/It's not a continuation of 'Milk'(1st and 4th story)

//inspired by Time of Eve; au.

"Set in an era where the use of human-shaped robots are commonly used in every corner of the Korean Society, be it in industries or in households. Household-used robots known as 'androids' are only put into use about a decade ago, and there are still many ethical issues concerning them."

Jimin's POV:

  "... hey..."

  "..."

  "... hey, Jimin."

  "..."

  "WAKE THE HELL UP PARK JIMIN!!" a voice roared at my side, causing me to wake up from my deep slumber. I looked around hastily, not fully awake yet. 

  "Classes have already ended, get yourself together already!" Taehyung raised his voice at me; he is actually a pretty responsible person, despite his playful demeanor.

  "Hmmm... You scared me." I responded as I ruffled my hair in an attempt to wake myself up, "What's the time now?"

  "Let's see..."  Taehyung replied as he checked his watch. "Ah."

  I turned my head to face him as I wait for him to tell me the time.

  "It's 4.37p.m." 

  Hearing that, I instantly shot up from my seat. I took my bag and blazer in a hurry then ran out of the classroom as I shouted to him, "I'm late for my shift! Sorry but can you take care of the duty roster for me? I will treat you to a drink!"

  "A'ight, see you tomorrow." Taehyung waved to me and watched me ran down the hallways, dodging others along the way as I made my way towards the entrance.

  I held my schoolbag close to my chest, as I ran down the ever familiar alleyway leading to the venue of my part-time job. Since I had only taken up this part time job a little over a month, i could not afford to be late and give a bad impression to my employer. I ran as fast as I could, as if my life was depended on my lefs. From the city to the narrow alleyway, the crowd gradually lessen to the point where barely anyone is in sight. I took a turn to the right and gradually slowed down, then stopped in front of a metal door. Despite how 'shabby' the entrance looked, what leads down below is a cafe. It may not be the fanciest, but it is definitely cozy. I pushed open the heavy, metal door and stepped inside as I closed the door behind me. Carefully, I walked down the dimly-lit stairway and gently opened yet another door. As my hands turned the doorknob and pushed the door away from my body, the bright light shined through the door creak. 

  "Good afternoon, Jimin." It was Jin-hyung, the manager of the place. 

  "Good afternoon, hyung." I greeted hyung and took a quick bow and looked at the clock: 4.54p.m. Thank goodness I have 6 more minutes before my shift starts. 

  "Go take a short break and get ready for your shift, okay?" 

  "Yes, hyung." I answered politely and went to the back room to get changed. 

  Since I am already in my uniform, which is a white button-down and a pair of black slacks, I only had to put on an apron to let myself be distinguished from the customers. Fortunately, Jin-hyung wasn't too hard on me when it comes to work attire: I can just wear my school uniform (without the blazer) and work. After I had gotten ready to begin my shift, I walked to the storefront. Jin-hyung turned around to face me, and started to speak, "Jimin, I know you only started working here for about a month long but I have something on now. That's why I will leave the store to you for now okay? Ah, don't worry I will be back by closing time." He smiled at me gently. I nodded my head a couple of time, and watch him leave the cafe.

  Clink. The entrance door closed. Apart from a few customers sitting on the second floor, I'm the only one left. Jin-hyung sure have a lot of trust in a new employee who just started working. 

  Tick Tock Tick Tock. The analouge clock hanging on the wall next to the entrance door shows 5.02 p.m. There is still 4 hours and 58 minutes remaining for my shift today. I gave myself a small pep talk, and continued to clean the coffee cups, then place it on the display counter. Since the cafe doesn't have a lot of customers, the work load here tend to be very light (Though the pay here is surprisingly good). Recently, there are only familiar faces who visit this place. Frankly speaking, I'm getting pretty restless over this mundane routine. Whenever I am done with my tasks, all I can do is just sit at the front counter and stare into space. 

  Since Jin-hyung is on a trip to somewhere today, I decided to take out my school assignments and complete them when no customer is around. I heaved a deep sigh and stretched my arms towards the ceiling as I take a chance to steal a glance at the time. It was 7.45p.m. "He" is going to enter the cafe soon. As if on cue, the door opened. Clink. The door bell chimed, signalling the arrival of another customer. He had neatly styled hair, that was of a natural shade of black. His silky hair lightly bounced with every step he took. You can almost feel the positive energy he seem to radiate out, as he always had a beautiful smile on his face. His grin grew wider as he looked at me, "Good evening, Jimin." 

  "Good Evening, Hoseok-hyung." I responded; I put down the pen on the counter and stood up, "The usual?"

  "Yup!"

  "Alright. One Espresso Romano coming up." I said and started to prepare the drink for Hosoek-hyung earnestly. 

  He naturally went to the seat right in front of the counter, and took a seat as he waited patiently.

  "So... How was school as a third year student?" Hoseok broke the silence. 

  "Pretty tough. With entrance exams coming up, and so many other tests to study for." I responded, the strong smell of the grounded coffee beans filled my nostrils. 

  "Isn't it difficult to juggle both work and studies at the same time?" He continued. 

  "I just wanted to get some experience by working. I don't really have a clear sense of direction after all." Even though the topic was so dull and troublesome, it felt alright whenever I am talking to Hoseok-hyung. It felt calming. 

  "I see. Don't end up retaining for another year alright?" He joked.

  "I won't." I took the brewed coffee and placed it in front of him, then placed a lemon right at the side of the Espresso Romano. "Here's your drink."

  Hoseok-hyung took up the cup and took a sip, "Taste good."

  Hearing a compliment from him made the grin on my face grew even wider, I nodded my head in acknowledgement and sat in front of him while taking the time to do my school work. 

  Strangely enough, Hoseok-hyung always enter the cafe everyday at 7.45p.m. The two of us would always strike a conversation with one another: be it about school, or just about current affairs. Anything, really. Our conversation topics vary every single time we talk, but we had yet to run out of anything to talk about. It is probably because of his cheerful personality that I found it pretty easy to interact with him. His demeanor just radiates out a crazy amount of positive energy, and people around him tend to be attracted to him. Hoseok-hyung is so friendly that he seem to have made friends with all of the regular customers here. However, even though he always ask about my day, he never seem to relate any of it to himself. Maybe he didn't want to talk about his past, so I am probably being sensetive. He often stayed in the cafe to socialize with the regulars in this cafe, but whenever the analouge clock on the wall shows 9.30p.m., he automatically stood up and left the place. The time in which he enter and leave the cafe was always consistent, there is totally no delay.

  As I get on with my usual routine and get ready to close the shop, I can't help but think to myself: "Is he going to drop by tomorrow?" 

*

  I dashed past the students who were still walking along the corridor; the bell has already rung a few seconds ago and I am late. I turned into my classroom and quickly sat down at my seat. The classroom was pretty lively, and students were still happily chattering and fooling around.

  "You are pretty early, Jimin." Taehyung mocked; his sitting arrangement was right behind me. 

  "Shut up, I just woke up late." I whined, as I took out the blazer that I was wearing and hastily stuffed it under my desk. 

  "Alright, alright. By the way, you are still pretty lucky. The teacher has yet to arrive."

  "Who's going to take us today?" I questioned Taehyung while I try to regain my composure.

  "Seems like Mr. Kim is down with the flu, so I guess an android's going to take over our lessons." Taehyung answered, "Kinda give me the creeps just thinking about it."

  Ever since a decade ago, many machines have taken the place of many jobs. Such as in the factories, service industry, and even in education. Despite the many protests and controversies that surfaced from the use of machines in educating children, the government still decided to let androids to contribute to the education of young people. After all, there are not many people who would want to become a teacher at this generation, due to the strict rules and huge stress in taking the job. No one had an alternative solution apart from moving their mouths, thus the nation just went with the flow. It have yet to cause any serious troubles yet anyways. Since androids are shaped after humans, it is only natural that it would be difficult to differentiate them just by looks. Thus in order for us humans to distinguish between androids and humans, the manufacturer designed the androids to have a glowing ring that floats a few inches above their heads. When they are on stand-by mode, their rings would glow red. When they are operating and doing a task that is assigned to them, the ring above their head will turn green.

  Classes had yet to begin, but I am already dreading for school to end. I heaved a deep sigh and looked at my phone. '8 more hours left,' I thought to myself quietly. 

-

  When the bell that signalled the end of school rang, I began to pack my things and get ready for my part time job.

  "I am coming to your workplace today." Taehyung said as he packed his bag properly and clutched it at his side.

  "What for?"

  "To kill time." He answered nonchalantly.

  "Let's go then, I don't want to be late." I said to him and left the classroom, while Taehyung followed right after me.

-

  As we walked down the familiar alleyways, the two of us talked about anything that came to our minds; the small things that happened in our lives, and personal troubles. Taehyung is someone I am very comfortable with, so I don't mind sharing personal things to him. Even though we have some fights here and there once in a while, we still get along very well.

  When we stood in front of the metal entrance door, Taehyung whispered, "You sure this is where a cafe is located at?"

  "I've been going through this door for a little over a month, so I am very sure a cafe is located here." I spoke sarcastically.

  "Dang right, how do you guys even get any customers like this? You sure you are not being scammed into some shady business here?" Taehyung asked suspiciously, he could hardly believe my words.

  "I already told you, I am working here-" before I could finish my words, I felt a light nudge from behind me. Thus I moved aside by instinct, and saw a man of average build opening the metal door.

  The first thing I noticed was the ring floating above his head: it's an android.

  The door slammed shut before Taehyung and I could react. 

  "Hey... What business does an android have with this shady hell of a place?" Taehyung broke the ice after a few moments of silence.

  "... I don't know." I replied. "Anyways, lets just go."

  Taehyung nodded his head in acknowledgement and opened the heavy metal door, then stepped inside.

  The two of us made our way down the dimly-lit stairway carefully, and opened the door that leads to the cafe. The smell of finely grinded coffee beans filled my nostrils, and the feelings of uncertainty that I had previously vanished away as waves of tranquility washed over me. This cafe is definitely not like any others on the surface. 

  "Good afternoon, Jimin." Jin-hyung called out, he was occupied with drying the cups with a piece of white cloth. 

  "Good afternoon hyung, I brought my friend here today." I greeted the older male back, and pointed towards Taehyung. He obediently bowed to Jin-hyung.

  "I see. Make yourself at home alright~" Jin-hyung said to Taehyung with a smile on his face. "There's not a lot of customers today, so you can accompany your friend for now. I will call you when I need help."

  "Yes sir." I replied. I then ushered Taehyung to a seat right beside the staircase leading to the second floor of the cafe. I collapsed onto the couch in exhaustion, then stared at the ceiling as I take a break.

  "This place is surprisingly warm." Taehyung commented. "I like it here."

  "Jin-hyung's not accepting any more workers." 

  "That ." Taehyung chuckled and looked up. His eyebrows furrowed as something caught his attention. "Hey Jimin, isn't that...?"

  I sat up straight and look to where Taehyung was looking at, and suddenly felt unknowingly confused. "Isn't he that android we met at the entrance?"

  "But... the ring above his head... it's gone." Taehyung said.

  The mannerism of the man was completely different. He is smiling so happily right now, yet his face didn't even twitch a single bit when he bumped into us at the entrance just now. He is definitely an android, but what can explain the disappearance of his ring? It is strictly stated that an android must have a ring above it's head at all times, they are programmed to be this way. 

  "Doesn't this mean that the cafe is a grey zone?" I asked, the confusion spreading throughout my body. 

  "I told you this shop is shady already. Should we call the police?" 

  "It's alright, I will ask Jin-hyung first." I answered and made my way to the front counter, with Taehyung tagging along behind me. I tried to look as normal as I possibly could under the situation, but I still felt a little stiff. 

  Jin-hyung looked up; and politely gave a smile. "Has your friend decided on anything to drink?" 

  "Ah... he is still thinking about it..." I smiled back awkwardly, the words that I wanted to say are stuck at my throat. Taehyung lightly elbowed my sides, prompting me to ask Jin-hyung about the android whose ring had vanished.

  "Something bothering your mind?" Jin-hyung asked, clearly sensing that something was up. 

  I held onto the hem of my uniform, and gritted my teeth. It's now or never. "I saw an android coming into this place just now..."

  "And?"

  "His ring was gone. You see, that guy over there." I turned around and pointed to that particular male, "The way he acts is completely different from when he came in..."

  "Could this place be a grey zone..?" Taehyung mumbled, his eyes staring right at Jin-hyung.

  Jin-hyung stood there, silent. Oddly enough, he started to chuckle after a brief moment. "That's right. This place is a grey zone. You've been working here for a month already, don't you know about it?" He directed his words at me, particularly.

   "But... Everyone have their unique personalities, and they don't even act like one! An android, I mean. Plus, their rings are gone; I can't distinguish them with normal people in this way!" I argued back, but felt my face heating up for some unknown reason.

  "It is a rule of the cafe. We don't want to cause any discrimination and disharmony amongst the customers." Jin-hyung replied, and continued to dry the coffee cups.

  "The deliberate removal of the ring above an android is illegal, you should know that much right?" Taehyung burst out, unable to control his raging thoughts.

  "I just wanted a place where everyone can interact with one another peacefully. Heart to heart, soul to soul." Jin-hyung answered, still focusing on the task he is doing.

  "Machines don't have anything like that. Don't even try making things up." Taehyung bellowed, "Shouldn't we call the authorities, Jimin?"

  My mouth opened but nothing came out. 

  "Just relax, Jimin's  friend. Let's not resort to any use of violence.  Just take your time and enjoy this place, okay? You may even discover some precious things here, that we have all lost deep down in our hearts." Jin-hyung said, "Jimin ah, take care of your friend properly."

  "Yes sir..." I stayed rooted to the ground and remained silent. 

  Taehyung too, did not say anything but dragged me back to the table where we were seated at. "I am just going to observe this a little longer. I am not going to make any rash decisions."I nodded my head, and excused myself to the back of the kitchen where I prepared for work. My head was still spinning about, trying to make sense of the situation. I hope Hoseok-hyung comes in soon.

p.s: been a year since I written something hoho