“I thought it might be best if I came over and delivered these.” Gunhee stepped into my apartment the following morning and looked around, stunned. “You cleaned!”

“I cleaned,” a voice called from within the apartment and I smiled weakly at my friend’s acknowledgement that it would never be this clean if I had done it. “I was bored as she charged.”

“Charged?”

I nodded. “Slept. This weekend has been the longest I’ve ever experienced. What did you bring?”

“Clothes for Leo. I figured since a lot of the fans buy clothes for their bots as part of their experience, that Leo could do with his own small wardrobe.”

“Where am I meant to put all this? Most people have their own rooms for their bot stuff like Sohyun does for Doyoung.”

“Did he receive another face-up?” Gunhee was surprised and followed me into the living area where Leo was watching a rerun of the King of Mask Singer.

“What is a face-up, hyung?”

“You’ve started him up again,” I tiredly announced and patted Gunhee’s arm. “Good luck.”

“What do you mean?”

“She claims I’m too noisy. According to my research, Leo from VIXX can be a quiet person. However, my installation of his mannerisms feels damaged and I require an understanding of everything around me.”

“Ah, Yerin-ah hasn’t fully dealt with the initial setup of a Kboy; it’s natural to be curious. A face-up is where a Kboy can go from one idol to another to please its owner.”

Leo remained silent for a moment. “Do they remember who they were?”

“Yes and no. Say you went from being Leo to Kikwang from Highlight. You would have all your Leo mannerisms reset, and changed to Kikwang’s. But you would remember your owner and her preferences unless she asked for a factory reset so she could start over again with her bot.”

“Everything I learned as myself would no longer exist to me?” Leo’s eyes darkened. “I would be given no opportunity to keep what I treasured?”

Gunhee nodded happily. “Robots don’t treasure anything besides their owners and humans as a whole. That is what we install in all Kboys. They are still happy to go home to their owner after a face-up, don’t worry.”

“Are they really? Don’t they feel like a piece of their history is missing? Don’t they miss being a different way? Besides, your example confuses me. I am taller than Lee Kikwang.”

“Your chip is simply removed and put into a Kikwang model,” Gunhee explained and Leo’s eyes widened. “It’s not painful.”

“It sounds painful. It’s not a face-up at all. You are becoming an entirely different robot.”

I felt another wave of empathy for Leo’s understanding. We agreed on something. I never grasped how it could be called a face-up when they changed so drastically. Perhaps that’s why I could never connect properly whenever I was around Sohyun’s robot. He had received four face-ups so far, thanks to the perks of staff discount. Each time Sohyun was excited for her changed bot and experiencing its new boyfriend mode from the previous was something she spoke a lot about. To me it seemed like roleplay, trading a character in to play a new one. I had never thought ill of her before though, but in that moment, I felt misplaced grief for the loss of the faces he had been beforehand.

I was startled when Leo got up and moved into my blurred view, making me blink away my thoughts and back into clear sight. He stared at me for an intense moment. “No wonder you don’t own a Kboy. Would you be the same? Don’t ever change who I am. This is my chosen form.”

“Aish honestly, it’s not that deep of a process, Leo. Maybe you would prefer being Kikwang,” Gunhee attempted.

Leo shook his head, his eyes never leaving mine, even when he took the clothes from my friend. I nodded lightly, afraid to try and use my voice in that moment.

I wouldn’t change him, ever.

He was uncharacteristically silent for the rest of the day, reminding me of his first meeting where he brooded a lot and seemed desperate. The television had been abandoned, as had any recognition around him. It was an odd experience for me, in the short time Leo had been staying with me I had become accustomed to his questions, his use of the TV and just having a presence in the small apartment. I had lived alone ever since my return to Korea as an eighteen year old student and yet I couldn’t seem to feel at ease in my own company like usual.

By evening, I was unable to take it any longer and went to approach the tall statue on my sofa. “Leo?”

His eyes moved, but he didn’t respond.

“What is your battery level?”

“After charging my battery in the lab I am now on fifty-one percent,” he answered monotonously.

“Do you want to get changed?” He finally glanced at me, which threw me off and I rubbed at my bracelet on my wrist awkwardly. “You don’t have to but I thought maybe we could go for a walk? I need to go to the store for some snacks.”

“Am I allowed out of the house?” His interest was increasing and his eyes started to show more warmth again. It was little things like that which made me wonder how a robot could look so different depending on how he felt. I made a mental note to write this into the records once we got back.

“Well, you came here from the lab, didn’t you? You’ve seen the outside world already.”

Leo nodded. “From hyung’s car.”

“Well, I’ll be with you. As long as you never ever go out alone, it should be fine. My boss brings her robot Kang Daniel to work every day. He even has his own office, funny right?”

He paused in his movement, slumping down onto the couch again. “Her robot has a job. A purpose, other than to please just her?”

“Maybe one day you’ll have one too,” I suggested and he snapped his eyes up to mine, hopeful. I smiled and patted his shoulder. “So a walk?”

“It’s pretty at night with all the lights on.”

Glancing up at Leo as we walked along the street, I smiled and nodded. “Night time is one of my favourite times to be out.”

“But is it safe? I read that crime rates against women at night are increasing. You shouldn’t go out at night without me.”

I didn’t respond; unsure of what emotion I had just felt when he said that.

“Is it necessary for me to wear all this though?” He gestured to the hat and face mask I had on insisted on. He yanked one corner of the mask off and gazed down at me. “What is the point, you’re not wearing one.”

“I’m not based off a famous person though. In the past, people have been harassed when thinking a robot was the real thing. Although it’s burdensome for robot owners, it’s better to be safe than sorry. The real idols like it though, because if they’re dating on the sly, having robots out and about make for easy false leads and added protection for them.”

“Could this be seen as a date?”

I tripped over my foot at the sudden sentence and Leo’s arms reached out for my body, pulling me upright. My heart was pounding and yet I couldn’t move away, confusion overriding every sense of rationale I had. It was Leo who shifted back rapidly, letting me go as if I had hurt him, and as he stepped around me I felt my mind wrestle with his reaction and mine. Why had he let go so quickly? Why did this bother me so much?

I realised Leo wasn’t the only one faced with many unanswered questions.