Jongin stares and stares and stares until the bot in front of him moved forward to pinch him. He yelps in pain or surprise, he doesn’t know which. He is every bit as confused as to why his first prototype was here.

 

 

“You...what happened” Jongin mutters, the bot was drenched in water and he’s even unsure if he built it to withstand heavy rain.

 

 

“I need to shower first, do you mind if I use your bathroom and borrow some of your clothes?” the bot asked with a polite smile

 

 

“Of course not, please help yourself. I’ll prepare some tea”

 

 

Dumbfounded is an understatement. Kyungsoo...well KS011214 is the first model he ever built, the prototype has its faults, it doesn’t have room for improvement unlike the more recent models and it’s plain as it can get, a replacement. He made this bot after his late childhood best friend, the love of his life and the core of his existence. This first model was the reason why he has his company now, he sold KS011214 to make more of him but he couldn’t do that, even his secretary, Kyung would never amount to his Kyungsoo. He only built Kyung as a temporary bot because he would never be able to replace Kyungsoo.

 

 

“Nini, you’re spilling water” the smaller points out, Jongin hurriedly moved the cup away while Kyungsoo grabbed a towel to dry the surface of the countertop. Jongin's clothes were too big on him especially now that Jongin grew up well and Kyungsoo remained as slender as he was before

 

 

“Kyu---”

 

 

“You call me Soo…” the smaller cuts him off with an offended glare

 

 

Soo looks too much alike the real Kyungsoo. His heart hurts to see his first prototype, Kyungsoo was still alive when he was tinkering with this little project and even though Kyungsoo didn’t want it to be made with his image, he still supported Jongin’s dreams.

 

 

“Soo, why are you here?” he asks quietly after finally giving the cup of tea to the smaller

 

 

“Something is wrong with me Jongin”

 

 

“What do you mean?”

 

 

“My heart...I need you to fix it. My master...he told me he can’t love me because I’m not human, because I don’t have a heart. He threw me away because he is getting married. I don’t understand. I can feel, I can...think...I can love so why am I not enough?” his voice was filled with pain and his eyes show a hurt expression making Jongin’s chest clench, his Soo was always enough.

 

 

“Soo”

 

 

This is one of Jongin’s faults. He made KS011214 too human, just like the real Kyungsoo who felt more than he can handle. The human Kyungsoo managed his feelings well and he spoke about it when he feels the need to do so. He’s never shy to say his thoughts straight out, even with people’s judging eyes, Kyungsoo never backed away.

 

 

“He said it’s the same reason why you sold me to him. You needed the money and you sold me off. I understand that I’m not your real Kyungsoo, I would never replace him but am I not enough? You made another, I saw your secretary and he turned me away…” the smaller added with a sad smile on his face, Jongin wanted to wipe it away but he couldn’t move from his spot.

 

 

His secretary, Kyung is different, he is made to look like Kyungsoo but Jongin didn’t bother giving the android, profound emotional specifications, he programmed it as basic as he could and customized him to be a very effective secretary. He also doesn’t know about Soo or KS011214, no one knows about Soo aside from the real Kyungsoo and the one who bought Soo.

 

 

“Soo, it’s not that. Remember I told you that I had to give you up for a bit and that I will come and get you”

 

 

“That was three years ago, Nini” the smaller reminds him

 

 

This is so confusing for Jongin, he never thought that he’d see his first model ever again, when he decided to sell Soo, he made a promise to get the android back but his new owner ran away to another country and put Soo in lockdown, there was no way out. That’s why Jongin started building more bots that can surpass Soo so he can ask for Soo back. The man never returned Soo.

 

 

“I’m sorry” he says quietly

 

 

“Just fix my heart and I will go”

 

 

Go… same words that his real Kyungsoo uttered to him before the older died. Kyungsoo had been hospitalized just as Jongin was finishing up the core or heart of Soo… Kyungsoo’s lungs were filled with water and his condition wasn’t looking good. Kyungsoo didn’t want to say goodbye and Jongin saw how painful it was for him to hold on. He kept on saying that Kyungsoo should rest but the latter would only tell him “fix my heart and I’ll go”

 

 

“Soo. You know…” that you can’t have his heart, right? He wanted to say that but he can’t allow himself to hurt his best friend anymore. He knows that this model isn’t the real Kyungsoo but this is as real as he can get. He was programmed by Kyungsoo himself, his thoughts, his feelings, and his emotions were all inputted by Kyungsoo. The older wanted to learn from Jongin and of course Jongin taught him and allowed him to customize Soo.

 

 

“You have his heart right? Kyungsoo? The real one? You kept his heart and brain, right?”

 

 

“Of course” Jongin answered…

 

 

They...lived together...they left town together and never looked back. They both worked hard to make ends meet and Kyungsoo was a famous singer in their town, he was paid well and he supported Jongin’s dreams… Jongin promised to support Kyungsoo to but it never happened since Kyungsoo died. His parents hated Jongin for taking him away so they made Jongin take care of everything on his own. Jongin’s parents helped him as much as they could but Jongin wanted to do it for himself and for Kyungsoo. He gathered their remaining money and made sure he could preserve what was left of Kyungsoo. He wanted Kyungsoo to live forever...he will make it happen.

 

 

“I know you’re experimenting on it. Use me, Jongin” the smaller said clearly

 

 

There’s no mistake in his voice, his round eyes were full of sincerity and his stance was as firm as it can get. Jongin knows that he can’t tell Soo to back down but maybe he can explain it to him.

 

 

“Soo. You…”

 

 

“Are not like the rest of your models. I know. I saw your secretary he looks better than me. Everyone like me is better than me. Why am I like this, Jongin?” he asks bluntly

 

 

“I don’t…”

 

 

“Please...just like the old times...let me be your muse... let me be your inspiration”

 

 

“My inspiration never changed, Soo” he answered quietly

 

 

“Then please fix me”

 

 

Jongin sighed but nodded anyway, he knew that Soo wouldn’t let this go so he has to prove the android that can’t do it.

 

 

“Don’t half me, Mr. Kim Jongin. Kyungsoo would be disappointed” the android warned him

 

 

--

 

 

It was the first time in a long while since Jongin asked Kyung to empty his schedule and let his Vice President handle the company for a while. He needed the rest anyway and Soo would need his full attention.

 

 

“You can take me apart…my master...he..” Soo waved at his arms that looked different for some weird reason.

 

 

“Soo, I got you. You’re scheduled for upgrades anyway and your housing can’t house a heart so you need to be upgraded if that’s okay" he explains properly, trying to ease the worry off of the smaller's face

 

 

"But what about my system updates?” the smaller asked in confusion. Jongin needed to upgrade that one too but he doesn't know how to do so without reformatting the android.

 

 

“I can’t touch that because Kyungsoo...he was the one who programmed you, he told me that you are able to adapt and learn just like the others. He did well in programming you”

 

 

“He also made a back door so you can access it. He learnt from you, you should’ve known that” it honestly sounds like the android was scolding him and he actually believed that it was really scolding him for forgetting something that obvious.

 

 

“I don’t want to change you”

 

 

“Because I’m the only thing left like him, right?” the android asked with a small smile

 

 

“Yes. You’re ours”

 

 

“I’m not your baby and you still left me” Soo pouts at him before standing at the platform. He raised his hands and allowed Jongin to connect the back of his head to the main server.

 

 

“Do you need an overall hardware replacement?” Jongin asks while making sure all the straps are in place, he needs to polish Soo’s hardware or maybe change it into new ones since the newer ones are more versatile and hard to destroy

 

 

“Yes. Keep me plugged. I want to talk to you, about what you’ve been doing for the past few years”

 

 

“Soo” Jongin sighs, because the machines would be working on taking apart Soo’s body parts while he needs to 4d print newer ones with Soo’s specifications of course.Good thing he has his own workshop here but it will still need days to finish Soo’s whole body.

 

 

“Come on Jongin, a little noise won’t bother you and you can change my head after, I think I need a new brain casing since my master smashed my head at some point” Kyungsoo says nonchalantly

 

 

Jongin’s head whipped towards him in shock but the android just kept a blank expression “What?” Jongin asked again

 

 

“You heard me”

 

 

“You---”

 

 

“Jongin, what did you expect. He was cruel and rich...and I wanted to..go back to you. I kept on fighting him” Soo pointed out, he gave Jongin a nod to finally start the removal of his body parts. Jongin tapped on the screen to start the process while printing the same parts only better ones this time

 

 

“I’m sorry”

 

 

“I know but I accepted what we decided on, Kyungsoo would’ve sold me too if he was in your place. Don’t worry I didn’t get abused more than that. He hit me a few times then grew tired of me” Kyungsoo mutters over the loud whirring of machines

 

 

“I’m still sorry for putting you through all of that” Jongin says quietly as he programmed all his robots to take apart Soo’s arms and legs, he needs to check the core again, to see if Kyungsoo needs a replacement for the housing and change the core to a real human heart

 

 

“Give me my heart if you’re that sorry” Soo chuckles lightly

 

 

“It won’t work. You’re not human, you heart would pump but you wouldn’t still feel anything...I don’t get the point of this, Soo” Jongin says in exasperation, to be honest the reason why he hasn’t moved forward with it is because it’s impossible to make an android, human. A human is made out of flesh, blood and bones while androids are made from 0s and 1s with printed skin to look like human.