Hyesung woke up at precisely 09:00 AM in the morning.

Hyesung understood the concept of time. He knew how to tell time from morning to night, dusk to dawn. He had yet to, however, know his master’s concept of early or late, thus he woke up at the default alarm time. He would have to explain to his master the things he needed to do to ensure optimal performance.

Hyesung did not change his clothes from the one he wore the previous day, having not been given the instruction to do so and not having any other choice of garments. Hyesung got off of the bed and tried his best to smooth out the creases he created on the sheets. He would have to ask his master to teach him how to make the bed as well.

Hyesung stepped out of the room (his room, his processor noted) and was greeted by the sight of a half- Eric, fresh out of the shower and with a towel wrapped tightly around his waist, digging through his refrigerator.

“Oh, you’re up,” His master said distractedly, barely sparing him a glance. “It’s still a bit too early. Just sit down on the table while I make breakfast.”

Hyesung blinked, “I do not need food.”

“I know. It’s for me.”

Hyesung followed his order anyways, sitting down obediently as he watched his master (who should probably put some clothes on—his sensors said that the morning was a bit colder than normal) took out a couple of eggs.

“Will you teach me how to cook?” Hyesung inquired.

His master sighed, cracking open an egg and letting the contents sizzle in the frying pan. “Yeah, yeah, I will later. I want you to learn how to help me with the laundry first—there’s no way I can get all of it done by today alone.”

“As you wish, master Eric.”

Hyesung saw his master flinch, and slowly turned around to regard him with a disapproving stare. “I’ll never get used to the ‘master’ thing.”

His processor detected no direct order in his sentence, albeit it did detect the obvious displeased reprimand. However, the fact stands that he was not given a direct order. And thus he chose to ignore that particular statement by staring impassively at his master. He quickly learned that it was rather effective in getting his master to divert his attention from him, proven when his master looked away with a sigh.

“Dongwan phoned me this morning,” His master said, flipping his eggs and pressing his spatula onto the cooked side. “He wanted me to remind you to send a performance report later tonight. I don’t know what that means, but I assume you do.”

Hyesung said a quiet yes. His processor provided him the information he needed by which he should send in his performance reports to his creator. It wasn’t anything too extensive—and certainly nothing that would invade his master’s privacy—just a basic assessment report to make sure he was functioning properly and efficiently. It was important, however, as he was still a trial version. For the safety of his current master, as well as the convenience of the masters of future versions ahead of him, it was best to know which areas he needed improvements in.

His master finished cooking his eggs and transferred it onto a plate. He took a couple of eating utensils from a drawer and sat down in front Hyesung, who was still carefully observing everything his master was doing.

“First, let’s set a few ground rules,” said his master, munching on some eggs, “Rule number one: don’t go out of the estate without my permission.”

It was a simple enough order, Hyesung had no need and no reason to go anywhere without his master’s permission.

“Rule number two: don’t bother me when I’m working. Since I work at home, I’ll be spending most of the time in my study over there,” his master pointed to the door right next to his bedroom, “Don’t bother me unless it’s important.”

“Shall I bring your food to your study then?” Hyesung inquired.

“No. Just call me out when there’s food—unless I tell you otherwise.”

Hyesung nodded.

“Third rule: Don’t try to do anything I haven’t taught you yet. I really, really don’t want to see my house—my grandfather’s house—in ruins,” his master said as he made a grand sweeping gesture towards the whole of his home, “I work hard to keep it in perfect condition, and I’d like it to stay that way.”

Hyesung nodded once again, completely understanding his master’s orders.

His master chewed on his eggs noisily (a quick Internet search said that this type of behavior was considered rude—why was his master being rude then?), scratching his chin, as he seemed to try to think up of more rules to tell him. When he didn’t seem to be able to find any more, his master grunted and made a hand gesture towards him—dismissal, if Hyesung’s information was correct.

“What would you like me to do today?” Hyesung asked, taking heed of his master’s dismissal and intending to leave his master to his own devices after receiving instructions.

“Huh? I don’t know, do whatever you want. I can’t think of any work you can do just yet and I’ll be too busy to teach you anything today.”

Hyesung’s central processor told him to frown and so he contorted his face accordingly, something that he picked up quite easily with a rather grumpy master like Eric. Showing accurate human emotion was one of his model’s intended uses. Observing, learning and putting into practice the human reaction to certain emotions was one of the more revolutionary aspects of his model type. It also shaped the growth of his personality, though already somewhat pre-determined. Hyesung was not sure what type of personality he would get in the end, but he hoped it wasn’t anything too inconvenient for a helper android to have.

“Master Eric,” Hyesung said, remembering to enunciate his words more to perfect the image of displeasure, “It is highly inefficient for me to be doing nothing. I do not gain anything by not learning and, I respectfully say, you do not gain anything by not having do something.”

Hyesung should have been content to follow his master’s orders and, indeed, do nothing, as he was not yet needed and was required to follow his master’s orders. But it…shall he say, bothered him that he did not know much of this world beyond the knowledge hardwired into his very coding. He wanted to learn quickly and master the required skills so he could be of use to his owner. An android that does nothing is a useless android—so his central processor said.

“Surely there is a simple enough task that is reasonably within my skill level,” said Hyesung, not exactly goading but not exactly standing down either. He was still perfectly professional and his demands were reasonable enough, he only hoped his master would give in.

His master held his gaze for a while. Hyesung tried to place the emotion his master exuded—displease? No. Anger? No. Weariness? Maybe. Disapproval? Perhaps, but Hyesung could see the hints, left bare for the world, of his master’s reported stubbornness. His central processor thrummed as it took in the information (stubbornness…so this is what it was) and mimicked the actions perpetuated to a near 90% accuracy. Hyesung’s actions lacked the real ‘emotion’ behind them, but it was the best he could do with a currently dormant personality and lack of the most important aspect: experience.

That was what his model was made for, to experience. He was built to process and learn from his experiences, just as any human would. Hyesung was aware of the limitations of being a machine. He knew there were senses he couldn’t particularly feel, and his ‘emotions’ were only carbon copies of emotions felt by the people around him. No matter how he challenged the boundary between man and machine, he was still just a pre-programmed android. He could never have human feelings.

With a roll of his eyes his master sighed in what seemed like defeat. Hyesung took more notes on his master’s posture, the blunt glare his master gave him as he verbally acquiesced to Hyesung’s request. “Fine, fine, you can go pick up the dirty clothes I left all over the house. Happy?”