There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Myungsoo was entranced by the beauty of those peculiar silver orbs. Specks of purple surrounded the pupil creating an effect of an endless time vortex that Myungsoo in deeper and deeper.

His trance was broken when the cyborg repeated, “I’m Model SJ 930903. Would you like to give me a name, master?” He tilted his head to the side as he waited for a response from his new master.

“Right. Name…name… “ he thought long and hard, trying to come up with, at the very least, a decent name for a person. Insu, Jaehwa, Hyunsik, Suho. These were all really common names however none of them seemed to suit the cyborg.

Looking around the room for some sort of inspiration, his gaze rested on a photo frame on top of the bookshelf. It was photo of him and his mom when he was a child. He made a V-sign with his fingers while his mom carried him. They were both grinning towards the camera as they posed in front of the neighborhood church.

--Flashback—

Dong Dong Dong

“Mommy! Do you hear that? What is that sound?”

5-year-old Myungsoo was at the playground with his mom. It was a warm and sunny day so they decided to stop by the playground after kindergarten for a little while before they went home. Myungsoo often went to play there as it was close where they lived. It was a small playground, empty on most days, and it was near the neigborhood church.

Myungsoo cupped his small hands behind his ears and listened. He heard the bell ring three times, matching the hour of the day. Mrs Kim ruffled his son’s hair then picked him up gently.

“Do you want to go on the swing, honey? Mommy will push you”.

“Yes!”

Myungsoo looked up into the blue sky as he swung back and forth. He tilted his head backwards to look at his mom.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Do you love me?”

“Of course I do baby. Why would you ask that?”

“My classmates were laughing at me today. They said you hate me because I don’t have a daddy. They said it’s hard taking care of me by yourself.”

Mrs Kim stopped the swing and walked towards the front, kneeling in front of Myungsoo and cupping his cheeks.

“Mommy won’t hate you because of that silly. In fact, mommy will love you two times more in place of daddy.”

Myungsoo smiled brightly at his mom then he leaned forward to peck her on the lips.

--End flashback—

“Jong…jong…Sungjong. Your name will be Sungjong” Myungsoo said, turning back towards the cyborg.

Sungjong seemed satisfied with his new name. “My name will be Sungjong. Thank you for giving me such a beautiful name, master”.

“Don’t call me master. I prefer Myungsoo”.

“Alright, Myungsoo. I will do what you wish me to”. Myungsoo grimaced at the mechanical way Sungjong talked. He remembered the store owner telling him that cyborgs act like humans but Sungjong just looked like a walking-talking computer. He decided he should take a look at the instructions manual. But before he could do that, he noticed the clothes that Sungjong was wearing. Clad in a spandex body suit, Sungjong looked like he came straight out of a sci-fi movie.

“Ok. Let’s get you changed first.” He led Sungjong into his room and directed him to sit on the bed. Digging through his closet, he took out an old t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. He handed them to Sungjong who looked very confused.

“Well? You’re not gonna keep wearing those, are you?” Myungsoo pointed towards Sungjong’s outfit. Then he realised that the choice of clothing was not the actual problem as he watched Sungjong struggling to put his head through the pants.

“Ugh. You wear it like this, you idiot”. Myungsoo grabbed the pants from Sungjong’s head and pulled him into his arms. He slipped the pants through his legs. Pushing him to sit back down on the bed, he held Sungjong’s arms with one hand and attempted to pull the shirt through the boy’s body with the other hand.

This is like taking care of a baby Myungsoo thought as he changed into his own pajamas. He walked back towards the bed. Sungjong had already wrapped himself in the blankets and was rubbing his face against the pillow.

“This feels great! It’s so soft and fluffy”.

“Scoot over. I only got one bed so we’ll have to share”. Myungsoo slipped under the blankets then rolled to his side with his back facing Sungjong. “Goodnight” he muttered and closed his eyes. The first night with his master, Sungjong acquired the feeling of loneliness.

--

Cyborgs are modeled after the human form. They are equipped with basic human motor skills such as walking, running, jumping, etc  as well as speech comprehension and production. Before purchasing product, buyers should be aware that cyborgs need to be taught different emotions and abstract concepts for their development. The knowledge acquired will be stored in a memory chip which functions like the human brain. Cyborgs will be able to develop their own personalities once sufficient information is stored. – The Cyborg Handbook for Beginners

To say that Sungjong was simply a “curious” individual was an understatement. Sungjong wanted to know everything about the world they lived in. His questions consisted of Why is the sky blue? Why is an orange orange? Why do animals have tails but humans don’t? Vein-popping questions that Myungsoo found really hard to answer. Not that he could blame the boy though. Sungjong was literally like a baby chick that first stepped out of its shell.

The thing that intrigued Sungjong the most was the television.

-Flashback-

“Look, Myungsoo! There are tiny people living in this box!”

“That’s called a television. And no, they aren’t living in the box. They’re being filmed from where they’re at then the recording is broadcasted on television.”

“…What?”

“Nevermind, Jong.”

-End Flashback-

Being a cyborg definitely had its perks as their ability to absorb knowledge was two times faster than humans. Sungjong learned everything he had to learn through watching television. In a matter of weeks, he learned how to cook, dance and sing from the variety shows. He even attempted to imitate emotions of anger, sadness and happiness from the actors and actresses in weekly dramas though he did not really understand how they felt.

Myungsoo was amused every time he watched Sungjong’s reaction to things he recently discovered. At first, he was only attracted to Sungjong’s face at their first encounter in the store. And even though he did not want to admit it, he quite enjoyed Sungjong’s company.

Since Myungsoo was a young boy, he figured out how to see through the masks of people around him. He learned to trust only himself. The only exception was Sungyeol who understood his pain. When he looked at Sungjong, his innocence was like a breath of fresh air. A presence he did not mind getting used to.

--

Myungsoo felt Sungjong’s head bumping against his arm. They were watching re-runs from Sungjong’s favorite drama. He shifted his gaze towards the clock. 12pm. They had been on the couch with a blanket wrapped around their shoulders since the last three hours. Myungsoo could clearly see that Sungjong was getting sleepy by the way he fought to keep his heavy eyelids open.

“Let’s go to bed, Sungjong”.

“I’m not sleepy”.

“Yep, sure you aren’t”.

During Sungjong’s character development, he somehow also learned to become as stubborn as mule though Myungsoo had a hunch that the cyborg got it from him. So Myungsoo fought stubbornness with stubbornness. Without hesitation, he stood up then wrapped Sungjong in the blanket, lifting him in his arms. He carried Sungjong towards the bedroom, ignoring the boy’s whines.

Myungsoo laid beside Sungjong after tucking him in and instinctively turned his back to him. It was a habit he had since he started his casual ual affairs. Every time he had with his partner, he would turn away as if he was disgusted with him or her.

Myungsoo suddenly felt hands grabbing at his shoulders, gently pulling him to face the other direction. Sungjong buried his face into Myungsoo’s chest, inhaling his scent.

“Don’t turn away from me”.

-Author's notes-

Chapter 3 is out! Currently writing chapter 4~ my head is swimming with ideas at the moment haha xD

Just wanna thank all my awesome readers and subscribers! I appreciate the time you guys spend in reading my story even though there are a million myungjong writers better than me! So thank you~ <33

Hope you enjoy reading!