of ridiculous name is that?” Himchan scoffed derisively.

“I came up with it. He was named after the Greek God of rivalry,” Youngjae explained with a penetrating look that made Himchan uneasy. Taking a quick glance to make sure the guard was still busy with the robot, Youngjae leaned into the King’s personal space and continued on menacingly. “You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you, Your Highness?” The scientist smiled slyly, his eyes shining with a knowledge that made the King break out in a cold sweat as he casted a worried look in Yongguk’s direction.

“Since this is just the prototype it’s going to need to remain under my supervision, so I can monitor for glitches and bugs that we haven’t caught.” Yongguk turned from Zelo to see Youngjae stepping away from a very uncomfortable looking Himchan.

The King only nodded in response before hastily retreating from the laboratory. Distantly, Yongguk noted that he’d have to ask Dr. Moon, the King’s personal physician, to give Himchan a checkup. He seemed unwell.

*****

The next months moved quickly, time seeming to fast forward in a happy contrast to the agonizing crawl Yongguk had been slugging through ever since… Well, ever since. Whole weeks passed before he’d even realized it as he tested Zelo both physically and mentally. He spent hour after hour with the android, every waking moment, watching for signs of malfunctions but finding none.

Zelo was able to speed through mazes, fight his way out of impossible combat situations and detect threats that the human guards were completely unable to find. Even when they weren’t running tests, Yongguk never let the android leave his sight. Not only was the android a formidable weapon for the kingdom, but Zelo quickly, against all logic, became a sort of friend to Yongguk. They’d have long conversations, play games together, watch movies, and soon the guard found himself able to smile again, his heart piecing itself back together with every laugh that fell from the android’s lips.

Yes, the days passed in a blur, and Yongguk knew who to thank for that.

Before Zelo’s creation he had been miserable. A man without hope, purpose, or even the will to live. Since Junhong’s death many months prior, Yongguk had been nothing more than an empty shell, a ghost going through the motions. His heart had been blown to bits at the same moment as the boy that he’d loved had been.

But Zelo brought new breath into him; Zelo was able to put the shards of his broken life back together with his unwavering presence and near constant cheerfulness.  

It was sick, just as the King had said, but that didn’t matter to Yongguk. He’d thought he was going crazy, one step closer to the edge of losing his sanity every second that he’d been without Junhong. It was an addiction, a detrimental, incurable need to see, taste, and hold the one person that understood him like no other, and it consumed him like a parasite day in and day out. It was the very same need that drove him to convince Youngjae to design the android to be an almost exact physical replica of Junhong.

And Zelo was.

Zelo had Junhong’s wild blond hair. Some days it was curly and some days it was not, but it was always soft and feather light. Zelo had Junhong’s large chocolate eyes. Eyes that could look innocent or cunning at the drop of a hat. Eyes that could slice through all of the walls that Yongguk tried to erect around himself with a single playful glance. He had the same puffy cheeks, pouty lips, and was easily as tall as Junhong had been. Zelo was so similar that there were days when Yongguk almost forgot that they weren’t the same person, or that Zelo was, in fact, not really a person at all.

Those days he hated himself even more than usual.

*****

“Hyung, can I help you train today?” Zelo asked naively, completely unaware that his voice had the power to tear Yongguk apart because it sounded so much like what he’d lost. At least, the android hadn’t been programmed to know such a thing.

“No.”

His response was flat and direct as he pulled his black t-shirt down over his head tiredly. Not exactly harsh but still it caused the android’s face to fall. He looked away quickly. It wasn’t as if the android actually possessed feelings that could be hurt, or so he tried to tell himself.

But they had created him to be as lifelike as possible. Maybe they’d been more successful than they’d thought. Sometimes it was very hard to tell if Zelo felt emotions like they did or if it was just a trick of his programming.

Yongguk felt a pang of guilt as Zelo peeked his head around the locker door with a frown—he’d always hated causing that look to appear on Junhong’s face—but it had to be done. The more time he allowed Zelo to spend with him, the more he forgot where the line was supposed to be that separated them. At first it had been negligible; just an old, long forgotten smile tugging at his lips and a welcome lightness in his chest whenever Zelo was beside him, but as time passed, it became harder and harder to ignore his growing attraction.

Zelo pouted cutely, much at odds with the killing machine that he’d been created to be, and wrapped his arms around Yongguk’s shoulders from behind. His breath, unexpectedly warm just like his manufactured body heat, brushed over Yongguk’s ear teasingly as he spoke. “But hyuuuung, I will get rusty if I’m not used.”

The guard had to suppress a shudder, reminding himself firmly that it wasn’t as if Zelo had purposely meant to sound suggestive; he didn’t even know what suggestive meant. Yongguk cursed Youngjae’s engineering skills while at the same time praising him as a god. It was both Heaven and Hell to feel the familiarity of his lover against his body, solid and tangible, because he’d missed this—oh, God, had he missed it—but it wasn’t Junhong. Not really. It was just an incredibly lifelike replacement, one that would never be able to return his feelings because it wasn’t even human.

When Yongguk continued to ignore the android, Zelo took it a step further. Leaning forward, he caught Yongguk’s earlobe between his teeth and gently pulled in a manner that could not be mistaken as innocent.

“Don’t you want to use me, hyung?”

Without further hesitation, Yongguk growled and spun out of Zelo’s grasp, shoving him safely away. It didn’t work nearly as well as he’d hoped since Zelo’s body was denser and almost impossible to move. He ended up with his palms pressed flat against the android’s chest, one directly over the place where his heart would have been if he’d been real. Instead, deep inside there was the microchip that gave Zelo life encased in a shell of man-made diamond to protect it.

Yongguk stared at his hand for a moment, marveling at the way he could feel the artificial rise and fall of the android’s chest, the way he could feel the faux heartbeat fluttering under his fingers. When he lifted his eyes, he was met with a dark, challenging gaze. It was a look that he’d seen hundreds of times before, one that Junhong had greeted him with on so many occasions that there’d been moments when Yongguk had wondered if they’d ever leave the bedroom, or if he would even care if they didn’t.

It was all too much. Junhong’s body only a breath away. Junhong’s eyes staring him down with a searing want. Junhong’s hands tugging his hips, closing the distance between them, and Junhong’s lips hungrily devouring his own.

How could he deny himself what he yearned for so badly? What he needed so desperately?

The simple answer was that he couldn’t. Not anymore.

“This is wrong,” Yongguk tried one last time. Zelo responded by sliding his tongue over Yongguk’s bottom lip, and the guard came undone.

The moment promptly became charged with a sort of urgency that left them both breathless. In a matter of seconds, Yongguk’s shirt was off, lost somewhere in the locker room behind them. Zelo’s shirt, a dark blue, long sleeved piece of cotton fabric, soon followed. Yongguk’s hands were sliding over Zelo’s skin, mesmerized by the pink flush over the pale expanse of his chest and cheeks, enchanted by the soft moans falling from the android’s lips. It was terrifyingly believable, but maybe that was only because Yongguk wanted it so intensely.

Zelo seemed to want it as badly as he did, nails scratching down his back, hands gripping as if they’d never let go. In the back of his mind, Yongguk tried to wrap his head around it. Was it wrong? Was Zelo just a machine? The android was able to think and act on his own, was able to process information and come to his own conclusions based on observations and facts. Junhong thought in the way that a human would, and it seemed that he’d decided he wanted Yongguk.

The taste wasn’t the same. The tongue in his mouth was a bit too aggressive. The hands pulls at the fastenings of his jeans were too confident. He was grateful for those little reminders that while the creature in his arms was a marvelous facsimile, Zelo was not actually Junhong.

They were not the same.

They were not the same, so maybe what Yongguk felt for Zelo wasn’t entirely comprised of what he felt for Junhong.

The revelation hit Yongguk hard and fast, leaving him reeling as he dove blindly into his desires. Fiercely, with more force than he’d ever used with his precious, breakable, human Junhong, Yongguk began attacking Zelo’s lips, face and body with his pent up need.

“STOP!”

Yongguk jumped slightly at the shout, turning away from the paradise of Zelo’s skin to see an infuriated looking Himchan standing in the doorway. There was a fire in his eyes, a rage that radiated all the way across the room, burning Yongguk’s bare flesh like a brand. The King stalked forward with heavy footsteps echoing through the silence. When he was close enough, he grabbed a fistful of Zelo’s hair and attempted to tear him away from Yongguk.

Zelo was stronger, faster, better, easily managing to step away and still protectively hover near Yongguk.

“What do you think you’re doing? It’s disgusting, Yongguk. Disgusting!”

“I love him,” he replied automatically, defiantly, knowing it was true only in the moment he said it. He glared at the King for daring to insult Zelo. It’d been a long time since he’d stood up to Himchan; probably not since he'd given up his throne to the younger man and been appointed as the leader of his personal guard after Junhong’s death.

Himchan sneered, curling his lip in revulsion. “That thing is a machine, not a person that you can love! It doesn’t even know what love is!”

Zelo lunged forward in the blink of an eye like a lightning strike. Yongguk was barely able to catch his wrist. He held him back, surprised and happy that the simple touch was able to restrain the android who could have easily thrown him off. 

Himchan pulled his gun out, a sleek black pistol that Yongguk remembered the King had ordered to be modified by one of the other scientists. He wasn’t sure what the modifications had been—he’d been too busy testing Zelo at the time to care--and he was certain he didn’t want to find out now.

Yongguk rolled his eyes, not believing for a second that Himchan would really shoot either of them. The mere thought was almost laughable. “Put it down, Channie.”

“You can’t speak to me like that, Yongguk. Not now, not right after you spout this filth about loving that,” Himchan yelled and waved his gun in the direction of Zelo. “You’re crazy. You still don’t get it. You still… still don’t see it.”

Yongguk sighed heavily, suddenly exhausted by the King’s behavior. “What are you talking about?”

“I-I’ve always…” Himchan cursed under his breath and shook his head as Yongguk tangled his fingers with Zelo’s. “Nevermind. Just remember that you brought this on yourself.” The King his heel and left with his extravagant robes billowing behind him like an angry cloud.

Yongguk had only a few moments to be confused by Himchan’s cryptic words before the other guards were filing into the locker room. They gave him pitying looks as they escorted both Yongguk and Zelo to his private rooms on the pent house floor. Zelo was only kept in check by Yongguk’s quietly whispered pleas for him to not cause a scene.

They were left in silence in Yongguk’s rooms; the lock clicked deafeningly behind them.

*****

“Hyung, why does the King treat you differently than everyone else?”  Zelo asked from his perch on the bathroom counter where he sat, swinging his long legs over the edge and watching while Yongguk shaved.

“My parents, the old King and Queen, adopted Himchan. They'd figured I was lonely and it’d do me good to have a younger brother--thought it’d teach me to be responsible and compassionate and fair, my father once told me,” said Yongguk as he carefully drew the razor over his chin, lost in memories that seemed very far away. “He was an orphan that needed a home, and my parents had always wanted more children, so they took him in. We grew up together. He’s family now whether we share the same blood or not. Up until I met Junhong, Himchan was the only friend I had here.” Yongguk was proud that his voice only cracked a little bit.

Zelo tilted his head in interest, his eyes wide and curious, though also with a hint of worry that Yongguk pointedly ignored. “What happened to your parents? Shouldn’t you be King? Who’s Junhong?”

Yongguk chuckled, amused by his quick questions, as he ruffled the robot’s hair affectionately. He ran his thumb over Zelo’s smooth chin, reminding himself once again of how different they were. Zelo would never have to shave away morning stubble. He ate food, but he wouldn’t starve without it. He used the bathroom and showered but only to keep up the human farce he was acting out. It was amazing, almost magical really, but the most important thing to Yongguk was that Zelo would never die and leave him all alone.

“My parents passed away in a plane crash a few years ago. They’d been traveling to the coast to discuss a new trade agreement with foreign sailors when the engines died. I was made King afterward, but…” Thinking of Junhong, of the aching loss that still plagued him, made it hard for Yongguk to breathe.

“Junhong died,” Zelo concluded in a sad whisper when the guard didn’t continue. He rested his jaw on Yongguk’s shoulder, pulling him closer with his heels pressed to the back of Yongguk’s thighs. Yongguk nodded, his silent tears slipping down to Zelo’s soft hair. “Shhh… You don’t have to talk about it.”

Yongguk shook his head and sniffed, wiping his nose with the back of one hand and holding onto Zelo like a lifeline with the other. “Junhong was my everything. He was younger, the son of one of the court musicians. He was always trying to act older than he was, always hanging around me and Himchan even when we’d try to lose him in the hundreds of rooms in this building.” Yongguk smiled to himself faintly. “We used to play hide-and-seek, but we’d make Junhong be the one to hide. He’d disappear for hours while Himchan and I would go and play by ourselves. The very next day, we’d do the same thing again. I asked him once, after we began dating, why he insisted on playing with us when we’d been so mean to him. Junhong had only laughed and said, ‘I always wanted to be close to you.’”

By now the tears were openly streaming down Yongguk’s face. Even with Zelo holding him, Yongguk felt like he was drowning in his despair, aching with the pain of his loss so deeply that it resonated in his bones. 

“What happened to him?” asked Zelo quietly as he reassuringly ran his thumbs over the short hairs behind Yongguk’s ears.

“…About a year ago he went out on a goodwill trip through the city. He was supposed to check in with the different officials in the area to make sure everyone was getting enough food, shelter and supplies. The economy is a lot better now than it was when my grandparents took control, but there are still a lot of people that need help. I was supposed to be with him, but at the last moment, Himchan told me about one of the kitchen personnel’s children that had gotten lost in the building.  He told me that I should stay to help search—I knew the building better than most other people from exploring so much when I was a kid--so I sent Himchan in my place, planning to meet up with them the next day.” Yongguk had to stop to collect himself. It hurt so much that it almost brought him to his knees.

He was supposed to have gone with Junhong. He was supposed to have protected him. Yongguk couldn’t shake the thought, however baseless it might have been, that he could have saved Junhong if he’d just gone with him. And even if he hadn’t been able to keep him alive, at least they would have died together.

Taking a deep breath, he continued quietly. “There was an ambush. A group of rebels blew up the building Junhong was staying in. Himchan managed to escape, but there were no other survivors. When I heard the news I became unable to function through day-to-day life, much less rule a country--how could I be responsible for this whole nation when I couldn’t even protect the person that I loved?--so I resigned and gave the throne to Himchan. I didn’t leave my bed until Youngjae came to me with the idea to build… to build you,” Yongguk murmured, tightening his hold on Zelo’s unyielding body and taking comfort in the fact that he was so unbreakable. “I haven’t been outside since.”

Zelo placed slow, gentle kisses over Yongguk’s tearstained cheeks. He didn’t say he was sorry; he didn’t offer condolences or try to tell him everything would be okay, and Yongguk was grateful for it. Zelo’s arms were wrapped around him, his lips gliding over his skin, and that was more than enough for Yongguk because it was so much more than he’d thought he’d ever be able to feel again.

*****

“Are you sure this is the way out? I haven’t been down this far in years,” Yongguk whispered in the darkness. Zelo’s fingers reached out and brushed over his in encouragement.

“Youngjae-hyung programmed me with all the blueprints for this building and many others. There’s a tunnel hidden on the other side of this wall left over from the time when this was a hotel,” the android replied confidently. In the blackness of the unused basement, Yongguk could barely make out the outline of Zelo’s body. He peered curiously as Zelo ran a hand over the face of the wall in front of them.

“Right here,” he whispered before stepping back and swiftly kicking the bricks. Yongguk cringed because it looked like it’d hurt, but Zelo didn’t seem fazed at all. The robot made quick work of the rest of the barrier and then stepped through carefully. “It’s safe, hyung.”

Yongguk followed behind wordlessly. Excitement had his heart racing. He’d broken out of his room that Himchan had had him locked in. He was leaving the building unguarded which was strictly not allowed, especially, not after the rebel attack that had killed Junhong. He was escaping the only home he’d ever known for a reckless adventure.

After long minutes of nothing but the black of the tunnel and Zelo’s hand occasionally finding his to remind him that he wasn’t alone, they emerged above ground. Zelo effortlessly ripped the chain off the iron door and opened it to reveal the street outside.

Streetlights lent a soft glow to the rain slicked pavement. There were shadows everywhere and little noises coming from all directions that sent shivers down Yongguk’s spine.

“You okay?” Zelo asked with a smile, clearly excited to be exploring some place new.

“Yeah, I’m fine. What about you?”

Throwing his arms over his head, Zelo ran in small circles around Yongguk, laughing all the way. “I feel great! We were trapped in that room for years; it’s so nice to be out!”

“It only was a few days, Zelo,” he replied, but Yongguk couldn’t help but chuckle along with the robot’s happiness. It was infectious. Eventually, he calmed down enough that Yongguk was able to get his attention. “So where is the food bank?”

“This way!”

Zelo directed him through the maze of city streets, acting silly, but at the same time, sticking close to the guard’s side.

As they walked, Yongguk wondered if he’d made a mistake by disobeying Himchan. He wasn’t sure why the King was so upset in the first place. Sure, his feelings for Zelo were unorthodox, but that was hardly a reason to react so negatively. When he thought about it, Yongguk realized that Himchan had never seemed to like Junhong very much either.  

“Hyung, I’ll go in first. Stay close,” Zelo ordered when they arrived at their destination. He didn’t give Yongguk time to argue as he shimmied the window open and climbed inside. The older man sighed to himself but followed behind nonetheless.

By the time he’d managed to pull himself into the building, the android had already scoped out the room. “There’s nobody here, but I’m positive that this is the place that the guard was talking about.”

Two of the guards that had brought food to Yongguk’s rooms while they were locked up had talked about a recent series of rebel attacks at the King’s food banks around the city. Instead of blowing them up, it seemed that the criminals had stolen all the food and supplies that had been housed in the buildings. It was after hearing that particular conversation that Yongguk and Zelo had decided to poke around on their own.

Turning off the overhead light, Zelo pulled Yongguk with him behind a huge mountain of crates. They waited in silence, sharing their body heat in the cold and chaste kisses when the boredom got too unbearable. Yongguk had begun nodding off, leaning his head on Zelo’s shoulder, when a peculiar shuffle woke him up.

Zelo raised a finger to his lips, telling him to keep quiet, as they carefully peered over the edge of their hiding spot.

There were two figures, both clad all in black. They carried large sacks that they were diligently filling with cans, boxes and bags of food. In the dim light, it was impossible for Yongguk to make out any identifying features. Zelo turned to him and raised an eyebrow, asking for permission. Yongguk nodded his assent.

The android moved faster than humanly possible, so quickly that Yongguk was barely able to see what was happening. The first black clad figure was punched multiple times, hardly landing a single blow to Zelo at all before they were kicked roughly in the chest. The person fell to the ground in a heap before Zelo stuffed them into the black sack that they’d been placing food in.

The second figure managed to dodge Zelo’s first few blows and even hit him in the head with a well aimed can of corn. Somehow, the person managed to move behind a tower of crates near the doorway and pushed them until they came tumbling down on Zelo with a booming crash. Yongguk stepped out, heart racing as he watched anxiously, but before he could rush forward Zelo was there again, brushing off dirt and bits of food from containers that had smashed on impact. He smiled dangerously and in the next second had managed to place the person in a headlock, constricting the criminal’s air way.

But then, Zelo wasn’t.

He was backing away and staring with something akin to shock at the person’s face as they slumped to the floor, gasping for breath.

“H-hyung.”

Instantly, Yongguk was by Zelo’s side, checking him over for problems. He’d never heard the robot stutter before, and it scared him now that he had. Zelo grabbed his hand and turned him, forcing his attention to the man on the floor.

Yongguk stared dumbly, at first unable to comprehend what his eyes were trying to tell him.

It wasn’t possible. It wasn’t….

“Junhong-ah?”

This person’s hair was longer, unkempt and almost black at the roots, but the ends were still a bleached shade of blond. There was a pale scar under the left corner of his mouth, and his eyes had a hardness to them that Yongguk had never seen before as he glared at the guard from the ground.

Despite the differences, the boy on the floor was unmistakably Junhong.

But that was impossible. Wasn’t it?

While Yongguk’s brain was busy trying to process what he was seeing, Junhong lurched up from the floor like a panther and tackled him down. A cold blade bit into Yongguk’s throat, the hard, cool tiles digging into his back, but he was too dumbfounded to do more than blink in mystification.

Junhong was easily picked up and restrained by Zelo, held tightly in the cage of his steel embrace. The boy struggled violently, hissing and kicking, but to no avail. Slowly, Yongguk sat up, rubbing his sore neck.

“Junhong-ah,  I don’t understand what’s going on. You’re…you’re dead.”

“What do you care? You’re nothing but a traitor!”

Spit landed on Yongguk’s cheek. He wiped it off in disbelief, watching as the boy he had loved viciously tried to escape Zelo. Nothing made sense anymore.

“How could you do this, Yongguk? I thought you were a good man, a decent human being, but you’re nothing but a selfish pig!” Junhong glared hatefully toward Yongguk, but there were tears in his eyes and a quiver in his voice. “Your people are out there starving, dying in the streets, while you keep all this food for yourself! You can’t even eat all this shi-”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. This food is set aside for public aid-”

“Exactly! Why haven’t you been giving it to the public?”

Yongguk stood, wiping the dust from his hands on his pants, and walked slowly toward Junhong. It was surreal to see both Junhong and Zelo together. In that moment Zelo looked more like the boy that Yongguk had loved than the actual person did, and Junhong… He wasn’t acting like himself at all. The things he was saying weren’t making any sense.

“Junhong-ah, you must be confused. Himchan fairly distributes everything.”

Junhong laughed a loud snort of disgust. He sneered, his mouth distorting in a way that Yongguk had never seen before, hadn’t even been aware was possible for the boy. “Himchan? Why is Himchan in charge of distribution? Isn’t that the King’s job?” His voice was laced with hatred so intricately that it made Yongguk shiver.

“Kim Himchan is the acting King and has been since October 22, 2067,” Zelo answered. He raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t know that Yongguk-hyung abdicated the throne more than ten months ago?”

Junhong stilled, dropping his gaze to the floor in silence. Yongguk swallowed thickly and fidgeted. He looked away to the wall behind them because he couldn’t bring himself to meet Zelo’s eyes. The guard had never been so confused in his life.

A groan interrupted the quiet, tense air. All three of them snapped their gazes to the sack on the floor. Junhong gasped. “Hyung! Daehyun-hyung!” He turned quickly to Yongguk. “Tell your guard dog to let me go, Yongguk. I need to check on my hyung.”

“Zelo… let him go.” He tried to disregard the way Junhong spoke to him with a complete lack of affection, but the sting of it left a bitter taste in his mouth and bile rising in his stomach.

The android did as he was told, although, his reluctance was obvious. He released Junhong from his arms slowly and then moved to Yongguk’s side as the boy ran to the now stirring sack.

Junhong seemed to forget about them completely as he helped the injured person out of the bag. Yongguk watched, his heart screaming out longingly for him to race over and hold Junhong, to pick him up and hide him away somewhere safe before he was stolen again, but he didn’t. It hurt so badly. The stabbing knife of seeing the boy he loved caring for another man as if he didn’t even exist twisted in Yongguk’s spine, his lungs, his soul until he felt like he couldn’t stand or breathe or live.

A warm hand slid over his arm and unfurled his tightly clenched fist. Yongguk glanced down, startled from his heartbreak to see Zelo’s fingers intertwined with own, Zelo’s thumb running comfortingly over his wrist. Zelo used his other hand to gently raise his head so that Yongguk was forced to meet that penetrating gaze. Without a word spoken between them, he knew everything Zelo was trying to say just from the warmth in those deep brown eyes dotted with flecks of green and gold.  There was an understanding in that stare, a perceptive comprehension of the agony eating away at Yongguk, and a promise that even if Junhong had moved out of his life, leaving him in death or for someone else’s arms, Zelo would not.

He swallowed past the lump in his throat and schooled his features back into a mask of indifference that he’d learnt from years of preparing for the throne.

“Junhong, you and your friend need to explain to me exactly what’s going on right now, or as the leader of King Himchan’s personal guard, I’ll be forced to arrest you and take you to the King.”

The stranger, Daehyun apparently, scoffed, causing himself to cough violently from the wounds he’d received. “What’s there to explain? That royal bastard hordes all the food and supplies for himself, has been for the last year, and the citizens are dying because of it. He stopped paying businesses for the work they do for him, now simply taking what he wants, and without the money, companies have gone bankrupt, leaving thousands of unemployed people to become homeless and starving.”

Yongguk felt queasy. He couldn’t believe it, Himchan—his brother, the man he’d grown up with—was destroying the country that their parents had cared for so deeply. That was crazy. It was unthinkable. But…

Himchan was chaotic. He’d always been a little too possessive, a little too worried about making sure he had enough for himself. Yongguk had assumed it was a mentality left over from the days when he’d been an orphan, and that talking with Dr. Moon had helped.

“Yongguk-ah…” Yongguk blinked away his thoughts as Junhong stepped closer. His heart felt like it would burst from his chest simply to be near Junhong again. “Yongguk-ah, why did you give him your country? Why would you do that?”

“You were dead,” whispered the guard quietly even as shame and guilt attacked him in harsh, crashing waves. He looked away, unable to see the disappointment shining in Junhong’s eyes. “At first, I couldn’t do anything without you. I couldn’t eat or sleep or train or talk. I couldn’t even get out of bed. There was no way I was fit to rule. I-I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

Junhong didn’t respond for a long moment. Instead, he turned a questioning glance toward Zelo, seeming to notice the android’s appearance for the first time. He furrowed his brows. “What’re you?"

Zelo stepped away from the boy’s outstretched hand with a scowl. “I’m a prototype, the first of many androids that were created to protect the leader of this nation. Youngjae-hyung and Yongguk-hyung made me in your likeness because it was easiest at the time, but the others have different appearances.”

“So, you’re a robot?” asked Daehyun as he limped over, bruises already blackening his eyes and his lower lip swelling from Zelo’s attack. “That explains why you beat me so easily, I guess, but you don’t act much like a robot. And you’re not with the King.”

“He’s autonomous, fully capable of independent thought and action,” defended Yongguk quickly.

Zelo smiled softly. “Bang Yongguk is the only King I will acknowledge.”

The guard felt something warm constrict in his chest at the android’s words and the sincerity in his tone. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve such unwavering devotion; he didn’t think he’d earned it, but he vowed that he would.

Yongguk didn’t like the way that Daehyun eyed Zelo appraisingly. He didn’t like the way that Daehyun laid a hand on Junhong’s shoulder, or the way that Junhong relaxed back into the casual touch. In fact, Yongguk didn’t like Daehyun at all, but he tried to push the irritation away. There were bigger issues that needed to be taken care of.

It was his fault that everything had happened. The weight of his country’s problems laid on his conscience because he was the one that had left them to Himchan which had made everything so much worse than it’d ever been before. Yongguk knew what he’d done was irresponsible no matter how much pain he'd been in at the time. It certainly would have made his parents ashamed to have a son like him, but he intended to fix what he could, starting with his brother.

“We need to go back. We need to talk to him.” His voice rang with an authority and force that he hadn’t possessed in almost a year.

Daehyun and Junhong shared an unreadable look—a look that cut Yongguk like a ragged dagger because it was an intimacy that he no longer had with the boy he’d loved—before they nodded in agreement. Yongguk glanced at Zelo, taking strength from the unquestioning loyalty and fondness that he found in the android’s gaze.

“Let’s go.”

*****

Sneaking back into the building was as easy as sneaking out had been. Yongguk made a mental note to increase security when he reclaimed his place as King.

The four of them traveled through the dark halls quietly. The only sounds were the painfully hard thudding of Yongguk’s heart beating in his eardrums and their low breaths as they made their way to the main hall. He stopped them as the darkness became lighter and the outline of a door glowed close ahead.

“Everyone needs to follow my lead, okay? Himchan is probably in his rooms at this time of night, so we’ll go directly there. If anyone stops us on the way, I’ll do the talking. Understand?”

“Yes, hyung.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”

“Okay, Yongguk-ah.”

With everyone on board with the plan, Yongguk crept to the door and slowly turned the handle.

Anger boiled under his skin as he stepped inside the lavish main entrance to Himchan’s rooms. Precious gems glittered from every surface. Silver and gold trinkets gleamed under the overhead lights. Inside ornately decorated cabinets were stockpiles of food. There were years worth of perishable and long lasting goods stacked in the corners beside large jeweled scepters that Yongguk had never seen before.

An attendant appeared from a different door, carrying a tray of untouched delicacies back toward what Yongguk assumed was the kitchen, muttering under her breath about wasting food while people starved. She jumped and almost dropped the tray when she saw them standing in the foyer. Quickly recognizing him, she bowed while she blushed and stuttered a greeting.

“Y-your H-highness, it is a p-pleasure to see you.”

Yongguk inclined his head in acknowledgment. “I’m here to see Himchan.”

“I-I’m sorry, but the King is in the study with strict orders that nobody is to bother him.” She glanced wearily at the three people behind Yongguk.

“As his brother and his personal guard, I will see him when I wish. These are androids that Lead Scientist Yoo and I created to protect the King. I need to show him these latest models immediately,” replied Yongguk tersely. He gestured for the others to walk toward the gold plated door at the very end of the room, calling over his shoulder as he followed them past the attendant. “Don’t worry. I’ll take the blame for bothering him.”

The girl blushed and bowed again before scurrying away with her tray full of food. A thought struck Yongguk as he walked to the door: how bad must Himchan have been to make the poor girl so scared of displeasing him?

He reached the door, glowering at the obnoxious display of wealth as the others paused beside it. He glanced at Zelo who gave him a reassuring nod. Taking a deep breath, Yongguk entered without knocking.

“Himchan, what have you done?”

The King stared, his face quickly draining of color as they all entered the room. He sat at a huge desk, the top littered with coins and masses of paper money, the golden crown slipping off his dark hair as he gaped at them. After a tense moment, he cleared his throat and looked away, asking, “Aren’t you supposed to be in your room?”

Furious, Yongguk picked up a pile of bills and threw them in Himchan’s face.

“How could you do this? I trusted you! Junhong and his friend told me what you’ve done, and it makes me sick!”

Himchan fell off his chair. Terrified black eyes searched their faces again and only grew more round and afraid when they landed on Junhong. “That can’t be… You’re dead! I made sure of it! I made sure they blew up your room first! You’re dead!”

Yongguk froze, his heart turning to ice, his blood running cold in his veins. He felt deadened as he slowly fitted the pieces together.

“What the hell are you saying right now?” he growled lowly, dangerously, lunging down and picking Himchan up by his stupid, extravagant lapels.

There were tears gathered in Himchan’s eyes as he slackened in Yongguk’s hands like a deflated balloon. When he spoke, his voice was low and echoing a pain that Yongguk had never seen in his brother.

“Why couldn’t it be me? I knew you before Junhong; you and I were friends first. You were mine first, but I’ve never been good enough for you, Yongguk-ah.” He sniffled, reaching toward his desk with one hand while Yongguk was distracted by his words. “Junhong, that good for nothing brat, stole my place as your best friend. Then he took what should have been my place as the man you loved. You should have been mine! That’s all I wanted. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, but you never even noticed me. I thought,” Himchan took a shaky breath, the tears flowing more strongly now, “I thought that if Junhong was gone, if it was just me and you, then you’d have to love me back. Instead, you broke down. You became someone weak and unrecognizable. He broke you, Yongguk. He left you, and yet you still wouldn’t let him go. You made that, that thing to take his place.”

Yongguk stared down at Himchan in horror. He didn’t know who this person, this stranger, was. He looked like Himchan, his voice sounded like Himchan’s, but he was not the same man that Yongguk had grown up with. This person was a monster, obsessed and damaged beyond hope. Himchan smiled, a watery quirk of his lips, and then he laughed softly without humor.

“I wonder; will you become irreparable if you lose both of them now?”

Before Yongguk could move, the sound of gunshots thundered around the room hauntingly. He tossed Himchan aside carelessly, spinning only to see Zelo littered with bullet holes as he stood shielding Junhong with his body.  

“I’ll keep him safe for you, hyung,” said Zelo with conviction, holding his hands to one of the dripping wounds on his chest.

Daehyun immediately pulled Junhong away, embracing him protectively and placing kisses along his jaw. Yongguk realized in that moment that Junhong wasn’t his anymore, but most surprisingly, he realized that he didn’t mind as long as the boy was happy and safe.

Blood--so much blood--poured out of Zelo’s wounds, and Yongguk felt nauseous seeing it. He cursed Youngjae’s need for realism because even though he knew in his mind that Zelo couldn’t really die from being shot, his heart still felt devastated as the android’s shirt was stained red from the gushes of synthesized liquid.

Zelo took a half step forward, smiling faintly and reaching out toward Yongguk with crimson hands, when a bullet hit him square in the chest, exactly where his heart would have been if he’d had one. Yongguk could only watch, composure wrecked and overwhelmed as Zelo’s eyes grew blank before he collapsed to the lushly carpeted floor. He stared in disbelief, unwilling to accept what he was seeing when Zelo didn’t stand back up.

“Zelo-ah…” he pleaded brokenly. “Zelo-ah, get up. Now’s not the time for jokes.”

Himchan snorted. “These bullets are tipped with actual diamond, making them hard enough to penetrate cubic zirconium. I had them made specifically to destroy the shell around his microchip,” he explained in a calm tone while Yongguk vibrated with a blinding rage. “I had someone secretly research it for me, and it turns out the only way to destroy one of these androids is to break the chip. In all of the trial runs, the man-made diamond has shattered on impact, embedding shards so deeply into the microchip that it can’t be repaired.”

Himchan stepped behind Yongguk, the hot metal of the gun pressed against the small of his back and Himchan’s breath s across his neck. “Will you be mine now, Yongguk-ah? Or do I need to take Junhong away too?”

Yongguk turned to face the man he’d once called family. A part of him felt bad for Himchan, felt sorry for the life he’d been dealt and the loneliness he must have gone through all those years. But most of him simply craved Himchan’s lifeless body in his hands, yearned for Himchan’s blood to taint the pristine carpet the same way that Zelo’s was a few feet away.

Yongguk reached up and cradled Himchan’s face in his left hand, trailing a thumb over his cheek and inwardly cringing as the monster leaned into the touch. He bent closer, moving in as if to place a kiss on Himchan’s waiting lips while bringing his other hand to rest on the man’s neck. Himchan’s eyes radiated longing and want before they fluttered closed.

Removing the last distance between their lips, Yongguk hovered just out of reach and then he answered Himchan’s question with a cruel smirk. “You disgust me, Kim Himchan. You’re revolting. I’ve never been yours, and I never will be.”

“Then so be it,” Himchan whispered shakily.

Yongguk jerked his hands in a twisted motion a second after the gun pressed into his chest was fired.  

Himchan fell, dead, to the floor. Yongguk pushed him away sluggishly with a foot, numb to the pain exploding in his chest, to the rouge streams flowing down his front as he moved his gaze back to Zelo.

He slid to the ground, not feeling the cashmere carpet under his hands as he crawled to Zelo’s body. Hot tears poured from his eyes when he pulled the heavy android into his arms, carding his fingers through the blond hair and leaving streaks of red behind.

For the last time, he counted the dark eyelashes that fanned across Zelo’s rounded cheeks. He mapped the faint freckles that dotted Zelo’s face. He traced the arch of his eyebrows and the bow of his mouth, memorizing the softness of Zelo’s skin under his fingers.

He bent down and pressed their lips together as he breathed his last breath.

Because artificial or not, Yongguk had loved Zelo and would not live without him by his side.

                                                                              

*****

How can such fragile hearts be expected to endure when even diamonds shatter?