I know i uploaded two chapters at once, it's for background, promise

The royal adviser, Lee-eun, was getting impatient waiting for Jung Jaehyun, the royal scientist. 

He had sent him a secret project for him to work on ages ago, and Jaehyun had promised to show him progress today. However, he was waiting for Jaehyun at his lab and he was nowhere to be found. 

“Maybe he’s probably running a few errands, sir, you know how busy that fellow can be,” his assistant, Jeno, reminded him. 

“He promised to show me the prototypes today and I do not have time to be wasted!” Lee-eun yelled at him, hitting him with his clipboard. Jeno raised a hand to touch his face and winced at how sore it had gotten. “You fool. You don’t know anything about professionalism-“

The door to the lab suddenly opened, Jaehyun looking startled at the two. “Hello, Sir, why didn’t you informed me that you were present?” he asked.

Lee-eun looked like he wanted to blow a fuse, yet his voice remained stable. “Why, we did, sir, we knocked on your door plentiful of times!”

Jaehyun shook his head. “You’re supposed to ring the doorbell,” he said, pointing to a small circle next to the door. “I can’t hear anyone knocking from inside.”

Jaehyun opened the door wider and went inside, making Lee-eun and Jeno follow him in. They passed through the small foyer and were faced with the sight of the entire lab inside. 

The whole room had white walls and was well-organized (definitely more organized than usual – Jaehyun was a scientist, he was always messy.) There were many sets of lab tables with different inventions and samples on them, and the main desk was covered with stacks of books and papers. 

Near the front of the room, next to the chalkboard, was a small wooden table with four sets of chairs around it. One of the chairs was inhabited by a man, with red hair and a slit on their eyebrow. They didn’t speak at all, instead, hands folded on their lap and staring intently at the newcomers. 

“My, I didn’t know you replaced your student,” Lee-eun said. “Although it was to be expected, he was tough to handle.”

“Jaemin?” Jaehyun asked. “Nah, he’s not fired, he just went to get some supplies for me. This,” he motioned to the man sitting, who had yet to make a commotion. “is Taeyong.” 

Having finally been introduced, Taeyong bowed down his head in respect. “Pleasure to be acquainted,” he said. 

“I hope you finally had made progress on what you’ve been assigned,” Lee-eun reminded Jaehyun. “You have been working on them, have you?"

Jaehyun wanted to laugh. “Sir, you’re looking at him.”

“Wait, excuse me?”

“Yes, he’s one of the five prototypes,” Jaehyun reassured him. “Known as the TY model, but that can be a handful so I call him Taeyong for short.”

Lee-eun walked closer to Taeyong and gave him a look-over. “So you can control him?”

“I mean, yeah, but he’s in his normal mode right now,” Jaehyun said.  “Follow me.”

Jaehyun took them to one of the doors in the lab and keyed in his pass code and fingerprint, which allowed him access. 

The room was much smaller than the main room of the lab, but the sight of this one was much more surprising. For there in the back of the room, were five tanks, four of them being occupied each by someone in an unconscious state. 

“These are known as models K, R, L, and M,” Jaehyun said, pointing to each one respectively. “And Taeyong is model TY. So far, Taeyong has been passing all the tests but I have yet to wake up the other models from their state.”

“How do you manage to control them, though?” Lee-eun asked him, staring intently at the four figures asleep in their tanks. The models in the tanks didn’t appear to be submerged in any kind of liquid, but they had some needles coming out of their backs. “Any kind of device?”

Jaehyun sat down in front of the desk in the room, which had a series of screens attached to the wall in front of them. He put the headphone set around his ears and typed a series of pass codes on the keyboard. “To prevent it from getting in the wrong hands, I had set it up so that they could only be controlled here,” he explained. 

After pressing a certain button, one of the screens turned to a cam, showing the sight of the room they were in, more specifically, them. 

“Wait, what is it that you just ?” Lee-eun asked him. He turned around to face the room. “There’s cameras in this room?”

“Of course I have cameras, but this isn’t a typical camera,” Jaehyun explained. “Cover your face,” he shouted at the microphone on his headset.

Instantly, Taeyong lifted his hands to cover his face, and the screen that had acted like a camera turned dark, with hands blocking the view. 

“There’s a chip on their back that allows them to carry out orders since it sends it to the nerves on their spinal cord, up to the brain,” Jaehyun said. “This specific screen allows you to receive input on what Taeyong’s senses are picking up, and these other screens are for the other models.”

He turned off the control mode from Taeyong and turned off the computer system. “I have added a lot of security measures so that they don’t get controlled by the wrong person, but I am hoping they can be used to aid the greater good. They have so much knowledge in their brain, they can be used in so many professions, they can help detect certain people and dangers, can aid with labor, so much good things, I am really excited-“

“Yeah, yeah, when will you have it done?” Lee-eun interrupted him.

“Oh, certainly in a month,” Jaehyun said. “They all need to be tested, and I have some bugs and glitches to work out, for example, model R is a lot shorter than what I expected, but that’s not a big issue, I’m more concerned how their organs will work once they get off the life supports, Taeyong is doing really well, but-“

“I want them done in a month, like promised.” Lee-eun made his way to the door, giving the prototypes one last look. “Jeno! Hurry up, fool, we don’t have all day.”

Jeno had been staring at model R until he hurried over. “I’m sorry sir!”

“Idiot.” They closed the door behind them, leaving Jaehyun alone with Taeyong. 

Jaehyun couldn’t help but smile at Taeyong. “You’re going to do so much good, I can feel it.”

***

“Gold?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Solution C?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Slice of cake?”

Jaemin looked at Jaehyun, his mouth covered in frosting. “My apologies, sir.”

“No worries, get some more slices from the fridge, will you?” Jaehyun said. He grabbed the small pile of gold coins and the tube with Solution C (just a random mixture of chemicals that Jaehyun had asked Jaemin to mix together) and set them down on the table, Taeyong staring at him the entire time. 

He handed the pile of coins to Taeyong. “Carry these for me, please,” he asked, Taeyong carrying them cautiously. “Now, can you tell me the weight of these?”

“Around 11.352 ounces collectively,” Taeyong responded, earning a smile from Jaehyun.

Jaemin came back with the cake, staring at Taeyong wide-eyed. “That’s so cool! How did he do that?”

“The receptors in his hands and body are highly advanced,” Jaehyun assured him. He took the coins from Taeyong and set them back on the table. “Now, I’m going to pour some of this solution on your hand,” Jaehyun said, opening the vial and pouring a small drop on his palm. “Can you tell me the concentration?”

“70% dihydrogen monoxide, 5% sodium chloride, 5% glucose, and 20% hydrochloride-“

“Hydrochlo- , I forgot I added bleach,” Jaehyun said. “Well, it won’t corrode your skin in small amounts.” He grabbed one of the plates that Jaemin had prepared with cake and took a bite. “Yo, this is actually pretty good.” 

“Taeil made it, it’s delicious,” Jaemin said, grabbing another slice for himself. “I’ll asked his assistant for more later.”

“That’s a good idea.” Jaehyun took another forkful and held it out for Taeyong. “Here, try it.”

Taeyong hesitated, but leaned forward and took the bite anyways, chewing on it slowly. Since he got many nutrients from one of the needles, he didn’t need food, although it didn’t hurt his body to grab some – he was human, after all, although made in a lab, but still the same human DNA. 

After swallowing, he asked Jaehyun, “Do you want me to tell you the composition, sir?” 

“No, I just wanted you to try it,” Jaehyun said. “Although Taeil didn’t add poison, did he?” he asked, causing Jaemin to spit out his cake.

“No signs of poison or diseases, but unhealthy amount of sugar,” Taeyong said. 

“That’s the point,” Jaehyun said. “It’s dessert, it’s supposed to be unhealthy.”

“Why would anyone choose to eat unhealthy?” Taeyong asked. 

While Jaemin continued to eat another slice of cake, thankful that Taeil isn’t out to get them, Jaehyun sat down in front of Taeyong. “Dessert is one of those pleasures in life that give humans joy,” he explained. “Maybe it’s not healthy, but it doesn’t harm us to have some every once in a while.”

“Eating excessive sugar can lead to diabetes, heart-“

“Yeah, let’s not traumatized poor Jaemin here, shall we?” Jaehyun interrupted him. He already had three bowls of chips today and no actual meals, the last thing he wanted to feel was how unhealthy the cake was. 

“Sorry, sir,” Taeyong replied, bowing down his head. 

It hit Jaehyun why he felt a bit uneasy about model TY – he was extremely apologetic and reserved, always waiting for instructions even though he wasn’t in control mode, like a robot (although those were very rare). Humans don’t usually act like that, and although Taeyong had some technology in his body, he’s still human. Are the wires somehow interfering with his brain even when the control disc isn’t in use, or just how the DNA evolved him to be? 

He jumped out of his seat and took his notebook. “Jaemin, get me another model quick. I think we have another bug in our hands.” 

Jaemin look a bit surprised, but knew it was coming eventually – they had to test all the models, after all. Taeyong also showed signs of being surprised, wondering what he did wrong. 

Jaehyun had to remember to write that as well, although he felt a bit bad for making Taeyong feel that way. 

“Oh, don’t worry, Taeyongie,” he said, ruffling Taeyong’s hair. “It’s not you, I think I did something. No, you’ll always be perfect to me.”
 

***

The breakout happened a few days later. 

By then, they had only done tests on Model R, per Jaemin’s request. Jaehyun had decided that Model TY was ready to go, but for safety reasons, he can never have two models out at the same time. Not that Taeyongie could hurt anyone, but that was just Jaehyun’s protocols. 

Model R did prove to have it’s – no, his – own personality. A bit snarky and sassy, but still kindhearted in Jaehyun’s opinion. He did bite Jaemin’s finger, but mostly because Jaemin was standing a bit too close. Understandable – the guy just had boundaries, they should be respected. 

It wasn’t even two days when Jaemin said he was in love. When Jaehyun asked him about Jeno, all Jaemin said was “I can love two people if I want to.”

And that was that. 

The weird part was that the breakout wasn’t because of Model R – it was Model K. Model K hasn’t even been brought to consciousness yet, and there was no one in the lab that could turn him on. Only Jaehyun had that ability, and it was more than some passwords and fingerprint – when scanning your finger, it also secretly took a blood sample, and it had to match Jaehyun’s DNA. 

So someone breaking into the lab was out. And even if the model was distinct enough to wake up on its own, how did it break the bulletproof glass? No human should have strength to break through. 

For now, Jaehyun was positive of two things. 

One, he only had four prototypes now. 

And two, he had a likely chance of getting fired now.