“Hey! Let go of me! What the hell is that even?!”

Yerin struggled in Sowon’s arms, she was being held back from running away, and she wasn’t even getting any answers. Using her strength, Yerin broke free of Sowon’s arms, but was stopped by another woman. Glaring up at her, Yerin’s fierce gaze was countered with an equally cool gaze.

“You need to help us.”

“What? Why should I?”

Looking at Sowon, Yerin saw that she had her head bowed, was this someone important? Ignoring the dull pain in her chest, she stomped over to the couch and sat down, crossing her arms.

“Listen to me, my Eunbi, you know what happened to her.”

“Yea, right. I know nothing about her, she’s a stranger to me and I don’t have anything to do with her.”

“I know you were with her, seven months ago.”

Yerin’s eyes widened, looking at the lady, her anger faded to confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“And I know that you got hurt trying to help her.”

In the corner of her eyes, Yerin saw SinB walk in, fixing her clothes with a small smile. That was odd, Hwang Eunbi never smiled, but then again, she already knew, that this was no human.

“And so?”

“Follow me.”

Following closely, Yerin kept a close eye on SinB, that is, until she entered another room. There was Hwang Eunbi, she was asleep, hooked up to several life support machines. Yerin blinked several times. No, this couldn’t be real. If that was Hwang Eunbi, then that SinB wasn’t even a cyborg, but a full robot. It sent shivers down her spine to think that there wasn’t even a bit of human flesh in that mess of wires, it was too similar to a real human.

“What is this?”

“That day, after you helped her get out of trouble and got sent to the hospital, another group appeared and stabbed her with a lethal injection.”

“But she’s alive?”

“Of course, she is, my daughter would never die that easily.”

“Then what is that?”

SinB blinked as Yerin pointed at her harshly.

“Hello, I am human AI S.I.N.B., nice to meet you.”

It creeped Yerin out, seeing Eunbi’s face on this robot, it was identical to the real thing.

“She was created to help me find out who was threatening our family. Her job is to protect my daughter, but I didn’t finish her in time.”

Yerin nodded and began to storm out. Brushing past Sowon quickly, she reached the door before SinB called her.

“Jung Yerin ssi.”

Halting for one second, Yerin bit her lip and cursed her slight hero complex. Muttering to herself, she turned around with a frown.

“Please help us save Eunbi.”

“I swear this is the last time I answer someone’s plea for help.”

Sowon smiled just a little bit, SinB’s robotic smile still present on her lips.

“You stop smiling already, it’s creepy. Give me the run down.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eunha stared as she watched Yerin trudge onto campus, she seemed more tired than usual.

“Yerin unnie!”

“Oh? Good morning Eunha yah.”

Eunha smiled and hugged Yerin’s arm.

“Unnie, are you alright? You seem super tired.”

“I’m just tired, don’t worry too much. I didn’t sleep well, that’s all.”

“Is it because of your chest?”

Eunha fumbled around and pressed her small hands to Yerin’s ribcage softly, feeling the metal bolt there still in place.

“Yah, just because we’re close and I let you touch there doesn’t mean you can do it in public!”

Smacking Eunha’s head lightly, Yerin flushed as the people around her whistled. Growling, she just pushed past the crowd of students towards their class. Eunha just laughed and held her hand.

“Wae? We’re both girls, I can touch you anywhere I want to.”

“Eyyy don’t word it that way, you know how I feel about that stuff already. And so, does everyone else. I don’t want them to hurt you too.”

Pausing as she heard a particularly loud chuckle, Yerin cursed under her breath for not recognizing that stupid attention seeking girl who practically preached to everyone about Yerin’s uality when she overheard it from somewhere.

“Look at you two, disgusting! Hahah!”

“Just mind your own business, attention seeker.”

“Mwo?!”

Yerin walked up to her and stuck her face really close to the other’s giving her deadliest glare she could muster.

“If you cross any line that you know you shouldn’t, I’ll get you.”

Feeling her arm being tugged, Yerin snarled one last time before following after Eunha.

“Unnie, I already told you, I don’t mind them. Who cares what they think? I think love is just love. No boundaries.”

Yerin managed a small smile as Eunha kissed her cheek and went to her seat. Sighing though, she looked to the girl in the seat next to her. Ignoring SinB, Yerin dropped in her seat and looked forwards, her hands skillfully taking out her notebooks without looking.

“Good morning Yerin-ssi.”

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Alright, but you seem mad.”

“I’m not.”

Feeling her hand being grabbed, Yerin sighed as she turned to see SinB wink again.

“You! Ugh whatever.”

“Why did you lie?”

“It doesn’t concern you, just focus in class.”

SinB blinked and turned to face the front, that is, until Yerin coughed once. Looking over, she saw Yerin signaling something.

“Psst! Your earbuds, take them out.”

“Ah, okay.”

Walking out of class, Yerin smiled as she talked with Eunha, walking together part of the way.

“But seriously, what’s wrong with Eunbi? Ah, no, SinB? She’s acting all buddy buddy with you.”

“Buddy buddy? What do you mean? We’re just seatmates now.”

Eunha pouted but let Yerin keep her secrets.

“Fine, if you won’t tell me, I won’t ask.”

Kissing Yerin’s cheek again, Eunha bid her farewells and went on her way.

“What was that? Are you two in a relationship?”

“Omona!”

Yerin rubbed her chest as she soothed her heart from its shock.

“Sorry, did I startle you?”

Glaring at the robot, Yerin just huffed and walked towards her next class. Feeling her phone buzz, Yerin quickly checked her messages while walking, her footsteps stopping when she felt someone behind her, too close for comfort. Looking back, her eyebrows drew together when her eyes met with SinB’s.

“Why are you following me?”

“We have the same classes now.”

“Okay, I get that, but why are you following this close?”

SinB looked at Yerin, she almost looked curious, but that was impossible, she was a robot, incapable of emotions.

“Sowon unnie told me to stick with you.”

“Not this close.”

Turning back to the direction of her class, Yerin sprinted. Only to find SinB keeping up just fine, even offering a small smile that Yerin grumbled at.

“Stop smiling and stay at least several meters away from me.”

SinB’s smile disappeared instantly, replaced by a neutral expression. But her smile returned and Yerin facepalmed.

“Sowon unnie.”

“Yah, I said not to smile on school campus.”

Still, Sowon kept her act well, bowing to SinB and leading the way.

“Can’t you tell this bucket of bolts not to stick too close to me?”

Sowon stared curiously at SinB’s blank face.

“Don’t literally stick yourself to Yerin-ssi, just nearby is enough.”

“Alright.”

Shaking her head, Yerin walked ahead as SinB and Sowon talked. Shuffling her feet as she neared her class, she stopped when she heard some painful words.

“Who does she think she is? Coming back to school with no charge? She’s the one who killed him.”

“Hey, if your boyfriend lost to that girl, he wasn’t that great, now was he?”

“I-I guess not.”

“The fact is, she’s a murderer and the police let her get away.”

Walking away from the classroom, Yerin clenched her fists. A stray tear slid down her cheek, roughly wiping it, she walked out of the building when she was stopped by a hug from behind.

“It’s a rule to hug someone when they cry.”

“Let go of me.”

“You are sad.”

“Let go of me! I’m going home.”

SinB let go and gave a small smile.

“Then I guess I’m going home too.”

Sowon sighed and shooed SinB away, letting her do as she pleased. She had a secret agenda with the girls in that classroom, they didn’t need to know about it. Seeing Sowon leaving, Yerin just sighed.

“I’m not actually going home, but the arcade.”

“Okay.”

“And stop smiling.”

SinB’s face went neutral again, her hands shoved in her pockets. Yerin just sighed and continued her way to the arcade, ignoring the childish way SinB listened to her orders.

“Sadness is lower levels of serotonin, usually cured by sunlight, destressing, and rest.”

“What are you? A doctor?”

“No, I’m a ro-“

Yerin covered SinB’s mouth before she could continue.

“Shush! Why would you say that outside?!”

SinB blinked and removed Yerin’s hand, she took a few steps back.

“What’s with you now? It’s not like you can feel guilt.”

“I was just considering your personal space.”

Throwing her hands in the air, Yerin gave up and trudged into the arcade, gravitating to the claw machines instantly. Swiping her card, she moved the claw carefully, her eyes sparkling as she neared her target.

“You need to move it 1.37cm back.”

“Nah, I can do what I wanna.”

Pressing the drop button, Yerin watched as the claw closed around the plush penguin. The claw easily picked up the plush, Yerin turned with a smirk.

“See?”

“It’s going to fall short.”

Annoyed, Yerin turned back to the plush which was indeed, dangling oddly from the claw from the jostling of the weak grip. Watching with wide eyes, Yerin stared as the penguin fell on the edge of the hole and bounced back in. Looking back at SinB, who gave her a smile, Yerin frowned and played again.

“Besides, I don’t really play for the plush. I play for the fun.”

“That’s good, fun will help you destress, and increase your happiness.”

Giving SinB a less threatening glare, Yerin sighed and collected her successful second attempt.

“You never answered my question.”

“What question?”

Yerin hugged a penguin plushie half her size as she waddled along the sidewalk in front of SinB. After the first few times of SinB telling Yerin to move the claw, Yerin just told her to play it instead, somehow they managed to win enough to trade in for a bigger prize, which was how they got the large penguin.

“Are you and Eunbi-ssi in a relationship?”

Yerin coughed and spluttered.

“What?! Me and that Hwang?”

“No, I meant Jung Eunbi-ssi.”

Collecting herself, Yerin rubbed her nose a little, her cheeks slightly reed form embarrassment.

“You should address her as Eunha-ssi, I haven’t called her Eunbi in a long time.”

“Because of the human me?”

“Well, yea, but I made it for her, and she likes it a lot.”

“Eunha means galaxy, it’s a very beautiful name.”

Yerin grinned and SinB returned a smile.

“But no, we’re not in a relationship. I think of us as close as sisters.”

“Is that so?”

SinB walked in front of Yerin, reaching the bus stop first and taking a seat. Yerin watched her curiously.

“Are you sure you don’t feel emotions?”

“Hundred percent certain, I am a robot made of the newest technologies. I can understand emotions, but I cannot feel them.”

Yerin hummed as she nodded, seated next to SinB, she was beginning to feel more comfortable. It wasn’t as if she had much in relation to the human version anyways. She just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, helping the wrong person.

“What’s going to happen when Eunbi wakes up?”

“When she wakes up, I’m going to live with my mom again.”

“Aren’t you living with her right now?”

SinB looked away from Yerin, staring in front of her with her robotic smile.

“No, I live with Sowon unnie. Mom has to stay with the human Eunbi.”

Seeing SinB avoid her gaze, whether it was because of a program or something caught her eye, Yerin couldn’t help but think that the robot was sad.

“Does the human Eunbi know you exist?”

SinB looked back at Yerin.

“I think not, mom hasn’t met with human Eunbi in seven years.”

“Yerin is our only witness to what had happened that day besides the worker I called.”

“Then what are we going to do? This Hwang, she’s walking around as if she wasn’t just stabbed by poison.”

“I’ll ask my worker to look into it, there’s no way she could be alive like this.”

==============

part two complete, do you understand yet? hohoho