"I'll fix the flaw. There's no need for someone like her, who doesn't get it, to mess around."

 

 

"You've had your chance Youngjae. But until today, Taehyung hasn't changed now has he? That's why we have to try a different approach. Isn't that what was officially decided?"

 

 

"Tsk."

 

 

"I apologize once again, Ms. Jung. In any case, we need your help if we are to move closer to Taehyung's level of completion."

 

 

"Well, I understand now. Still, there was no reason to deceive me!"

 

 

"I am truly sorry for the rough method we used. But that was the best way to ascertain your abilities."

 

 

Jinyoung seems unrepentant, but bows his head. I'm definitely interested in giving an android a heart. But I'm still undecided about staying on as a clinical psychologist, or going into research, so this is a good chance. But then...

 

 

"I'm very sorry. I appreciate your offer, but I don't intend to join the team."

 

 

~~*~~

 

 

"And so, you left? Just like that?!"

 

 

My roommate, Byun Baekhyun, fills my glass of red wine. A nurse at ElyXiOn Hospital, she is my close friend and confidante.

 

 

"Look, I know they're in a bind right now. But the method they used was just too unscrupulous."

 

 

"I see. But if that's how it is over there, surely your professor would've said something? I mean, he's the one who introduced you to them in the first place, right?"

 

 

I heave a heavy sigh at my friend's words. For all we know, my professor sent me there knowing everything.

 

 

(He may well be an accomplice of theirs...)

 

 

"Listen, Daehyun, you're in a dilemma, right? I mean, you can't just abandon your interests on that kind of work."

 

 

"It's definitely an interesting project. That Taehyung...that android, was almost no different from a human. And yet, there's something different. If I can find something to trigger it. If I can give Taehyung a heart that feels, maybe he'll really be able to fall in love."

 

 

"Hmm... Looks like your mind's already made up."

 

 

"What?"

 

 

~~*~~

 

 

The next day... 

 

 

I'm at ElyXiOn Hospital where I work three times a week. I began as an assistant psychologist three years ago, and under the guidance of Dr. Yook Sungjae, my brother's classmate. I'm now in charge of several patients.

 

 

"What, really?"

 

 

"Yes!"

 

 

That afternoon, my hearts melts at the smiling face in the exam room. Park Minsoo is a 12-year-old who hasn't been going to school and I've been seeing her for two years now. She is my first patient.

 

 

"But I'm sorry. I started feeling sick, after all and I spent the afternoon periods in the infirmary."

 

 

Minsoo's voice grows softer and sofer as if feeling sorry and she begins to wring  her hands.

 

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