It was the era of technological evolution. The era of which the air had gone through numerous purification processes, the vast seas and rivers clean and distilled to its barest components, the trees nothing more than troublesome decorations, and the Earth was probably as artificial as the humans that govern her.

‘Mother Nature’ was a term unfamiliar to most in the era, they knew not of an era where man strived with just simple handmade stone tools and the use of fire outside of historical texts. It was the era where man rejoiced as the god of all technology, and the era where they scorned nature for being too ‘primitive’ in a modernized world.

To most, they would not care whether or not they were deviating from their roots as long as they could live comfortably and in luxury. To some, they would weep at how much technology had governed their entire lives, yet would still happily live with it.

Then, there were those who held a sort of resentment against technology, and in that small minority was where Eric held his beliefs.

Only, he was different than the nature activists that abhorred all form of technology. He only hated one thing and one thing only, androids.

Androids were humanoid robots whose only function is to serve and please their masters to the best of their abilities, and at times, doubles as a companion. It was one of those things where if you didn’t have one, you would be considered technologically inept. And if you did have one, well, there was the matter of the model, the android’s looks, intelligence, etcetera. It had a sort of ‘snob appeal’ in a way that the most expensive ones were the ones that were sought out the most.

Androids became a sort of accessory for the people. They needed to be beautiful, they needed to be intelligent, they needed to be absolutely perfect.

And perfection was what they aimed for.

While Eric’s deep hatred for their kind was mostly rooted from a traumatizing incident in his past, it was also for that perfection that he loathed them. Man was not perfect, and imperfect beings could never create a perfect creation, such is their nature. And Eric firmly believed that they should not meddle around and play-pretend that they were capable of being their own gods and create their own ‘humans’. It was one thing to strive for perfection, but to strive to alleviate themselves to the level of God was a whole other thing.

Thus started Eric’s personal war against androids, a war Eric knew he would never win, but continued to fight for regardless. Vowing to never be swept away by the waves of trend and technology, Eric lived his life as a social recluse in the middle of his grandfather’s property in his modest home surrounded by overgrown trees and shrubbery, topped with a tall fence surrounding all four sides of his land. His house had many times been dubbed ‘the hermit’s home’ and had been nearly infiltrated many times by daring schoolchildren thinking it was haunted.

Hermit label aside, he liked his life. He had a decent job with a stable income, plus he had a good friend that was willing to check up on him and bring him groceries when he was too lazy to. Ah yes, Eric could say that he loved his peaceful android-less life.

That was until his good friend had found him passed out on the floor of his home.

Then this ‘friend’ decided that enough was enough and Eric was getting an android whether he liked it or not.

Some friend he was.

“How many times do I need to tell you?” Eric hissed, “I don’t need one!”

His ‘friend’ sighed, turned around to face him and promptly gave Eric a glare. “And I’m telling you that you need one. If I didn’t decide to come by that day you might’ve died from starvation! There’s no guarantee that I’m going to be on time if this happens again.”

“It’ll never happen again, that was only one time!”

“That may have been the only time you fainted,” he scoffed, “But that was definitely not the only time you worked your off that you didn’t even remember to eat, sleep or bathe! One of these days I won’t be there to haul you off to the hospital when you collapse.”

Eric cringed. He knew he had a bad habit of working himself to the bone. He couldn’t help it, when he was determined there really was no stopping him. It never really escalated into him fainting from food deprivation and extreme fatigue, until then, but it had made his friend worry if he had contracted any diseases from the lack of food intake. It should be a surprise that even with that unhealthy habit he was still alive and relatively healthy. But as his friend likes to say, he’s harder to kill than cockroaches—then again, Eric never particularly found them difficult to kill.

But back to the matter at hand, Eric was at his wit’s end trying to convince his friend that he did not need a helper, much less a robotic helper. No matter how advanced technology was those days, Eric had no doubt in his mind he would be the one cleaning up after the android when the day ends, nothing lasts forever after all.

“Dongwan,” Eric coaxed, “I really don’t need one, I’m sorry for worrying you but you don’t need to do this. I’ll take better care of myself next time, so can you please let go now?” Eric rarely begged or spoke politely to his friends, and he found himself cringing at his own desperation, but some wounds were tougher to heal than others.

Dongwan scowled, lips set in a deep grimace. For the one dubbed ‘Angel of smiles’ by the female populace back in university, a grimace meant he was very much serious, and very much upset. There was no arguing him in that state, but Eric felt he might as well try.

Without saying a word, Dongwan had turned his back to Eric and resumed dragging him across the pavement that lead to the research center. The furious way Dongwan was stomping his feet on the ground as well as the tight vice-like grip on his wrist told Eric that it was best to keep his mouth shut. If he wanted to live to see another day, of course.

Getting Eric into the research center and into Dongwan’s office area was in itself uneventful. Dongwan’s temper got the best of him and he refused to speak, while Eric himself had stopped struggling and began to grudgingly follow Dongwan. There were just some things that could kill Eric more than starving himself to death.

Dongwan’s office space was large and neatly furnished—one of the perks of being the head researcher of an esteemed research center—the window letting in a generous amount of sunlight that gave the white-washed walls a more sunny feel. Two couches sat in front of Dongwan’s office desk, complete with a small coffee table sitting in the middle. There was a shelf jam-packed with books set on one side, a small fern plant to the other, and frames upon frames of diplomas, certificates and photos. The place altogether had a more rustic, old-fashioned feel compared to the shiny, new era look of the rest of the center, with its wooden tables and shelves and chairs and couches made of imitation leather. Even so, it offered Eric some ounce of comfort to be some place familiar and much to his tastes.

Eric obediently sat on the couch and swiped a catalogue off the coffee table. He began to flip through the pages, not really interested in what he was reading. Dongwan walked out of the room as soon as Eric settled down to take a seat, closing the door shut with an audible click. The silence that grated on in the minutes Eric was left alone felt like torture. Eric was not fidgety by nature, but silence added to waiting irritated him in a way that he couldn’t help but fidget to alleviate the tension. So he decided to whistle a random tune to at least make the wait bearable.

The door opened minutes later, and Eric was about to reprimand Dongwan for leaving him alone until he realized who had entered. Dongwan’s private android, Minwoo, came in bearing a tray of steaming mugs of coffee (the smell wafted throughout the room and tickled Eric’s nose) and a tray of assorted cookies. With a pre-programmed polite smile, he set the tray down in front of Eric and greeted him with a mechanical: “Good afternoon Eric, how are you today?”

Minwoo was the only android Eric could stand being in the same room in, because he was imperfect in a way that made him more human than the rest of his brothers and sisters. Whilst he sounded and acted like a robot, he would make the same mistakes as any normal human and he was not as ‘perfect’ as the rest. Dongwan never bothered to upgrade Minwoo (for reasons Eric di not know of) and Eric liked that imperfection, so he was okay around Minwoo.

(Or, maybe it was because Eric didn’t have the heart to hate something that Dongwan loved and cared for with his entire being. Who knows?)

Eric smiled and nodded briefly towards Minwoo, “I’m doing fine, how about you? Is Dongwan treating you well?”

Minwoo laughed, a clear sound with a synthetic ring to it, “He always treats me well. But I heard you have been admitted to the hospital recently, are you alright?”

“No,” Eric said with all seriousness, face blank and tone serious. “I’d feel better if your master would stop insisting that I need an android.”

The tips of Minwoo’s lips twitched upwards, another good thing about Minwoo, Dongwan had pre-programmed him to understand Eric’s sense of animosity towards androids other than him. “I am sure you will like what Master Dongwan has picked for you. He is our current best model. Master Dongwan said that he is sure to ‘amuse’ you.”

Eric scrunched his face as if he just ate a whole lemon, with Dongwan, ‘amuse’ can mean anything from ‘annoy’ to ‘torture’. “That doesn’t sound reassuring.”

“Master Dongwan personally programmed his personality. He said that the model shall be both your helper and shall be able to entertain you. He said: ‘That idiot will thank me for this someday. He can’t live up there alone in his little shack like a goddamn hermit forever without going mad’.”

Another thing about Minwoo was his creepy Dongwan impersonations. Eric twitched inwardly, promising himself to pay back Dongwan in full for making that comment later on. Minwoo, unaware of Eric’s scheming mind urged the man to take the mug before it grows cold.

“I assure you, that you will like the android,” Minwoo tried to reassure once again, “He is functional and will prove to your liking. Although, he has some initial ‘drawbacks’ to his programming, but it is nothing too serious or time-consuming.”

“Drawbacks?” Eric diverted his thought back to reality and away from plans of revenge, “What do you mean by drawbacks—”

“You better not have escaped, Eric.” Eric’s sentence was cut off by Dongwan’s rather dramatic entrance. Eric sent a glare to his friend who pointedly ignored it and focused his attention to Minwoo. “Good job for not letting him escape, Minwoo.”

Minwoo smiled, “I did my best, master.”

“As for you,” Dongwan turned to Eric, “I’m surprised you didn’t try to escape.”

“I’m not that much of a kid,” Eric scoffed.

“Good, I expect some level of maturity from you.” Dongwan walked over to his desk and opened a drawer, taking out a folder from the inside. “Everything’s pretty much done for you, all you need to do is sign a few papers to make it legal. Then you’ll have to be there for the activation and other technical stuff I’m sure your primitive brain couldn’t comprehend.”

“Not everyone can have a super computer for a brain,” Eric sneered.

“Of course, not everyone can be a genius like me,” Eric gagged playfully, “But seriously, after this, you’re going to be tied to this thing. He is yours to take care of and care for. I expect you to be able to keep up with his maintenance since he’ll be keeping up with yours. And since I’m such a nice guy, and I don’t trust you with anything, I’ll check with you once a week to make sure you do. This model is really the latest in our arsenal and I haggled with the superiors to let you have it until my throat ran dry. So if I see even a single scratch on him, I will kill you.”

Eric nodded to show that he understood, but a deep frown marred his face. He was not happy. He did not want to take care of a robot along with taking care of himself. Above all, he didn’t even want a robot in his life. There were just some things that Dongwan would never be able to change from him, and his utter dislike for any android sans Minwoo was one of them.

Dongwan placed a piece of paper—Eric’s contract to the devil—in front of him and shoved a pen into his hands. Grumbling, Eric quickly scrawled his signature over the paper and slid it back to Dongwan, the slight rough treatment causing a crease in the document.

“Why did I think you would actually bother to read it?” Dongwan sighed as he took the paper and placed it back inside the folder. “Anyway, all that’s left is the activation. We have to go to the observation room, though, since this one is the latest model and we hadn’t really had the chance to give him a proper test-run. And remember,” Dongwan wagged a finger towards Eric’s direction, as if he was reprimanding a child, “Don’t touch anything. If something breaks, you’re going to have to pay for it.”

Eric stuck his tongue out childishly at Dongwan’s retreating figure, but obediently stood up to follow. Minwoo had already stood up and moved to stand beside his master, eyes sparkling with what Eric thought could have been child-like giddiness, almost like how a puppy would follow after their owners. It was almost a sickeningly cute sight. And Eric scowled when he found himself nearly forgetting that Minwoo was nowhere near human. It was exactly the reason why he dreaded having an android in the first place.

The walk to the observation was silent, Eric choosing the time to quietly contemplate the life he would have to lead with an android by his side. He decided that he should see it as if he was getting a brand new toaster, perhaps it wouldn’t be that bad if he did. It was a machine, thus it would be right to treat him like how he treats the other machines he had at home. It was with that determination that Eric steeled himself for the responsibility he had to endure.

The observation room was small and simple compared to the rest of the research center. A big window looking into another smaller room was to their side, with various machineries lined up beneath the sill and a door leading to the other room on its side. There was a figure slumped on a chair, head hanging low and shoulders hunched in an almost lifeless stature, the short brown hair forming a curtain over its face.

Eric didn’t need to be told to know that it was his android.

“Come on,” Dongwan said, gesturing for Eric to go inside, “Don’t be shy, he won’t bite…maybe.”

Eric scowled in response, taking cautious steps inside the observation room. Minwoo wasted no time in pushing Eric towards the door that led to the smaller room, graciously opening it for Eric. Seeing no chance in escape, Eric accepted his fate and strode in with his head held high and his chin tilted upwards in a show of mock haughtiness.

When the door closed behind him, however, he decided that maybe—maybe—he should have put up more of a fight.

Because he really didn’t want to be in the same room as the android, locked away from the outside world, if it were to malfunction.

“Don’t be such a coward and approach him already.”

Dongwan’s voice boomed from the overhead intercom and cut right through his thoughts. He gave a glare towards the one-way window where he was sure Dongwan must be watching, and started to approach the sleeping droid cautiously. He took small steps, watching the android like a hawk, wary of any movement it might make. When he was close enough to reach out to it and the droid still showed no sign of movements, Eric became braver and strode the rest of the way towards the lifeless android.

“Good, now, we just need you to stand there right in front of it and don’t move. Activating android series HS-1127 commencing…now.”

As if it was struck by lightning, the previously lifeless droid jolted harshly in its seat, nearly giving Eric a heart attack with its sudden movement. There was a series of short hums and whirrs, sounding oddly like how a computer would start, before the figure slowly sat ramrod straight and lifted its head to gaze at its new master.

Eric had to say, the android was quite pleasing to the eyes. Its features were that of a man’s, but they were soft and finely defined. His face wasn't angular like Eric’s, it consisted mostly of soft curves and the occasional dull angles. The android was pretty, Eric thought with a sort of finality to his statement.

The android stared at him unblinkingly; human-like eyes boring into him with each process of data. Finally, when Eric was feeling more than a little uncomfortable with its staring, it spoke—its words enunciated slowly and carefully, as if it was testing its newfound voice box.

“You are Eric Mun, my new master, am I correct?”

Eric stood stock still for a few moments, before quickly remembering what he had to do and replied, “Yes! Yes, I am.”

“Then, master,” Eric winced internally, he didn’t think he would get used to that anytime soon, “I am at your command, I shall service you however you wish and to my best ability. What shall I go by from now on, master?”

“What?”

“My name. What is my name, master?”

‘His name…’ Eric thought, mulling over what name would suit the android the most. ‘What would be a good name for him…

‘Android series HS-1127…HS…’

“Hyesung.”

The android’s eyes flickered towards him, staring at him with a gaze that anyone could have interpreted as confusion and surprise.

“Your name,” Eric said with a slight proud smile, “From now on, you are Hyesung.”

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!!!!

I finished this. O.O After all this time, I finally finished this. Oh my god, I think I'm going to go pinch myself because I have GOT to be dreaming.

Apologies to all the subscribers of this story. I have no excuse because really, even I'm honestly surprised I managed to finally get a chapter out.

Oh, and for those wondering what manga I based this off on, it was a BL manga called "Etowa". I don't really suggest you read it unless you're okay with, er, visibly large s. But basically, it's kind of similar to Absolute Boyfriend. I'll leave it at that.

PROMO TIME!

Basically, my friend has a sort of story ideas page in her tumblr and she has brilliant ideas! :D Usually she shares an idea with me and we'd exchange ideas to improve it, but because I can't write everything and she's not really fond of writing, she decided to let other people adopt her ideas! She even has some of my ideas posted there! XD Go here to see the ideas. She doesn't have much yet, but I can guarantee you'll find at least one of them interesting. :D