Word Count: 974

Baekhyun finished his story and the room fell silent. Kyungsoo looked pensive and Baekhyun waited for a response, a reaction of any sort. Kyungsoo remained quiet. In response, Baekhyun looked down at his trembling hands, thinking of how he would cope with his last weeks alone, were Kyungsoo to leave.

“I’m so sorry Baek,” Kyungsoo finally said, leaning in to wrap his arms around the other’s shoulders. Baekhyun leaned into the comforting hug and sighed. His heart felt lighter after telling someone all of the things he had been unintentionally holding in; about Sulli, about Jongdae, about those lonely years he spent on his own, missing his dead friends.

“It’s fine. I have you now,” Baekhyun replied. “I wouldn’t trade the time we spent together for anything.” He leaned into the familiar embrace and thought of all the things they had done together and the memories they shared. It was worth it. Baekhyun decided that at that moment, he would be fine dying like this. He had no more regrets.

“I would not trade the time we spent together either,” Kyungsoo murmured. In that moment, Baekhyun really could have sworn that Kyungsoo sounded sincere and very human. Baekhyun smiled softly and snuggled up next to his mecha, his friend. He fell asleep to the familiar mechanical hum of Kyungsoo’s heart.

--

About half a week after Baekhyun told Kyungsoo his life story, Baekhyun finished the program for a true heart. Although he finished, he hid it from Kyungsoo, telling him that the mecha would find it when he was truly ready to have it.

“To be honest, the thing is in plain sight, you just need to focus,” Baekhyun informed his friend. “You’ll be able to see it properly once you’re ready, I guarentee.”

“I don’t understand it when you speak in riddles, Baek,” Kyungsoo replied in a tone bridging on frustration, while still remaining good-humoured.

“I don’t really know how to explain the feeling, but I am certain that you will feel it. Baekhyun smiled at his friend sheepishly.

--

As the next week progressed, Baekhyun’s disease was worsening much more quickly than it was meant to. By the end of the week, Baekhyun was hospitalised. The doctors and nurses allowed Kyungsoo to stay even past visiting hours under the pretence of simply being a companion mecha instead of what he really was, so much more than just a robotic assistant.

“Guess my time is almost up then,” Baekhyun laughed weakly, fogging up the oxygen mask. “I don’t think I ever though about dying in my whole short life. Even after Jongdae and Sulli, and after my parents. I never thought about what death must be like. But you don’t really have to worry about that, hyung. You’re probably going to live forever.”

“Would that be lonely?”

“I don’t know. I don’t really have the problem of living forever.” His breath hitched as pain shot through his body. “That was supposed to be a joke. If you keep such a serious face in a hospital, I might start to think that I’m actually dying.”

“But you are dying,” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“I can at least pretend for these last few days,” Baekhyun joked. “I can pretend that we can go shopping next week. It’s not like we need clothes, but we could go shopping for fun, I don’t think I’ve done that very many times, even with Jongdae. Or we can go to the beach and enjoy a pleasant day, although the weather reports predicted it might be just a bit chilly.” Baekhyun winced with another stabbing pain shooting though his body. “Why don’t you try hyung?”

“We could go to the park and watch the sunset and the moonrise. We could lay in the grass and count the stars,” Kyungsoo said slowly. “We could go see that movie that you really want to see that comes out next week.” Baekhyun gave a weak smile. He wouldn’t even live to see the next sunset, let alone last another whole week. It was already getting harder and harder to breath. Soon his body would just stop altogether.

“Just promise me that you’ll never forget me hyung,” Baekhyun said quietly, breaking their little conversation for a second. “If you can’t mourn me, at least remember me in whatever way that you will. I know you don’t understand what ‘missing someone’ means, but if you just keep reminding yourself that I existed, I think that would be enough.” A few tears dripped down his face. “And mayhaps, when you find your heart, you can actually miss me properly.” Baekhyun couldn’t even laugh at this weak joke. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you for longer. I’m sorry I couldn’t teach you what it is to be human, but just mayhaps, you can find out what it means for yourself.”

“How can I do that?” Kyungsoo asked.

“I suppose that you can just keep observing humans. Talk to them, interact with them, things like that,” Baekhyun replied. “What are you going to do once I’m gone?”

“I guess I’ll just continue doing what we’ve been doing. I’ll build mecha for people who need them for whatever reason,” Kyungsoo replied.

Something happened inside Kyungsoo’s head for a minute mayhaps a little more. His memory just stopped for that minute. In between that time, Baekhyun must have said something amusing or he must have said something because Baekhyun was smiling widely. He smiled for the last time before the EEG flat lined.

Kyungsoo couldn’t figure out what had happened to his processor and why it would take Baekhyun’s last moment from him. He felt something almost akin to disappointment. It would come to mind later on and bother him to a degree but it was never too much. He wasn’t exactly curious about it for quite a long time.

A/N: Sorry for a short chapter. We've come to the finale. Thank you for reading and subscribing and commenting and upvoting. It's been lovely writing for you all. Next chapter is when things all get wrapped up like a present.