[Daehyun]

The moment I heard footsteps echoing through the walls, my eyes fluttered open, anticipating the visitor.

Of course, there was no one else I anticipated other than Master himself.

Master walked in, greeting me with a smile, as he always did. 

"Did you rest well, Daehyun?" He asked, while unplugging tubes from my vessel.

"Yes. It was rather pleasant. What about you Master?" 

Master seemed to hesitate before he replied, and my IA had sense doubt lingering in his gaze before he answered with a yes.

Master then gave me a smile, and started to sit on a stool, beginning to start on paperwork once more.

I stayed silent, my gaze never leaving Master's milky face. I could scan him fully now, able to properly acknowledge him.

His pretty pink lips that he bit, as he started to pick up a pen from his lab coat pocket; his lashes that fluttered everytime he blinked that hid shyly behind his golden horn-rimmed glasses; his danity milky fingers that had the pen hooked in between them, and the quick movements of them as Master pulled his hands along the paper.

Master then shot up when the door knocked.

"Come in", he called out.

I snapped my head away, wondering to myself at what I had just did.

Did I get myself focused on Master? 

Ah, it must be because I care for him, for he was my creator. Of course. A robot would always look out for his creator. 

That was the explaination I convinced myself with. 

After all, it had only been the third day since I had been activated.

 I was still new.

Zelo had came in, white plastic bags weighing both his hands.

"Coffee and chocolate doughnuts", he introduced, laying the food onto the table.

Master smiled and thanked him. 

He took a doughnut and Zelo did too. 

Maybe Zelo thought robots couldn't really consume human food.

"I'm sorry Daehyun, I wasn't sure if you could eat human food.."

I don't blame him. I returned a smile to him, so that he wouldn't feel terrible about it.

I continued to stay silent, eyeing the both of them as they ate.

Master seemed to notice.

"Aren't you hungry?"

I didn't know what to reply. To shake or nod my head. 

But before I could properly produce an answer, a chocolate doughnut was held up to my face, the holder of the pastry being Master.

I glanced at him, raising an eyebrow, questioning his gesture.

"Have a bite", he said, smiling. "You should eat something."

Thump.

The same warmth that rippled through my vessel when I first met Master, hit me again. 

What was that all about?

Nonetheless, I gratefully took a bite of the doughnut that was offered to me. 

The taste was delicious. Sweet, fluffy, floury and pleasant. 

It matched the warmth I had felt just seconds ago when I was offered the doughnut.

I didn't really realise that I had my eyes shut, savouring the taste of the sweet pastry that I allowed to linger in my tastebuds until Master called out to me.

"Daehyun-ah?"

I flickered my eyelids open, meeting Master's gaze that was hiding beneath the transparent lenses of his glasses.

Master gestured me to go to his side, smiling as he did. 

I walked over, wondering what was he being so happy about.

"Daehyun-ah, you must love these chocolate doughnuts so much that you've got the chocolate paste at the corners of your lips", chuckled Zelo.

I pouted.

Master simply laughed along.

But I had never expected Master to reach his arm towards me, his pale fingers brushing against the side of my lips, allowing the chocolate paste to stain onto his fingers, removing the chocolate stain off my lips with a few swipes of his finger.

He had his smile on the whole time.

Thump.

There it was again.

Such a strange sensation that I couldn't comprehend.

_________________________________________

Youngjae recalled the conversation he had with Himchan the night before, after having breakfast with Daehyun and Junhong.

"So, what was it that you needed to ask me about?"

Youngjae hesitated, trying to connect his words together.

"Well, Prof-- I mean, Himchan, I was wondering how much longer do I have to keep Daehyun in the lab. For further observations. I did tell him I would keep him for another two days... but if anything, I would tell him that I would have to keep him under laboratary observation for a longer period of time."

The sides of Himchan's lips tugged into a smile.

"I think he's good to go" was Himchan's reply before he took another sip of coffee. 

"Alright. Are you staying up late again?" Youngjae then asked, for Himchan was drinking coffee at night.

Himchan raised an eyebrow, his smile still intact.

"Yes. I am. Being a high-end robotics and molecular genetics professor, I still have much to study on", he sighed.

Youngjae could see the eyebags that weighed beneath his eyes. 

"You shouldn't overwork yourself, Hyung."

Himchan chuckled at Youngjae's concern, not in a bad way however, then replying with, "Thank you for your concern, Youngjae-ah. But worry for yourself first."

Youngjae smiled brightly in reply. He lifted the white mug off the table started to drink the ginger tea.

Himchan was now at his desk where he continued to study his documents in silence, as if Youngjae wasn't in his lab the first place.

Youngjae eyed his hyung carefully from the corner of his vision, who had already been absorbed into his reading. 

"Hyung", Youngjae called out, trying to get Himchan's attention. "What are you working on now?"

Himchan didn't seem to hesitate at all when he answered.

"I'm working on a solution to turn metalliac robotic vessels into functioning like a human's." 

It seemed like Himchan didn't have any problems with telling Youngjae about his projects. Well, the fact that Himchan had an immense amount of trust in Youngjae in keeping Himchan's secrets, of course Himchan wouldn't mind telling his former assistant about it.

"So what you're saying is",Youngjae clarified as  eyed his senior cautiously."That it is possible to turn robots into humans?"

Himchan nodded. "It's just a matter of time."

Youngjae eyes twinkled.

So it was possible.

"However, not completely human though. The A.I, heart and nervous system of the robot cannot be altered."

Youngjae nodded, listening to Himchan while his eyes were locked to reading the documents that were openly available for him to read. 

"This means that while it is possible for robots to become similar to humans comparing their physical attributes, it is still unclear if robots can gain emotions, for that is dependent on their internal emotional triggers, which realistically, again, is not possible for a robot to have emotions", Himchan continued on.

"Why do you say so?" 

"Robots are made to serve humans, and to blend in with us in the process. They can micmick our behavior and actions, but they can never feel how we would feel."

Such theories and research just made Youngjae more curiouser.

"But why are you doing this for?"

This time, Himchan seemed to hesitate to answer. 

"To feed my curiosity", was his answer, which was obviously a lie.

________________________________________

Youngjae had politely asked Himchan for the 

recipe had he used for the solution, which Himchan gave him willingly, telling him to try making the chemical himself.

Youngjae decided to do some research on molecular genetics first before he started. 

He had also taken a sample from Himchan's mixture. 

The red liquid was more diluted than he had thought. 

The chemical would present more immediate effects if injected or absorbed via the skin in rather than being drank.

Youngjae left the test tube sitting on the test tube rack after taking in a small sample of the solution with a syringe.

"What are you up today, Master?" Daehyun asked, supporting his head with his palm, his elbow on the desk, his gaze tracing at Youngjae's pale fingers that continued to scribble along the paper. 

Youngjae looked up, his attention averted to Daehyun who stood before him, his eyes twinkling with curiosity.

His fingers that werre busy with writing, paused in mid air.

"Nothing much, Daehyun. Is there anything you want to do today?"

Daehyun shook his head, a small smile plastered onto his face.

Youngjae stared at Daehyun, wondering if he should try the chemical on Daehyun.

Maybe it would work.

Maybe Daehyun could become ordinary. 

He wouldn't need to remember Youngjae. 

He didn't need Daehyun to fall for him.

It was good enough that Youngjae could have Daehyun by his side.

That was what mattered.

However, more in depth research was needed.

What if it didn't work? What if it had a virus or it had the opposite effect instead?

Side effects? At what cost was to be paid to use such a high tech subtance?

Youngjae sighed, returning to his paper, that was written hastily. His handwriting that probably only he could understand. Lest all his worries, the only current appropriate test subject he could use was none other than Daehyun, which he had so painfully and patiently worked on for 9 full months.

At the spur of moment, Youngjae's lit up.

He wanted to kick himself for not thinking about it earlier. 

Youngjae realised that he could make a robotic arm, coated with synthetic skin that his machines could do the job for him.

That wouldn't take longer than a week.

Then, he'd used the arm as the test subject for the subtance. 

Youngjae had a smile of satisfaction that was implanted into his face as he started to hastily scribble down his next project.

With this, he would be one step closer to creating a human-like robot.

Daehyun was still admiring Youngjae, as if he could read Youngjae's mind.

Youngjae shoved the his papers into the maroon folder, clutching it tightly against his chest.

"I'm closing the lab for today", Youngjae announced. "Any last tasks you need to do before I lock the lab?"

"You seem to be a good mood, Prof", Junhong teased, stacking up Youngjae's folders and documents. 

Youngjae returned a smile. "Nothing big. I figured out a new project to work on." 

Junhong raised an eyebrow, but never pushed on asking what Youngjae had now decided to work on.

He knew Youngjae didn't like people to intrude into his projects unless Youngjae was comfortable with telling.

That was how reserved Youngjae was ever since Junhong met him.

Of course, he gradually opened up to Junhong over the months.

"If there isn't anything, then let's be on our way out", Youngjae annouced again, grabbing Daehyun's wrist in the process. 

Junhong shook his head, smiling in the process.

It had been a while since he saw Youngjae smile a little more than before. As long as Youngjae was fine, it set Junhong's heart at ease.

The trio went out of the lab, Youngjae locking the door despite his hands being full with the chemical and his notes.

"Professor, I'm going to visit Professor Bang now. Take care! Call me if you need me!" Junhong smiled, giving Youngjae a quick hug, cautious of the Professor's full hands.

He waved to Daehyun, receiving one back from him.

"Take care too, Junhong-ah!"Youngjae called out.

________________________________________

Youngjae decided to just take another day off. The myriad amount of weeks he had spent away from sleep was really taking a toll on him.

Laziness that came after the feeling of accomplishment was also starting to nip at Youngjae. But he had successfully pushed it away, reminding himself that this was all for his project he had been working on for such a long time. 

Youngjae laid lazily on his couch, messing around with his smart phone.

"Master", Daehyun called out, receiving a "hmmm?" as a reply from his creator.

"Do you have anything for me to do?"

Youngjae glanced away from his phone, looking at Daehyun, trying to think of something for Daehyun to do.

"I have shelves of books if you want to try reading", Youngjae replied, remembering that robots craved for knowledge.

"Pick any book you like."

Daehyun walked over to the 3 shelves, which were chocked full of books. Daehyun decided to pick out one book. One on robotic history, and started to immerse himself in reading.

Youngjae eyed Daehyun.

He felt bad because at least eighty percent of his books were all about robotics, and for people who lack the interest in robotics, these books would bore them to death.

However, the rest of the books that were out of the robotics genre were Youngjae's guiltly pleasure--romance novels.

Well, it isn't illegal for a Professor to fantasise about falling in love, right? Nonetheless, it still was his guilty pleasure and Youngjae did not intend to stop reading and buying more romance novels.

By six, Youngjae could hear his own stomach growling. Youngjae got up and walked towards his fridge, checking for food.

He suddenly had the cravings for pasta. 

Thankfully, there were sufficient ingredients available for Youngjae. But he knew he needed to grocery shopping soon.

"Daehyun-ah!" He called out. "Do you want pasta for dinnner?"

"Okay!" Daehyun shouted his reply.

Dinner was served thirty minutes later, the aroma of the creamy pasta had lured Daehyun to the kitchen counter. 

"Smells good Master", Daehyun exclaimed, hid robot senses tingling with hunger pangs.

"You can dig in now", Youngjae allowed, twiring the fork in rounds, allowing the pasta noodles to be caught onto the fork.

"Oh yes", Youngjae suddenly remembered, catching Daehyun's reaction. "Professor Kim says that you won't be under lab observation anymore."

"That's good to know Master", Daehyun chirped pleasantly. But he raised an eyebrow, his head tilted a little, his gaze twinkling with wonder. "But where will I sleep at night?"

Youngjae thought about it for a moment, sub conciously playing with his pasta with his fork.

"My place? Is that good enough?" 

Daehyun's face brightened up. "Being able to sleep with you would be a pleasure, Master!"

Youngjae nearly spat out the pasta that he ate. 

For a moment, he took Daehyun's words in the wrong way.

Youngjae's cheek flushed. 

"But you'll have to sleep on the couch though. I'm afraid my bed won't be spacious enough", Youngjae stated, earning a small nod from Daehyun.