“Come back to me (I don’t have anyone) / Come back to my side (but you) / You’re like an angel” -- B.A.P.; 1004

    “-nd don’t ignore me this time!” The voice in Choi Junhong’s ear buzzed annoyingly.

    “I got it, hyung. Don’t get into fights with people just because I’m stronger than they are,” Junhong sighed. “Besides, I’m almost back home. I don’t think anything will happen in 32.6 meters.”

    There was a slight crackly pause. “Fine.” The voice switched off with a quiet click and Junhong sighed again. His hyung could really be annoying sometimes.

    He picked up the pace. The faster he got home, the less reason Himchan-hyung would have to yell at him. As Junhong exited the slim alleyway he had been traveling in, he suddenly found his path blocked by a figure. Even as Junhong’s eyes widened and he tried to stop himself, he ended up barreling straight into them.

    “Ahh, sorry! Are you alright?” he asked quickly, hopping to his feet. As he did so, he nearly stepped on an apple. “Oh no, I spilled all of your things!” Junhong bent down and started picking the fruit off the ground, speedily stopping the apples and pears from rolling into the street. The figure finally moved when he was done, a slim hand taking the bag from him.

    “I’m so sorry!” the person said, bowing deeply. “I should have been more careful…”

    Ah, a young girl. She looks around my age. “It’s not your fault. I didn’t watch where I was going.” Junhong waved a hand awkwardly. “None of the fruit is too badly bruised, is it?”

    The girl shook her head, finally looking into Junhong’s eyes. “No, it’s fine. Wait a minute…” As Junhong stood shock still, she rummaged through another bag. “Ah, here it is! Here, this is a small apology. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, but...hopefully this works!” She dropped it into his open palm and his fingers closed around it automatically. She waved as she jogged away, glancing down at her watch as she crossed the street.

    “Ahh…” Junhong finally said, glancing down at the thing in his closed fist. It was a small piece of melon candy, bright in its wrapper. He carefully slid it into his pocket as he watched the girl walking, now across the street. He blinked a couple of times, looking down at the ground and back at her.

    No good. It’s still the same.

    Junhong’s eyes followed her as she disappeared around the corner, and even then he stood, staring. It was strange. He hadn’t ever quite seen anything like this before. Was he malfunctioning?

    As Junhong slowly made his way home, he stared at everything he could. The trees, the pavement, the people walking by; everything was his target. And yet, it didn’t happen again. What was going on with him? Why was it that when he had looked at that girl, everything had become so brilliant and shining? Her face and her hair had glowed, and her smile was nearly blinding. Even the clothes that she had worn, comfortable and simple on anyone else, had been bright and radiant. But even more bizarrely, it was only the girl that was bright. Next to her, everything else was bleak and dark. The trees that had been normal a second ago suddenly seemed dull and lifeless. Junhong shook his head. There was obviously something wrong with his visual circuits. When he went home, Himchan-hyung could fix it for him.

-----

    “I’m back!” Junhong called out, slamming the door shut behind him. From across the hallway, a dark-haired head poked out of a doorway.

    “What have I said about slamming doors?! Check your strength! Just because you’re half-automaton doesn’t mean that you need to do everything like an automaton.” Himchan grumbled, disappearing back through the doorway. Junhong trodded down the hallway, only briefly pausing before entering the workshop. The place was a wreck - one would have thought that a natural disaster had taken place here, but Himchan just worked that way. As it stood at the moment, he was tinkering away at another automaton-person. Junhong stepped quietly into the workshop and sat behind Himchan on one of the worktables, swinging his legs idly.

    “Whatcha working on?” Junhong chirped, picking a random bolt off of the table and twiddling it between his fingers.

    Himchan tightened a few screws with a grunt before setting the screw driver down and sighing. “Your new brother. I think I’ll call him Jongup.” Junhong hummed in response, bouncing the screw up and down in his palm.

    “Oh, yeah, hyung! Do you think you can take a look at my visual circuits for me? I think something went haywire today while I was out,” Junhong trailed off quietly, kicking his legs ever higher. Himchan frowned at him as he began to gather his tools.

    “I had just given you a checkup…” Himchan mumbled to himself, rummaging through a toolbox. He finally found a small flashlight and brandished it menacingly. “You’d better not just be giving me extra work to do, you brat.”

    Junhong shook his head. “Hyuuung...as if I would do that,” he pouted cutely, sticking his lower lip out as far as he could. Himchan hit him on the head with the flashlight.

    “Sometimes I really regret not making you entirely an automaton. Now sit still and don’t fidget!”

    Himchan shone the flashlight around in Junhong’s eyes, muttering to himself quietly as he did so. When he found nothing, he unscrewed a small panel and peered at the circuits themselves.

    “Nothing wrong at all. Everything’s tip-top,” Himchan said, quickly putting the panel back into place and smoothing Junhong’s hair back down. “It really was a false alarm, you beanpole. Now get out of here and let me work! Making me waste my time…”

    With a quick swat to his backside and a scowl, Junhong made his way out of the house and back down the street. He didn’t quite know where he was going, but it didn’t really matter as long as he stayed out of trouble, right?

-----

    After eating three bowls of ramen and drinking two cans of soda (and subsequently being stared at by the person manning the cash register at the convenience store), Junhong found himself wandering along a nice, small shopping area. The night was falling quickly, the sky swirling with a combination of oranges and purples. Junhong strolled onwards, hands clasped behind his back, when he caught the faintest glimpse of brightness from the corner of his eye. He whirled around, nearly colliding with an indignant business man, before following the light around the corner. As Junhong followed it, between the rows of stores, he found himself in a small residential area. There, the girl from earlier was crouched, pouring a bit of milk into a saucer for a few abandoned kittens. The glow was still there, even more pronounced than before, surrounding her in a halo of wispy light.

    Junhong broke into a smile.

    I knew it. She’s an angel.