“Oh! You’re finally awake!” a man with a slight bald hair and a white coat shouted to a boy, a little bit too happy. But the boy doesn’t move. He stayed still. “You’re my son—I’m going to call you Kim Sunggyu!”

Sunggyu is not a human. He doesn’t know what is he, but he’s sure that he is not a human. Even though, Sunggyu’s appearance looked like a human, an ordinary 5 year old kid. With bright red hair, brown eyes, and pale skin.

He knows that his father is the one who created him, or at least he thinks so.  His father is always busy working on something, staying for so long in front of the computers.

Sunggyu is considered perfect for a kid at his age. He is very smart and talk like an adult. Sunggyu is considered perfect too— for something that created on a lab.

But unfortunately, he is not perfect. He cannot feel any emotions, and barely understand them. His father realizes this only when Sunggyu started going to elementary school.

Sunggyu is a brilliant student in school, he can answer every question that the teacher asks. But Sunggyu feels different. He sees his friend—that he refers to some kid his age playing around him and attending the same class as him—doing something that Sunggyu doesn’t recognize, despite being the genius and all. His friends are running around, and he sees his friends’ lips curving up and their eyes disappear into crescent moons.

Smiling. Sunggyu knows what smile is, but he doesn’t know why they are smiling.

He then asked his father about this, and his father simply answers that they are smiling because they are happy. But the word ‘happy’ is unfamiliar to Sunggyu, and Sunggyu asks his father again, what is happy? His father soon realizes that Sunggyu, can’t feel any emotion, and didn’t understand them.

「His father then gives him a book about emotions, telling Sunggyu to read and learn about emotion while Sunggyu’s father is back in front of the computers again. Even when Sunggyu didn’t ask what is his father doing, Sunggyu know that his father is trying to fix him, add this things called emotions, basically— perfecting him.」

Sunggyu now knows about these emotions, a person cry when they are sad. Sad, is feeling or showing sorrow, unhappy. Angry, is having a strong feeling or showing displeasure. He knows, but he can’t feel this emotion, even when he reads the book for the nth time.

「His father soon gives up on making Sunggyu understands and feels this emotions, he thinks that he should teaches and guide Sunggyu, instead of inventing new program to make Sunggyu able to feel it, since every program he tried on Sunggyu failed miserably. 」

Sunggyu grows up, and he feels like he’s the odd one out, everywhere. He is now attending high school and always keeps the straight face, to everyone. He can’t smile, because a person smile when they are happy, and Sunggyu can’t be happy since he can’t feel any emotion, therefore he can’t smile.

His father already gives up on teaching Sunggyu to feel emotion, since long time ago. And then his father realizes that Sunggyu needs and environment full of emotions so that he will be able to understand about it.

His father then gives Sunggyu to the Jang family. Sunggyu’s father loves Sunggyu of course, and Sunggyu knows that. So, Sunggyu obediently follows his father’s order to live with the Jang family.

Jang family is really nice to Sunggyu, and they know that Sunggyu is not a human. Since the technology is improved and all, they don’t mind having an android as a part of their family, especially when their only son, Jang Dongwoo is very happy to have a brother.

「But Sunggyu is not and android, since android can’t be as human as Sunggyu, and android can’t have their own mind unlike Sunggyu.」

Sunggyu quickly learns about this Jang Dongwoo. Jang Dongwoo— is very noisy, always grinning everytime and smiles that soft smile to Sunggyu. And Jang Dongwoo’s smile makes Sunggyu wants to smile, too.

Sunggyu thinks that Jang Dongwoo always happy every time, because he is always smiling and all. In fact, Jang Dongwoo is really happy because he already had a brother now, even when his brother is not a human.

Sunggyu, living in a complete family like this makes him be able to understands emotions more, the summer break is almost over, and Jang family is having a trip to the mountains. Sunggyu and Jang Dongwoo are now lying under the starry sky, with thin blankets draped to their shoulder so that they won’t catch a cold, outlining the stars at the sky. Jang Dongwoo tells Sunggyu a story about the falling stars.

Jang Dongwoo said that every person in this world actually has their own star to grant a wish, and when the wish is granted, the star will fall to earth, turning into dust. Sparkling dust that is very beautiful, as a reminder that the person’s wish is already granted— the falling stars that we could see at the sky. So Jang Dongwoo said again that we should wish upon a star, instead of wish upon a falling star. But Sunggyu finds that ridiculous and when he wants to tell Jang Dongwoo about that, Jang Dongwoo have already closed his eyes and start wishing. Sunggyu have no choice but start wishing, too.

「Sunggyu wishes so that he could feel emotions, and thinking that maybe, just maybe, his wish could be granted.」

Their school started, and Jang Dongwoo introduces Sunggyu to this Lee Sungyeol, who is actually Jang Dongwoo’s bestfriend. Sunggyu just bluntly say that he never make any friends before, because everyone is avoiding him. Lee Sungyeol just laughed that off, and saying that they will be good friends.

Sunggyu studied about this Lee Sungyeol, and learn that he is noisier than Jang Dongwoo. With the dolphin scream of his, always succeed to make Sunggyu startled. Lee Sungyeol is very very tall, too.

「Lee Sungyeol knows later that Sunggyu isn’t human, and surprised at first. But then he is curious about Sunggyu, and start doing research on his own. He founds out the closest thing that defines Sunggyu is A.I. or artificial intelligence. But an A.I. should be able to feel emotions while Sunggyu can’t, and there’s only one A.I. that is ever invented, because it failed. Sungyeol show his research to Sunggyu, and Sunggyu is having a weird reaction to the A.I. article. 」

It’s one day when Sunggyu didn’t find Jang Dongwoo or Lee Sungyeol anywhere at school. He strolls around but not finding whom he wants to find, until he hears this squeak sounds that he recognize as Lee Sungyeol’s sound. And he immediately goes where the sounds is. He find out later that the sounds is behind the janitor’s door, and when Sunggyu opens the door, he froze. He sees Lee Sungyeol crying while there are a few boys around him, with a glint on their eyes, ready to maul the beaten up Lee Sungyeol. Once Sunggyu hears Lee Sungyeol’s plead to save him, his mind went blank.

Sunggyu wakes up at the infirmary, with his head hurting and can’t remember what happened earlier. Not so long after he wakes up, Jang Dongwoo visits him with a worried look on his face. Lee Sungyeol comes after, with a grin on his face saying thank you to Sunggyu that only god knows how many times. But Sunggyu had no idea what happened. Jang Dongwoo tells him that Sunggyu had beaten up the kids who assault Lee Sungyeol.

「Sunggyu feels weird afterwards since he never remembered that he ever learn martial arts and so on. And how he could actually beat up their school’s jock? 」

He starts to feel something weird happening in him, like the sudden warmth on his chest and sometimes, when he misses his real father, his chest tightens. Sunggyu wonders, what is happening?

He asks Jang Dongwoo and Lee Sungyeol about this matter, and both of them are surprised. The warmth is supposed to be a feeling, happy. But Sunggyu also supposed to not have any feelings, and Sunggyu is now confused. But Lee Sungyeol and Jang Dongwoo just shrugged it off and talking about the system on Sunggyu is changing and they should celebrate for this.

「Sunggyu really is confused, but happy at the same time. Happy. Finally he can use the words on the book that his father gives him.」

He wants to share this happy news to his real father, but he is nowhere to be found. Sunggyu goes to his old flat and find an old woman living there, with no idea where the previous owner went. His chest tightens again, and he might have to ask Jang Dongwoo about the feeling.

They graduated high school together, and is attending the same university. With Jang Dongwoo taking dance major, Lee Sungyeol taking acting major, and Sunggyu taking literature major, to improve his knowledge about this emotion thingy.

A month after they entered university, Jang Dongwoo starts to act differently. He had dreamy eyes and starts to give less attention to the lecturer. Sunggyu is really worried, and asked Lee Sungyeol about this, but Lee Sungyeol had no idea either. And then, one day, Jang Dongwoo tells him that he had a crush. Crush? Sunggyu had no idea what it means.

It turns out that this crush thing is when you like someone, and when you want to near that person like—forever and you want to make the person happy. Sunggyu still doesn’t understand though, because in his emotion book, the feeling love or like have the shortest definition.

「He still doesn’t understand about the feeling, but the way Jang Dongwoo blushes and stiffened slightly the moment this Lee Howon kid—Jang Dongwoo’s crush— comes around, is very funny. Even when Jang Dongwoo keeps glaring daggers to Sunggyu and Lee Sungyeol.」

He finds out later that Lee Sungyeol also have a crush. The university’s ice king, Kim Myungsoo. Lee Sungyeol and Jang Dongwoo always talk about their crush, makes Sunggyu feels uneasy. It’s like he is going back to the past again, when he still doesn’t have any emotion, because he feels like he’s the odd one out all over again.

「So when they talk too much about their crushes, Sunggyu excuses himself to the toilet. He says that he doesn’t feel good. But the truth is, he really didn’t feel good. His chest tightens and he feels like he is being suffocated, while warm water comes out from his eyes. 」

Sunggyu loves to spend his time reading in library when Jang Dongwoo and Lee Sungyeol is not around, because it’s really quiet and all. One afternoon, he is reading, enjoying a silent when something— or rather someone, crashes into his table, a man. With a sharp jawline, black orbs, and black hair. His eyes are staring deep into Sunggyu’s and Sunggyu just doesn’t know what is actually happening. Before the unknown man starts to speak up, Sunggyu is called by Jang Dongwoo and Lee Sungyeol, and he gets out from there, fast. Because he can’t stand being stared by the unknown man, it’s like his heart is going to bursts any time, and his cheeks is on fire.

It’s that time of the day again, the time when Jang Dongwoo and Lee Sungyeol talks so much about their crushes and Sunggyu once again feeling that he is the odd one out. He remains in silent until he can’t take it and he excuses himself to the toilet, again. It’s like the usual, the suffocating feeling, the water from his eyes, but this time, he is not alone.

Sunggyu feels a tap on his shoulder, and hears a voice calling out to him, asking why is he crying. Sunggyu didn’t answer and turn his head immediately, only to be greeted by a familiar face. He is the man whom he met on the library.

The man wiped his tears and smile. Sunggyu thinks that the man is handsome, and the sight is very breathtaking. His tears stopped, and the man introduces himself. The man’s actual name is Nam Woohyun. And Sunggyu notice that his heartbeat going faster.

Nam Woohyun asks for his name, and Sunggyu answered it. Nam Woohyun smiles again and Sunggyu feels his cheeks are warming.

「Later on that day when he is walking to his locker with Jang Dongwoo and Lee Sungyeol, he sees Nam Woohyun is waving at him, and Sunggyu is waving back, a little bit too shy. But his cheeks are warming again and unfortunately, Jang Dongwoo and Lee Sungyeol notices this and immediately teases Sunggyu about it, and accusing Sunggyu for having a crush without them knowing. Crush. At least he won’t feel as he’s the odd one out again, now. 」

Sunggyu hears about the news of the school’s ice prince and dancing king getting together with someone. He shrugged it off because he doesn’t understand what is that means. Then he is greeted with happy faced Jang Dongwoo and Lee Sungyeol. He wonders what happened but then he understands. Because right now Lee Howon and Kim Myungsoo has their hands draped in Sunggyu’s bestfriends’ waist.

「Sunggyu actually only understands the idea of getting together after Nam Woohyun explained to him three times. And Nam Woohyun wonders how could a person is so innocent and cute. 」

It turns out that Nam Woohyun is friend—bestfriends of Lee Howon and Kim Myungsoo. And once Jang Dongwoo and Lee Sungyeol knows about it, they asks Sunggyu to joins their date to become a triple date. Before Sunggyu asks what a date is, he is dragged away to dress up nicely.

He then finds himself on an expensive looking restaurant, with Jang Dongwoo and Lee Sungyeol dragging him, when he looked up, he sees Kim Myungsoo and Lee Howon, along with a man who makes his heart almost bursts

「Nam Woohyun is there and he still doesn’t understand when Nam Woohyun explains what is a date, because Nam Woohyun looks so damn gorgeous, and Sunggyu can’t help but stare.」.

A date is only turns out to be eating and chatting with each other, but with Nam Woohyun, it feels different.

Sunggyu is standing in front of his locker when Nam Woohyun approaches him. Nam Woohyun looked nervous and asks Sunggyu to meet him after the classes are over.

Sunggyu wonders what this is about.

「He spend so many times only to decide what is he going to wear, and he thinks this doesn’t make any sense. 」

Sunggyu come later to the place that Nam Woohyun told him to come. A park. It’s a bit late of night and Nam Woohyun hasn’t arrived yet. He feels that feeling again, like he was followed by someone. And then Nam Woohyun comes and easing those feelings.

But, just when Nam Woohyun is about to approach Sunggyu. Someone knocked Sunggyu out. He can hears Nam Woohyun’s horrified scream, and then all was black.

Sunggyu wakes up in a cell, locked one. He tries to get out from the cell, but it’s no use. And the he notices there’s also another boy at the cell. A feminine looking boy.

He learns that the boy’s name is Lee Sungjong, and Lee Sungjong is also not human, just like Sunggyu. Lee Sungjong tells him that Sunggyu is an A.I. Artificial Intelligence.  Then Lee Sungjong starts to tell a story about the first A.I that ever invented, Kim Sunggyu,

Sunggyu is actually invented for military purposes. The military try to invent an android with human’s like brain, or now called Artificial Intelligence. They succeed, they created the five years old Sunggyu. The inventor, Sunggyu’s father, took Sunggyu to lives with him, and military agreed, since they want to know about how will Sunggyu live and vice versa.

But then something goes wrong. Sunggyu is not perfect like what they thought. He doesn’t have the ability to feel any emotion, and barely understands them. This is bad for the military, too, since they need a perfect human-like soldier, and without any feelings, Sunggyu is not considered as a human. They want to demolish Sunggyu, but then Sunggyu’s father protects Sunggyu by sending him into the Jang family.

Sunggyu’s father died a long time ago, when the military founds out that he loses the A.I. And when they think they will never find Sunggyu again, they find him. With good news, Sunggyu now can feel emotions.

So the military wants to know what happened with Sunggyu and captured him, here. Now.

Sunggyu is now crying and hugged by Lee Sungjong, but Lee Sungjong had no idea why.

There are a lot of androids there, being locked up too, and when Sunggyu cries, they are also wondering, what is that new android doing?

The scientists meet up with Sunggyu, and they tell him that Sunggyu is perfect. A perfect artificial intelligence. But Sunggyu doesn’t want to be perfect, he just want to be with his friends. He misses Jang Dongwoo’s loud laugh, Lee Sungyeol’s dolphin screams, and he even misses Lee Howon and Kim Myungsoo, too. But he misses one man more than anyone, Nam Woohyun.

Sunggyu gets close with Lee Sungjong, the only person—or android he could talk to since Lee Sungjong is an A.I. too. The other androids are too slow to cope with Sunggyu’s talking and besides, they didn’t have their own mind, they only have scientists programmed mind.

Sunggyu tells stories to Lee Sungjong about how beautiful is outside, and Sunggyu tells stories about his friends too. Lee Sungjong never had a human friend, and he seems want to have one.

One day, Lee Sungjong asks Sunggyu, how is it feels to have emotion, unlike other androids? Sunggyu answers that it’s beautiful to have and feel emotions. And suddenly, Lee Sungjong asks again, what is love?

Sunggyu can’t answer that, and he just remains silent with tears glistening on his eyes. Lee Sungjong wonders maybe it’s really wrong to ask a question like that.

Lee Sungjong hears Sunggyu murmuring Nam Woohyun in his sleep, and sometimes Sunggyu murmurs other names too, like Jang Dongwoo or Lee Sungyeol, but the name Nam Woohyun is always on his lips. Lee Sungjong has no idea who is this Nam Woohyun, but he really hates the sight of Kim Sunggyu waking up with his cheeks stained and his eyes red.

Lee Sungjong rarely sees Sunggyu smile, but when Sunggyu smiles, he wants to tell Sunggyu to keep smiling all day.

Lee Sungjong ask Sunggyu abou the matters and Sunggyu thinks Lee Sungjong starts to feels some emotion, but Sunggyu keep quiet about this since he don’t want Lee Sungjong ended like him.

「He later learns that the scientists want to study him and being studied means, Sunggyu will be turned off.」

Lee Sungjong is a great company, and he doesn’t mind being with him, but he thinks its better if there are his friends here, too.

And his wishes come true. But not in a pleasant way.

「His friends really did come, but they are captured by the military because Sunggyu refused to be turned off. You can’t possibly turn off a high technology android with artificial intelligence installed against his will since there’s some protection programmed there to prevent the android being turned off by the enemy, because Sunggyu was invented for military purpose on the first place.  」

Sunggyu hears this news from Lee Sungjong who’s going around recently, and he just tells Sunggyu abot there are some humans captured, at first Sunggyu just shrugged it off, but when the scientist ask to meet up with Sunggyu, he knows this won’t be good.

It really is not good, when Sunggyu opens the door to the place the scientist ask him to come, he froze.

He sees his friends there, being locked up and when they see Sunggyu, their eyes ask for help.

And when he sees the sad smile from Nam Woohyun, he knows he can’t take it anymore.

Sunggyu immediately run away from that place, going to Lee Sungjong, and cry. Lee Sungjong thinks there’s really something wrong with Sunggyu because he never cries this hard before, and the other androids think the same too. The sounds of Sunggyu’s cries never been this loud and this heartbreaking before.

Sunggyu is devastated, and Lee Sungjong asks what happened. Sunggyu say that it’s because a certain person he loves, but it’s not the name that Lee Sungjong usually hears on his stories. It’s a name that Lee Sungjong always hears on Sunggyu’s sleep, Nam Woohyun.

Sunggyu always tell stories about his friends, Lee Sungjong knows about Jang Dongwoo, Lee Sungyeol, Lee Howon, and Kim Myungsoo. But even though he always hears the name Nam Woohyun, Sunggyu never actually tells story about Nam Woohyun.

And Sunggyu thinks he probably needs to tell Lee Sungjong about Nam Woohyun, since Sunggyu always cries like crazy because of the said person.

Then Sunggyu talks about Nam Woohyun, how he never failed to make Sunggyu smiles, how Nam Woohyun is always beautiful in his own ways, and how Nam Woohyun makes Sunggyu actually feel loved. Nam Woohyun is everything to Kim Sunggyu, Lee Sungjong could guess that, and when he told to visit the humans, he can see which one is Nam Woohyun, and the said Nam Woohyun also thinks Kim Sunggyu is his everything, judging by the way he asks about Sunggyu immediately the moment Lee Sungjong arrived there.

「The scientists soon let Sunggyu talks to his friends, and Sunggyu just sit dumbfoundedly there and suddenly losing the ability to speak. His friends are across the room and the only thing that separates them is a thick black glass. The scientist doesn’t even let Sunggyu sees them. Lee Sungyeol soon screams something about never giving up and stays alive, and then he hears a scream from Jang Dongwoo and a scream from Kim Myungsoo—both saying not to hurt Lee Sungyeol and Sunggyu immediately throws a punch to the thick glass. Silent. No Screams and before Sunggyu throw another punch to break the glass, he hears Nam Woohyun shout that he will protect Jang Dongwoo, Lee Sungyeol and others, so Sunggyu needs to be alive, but the next thing he hears make him froze and immediately brought away from there. Sunggyu hears Nam Woohyun shout ‘I love you’ 」

Sunggyu is tired, and devastated, and desperate because he doesn’t want his friends to be hurt. Then he make the dangerous decision, he agree to be turned off.

「He already hears what he always wanted to hear, anyway. 」

He is now sitting on a steel chair, that have cables connected to him.

He closed his eyes even before the scientist start the countdown.

He hears the scientist’s murmurs, and he hears the machine sounds.

He hears the countdown started.

「Ten. 」

Then he hears an alarm, a sign of breaching.

「Nine. 」

Succeed, he had asked Lee Sungjong to free his friends, and protect them.

「Eight. 」

He now doesn’t have any worries, since the scientists can’t possibly leave him here, and Lee Sungjong knows this place better than anyone.

「Seven. 」

He is sure that Lee Sungjong is more than capable to protect his friends. Sunggyu smiles. Lee Sungjong, that boy will have plenty of time to figure out emotions.

「Six. 」

He remembers the first time he opens his eyes. His father. He misses him so much. A sigh escaped his lips, just like what he reads in books, if someone about to die, he will remember to the time he was born. But Sunggyu is not a human.

「Five. 」

He remembers the moment he went into Jang family, Jang Dongwoo, forever his brother.

「Four. 」

He remembers Lee Sungyeol, with his dolphin screams, and his silly grins. His first friend, other than Jang Dongwoo.

「Three. 」

He remembers Kim Myungsoo and Lee Howon, who could make his Lee Sungyeol and Jang Dongwoo smile so bright, and can’t help but feeling sorry since they are dragged into this, too. But then Sunggyu thinks they won’t mind to be here to protect their loved ones.

「Two. 」

Nam Woohyun. Everything about Nam Woohyun makes Sunggyu smiles. And everything about Nam Woohyun is beautiful. Kim Sunggyu loves Nam Woohyun, and it will always be like that. Tears fall from Sunggyu’s eyes and Kim Sunggyu smiles for the last time.

「One.」

「Artificial Intelligence Android with code name Kim Sunggyu A280489, successfully turned off.」

mind to tell me about your opinion about te new ending? i'm working on the epilogue now