“Hi, I’m Baekhyun, and I’m your music box.”

There was a long silence that followed as Jongin stared wordlessly at the other boy who continued to smile as if nothing had ever been better in the world. After a few fruitless attempts at formulating any sort of coherent reply, Jongin finally managed to sputter out a feeble, “excuse me?" The boy, who was supposedly named Baekhyun, merely tilted his head, smile faltering ever so slightly before he brightened up again and gently clasped his thin fingers together in front of his chest.

“Oh, I’m sorry! You need proof, don’t you? Please give me a song, any song,” Baekhyun nodded enthusiastically, eyes still gleaming rather strangely in the dim, natural light of the morning. Still muddled with the turn of events, Jongin quickly blurted out the first title that came to the top of his head.

“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened in recognition. “It’s a relief that you chose a song that was already built into my database,” he nodded steadily as if those were words that everyone spoke in passing on a regular basis. But before Jongin could respond, Baekhyun closed his eyes, parted his lips, and what came next froze Jongin’s entire frame on the spot and cut short any air he had left in his lungs. A note filled the air. A voice melded through the silence and the steady drum of the rain and seemed to flood the entire space around the two with nothing but the clarity and the sweet sound of a familiar melody. The sheer quality and skill that this voice possessed astonished Jongin to say the least, and the fact that it belonged to this slim boy in front of him, whose lips curled and molded around each syllable of the simple children’s song, transforming it into a piece worthy of any concert hall, nearly shot his previous standards into outer space. It was clearly one of the best he had ever had the privilege to hear, and Jongin was someone who had been devoted to the music business for years, having the opportunity of hearing it at it’s best and worst.

But before he had the chance to materialize all of his racing thoughts together, the song came to an end. The last note faded into the air before Baekhyun dared peek up at Jongin from under his straight brown bangs to gauge the other's reaction. Like a tidal wave of reality, Jongin suddenly snapped out of his star struck trance and rushed forwards, barreling past the shorter boy and stopping short in front of the door of the shop as he reached his hand down and twisted the knob to no avail. Furrowing his eyebrows, Jongin glanced around frantically until his eyes landed on a small sign, hand writing matching the one taped onto Baekhyun’s shirt that stated:

Gone Fishing. Come back later.

Jongin’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground and he began to curse the tall, elf-eared swindler he now labeled Chanyeol, in every language he knew (even if he really only spoke Korean and the occasional Chinese swear word he had picked up whenever Luhan or Kris would mutter under their breaths. That still counted).

“Um… excuse me, are you alright?” Baekhyun’s voice brought Jongin’s attention back from the middle of a particularly long chain of profanities aimed at Chanyeol, to the boy peering behind him. Jongin whipped his head around and poked out an accusing finger aimed at Baekhyun.

“You!”

“Me?” Baekhyun pointed to his face in confusion.

Jongin rolled his eyes and nodded. “Yes, you. Is this some kind of prank or something?!”

“What’s a prank?” Baekhyun asked, tone indicating nothing but innocence and confusion.

“A joke.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened as he began to wave his hands in front of his face. “A joke? Oh no, I assure you, this is nothing of the sort!” With a huff, Baekhyun stood up straighter and brought his arms down to hang at his side, assuming a taller stance. “I am Baekhyun, model number one, processor version twelve,” he beamed proudly, smile pulling at the corners of his mouth once again as he stared unflinchingly at Jongin.

Jongin blinked once, twice, before turning on his heel and walking away as fast as he could.

After a block or so of intense speed walking, with nothing but the hurried sound of his own breath and the pounding beat of the rain hitting against the skin of his large umbrella, Jongin gradually slowed down his pace, figuring he was far enough away from danger to catch a quick breather. But it was only then he was finally able to hear the quiet pitter-patter of footsteps following frantically behind him. “Wait up, Jongin!”

Jongin immediately spun around to come face to face with the very boy he had tried to escape who was staring at him with wide eyes and hand a outstretched as he ran towards him. “Why are you following me?” Jongin demanded, trying to shield himself in vain from all the droplets of water spraying everywhere as Baekhyun stomped carelessly in all the puddles around them. When he had finally caught up, Baekhyun gently placed his hand on Jongin’s outstretched forearm and peered up at him with all his brown hair pressed matte against the pale skin of his face and clothes clinging in close patches around his small frame. “Because I’m your new music box.”

The nonchalant way that Baekhyun had said those words nearly made Jongin explode with frustration. “Stop it already!” He breathed as he tried to yank his arm away from Baekhyun’s grasp. But the other didn’t budge as if he had a mechanical grip on Jongin’s arm, but with one harder yank—harder than he had planned—the two abruptly pulled apart, sending Jongin stumbling back a few steps and the other tumbling head first into a particularly large puddle collecting on the cement. Jongin clutched his chest and immediately regretted his actions as he realized Baekhyun was now laying face down, most probably out cold and drowning, in the middle of the puddle of water. Without thinking, Jongin quickly threw away his umbrella and knelt down beside the other’s body, gently prying him off the ground and into his arms. “Are you alright?” Jongin dared to ask, unconsciously holding in a breath. There was no way his vacation was going to end with him being accused of attempted murder.

Unexpectedly, but also very much fortunately, Baekhyun’s eyes snapped open with upmost alertness, nearly causing Jongin to fall over in surprise. Baekhyun was surprised too as he blinked up, noticing the compromising position they were currently in.

“Um, yeah I’m fine. It was just a little fall, that’s all.”

“Oh thank god,” Jongin exhaled and visibly relaxed, forgetting that it was in fact, not just a small fall, and only to realize just how close their bodies had become. And without thinking, he immediately dropped Baekhyun and stood up on his feet, causing a small pout to form on the other’s face but he kept silent nonetheless.

Jongin thought that maybe he had been the one that hit his head on the pavement instead, because as he looked at Baekhyun from his angle, thoroughly drenched and sinking under his baggy clothes, all Jongin could see was the image of a pitiful little puppy, and what made things even worse for the tanned boy was that a strong sense of guilt was beginning to gnaw at his insides. Before he could have any second thoughts, Jongin cleared his throat and gently held his hand out before mumbling a small, “here, you can stop by my place to dry off.”

He ignored the way that Baekhyun’s face lit up like a light bulb, and the way his mind imagined a fluffy tail wagging behind the other as he took his hand in his.

-

Arriving at the door, Jongin quickly ushered Baekhyun inside, hoping internally that they had not arrived too late and that Baekhyun had not yet caught a cold. He didn’t want a stranger fainting in his house of course, that’s why.

Stepping inside, Baekhyun’s eyes widened and his mouth parted slightly in wonder at the large space around them, but Jongin merely strode past into the bathroom to retrieve a fluffy yellow guest towel—although he supposed he was technically a guest himself—and plopped it into Baekhyun’s hands. Baekhyun, however, seemed confused by the gesture, staring blankly at Jongin, before the other sighed and reached for the towel, throwing it over Baekhyun’s head. As if a light bulb suddenly switched on in his mind, Baekhyun began to muss up his hair and dry himself off.

Jongin couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. The other boy truly did look like a helpless puppy.

After finishing up, Baekhyun meekly folded up the towel in his hands and handed it to Jongin. “Thank you,” he smiled.

“No problem,” Jongin replied, and feeling a bit more relaxed with the other, he continued, “can I ask you a question?”

“Of course, ask away,” Baekhyun nodded, perking up in his spot.

“Did by chance… by any chance, Chanyeol put you up to this?” Jongin spoke hesitantly. A slight pout formed on Baekhyun’s lips as he looked down in thought.

“Mm yes, Chanyeol did. He came to me last night and told me that I was finally needed, and that as my creator, he was proud. He told me to wait outside first thing in the morning for a person named Jongin to come and take me home.” Baekhyun looked up from his reverie and glanced around the room, “so I guess this is home, huh?” But unlike the warm and welcoming reaction Baekhyun had expected, Jongin merely shook his head and coldly turned away.

“I knew it was a prank all along,” Baekhyun knew Jongin didn't mean for him to hear those words, but he was still able to catch them.

“No really, it’s not a prank,” Baekhyun stepped forwards in growing desperation, “I’m really a music box, the top model in fact!”

Jongin turned around and crossed his arms over his chest, eyes piercing and hard. “I can’t believe you’re still going on with your little act when I’m clearly not going to fall for it.”

“But—no,” Baekhyun bit his lip, “please believe in me! I’m Baekhyun, model number one, processor version twelve. I have a memory of one hundred thousand songs and melodies along with other built in features fit for daily living and companionship.”

Jongin furrowed his eyebrows at Baekhyun’s long mantra. “Wait, what? Slow down. Processor?”

“Yes, see?” And with that, Baekhyun gently took Jongin’s arm and placed the other's hand against his stomach. What Jongin felt made his blood run cold in his veins because instead of a constant warm heat, he felt a light whirring under his palm. Jongin whipped back his hand as if he had just suffered third degree burns, and stared at Baekhyun with incredulous eyes. His jaw moved up and down wordlessly a couple of times before he found his voice.

“Wha—what are you?! Some kind of super robot or something?!”

Baekhyun relaxed his arm back to his side before seriously contemplating Jongin's question. “I suppose you could say that… but more specifically, I’d be a music box. Just a very advanced one.”

And it was at that moment that Jongin realized that no, the strange boy in front of him at that very moment was not joking. This was not a prank. This was not a joke. Baekhyun was really a robot, or music box as he had said, and that the next time he ever saw Chanyeol, he was most likely going to throttle the life out of him. No, scratch that. He definitely was going to. But Before Jongin’s mind could even begin to try to wrap itself around the sheer implications of their situation, Baekhyun interrupted him with a sharp snap of his fingers.

“Oh yes! I think I’m required to give you an instruction manual, you know, to get you adjusted to my inner workings, now that you believe me,” Baekhyun smiled as he reached into his pocket, only to have his mouth twist into a grimace as he pulled out what appeared to be a pile of white mush that used to be a book, or at least Jongin presumed it was. Looking down guiltily at his feet, Baekhyun shuffled over to Jongin and dropped the book down into his hands with a resonant smush.

Now fully recovered from his initial shock, Jongin progressed into what could only be the panic stage and he took the soggy pages and frantically flipped through, making out what he could, the best he could. Everything was smudged beyond recognition and legibility except for one small excerpt on the very last page, which stated a phone number with the words:

FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY

written in bold print. Frantically racing out of the room and nearly wiping out on the hardwood floor due to drips of water being everywhere, Jongin snatched the phone out of the receiver and dialed with lightning speed, glancing over his shoulder a couple of times to see Baekhyun’s worried face staring at him from the other room. After two, heart-racing beeps, a deep voice was heard on the other line.

“Didn’t you read? This number is for emergencies only,” Chanyeol’s voice boomed boredly. Jongin nearly screamed.

“Of course this is an emergency! You specifically said music box, not super human robot!”

But all he got was a snort and an obnoxiously loud chuckle blasting into his ear. “You mean Baekhyun? Oh, he’s a music box all right—a superiorly advanced one at that. Baekhyun is the product of my entire life’s work. You wouldn’t believe how much time it took to perfect him. Pretty cool, isn’t he?”

“Pretty cool?” Jongin deadpanned. “Pretty cool?” Jongin seethed. “If he’s pretty cool, you should take him back.”

“Oh no, no, I can’t take him back. You signed up for the 30-day trial remember? He’s officially yours for the next month,” Chanyeol announced automatically. Meanwhile, Jongin was in near hysterics.

“What do you mean he’s mine?! What do I do with him?”

“You’re a song writer, I’m sure that you’ll be able to make use of him somewhere.”

“Wait a minute, how did you know I was a song writer?”

“The same way I knew you were the one who was calling.”

“Should I be afraid?”

“Oh Jongin, I have my ways.”

“...I’m going to sue you.”

“You can try.” And with one last gigglesnort, the line went dead.

Jongin wasn’t sure how long he had sat there, with the phone still pressed up to his ear and the dial tone droning on. Gradually everything soaked in—the gravity of the situation, the consequences of his trip, everything. Even if he wasn’t ready to deal with it just quite yet, Jongin was brought back to reality when a voice snuck through the agonizing silence from the other room. Just as angelic and entrancing as the first time, Jongin could not ignore Baekhyun’s singing voice as it beckoned him like a siren song back to the living room where Baekhyun had made himself comfortable on the cream sofa. Jongin could see a pile of his notes and compositions sitting on the glass coffee table, with one particular sheet held in Baekhyun’s fingers. He was reading it—he was sight-reading it as he sang, although Jongin would never have thought that if he hadn’t already known the other. Baekhyun sang it perfectly, without a hitch or a pause—there was only one smooth expanse of melody, so pleasant to the ears, Jongin nearly didn’t have the heart to interrupt.

“You—you can sight read?” Jongin didn’t know why his voice quivered the way it did.

Baekhyun looked up with a soft gaze. “Of course. It’s what I was programmed to do. Any song, remember?”

Jongin couldn’t help but chuckle as he offhandedly thought up a fitting job to put Baekhyun to use: perhaps Jongin could use Baekhyun to sing some of his demos to send his progress back to the company, and to Luhan and Kris.

Perhaps.

He wasn’t entirely sure. In fact, in that moment, Jongin didn’t think he was entirely sure of anything anymore. But with one look at Baekhyun’s innocent eyes, and the ringing of his voice still fresh in Jongin’s mind, Jongin was sure that perhaps soon, he would be.

-

Later that night, when they were preparing to sleep, Jongin ended up lending Baekhyun some of his spare clothes, which were a bit too baggy on him but Jongin found the look to be somewhat endearing and therefore making their crazy situation just a little more bearable.

Sure, Jongin didn't have the least bit of an idea how to take care of a robot, or music box with a version twelve processor, but after making sure that Baekhyun was fine spending the night on the couch, Jongin fell asleep, resolving to figure it all out the next day.

Author's Note:

Haha I'm not even sure what happened here~ but I promise it'll pick up more steam in the next chapter

Also* this fic is planned out to be about 8 chapters or so jsyk @ u @

Don't be shy, I'd love to hear what you guys think so far, and thanks for reading~! <3