Rolling over in my bed as my alarm rung around the room, I stretched my limbs slowly, swallowing a couple of times from sleeping with my mouth ajar. Finally, I sat up and opened my eyes, a shriek leaving my mouth a moment later.

Leo smirked.

Yanking the blankets up over myself as I became alarmed at the boy positioned cross-legged at the end of my bed, I pointed at him shakily and then at the door. “Get out!”

“Why?”

“I was in here sleeping!”

He nodded casually. “And snoring.”

“Oh my god, I told you to stay out there!”

“I got bored waiting for you to wake up,” he admitted, unfolding his legs, both extending up towards my side as he leaned onto his elbow. “Why do humans sleep for so long? I calculated how long I slept the other day and it was exactly for thirty-seven minutes. My battery went from ten percent to forty-seven. From that, I can base my sleep period to full battery life is only ninety-five minutes from critical mode which exists at five percent. Are your batteries much larger and need four hundred and twenty minutes to be at full charge?”

“I’m too tired to deal with this.”

His face dropped. “You need longer than seven hours?!”

“I think we need to set up some house rules today,” I stated firmly, shoving him in his side with my foot and then getting up out of bed. “That’s our first plan for today.”

“Shouldn’t it be addressing your hair?”

Snapping around to look at the boy still sprawled across my bed, I groaned loudly, stomping into the bathroom across from my room. Glancing into the mirror, I gasped, my brown, shoulder length hair looking more wild than usual. “Stupid robot company and stupid me for falling for this situation. I must have restlessly moved around too much last night. Ah, my hair!”

I opted to shower quickly, knowing that attacking my hair would take a lot more effort otherwise. I had been cursed with my mother’s wild curly locks and mindfully attempted to sleep comfortably in one position as much as I could to avoid disasters like this. As I showered, I continued to curse everything that happened yesterday, my petty mind ending all blame on the Busan caller for shocking me enough to need a drink of water. Thinking back on it, I never ended up getting to drink any of it and by the time I got out of the shower, I was so pent up with frustration, placing on my bathrobe and tightening the waist belt with more force than needed. Opening the door, I came to a halt quickly, Leo leaning against my bedroom door, arms folded and an amused expression on his face.

“Is this your morning routine?”

“Okay,” I started, smiling too forcibly that my jaw began to ache. “You have to go wait in the living room now.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s rude to follow someone who is about to get dressed, and so help me I am about to evict you back to your extraction session if you don’t.” Still smiling, I moved to go through the door to my room, Leo shifting just in time to allow me in and for the door to slam shut. I looked at the handle and nodded to myself. “I need to buy locks for some doors.”

Once dressed and with a bowl of cereal in front of me, I sat at my kitchen bench, with a pen and paper beside me. Leo was on the opposite side of the bench, looking at everything curiously.

“Do you not eat like a proper Korean?”

“I grew up overseas.”

“Where?” he enquired instantly and I sighed heavily.

“England.”

He tilted his head for a moment and then nodded. “Is it nice there? Can you speak English? Should I speak English too?”

“Can we just focus on the task at hand now?” I was exasperated, remembering back to the notes on the Leo model being a quiet version. I had hoped this was a difference to his model than the average one or those who had another member from VIXX must suffer from constant headaches. Taking a steadying breath, I then picked up my pen and titled the page House rules for Leo’s stay.

“What happens if the rules are broken?” he asked and I glanced up at him. “Humans are known for breaking rules. You all are with me, isn’t that right? What happens to you if you’re caught?”

“I’ll most likely be fired.”

“Will I be fired too then?”

I nodded. “Your punishment will be the extraction table.”

“You’ve said that more than once today.” He pouted, and I couldn’t help but smile at how innocent he looked when he did that. My mind sprung back to waking up with him in my room however, and I shook my head roughly as if to erase any thought of him being innocent.

“Rule number one. No entering my bedroom or bathroom when I am using it.”

“Do you really need more than seven hours in that charge station? No, it’s called a bed, I looked it up. In bed, is it really necessary?”

“Yes.” I smiled with force again. “You cannot come in at all during that time.”

“What do I do then?” He looked around behind me and sighed. “I read all the books on that shelf last night within an hour.”

I glanced at my overflowing shelves and then gasped. “An hour?!”

“You like a lot of love stories. Do you have a boyfriend? A soulmate?”

I choked on the spoonful of cereal I had just popped in my mouth and Leo spun around, grabbing me a glass of water and passing it over. Thanking him silently, I took a gulp of water and gently smacked at my chest for it to clear up. “Rule number two, stop asking personal questions.”

“So you do? Gunhee-hyung?” I blinked, amazed at his correct way of addressing my friend. Leo seemed to somehow read my brain and then smiled a little. “That’s what he told me to call him. And he said I am meant to call you Yerin-noona. My research shows that the real Leo from VIXX is currently twenty-eight years old in Korean age. On the screen last night it showed your birthday to be the sixteenth of May-”

“I’m two years older,” I intervened and tapped my pen. “Let’s focus?”

“You didn’t answer me,” he said softly, pursing his lips.

“And I won’t be. Rule three, never use boyfriend mode.”

“I don’t have modes that I recognise.”

“Fine, this will never extend past a platonic situation. You are here for me to monitor you and decide if your intelligence is safe enough to expand on.”

Leo nodded in thought. “I feel you wouldn’t be my type anyway.”

“What?!” I gaped at him and Leo grinned to himself. “Excuse me, but you need to like your master regardless. Robots do not have a type.”

“Humans do though.” He glanced over my shoulder at the bookshelf. “In those books-”

“Novels aren’t based on fact. Stories are written for enjoyment. Yes, people prefer one thing to another but it’s more complex than that.”

“I see.” He mused over my words for a moment and then leaned across the bench, smiling lightly at me. “Am I your type?”

My eyes widened and I felt my breath hitch in my throat. Finally, I managed to spit out something. “You’re a robot.”

“So I’m not not your type then.” Leo straightened back up and moved into the living room, flopping down on the sofa and turning on the television.

I groaned inwardly, not knowing how to last until our first meeting with Doctor Jung, let alone the rest of the day.