“Jongin?” Chanyeol’s worried voice sounded from the other side of the door, “Are you alright in there?” he asked as he rapped his knuckles against the old wood. He had heard a dull thud from Jongin’s room in the lobby of the inn and was concerned for his friend as the noise had caused quite a disturbance amongst his guests.

When no answer came, Chanyeol took a deep breath and turned the brass knob of the door, pushing it open. The wood creaked loudly under the slight pressure and the hinges of the door squeaked as it swung to reveal Jongin standing in the middle of the room and a clutter of crumpled newspapers around him. Before Chanyeol could open his mouth to ask what was happening, he spotted a person standing at the other end of the room in the large crate that had arrived for Jongin days earlier. For once, Chanyeol was at a loss for words.

“Uh,” The elder said rather unintelligently, “Jongin?”

“Chanyeol,” Jongin sighed as he turned around not surprised to see his friend, but still feeling caught in an awkward situation - whatever this situation was.

“What is that?” Chanyeol finally asked after looking back and forth between his friend and the thing in the crate, “Please tell me that’s not a-” his face paled as he thought of his young friend being trapped in some bizarre ordeal that involved kidnapping. He wondered briefly what in God’s name students did exactly at that Academy.

“I don’t know,” Jongin confessed and then he frowned, “I don’t know what it is.”

Chanyeol blinked a few times, “Is he… It… Real?”

“No, I mean yes?” Jongin shook his head and laughed at the absurdity, “I mean it physically is here, right? So it must be real, but it isn’t a human.”

“You’ve lost me.” Chanyeol said defeatedly and then Jongin chuckled, muttering something about the contraption being ‘unbelievable.’

“It’s an android,” Jongin said finally after close observation of the thing and then he looked over at Chanyeol, “A one.”

Chanyeol’s face flushed bright red, “You mean, beneath all that paper he… Or it…”

“It has no clothing, but it’s built like a human, so essentially, it is in our eyes. But it isn’t real. It’s not a him, Chanyeol. It’s a project.”

“It’s kind of unsettling.” Chanyeol murmured and looked away from it, “Can you put some clothes on it at least?”

Jongin shrugged, “I don’t have clothes that will fit this thing, it’s a bit too tall to fit into anything I own.”

Chanyeol shifted uncomfortably, “You can borrow some of my old stuff.” he offered, “Jongin, you know that you have a lot of explaining to do, right?”

The latter nodded, “I know.”

“We’ll talk after supper. For now…” Chanyeol looked back at the android and shuddered, “Can you close that box back up?”

Jongin shrugged and, with some assistance from his friend, he managed to close the box, latching the hook once more. Chanyeol dusted his hands off in his slacks and turned to Jongin, patting him on the shoulder in what might have been a comforting gesture if Chanyeol had not been so rigid. It was perhaps from that gesture that Jongin realized just how isolated the little town from which he came truly was. If Chanyeol had been so disturbed by such a contraption - granted even Jongin had been a tad unnerved at first sight - then he could not have even begun to imagine how the elder would have reacted to the world of tinkering at the Academy.

Supper was a splendid treat to Jongin’s tastebuds after the stale meals he had barely paid any attention to on the train. He did particularly like their selection of wines, however, and the crackers were not so bad with cheese. These meals no longer played any part in Jongin’s mind as he indulged in Kyungsoo’s cooking, which had dramatically improved since the last time Jongin had the pleasure to eat anything made by the youngest Park family member. Of course, at the time, Kyungsoo had only been a child.

Sitting across from Kyungsoo now, Jongin realized, so much had changed within the span of the few years he had gone. Kyungsoo was no longer a child, now he was a young man with handsome features that sometimes Jongin felt himself becoming lost in. Embarrassed by his own thoughts for his best friend’s little brother, Jongin cleared his throat and immediately changed the subject at the table to something that made him feel more comfortable and did not let his mind wander, because he found that often times when he would let that happen, his thoughts would get him into trouble.

“Are you still in school, Kyungsoo?” Jongin asked before taking a sip of his water.

Kyungsoo looked from his brother to Jongin, a pinkish colour fitting prettily on his pale cheeks, “No, Jongin-hyung, I’m finished now. I’ve been working here at the inn.”

Jongin smiled warmly, “Do you believe that you might consider furthering your education?”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo drew his eyes from Jongin and into the clear liquid of his cup of water, “I never really thought about it-”

“Yes you have,” Chanyeol interrupted looking all sorts of amused as both Jongin and Kyungsoo turned to look at him, “You talked about going to the Academy where Jongin was. Don’t you recall?”

“Quiet!” Kyungsoo squeaked and Chanyeol laughed.

Jongin smiled shyly, feeling rather proud in that moment, “You wanted to follow me, huh?”

“I wanted to make a difference, like you, hyung.” Kyungsoo spoke softly after a few silent seconds, and then he looked straight into Jongin’s eyes, “I wanted to change the world with you.”

This would have been the greatest compliment in the world to Jongin if he had not just been kicked out of the Academy. Everything that Jongin was doing that inspired young Kyungsoo had vanished so suddenly. No longer was he capable of making a difference or changing the world. No longer would he be the idol of Kyungsoo’s eyes and for that reason, Jongin’s heart sank when the younger spoke those words with such sincerity.

“Why haven't you gone then?” Jongin asked without a second thought and it was Chanyeol’s turn for his cheeks to tint red.

“It's hard to afford something like that,” Chanyeol said fiddling with his fork, letting it clatter against his plate a few seconds later, “I wish we could, but we’re not all lucky like you, Jongin. A full scholarship when you were just a kid - barely a man - that's impressive. In a small town like this you have to quite literally be a genius, like yourself, to get noticed. I'm not belittling Kyungsoo’s education or intelligence, he's a brilliant boy, but he's brilliant in other ways.”

“Hyung,” Kyungsoo whined then, “You're embarrassing me, stop, please.”

Jongin shook his head, “That was my fault, Soo.”

“Soo,” Kyungsoo repeated softly, remembering the days when he loved it when Jongin would call him by that name, before he sighed, “I'm not a genius like you Jongin-hyung. I'm good at cooking and cleaning. I'm even better at reading and writing. But I'm the best at music and singing. Those are talents that are not as recognized by schools, unfortunately for me, so the cost of a secondary education is too much.” He sighed again and then forced a small smile, “Besides, Jonginnie-hyung, you're home now.”

Kyungsoo left out the part that Jongin was not home by choice or of his own will, but of expulsion. That didn't matter to Kyungsoo and it shouldn't have mattered to Jongin either, except it did. Losing out on the Academy meant losing out on the life he wanted, even as Kyungsoo left a lingering kiss on his cheek that night when saying his farewell. Jongin couldn't see his life in a positive light quite yet and he knew it would take some time. He figured that maybe, just maybe, with at least Chanyeol and Kyungsoo by his side, that transition might become just a little bit easier.

It was nearing midnight by the time Chanyeol and Jongin finally were able to sit and talk. Chanyeol’s puzzled expression was a clear giveaway to Jongin that he had no idea where to start and perhaps that was Jongin’s own fault for never really keeping in touch with his best friend while he was away. So much had changed in himself and it looked like much had changed in Chanyeol too. Despite the taller’s goofy looks - lopsided smile, lanky limbs, large ears, tousled hair and all - Chanyeol somehow looked older, wiser, to Jongin.

A shudder ran its course down Jongin’s spine as a breeze blew past them, flickering the lights of the oil lanterns that adorned the small office at the back of the inn. Jongin remembered running past this room as a child, playing games with Chanyeol and chasing Kyungsoo down the halls. He remembered the youthful glow of exciting daydreams and he basked in the glory of those childhood memories. For now he and Chanyeol were sitting in the very room they had never often been given the permission to enter. How time changed even the simplest aspects made Jongin feel… Melancholy. Yes, melancholy, Jongin decided, is what he felt.

“Remember when we played hide-and-seek and Kyungsoo followed you to all of your hiding spots?” Chanyeol asked suddenly, breaking the deadest of the silence.

Jongin smiled warily, “How could I forget?”

“His giggles always gave you both away.” Chanyeol mused, drumming his fingers against the wooden table, “He was always so happy to just be with you.”

“I remember,” Jongin sighed and thought fondly of the way Kyungsoo was always at his heels, always following in his steps and watching with wide, wondering eyes, “He’s all grown up now.” he said in a whisper, admiring the way that Kyungsoo’s pretty smile flashed through his mind.

“You love him,” Chanyeol said then bluntly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire universe.

Jongin blinked, he felt caught and at a loss for words, “I do,” he floundered, “I love you both.”

Chanyeol shook his head, “You love him, Jongin.”

Jongin choked on the air in his lungs, sputtered on all of his words and let his mouth gape open like a fish out of water, “Chanyeol,” he managed to gasp out in shock, because of course Jongin has always loved Kyungsoo and possibly has always loved Kyungsoo like this.

“He loves you too.” Chanyeol sighed heavily as if there were something else weighing on his mind, “Really loves you…” Jongin didn’t know what to say as Chanyeol watched him.

So, instead of saying anything at all, he coughed, clearing the lump from his throat and then downed most of the ale that Chanyeol had poured for them both, “Should we talk, instead, about the matter at hand?”

Chanyeol blinked a few times, slowly and processing, and hummed in agreement, “That thing-”

“Android,”

“Android,” Chanyeol sighed and pushed back his hair from his forehead, “What exactly… Is it? What is an ‘android,’ as you call it?”

Jongin shrugged, “An artificially intelligent being?” He offered as an answer and Chanyeol frowned at the uncertainty.

“You don’t know what it is, do you?”

“I know the gist of what it is supposed to be,” Jongin replied and then he fidgeted with his fingers, “My partner and I… We worked on an android in my first year.”

“Yifan, right?” Chanyeol asked and Jongin’s eyes snapped up from his fingers in an instant at the mentioning of the name.

“Yes.”

“You wrote to me about him.”

“I know.”

“You loved him too.”

“I still do, sometimes.”

“Sometimes?”

“I’ll always love him.” Jongin admitted with a shrug, “He and I were close. We had plans to change the world and he left those plans with me when he… When he left.”

Chanyeol hummed as he listened, not wanting to pry further into the relationship that the two had had before the dreaded day that Yifan had passed away in his sleep.

“Jongdae and I had to start from scratch though, someone stole Yifan’s papers… Did I write to you about that? I don’t recall… It had been such a difficult time,”

Chanyeol rested a large hand over Jongin’s by the time that Jongin realized he was shaking, “It’s okay, Jongin. Slow down. Take your time. Breathe.”

Jongin obeyed, taking a deep breath in through his mouth and breathing out slowly through his nose. In and out. Repeat. Repeat. Until his heart stopped thudding violently in his chest and his thoughts evened out. The familiar pain that pricked at the back of Jongin’s eyes, the pain that had made him cry pathetically in the arms of Professor Zhang on his first day back to classes after the funeral, subsided and he forced the frustration, the anger, the tears and the sadness away.

“We tried our best, to recreate the android project from scratch, but Yifan was the mechanic behind everything and Jongdae is an amazing builder, trust me, but Yifan knew what he was doing, had already had the schematics planned out from the beginning. Jongdae didn’t know a single thing and it was impressive actually the amount of work we were able to accomplish together from nothing. We had a prototype created, in simply a few months, of an android, but nothing as elaborate as the one in my room.”

“Then who built that one?” Chanyeol asked quizzically.

“I don’t know… But the model, looks similar to what Yifan had designed. It was a futuristic, beyond ambitious, schematic, but I admired him for that. He saw so far into the future that it both scared me and made me feel secure. If someone had Yifan’s designs and access to the right materials, then they could have easily made that thing. It wasn’t hard to put together after I cracked a few codes… Simple numbers could be read as just about anything so the android could react as humanly as possible. It was a large step in the direction of Artificial Intelligence, but all those notes were stolen.

I had a copy of my own back at my dorm room, so all the coding and such was still in my reach, but everything else was gone. And the brilliant mind that had created it all was gone too… Is still gone… I-” Jongin’s voice cracked, “I think if someone stole them then it was someone who intended to beat myself and Yifan to the physical creation of the project.”

“But it was your project?” Chanyeol asked confused, “How could anyone beat you to making your own project? How could they have known?”

“That’s the problem with ideas, Chanyeol,” Jongin huffed, “If you think your idea is original, then probably about a thousand or more people have already thought of it. Whoever acts on the idea first, though, that’s the person that gets the recognition. That person gets the glory of beating the other thousand or so alike minds to the finish line. Whoever took our notes… That person has gone beyond the finish line. I don’t think we’re even in the same race.”

“Then… What are androids supposed to do?” Chanyeol asked curiously - the thought of a human-like robot both intrigued and frightened him and he couldn’t place a finger on a purpose that they might be used for.

“Yifan and I were planning on making it like a companion for life. For the elderly who need support, for the children who require nannies, for the rich household that desires a maid or even just for the average lonely person who wants a friend.” Jongin explained and then he noticed the slight twitch at the corner of Chanyeol’s mouth, as if he were trying to hold back a laugh.

“So, they take the place of the working class?” He asked slowly, thinking it almost absurd that an inhuman thing could ever take the place of, well, a human.

Jongin shifted uncomfortably in his seat, “Mostly, we just wanted to make it easier for people to live… Imagine, you could have your own here at the inn. It could help you clean tables and such when the place gets too busy for just yourself and Kyungsoo to handle. And then when all is said and done, it would just power down and sleep in its box until you need it again.”

Chanyeol nodded slowly, “It’s a thoughtful contraption. It would be nice to have something like that around here to help do the cleaning of the rooms when we have too many people coming in at once… Not that it happens often, but it would still be a convenience.”

“Exactly,” Jongin hummed, “Yifan and I wanted to make the world an easier place to live in for people. We didn’t want to shake the world to its core and frighten people with our invention. That’s why we were going to start slowly, building our way up to the full sized, lifelike android. But, that thing upstairs… It’s beyond its years in technology and I think it will do more harm than good. Possibly worse if in the wrong hands.”

Chanyeol jolted at that notion and frowned, “What do you mean by ‘worse’?”

“Well, when we first pitched the idea to the Academic board, they were all quite pleased with the idea. The board, unfortunately, is made up of more than just academics. There are alumni, yes, and teacher assistants even, but there are also members of the council, the higher powers in the city who engage in these discussions, because they’re too important to turn away. A lot of them are our benefactors, including the mayor, several ambassadors and a few military personnel.”

“Military,”

“Exactly.”

“They would be looking for weaponry no doubt.”

“With the technology that is produced out of that Academy every year, the military is always gaining new pieces of information to help them keep their troops safe. Last year, one of the graduates produced a special type of armour that stops bullets altogether, but it is lightweight and can be worn under clothing. The military invested in it almost immediately and even everyday officers in the city wear them now.” Jongin sighed and watched the flame in the lantern sat on the desk flicker.

“That’s amazing,” Chanyeol breathed and Jongin nodded.

“When Yifan pitched our project to the board, one of the military officers jumped to his feet in excitement about how an android could change the way wars were fought,” Jongin’s face paled slowly, “Yifan was so very admirable in that moment the man spoke those words. He shot him down quickly, politely, explaining that androids were not meant to replace humans, but rather to help them. Yifan wanted to bring peace to the world and he automatically turned down the offer of financial support from the military. He wanted his androids to become companions, not soldiers.”

Chanyeol swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat, “Is that thing upstairs a soldier?”

Jongin shrugged, “It doesn’t look much like one. It’s features are more pretty and delicate? As if someone followed the exact instructions that Yifan had made. Regardless of the stoic expression it wears, I don’t believe that thing upstairs is a killing machine.”

“Killing machine…” Chanyeol repeated with a shudder, “Then is it possible that whoever built it… Is the person who stole those designs all those years ago?”

“Maybe,” Jongin hummed, “Just maybe.”

“Something sounds very suspicious here, Jongin.” Chanyeol sighed after a few moments of silence, allowing for the elder to collect his thoughts, “How did you even come into possession of that,” he waved his hand around searching for the proper term to use, since so many of them had been thrown around in the last hour, “thing.” he finally settled on.

“I don’t know who gave it to me,” Jongin answered earnestly, “Someone called The Creator.”

“Did anything normal ever happen at that Academy?” Chanyeol blurted and Jongin instantly laughed, because there was no bite or edge to Chanyeol’s words, only curiosity and perhaps a bit of sarcasm.

“Probably not.” Jongin mused and Chanyeol grinned, gently nudging Jongin’s leg under the table with his foot.

“Best if we head off to bed now, I think.”

Jongin yawned and nodded in agreement, “Best if we did.”

“We can continue this conversation in the morning. I expect you up bright and early.” Chanyeol hummed as he scraped his chair along the wood flooring so he could stand, “We have laundry to do.”

Jongin snorted, “Putting me work already.”

“Naturally,” Chanyeol winked and placed a gentle hand on Jongin’s shoulder, “I really am glad to have you home, Jongin.”

Home.

“I’m glad to be home.”

Hi friends,
You're probably wondering where I've been the last few months - pretty easy enough question to answer. I was working full time while also taking 2 electives with my university this summer... So, I guess I was kinda too busy to touch any writing. Also, I've been considering giving up on writing altogether lol. I have no drive to write anymore, but maybe, we'll see what happens. No worries though, I'll definitely be finishing this fic at some point or another, so you won't be left hanging! Thank you all for waiting so patiently, I appreciate it. And, yeah, I know, Sehun still hasn't been in this much idk what I'm doing anymore.
xo, TadaChi