It has been three months since Sungjong started living with Myungsoo. Ever since Sungjong learned about the unfortunate death of his mom, Myungsoo slowly began to open up to Sungjong. He would tell Sungjong about his childhood memories with his mom, how they frequented their favorite playground to listen to the church bell. Myungsoo also told him about the hardships he faced growing up in the orphanage and Sungyeol being the first friend he met there.

Sungjong seemed to be absorbing everything that Myungsoo told him. The things that Myungsoo confided to Sungjong were not simply stored in the memory chip. The memories, the hurt and anger that flashed before his eyes were so vivid that Sungjong felt he was seeing and feeling them himself, as if he was experiencing them in Myungsoo’s shoes. Sungjong understood so much that sometimes Myungsoo would forget that the boy was not human.

It was the weekend and Myungsoo took the boy out to a café today, all in the way to the outskirts of Seoul. He had wanted to get away from the noisy city streets  though his main reason was to avoid bumping into anybody he knew. Even though Sungyeol was a dear friend to him, he could not find the right timing to tell his bestfriend about Sungjong. Imagine Kim Myungsoo, the cold and arrogant man who didn’t give a damn about anybobdy actually sought comfort from a cyborg. Myungsoo may be dying  but he held onto his pride.

At that moment, his phone buzzed and a message notification popped up on the screen.

Sungyeol- Hey! Answer my calls or I’m coming over to drag you out myself!

It wasn’t that he was scared of Sungyeol’s reaction. Sungyeol was one of his most supportive friends he ever had. When Myungsoo fell into depression after being diagnosed with cancer, Sungyeol tried very hard to lift up his mood. He dropped by Myungsoo’s house every day after work to chat with him. He texted Myungsoo occasionally to make sure he’s eating right and not doing stupid things. Sungyeol didn’t deserve this betrayal from him. He knew yet he couldn’t bring himself to admit it. That he was falling in love, fast. So Myungsoo continued to tell himself Sungjong’s a great friend. A friend and nothing more. Or so he tried to convince himself.

Myungsoo sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead in frustration. Ignoring the text, he shut his phone off. He motioned to Sungjong to find a table for them while he stood in line for their drinks. Myungsoo felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

“Funny I’d bump into you here.”

Myungsoo whipped his head around in shock. He expected to see Sungyeol but it was Howon standing there instead. A sense of relief washed over him.

“Uh..yeah..what a coincidence”.

“You here with Sungyeol?”

“No. I’m with someone else. You?”

“Dongwoo. He’s over there getting us a table”.

“I see.”

Myungsoo wished he could just pay for his coffee and take Sungjong out of there but reality was not as kind. He turned his attention towards the direction Howon was staring at and saw Sungjong waving at him.

“Mind if me and Dongwoo join you guys?”

“…Sure.”

Howon sipped his coffee slowly, his gaze rested on the dark-haired boy with silver eyes sitting at the opposite side of the table. When he met Myungsoo last time, he knew he was curious about having a relationship with cyborgs but he certainly did not expect Myungsoo to actually get one. He always imagined Myungsoo’s way of thinking to be quite rigid.

“I don’t think we met before. My name is Howon” he said, extending his hand towards the boy.

“I’m Sungjong. Are you Myungsoo’s friend?”

“Well, I guess you could say that. Haha. We were classmates in high school but didn’t get to know each other until recently.”

While Howon conversed with Sungjong, Myungsoo’s attention was on Dongwoo. The cyborg was currently stuffing his face with muffins and scones. Now that he thought about it, Dongwoo was a cognitively much more advanced than Sungjong. His reactions and mannerisms were almost perfectly in sync to that of a human’s. If his silver eyes didn’t give him away, Myungsoo would have thought he was really human.

“Sungjong-ah, do you mind hanging out somewhere else for awhile? I want to talk to Howon about something”.

“Ok. It was nice meeting you Howon”.

“Dongwoo, could you keep him company? There’s something I want to discuss with Myungsoo as well.” Dongwoo nodded at Howon and followed Sungjong out of the café.

Howon took another sip of coffee before clearing his throat.

“Sungyeol told me he couldn’t contact you these days”.

“Uhh..yeah..something came up.”

“And I’m guessing something meant Sungjong?”

Myungsoo rubbed his neck awkwardly. He could feel it heating up from embarrassment. He opened his mouth but closed it quickly, not knowing where to start.

Howon smiled knowingly, “If you don’t wanna talk about it, I won’t force you. But just call Sungyeol before that guy loses his head”.

“I will. Thanks for looking out for him”.

“So how is it? Living with Sungjong?”

“He’s learning. Not that I’m bragging but he’s actually learning things quicker than I expected. Like the other day-”

Howon just hummed in response. This guy can’t hide his excitement at all he thought. He watched Myungsoo rant on excitedly with an amused smile.

“-which is why I want to talk to you. It’s about Dongwoo.”

Howon froze. His hand trembled slightly as he gripped onto his coffee cup. He knew someday that someone was going to ask about Dongwoo but he had always wanted to avoid it. When his friends asked him, he would change the subject. He was so uncomfortable that he even stopped meeting them.

 “How long have you had Dongwoo, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Hmm…around a year and half. Almost two years I guess…W-Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering how you taught him. What methods you used? My point is, Sungjong may be a quick-learner but he still has trouble understanding some things. But Dongwoo… he’s practically human.”

Howon tightened his lips into a thin line. He appeared to be lost in thought for a moment. Myungsoo noticed a hint of sadness in his eyes.

“When we met each other through Sungyeol that time.. you probably noticed, didn’t you..that Dongwoo looked like someone.”

--

“Sungjong! Where are you? Sungjong!”

Sungjong and Dongwoo had walked quite a distance from the café. Dongwoo could clearly see that Sungjong was still a “newborn”. He was so excited looking at buildings, the streets, the shops like a child who let go of his parents’ hands to explore the world. Every time Dongwoo turned to look at something, Sungjong would rush off to look at something else. And this is already the 5^th time Dongwoo lost him.

He stopped to catch his breath. His back bended forward. His hands on his knees, supporting the weight of his upper body. Dongwoo was about to start his search again when he spotted a familiar brown-haired boy peering into the window of the ice-cream store.

“Sungjong! Thank god I found you! Please don’t run off again.” He leaned against the window, breathless. He saw Sungjong’s eyes sparkle brightly as he observed the different colored tubs of icecream being scooped up into a ball and placed on a cone.

Dongwoo grinned, “If you promise me to follow me like a good boy, I’ll get you some ice-cream. Deal?”

“Deal!”

After they got their ice-cream, the two exited the store and enjoyed their ice-cream on the park bench under the warm sun. Sungjong was trying very hard to eat his chocolate flavored ice-cream quickly as it dripped down the sides of the cone and his fingers, making them sticky. Dongwoo handed him some napkins, laughing.

“Liking your ice-cream?”

“This is so good! I wish Myungsoo would let me eat this every day”

“Is this your first time eating ice-cream?” Dongwoo looked at Sungjong incredulously.

“Yup. Myungsoo does not really like eating sweet things. He only eats this dish called kimchi jiggae and he makes me eat it with him. You’re so lucky, Dongwoo. I bet Howon takes you to eat lots of yummy food.”

Dongwoo just smiled. He certainly felt lucky to have a master like Howon. Howon was handsome, caring and kind. The best boyfriend anyone could hope to have. Except Dongwoo sometimes felt like Howon was holding back. As if he only showed his good side to Dongwoo who wanted so much to know everything about his partner. When Dongwoo believed he knew his boyfriend well enough, Howon becomes a mystery again. He couldn’t help but feel like an invisible wall separated them.

“Howon…he’s a very nice person. I love him a lot. But I feel like he doesn’t love me the same way.”

Sungjong turned his attention the cyborg next to him. He was confused. In his eyes, they were the perfect couple.

“…Why do you think that?”

“Well, it’s just a feeling really. You know how for some things you don’t have actual proof but you feel like there’s something more to it? It’s kind of like that.”

Not wanting to make his new friend feel awkward, Dongwoo laughed his usual loud and cheerful laugh.

“Maybe I’m wrong. Hahaha. Sorry I’m totally ruining the mood, huh. But I honestly envy you Sungjong. I can see that Myungsoo likes you a lot.”

Sungjong was even more confused. Certainly, that could not be true as Myungsoo never expressed any signs of romantic interest towards him.

--

Sungjong laid his head back on the bench watching the clouds float slowly in the blue sky. He was waiting for Myungsoo to pick him up after Dongwoo left with Howon. He thought back to his conversation with Dongwoo. Love? Myungsoo loves me? He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he did not notice Myungsoo walking towards him until his vision of the sky was blocked by a face looking curiously at him upside down.

“What are you doing idiot?”

Sungjong didn’t immediately sit up however. He just continued looking at Myungsoo’s face, observing every line in detail. He never thought of it before but now that he looked closely, Myungsoo was indeed very handsome. Suddenly, he felt something wet dripping onto his face. He touched it. Red.

“Myungsoo! You’re bleeding!”

Myungsoo’s hands shot up towards his own face. Blood poured out from his nose and onto his fingers. Sungjong immediately pulled Myungsoo down onto the bench. He ran to the same ice-cream store and came back out with a handful of napkins, wiping at Myungsoo’s face clumsily.

This was not the first time he saw Myungsoo’s nose bleeding. The first time he saw it was at home when Myungsoo came out of the shower. Blood dripped all over the carpet to the kitchen floor where Myungsoo searched for a bag of ice to stop the bleeding. Sungjong did not know what blood was at that time but he knew it wasn’t a good sign. He was so scared, he couldn’t move to help his master and sat there dazed until Myungsoo came back to the living room after the bleeding stopped, pretending that nothing happened.

“Should we get help?” Sungjong asked as he stared at Myungsoo worriedly.

“I’m fine. It’ll stop soon” Myungsoo said in between breaths. He didn’t want Sungjong to see him like this.

When the bleeding finally stopped after some time, they were both sitting on the bench in silence. Myungsoo stared at his hands and rubbed them awkwardly, trying to think of something to talk about. A couple riding on a bike together passed by. He noticed Sungjong was looking at the same direction.

He cleared his throat and stood up.

“Wanna ride that?”

They pedalled on the bike path near the river. Sungjong sat behind Myungsoo, holding tightly onto his waist. He laid his cheek onto Myungsoo’s broad back and looked at the scenery around them. Of course Sungjong being Sungjong, it wasn’t long before he demanded to ride at the front.

“It’s dangerous.”

“It is not! Let me try! I promise I’ll be really careful. Please!” he whined, giving Myungsoo the puppy eyes. Myungsoo sighed, reprimanding himself for giving in so easily.

Both mounting the bike, Sungjong shakily started pedalling. They swayed dangerously left and right as Sungjong tried to balance himself.

“Hey! Go straight! Not that way. Wait-“ Myungsoo couldn’t finish his sentence as Sungjong swerved towards the edge of bike path and fell off the bike pulling Myungsoo with him. They rolled down the grassy slope. Arms around each other until they reached the bottom of the small hill.

Myungsoo groaned. He opened his eyes to see Sungjong’s face inches away from his. His soft hair covered in pieces of grass, dirt and flower petals. Sungjong was laughing at how ridiculous they both looked. His face flushed pink. So beautiful.

Myungsoo wasn’t even aware of himself going closer and closer towards the boy until their lips touched. Sungjong’s eyes widened in shock. He pulled his head back and breathed heavily. His hands lay flat on Myungsoo’s chest.

“Did you just- you kissed me! Are you gonna propose to me now? Because drama actresses always-“

“Shut up.”

Placing his hand at the back of Sungjong’s head, he pushed the boy’s face towards him and pressed their lips together once again.