Eric found his new android to be extremely eerie.

For one, his android—Hyesung—would only nod when Eric tells it something, and would look at Eric impassively any other time. Dongwan had explained that it was because its personality hadn’t been booted up completely yet, and that it would take at least a day until Hyesung would show signs of acting and reacting as a human would. Eric wasn’t exactly looking forward to be having a human-like android roaming his house, but he guessed that it would be slightly better than having a soulless, unresponsive hunk of metal that just stared at him whenever he did anything. It would be like having his computer deciding to grow a pair of eyes and stares him down whenever he needed to work.

Both Eric and Hyesung sat at the bus shelter, sitting side-by-side on the plastic bench as they both stared impassively on the empty road in front of them. It was already well into the evening, the sun setting towards the horizon and the sky dyed a reddish orange. Eric couldn’t believe it was already that late—or better yet, Eric couldn’t believe he let himself stay for so long just to listen to Dongwan’s lecture about how the stupid android works. Eric could read an instruction manual just fine, thank you.

Which led him to his other problem.

Apparently, the thing knew absolutely nil about basic human functions (or at least, the ones it’s required to do) due to a new programming that allowed the android to be more ‘human’—giving the owner the experience of having to teach a human being simple, perfunctory tasks. That was what Minwoo meant when he said ‘drawbacks’. “It’s like teaching a dog some tricks,” Dongwan had said, “Only, androids learn much faster and are capable of performing it in a single try.” Eric still thinks it’s all bull—an android that can’t even clean is a useless android—but hey, whatever floats their boat.

Sadly, ‘whatever floats their boat’ required him to make the extra effort to teach his android thing so that it could keep his place clean.

What a bother.

“Excuse me, master Eric.”

Eric lazily turned his head around to meet his android’s gaze, his eyebrows raised in inquiry. He didn’t even bother to correct the (icky sounding) honorific his android was addressing him with. He did try, but he only managed to get a ‘master Eric’ before the android—that’s supposed to not have a personality yet—clamped his mouth in what seemed like stubborn refusal and paid no heed to Eric’s words. Eric could already tell his android’s going to be an absolute joy to keep.

“May I ask why we are sitting here?”

Eric frowned, was the thing just playing with him or did it seriously not know?

“We’re waiting for the bus,” Eric answered admonishingly, as if he was talking to an ignorant child, “You know, a bus? A transportation vehicle?”

Something akin to confusion flashed in the android’s eyes and, if Eric let himself go soft for that split second, Hyesung really did look like a child—a confused, curious child—completely unaware of the world around him. It would have been cute (only in that split second and only if Eric let himself go soft) had Eric not realized how far Dongwan had taken this whole teaching thing with the new programming system.

“Do you know what a vehicle is?” Eric asked, very slowly, drawing out each and every syllable.

Eric could’ve sworn he saw Hyesung’s right eye twitch slightly in what looked like irritation, but it shook its head seconds later, confirming Eric’s suspicions.

“Okay,” Eric was going to murder Dongwan and throw his body into the ocean, “so what do you know?”

Hyesung paused, as if hesitant, and murmured, “Your name.”

“And?”

“…Your basic biodata.”

“And then?”

“…What I am required to do.”

“What else?”

Hyeusng gave an elongated pause, and Eric took the silence as an answer that it was pretty much all Hyesung knew. Oh great, just great. He had to teach Hyesung practically everything from scratch. That wasn’t in the stupid brochure Dongwan made him read. That bastard, Eric would bet that Dongwan only did this to him. He could barely take care of himself, how was he going to take care of an android that knew practically nothing?

“I know them, very vaguely,” Hyesung said, “Vehicles are things used to transport goods and people from one place to another, correct?”

Was it hung up about that? Eric sighed, he’s too tired to argue, so he decided to just humor his android, “Yes, that’s right.”

“I am not completely unknowledgeable,” Hyesung continued, “If I am, I would not be able to speak.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“I have just never seen a vehicle before,” Hyesung finished curtly. As if it was done stating a point.

Eric ignored Hyesung in favor of looking down the road, watching as the bright headlights of the bus drew closer and closer to where he was sitting. “Well, now you can see one,” Eric said nonchalantly, “Here comes the bus.”

Eric didn’t miss the flinch Hyesung made when the bus pulled to a stop right in front of them, the tires screeching to a grinding halt on the asphalt. The bus to Eric’s neighborhood was an old-fashioned type of bus, recycled from the last century with the engine converted to accommodate the new type of fuel. The doors squeaked open, the familiar bus driver lilting his head in greeting that Eric responded to with a nod of his head.

“This is…a bus?” Hyesung said, impassive eyes suddenly sparkling with minute sparks of electricity, as if it wanted to know more but afraid to touch.

“A very old-fashioned one, from the last century,” Eric confirmed, “If you want to see the modern day buses you’d have to go further in the city, none of the buses that run to my neighborhood are the latest design.”

Eric stood up, dusting his pants, and walked up the steps of the bus. It was mostly empty—most people had already gotten home by then—and Eric was pleased to note that there were plenty of seats available. It was then, however, that Eric noticed Hyesung hadn’t moved from its seat at all.

“What are you doing?” Eric asked irately to the still unmoving Hyesung, “Get up here, I want to go home, thank you very much.”

Jolting slightly, Hyesung immediately stood up (Eric had to admire the work Dongwan and his researchers did, Hyesung moved with a human-like fluidity that no one could really tell it was actually a machine) and made his way up the bus. Eric, nodding in satisfaction, paid the bus driver the fare for two people—somehow androids aren’t given discounts—and claimed a seat closest to the front of the bus. Hyesung made slow steps towards him and, after flicking its eyes around to observe the inside of the bus, sat next to Eric.

Not long after the bus’s doors slid close and the bus was driving out. The ever present hum of the engine and the flickering lights seemed to fascinate Hyesung, as it couldn’t stop trying to commit everything to memory—and Eric was willing to bet that it was. Whatever, so long as it kept Hyesung entertained enough. Eric looked out of the window, absently tuning out the world around him as he submerged himself in his thoughts.

Everything was going to change. That thought rung persistently in his ears, surprisingly more than the absolute disdain of having an android. Perhaps he had finally accepted that Dongwan wouldn’t let him give Hyesung back to the center. That didn’t matter anyway, if Eric did manage to somehow return Hyesung, then Dongwan would just shove another android in his face. Eric sighed, he was just glad he didn’t have to pay for anything extra—he could barely scrape by enough money to pay for his necessities.

“Master Eric,” Hyesung whispered (and Eric had to thank the high heavens that Hyesung seemed to be considerate enough to lower his voice so that no one would hear), “Do we get off from this stop?”

Eric only took a fleeting glance at the bus stop outside the window and shook his head, “Not this one. We get off at the next stop, then we’ll have to walk all the way to my house.”

Hyesung nodded, looking marginally pleased—pleased to stay longer inside the bus, Eric was sure—and proceeded to leave Eric to his thoughts. Eric bit back an amused snort at how much of a child his android was being, with its eyes wandering here and there, lingering at one place before moving along to the next. Eric shook his head. He shouldn’t be having that kind of thoughts. Hyesung wasn’t human after all.

The next stop came up all too quickly and Eric was already walking down the steps with Hyesung in tow, not forgetting to bid his farewell to the bus driver. Eric and Hyesung were left on a gravel pathway, road dimly lit with the lines of street lamps and encompassed by rows of neatly trimmed trees. Eric led Hyesung down to a dirt pathway on the side of the road, stopping as he waited for Hyesung to finish his little sightseeing to give his android instructions.

“This path leads to my house,” Eric explained after he had gotten Hyesung’s undivided attention, “There’s a gate not to far away from here that leads to my house. It’s only a few minutes’ walk, so try to keep up.”

Hyesung nodded obediently, trailing behind Eric as he committed the sights into memory. The gate to Eric’s home soon came into view, and Eric put in his passcode (Eric may not be so overly fond of technology, but he wasn’t stupid enough to not keep up with the latest security) and waited as the lock whirred and he gate opened just so slightly.

“It locks automatically as soon as you close it,” Eric explained, opening the gate so that Hyesung could go in first, “You can open it from the inside, but you need a passcode to open it from the outside.”

Eric’s estate was definitely much larger than his own humble abode. Tall trees and overgrown shrubbery were splattered haphazardly around the space that made up most of his land, making it look more like a dense forestry surrounded by brick walls rather than an estate. It didn’t help that Eric never really bothered to clear out the path from the gate to his house, one of these days, Eric swore he was going to trip on one of the vines and break his back or something.

“This is master’s home?” Hyesung asked, looking around at the tall trees that towered over them.

“Technically my house is still a fair bit away, but yeah, basically.”

Hyesung nodded stiffly, “It is very…”

“Very spooky?”

“No, very dense with botanical life.”

Eric stifled a laugh. Did all androids speak that formally? “Alright then.”

“May we go to your house now?”

“Right, right. Just follow me.”

And so Hyesung did, following Eric as he ducked over branches, swatted away leaves and sidestepped bulging roots. Eric looked back a few times to make sure that Hyesung was still following him, and noted with approval that Hyesung was keeping up with him just fine. Better than Dongwan on his first day visiting Eric at least. Dongwan wouldn’t shut up about Eric needing to get a gardener (or a lumberjack) for a week after that visit.

Eric led Hyesung into a small clearing, where his small, one-story house stood in all its simplistic glory. Punching in his passcode once again—and absently assuring Hyesung that he would give the passcode later—Eric made his way inside and the lights.

“Well, here we are,” Eric said as he took off his shoes and put them aside, “Home sweet home.”

Eric’s home was sparsely furnished, with furniture dating all the way to almost 100 years ago (but in prime condition. Eric may be a slob, but most of the furniture is irreplaceable and Eric wasn’t willing to part with them just because of his laziness). He only had four rooms inside his house: his bedroom, his study, the bathroom and the guest bedroom. The rest of his living space consisted of a small living room and a kitchen dining room. It definitely wasn’t big, but it was good enough for Eric.

Eric yawned, lazily making his way to his own room. “You can sleep in the guest room over there. We’ll start teaching you stuff tomorrow.”

“I do not need sleep.”

“But I do,” Eric said curtly, “Good night, I don’t want you to be wasting your batteries now.”

Hyesung lingered in the doorway—looking like it wanted to disobey—but nodded quickly and made its way to the guest room after it closed the front door. Eric scowled, wondering why Hyesung looked like its was already developing a personality when Dongwan did say it would need at least a day (and Dongwan was rarely wrong), but shrugged and decided he had time to think about it tomorrow. For now, he just wanted to change into his pajamas and sleep, drifting off into a world where he didn’t have an android as an added burden to his already difficult life.

AN: One of my New Year resolutions is to update my full-length stories once a month. And thus, I appeal to you readers to remind me, insult me if you must, so that I would update. Trust me, it would be a great help. I have too many ideas that I want to do, and a lot of stories I need to finish. Otherwise, thanks for reading/commenting/subscribing/upvoting/all of the above! You guys are the best!