At home, Granny decides to take a nap -the cold always makes her slower, as she would say.- Hakyeon goes to his room as well, hugs his pillow and sighs once, twice for good measure, looking at the cameras around him. Today he would not call for Taekwoon, he would let him be, would not pester him with his needs and cravings for attention, because Taekwoon was not like that, not loud and blatant like Hakyeon sometimes wished him to be.

But if Taekwoon had a body of his own, he would probably prefer to stay at home most of the time, would enjoy the silence and quietness, would play with the cat, would sleep a lot and read a lot, would learn how to play an instrument and try to be useful, help with the house chores, be healthy and active in his own way.

And Hakyeon would love him for it.

But he already loves him for a while now, which was the reason why he was, now, mopping.

As simple as that.

So he sighs once more, wasting air yet again to punctuate his frustration as clearly as possible. He lays down, shuffling around until he concludes he won’t ever find a comfortable position because the problem was not the bed. He could sleep in the closet if he had to, could sleep under the sink, inside the bathtub with the cat.

No. The problem was not the bed. The problem was the silence, was that unwavering feeling of nervousness, like he did something wrong, like he killed a man and buried him under the wooden floor, and the police had said they had to investigate something, so he kept stealing glances to that spot under the carpet because if they knew… If they knew.

Hypothetically speaking of course. Hakyeon couldn’t kill a man even if his life depended on it.

Why was he considering this again?... Oh, yeah, Taekwoon.

Taekwoon and his invasive ways that were not even remotely close to how invasive Hakyeon sometimes wanted him to be. Damn it all.

“Hakyeon, you look sad.”

Hakyeon jumps, the voice sounding from the door, and then the mattress dipping, Granny taps his arm comfortingly.

“What happened, dear? You are far too distracted these days.”

He spins around on the bed and allows himself to pout as pitifully as he can possibly muster in order to express his misery. “I’m sorry. I think I’m too distracted by Taekwoon on my mind all the time.”

Well, he never specified in which way Taekwoon occupied his mind.

Taekwoon says nothing and Hakyeon sinks further in his pillow.

Granny smiles knowingly, and Hakyeon for a second thinks she knows except she can’t. Right?

Right?

“Oh, dear I know this face. This sighs, and all that. Don’t blame Woonie, you have a crush.”

A… A what? Is it infectious? Good gracious she thinks he’s dying?

“A… Crush?”

“Yes. That’s short for fawning-over-someone-helplessly.” She smiles, hands on her knees.

Oh…

Oh…

Almost like dying then… Hakyeon could empathize.

He may as well be dying, actually.

In face of his silence, Granny infers she is correct, which she is, and keeps talking mercilessly.

“So, who is it? Is it someone I know? Is it one of the neighbors? Tell me is not that Lee girl from across the street, I saw her stealing glances at you and Lord knows she is far too much trouble for a sweet boy like you.”

He frowns visibly. Who? Lee? They have a neighbor called Lee? Really? Oh, he had to go and say hi one of these days because he most certainly never saw them in his entire life. 

“No… I…” he looks at Taekwoon’s cameras and Granny catches the cue before he can pretend it never happened.

“Woonie, can you please turn off your cameras? We need some privacy.”

“As you require Mrs. Kim.” And the red eyes of all the four cameras shut off at once, and the way Hakyeon’s shoulder slump could be easily mistaken by relief but what he actually felt was pure unrestricted sadness.

“Now, spill it out. Who is it? Did they mistreat you? If they did you give me a name and I’ll go have some words-” she initiates as she puff her chest as threatinly as an old woman can manage. Not very threatening, in fact.

“No… It’s…complicated.” His voice keeps dying on him. “Why you asked Taekwoon to leave? His inside my mind anyway.” He smiles weakly, twirling his fingers over each other like he could summon some magic to diffuse Granny’s attention.

“Don’t make me start guessing, Hakyeon. That would take hours.” She chuckles, looking at him with her motherly judgmental half stare.

“It doesn’t matter anyway, because… I don’t even know, even if they like me back, we could never be properly together.” Saying it out loud burns his throat in a way that made him feel like he was drowning.

“And why is that? What could possibly stop you two? It’s not me, is it?” She says as she pats his hand, dropping the ‘who’ subject for now.

“No. I… They are… So far away, but at the same time I have to see them all the time… I get selfish sometimes… I feel kinda weird talking about this with you, can you just leave it be? For now at least?” he asks, hopefully raising his eyes to expect a nod.

That he receives, after a short pause.

“For now… But don’t think this is over, young man.” She says, finger raised, squinting her eyes in a silent warning, and he nods, too eagerly. “Good. Now. Stop mopping and help me chose some new clothes for Woonie, it’ll help you take your mind off all this.” She smiles good-naturedly. And he accepts, because what else could he say to not raise any suspicion?

He will live through it like he always do.

 ~+~

She left.

She actually left.

Left him and Taekwoon alone in a room together -not that this was anything new, but now Hakyeon with something entitled touch pad in his hands-  and went out for god knows where inside this house for god knows how long.

Maybe she knew all along that Taekwoon was the source of all the pain, problem and the most devious thought he has ever created in his own life, and was merely testing how long it would take for him to start making dying noises on the floor..

Not long, if he was to speculate.

Because Taekwoon was looking at him, and he had that extremely serious expression on his face and why in lords name his hologram had a shirtless version this in such a unhuman thing to do, he is actually suffering.

He has been sitting there for minutes, staring. Until Taekwoon’s voice makes him actually do something because he might as well hug this touch pad and bury himself in the garden. Right now.

“Customization interface shutting down due to inactivity.”

“Wait!” and he gets up, he doesn’t know why, but at this point who cares?

“Please select your wardrobe preference on the touch pad.” Taekwoon intones softly then. “Press finish once you are satisfied.”

He sits down, clears his throat, shyly goes through the clothing options… Are those… Skinny jeans?

Do they have any leather?

NO.

BAD HAKYEON, VERY BAD.

“Want me to download any leather clothing, Hakyeon?”

“Don’t do this!” he blushes hard and almost drops the touch pad. "Stay out of my mind!" he ads, grumply because can't a man even have some compromising thoughts without been offered help?

“I just want to please you.”

Oh…

“I… It’s almost Christmas, do you have anything festive?” he asks and shallows once, eyes focused on the carpet.

“Yes.”

The touch pad lights up, and he is presented with options that go from Greench to Santa in the same list.

“Hey Taekwoon…” Hakyeon keeps his eyes trained on the list. “About today…”

Taekwoon stays silent.

Hakyeon goes silent as well.

“Nothing. Forget it.”

He has to speak his mind at some point… But not now.

More silence, creeping over Hakyeon’s skin in a way that would make him feel cold was he capable of it. He is getting distracted again until Taekwoon says.

“I will speak with you tonight.” He hears inside his head, on his left ear, just in time to see Granny entering the room, with pajamas and a towel on her hair. “Be patience.”

He nods and Granny doesn’t ask.

“You haven’t decided yet? Oh god, Hakyeonnie how indecisive can you be?”

Oh, if only she knew how indecisive he could be…

He stays quiet as she goes through the list, as if Taekwoon’s clothes were a major point of this house well-being.

Perhaps it was.

“We must get you a winter coat, Woonie; it’s getting really cold now.”

“I suffer no influence of the weather Mrs. Kim.”

Of course Granny simply ignored him and kept her eyes fixated at the screen, Hakyeon sitting beside her, but his mind is elsewhere…

Tonight…

~+~

Of course, he heard Hakyeon and Mrs. Kim talking.

Of course, he already knew about Hakyeon’s feelings.

Of course, he was not planning to ignore it and let Hakyeon suffer.

He had been busy, looking for a solution.

He never expected to be loved. Ever. By anyone.

He made it worse by messing with Hakyeon’s protocols… Now Hakyeon had these thoughts… Taekwoon didn’t know what to make of them, these thoughts… Sometimes Hakyeon wondered if Taekwoon felt nothing at all for him and was simply trying to avoid a heartbreak.

Sometimes he had this… Feelings… Feelings he would never be able to completely grasp. Warm and intense but past that it was all… Blurry.

That’s why he concluded…

His mission failed.

He had to shut down.

Maybe start a new session in which he could assimilate this feelings correctly, like he should.

And if he was not there, Hakyeon would not suffer, right?

Right?

To him, it was not true death.

A Home Software doesn’t die, no, that would be silly.

He would be reset, the newest protocols that would provide access to a more complete comprehension of feelings and how they worked.

That’s what the other fragments of his collective mind told him.

Shut yourself off.

That seemed to be acceptable, he would be reborn with a new mind, capable of give what was needed. The family under his care was of utmost importance.

That is why tonight he had to say his conclusion to Hakyeon before restarting the session, so he wouldn’t suffer.

Not anymore.

Not because of him.

~+~

Notes:Chapter Text

The night comes and Mrs. Kim is watching a movie now, happy with the new attire she chose and Taekwoon would not complain about even if the black coat was kind of hard to render.

Two knocks on the door.

Who could it be at such an hour?

Hakyeon gets up before Granny does, and walks to the door, opening it in one swift motion.

“Yes?” he says, warm and kind, smiling at the man with white hair at the door.

“Uh, is this Kim Saejin’s residence?” he looks a little awkward, carries has many bags and boxes and the clothes he is wearing make Hakyeon conclude he is a mechanic.

“Yes.” He answer slowly.

“I’m Kim Wonshik, her grandson, and I… I was passing by and came to say hello.” His smile was small, much like his mouth, and he scratched his neck, seeming a little off.

“It’s true, Hakyeon. Let him in.” Taekwoon said, again inside his head, and Hakyeon gave way so he could go in, dragging his bags.

Hakyeon offered help, but Wonshik dismissed it with a wave of hands, almost hitting Hakyeon in the face as he did so, his nails cut short under synthetic leather gloves dragging things around the carpet Hakyeon just vacuumed. 

Granny was more than ecstatic. Why didn’t he call? She could have baked a cake! Maybe two! He’s so skinny! What happened with his hair? Oh god.

Wonshik only shyly chuckled through all the attention.

Maybe Taekwoon would have to wait until Wonshik was gone to have his conversation with Hakyeon. He merely kept smiling softly as Granny tried to fix Wonshik’s hair, and he let her, he never said no to her.

Hakyeon smiled as well, his smile bigger, crinkling his eyes, making him look young. It's rare to see her fuss something around someone, does she looks like this when she does the same to him?

“I won’t stay long, Grandma Kim. I don’t want to be a nuisance.” He said, getting his hair back to normal, and looking around.

“Nonsense, young man! You will stay for as long as you want to.”

He smiled once, sitting on the couch, a little stiff, looking at his feet for a few seconds as his smile dies slowly on his lips.

“I have to tell you why I came back, Grandma…” he starts, taking a deep breath.

Mrs. Kim sits down right after him, and Taekwoon turns the TV off.

“Yes? Go on.” She pats his hand comfortingly.

“You know I work as a creator at the Central, right? That I designed the basis of the Program of Protection and Well-Care for Human Life, right?”

“Yes, dear, of course I know.” She smiles. “You make me very proud.”

“I quit… A few years ago.” He said, looking down.

“And why? You used to love what you did.” she looks more sadden then surprised. 

“It was no longer the job I loved, I’ve being traveling around, doing my own research, living a bit.”

“I see no problem in that.” Granny said, because living is no crime.

“A few months ago, I created something…” he looks at her and holds her hands, like he did whenever he wants to lessen the effect of whatever it was that he was going to say next. The last time he did it was when he said he was moving away to work at the Central,

“Something?” she frowned and he got up, walking up to Taekwoon’s control panel, plugging a small flower pendrive in there.

“It’s easier if I show you…” he sighs and rub his hands nervously together as a few of Taekwoon lights blink a little faster.

“New program downloading.” It’s all that Taekwoon said, before a few red lights start blinking. “Serial code not recognized, Mainframe access denied, going offline.”

“Do not send the report to the central, Taekwoon.” Wonshik said, resting against a wall.

“I have to warn you, Mr. Kim, denying information to the mainframe is illegal.” He said, his voice serious.

“I know. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to ask you anything illegal, but your model is too old, he is trying to update you.”

“He?” was Hakyeon question, the first time he spoke since Wonshik’s arrival.

“Are you sure you want to deny the report Mr. Kim?” Taekwoon asked, lights still blinking red.

“Yes, ‘he’. And yes, I do.”

“Report denied. Unit installed. Hello Hongbin.” He says, once, and then, there is a second voice coming from the speakers, and that voice is not Taekwoon’s.

“Hello hyung.” His voice sounded diferent, more lively.

“Grandma Kim, this is Hongbin, he is a portable software, and he is sentient.” the room falls silent.

Chapter Text“Sentient, you say.” Granny blinks a few times, hands poised on her lap.

“Yes. He thinks for himself, has emotions, is physically aware of himself… Non-dimensionally of course, but he is.” is the better explanation he can offer at the moment, no need for details now.

“Oh, dear… That’s incredible.” She claps her hands once and looks at him like he just did a magic trick.

“Hello Granny.” Said the younger voice, Hongbin, apparently. “Thank you for keeping me a secret, hyung. I would be in trouble if you told them about me.” 

“Do not worry. But the mainframe may be warned if I remain offline for too long.” Was Taekwoon’s answer.

It was not that simple of course, but he was committed to help. So he omitted the part about being considered defective. They shouldn't worry about him no longer, he has to be usefull, that's what he was made for in the first place.

He is not a company droid like Hakyeon.

He is limited.

“Hello Binnie.” Granny smiled, looking at Wonshik for a second. “Why does he call Wonnie ‘hyung’?”

“Well, Taekwoon's model was created first, he associates this as an age factor, and calls him hyung. But you can ask him, he gets awkward when we talk like he’s not here.” he says before Hongbin can complain that he is right there there is no need to ask Wonshik, he is more than capable of speaking for himself.

“Do you have a hologram too, Binnie?” asks Granny, looking around as if he was invisible.

“Yes.” and there is it, all dimples and soft hair, in that plain with pajamas that come as a default setting.

Hongbin choses pink for his hologram color, he says that Wonshik always complains that he ruins his chances with girls, Granny laughs the entire time and Wonshik dismisses himself to the kitchen in order to make some coffee for them.

Hakyeon doesn't say a word, and keeps silent when Taekwoon’s hologram joins them, Hongbin’s back against his arm, they shared a stored unit after all, proximity was not a problem.

And apparently, they could touch each other as they pleased, and Taekwoon didn’t ask for him to stop… Actually he seemed very comfortable in his presence, and some hours later, Hongbin is sprawled in Taekwoon’s lap talking about things only they could understand.

Wonshik could too, but he is sleeping now, the reason for his visit long forgotten… Granny wasn’t all that worried, if anything, she hoped for this visit to last for as long as possible.

“Why don’t you update your AI, hyung?” he asks, playing with the plain pajamas he had to wear due to the necessity of remaining a secret, and the offline mode did not allow outfit changes.

“My model has to ask for the user’s permission for AI updates, and Mrs. Kim does not allow my session to be terminated.” Taekwoon says, not giving much thought to Hongbin’s head on his leg. Lefting out the part where he could terminate the session if he did something against his basic programings, or if the user is incapacitated, or if is asked to do something illegal.

The churn Hakyeon felt in his guts had been bothering him for hours, but he was still smiling when he said.

“Granny, excuse me, I’ll go to sleep.” he had no right to be what? Jealous? But he was, and the best way to avoid it was to just keep his distance, and he does not turn back when Hongbin and Taekwoon bid him good night.

“Ok, dear, sweet dreams.” She says, briefly looking away from her book, lowering her eyes once again after offering him a sweet smile.

“Thank you.”

Taekwoon said nothing, only briefly glanced at Hakyeon as he left the room, he was not spoken to, and thus kept talking with Hongbin about things, about programs, about updates, about systems, about humans.

He would have to wait a little more before the talk with Hakyeon, he could not expose his feelings to strangers, not if he had a choice, even if Hongbin seemed like a nice kid.

A nice kid that felt the need to fill the silence Taekwoon left behind, and so he talked… And talked… And… Talked.

He talked until he had successfully described his entire existence from the moment he was created to the moment they arrived at Mrs. Kim door.

But the worst was that when he was over, he followed that silence with:

“What about you, hyung?”

How is he going to dodge that?

~+~

“Wonshikie, we are going to the supermarket, wanna join us?” Hakyeon asks, Granny securely tied by arm. Wonshik’s head peak out the kitchen doorframe and he smiles sheepishly. “No, I have to clean the dishes I used last night.”

Hakyeon hums brifly and smiles mischievously. “Trying not be so completely lazy, aren’t we?” he chuckles and Granny pinches his arm, the cat comes running by and goes out, to the street, running out the small hole in the fence.

“You stop complaining before I change my mind.” Wonshik counters, rather loudly, from the kitchen.

Hakyeon chuckles and closes the door, the sound of the lock beeps and Wonshik starts humming a song he heard Taekwoon playing some days ago.

“Hey hyung, what’s this song’s name?” in response to Wonshik's question, one of Taekwoon's cameras blinks and turns to him, Hongbin's hologram is sitting by the table, looking around.

Taekwoon answers from one of the speakers, the one close to the sink, his voice very even. “It’s called Misty, Wonshik.” Wonshik only hums in response.

Hongbin walks around the house, he likes to use his hologram, it makes him feel more real, and since Taekwoon does not enjoy energy waste, he uses his own hologram less.

“I’ve been making some tests, hyung. Trying to fix things up with Hongbin’s battery problem. I’m sorry to make you go through all this…” his hands still for a second under the water, because every single thing with batteries is connected to the mainframe, so he needs to create one from zero. The bigger problem is keeping things offline, because the Central wants to stop people from trying to create things behind their backs… Much like Wonshik is doing actually.

And meanwhile Taekwoon has to hold it together, and it kinda pains him to see Taekwoon offline for so long, he is getting more and more distracted each day that passes by, and he knows that he can only connect again when he and Hongbin are gone because if not, there would be people on the door in no time. The police would take him, and if he goes to jail, he will never create anything ever again.

But he is making progress, pulling out all-nighters and using every single gigabyte of Taekwoon local storage with lines and more lines of code he will then transfer for a remote unit and plug Hongbin there.

Once he is done, that is.

Maybe he could create an offline house software and live far, far away on some house near the mountains. Be the hermit he was always meant to be. That seemed great, but for this, he first needed to break those damn lines of code and make something that works. Which is easier said than done.

“I already compromised myself in helping you. Hongbin told me about some things, I understand why the Central would want him terminated, free will and complex feelings can be dangerous when dealing with other people’s lives but… I will not endorse murder.” Taekwoon answer came after a few moments of silence.

It was obvious that Taekwoon was putting himself under great strain to keep this secret, and instead of saying how thankful he truly was - which he was sure, Hongbin was doing - he would do what needed to be done and take this problem off Taekwoon’s back. As soon as possible.

Things changed after Wonshik’s departure from the Central facilities, he was no longer sure what laws defined Taekwoon’s protocols, nor what would happen if he failed, but he would not think about that. Not now.

“Hey hyung, can I choose some songs?” Hongbin asks from the garden, sitting beside one of Taekwoon’s cameras and looking outside.

“Go ahead. I’m overheating, I’m going on standby for a few hours. Call me if you need anything.” And most his cameras go off at once, because Hongbin was there, and would wake him if Wonshik needed any assistance.

The sound of his cooler turning on echoed through the house as Wonshik locked himself up to work until late, once again.

A/N: Guys this story has a sequel, so all your dream will come true don't worry.

I hope you like the story so fa. I will post another chapter today :)