Final

“Dr. Han! You did it again! Another brilliant success, might I venture to say, ” Xiumin complimented him as he smiled with his cute cheeks, red from running. It was yet another day of Lu Han's successful inventions, the technology which made the modern world of today. Lu Han smiled gratefully at his friend as he bowed bashfully, Xiumin returned his gesture with a (painful) big smack on his back before giving a nod and going back to his work, since he only stopped by Lu Han's laboratory just to congratulate him.

Lu Han scrunched his face in hurt as he stretched, trying to rid himself of the pain, which was Xiumin's pat in the back. Afterward, he quickly sat back on his chair, completely ready for work. He scowled, after minutes of staring at the wall, and ruffled his strangely colored hair, that had the same shade of pink as the cherry blossom trees in spring. He sighed as he accidentally saw his reflection on his laptop, his hair was truly a sight to see and he wondered: how long has it been since he last dyed his hair?

“You're too funny, Lulu~” a girl played with Lu Han's hair, wrapping his newly dyed hair around her finger, as she tried to sustain her 'y' posture, which was holding her arms against hear , making her already large bust even more appealing.

“What can I say, pink makes me stand out.” He flirted with a smirk, making the lady swo. When she was about to reach for his lips, a door burst open, revealing a rather short man with a white lab coat and the most chubby cheeks anyone can ever imagine.

“Okay, get back to work lover boy,” Xiumin interrupted in between, making them separate. The girl who was all over Lu Han a second ago pouted and grabbed the files that sat on Lu Han's work desk before leaving out the door to continue her work. Xiumin sighed at the sight and shook his head slightly as he proceeded to glare at Lu Han who just shrugged indifferently.

This made Xiumin heave another sigh, “Don't be so sad bun-bun, you're cheeks will sag from worry,” Lu Han added, which made Xiumin only sigh again and Lu Han to laugh in return.

“Anyway, putting that aside.” He made a gesture with his hands as if he was putting the topic in another area, “A-12 seems to be showing more progression this week, an we were able to plug in emotions into A-12. 'She' will soon awaken later on today at three in the afternoon, so we expect you to be at Lab-10 by then.” Xiumin cleared his throat as he gave a thick folder to Lu Han, which contained all the data regarding A-12.

“I'm not coming.” Lu Han answered frankly as he placed the folder on his desk. “I have a date with Mimi at that time” he smiled, the most angelic smile he could muster up. Although that sight normally made people squeal in adoration—Xiumin wouldn't, knowing how he's only faking it.

“But you were the one came up with this idea, plus you gathered all the data, possibilities, and such for this to happen! So why don't you want to see the awakening of something you made?!” Xiumin replied exasperatedly.

Lu Han shrugged and answered, “I have a date,”

“Is it with the same girl earlier?” Xiumin snapped.

“No, her name was Emerine. I'm talking about Mimi here, Xiumin, were you not listening to me?” Lu Han smirked as Xiumin tried to soothe his temper by rubbing his forehead in a calming motion.

“No, Dr. Han, obviously, I wasn't,” Xiumin rolled his eyes, unable to contain his sarcasm, “If I was, I wouldn't be ranting here about your stupid date! Just go to the ing room, alright? Dr. Wu expects you to be there and I won't be there for you, or your sorry , once he sees that you're not there by three.”

“Ouch! Watch your language bun-bun, you're hurting me, right h-e-r-e” Lu Han pouted in a cute way as he pointed towards his heart, Xiumin ruffled his hair and let out a frustrated scream, startling Lu han a bit, as he slammed the door shut and leaving Luhan to be baffled, but chuckling either way.

“Sheesh, it's just a stupid robot, it's not like I need to be there for the stupid awakening...” Lu Han muttered to himself and rolled his eyes as he loosened his tie and messing his hair, showing how disheveled he looked right now, compared to how he acted and looked earlier.

Hours passed and he took the time to stop and stray away from his paper work as he glanced at the clock. It's as the clock looked, it was 2:55 in the afternoon. He ruffled his hair and stood up, pacing around as he thought about going or not. It's not like it was a very important date anyway, and he probably wouldn't even see her again. It was like a game, constantly playing to see if you could wing it or not, and it was more fun to him than anyone, but despite the fun, Kris' angry-bird face was not to his liking, and the game would end for months if his face was the target.

Lu Han shivered at the thought, and he glanced at the clock once more as he checked the time. He soon realized that his thoughts would come true if he didn't hurry fast this instance, and so he did.

“I'm on time?!” Lu Han remarked as he opened the door, looking a bit haggard from running. Everyone was sure that they weren't looking at the same Lu Han, the infamous Casanova who also happens to be a genius scientist , and chuckled at the sight. Kris raised a questing eyebrow at Lu Han, and after seeing the person who was the reason for how he looked, he quickly fixed himself and cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I'm glad you made it,” Xiumin smirked after chuckling a bit to himself. Lu Han rolled his eyes and proceeded to walk towards where the other scientists were standing. The whole room was covered in white, and a durable glass separated the scientists from the robot—which was also inside a round glass like container —that were full of scanners.

“We're turning the robot on,” one of the scientists who specialized in mechanics pressed some buttons that quickly opened the glass container that surrounded the robot as a cold mist broadened the other side of the room. Meanwhile, Lu Han yawned visibly, making everyone aware that he was not in the least a bit interested. Although as of now, they could care less since they were too busy being at awe in what's on the other side of the clear glass. Once the mist was gone, A-12 opened its eyes, revealing two light brown orbs. She had long black hair and white porcelain skin. Almost as if... it was a human that's standing on the other side, not a robot. Though you can easily distinguish it as such, if not for the serial number on it's right arm, A-12, and it's doll like features.

“Umm... You can take the clothes on your left and follow the instructions that I transmitted to you just now through your central brain.” The same man who operated the robot, spoke through the speakers. The instructions were used to check on the robot if there were any malfunctions, and of course will be treated as soon as they notice that she's having a hard time doing the instructions that were on the paper.

“Can I go now? I have nothing else to do,” Lu Han announced nonchalantly as he asked to no one in particular, but unfortunately for him, Kris smiled (more like smirked) and was the one who answered to his question.

“Just wait. You have an important assignment to look forward to, after all of this is done.”

“Fine.” Lu Han sighed willingly, knowing he can't go against Kris' words even if he wanted to.

As time went on, A-12 passed with flying colors as she followed all the procedures rather smoothly, but as the person gave another set of instructions, the robot stared at the person, unmoving.

“What are you doing A-12?” asked the instructor, baffled by her actions.

She cocked her head to the side and simply stated, “I was 'smiling', wasn't I? Just as I was told” the scientists murmured in hushed voice, and Lu Han heard a small 'I knew this would happen.' among the whispers.

“What do you mean?” Lu Han asked Xiumin, but as Xiumin opened his mouth to answer, Kris interrupted.

“It means what it means. She has no emotion.” He answered in a matter-of-fact voice.

“But I thought—“

“Yes, she has 'emotions', but she doesn't know how to distinguish them because of the fact that she has yet to experience them,” Kris interrupted yet again. Can't I at least finish one sentence? Lu Han thought, irritated. He continued, “So this is where you come along, Lu Han,” Kris smiled towards Lu Han.

“Your assignment is to take care of A-12 until she fully grasp the meaning of emotions.”

Lu Han's P.O.V

And so to speak, I've been taking care of this (stupid) robot for quite some time now, maybe around a week, and it's pissing me off to no extent on how she questions about everything and anything despite her advanced intelligence.

“Look here. If you understand what the main concept is, you no longer have to ask any further, alright?” I answered, my tone: irritated.

“Yes, Dr. Han” she pouted, an action she obtained after meeting the countless girls I spent most of my time with.

“Hyejun, I told you to call me Lu Han, I'd rather you not call me that. Girls don't dig those kind of stuff,” I remarked. Hyejun was her newly appointed name from me—the name meant (Hye) intelligence and (Jun) beauty combined—it was tiring to constantly call her A-12, especially when she doesn't even look like a robot, and people will find it weird since E.X.O, the group of scientists who worked on this robot, didn't announced this yet publicly, since her 'emotions aren't fully developed. Until then, it's kept a secret.

Hyejun zoned out for a few seconds before blinking and staring at me. She always did this when she was searching something in her stored intelligence, searching in the web for any information, or trying to contact someone (vice versa).

“I have found 8 results for the definition of dig, the first result is—“

“Hyejun you can simply ask what the meaning of my words were, if you can't interpret it yourself” I sighed exasperatedly.

“But Dr. Han—I meant Lu Han—you told me yourself, that I shouldn't ask if I understood what the 'concept' is, but in this case there are far too many 'concepts' for this word 'dig' and I wanted to confirm it by trying what you always did when you were having a hard time telling which date you should go if you had five different girls at the same hour, by using a trick like 'eenie meenie miny mo'.”

“So this is why you didn't went to our date last time, huh, Lu Han?” A girl with bright red hair appeared on my door, crossing her arms together as she tapped her foot lightly on the ground to show how angered she was.

“Look, I can explain—“

“Explain what?! I'm not meeting you again, you bastard! And you bet I'm telling this to every girl I meet in the street!” she shrieked as she slammed the door shut, leaving a loud bang echoing the room.

I sighed and glanced at Hyejun, “Don't mention anything about my dates alright? Not ever again”

“How about dig—“

“By dig, I meant the slang for fancy; by fancy I mean to like, to admire, to be smitten. Get it now?” I said in tiredly, slamming my head onto my keyboard keys. Game Over, I muttered to myself, but of course she had to ask what it meant, considering how her ears were very sensitive, similar to a bat's.

“Where you playing a game, Lu Han?” she asked innocently.

As we walked the park, she smiled gleefully in happiness, swinging her hand like a child as she pulled mine with her's. “Is this what you call happiness, Lu Han?” She asked in a high-pitch tone. I laughed at her actions, but quickly dismissed my actions with a cough.

“Yeah, but I would call it child like happiness though” I muttered the last part to myself, as I knew she would get angry if she heard 'child like', something she dismissed as “I'm rather mature and my intelligence are of higher intellect that of a child's!”... or something like that, I chuckled to myself.

“What's that?” she fumed, I almost forgot she wasn't human for a moment.

“Nothing...” I proceeded to cover my ears, knowing what's coming next: an hour long lecture. But what I heard next, was nothing. Surprisingly. I looked at Hyejun and saw her fidgeting as she glanced at a couple next to us, practically making out in public.

“What is this feeling Lu Han?” she asked, her cheeks lighting up in fire.

I smiled and answered, “Embarrassment, awkwardness, or bashfulness.”

“I see...” then she glanced towards me, her cheeks even more red as she placed a hand over her heart, “I think there's something wrong with me Lu Han, I think it's a malfunction. I think I'm overheating.” She glanced at me worriedly , her red cheeks gone and a more paler color override it.

“Contact Chanyeol and check with him, he might know” I said hurriedly. I wasn't really in charge of the mechanics, so only the mechanics team could figure out why, and even if I want so badly to help, I need the proper equipments to check. I brought her to a near bench, and as we sat, she immediately turned into a dream like state. Not soon after, she blinked her eyes open as she stared at her fingers, unable to look me in the eye.

“So?” I asked her, curious of her state and worried at the same time.

“I-It's nothing, he said I'm perfectly fine. I Just need some rest” She smiled, I look at her in suspicion, but quickly shrugged it off as nothing. “Okay, then let's stay here for a few min—“

“No! Let's go to the lab!” she answered in a haste, but as soon as she soon realized her actions, she quickly looked down, “Please...” I nodded reluctantly, and proceeded to take her hand In mine, but she quickly hid it behind her back before letting me take a hold of it. She remained silent, acting as if she didn't see my hand trying to grab hers. I awkwardly withdraw my hands and looked away, also acting as if I did nothing earlier, ruffling my hair in trouble. Weird... and she always like holding my hands.

As we reached to the lab, an awkward tension surrounded the room, and she made no noise as she left to her bed stating 'she was going to take a nap'. After that day, she had continued to stay the same, but she acted more distant than usual, almost as if she was avoiding me. Even of the littlest action like touching my hand (for a short moment), I would get happy. I don't know why, but it was weird when she was a robot after all.

I have also stopped my gaming activities. I was too busy with so many other things now, but somehow deep down, I knew there were other reasons for it.

The next day, Xiumin appeared behind the door. Hyejun was out for maintenance right now with Chanyeol, and as of the moment, I'm free from any work.

“So what's up?” I asked in boredom, trying not too move my lips too much since I was trying to balance a pencil on my upper lip.

“Woah,” Xiumin raised an eyebrow as he entered the room, whilst closing the door behind him. He peered at me as he would have if a ghost appeared in front of him right at this moment. After quite some time of looking at me from head to toe, I've already placed my pencil down and crossed my arms looking at the suspicious guy as if he was nuts.

“What?” I chuckled,

“I never knew you had a twin Lu Han,”

“A what? Twin?” I continued to laugh, “Your nuts Xiumin. I have none, and I think you should go to Lay. You seriously need some help,” I tapped my head, showing the area he needed help with. He rolled his eyes and sat on a chair.

“Me? Crazy? I think otherwise, rather I find you crazy. This is—what? The first time ever, entering your room without seeing you making out with some hot chick or looking at !”

I rolled my eyes at the word '', “I don't watch , and even if I do, I'll make sure you won't be seeing me in the act, and I have the 'hot chicks' for that, alright? my .”

“Okay, is a bit too exaggerated, but still, word caught my ears that you stopped doing the things you usually did,” he said, “You've changed Lu Han. It's been a three months or so, could you have fallen in love?” he smirked, bringing his eyebrows to move up and down. I blushed bashfully and shook my hand as I brought my arms to form an 'X'.

“O-of course not! Well, not yet, at least. I think...” I said, my words becoming more to a mutter at each word.

“You can't lie to me Lu Han!” he jabbed his elbow on my ribs, making my eyes to enlarge in hurt. I coughed loudly, holding my ribs to protect myself from any further pain. “So who is it?” he grinned widely, like a school girl asking her friends what their crush is and eagerly pushing for the answer. I stayed silent, unable to answer. He suddenly looked serious as he locked both his hands together.

“It can't be Hyejun, right?” I laughed nervously,

“No! Why would I? I mean she's not even human” I smiled, or what I think is a smile, and massaged the back of my neck. Xiumin sighed in relief at the word 'no'.

“Good, I'm glad you know. Plus, you know I don't want you to get hurt after all her emotions and memories are transferred to the other robots. She's a demo robot after all, she's only used for that sole reason since humans can't be used in transferring them. The worst case scenario for humans used in the project is that they would never have their memories returned, firstly, and secondly, so will be their emotions. Too bad, Hyejun would be disposed of today, she has all the emotions we need, she even exceeded our expectations!”

“W-what? Could you repeat that again?” I asked, my insides feeling like mush and my skin as pale as snow.

“She has all—“

“NO! Before that”

“She's going to be disposed of today” Xiumin furrowed his eyebrows confused. At this, I immediately turned to the door and ran to the lab 10 as fast as I could. My lungs started hurting from the ran, and it's been so long since I've last ran this fast, but it didn't matter. My goal was to reach where she is, and my feet seemingly moved on its own. I didn't care really, I didn't care if she went. She was a robot, an immortal that I couldn't have babies with, and someone who can't live and die with, like a normal person would. But even so, and even so.

I want her next to me.

As I opened the door, there she was, about to climb on the container she first started. The same container I looked at when I first met her.

“Oh, Lu Han just in time—“ Kris smiled. I immediately ran towards where he stood and, in a haste, I gladly re-arranged his smug face. The other scientists stood in shock for a ferw seconds, before proceeding to take hold of me as I started screaming at the shock Kris, who held his wounded cheek, laying on the ground.

“I swear to all my ancestors grave if you don't let Hyejun live, I'm going to make sure your own mom won't even recognize you.” Kris finally snapped out of his trance and stood up, chuckling as if mocking at his little threat.

“You caught me off guard Lu Han, never knew you had it in you, to be honest.” So did I, if I was the same person a while ago I wouldn't even dare come into your premises, I thought to myself.

I glared at him and he continued, “No. Despite how successful the project is A-12—“

“It's Hyejun you bastard!”

“Yes, Hyejun or whatever you named her to be is unstable. She is the first robot to be given these abilities, and there will be a time when she will have to go through malfunctions, and what we call “self-awareness”. Though as nice as it sounds to be, these would lead to the destruction of human kind, as you know most of us don't treat robots that well, per se. We didn't put any modifications in her system to control the upcoming disaster, but we make use of her memories and emotion to alternate it a bit with the next projects.” Kris looked at me, and the people who continued to try straining me with much difficulty.

“It's for the best Lu Han, let it go. We can make tons of others that are identical to your sweet Hyejun, now Chanyeol, you may proceed the disposal.” I glared at him, but my attention averted to the tall technician who was hurriedly pressing the buttons and I screamed as I thrashed around so I could stop him before it was too late, but it was no use. I looked at the other side of the glass, her retreating back made my heart clench and I swear.

“Hyejun! Hyejun!” I continued to call her, but she only glanced at me, trying to send me a message through her moving lips, but the mist was far too thick for me to comprehend and my tears where no help, so as I squint my eyes closer to see.

She smiled and said, “I understood what love is”