It took exactly one week for Leo to stop waiting for me to return home. At first, he had remained in the same spot as the first time, his small smile playing on his lips as I entered the apartment. He asked questions and found my cold approach confusing but not a deterrent. By day four, he wasn’t on the landing but leaning against the sofa. He smiled weakly, but said nothing. It progressed from there to being on the sofa or in the kitchen; his eyes dark and barely a greeting fell from his lips.

I knew it was cruel, but it was the only way I could control my own emotions. It wasn’t easy though, and the first night he hadn’t waited for me, I had cried myself to sleep. Our relationship was also strained, Leo finding my lack of interest in answering all his questions in more depth frustrating. All the same, he continued to try each day with something new and the past weekend had been the most aggravating, not having work to separate us at all. The only thing he hadn’t asked which surprised me greatly, was why I was being the way I was towards him. It made me curious to know why he hadn’t and yet I was too pathetic to pose the subject to him myself.

I was a little too thankful for the new week beginning, and as we walked into Kboys that morning, I was happy to see the elevator I required and headed towards it.

“Yerin-ah, why are you in such a hurry today? Aren’t you going to say goodbye to us?” Gunhee called after my departure and I merely raised my hand in a curt wave, pressing the button on the elevator and waiting for it to open. I stepped inside and looked out as the doors took their time to close, the other two waiting on their own elevator to do the same. Leo’s stare reached mine and I blinked, lowering my head quickly as the doors finally closed.

“Acceptance will eventuate,” I told myself quietly, gripping at the handle of my bag more tightly. I willed my emotions back, the tears wanting to spill again. I was exhausted from holding myself in this restrictive state, suffering alone over something that had been so amateur. When had I started to feel more than just empathy for the robot? I still couldn’t come to a definite moment where the change had occurred. Further, I still hadn’t been able to understand what the exact emotion I had experienced was. Relief from loneliness? A comfortable feeling from having a new friend? Something more? Something I had never considered happening from my side of things? I remembered back to the house rules and adamantly telling Leo not to use boyfriend mode on me. Had it been a precursor that my mind had prepared for this? If he showed me some kind of relatable emotion that the boyfriend mode would use, did I know somehow back then I would enjoy it?

He had yet to show signs of that mode to me that I was aware of, though.

Sighing heavily, I entered the office and placed my bag down at my desk, glancing around at how empty it was. I checked my watch and noticed it wasn’t early at all, the usual bustling of staff missing from the scene. I walked through the room, wondering if I was late for a staff meeting and stopped, finding Daniel in his office.

“Yerin-noona, good morning.” He smiled as usual and I nodded softly. “Have you forgotten something for your training?”

“Training?” The robot nodded. “We have training today?”

“Yes, noona. It was on the board all last week, did you miss it?” I looked behind me at our communal whiteboard and saw the message clearly there.

“Thank you Daniel.” I bowed and headed out in a daze towards the lab. Just how much was I missing within my enclosed protective cocoon?

“Welcome to our monthly robot training session, staff. Today we will be working on the Boyfriend mode. Most diagnostic bots have recently undergone a new patch with further enhancements that we need to train you on. This patch will be released to all customers in the following two weeks if training is successful. Shall we commence?”

I stared back at the Jinyoung from B1A4 in front of me in horror at today’s session, wanting nothing more than to curl up in a ball in the corner of the lab instead. It wasn’t my first time in this mode obviously, but given my current state of mind, I wondered how well my assessment would go. I sighed and cleared my throat. “Jinyoung, Boyfriend mode.”

“Entering Boyfriend mode now, Yerin-noona.” He blinked and then smiled, raising his hand to cover his mouth and as a bashful laugh left him. I was surprised at how sweet his initial stance was and couldn’t help but smile. His own smile continued to grow and he lifted his hand into a wave. “Ah noona, hi!”

“I missed you,” I said, following the dialogue on the screen behind him. Jinyoung’s face lit up more and I could feel a happy atmosphere surround us. The new patch was the most realistic yet. Glancing around the test room at the other bots and staff, it seemed a lot of others were surprised as well. My eyes fell on another pairing in particular, with a Leo model. I knew it wasn’t my Leo as he was up on the balcony above with a couple of the doctors. All the same, I felt a small sense of jealousy at that staff member getting to experience this mode with a Leo.

A hand soon reached to my face and I flinched, turning back to look at the Jinyoung in front of me. He pouted playfully and then grinned. “Only have eyes for me, hm?”

He had already deviated from the test with this sentence but then I realised it was me who hadn’t stayed focused. I tilted my head to the side and smiled. “What would you do if I didn’t?”

Hurt was evident in the robot and his hand dropped from my face to grab my hand. He looked at it and then rubbed it gently. Finally, his eyes returned to mine. “I would work harder to show you that I am the man for you, noona.”

“Are you?” I asked impulsively and Jinyoung blinked.

“I can be if you let me. I really want to treat you well.”

“Can you?”

Jinyoung’s face grew blank. He was processing harder than he should be and then his face seemed to look in pain. I gasped and reached up to touch him, the bot pushing me off. “You don’t love me at all, do you?”

My eyes darted up to the balcony to the doctors and found Leo’s stare on us. His own regarded me darkly and I turned back to Jinyoung, his eyes having followed mine. I shook my head and smiled. “Jinyoung, I like you, a lot.”

“Don’t lie, you like him. Not me.” He lowered his head slowly and I was unsure of what to do. He suddenly grabbed at his chest and started to shudder. “It hurts.”

“What does?”

“This area hurts, why does it hurt? My system indicates in a human this is where your heart is. Does it hurt here for you too? Noona, why did you have to hurt me? All I’ve done is loved you. What do I need to do for you to make the pain stop?”

I was at a loss for words. The patch they were using seemed to have some of Leo’s AI infused into it. I couldn’t understand why they would risk it, especially when Leo hadn’t shown any use of his boyfriend mode settings to me at all. I reached out to touch the robot but stopped, his pain hurting me more than it should in this simulation. I began to cry, my emotions heightened from the experience.

“Shut him down,” I heard a voice call and glanced to my side, seeing Doctor Jung and Leo there. The doctor shook me roughly and then pointed at Jinyoung. “Shut him down!”

I trembled and then looked at the Jinyoung in front of me. “Jinyoung, Operation mode.”

He stopped shaking and stood up straight, looking at me for a moment and then at the myriad of doctors now around us. He turned his head to the side in confusion and raised his hand to his head. “What just happened?”

We all stared at him for a moment, Leo let out a hollow laugh. “Looks like you broke another robot, Yerin.”

I glanced up at him, his smile fading and he walked off, his back view never looking colder than it did in that moment.