Jonghyun was an exceptionally handsome guy. He was dorky, quirky, and just the tiniest bit of a nerd. He was pretty much every girl's dream, but he was almost always single. He had never considered himself lonely, however. He had plenty of friends and plenty of attention.

That all changed when his friend Kibum gave him a robot. The only reason Jonghyun had taken the robot was because Kibum had insisted. He'd paid good money for the robot, and he wasn't going to let it go to waste, he said. Besides, whether he admitted it or not, Jonghyun was lonely. And even though he wanted to protest, he didn't. Because an angry Kibum was unpleasant.

Jonghyun had always scorned robots, thinking they were useless. They couldn't feel human emotions. They were machines, after all. What sort of comfort could one take from a machine?

-_-_-_-

The robot's name was Minho. Jonghyun blinked in surprise when Minho stated his name. Hesitantly, he stated his own name. Minho smiled and bowed slightly.

    "It's nice to meet you," Jonghyun nodded.

    "Right. Well... Do what you want. Feel free to get on my Xbox or something," Jonghyun offered awkwardly and left Minho to do his own thing. But after a couple of hours, Minho knocked on the door to Jonghyun's bedroom and asked if he could come in.

    "I won't bother you, I promise. I just want to get to know my new owner a little bit better," Jonghyun felt a twinge of emotion at this, and shrugged.

    "Sure, I don't mind," Minho came and sat on his bed gingerly. After a few minutes of beyond awkward silence, Jonghyun cleared his throat. "Ask me whatever. I won't bite you." He failed at joking, if Minho's confused face was anything to go by.

    "Okay. Um.. What's your favorite color?" the child-like eagerness in Minho's voice was endearing, but Jonghyun couldn't stop himself from busting out laughing at the question.

    "I guess it's blue," he smiled. After Jonghyun answered his question seriously, more questions poured out of Minho. It was astounding, really. Jonghyun hadn't known robots could be so... lifelike. But still. They were just machines.

-_-_-_-

Much to his own surprise, Jonghyun found himself quickly becoming friends with Minho. He liked to work out, and apparently so did Minho. Even though he didn't really need to. Minho had easily, on his first try no less, lifted the heaviest weights that Jonghyun owned.

They both liked to play soccer games on Jonghyun's Xbox. Minho was competitive to the point where he would sulk for hours after losing a game. But when he won, he could be the smuggest bastard Jonghyun had ever known. It was both endearing and infuriating.

Sometimes, even though he didn't need to (and it was kinda bad for his circuits), Minho would eat the food Jonghyun made. He had taste buds and every time he tried something new, his face lit up like a light bulb. Even if it tasted horrific. The human innocence in Minho's actions completely and totally destroyed the rest of Jonghyun's reservations about owning a robot.

They went out and played soccer in the nearby park. Jonghyun didn't care at all about soccer, he only really went so he could see the happy smile on Minho's face. Jonghyun didn't want to think about what that meant for him. It was something he wasn't ready to face.

-_-_-_-


At first, they were only small pleas. Minho would ask to sleep in the same bed, and Jonghyun would shake his head no. He'd push Minho's power button and plug his 'heart' into the wall to recharge and that was that. But after a while, Minho started becoming more persistent. Jonghyun would have to wrestle with him to turn him off.

During the day, Jonghyun tried to pretend that they were still friends. Just friends. But it was so obvious Minho was starting to want more. And Jonghyun realized that not quite all of his reservations had been broken. He wasn't going to fall in love with a robot.

It finally came to a head one night after Kibum had visited and seemed to be thankful that Jonghyun took good care of Minho. Thankfully, Minho had decided to wait until Kibum had left to start the argument. Jonghyun really didn't want to deal with it. Not ever.

    "Jonghyun, please.. All I'm asking for is to be able to sleep with you," Jonghyun shook his head, feeling that if he said yes it would mean so much more than just sleeping next to each other.

    "No. I.. I can't," he kept shaking his head, denying that he felt more than friendship for Minho.

    "Why not? You turn me off with the push of a button... and you pretend that I don't mean nothing.. So why can't you just do this for me?,"  yelled Minho. Jonghyun snapped.

    "Because you're not real," Minho's face slackened and an immeasurable hurt crossed his features. It was several seconds after that that Minho spoke.

    "There's no one left that's real, Jonghyun," he replied quietly. "And that doesn't only apply to robots. Even humans pretend to be someone they're not." With that last startlingly insightful remark, Minho walked out of Jonghyun's apartment.

It didn't hit Jonghyun until about 3 am that Minho might not be coming back that night.

-_-_-_-

Minho came back only when he had to recharge. He didn't stay in Jonghyun's apartment anymore. He didn't ask Jonghyun eager, child-like questions. He didn't even speak to Jonghyun.

It was so much more painful than Jonghyun would've imagined. He didn't like being ignored. And when it was someone he cared about, it was even worse. All he wanted was his best friend back. But Minho wouldn't hear of it. Every time Jonghyun tried to start a conversation, Minho quickly walked out of the apartment. Eventually, Jonghyun gave up trying.

When Jonghyun finally worked up the courage to talk to Kibum about it, he wasn't surprised with Kibum's reaction. Kibum was angry.

    "Jonghyun, Minho was programmed to have feelings. And whether or not you believe it, he can fall in love just like you and me," the news wasn't well-received. When Jonghyun really thought about it, and placed himself in Minho's place, he almost felt sick with how easily he'd brushed Minho's feelings aside. Like they didn't matter. Because Minho was a robot, and he wasn't supposed to actually care. But Minho did care. Or at least, he used to. Now, Jonghyun wasn't so sure.

For once, Minho was actually in the apartment when Jonghyun got back from Kibum's. He took off his shoes and nervously cleared his throat.

    "I'm so sorry," Jonghyun looked at Minho's face for any kind of reaction. But, as his heart sank, Jonghyun realized that Minho didn't have any kind of emotion on his face. He'd lost the human innocence he once had. His doe eyes were blank.

    "I had my emotions deleted from my central processing unit," the flat tone of Minho's voice broke Jonghyun's heart and he wanted the floor to swallow him up. "I didn't need them anymore." Jonghyun felt a couple of tears slip down his cheeks.

    "Is this the way it's gotta be?" he heard himself ask. Minho watched Jonghyun cry unfeelingly.

    "Yes," the answer was nothing Jonghyun wanted to hear. But it was the truth, and the truth is always real.

    "Can't you get them back?" Jonghyun was grasping for straws by that point. Anything.

    "Unfortunately not. Once emotions are deleted out of the central processor, they're gone. Forever," Jonghyun flinched at the harsh word. It was too final.

    "Then get out. I can't have you here any more," Jonghyun cried even harder at the way Minho mindlessly obeyed the command. Just like a real robot.
____________________________________________________________________________________

I feel like this theme has been done a lot. :c But I had some inspiration hit me yesterday when I was listening to Bullet for My Valentine, and who was I to ignore it? So yeah. This came out.

All the bolded lines are lyrics from different songs. That was a concept I really wanted to work into the fic, so I apologize if they don't seem like they really fit the situations they were used in.

->You turn me off with the push of a button... and you pretend that I don't mean nothing  - Bittersweet Memories, Bullet for My Valentine

->There's no one left that's real - Blurry, Puddle of Mudd

-> Is this the way it's gotta be - Dear Agony, Breaking Benjamin

I hope you enjoyed reading this.

~~

Til next time, loves. ^o~