We were all sitting on the floor.  I on one side, leaning against the wall, and all five of them on the opposite side.  Jinyoung, whose box I opened first, sat in the center.  On either side sat two more of the robots. Gongchan sat on the extreme left. He was the second tallest of all the guys, with dark hair and a face that somehow looked younger, even though I know they were mechanical objects and therefore age did not apply to them. Shinwoo sat next to him. He was the tallest one, and he wore glasses. He also had long hair which reached up to his shoulders. He had tied his hair in a ponytail, since it kept blocking his face when he moved. On the extreme left sat Sandeul, with brownish hair and eyes that always seemed to be smiling. He looked almost innocent, and every single thing seemed to amaze him. Beside him was Baro,who wore a cap that hid part of his black hair, big, innocent looking eyes, and rather large front teeth, much like a squirrel’s.

They all had their own eccentirities, but they managed to seem to fit in well with each other. At least, until Baro started annoying Sandeul by poking his cheek, which ended up in a fight, and Jinyoung had to break it up. They quieted a bit, but then Baro started poking Sandeul when the latter turned away, then looking completely innocent and clueless every time Sandeul turned to see who poked him.

Now and then I thought of just bolting out and leaving them there. I sighed. Jinyoung  had been helpful, so far. He helped open the boxes. He looked skinny, so I was understandably amazed when he managed to open each box under a five minutes when it took me an hour. They pretty much had the same reactions when I switched them on (the key chains, their “switches”, were on the floor, standing like little soldiers. CLICK HERE!). They just looked at me and waited until I spoke first. The next reactions varied from surprising to irritating.

Sandeul, who came from the duck box, immediately jumped out and hugged me, calling me ‘princess’ and ‘madam’. Shinwoo, the one from the bear box just nodded and smiled, then began cleaning the stray colored foams from the boxes, tutting every now and then at how messy the living room was. Gongchan  from the puppy box pinched my cheeks and made cute faces, refusing to leave my side even as Sandeul tried to pull him off. It was a wonder to see guys fussing over me. Baro the squirrel was, however, an entirely different story. The first thing out of his mouth when I introduced myself was that my cheeks looked too bloated. I glared at him now, but he was too busy playing pranks on the duck to notice.

I cleared my throat, and they all instantly paid more attention to me. Baro and Sandeul had been  lying on the floor, either hugging or choking each other, but they both sat up straight. Gongchan was busy playing with the colored foam, and Shinwoo had to elbow him to make him pay attention. I cleared my throat again, feeling my cheeks heat up with all the attention. But I had something important to tell them, and I had to tell them now.

“Look you guys..robots…whatever. I have something to tell you. I’m really—“ My words were interrupted when Sandeul suddenly spoke.

“You’re extremely happy to have us?” he guessed, grinning at me. Baro hit his head from behind.

“You’re supposed to raise your hand when you talk, not just spout off words! That’s impolite!”

Sandeul pouted, then raised his hand. “You’re extremely happy to have us!”

My jaw dropped at his enthusiastic assumption. My thoughts weren’t exactly running along those lines. I tried again. “Was I was trying to say was…”

“You are in love with us!” Sandeul interjected again. At a glare from Baro, he raised his hand. “You love us already!”

Baro apparently had enough, because he grabbed Sandeul’s head and stuffed it under his armpits. Sandeul’s protests were muffled. Jinyoung just shook his head and nodded for me to continue.

“I have to return you guys,” I said directly. “I’m sorry, but I can’t have you here.”

I never thought robots were capable or surprise or shock, but they all had the same slack-jawed expression of someone who had just been told it’s their last day alive. Gongchan had been playfully blowing off bits of colored foam from his cupped hands, but at my words his breath caught and he in air, swallowing some of the colored foam along with it. He coughed, trying to get them out. Shinwoo just froze, his mouth hanging open and looking a little lost. Jinyoung stared at me, unblinking. Baro froze too, giving Sandeul a chance to break free of his grip.

“You…don’t want us?” Sandeul asked. He sounded almost hurt.

“No, no,” I immediately said, feeling guilty. “It’s not like that. But I can’t keep you here. You see, when that salesman mentioned robots, I never expected that he was talking about human looking male robots. I’m a girl. I can’t live with you guys, not even if you’re robots. I mean…look at you. You all look so..human. No one would believe me if I said you’re robots, not that I want to tell anyone. Last time I checked, robot technology wasn’t this advanced. This whole thing sound so crazy. I have to return you guys. Which company made you?”

They looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

Baro just shrugged. “We weren’t programmed with that bit of information. “

I let that sink in for a moment.

“Maybe this can help,” Jinyoung said, walking over to me. He handed me a small envelope. “I found that in my box.”

It was a pink envelope with hearts all over it. My name was stamped on the front, with a big smiley. I opened it and took out a piece of paper.

Hi Pretty Girl!

By now, you have opened at least one of the boxes. What do you think? Good-looking, huh? Aren’t you glad you played the game? Aren’t you happy? Of course you are! Ah~  You must be profusely thanking me right now…I could almost hear it! But I will be traveling somewhere far away, and I regret to tell you that I would not be able to hear your overflowing gratitude. But don’t worry, I can feel it.

Anyway, on to business. The robots are animal prototypes, and each of them represents the animal printed on their respective boxes. They will help you, protect you and be faithful to you. By the way, the switches are on the key chains included in the boxes, if you haven’t figured that out. Keep the key chains, and keep them close. That way they know that they belong to you. Keep them until the day you won’t need them anymore(the key chains, mind you, not the robots!) although I guess you can still keep those if you want. Hmm..why do I feel like I have something important to tell you..but I really can’t remember…

Oh, here’s another thing. You need an instruction manual, right? Of course you do. Well, here’s the thing. There isn’t any. The company was so lazy they didn’t even bother making one. Those guys..really…They’re closed now, by the way. Went bankrupt. So now I have to find some other job. And they didn’t even give me my salary>.<

Anway, I have to go. Enjoy the robots!

Love,

Mr. Salesman(I’m going for a mysterious effect here, so I won’t tell you my name)

P.S.

The robots are terrible with directions. I think their GPS is defective. Aish..I know I have to tell you something else..I just can’t remember…Well, anyway..

P.P.S.

I enclosed my picture. What do you think of my airport fashion? Hot, right? Take care!

I pulled out two Polaroids from the envelope. One showed the weird salesman wearing a tan overcoat and sunglasses, sporting what I supposed he meant to be a tough gangster look. The next one was a close-up, with him making goo-goo eyes at the camera. I stuffed both into the envelope.

I hung my head. What was I going to do? How was I going to explain this—all of this—to people, if they asked? What if dad finds out? If I go to school and they stay here, can I be sure that I wouldn’t come home to find the house on fire-or worse, blown to pieces? I wanted to faint. I was too young to have this sort of problem.

I sighed and looked up, only to inch back as I find all of them staring at me, their faces a little too close for my liking. They were looking at me expectantly, almost hopefully. I remembered what the salesman said in his letter. They were bad at directions. Maybe I could pull a Hansel-and-Gretel on them. Take them somewhere far off-maybe a forest..a mountain..the ocean- and leave them there. They’d never find their way back. I’d be free. I started to cheer up as I worked out possible locations.

“Mi Ra is weird,” Gongchan declared, casting me a look. He then whispered to Shinwoo, but I think we all heard every word. “I think she’s planning something, look at her eyes!”

How did he figure that out so quickly? This kid….seriously…

Jinyoung looked at me. “I should probably tell you this now. Remember when I asked you to talk to everyone right after they woke up? And how I never said a word until you spoke to me first?”

I nodded. I had wondered about that.

“You see, the person who hold the key chains automatically becomes our master. Your face and voice has been programmed into our systems, and we recognize no one but you. Only you can give commands to us. We will follow you, and only you. As long as you hold those key chains, you own us.”

I had to digest that for a moment. I reached out and held the key chain closest to me, which was Gongchan’s. Sandeul immediately pouted and his own duck key chain into my hands.

“What if someone else took these? By accident or whatever?”

Jinyoung looked as though he was deep in thought. “I don’t know what would happen. But just in case, take care of them, okay? From now on, we are yours, Lee Mi Ra.”