Chapter four: Incomprehension

Taemin felt like he had skipped a part of his own life. Seconds ago, he was cuddling with Kibum, but right now he was pinned against the wardrobe, Jonghyun's hands tightly wrapped around his pale neck, the young boy's feet barely touching the floor as the humanoid held him up.

A painful yelp had crossed his lips when his back had hit the hard wood but now, he was unable to utter a single word or even make the slightest sound of protest: the robot's fingers were crushing his throat and he couldn't breathe properly anymore.

He heard the panic in his friend's voice but he couldn't process what he was saying, he was too focused on the necessity of breathing.

Taemin placed his hands on top of Jonghyun's ones but no matter how hard he tried to break free from the humanoid's grab, the other was too strong and he couldn't do anything to push him away; his attempt only led him to grow weaker than before.

His sight became blurry but he could still see the mad look in Jonghyun's eyes, which frightened him beyond words; how was it even possible that the boy's dull pupils were now expressing something that was rather close to anger ?

Taemin suddenly heard Kibum's voice, begging the humanoid to let go of him. The blonde had come closer to them and was almost shouting in Jonghyun's ears, but the latter didn't even seem to hear his pleas: he was still staring holes through Taemin's shaky and weak body, his grip slowly tightening around the boy's neck.

Eventually, when he saw his friend's face growing red because of the lack of oxygen, Kibum clenched his fists as he decided that it was time to react.

Jonghyun better be prepared.

The blonde grinded his teeth, trying not to feel guilty as he thought about what he was going to do and then, he violently slapped the humanoid across the face. Of course, Jonghyun didn't feel the boy's hand touch his skin, but the impact of the punch was strong enough to make him tilt his head to the other side, his hair falling in front of his eyes.

The loud sound of his friend's hand collapsing on the robot's face made Taemin flinch but seconds later, the humanoid let go of him and the teenager fell on the ground, coughing and puffing loudly.

"Taemin !" Kibum shouted, kneeling down next to his classmate. "Are you alright ? Does your neck hurt ? Please, talk to me !"

Panting, the boy couldn't say anything but he simply nodded, hoping that it would be enough to set his friend's mind at ease; he looked up and tried to give him a reassuring smile but then, he caught sight of Jonghyun.

The humanoid was staring at him again but his eyes were different. He had looked really mad before; now he was just... Well, he seemed totally lost. And it didn't get any better when Kibum stood up and swung around all of a sudden to poke his finger at Jonghyun's chest and yell at him, his voice filled with anger and disappointment.

"What the has gotten into you, Jonghyun ?!" he shouted, and Taemin couldn't help but flinch again: he had never seen his friend so angry before. "What do you think you were doing ?! How could you... How... Do you realise that you were about to kill him ?!"

The humanoid didn't say anything but he glanced a last time at Taemin before leaving the bedroom in a hurry, literally running away.

"Yah !" the teenager shouted, more and more upset. "Come back here, you jerk !"

"Kibum..." Taemin tried to say.

It was nothing more than a weak whisper but still, the blonde heard it and immediately wrapped the boy in his warmth as Taemin let out a tiny whimper and hid in face in the crook of Kibum's neck, clenching his shirt between his fists.

Soon, the boy was crying in his friend's arms, his fear finally getting the best of him. The blonde felt so sorry, he didn't know why Jonghyun had done something like that all of a sudden but he was sure that it wasn't Taemin's fault. Why would it be ? The boy had done nothing to the humanoid, except for greeting him several minutes ago...

He didn't know what to do either, Taemin was a sobbing mess in his arms and he really wanted to stay with him so he could comfort his friend, but Jonghyun's weird behaviour worried him and he also had to fight the urge of running after him. He wasn't sure about what he would do once he would find him, though. Beat him up for scaring the hell out of Taemin or hold him in his arms to try and understand the reason behind his outburst ?

Good question.

But as much as he hated himself for even thinking that way - Jonghyun was his friend as well, after all - he guessed that Taemin was the one who needed him the most right now. He was human.

"I... I'm s... scared..." the boy stammered, closing his eyes.

"It's alright, honey..." the blonde whispered, kissing the top of his classmate's head. "I'm here, baby, calm down..."

Taemin's grip on his shirt loosened a bit, the boy relaxing more and more as Kibum's hands caressed his back in soothing circle motions. The sweet nicknames he was giving him were nothing new since the blonde had always called him like that since they had known each other, and there wasn't any hidden meaning behind these: Kibum was just trying to help his best friend, slowly rocking him in his arms.

The teenager tried to hold back the tears that threatened to run down his cheeks when he caught sight of finger marks on Taemin's pale neck, already turning red and purple. Sometimes he forgot how strong Jonghyun was but now, realisation was painfully sinking into him. The humanoid could be dangerous.

What happened today... was totally new, it had never happened before. Jonghyun had never been violent; on the contrary, he was always nice and... Well, he never did anything if no one had asked him to do it. And he never disobeyed.

Until today.

A shiver ran down Kibum's spine at the thought of what could have happened if he hadn't slapped the humanoid. All of a sudden, he got scared of being under the same roof as Jonghyun. What if he came back and did something bad again ?

The blonde wanted to believe that Jonghyun wouldn't hurt him under any circumstances but seeing how shaky his friend was, he decided that they couldn't stay alone with the humanoid. They needed someone by their side, someone who would be able to deal with the robot if he attacked one of them again.

Since his mother was at her friend's, the blonde teenager decided to call his father; it wasn't like Na Yung would be strong enough to fight against Jonghyun anyway...

"I will call my dad." Kibum told his classmate. "It will be fine, Taemin, he will protect you."

His friend nodded and reluctantly let go of him so the blonde would grab his phone.

As he pressed the call button, he hoped that it wasn't a bad idea to ask his father to come back. What if he was so mad at Jonghyun that he ended up sending him back to the firm they had bought him at ?

"Hello ?" Chin Hae's voice suddenly resounded in Kibum's ear.

"H... Hi, dad." the young boy said, sounding a bit hesitant.

"Everything's alright, Bummie ?" his father asked, a bit worried as he heard his son's voice.

"No. Dad, we have a problem. Jonghyun, he... He attacked Taemin."

"He what ?!"

Kibum winced and hissed as his father shouted in the phone but he didn't say anything, they had other fish to fry and something much more important to talk about right now.

"He attacked, dad !" the teen repeated. "He jumped at Taemin and he... He was about to strangle him ! I... I don't know what happened to him but he..."

"Okay, okay, I got it." Chin Hae cut him off. "I will be there in ten minutes, Kibum. Just make sure to lock yourself in your bedroom or something and do not stay nearby Jonghyun."

"Okay. Please, come back as soon as you can..."

With a last promise that he would be quick, Chin Hae hung up and Kibum locked the door of his bedroom, feeling a bit sad that he had to be so distrustful towards Jonghyun. He didn't know where the humanoid was at the moment nor how he was doing after the slap and the scolding he had received from his young master, but he felt guilty: he hadn't missed the shock that briefly went through Jonghyun's eyes.

The teenager sighed as he sat down next to Taemin again and held him in his arms; the situation had gone out of control all of a sudden and Kibum didn't know what to do anymore about Jonghyun. Hopefully his father would knock some sense into the robot - if it was even possible - and everything would be normal again, as if nothing had happened...

But Kibum had a feeling that it wouldn't be as simple as that. It wasn't possible anymore to ignore the changes in Jonghyun's behaviour, no matter what his parents could say about it. Now, the teenager was just worried about the future: what would his father say about the humanoid ? And his mother ? Kibum knew that they both liked the robot and that Jonghyun made things easier for them, but he was well aware of the fact that none of them would hesitate before sending him back to the firm. If Jonghyun was dangerous, they wouldn't keep him. End of story.

And a painful lump rose in his throat at this very thought.

***

Jonghyun was looking blankly at the wardrobe in front of him. The robot was sitting on the floor in his bedroom, the one master Chin Hae had given to him when he had joined the family, seven years ago.

There was a bed there, even though Jonghyun never slept, but Na Yung had wanted him to feel comfortable in his room, the place he would go to when he had nothing to do for his owners; the only thing he really used in this room was the wardrobe, since his clothes were inside.

And he was staring at it without even seeing it, as he had been doing for one hour or so. The images of what had happened in Kibum's bedroom were playing again and again in front of his eyes and for the first time, he thought that maybe it could be great to actually be able to close them and not see anything at all anymore.

He didn't want to see those flashes of what he had done, he didn't want to see Taemin being that close to Kibum, he didn't want to see the frightened expression plastered on the boy's face, he didn't... He didn't want to be reminded of how wrong it was to act that way. He knew that it was bad, because the program inside his head seemed to be screaming it every second. He had attacked a human, something he wasn't allowed to do... And he shouldn't even have been able to do so. His program was supposed to avoid this kind of situation, yet it hadn't.

During a few seconds, the humanoid had been out of control, which had been the scientists' biggest fear some years ago, when they had created the prototypes of the current robots - now, they didn't think anymore that it was even possible for a humanoid to be uncontrollable: they were way too confident about their perfect creations. Maybe Jonghyun wasn't that perfect, after all.

The humanoid placed his hand on his chest, on the left side. He knew that something had broken in there, he had heard it. It sounded like a crack and it had echoed through his whole body... But it wasn't just a sound. It was something else, something that had run through his body, creeping inside him. He had... felt it ?

Feeling. This concept was totally new for him but he didn't know how to express in other words what had happened in his body.

Humans could feel lots of things. Pain - Kibum scratching his knees on stone - and sadness - Kibum crying over his broken toy - or cold - Kibum shaking in his arms - or even joy - Kibum bouncing on his chair when his parents had told him that he was allowed to dye his hair.

Kibum, Kibum, Kibum... It was always him. Everything Jonghyun knew about the humans, it was mostly thanks to Kibum. The boy was incredibly human in every reaction he got, every face he made, and even though the humanoid didn't know what it felt like to experiment for real what the teen did, he was aware of the existence of those feelings.

The young boy had never told him that he could feel something creeping under his skin though, but it had happened to Jonghyun, which added to the robot's incomprehension.

His brain was a mess right now, everything seemed to get mixed up: the program, the possible feeling, the memory that replayed the previous events... And the unknown reason behind his behaviour.

"I'm broken..." he whispered.

He didn't want to. Humans got rid of broken devices and he didn't want to end up in the dustbin.

Jonghyun finally adverted his eyes from the wardrobe in front of him and looked down; nearby his feet, there was a first-aid kit he had taken in the bathroom, in order to fix himself before it was too late, before his masters decided to throw him away.

It hadn't happen yet, even though mister Chin Hae was already back home. The humanoid had heard the hurried footsteps of the man as he had made his way upstairs and to his son's bedroom, before heading for the bathroom to grab the cream Jonghyun had made sure to leave there, the one that would ease the bruises around Taemin's neck.

He didn't know what to do about the boy... He had been bad to him and Na Yung or Chin Hae would probably order him to say that he was sorry... But it wasn't true. He was not sorry, because it was something he was totally unable to be. Jonghyun didn't - couldn't- have any regret.

Maybe it would be better if he didn't walk out of his bedroom: the boy was supposed to stay for two days, he probably didn't want to see Jonghyun around for now.

At the moment, the robot didn't hear anything else than muffled voices and no one had entered his room yet, no one had told him that he was going to be cast off... So maybe it wasn't too late for him to fix himself, maybe he still had a chance to stay.

Jonghyun grabbed a band-aid with a dinosaur printed on it, those very band-aids Kibum loved when he was younger, the ones he liked so much that he would stop crying as soon as it was placed on his scratches.

With his free hand, the humanoid ed his shirt and then, he took a closer look at his chest.

There was nothing. No scratch, no wound, no nothing. Just his slightly tanned skin and two buds of flesh. Nothing to heal.

Jonghyun placed his hand on his chest and roamed it all over his torso, just to see if something would happen, if he would feel something like before... But there was nothing either.

Maybe it was inside ? He remembered that one day, mister Chin Hae had told him that people could be hurt and feel pain inside them. That day, he hadn't understood what it meant and he still didn't get it now: pain was nothing he couldn't relate to. Did being broken mean that he was in pain ?

Probably not... Whenever Kibum was hurt, he would cry. Jonghyun didn't. So he wasn't in pain. But he was still broken, he had heard it ! And if it was inside, how should he fix what had to be fixed ?

Eventually, Jonghyun applied the band-aid on his chest, several inches under his left collarbone. He didn't really think over the place where he would place it, but it simply seemed right to choose the left pectoral, so he did as he thought.

Maybe it wouldn't fix anything at all. Maybe he would be thrown away. But at least, he tried.

***

"Bye, Taeminnie !" Na Yung said as she waved at the boy. "Take care of yourself !"

Taemin smiled and waved back before he got inside his parents' car and mister Lee thanked the Kim's again for taking care of his child during the weekend.

After their departure, Kibum and his parents came back in their house and the teenager asked, a bit unsure:

"Can I tell Jonghyun to go out ?"

Na Yung bit her lips but she didn't say anything. When she had come back from her friend's place, her husband and the two children had explained what had happened while she was away; if she hadn't seen the blue marks on Taemin's neck, she wouldn't have believed them.

Jonghyun seemed so sweet, so innocent and willing to please, how could he suddenly become that dangerous ? It was not normal and Na Yung was sure that they were missing something there... But what ?

Again, her son had told her that Jonghyun was probably feeling something but she still couldn't bring herself to agree with that idea. It was impossible.

Yet she had talked to the humanoid to try and understand what was going on but Jonghyun was as clueless as her.

Eventually, Chin Hae and Na Yung had decided that the robot wouldn't leave his bedroom for the time Taemin was at home, and the humanoid had agreed to that; the slap and the fact that he could have killed Taemin had apparently had a big effect on him.

Finally, they had had a good time with Taemin, he was a lively and bubbly boy once he was comfortable and they had all spent a nice weekend in his company... Without the humanoid.

Na Yung had tried not to feel guilty for locking Jonghyun inside his room, even though she knew that he wouldn't need to eat, drink nor use the bathroom; she realised that it was silly... She didn't believe that Jonghyun could feel anything at all, yet she was worried about leaving him all alone for two days. Such a paradox... Women are a paradox, Chin Hae had told her. So funny...

"Not yet, Kibum."

Na Yung shook her head as she heard her husband's words, coming off her thoughts.

"We need to talk about him, Bummie." she added.

The teen sighed but nodded and followed his parents to the living-room, where he plopped into the couch, grabbing a pillow to hug it during the serious talk he knew was to come.

"So ?" he said.

He tried not to show it but he was a bit worried: Kibum knew what they were going to talk about and he was not ready to hear that they wanted to get rid of Jonghyun.

Eventually, he decided to take the floor first:

"It was an accident." he said. "I'm sure Jonghyun didn't mean any harm, he just..."

"He attacked Taemin." his father cut him off. "This is not something we can ignore, Kibum. Yes, your friend is fine, but what if Jonghyun does something wrong again and no one is there to stop him ? What if he attacks you when you are alone ? I don't want to run any risk."

Na Yung nodded and Kibum glanced at his parents, biting his lower lip, his eyes growing teary as he imagined the humanoid leaving them.

Now that he thought about it, what happened to the useless humanoids ? Were they... destroyed ?

A loud sob crossed his lips. He didn't want Jonghyun to be destroyed, he didn't want to lose his friend; he knew that the humanoid couldn't return his friendship but he would gladly accept it if it meant that Jonghyun was still with him.

His mother's hand on his shoulder made him flinch but she draw him closer to her and kissed the top of his head, hugging him.

"Don't cry, Bummie..." she whispered.

"But I don't want him to leave !" he screamed, finally bursting into tears and hiding his red face in his mother's embrace.

"Who says he's leaving ?" Na Yung answered while softly rubbing his back. "We haven't decided anything like that."

Sniffling and confused, the blonde looked up and stared at both his mother and his father.

"Then what... what are you going to do ?" he asked, and Na Yung felt a pang in her chest when she heard her son's tremulous voice.

"For now..." Chin Hae began. "I don't want you to stay alone with Jonghyun anymore. And... We will bring him back to the firm, just for a little while, in order to do a checking. We need to know what to expect for the future before taking any other decision regarding Jonghyun."

Hi everyone ! Merry Christmas (a bit late, but better late than never :p)

I hope you liked this chapter (it was pure hell to write, so give me  feedback ^^)

Thanks to everyone who subscribed, left a comment and upvoted the story since the last update ^^ I'm always happy to see that you support me so much. It means a lot to me :)