All Zelo wanted was to be a boy, a real boy. He wanted to be able to reply and talk back when Yongguk needed him. He wanted to be able to put his arms around his companion and hold him as he cried from all the hardships he had to suffer. But he was a toy, and toys couldn’t move or speak.

            Toys did, however, have feelings. And when Yongguk first built Zelo, he became attached. The boy had wanted a companion and so he went out to buy a robot kit. It was something fun, an adult-sized robot that could be programmed to do whatever its owner desired it to. And so Zelo was formed using bits of metal, a motherboard, circuits and plastic parts put together to form the ultimate robot.

            Yongguk loved the robot he created. And even though at first Zelo was a bit too tall for Yongguk to play around with, he still talked to him. “One day, we’ll be the same height and then I can reach your head without dad needing to help me!”

            Zelo had a smile on his face the whole time. It was how he was designed but hearing Yongguk talk to him about the bugs he had seen and the birds that flew by his window made him happy. Hearing Yongguk talk was what made Zelo’s day pass a little faster.

            The first year Yongguk made Zelo, he talked to him every day. “I don’t have a diary because boys don’t keep diaries,” he told the robot sternly. “But you’ll be my confidant.” He had just learned the word and was eager to try it out everywhere. Yongguk had programmed Zelo to nod, and he figured it was what he had to do now so he did, and the boy smiled. Then he proceeded to tell Zelo everything.

            “I almost lost Tigger today. I had him in my arms and then I jumped over the rocks and then I almost fell,” he was babbling. Zelo cringed on the inside. If there were any other toy he was most jealous of, it was Tigger. Because no matter how much Yongguk told Zelo, he still held Tigger to sleep, and the tiger was the toy Yongguk carried around with him the most. Zelo searched for a sympathetic expression and that was the first time he realized robots could lie too.

            But being with Yongguk was a happy existence. Before he had been part of a lab, taken apart and put together again to perfect. When he was placed on the shelves, he saw each person who came down to pick him up and wondered which one would take him. When he saw the boy with the large gummy smile and shy demeanor pick him up, Zelo knew that he had found his companion.

            When Yongguk went to school, Zelo interacted with his other toys. He avoided Tigger though, once Yongguk stopped bringing it to school. Tigger only made him feel a bitter resentment, something he didn’t think he was made to feel. He envied the way Yongguk would cry on Tigger, hold it to sleep, or mumble his sleepy words to him as he dreamed. Zelo wished he could be the only one Yongguk loved and trusted.

            Because Zelo was so big, Yongguk would use him to practice soccer with. “It says you can run, so maybe you can kick the soccer ball too.” It had taken a lot of joints Zelo never knew existed but he recalled the action of kicking and knocked the ball around with Yongguk, helping him perfect his skills. Those summer afternoons were gone too quickly, just being with the boy and hearing him laugh as they played.

            The years passed and Yongguk took care of Zelo, polishing him and greasing anything that went wrong. When he felt his functions begin to slow, Yongguk charged him once every two days to keep Zelo going. As Yongguk grew older, he became interested in music and would show Zelo his composing. It was endearing and fascinating to watch him blurt out words to an unknown rhythm, going fast and then slow, his words running over each other and Zelo applauded every time.

            His best friend would give him a shy smile. “Is it really that good?” And he would giggle when Zelo nodded in response.

            “You know, one day you’ll be forgotten too, right?” It was a bitter Tigger. Tigger still had his spot next to Yongguk when the owner slept but he was no longer taken to school.

            Zelo chose to ignore him and the stuffed toy persisted. “I was his best friend until you came along. He thinks you’re human, but one day when he meets a human best friend, he’ll realize that he’s missing out so much just being with you.” The tiger snickered. “And then you’ll be sitting in the dusty corner, just as lost as that teddy bear I displaced.”

            Zelo looked at the edge of the room and saw a bear with one eye stitching unraveled and shivered. None of the toys ever spoke to the old bear because he didn’t want to talk back but the story was that he was the most unwanted, thrown away when Yongguk was given Tigger.

            But the robot refused to believe it. Yongguk was a kind boy, and Yongguk loved him. What happened to the bear wasn’t going to happen to him. After all, it hasn’t happened to Tigger.

            Yongguk got taller, his voice got deeper and soon Zelo was no longer looking down at him. Yongguk could look at him now. “Hey, Zelo, I brought my best friend over.”

            Those two words made Zelo alert and he spun around. In the doorway was another boy, a breathing human boy and he was smiling as he carried a radio in his arms. “Hi Zelo! Cool, Yongguk, is this your robot?”

            Yongguk nodded. “Yeah. He was sort of like a best friend until I met you. Zelo, say hi to Himchan!”

            And even though Zelo didn’t want to, he forced his joints to raise his arm and moved it back and forth, smiling for good measure. Yongguk chuckled and patted his head and then he left. Zelo avoided Tigger’s knowing, and almost sympathetic gaze. It wasn’t true.

            But when Yongguk came back that night, he didn’t check to see if Zelo’s batteries were still charged. It has been two days since he was charged. He could see his indicator blinking but Yongguk had turned over and was sleeping, snoring soundly into Tigger’s fur.            

            Zelo sighed and wished he could cry the way Yongguk had when he was little and hurt. Tearing had always made Yongguk feel better and right now Zelo wanted to feel better. There was a soft beep, and Zelo made a last fervent wish. He wished he could be a real boy so he could be Yongguk’s best friend. But the beeping slowly died and he could feel himself shut down. He tried to keep his eyes open to see Yongguk but the room was getting dark and then the beeping stopped.

this is for vortex234

requests are opening Saturday ^^