Chapter eleven: Lies

Over the nine years Jonghyun had known Kibum for, never once had he witnessed the boy clean his room; therefore, his eyes comically widened when the teenager suggested that they cleaned the whole house together.

"Maybe it will get us on mom's good side." he said with a shrug before he shooed a very annoyed cat away from the couch. "And dad cannot resist her."

Oh, Jonghyun thought as he raised his brows. Was it a way to bargain and get Na Yung and Chin Hae to agree on allowing the humanoid to stay with them ? Probably not the best technique ever.

Or maybe it was Kibum's own way to busy himself in order to release his stress regarding his parents' decision ? But then, Jonghyun didn't know how to feel at all: should he freak out because his friend was nervous and thus, it meant that there was a risk that Na Yung and Chin Hae would throw him out ? Or should he rather feel relieved that Kibum liked him enough to be stressed out about his uncertain future ?

The second reason sounded far better to his ears and his heart, to be honest. But it was not impossible that Kibum also wanted to keep his mind on other matters than Minho, which Jonghyun could understand pretty well.

How ironic was it that they both were in the same situation, with the same unrequited feelings, yet not for each other ! How easier would it be if Kibum had fallen for him instead of Minho... How easier indeed, if Jonghyun had not been in love with his young master... But over the years and as he went through the awakening of his body and his emotions, the humanoid had learned that being alive, being human, was definitely not easy and he couldn't do anything but deal with it.

By the time Na Yung and Chin Hae came back home, the two boys were barely done cleaning the living-room and Jonghyun had decided that he would never agree to do such a thing with Kibum ever again: the teen didn't even know how a vacuum worked. Please. Granted, Jonghyun had always been the one doing most of the chores, which he didn't mind at all since it was his first purpose after all, but still... A vacuum !

"Kibum, cleaning ?" Chin Hae asked, his brows furrowed and his eyes shining with barely hidden amusement as he took his coat off. "Are you sick ?"

"I'm offended." the blonde boy pouted, earning a snort from his father, along with a gentle hand ruffling his hair.

"Kidding, son, kidding."

"But you have something to ask, don't you ?" Na Yung said with a smile. "What is it this time ? You want Taemin to come over for the night ?"

Kibum's face fell and Jonghyun imperceptibly tensed by his side, glancing at him in obvious worry as he knew that images of Taemin and Minho together were probably printed behind his eyelids and in his mind.

"This is not about Taemin..." he whispered softly, on a tone so sad that it had Jonghyun's heart breaking a bit more.

He didn't like hearing the strain in Kibum's words nor seeing the sorrowful expression on his pale face. He didn't like being reminded of how useless he was when it came to ease his friend's pain.

The teenager's sudden sadness didn't go unnoticed by his parents but he didn't give them the time to react since he quickly told them to sit in the living-room instead. Confused but sure that their son would tell them sooner or later what his problem was, they both sat on the couch while Jonghyun chose to lean his back against the opposite wall, trying to calm down. Seconds later, Kibum was by his side and took hold of his hand, squeezing it gently between his delicate fingers, and Jonghyun felt himself relaxing a little: Kibum was there. He wouldn't give up on him easily and the humanoid was almost positive that he wouldn't back off even if he needed to put up a fight with his parents, so maybe... Maybe there was still a chance for him to stay.

Kibum glanced at the humanoid, wondering if Jonghyun wanted to be the one to explain the situation to Chin Hae and Na Yung, but as soon as his eyes locked with his friend's ones, he understood that Jonghyun would rather let him speak instead.

After all, Jonghyun didn't really know what to say: he couldn't go for hey guys, I actually have emotions ! That would be too... straightforward. And simple, in comparison with the complexity of the problem.

Moreover, he was really nervous and unsure about the outcome of this conversation and he was not quite ready to face rejection right now, although the optimistic part of his mind was trying to calm him down by whispering sweetly in the back of his mind that if the Kim had accepted him a few year prior, when they had heard about his program and the changes that would occur, there was no reason for them to throw him out now. After all, he had behaved during the past few years, right ? He had been a nice boy. Nice boys weren't looked down upon, were they ?

Anyway, he trusted Kibum. The teenager would probably find the right words to explain everything and convince his parents to...

"Jonghyun lied to us." Kibum suddenly said, casual as ever.

The humanoid flinched and turned towards the blonde boy with wide, fear-filled eyes. What ?! What had gotten into him ? He wasn't supposed to say it bluntly like that, talking about lies was the fastest and most effective way to make the boy's parents angry !

"Kibum !" he whined, his already irregular breathing growing more laborious as his fear got the best of him. "That's not how you were supposed to explain it !"

"Then how ?" the teenager asked with a nonchalant shrug.

"I don't know !" Jonghyun exclaimed, pulling at his hair. "Maybe you could have said that I am not as insensitive as I seem to be ? Or that I care about you and your parents ? Yeah, that might have been a good start !"

To Jonghyun's utter surprise, Kibum actually smiled upon hearing those reproaches and he quietly whispered:

"Wasn't that hard to say, was it ?"

The humanoid froze and blinked slowly, before realisation hit him: he had just spilled the beans and revealed the very information he had been afraid to let out in front of Kibum's parents. Jonghyun turned towards them, only to meet twin expressions of disbelief and shock.

"What ?" was all Na Yung could say, flabbergasted by the unexpected information.

"Did we get this right ?" Chin Hae added, stunned. "Jonghyun, you... Really ?"

The humanoid looked at his masters, unaware of the obvious hesitation that shone from the depths of his eyes.

"Y... Yes ?" he answered, although it sounded more like a question than anything else. "I'm sorry, please don't kick me out !"

Jonghyun didn't even wait for an answer, the tension he could feel in every fibre of his body was turning him into a restless mess and he stared at Kibum with begging eyes asking for an explanation for what he could only refer to as a sly betrayal.

"You were supposed to help me, not to make your parents hate me." he mumbled, hurt by the boy's reckless blurt out.

"Hey, hey..." Kibum immediately said as he placed both of his hands on Jonghyun's shoulders, gently kneading them in hopes that it would somehow appease the humanoid.

He tried to lock eyes with his friend's but the latter was avoiding his gaze, stubbornly staring at the floor between his feet, until Kibum sighed and grabbed his chin, forcing the other male to look at him.

"I never meant to make them hate you." he said slowly, making sure that every syllable sank in Jonghyun's thick head. "But you needed to say it yourself. You have to come to terms with what's happening to you, you have to stop fearing our reaction and most importantly, you have to trust us just like we trust you."

For a second that felt like an eternity, Jonghyun lost himself in Kibum's so pretty eyes that expressed nothing but fondness and he would have been thankful if someone, anyone, had stopped the time at this very moment. But then Kibum blinked, the intensity of his stare suddenly vanished and he didn't notice the veil of sadness that briefly hid the dim light shining in Jonghyun's eyes.

"You knew ?"

The humanoid glanced at Chin Hae, whose presence he had almost forgotten because of Kibum, while it was his reaction that he dreaded the most, to be honest. His and Na Yung's. But for now, the teenager's father had been the only one to say something, since his wife seemed too stunned to react, but he wasn't even paying attention to Jonghyun: the man's eyes were set on his son and the humanoid wasn't sure whether this was a bad or a good thing to state that he was being ignored for now.

"You knew about Jonghyun's emotions and you didn't tell us anything ?" Chin Hae repeated.

"It's not like that." Kibum answered while shaking his head slightly. "I've only realised it this afternoon but Jjong told me he's been like that for more than one year already."

Jonghyun chewed on his lower lip as all three pairs of eyes turned to him and he really, really wished that he was able to smile, able to ease the tension he could feel in the air... Eventually, he said on a low tone:

"I can control myself. Well, most of the time." he added, deciding that being honest was probably the best thing to do at the moment. "But when I can't, I lock myself in my room and I wait until I've calmed down, so I... I am not dangerous, Masters. I promise that I am not. Please, keep me by your side ! I would do everything, anything, I just..."

"Jonghyun..." Chin Hae gently cut him off. "I'm sure you remember the day we got you back from the Kang Company, right ? The CEO told us that there was a risk... That maybe you could be dangerous for us. Yet you are here with us. So, what does that mean ?"

The humanoid tilted his head to the side as he stared at his master, praying that he wasn't getting his hopes up and that he actually understood what Chin Hae meant.

"That you are aware of it and that it is fine as long as I can control myself ? Are you saying that I can stay ?" he hesitantly asked.

A sharp nod was all it took to erase Jonghyun's fear as relief washed over him and ran through his whole body, every doubt he'd had disappearing while he let out a shaky breath that he hadn't realised he had been holding in.

Suddenly, he was pulled into a tight hug as Na Yung stood up and rushed at him, wrapping her arms around his chest to bring him as close to her as possible.

"M... Miss Na Yung..." he panted. "I... I can't b... breathe !"

"I know, Jonghyun..." she answered, sounding a bit confused - after all, she already knew that humanoids couldn't breathe, she'd known it even before they got their own, so why did he need to remind her of that right now ?

"N... No, I mean, r... really..."

"Mom !" Kibum exclaimed. "Let go of him !"

Knitting her brows, Na Yung eventually took a step back as her arms released their grip on the young man who immediately took a deep gulp of air, his fingers clutching at his chest through the fabric of his shirt while he tried to catch his breath.

Funny, that he had never felt the need to breathe before and had been perfectly fine without the oxygen that real humans couldn't live without, while it was only after being able to fill his lungs with the precious air that he felt like dying if deprived of this capacity.

Jonghyun practically heard the gears of his brain working as a sudden question popped into his mind: could he actually die ? He... He wasn't totally human anymore but neither was he a full humanoid, so... What would be his fate, after years and years of living and treading on the thin line between the mortality of a human and the immortality of a machine ?

This was a question he had no answer to. Did anyone do ? Probably not his masters. The scientists from the Kang Company ? Had they actually thought about that ?

The humanoid had to hold back a snort. Of course no, the thought had not occurred to them; after all, a robot like him wasn't even supposed to exist. And what didn't exist didn't die either.

"I'm so sorry !" Na Yung exclaimed in worry, effectively snapping Jonghyun out of his trance when he heard her voice. "I didn't know, I... Are you alright ? Did I hurt you ?"

The humanoid frantically shook his head and quickly answered:

"It's okay, really. You didn't know..."

Na Yung took the boy in her arms once more, careful not to hug him too tightly this time, and she rested her chin on Jonghyun's shoulder.

"Don't hide anything from us anymore, Jonghyun." she said in his ear, voice thick with emotion. "You can talk to us and count on us to help you... Whatever you need, tell us. We can help you to understand your emotions, name them and maybe control yourself even better... We love you, Jonghyun. You can rely on us, you're not alone to deal with this."

The humanoid could swear that his heart had skipped a beat upon hearing those words, and he suddenly but gently pushed Na Yung away in order to look at her.

"R... Really ?" he asked as he felt a wave of delicious warmth running through every nerve of his body. "You love me ?"

Surprisingly, it was Chin Hae who answered that one, with a tiny smile on his lips that warmed up Jonghyun to the core.

"Of course we do, silly."

Chin Hae wasn't one to openly express or show his feelings, except towards Na Yung, whom he was totally head over heels for, and Kibum; they were his family and he had no troubles saying that he loved them. And although Jonghyun had been told several times already that he belonged to the family as well, it was the first time that he really felt like it was true, thanks to these words of love. He had never imagined how good it could actually be to hear those meaningful words and he couldn't help but wonder how he would feel if one day, someone - preferably Kibum, to be honest - confessed their love to him. Real love, romantic love, stronger than any other kind of love. Was it too much to ask ?

Jonghyun looked up when Na Yung - who could not get over the fact that he really had emotions now, judging from her too wide and happy grin, as well as her slightly teary and red eyes - gently pushed his hair to the side and said fondly:

"You've belonged to this family from the start, Jonghyun. I... I've even considered you as my second son ever since the day we were told that you were hum..."

"Na Yung !" Chin Hae exclaimed, quickly hushing her before she had the time to finish her sentence.

Her eyes widened as she realised that she had almost blurted out that Jonghyun had been human many years prior and that she had just avoided a disaster: she vividly remembered Kang Jungwan telling her that it wouldn't be safe nor wise to mention the humanoid's past... Relief washed away the sudden tension in her muscles and she laughed nervously, unaware of the fact that the humanoid already knew.

He knew that he had been a human, a lifetime ago... He'd heard Kibum talk about it. But he didn't understand anymore: he had thought that they wouldn't tell him the truth so nothing would change in their relationship but now, since it was an established fact that Jonghyun had been dealing with emotions and physical changes for a little while, and seeing that both Na Yung and Chin Hae seemed rather happy about it, why was his real nature still kept hidden from him ?

"I mean..." Na Yung tried again, carefully choosing her words. "Ever since the day we were told that you are a special humanoid..."

She spared a glance at her husband who discreetly nodded, wordlessly allowing her to keep on; he already had an idea of what she was about to tell the humanoid anyway... A few days after they had brought him back home, they had decided to prepare themselves for the time they would have to face Jonghyun and his emotions, thus they had come up with an explanation to give him without revealing the whole truth either.

To be honest, after two years of waiting in vain for any kind of human-like behaviour, they had believed that they would never need to have this conversation... But in the end, this fake explanation seemed to come in handy.

"Actually, you are special, Jonghyun." Na Yung said with a tiny smile, suddenly a bit unsure of what the humanoid's reaction would be, even with a censored truth. "You are the product of an experimental project and... Your program develops and evolves over the years, in a way that's different from the other humanoids. This is why you have suddenly begun to display emotions. Do you understand ?"

Jonghyun simply nodded - what else could he do ? - and he didn't miss the flash of relief in Na Yung's eyes, nor did he fail at noticing the smile on Kibum's and his father's lips.

But this... It was nothing but a lie. Or at least, a half-lie. While it was true that he had been used by scientists for their project and their experiments, he knew fully well that there was more behind that, he was aware of what he truly was, deep down.

They were lying and what bothered him the most was the fact that it was bad. It was one of the few distinctions between right and wrong that he was able to make, thanks to his program which, although weakening a bit more day after day, was still somewhat effective; he had actually felt guilty upon lying to Kibum about his emotional change, not so long ago...

But if it was so wrong, why were his masters lying to him ? Was it actually right to lie, even to someone you were supposed to love ? Or was it because you loved someone that it was fine to lie to them from time to time ?

Did it mean that he was allowed to lie as well ? Could he keep pretending that he didn't know about his past humanity, about his romantic feelings for Kibum ?

"Thank you." he eventually said, still confused but deciding that he could think about it later. "Thank you for keeping me and... loving me, I guess. I am really thankful to you, I mean it."

Na Yung rapidly blinked her tears away when she heard those words, really moved by the genuine fondness in Jonghyun's voice and the way his eyes shone a bit brighter at that; she had waited for two years, wishing the humanoid would eventually express himself, and now the dream was turning into reality and she couldn't have been happier about it. She was truly happy and not only for Jonghyun, as it was a second chance for him to actually live his life as he should have, but also for Kibum. Her son considered the humanoid as his friend ever since he had opened his eyes in this very house, it was only fair that his loyal friendship was returned to him. Speaking of Kibum...

"Back to you." she said as she turned towards the teenager, her brows knitted in worry. "What happened ?"

"Doesn't matter." the blonde boy mumbled. "We're talking about Jonghyun, not me."

"But this is settled." Chin Hae added. "Jonghyun stays with us and doesn't have to hide his emotions any longer... Nor do you. We can see that there's something wrong... You know you can tell us everything, right ?"

"Right." Kibum whispered before plopping down into the nearest spot on the couch.

He stared at the floor for a while, so long that Jonghyun actually believed that he would not say anything to his parents. However, after heaving a deep and heartbreakingly sad sigh, he mumbled:

"I just realised that the person I love is dating someone else and... It hurts."

Seconds later, Kibum was crying again, this time in his mother's warm arms, while his father gently ran his fingers through the blonde mop of hair. Sadness invaded Jonghyun's eyes as he watched the scene unfolding in front of him, once more feeling useless and unable to do anything in order to push his friend's pain away.

"Shhhh, darling..." Na Yung whispered in her son's ear. "Don't cry, honey..."

She kept on murmuring sweet words, although she was aware that nothing but time could heal a broken heart, but what else could she try to do ? Luckily, young hearts like Kibum's healed faster and always had a chance to find someone else to love them.

"So, who's the boy I will have to punch for hurting my precious baby ?" Chin Hae sternly asked, which earned him a weird mix between a sob and a laugh from Kibum.

"You... You knew ?" he hiccupped, turning wide eyes to his father. "You knew I... I like a b... boy ?"

"Not exactly." Chin Hae answered, wiping a few tears away by swiping his thumb over Kibum's rosy cheek. "But I - we - thought that you might fancy guys... Ever since that day Jonghyun asked us about being gay, actually. We knew it came from you."

The teenager turned an accusing glare towards Jonghyun, who quickly raised his hands and shook them vigorously.

"I didn't say anything about you !" he protested.

"He didn't." Na Yung confirmed with a nod. "But it was pretty easy to guess anyway."

"Oh."

Kibum kept silent but tears rolled down his cheeks again, and Jonghyun couldn't stand it anymore: he suddenly squatted down in front of the seated boy and gently placed his hands on his knees.

"You will be alright, Kibum." he said, hoping that he could convey his sincerity through his voice. "Maybe it will take time but I promise you will find a nice boy one day, someone who will love you deeply and will make you happy. So don't cry, Bummie... Just wait for the right one to come. Don't cry..."

The humanoid almost fell backwards when the boy jumped in his arms and hugged him really tight, but Jonghyun managed to keep his balance just in time and he then returned the embrace, allowing Kibum to bury his face in the crook of his neck.

While he let the boy sniffle and slowly calm down against him, Jonghyun looked up and caught sight of the teenager's worried and saddened parents. But then, his eyes met Chin Hae's softening gaze, where a glimmer of approval was beginning to shine.

Oh my, what is it with this chapter ? Fluff then sad stuff then fluff then... I can't anymore x)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) Actually, I forgot to say this in the last update but... Humanoid is already one year old ! With eleven chapters... I take so much time, I'm so sorry ! But I am also really happy to see how many of you still read and like this story, you are now more than 300, which is totally awesome. I never expected such a positive feedback thus this is really a surprise for me. Lots and lots of thanks to every single one of you !

See you soon and thank you for your support !

PS: If you like science-fiction and Taoris, feel free to check out my new sci-fi story, The Last War ;)