Jongup opened the van door and jumped out. “Six Flags! I’m so excited! We are going to ride everything, okay Zelo?” Jongup cheered as he looked back at his new friend.

                Zelo blinked and looked at Yongguk who was still sitting in the driver’s seat. “I still don’t understand the point of this place.”

                Yongguk sighed and got out of the van prompting Zelo to do same, filing out behind Youngjae. “This is a place where people go and have fun.”

                “Then why do I hear screaming?” Zelo blinked and tilted his head to the side.

                Yongguk sighed and scratched his head. “Because… because… Youngjae you want to take this one?”

                “Of course. Zelo, the adrenaline some people get from going on roller coasters is why they like them. The screams are either from joy, or fear. Screaming isn’t always bad.” Youngjae tried to explain.

                “So… the humans want to be scared?”

                “It’s like watching scary movies, do remember the ones we watched?” Jongup asked

                Zelo nodded. “Scary, but enjoyable because we are still safe.”

                “It’s exactly the same.” Jongup smiled and started bouncing up and down. “Let’s go already! Himchan and Bora might be here already.”

                Zelo’s mechanical heart sped up. Zelo frowned and checked his system. ‘Everything seems to be fine… wonder what that was… possibly excitement to ride the roller coasters?’

                “Zelo?” Yongguk called.

                Zelo blinked up at his creator. “Yes?”

                Yongguk smiled. “Do you remember our story?”

                Youngjae rolled his eyes. “He’s been doing this for three months Yongguk. I think he remembers.”

                Yongguk frowned. “But we did an update last night… I want to make sure everything is fine.”

                “Besides the members of our team, Jongup, Youngjae, Daehyun, Himchan, and yourself, no one else is supposed to know that I am a robot.” Zelo began listing off what he knew Yongguk wanted to hear. “The story is that I’m your cousin from the country side who is going to school here while my parents leave the country for work.”

                Yongguk smiled and ruffled Zelo’s hair. “Good boy.”

                Zelo frowned and pulled away. “I don’t like that. Now I have to fix my hair again.”

                Yongguk laughed. “Alright, I’ll try to refrain from doing it.”

                “Come on! The line are going to enormous if we don’t go now!” Jongup pointed at all the other people making their way to the amusement park.

                “Okay, one last thing. Do you have your power coin?” Yongguk asked Zelo.

                Zelo dug his hand into his right front jean pocket and pulled out a bronze coin a little smaller than his palm that had a raised imprint of a triceratops head on it. “Got it.”

                “Do you really think we’ll need that today?” Daehyun asked Yongguk as they made their way to the park.

                “Do we ever think we’ll need to transform?” Youngjae answered him.

                Daehyun sighed. “True, we never know when evil will appear.”

                Daehyun stared at Zelo who was examining all the people nearby. “I’ve been wondering why you went to college, Yongguk. I mean, you made these coins that transform us into superheroes. I didn’t even know that was possible.”

                “True.” Jongup agreed. “And then you made Zelo, who has become my best friend.”

                “But Zelo’s purpose isn’t to become your friend but protect Bora when you guys start your last year in high school.” Youngjae said.

                “Why does Bora need my protection again?” Zelo asked.

                Yongguk sighed. “Okay, lots of things to answer so I’m go to answer in order. First off, I’m going to college to get a degree and also see if there is anything else I can learn. Second, I didn’t program Zelo a personality, I’m letting it develop but I’m glad that you and Zelo are becoming friends, Jongup. Third, I knew something got erased in the update last night… anyhow you need to protect Bora from the bullies.”

                “I almost feel bad not staying back a year to save her from all the people who try to make her life hell.” Daehyun sighed.

                “You were almost stupid enough to not be able to graduate, so don’t say something so ridiculous.” Youngjae said.

                Daehyun turned red from embarrassment. “It’s only because Mr. Gene hated me for breaking up with his daughter!”

                Youngjae rolled his eyes. “I’m sure that is the real reason.”

                Jongup grabbed Zelo’s arm and started running toward the front gates. “That argument is getting old.”

                Zelo nodded. “They do talk about Daehyun’s grades and love interests quite a lot. It starts many of their fights.”

                Jongup laughed and brought them back to a walk. “It does. I’m sure even the stupid Daehyun will figure it things out eventually.”

                The amusement park was quite a distance from the parking lot so Jongup and Zelo ended up walking most of the way in silence, until the gate finally came into view. Zelo could see Himchan and his younger sister Bora standing and waiting for them but Jongup and he were still too far away for the siblings to see them. Zelo frowned. “I’ve known Bora for three months now and I still don’t understand why she is being bullied. She is one of the nicest humans I’ve met.”

                Jongup smiled sadly. “That would be because she is friends with us.”

                Zelo looked down at Jongup. “I don’t understand.”

                Jongup sighed. “You know that Bora is Himchan’s younger sister, right?”

                Zelo nodded.

                “Okay, so because she hung out with Himchan and the older guys when they were growing up she didn’t really have time to make girl friends. The first day of kindergarten we were seated next to each other and that’s how we became friends and how I met the rest of the group. Everything was fine until we got a little older and girls got jealous of how she was friends with us all—“

                Zelo looked to his left looking for the source of the weight around his shoulders and noticed Daehyun there with his arms around Zelo and Jongup’s necks. “Not just because her friends were guys but us specifically since we were the best looking in the school.”

                Zelo looked to his right seeing Youngjae and Yongguk finally catching up to them. “So, Bora got bullied?” He asked his creator.

                “Yeah, the reasons keep increasing, from her good looks,” Daehyun made the sounds of puking and Youngjae rolled his eyes. “To her good grades and her amazing personality. It’s no wonder guys are asking her out all the time.”

                “I still don’t understand what they see in the little snot.” Daehyun said.

                “Whatever it is they like, that is another thing that kept us busy last year, keeping the creeps away from her.” Youngjae said.

                Jongup laughed. “Himchan takes it too far though, keeping all the guys away from her.”

                “Can you imagine what would happen if our Jongup asked her out?” Daehyun asked the group.

                Yongguk and Youngjae laughed while Jongup started blushing. “I think Himchan would kill him, no offense Jongup.” Youngjae said.

                “I don’t even like her like that! I’ve known her so long she is like my younger sister!” Jongup said.

                “Oh! There they are by the gate!” Yongguk waved at the siblings.

                “Bora!” Jongup shouted before he ran towards her.

                Zelo looked at Yongguk not sure what he was supposed to do. Yongguk noticed and smiled. “What do you feel like doing Zelo?”

                Zelo blinked twice in quick succession. “I think… I want to go run to her with Jongup but something is holding me back…”

                Yongguk frowned. “What is it?”

                Zelo frowned as he looked down. “I don’t know, it is a weird feeling.”

                Yongguk patted him on the back. “Why don’t you try to ignore it and go have fun. We can talk about it later.”

                Zelo looked unsure but decided to follow Yongguk’s advice. He started running and with his long legs caught up to Jongup just as he reached Bora and Himchan. Bora smiled seeing the two boys her own age and jumped on Jongup in excitement.

                “Jongup! I missed you!” Bora smiled widely.

                Jongup laughed and held on to her so she wouldn’t fall. “I missed you too, Bora!”

                Zelo placed his hand on his chest over where his mechanical heart was located. ‘What is this feeling? Why am I in pain?’ Zelo looked around and then back at his chest. ‘I didn’t get shot so why is there pain and fire there?’

                Himchan rolled his eyes. “You guys saw each other two days ago. How can you miss each other already?”

                Bora released Jongup and he slowly let her back onto her feet. “Brother, don’t be jealous that your favorite friend greeted me first.” She laughed as Himchan sputtered and she looked at Zelo with a huge smile. “Zelo! I missed you too!” It was a shorter hug than the one she gave Jongup but he was left smiling.

                “Even though it was a short time, I missed your presence.” Zelo said.

                Bora giggled at Zelo’s way of talking. “You’re so cute Zelo.”

                Zelo looked down at his feet as he smiled. “Th—thank you… I think.”

                Yongguk patted his shoulder finally arriving. “It’s okay to accept the compliment.”

                “Cute isn’t a good compliment for a boy though.” Daehyun said.

                Bora rolled her eyes. “At least he gets compliments from me.”

                Himchan smiled as Daehyun looked taken aback. He raised his hand for a high-five. “Nice.”

                Bora giggled as she high-fived her older brother.

                “Why would I want a compliment from a brat like you?” Daehyun finally said. Youngjae rolled his eyes not believing he was friends with him.

                “I’m surprised you came Daehyun, aren’t you afraid of roller coasters?” Himchan asked.

                “Yeah… well…this is our last fun trip before the semester starts right? Might as well try to enjoy my last few free days with you guys. Let’s go buy the tickets already.” Daehyun walked away before anyone could comment.

                “Let’s go!” Jongup grabbed Bora’s arm and started pulling her towards the ticket booth.

                Zelo started having that dark and painful sensation in his chest again but Bora looked back at him and grabbed his hand before she was too far away. She smiled. “Come on Zelo!”

                Zelo smiled, happy that she hadn’t forgotten about him. He squeezed back, but not so hard as to hurt her. They quickly bought tickets and ran into the park. Without waiting for the older boys, the trio ran up to the first park map the saw.

                “What do you guys want to ride?” Bora looked at her friends.

                “Anything look interesting to you Zelo?” Jongup asked.

                “Oh right, Zelo hasn’t been here before.”

                “Actually, I’ve never been to an amusement park before.” Zelo answered as he stared at the map in fascination.

                “Never?” Bora asked astounded. “I can’t believe it… Let’s go on the Medusa first then!”

                Bora started leading the way. “What’s a Medusa?” Zelo asked Jongup quietly.

                Jongup smiled and patted Zelo’s back. “Medusa is a mythological… um… yeah look it up later but Medusa is Bora’s favorite ride here. It’s really fun.”

                Zelo nodded and made a mental note to look up more about this Medusa later of which a ride was named after. They reached the ride and to their luck there was no line. The excited high schoolers grabbed the front seats and buckled themselves in. Bora squealed in anticipation as the ride started to roll forward slowly. Zelo couldn’t stop watching her and started to smile.

                “Why do you like roller coasters?” Zelo couldn’t help but ask as they climbed up the hill.

                “It’s… it’s hard to explain, but I’m nervous but I know the ride is put together well so I know I’ll be fine. The adrenaline makes me feel so alive! Oh, oh, oh! Zelo we’re at the top! Hold on!”

                Zelo looked at the pull down bars on either side of his head. “Where should I hold on?”

                “Anywhere! Ek!”

                Bora grabbed Zelo’s hand trying to direct him to the bars but the car ended up dropping down the hill. Bora screamed and squeezed Zelo’s hand tightly as they went around the track which involved spirals and circles. It seemed like one of the Sonic the Hedgehog games Jongup had played with him. By the time the ride finished Zelo was sure that had he been a human, Bora might have actually hurt his hands. Luckily for them both, he was a robot so it didn’t affect him, at least in terms of pain.

                “Opps! Sorry about that Zelo.” Bora let go of his hand so she could unbuckle herself.

                Zelo stared at his hand and then ran another internal diagnostic trying to understand why his heart was acting up. ‘Maybe the ride? But I wasn’t scared…’

                “Zelo, you okay?” Jongup whispered.

                Zelo blinked back to reality and realized he was the only one left on the ride. He unbuckled himself and quickly made his way to the exit. Jongup frowned, unsure what was wrong with his friend, but followed the tall robot anyway.

                Boa cheered once they hit the bottom. “So much fun! Did you like it Zelo?”

                Zelo smiled and dropped his head suddenly feeling shy. “Yeah, it was fun. It felt like flying.”

                Bora giggled and jumped around still running on the adrenaline. “So much fun! How about we go on the log ride next?”

                “Sure! That way we have time to dry off.” Jongup said.

                “Dry off?”

                Bora smiled. “It’s a water ride!”

                Jongup’s smile faltered remembering about Zelo. “Can you go on water rides?”

                Bora looked at Jongup confused. “Why wouldn’t he be able to go on water rides?”

                “I can go! Just lead the way, Bora.” Zelo tried to reassure her.

                They started walking across the park, talking about the upcoming school year, and how lucky it was that all three of them had classes together, Bora didn’t realize it was because Yongguk had hacked into the school’s computer system. Jongup kept checking on Zelo, noticing that the robot was stumbling over his words.

                “Uh-oh, there’s Daehyun over there.” Bora rolled her eyes. “I’m so surprised he doesn’t have food in his hands.”

                “Isn’t Youngjae holding a pretzel?” Zelo asked.

                Jongup laughed. “Barely walked in the park and Daehyun gets food. I guess that’s why they didn’t follow us to Medusa.”

                “Fatty!” Bora called and waved her hand to get the boys’ attention.

                The three friends busted up laughing when Daehyun turned toward the nickname. They stopped walking since Jongup was doubled over holding the fence.

                “He really turned towards us.” Jongup said between laughs.

                “Do you call him that often?” Zelo asked.

                Bora smiled. “I will now that I know he will respond to it.”

                “Yah! How dare you call me fat!” Daehyun shouted when the four boys reached them.

                “You are the one that responded!”

                “Brat!” Daehyun lunged towards her.

                Boa squeaked and hid behind Zelo, using him like a shield. “Don’t let him get me Zelo.”

                Her hands gripped onto the sides of Zelo’s T-shirt as she tried to move Zelo to make sure he stayed in between her and Daehyun. Even though they were playing, just knowing Bora was counting on him to keep her safe made Zelo feel like gears in his abdomen were all running in different directions. His ‘protect Bora’ programming kicked in, even though he knew Daehyun wasn’t a real threat, so instead of confronting Daehyun, Zelo grabbed one of Bora’s hands and started running in the direction of the log ride.

                “I’ll save you Bora!” Zelo shouted.

                “You giant! Bring that brat back here!” Daehyun shouted.

                “Save us a place in line Zelo!” Jongup called.

                “Zelo, Zelo, stop. We are safe now!” Bora said between laughs.

                Zelo slowed down and allowed Bora to catch her breath. “Are you okay? I’m sorry, was I running too fast?”

                “No, no calm down it’s okay. I think it’s really cute.” Bora pinched Zelo’s cheek. “Thank you for protecting me.”

                Zelo wiggled out of her hold and rubbed his cheek. “Daehyun said being called cute is a bad thing for guys.”

                “Do you not like being called cute?”

                Zelo tilted his head as he thought about it. “Do you like calling me cute?”

                “Uh… well… I guess so. I like that you are cute.” Bora looked away embarrassed.

                Zelo smiled. “Then you can call me cute. If you like it, then I like it.”

                “Now you’re just being weird. Don’t let Jongup rub off on you.” Bora laughed and started walking again.

                Bora noticed Zelo frowning. “What’s wrong?”

                “I’m not sure… for some reason I was mad at Jongup.”

                “I thought it was impossible for anyone to be mad at Jongup.” Bora said shocked.

                “Me too. I don’t know what that was about.” Zelo shook his head. ‘Maybe that update last night messed up some things.’

                They finally made it to the log ride and got in the long line. Eventually the rest of the group caught up and joined them in line. Zelo stood next to Bora the entire time, one of his arms resting on the wood railing behind her, not wanting to be away from her, which he blamed on his programming. Zelo looked over the long line to calculate how long it would take them to get to the front. Seeing that he had a lot of time, Zelo nodded.

                “Yongguk, can um… can you bring me to the bathroom?” Zelo tried to find an excuse.

                Yongguk furrowed his eyebrows confused, but then it seemed like a light bulb went off in his head. “Of course, looks like we have time to get there and back before we reach the front of the line.”

                Yongguk started to walk away but realized Zelo wasn’t following. “Are you coming?”

                Zelo hesitated and looked at Bora. ‘I need to talk to Yongguk, but I don’t want to leave her. Why?’

                Bora noticed Zelo staring at her and she nudged him. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Jongup or Himchan can protect me from Daehyun while you are gone.”

                Zelo gripped the wood tightly until he heard a small crack. ‘No no no no no only rely on me. You don’t need anyone else.’

                “I’ll miss you though, so hurry back.” Bora smiled and looked away.

                Zelo nodded with a little smile and walked off with his creator. Yongguk brought them to an isolated area and once he was sure no one was around he felt safe to talk to Zelo. “What’s wrong? Does something feel off?”

                “Yes. I’ve been feeling weird all day.”

                Yongguk frowned. “Have you ran any checks?”

                Zelo nodded. “And nothing has come up so, I don’t know what to do.”

                Yongguk sat down on a shaded bench to get a break from the sun. “Tell me what’s wrong. Maybe the update did more harm than good.”

                Zelo sat down as well. “It’s the same reason as last time I was with Bora, remember what I told you?”

                Yongguk nodded while thinking. “Yes, it’s why we did this update. You said you felt nervous around her?”

                “Yes! Really nervous! Whenever we touch I feel like there are little explosions in my stomach, but when she talks about someone or touches them it feels like everything is collapsing in on itself.”

                “Are you worried when she isn’t near you?”

                Zelo nodded with a sigh. “Very worried, I didn’t want to leave her just now.”

                Yongguk pulled out his phone and a cable. Seeing it, Zelo rolled up his left pant leg a little bit and pushed down his sock. He lifted a flap revealing a port for Yongguk to plug into. “I’ve been wondering,” Yongguk said while Zelo’s information started to download onto his screen. “Do you like socks so much because they hide your port?”

                Zelo thought about it for a second. “No, I just like socks. I think they are incredibly important to one’s fashion statement.”

                Yongguk chuckled. “I certainly made an interesting robot.”

                Zelo smiled at the compliment. “Does it say anything?”

                Yongguk scrolled through the information and shook his head. “Nothing out of the ordinary, just like last time. Give me a sec…. okay!” Yongguk unplugged his phone and Zelo fixed his attire. “So, I have it set up now so I can keep track of everything that happens in your system on my phone.”

                “Wow that is really interesting.” Zelo said amazed as he watched the information flow across the screen.

                Yongguk chuckled at Zelo’s expression and stood up. “Come on we better get back before they get on the ride.”

                “We should still have 20 minutes left.” Zelo responded as he started walking with Yongguk.

                “Awesome, so we don’t need to hurry… so why are you walking so fast?” Yongguk asked watching Zelo.

                “I…” Zelo was embarrassed and wasn’t sure why. “I guess I want to get back to Bora.”

                Yongguk looked at his cellphone. “You seem really excited to get back to her.”

                “I am!” Zelo said louder than he intended. “Um.. yeah. I like being around her, so can we hurry?”

                Yongguk chuckled but complied by picking up his pace. ‘I don’t know what these readings mean, hopefully examining the readings while he is actually with Bora will help me understand better.'