Pt. 7

Yerin returned to her room after dinner, expecting to see SinB there to welcome her, instead there was one of her notebooks, opened to a page that had a note with very neat handwriting on it.

[I’ll be back soon.]

What did this mean? Where did SinB go? Was something wrong with Sowon? Did Eunbi really run into an issue? Yerin sat down on her bed as she thought to herself, running her hand through her hair. SinB must have left using the window, rather than disturbing her family downstairs during their dinner. Quickly sending a message to SinB asking if she was alright, she lay down on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

The weather was chilly outside with the morning dew, Yerin grumbled as she tucked her sweater over her head as she got dressed, ruffling her hair once she managed to find her way through the large top.

Looking herself in the mirror, Yerin hummed. Did it look okay with her jeans? Maybe SinB would nag her for not wearing thermal inside her pants. But jeans were too tight to wear thermal inside. It wasn’t that cold anyways. Yerin grabbed her bag and went downstairs, greeting her mother and leaving the house with a piece of toast in .

Hopping as she finished tucking her shoes, a hand shot out to grab her toast before she could drop it, surprising her more than her lack of balance, their other hand grabbed her waist expertly.

“Good morning.”

“SinB?”

Yerin looked closely as SinB placed the toast on her lips for her to take back. Something seemed off, did SinB’s smile always reach that far up?

“What’s wrong? Upset I left you with just a message yesterday?”

“You didn’t reply, I thought you’d be escorted to school by Sowon unnie.”

SinB hummed and led the way slightly by a step, headed for the bus stop. Yerin observed her carefully, it wasn’t that she didn’t trust SinB, but this was weird. She couldn’t tell how. Deciding that if it were really SinB that she would be forgiven, Yerin started to walk the other direction.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m skipping school, you should go by yourself.”

“Alright.”

SinB turned and followed Yerin closely.

“I’m going to the arcade. I’ve decided that I wanted a pair for the stuffed bunny you won me.”

“Do you want me to win it for you?”

This was wrong. The prize SinB had contributed to her when they first went to the arcade was a large plush penguin that was half Yerin’s size, not just a stuffed bunny. She halted in her steps and grabbed hold of SinB’s arm.

“You’re not SinB.”

“What do you mean? I am.”

Yerin took several steps back, the horror and realization showing on her face. Holding her hands to herself, she panicked. Where was SinB? Was she at school? She hadn’t responded to her message last night. Turning back to the bus stop, Yerin saw the bus start to pull away. She ran as fast as she could and managed to flag the driver, leaving Eunbi behind.

Eunbi chuckled to herself as she looked at Yerin in the window as the bus passed. Yerin could read her lips so clearly it sent a shiver of fear down her spine.

Stumbling into the classroom, Yerin slumped into her seat, the one next to her, empty. Where was SinB? She looked over at Eunha who only gave her an apologetic look. Even if they didn’t talk to each other as much as they used to, Eunha still knew when Yerin needed help, and that was now. There was nothing she could do during class, but they both had a silent agreement to meet after class with just a glance.

“Huh, only one absentee, Hwang Eunbi.”

“Professor, I’m here.”

He looked up, seemingly unamused. Correcting the attendance sheet, he cleared his throat as class began. Yerin sat very still, ignoring the gaze coming from her left.

“What’s wrong?”

Yerin held back her shiver, her hands clasping to stop them from shaking. Her hand reached over and touched Yerin’s gently, causing the older to flinch away.

“You’re scared of me.”

Yerin blinked, there was no tone in that sentence. Looking up just a little bit, Yerin saw the choker on SinB’s neck. Swallowing her nervousness, she reached to hold her hand again, tentatively.

“Is it that easy to pretend to be a robot?”

Yerin immediately backed off before she could reach the girl next to her and stood up in her seat.

“Professor I’m not feeling well.”

Before he could say anything, Yerin ran out of the classroom, Eunha on her heels. They reached the courtyard before slowing down.

“Yerin unnie, what’s wrong? You’re spooked and I’m worried.”

Eunha hugged her gently, rubbing the stray tears off Yerin’s cheeks.

“That’s the human Eunbi.”

“Was the robot supposed to come to school today?”

Yerin nodded, her shaky hands gripped in the back of Eunha’s coat.

“That explains the change of outfit.”

“Huh?”

Eunha held Yerin’s cheeks up to look her in the eyes.

“I saw her, your SinB.”

“You, you did?”

Eunha nodded, kissing Yerin’s cheek softly to calm her down. It was a sort of intimacy they had before Eunha’s confession, a greeting kiss, a calming kiss. Yerin thanked her quickly.

“She came to school with Sowon, but before you arrived, she stepped out of the classroom as the professor entered.”

“Where could she have gone?”

“My guess would be on campus, I don’t think she’d get far.”

Eunha pulled on Yerin’s arms, urging her to stand.

“Come on, let’s go to the parking lot.”

“But your class?”

“It’s your class too, I let Sana unnie know to take care of our stuff. She thinks you’re really sick by the way, it was the only excuse I could think up of. Technically, it’s not false, you do have a bolt in your ribcage.”

“That’s fine.”

As they rounded the corner to the parking lot, a message from Sana dinged on Eunha’s phone, telling them that Eunbi had now left the classroom. They both didn’t know what to do, why was Eunbi so persistent on following Yerin? And why in such a painful way?

Spotting Sowon’s smart car, Yerin hurried over to it before noticing it’s owner standing a few meters behind it, facing a pillar, mumbling to herself.

“Sowon unnie?”

“Huh? Oh, Yerin ah.”

Sowon stepped away from the pillar, heaving a heavy sigh as she walked over. She seemed extremely tired, her eyes half lidded, but eyebrows raised in a sign of stress.

“Do you know where SinB is?”

Sowon silently pressed the unlock button on her car before handing Yerin something. Opening her palm, Yerin hurried into the backseat, pressing the battery to SinB’s throat as Eunha and Sowon waited outside the car.

“Why are you doing this Sowon ssi?”

“Eunha ssi, I’m not doing this out of free will. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t.”

“There’s always a choice Sowon ssi. It’s the matter of which you choose.”

Eunha gave Sowon a hard look before starting to walk away.

“Where are you going?”

“Back to class, Yerin unnie is going to be safe in your hands, am I correct?”

SinB blinked as her vision returned, registering that Yerin was crying into her chest and that they were in the backseat of Sowon’s car with no recollection of how she got there, she quickly checked if there was anything caught in the black box. A quick scan only showed Sowon carrying her over her shoulder and dumping her in the back seat.

Wrapping her arms around Yerin carefully, SinB leaned her cheek on Yerin’s head ever so slightly.

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

“Pabo.”

“Was it my fault? I didn’t think I would run out of battery that easily.”

“Pabo!”

Yerin knuckled SinB’s hard head with no response. Puffing a shaky breath, Yerin sniffled as she rubbed her cheeks clean of tears, only shooting SinB an already withering glare.

“Eunbi took off your battery.”

“Oh, I did remember receiving a message to meet outside the classroom for a bit, she said she was fine to go to school and asked to go in.”

“Pabo! A battery this easy to take off should be protected more. Don’t let anyone touch you there.”

“Including you?”

Yerin bit her lip.

“Including me.”

SinB was puzzled for a second, she ran the sentences through her brain several times. This was a matter of trust, but Yerin didn’t want to be in control of her most important components?

“Why?”

“Because I’m stupid.”

“But you’re not, I’ve tested your IQ before, it’s-“

“Shush! That’s not relevant.”

Yerin hugged SinB again, arms properly hooked around her neck, her cheek pressed to SinB’s head as she tried to even her breathing.

“What if I got angry with you and just pulled out your battery? Then you wouldn’t be able to fix it, we wouldn’t be able to talk. What comes first isn’t me.”

“My rule of priority is you.”

“That isn’t right. Your first priority should be yourself.”

“Myself?”

A line of code ran across her eyes, something was denying her access to something. Something SinB didn’t know or understand.

“Yourself.”

“Okay.”

Yerin blinked.

“Huh?”

“I’ll try.”

SinB smiled, using her fingers, she pushed the corners of up just a little further.

“I’ll try.”

Yerin stared, then she looked away, looked back at SinB, and started to laugh.

“What is it?”

“Haha! To think the day would come when a robot says they have to try.”

SinB put her hands back down, but her smile remained. Yerin was “pretty” when she laughed, recording it in her log that she kept, SinB pulled Yerin closer by her shoulder. She had seen that in situations like this, there was often a kiss then nervous happiness, whatever nervous was. Closing her eyes, she kissed Yerin softly.

She could feel Yerin’s muscles freeze before loosening up, relaxing into the kiss. Her arms wrapped around SinB’s neck comfortably. Opening her eyes when she heard a knock, SinB leaned back, pulling Yerin with her as she rolled the window down with a quick mental transmission to the smart car.

“What is it Sowon unnie?”

Sowon sighed and pointed towards the school.

“I can’t do anything to help you, but I really suggest you don’t anger her.”

SinB looked over, Eunbi was walking over with a scowl on her face. Yerin’s hands started to shake and SinB grew worried, or what Yerin called worried. She herself was unsure what the sensation was still.

“What happened with her Yerin unnie? You’re shaking.”

Yerin shut her eyes and hugged SinB tightly.

“I’ll tell you later, I promise.”

SinB caressed the back of Yerin’s head, kissing her forehead as she watched Eunbi come closer. She appeared angry, if not just annoyed. If Sowon was warning her, Yerin was scared of her, then Eunbi must have done something bad. With all these pieces of information, SinB closed her eyes, restaging what must have happened vaguely.

Eunbi was the one to pull her choker when she left the classroom, which was why Sowon was carrying her unconscious body to the car. Yerin must have arrived at school right after she had exited the classroom, since Eunbi was coming out here after Yerin, Eunbi must have gone to class.

Opening her eyes, a question flashed across, it seemed completely unnecessary, and yet, there must have been a reason why her system gave her the option.

[Disaster mode: activate? Yes/No]

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

it's great to not have class and spend an extra two hours fixing my writing mojo~