I'm too excited to post this so I haven't edited properly XD please let me know if the mistakes impede on your reading (I will fix them anyway just not now ^-^)

“What the-?!” The loud shout jolted Yongguk awake and the slam of the bedroom door against the wall had the four roommates scrambling out of bed. Adrenaline coursed through each one of them until their sleepy eyes focused on their manager.

“Hyung? What’s wrong?” Yongguk rubbed at his face with both hands before he took in his hyung’s seething expression.

“Who the hell is on the couch?” Manager Kang then took note of Yongguk’s attire – sweatpants. “Why aren’t you ready Yongguk?” The boys were used to their happy manager who joked around with them; it was frightening to see him mad. Yongguk’s heart suddenly stopped. He had completely forgotten. Junhong was on standby on the sofa, lying down with a blanket over him to make it look more like he was sleeping. Yongguk had also forgotten that the manager was coming early to take him to the recording studio.

“He’s a friend of Jongup’s; he stayed the night because he got into some trouble.” Youngjae answered the manager’s first question quickly and with the lie they had agreed on the night before in case the situation they were in was going to occur. They had said he was Jongup’s friend because it was the most believable and he’d been in trouble because what else would give Junhong the excuse to stay overnight? Yongguk couldn’t be more thankful for Youngjae’s forethought.

“He better be gone before we get back.” The manager pointed at Youngjae with a stern look and then gave the same to Yongguk. “Get some clothes on, we’re leaving.” Yongguk shot Youngjae a thankful look before hurrying into the bathroom. “What kind of trouble was he in to have been able to sleep through my yelling?” The manager chuckled as he peeked around the bedroom door that had swung back around. He could just see Junhong’s feet with the angle he was at.

The boys relaxed a little, knowing their hyung had calmed down after the short bout of fury. Himchan just imagined how Junhong looked in his slumber – expressionless, breathless – colourfully dead. “We, uh, just gave him something to help him sleep. He had a rough day yesterday.” Manager Kang nodded and sighed, not seeing through Himchan’s lie but accepting it wholeheartedly. He didn’t think they had anything to hide from him.

Everyone turned to Jongup when he groaned. He stood behind Youngjae, stretching his body to take the tiredness from his muscles. When he was done, they watched him move passed everyone into the kitchen, seemingly unaffected by the morning’s events.

“Morning hyung.” He spoke with a smile and his husky greeting was returned. Just before he disappeared, Jongup yawned and the others felt themselves doing the same as they followed him out single file, Himchan and Youngjae greeting their manager the same way.

“Okay, I’m ready.” Yongguk appeared with a t-shirt and jeans on instead of his pyjama pants. He had found everyone eating breakfast but knew he didn’t have time for that. He could get something on the way to the studio.

“We’ll be gone until about 12. Then I’m coming back to take you to a fitting for “The Show” at 3.” He nodded to Himchan who nodded back. The manager didn’t seem happy to be awake at 8am but Himchan could tell how he just hadn’t had his coffee yet, the manager was always happy after his coffee. “Yongguk you need to re-record the second half of the song okay? That’s the part that got messed up.” The eldest nodded and everyone knew from his look how he was already concentrating on the lyrics and how he would work harder than the first time to get them right. “We haven’t got long until the song is released and we can’t put the date back any further.”

Jongup sighed at all the business talk so early in the morning and went to sit on the armchair opposite Junhong. The manager grumbled a ‘goodbye’ and Yongguk waved to his friends before he was pulled out at a quick pace.

Himchan and Youngjae stared at each other for a long and tense moment before they both walked over to the couch. Himchan sat down on the second armchair beside Jongup and Youngjae stood behind him.

“What do we do now then?” Jongup glanced at his hyungs who didn’t seem to have an answer to his question. Himchan just sat with his fist beneath his chin and his eyes squinted in thought. Jongup downed the glass of water in his hand and Himchan shrugged at his loss for words.

Yongguk had brought him home the night before with the help of his cousin but before then had only told Himchan of the plan. When he came back and the others were tired and showering after practice, he had Junhong go to ‘sleep’ before he introduced him to his roommates. Himchan had worried about bringing Junhong to the dorm but after seeing the boy-bot, it wasn’t so bad.

Jongup and Youngjae had been disbelieving at first but the red glow of a standby light on the boy’s navel had proven them wrong as well as the switch that was just below Junhong’s hairline on the back of his neck. Aside from that, and his relation to Minhyeon, the three remaining friends knew nothing about Junhong, and Junhong didn’t even know they existed.

“Why don’t we wake him up?” Youngjae suggested as he shrugged as well. It seemed like the obvious answer but Himchan was more worried for what to do after that.

Jongup grunted a ‘yes’ and strode over the boy-bot. He sat Junhong up straight and flicked the switch on the back of the robot’s neck. There was a short humming sound before everything was silent. Junhong’s eyes fluttered open and his lips parted, in an almost inaudible breath.

“Hello.” The greeting was strange, almost unnatural but at the same so life-like Himchan couldn’t believe his ears. The boy sounded a little cold but he wasn’t lacking in the emotional properties of his voice. His word simply sounded rehearsed, as if it was like the start-up screen to a laptop.

“Who are you?” The boy-bot sounded frightened and Himchan marvelled at the creation he was. Junhong was a human made of metal. He lacked nothing but a pulse. The trio stared at the robot in awe for several minutes before Youngjae tapped Himchan’s shoulder lightly.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I’m Himchan.” He pointed to his chest and Junhong directed his gaze towards the eldest of the three cautiously. “This is Youngjae.” Himchan the motioned behind him a little where he knew Youngjae was standing, he even glanced at him to seek a little reassurance. “And this is Jongup.” He indicated lastly to the young boy who sat comfortably on the armchair, his face the only thing giving away his reaction to the boy-bot.

“And you’re Junhong right?” Youngjae spoke this time and Junhong’s glassy eyes darted to him. The boy nodded.

They introduced themselves and Junhong was fascinated. He didn’t realise Yongguk would live with so many people. He remembered what Yongguk had said and guessed that these were the people he had gone overseas with. He took note of how each one looked and recorded their names with their pictures.

Himchan had mid-length brown hair that was short on the bottom. The others had their natural black tresses that seemed to be shaped like bowls on their heads. Himchan’s face was very angular, his bone structure prominent and benefiting his features. Junhong’s programmes calculated that Youngjae was a little shorter than Himchan but Jongup was shorter still. Youngjae had very rounded features, a ‘baby-face’ it was called, and Junhong like that, it suited him. Youngjae also seemed heavier than the other two but not by much. Junhong could see how Jongup’s muscles were toned and more defined the others. Jongup had very striking features that were somehow soft at the same time, none of his features overpowering any of the others. Junhong knew he was designed to look like a 15 year old boy and he liked that, since he could tell that Jongup was only a year older than that while Youngjae and Himchan were two and three years older.

Junhong came to the conclusion that the three men before him were handsome.

Junhong blinked but when he opened his eyes he was in a vivid memory. He saw the bored, blotchy face of a man, a factory worker, who had been the first person to flick his switch. He had been inspecting him to see if he worked or should be thrown into the defective pile. Luckily Junhong had been perfect, no part of him was sub-par. The scratchy voice of the man filled his ears once more.

‘This one’s a looker, ay?’ The worker in front of him nudged the woman working beside him to grab her attention. She let out an ‘ooh’ and then they both cackled which the robot assumed was meant to be a laugh.

‘He’s the cutest one yet, I reckon. Too bad he looks so young or I’d take him home me self.’ She let out a nasally snicker.

As the pair continued with their banter, the robot looked about him to see others like himself, his siblings, sitting along the conveyer belt. They were all lifeless and unmoving, their eyes focused ahead of them at the far tin wall. He knew they just weren’t . He bent forward a little to see their faces. There were girls and boys, all of them different, and all of them, according to the programmes that opened as he processed them, pretty and handsome. The robots beside him were handsome, beautiful, the epitome of society’s desires.

‘Oi, mate, look here.’ The factory worker called back the robot’s attention before he felt the back of its neck for the switch.

Junhong glanced around him. He was still in Yongguk’s dormitory. The three guys in front of him were still staring at him, waiting for him to do or say something. Junhong accessed those original files again, the ones that defined to him the height of beauty and desirability. The three men in front of him certainly fulfilled the criteria. They also seemed very kind and gentle people, like Yongguk, and Junhong just hoped that they wanted to be his friend as much as he wanted to be theirs.

He blinked slowly. Hope? Did he really feel hope or was he just saying it? There was something in his chest that made him feel worried, excited and anxious. That was hope? He searched for it in his disk space and found he was right. He felt hope; hope that he could make a good situation of what had happened.

“Jun…Junhong? Junhong-ah? Are you okay?” Himchan waved his hand in front of the boy’s face but he seemed deep in thought. They assumed he may have been processing the information like a computer would, which always took time.

“Yes hyung?” Junhong’s eyes suddenly brightened and he looked at Himchan who was still on the far side of the coffee table.

“Um…oh, nothing.” Himchan sat back in his chair, which Youngjae now sat on the arm of. They were all fascinated but also perplexed by Junhong. He was so realistic that it was strange for them to see the idiosyncrasies that marked him as a machine.

They all sat in silence for a long while and Himchan realised that none of them had showered yet. The abrupt entrance of Manager Kang had startled them all into forgetting their daily routines.

“I’ll be back. I need to shower.” Himchan stood from his seat to go to the bathroom and Youngjae slipped onto the seat of the arm chair. It was more comfortable there than the armrest and Himchan was going to take his time – he always did. The eldest made sure to give Youngjae and Jongup pointed looks before he left, reminding them that they also needed to bathe.

Junhong’s curious stare followed the elder until he disappeared around a corner, then it flickered to Jongup. Youngjae could see how Jongup interested him but he couldn’t work out why. Junhong blinked and seem almost shocked and then a little ashamed when he saw that Youngjae had caught him staring. Jongup was fiddling with his fingers and totally oblivious to the whole thing.

“Do you want to look around the house?” Jongup asked Junhong with an expectant look. Youngjae eyed Jongup but he was strangely glad that he was talking to the boy-bot like any other guest. He made a mental note to tell Yongguk to let Junhong stay, it seemed Jongup and Junhong being together could be a good thing.

Junhong nodded and Jongup stood up, smiling to Junhong to signal to him to follow. When Junhong stood, Jongup splayed his arms and announced that they were in the lounge room. Junhong just nodded. Youngjae tagged along when Jongup headed towards the kitchen. Jongup announced the names of each room – the bedroom, bathroom, hallway – like they were more exciting than the fact that Junhong was a robot. The tour was short, but that was just because their dorm was small. It wasn’t a place that more a few people could live comfortably.

“So that’s it. That’s our dorm.” Jongup nodded and so did Junhong, happy to have seen the place he was in.

“How long have you been living here?” Junhong glanced between them, settling his steady stare on Jongup.

“Oh, I’ve been with TS for about six months now. But I don’t always live here. I still go to high school so sometimes I go home to my parents’ house and just go to practice but during holidays I come stay with the hyungs.” He smiled proudly at his arrangements. Jongup was a full time student so being a trainee came second even though in his heart it was really first. “Youngjae hyung was here a little longer but he’s the same. He stays here more than I do but when it comes to exam time he won’t be here either.” Jongup looked very serious but Junhong just seemed to light up with more and more curiosity.

They all went back to the lounge room and Jongup and Junhong continued chatting, the elder of the pair full of question and the boy-bot full of answers. It was only a little longer before Himchan came back with damp hair and a towel around his neck. He just had on a loose t-shirt and sweatpants since they had the heating on.

Youngjae stood up to have the next shower but Himchan held him back. He didn’t take his eyes off the two youngest boys in the room when he spoke. “It’s nice isn’t it? I haven’t seen Jongup talk this much unless he is helping teach us choreography.” Himchan laughed at his own thought and Youngjae smiled proudly.

Jongup was asking Junhong a multitude of questions and he seemed more and more enthralled with each answer he received. All the strange questions he would come up with, and the ones that required far deeper answers than the hyungs could give, were answered easily by the robot boy. Jongup was much younger than the rest of his roommates but with Junhong there, Himchan could see everything working out well. He had been wrong about Junhong and knew he would have to tell Yongguk. Yongguk would know exactly what to do next.

“Shut down, sorry!” Jongup jumped back in his seat beside Junhong. The boy-bot became rigid and his torso fell to meet his knees. Himchan was taken aback by the sight of it because he just didn’t know what happened – aside from the obvious.

“Ah…hyung, I think he’s broken.” Jongup sat there flicking the on/off switch up and down but Junhong didn’t react. The small light on his navel wasn’t glowing either and it sent Himchan into panic mode.

“! What do we do?” He grabbed at his hair, what the hell was going on? Something was obviously wrong and Yongguk was going to freak out. They hadn’t even been looking after the boy-bot for one day.