“Is he awake yet?” were the first words out of my mouth the moment I stepped through the front door, breathing rather loudly. The usual ten-minute bike ride from school barely lasted five minutes in my haste to reach home quickly. I was worrying about Baro the whole day, and even though I was in class I might as well have been absent, because my mind was somewhere else. I nearly failed my History exam because I couldn’t concentrate on the questions. My friends kept asking me if I was ill because I looked pale and listless. They even offered to go and murder Min Jun for me, thinking the break-up was the reason for my lack of focus. It wasn’t. I was more concerned about Baro.

Jinyoung, Shinwoo and Gongchan all shook their heads, and I went upstairs.

Jinyoung had brought Baro up to one of the spare rooms. Lying in the too-large bed, Baro looked extremely small, almost like a child. His face was almost as white as the sheets, and there were lines on his face. He was frowning.

“You’re here,” Sandeul greeted me as I went in. He was sitting on the sofa, reading a book. “He’s been like that all day, he didn’t move at all.”

I sat on the edge of the bed, taking one of Baro’s hands in both of mine.

“Jinyoung says he’ll be all right,” Sandeul informed me as he leaned closer. He took something from his pocket, then handed it to me. It was Baro’s squirrel keychain.  “The light’s still switched on, see? So he should be okay.”

I nodded and took the keychain, but I didn’t feel the least bit reassured. He had been unconscious for most of the day, and we all didn’t know what happened to him. When he came home this morning his cap was dirty, and parts of his jacket were ripped. His shirt was soiled as well, and there were traces of what looked like blood on his shirt and shoes. They weren’t his, obviously. So where did they come from? It wasn’t like him to get involved in a fight. Sure, he was easily annoyed and his mouth had a tendency to get the better of him, but it he was easily mollified.

I left to shower and change clothes, then went back right away. This time Shinwoo and I watched over Baro. Sandeul came up at dinner time, coaxing me to go and eat.

“I’m not hungry” I said, hesitant to leave Baro. I wanted to be there when he woke up.

“You should eat,” Sandeul knelt in front of me. “You can’t get sick. When Baro wakes up and he finds out you got sick, I’m a roast duck. I’ll bring something up for you, if you don’t want to leave him. Will that be okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Sandeul.”

Shinwoo and Sandeul talked as I ate. They were, I think, trying to lighten the atmosphere as we waited. I kept glancing at the clock, feeling my heart grow heavier with each passing hour. Shinwoo took my dishes downstairs, while Sandeul insisted on staying. I smiled to myself. I liked to think that they—Sandeul and Baro—actually care for each other much more than they let on. They argued and teased and insulted each other to no end, but they looked out for each other too. Sort of like the special bond I see between Gongchan and Jinyoung, only made less noticeable because it was hidden deep beneath all those jokes and petty jibes.

“I wonder what sort of trouble he got himself into this time,” I heard Sandeul mutter. He sounded annoyed, but there was a hint of worry in his voice too. I was right, he was worried about Baro.

Which brought another thing into surface. It was something I have been noticing for quite some time now, although I never said anything, because I wasn’t quite sure how to say it. But it seems to me that they were beginning to have emotions. I’d see them laugh or smile or frown, and every time I do, it always seems like there was something in there.

There was a knock on the door, and a moment later Gongchan’s face poked in. “Sandeul, Jinyoung’s calling for you. He needs your help with something.”

“Oh, okay.” Sandeul gave my shoulder a little squeeze as he stood. “Will you be okay in here?”

“She’ll be fine,” Gongchan answered. “I’ll stay with her.”

“No, thanks,” I muttered. “I’ll be fine.”

The door closed, and I turned to see Gongchan walking towards me. He sat on the bed, and his weight made me fall backwards until I collided with his chest. He wrapped his arms around me before I could move, holding me firmly against him, an action that felt familiar—embarrassingly so.

“Hey. Let go of me.”

“Don’t want to.” His lips were against my shoulder, making his voice sound muffled.

“You’re supposed to obey my orders. Let go.”

He pulled me closer. “I’m in a rebellious stage.”

“What?”

“I’m undergoing puberty.”

“You’re a robot. You don’t get to experience puberty.” I pulled away.

He shrugged and held me tighter.  “Quit struggling. You’ve been avoiding me all day, Mi Ra.” I couldn’t see his face, but I knew he was pouting.

“I wasn’t.” What he said was true, though. I was avoiding him. I was still feeling awkward about that thing that happened in the rooftop.

“Yeah, you were. You barely even look at me. Did I do something wrong?” he asked innocently.

I nudged him. Hard. “You have to ask? You suddenly kissed me and—“

“WHY DID YOU KISS AND WHEN DID YOU KISS????”

I recoiled as Baro suddenly sat up, yelling as he glared at Gongchan. His eyes darted to Gongchan’s arms which were still entwined around my waist, and he yanked them off. I stared at him, surprised, as he pushed Gongchan off the bed with his foot. His face was scrunched up in annoyance, but Gongchan only laughed.

“I thought you needed some motivation to wake up,” Gongchan said as he pushed himself off the floor. He emphasized the last two words. “How long were you planning on faking it anyway?”

“Faking?”

Gongchan got to his feet. “He was awake around mid-afternoon, but he pretended to be unconscious. He fooled the others, but not me. Right, Baro?”

I glared at Baro, who was puffing his cheeks as he, in turn, glared at Gongchan. “You were faking it? You selfish squirrel!” All my worry was gone now, replaced by annoyance. I grabbed a pillow and started hitting him on the head with it. “I was so worried about you! We all were! AND YOU WERE FAKING IT THE WHOLE TIME?”

“Hey!” He protested as I continued on my rampage. “Stop! Quit hit-“ He ran and dragged Gongchan to the door, pushing him outside. Gongchan gave me a cheerful wave as Baro slammed the door in his face. Baro faced me, both arms held out in a gesture of submission. I was still brandishing a pillow.

“I’m sorry!”

“YOU STUPID-“ I hit him again, too mad to listen. I almost died, worrying about him. I had been near tears, feeling helpless as I watched him lie on the bed, wanting to help but not knowing how.

“I only did it because I wanted to be alone with you!” he yelled as he tried to avoid my furious swipes. “I was going to wake up when only you and I were left in the room but they wouldn’t leave you alone!”

“I hate you!” I yelled again. “Why did you do that?”

“I said I’m sorry! And why did you kiss Gongchan?”

“I didn’t!”

“You said you did!”

“He kissed me! I wasn’t expecting it!”

We were facing each other with the bed between us. I was still holding the pillow, and Baro had his arms ready to protect himself in case I hit him again. It was a situation I might have found funny, if only I wasn’t so annoyed by what he did.

“But you still kissed!” he shouted.

“And you lied!” I yelled back. I paused. “Why are we yelling?”

“I…don’t know.”

We stared at each other, then collapsed on the bed, laughing. He calmed down after a few moments, but I couldn’t control my giggles as I thought of the wide-eyed expression on his face when I asked why we were talking in raised voices.

“Hey, stop laughing.”

“Okay. Okay. But…” I burst out giggling again.

“Aish.” He tossed a pillow on my face, then lied down beside me. We were silent for a while.

“Where’d you go off to last night?”

“I went to a bar.”

I turned to him with wide-eyes. “You party now?”

He flicked my forehead. “No, silly. I was…I looked for Min Jun.”

“Why?”

“Because of what he did, breaking up with you like that.”

“What did you do?” I asked, remembering the blood.

“I don’t really remember…I might’ve punched him once…Or twice…Or more….” He looked away.

I sat up. “Why did you do that? You shouldn’t have-“

“It’s his fault. And why are you defending him? After what he did to you?”

“I’m not defending him. But what you did was wrong. What if he took revenge on you?”

He smiled. “I could take him.”

“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. “You were unconscious for half a day because of him.”

“It wasn’t because of him,” he said. “I beat him up, remember? Something else happened.”

“What?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”

I dropped back on the bed.

“Did you and Gongchan really kiss?” he asked after another moment of silence.

“Don’t remind me.” It was something I’d rather be buried into the depths of my subconscious, but it kept popping up, pushing itself to surface.

“So you really did?”

“Ugh. Why are you so curious?”

“Because I wish it had been me.”

I wasn’t sure if I heard him right. But before I could ask, the door flung open, revealing Jinyoung, Sandeul, Gongchan and Shinwoo. Sandeul ran straight to Baro, throwing himself over the bed.

“Hey!” Baro yelled as Sandeul landed over his body.”Get off of me, you duck!”

Sandeul refused to let go. “I missed you! I thought you weren’t going to wake up!”

“ Yeah, actually I didn’t want to wake up, because then I’d have to see your face. What are you- Hey! Get your hands off me!” He yelled as Sandeul hugged him even tighter.  I got off the bed and laughed as I watched Baro try to free himself from Sandeul’s enthusiastic hug. A moment later Jinyoung and Shinwoo jumped over them too, making Baro scream even louder as he was crushed under all their weight.

“You didn’t tell them about Baro faking it?” I whispered to Gongchan, who shook his head.

“I know why he did it, anyway. Oh hey, Baro’s keychain.” He picked it up from the floor and handed it to me, before joining the others, who were now wrestling with Baro.

I ran my thumb over the switch. It used to glow a bright green, indicating that the robot was switched on. There was no light anymore. It felt lighter too. I looked at Baro, who was laughing and screaming as four bodies smashed his own on the huge bed.

Keep them, the salesman had said about the key chains. Keep them until the day that you won’t need them anymore.

I still didn’t know exactly what he meant, but that was all right. Baro was fine, and everything was well. I stuffed the squirrel in my pocket, laughing as I watched my robots engage in a pillow fight. There were no clear sides, because they all kept changing allies whenever the opportunity to hit someone came up.

“What are you laughing at?” Baro asked and threw a pillow at me. He smirked, and I could see he was back to his old self again.

I ducked and grabbed another, smiling as I accepted his challenge.               

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Go back to the house, both of you.” I frowned at both Baro and Gongchan.

“I will, but only if Gongchan leaves first.”

“No way, you leave first.”

“If I leave, you might kiss her!”

“Jealous?”

*facepalm* These two…seriously…                                 

They’ve been like that since last night. Baro refused to leave me in a room when Gongchan was there too. Gongchan, on the other hand, kept close to me, especially when Baro was around. Baro was washing the dishes, but he left them when he heard that Gongchan would be walking me to the gate. I shook my head and opened the gate.

Seul Mi and Nam Gyu were standing in front of me, wearing identical expressions of surprise as they registered the presence of the still-bickering boys behind me. I was just scrambling my brains for an explanation when Sandeul’s voice rang out, announcing that I forgot to bring my lunch box. To complete the scene, Shinwoo and Jinyoung emerged from somewhere to say goodbye to me too.

Jinyoung noticed my friends first. “Hello,” he said, bowing slightly as he gave his greeting. “Good morning. You’re Mi Ra’s friends, right? I’m Jinyoung.”

The others followed suit.

Shinwoo adjusted his glasses and smiled politely. “My name is Shinwoo.”

Sandeul grinned widely, waving my lunch box in the air. “I’m Sandeul!”

Gongchan moved to my side and wrapped his arms around me, smiling at my friends. “Hi, I’m Gongchan!”

Not to be outdone, Baro did the same, his arms overlapping Gongchan’s as he hugged me from my right. “I’m Baro.”

My friends stared at me.

I bit my lip, then gave an awkward smile. “Um….Good morning?”

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