By the time Daehyun's self-esteem had reboosted, it was nearly two in the afternoon, and that meant we had wasted the whole morning waiting. However, Zelo and Jong Up had managed to amuse themselves by accompanying the huge bear, whilst Yongguk cleaned the chicken. I had been fortunate enough to miss the scene, as I was certain that his perfectionist level would level with Jong Up's. Youngjae, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, Zelo," I called, as I leapt down the porch of the chalet, squinting in the noonday sun.

He ignored me, and went on playing with the bear in the river.

"Zelo-yah!" I called again.

No response.

I frowned and picked up an apple with one hand form the pile lying by the firepit. Yongguk stared at me warily as I aimed, threw my arm back, steadied myself and...

BONK, followed by a very loud yelp.

"OWWWWWWW!" The youngest unit howled, as the apple flowed down the river with a new dent on its face. Only then did Jong Up also paid attention.

"What was that for?" Zelo whimpered, rubbing his head obsessively and glowering at me.

"Ignoring me, what else? Where's Youngjae?"

"Huh?"

"Youngjae, where is he?"

"He was by the car a second ago, looking for the tablet you loaned him."

I glanced at the vehicle, now covered in leaves and whatnot. There were patches of white that looked suspiciously like bird crap on the hood. No Youngjae, though.

Then...

CRASH.

Zelo disappeared behind a log as Jong Up leapt forwards towards the unconscious unit in fright. My mouth fell open and the others gaped.

"Zelo!"

"Oi, youngest!"

"Jun Hong!"

"MAH! Don't scare me like this, wake up!"

I stared on as the other shook and slapped Zelo in attempt to make him wake up, dumb with shock. I couldn't have killed him. I couldn't have hurt him that badly...

A cough lifted the rock on my heart as quickly as it had weighed down and I felt my own legs go weak as I watched his long limbs twitched. The others sighed in relief.

Then...

"What the heck is this?"

We all turned dumb.

Zelo shook his head vigorously and looked around, blinking and squinting in the daylight, staring around like a cub fresh from its pit.

"Oi, get your hands off me!" He snapped at Daehyun as though burnt and shook his fingers off his shoulder.

"Uh-oh," Daehyun muttered.

"Not again," Jong Up sighed.

"Your department should've designed Zelo better!" Him Chan roared at Yongguk who looked scandalised.

"Why is it my fault that the kid goes nuts every two light-years?"

"Guys," I said slowly as I watched Zelo begin to train his eyes menacingly on me, "what do you mean by 'goes nuts'..."

"Foreign Galactic Intruder detected!" Zelo suddenly positively, screamed and to my horror, leapt towards me like a jackrabbit, pinning me down at the shoulders onto the ground. I struggled wildly, lashing out with my feet as I felt his elbow's pressure upon my neck and his kneecap pressed on my stomach. He was unexpectedly strong and his long limbs pressing down on my ribcage didn't help It hurt, and it felt like he was trying to kill me. I could hear the others yelling but their voices began to drain away and I thought I was going to...

Air flushed back into my trachea as his grip slackened. I felt my pupils roll back in place and I gasped desperately for sweet breaths of air. His limbs left me and I saw Yongguk and Him Chan dragging him off me.

"That maniac," I gasped, "just tried to kill me."

"Youngjae, fix him!" Yongguk roared as he struggled with the writhing unit.

"He's not here, remember?"

"Then, do something!" Him Chan shouted.

Jong Up leapt forwards and placed both hands on his neck. I heard a short crack, a wince and the hassle ended abruptly as Zelo fell limp in their arms.

"That was close," Daehyun muttered, staring down his face.

"Well, at least he didn't commit any offence," Jong Up smiled around brightly, "he puked into the Governor's gown the last time, remember?"

"Ugh, don't remind me, she made me wash the damn dress," Him Chan turned green.

"That was better than six lightyears ago," Yongguk had joined in with the reminiscence, "remember when he snuck into Civic 3's Jail for Females and tried to start a book club? He had smoked through the customs in a dress and make-up. The sight of him."

"Oh, my gawd," Daehyun shook his head.

"Guys," I finally interrupted, "I don't feel good."

They paid more attention than I expected and Him Chan leapt over to examine my neck. He clicked his tongue with a frown.

"Wow, it's turned purple, what the heck did Zelo do to you?"

"He tried to kill me, that's what! What the hell was his problem?"

"His CPU systems are unstable," Daehyun raised a hand, as though he was in a classroom, "our Engineer had some problems with his medulla wires because he was designed during our Technological Crisis, our warehouse and systems where we stock chips and nervous data had been infiltrated by intergalactic pirates..."

"Guys," I turned green again as I watched the long figure lying on the ground.

"...from Planet EXO, of course, Commander Suho denied their Identification Chips when we handed the villians over, claiming that they could be forged and Planet EXO hadn't had any pirates since their new Governor took over..."

"Guys," I repeated, gripping my own neck delicately.

"...but we weren't that convinced, since they had the features of EXOtices and their dialects as well..."

"Guys, listen..." I squeaked, and backed away as Zelo's long figure twitched unnaturally and pushed himself off the ground with large palms.

"...but since we had some kind of intergalactic alliance with them, our Governor refused our claims to undergo a thorough investigation. So, we ended up throwing the pirates into our Missile Jail for Top-Graded Security on them plus a temporary stasis to clear up..."

Zelo looked up from the ground and trained his eyes on me once again.

He smiled.