The constant bouncing of the  baseball echoed within the dull walls of the quaint room. Baekhyun was propped up on the metal headboard of his bed, tossing the circular outlet of boredom again and once more, and again. 

  The motion stops as the ball lands firmly in his grip. Baekhyun turns his head to the piece of paper tacked onto the wall adjascent to his bed. Red streaks marked the numbered grids, the most recent one landing on today. Today's box was particularly decorated with a crudely-penned party hat squeezed into the top right corner of the date. 

The glass door of his room slid open as the humanoid machinery made its way to his side. 

"H-appy birthday Byun Baekhyun," it spoke in the ups and downs of a robot's tone. The boy let out a huff before muttering a faint happy birthday to himself. 

  "Mr Byun wants you to come down, Byun Baekhyun."

At those words, Baekhyun jolted upright, his eyes widening as he stared at the machine in disbelief. "No way, you're messing around 476."

"Mr Byun will see you soon, Byun Baekhyun."

The bot spun around, exiting the room and out of Baekhyun's sight. Once again, the hushed nature of its room returned.

  Baekhyun sat cross-legged, tangled in his sheets.

I get to go down there. Finally, pa is letting me see his work again! , . Oh god. Okay let's go, let's go.

A smile crept upon the boy's face as he rolled out of bed, knocking several books and figures off his nightstand as he did so. Without wasting anymore time, he swiftly slipped on a hoodie far too big for him and was out the door, cluttering down the steps to his father's labotary. 

-

"Pa! Uh, it's Baekhyun. Open?" he called out, stuttering with his words here and there as he paced along the big metal doors he remembers from the memories of his 7 year old self. Its been 11 years since he's ever been allowed back down here, ever since he was last shown whatever projects his father had been working on. 

  Baekhyun's train of thought was cut off by the snap of the iron doors pulling apart, revealing his father clad in a white coat, his crescent gold-rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. A small smile was plastered on his wrinkled face upon seeing his son. "Come, Baekhyun," he motioned, walking over to a secluded area of the lab, the same section where Baekhyun was brought to years ago. 

  Baekhyun's eyes lit up with excitement despite his heart sinking slightly to the greeting of his father. After years of barely being able to catch a glimpse of him, he's greeted by commands rather than a warm hug or a friendly 'Hi', especially on his special day.

  "I hope you still have some memories of this fine invention I've crafted for the past decade my son. He's been programmed like no other bot I've made before. 90% human features, emotions, functions, a nearly perfected clone of a homo sapien," his father explained as the pair walked down the dimly lit corridor. "You'll be a crucial part in helping me study this bot, you'll be a companion to him. He'll act as though he is just like us, so there'll be no need for me to retrieve him back to the lab for any adjustments. No worries on the knowledge, all programmed into him."

  The two came across another section, with another door, and another keypad to punch in some codes his father had. God knows what those numbers mean. "Him? Woah, bots have genders now. Electronic pe-" "Yes Baekhyun, I've decided to experiment on gendered bots and its been successful as proven by him."

  The elder chuckled as the pad beeped and the doors slid aside, revealing a man in a glass case. Baekhyun's eyes widened, vivid memories of his appearance raced in his mind, as if they all came running back to him over those 11 years. He took a step forward, cautious to stand before the tape. He squinted his eyes like always, captivated by the man's appearance. He looked like Baekhyun's age, 17, 18, like a regular teenager Baekhyun would know, a black tee slipped on and regular grey sweats. He didn't feel like a machine, but it seemed like he'd been carved and moulded to perfection. Strands of hair layed on his forehead, his cherry plump lips beautifully in harmony with his sun kissed skin. His figure was built, but not too bulky, and a decent height too, definitley taller than Baekhyun. Could be a nice guy for hugs.

  He was a man like nothing Baekhyun had seen before. But then again, Baekhyun lacked human interaction for years, what did he know how humans have evolved and changed nowadays. 

  "He's definitley captivating," Baekhyun whispered, running his fingers down the glass case, resting them on the labeled letters in the center, "Project Model-2312, Type Kai.."

"I remember him! The same one, yes I do," Baekhyun chirped.  "I'd figure it'd be a good idea for you to handle him. He'll be a nice buddy for you, seeing that I'm never around the house," the man stated, inaudible to his son as he moved over to another keypad alongside the case, punching in another series of coding that deactivated the protective glass . "And I suppose a gift from father to son.."

  Baekhyun took a step back, allowing the 'magic' to take place

  Slowly, his fingers moved, then his arms, and his legs. His eyes fluttered open, then shut again briefly as his chest heaved with the slow, deep breaths he took. His eyes opened again, and he blinked. He blinked like how Baekhyun did, normal, subconcious blinking. And he moved, like a normal human. He lifted his foot, then placed it onto the ground, followed by the other. His motions were swift, unlike the other bots that ran around the building. He didn't have any awkward pauses between his moves, or robotic turns and motions. But his voice, how was it like?

  "Wow, you- you're super human. Like super human," Baekhyun proclaimed with awe. The boy turned to him, his eyes holding a warm and soulful gaze, nothing like the solid black eyes of the bots do.

"My name is Kai. Nice to meet you." 

And so he spoke, his voice just like any other human Baekhyun knew. No bumps, no ups or downs. Not monotone, but friendly. It sounded welcoming, sparking no sense of fear or confusion in him. He felt content with this Kai.

"I'm Baekhyun, come with me!"

-

[A/N] Oh boy, a short one? I guess they'll get progressively longer and much more interesting as the story goes on folks, thank you for tuning in to this one c: -n