That night, I stayed up until late, curious to see Kui Xian go outside by himself. He left around 10 PM and didn’t come back until 8 in the morning. I was already up - I had gone to bed right after he had left - and I watched as he silently went to his own “bed” to recharge his energy. He slept most of the day, and when he woke up he came directly to me to hug me, not really caring about the fact that I was concentrated on some difficult codes and that this hug made me forget what I was just about to come up with. But I didn’t really care. I liked hugging a lot, and Kui Xian hugging me from behind my chair was just really soothing.

“Kui Xian.”

“Hmm?”

I was surprised. That was new. Usually he would say my name or “yes”.

“Hey, Kui Xian. Do you still really want to keep it a secret from me? That place where you go at night.”

“Yes.”

“But… why?”

“Because you don’t need to know. I will tell you someday. But not now.”

“Can’t you just give me a hint? So that I won’t be worried…”

He seemed thoughtful - as much as a robot can be - for a moment, before replying.

“Okay. It’s a place with lots of humans. I get to learn a lot about humans there.”

I nodded, half-lost in my own thoughts. A place with a lot of humans where he could learn about us. So he went somewhere public then. That didn’t help me much, but I shrugged.

“Okay. Thank you, Kui Xian.”

That night, he went out too. The other night too, and all the other nights until a week later. When he came back in the morning, he went directly to me to put something in my hand. When I looked, I discovered it was money. I frowned.

“Kui Xian? Where did you get this?”

“At the place I went at night. I can still get some more if you need more, but you will have to wait until next week.”

“Wait. Are you telling me that you… worked?”

“Yes.”

“But… how? What is your job?”

“I sing at what humans call a ‘bar’. They really like my voice, so I learned songs and I sing them there.”

I stayed silent for a bit, before actually understanding what this really meant.

“Kui Xian. You… actually went to look for a job? And you went by yourself in there? And you asked them to let you sing as a job?”

“Of course. It’s not good for you to only eat bread, fruits and cheese.”

I bit my lip, trying not to cry. Happily, of course. My robot - my Kui Xian - had been kind of worried for me. He had found a job to help me with money… and I bet he had done this because we had done something special on his birthday.

“Kui Xian… thanks. Thanks a lot. You… you don’t know how much this means to me.”

He tilted his head to the side and hugged me.
 

“Do you need more? I told them I would maybe come back for another week.”

“No, Kui Xian… it’s okay. It’s okay like this. Just don’t make me worry again, okay? I don’t like it when you go somewhere by yourself and you don’t tell me where you went.”

“Because I am a robot?”

“Because I like you a lot, Kui Xian.”

‘And because I’m afraid someone will try to take you away from me’, I thought. After all, Kui Xian was mine. He was my robot, my creation, but also the only person I could talk to. And, as weird as this could be, I was starting to feel something very strong for him. Something that felt like love.