“Yongguk, you need sleep.” Himchan said from the laboratory entrance.

                Yongguk continued to sit at his desk, typing away at the keyboard and staring at his many computer screens. The uneaten food on the tray Himchan had left there hours ago was beginning to smell, almost as badly as Yongguk who hadn’t showered for the past three days.

                Himchan narrowed his eyes, not happy he was continuously ignored. He stormed into the room and slammed his hand down on the desk. “BANG YONGGUK!”

                Yongguk jumped in his chair, almost falling to the floor. “, Chanie, what the hell was that?”

                “You know I hate—“ Himchan took a deep breath and reminded himself that this wasn’t about him but his best friend’s health. “Yongguk you haven’t slept in days, you barely eat and good god you smell.”

                “I… what?” Yongguk blinked in confusion his slept depriven mind not connecting the dots completely.

                Himchan sighed and pulled Yongguk up from his rolling chair. “Bbang, it’s time to sleep. Shower first, actually, and then sleep. You can eat later.”

                Yongguk weakly pulled against Himchan’s hold. “No, I need to know who made Jongup’s girlfriend’s armor. What’s her name… Izzy?”

                “Isi.” Himchan rolled his eyes. “And you can continue researching more tomorrow. The research isn’t going anywhere.”

                “But it has modifications that I never thought about!” Yongguk said frustrated. “I want to pick this person’s mind and figure out what they know and well also… how they figured out a way to attack the monsters like I did….”

                Himchan hit the button with his elbow to turn the bathroom light on. “It’ll still be there tomorrow.”

                “Himchan!” Yongguk was nearing a whining tone.

                Himchan groaned. “You really are tired. Get in the damn shower so I can put you to bed.”

                “Wait… my phone…” Yongguk pushed against Himchan who was trying to get him in the shower. Himchan rolled his eyes as Yongguk patted his pockets. “Wow… I missed… a lot of calls…”

                “Did you have an appointment? They are all from the same number.” Himchan looked at the phone’s screen.

                “! I was supposed to finally bring Ryan to the lab today.” Yongguk hit his head. “I was promoting him to official assistant.”

                “I thought you were just a student?” Himchan looked confused.

                “I am but the directors gave me a lab when I was able to correct my teachers on their own theories.” Yonggum mumbled.

                Himchan laughed. “So what time is Ryan supposed to come over?”

                “6pm. I think I have time to shower and get some sleep.”

                “…6pm on which day?”

                “What do you mean which day? Today—holy crap it is Monday?!”

                “That’s what I’m saying! You’ve been working the whole weekend! I thought you’d remember to go to school at least which is why I wasn’t here earlier!”

                “I got to call him!”

                “No!” Himchan blocked the door and stole the phone. “Shower first then you get this back.”

                Yongguk groaned when Himchan shut the bathroom door. Slowly he made his way into the shower and let himself unwind. ‘It’s time to let Ryan to see the lab right? And I’m doing this for purely professional reasons, personal feelings out the window… yeah I need him and I think he is ready to help with more.’

               

                Yongguk watched as Ryan, with his brown hair tied back in a ponytail, walked around his lab almost at ease. They’d been working together almost a week and Yongguk was getting less and less work done. He was starting to think he liked that the younger boy worked there with him and he couldn’t take his eyes off of him, it was really getting distracting.

                “Yongguk!”

                Yongguk finally blinked and looked back at Zelo who was pouting. “Zelo?”

                “Yongguk, you spaced out again… are you okay?”

                “Yes, perfectly fine.” Yongguk cleared his throat. “What were we doing again?”

                Zelo sighed. “You updated my system last night and you wanted to explain what you did before I went out with Bori. You looked to make sure your assistant was out of hearing range and then I lost you.”

                “Right… can’t let him know about you yet… even if I do trust him.” Yongguk thought out loud. “Okay, your hearing is closer to that of an actual humans but you can increase your hearing when you need to but this way you know exactly what it is that everyone else is hearing.”

                Zelo nodded. “Easier to fit in.”

                “Also, I fixed your humor sensors so that you can feel the emotion more.”

                Zelo smiled. “So, I’ll laugh more!”

                Yongguk returned Zelo’s cute smile and ruffled his hair. “Yes, let me know how that goes and I’ll tweak it if you need me to.”

                “Thanks! I’m going to go out with Bori now!” Zelo stood up and waved at Ryan. “Later, Ryan!”

                “Bye, Zelo.”

                Yongguk closed his files he had on Zelo and opened up all his material he had on Isi’s armor, which wasn’t much.

                “Your younger brother seems nice.”

                Yongguk looked to the side and watched Ryan sit down beside him. He smiled and Yongguk couldn’t stop staring especially as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

                “Yongguk?”

                Yongguk blinked back to reality. “What?”

                Ryan lightly laughed. “I said you and Zelo don’t look much alike.”

                “Ah…yeah, it happens.” Yongguk smiled tightly.

                “I know, genetics and all of that.” Ryan looked at the computer. “So, you are working on this again?”

                Yongguk sighed. “Yeah, I just want to know who made this… you can’t tell anyone about this… I didn’t even mean for you to find out about it.”

                “You told me last time.” Ryan smiled. “You really are relaxed in your lab.”

                Yongguk frowned. “Who isn’t relaxed in their own lab? This is my home. You can’t blame me for forgetting that you were here.”

                “Actually I can.” Ryan laughed. “I had only been here 10 minutes and you forgot I was here!”

                “I didn’t really forget…” Yongguk mumbled.

                “Whatever you say…” Ryan rolled his eyes playfully. “So exactly what did you want me to work on today?”

                “Just the same as yesterday… oh the data is right there.” Yongguk stood up to grab it.

                “Oh I can get it!” Ryan reached to grab it and their hands slightly brushed.

                Yongguk quickly pulled his hand back and then chided himself for making things awkward. “Um yeah so just work on that and let me know if you need anything.”

                “Sure.”

                Yongguk frowned and looked up at Ryan only to see his back as he walked away. ‘Did he sound disappointed?’

                The rest of the week passed quickly, mostly because Yongguk had his nose stuck in his computer. Unlike most of his quickly disappearing weeks though, he couldn’t get completely lost in his work because his new assistant was distracting. Just him walking around, humming to songs he listened to at work, and being mesmerized with his own papers. Of course, whenever Ryan went to look at Yongguk, he would return his eyes to his long-term project which was more frustrating than it was productive. How does one go around finding someone else who is good with electronics if they haven’t publicly released something?

                Yongguk heard his cellphone go off, since Himchan had made him promise to put it on the loudest setting and put it in a cup to magnify the sound.

                “Hello?”

                “Yongguk, you actually answered?” Himchan said from the other end of the phone.

                Yongguk chuckled. “I guess the sound finally got through. What’s up?”

                “Is your new assistant still there?”

                Yongguk frowned and looked around. He found a post-it note beside his keyboard and took a look

                                Wasn’t sure if you heard me when I said I needed to step out to grab lunch

                                and go to class. I’ll be back in a few hours.

                “No looks like he left… but I’m not sure when…”

                “Well that’s surprising.” Himchan scoffed.

                “What’s that supposed to mean?”

                “Well Bbang, this is kind of why I wanted to talk to you. How could you not tell me you had a crush on your assistant?”

                “What? That—that isn’t true.” Yongguk denied.

                “Bbang.” Yongguk could practically hear Himchan roll his eyes. “Are you telling me you haven’t realized that you like this guy?”

                “Chanie—“

                “You stare at him all the time! You know… you could have told me you were gay… I wouldn’t have cared.”

                “I’m not… well okay I might be… I’ve ever thought about it before.” Yongguk scratched his head. “Do I really stare?”

                “All the time! Yongguk… is he really more interesting to look at than me? Am I not better looking than him?”

                Yongguk chuckled. “You will always be the best looking person I know, Himchan. Even if Youngjae does—“

                “I am way better looking than Youngjae!” Himchan shouted playfully. The friends laughed before Himchan continued. “Yongguk… you already barely pay attention to me because of your lab and Bori and Jongup have stopped hanging out with me since they got their boyfriend and girlfriend… and Youngjae and Daehyun go to the college a few miles away… can you promise me—“

                “Himchan.” Yongguk said seriously. “You are my best friend. No matter what you will come first to me. You know I love you, right?”

                Himchan chuckled. “Yeah... sorry I sounded like an idiot didn’t I? I’m just starting to feel lonely I guess…”

                “Let’s hang out this weekend then. All of us. Call Youngjae and Daehyun and nag them like how you are known for and we can have fun.” Yongguk tried to raise his friend’s spirit.

                “Okay, I will. Thanks Bbang. And good luck confessing!”

                “I’m not confessing, you idiot!” Yongguk shouted into the phone but Himchan had already hung up.

               Yongguk looked back at the lab door and frowned. ‘I thought I felt a breeze… guess I imagined someone walking in.’

                A few more hours passed as Yongguk researched more on Isi’s armor, this time looking closely at the material it was made out of and how someone could have made it acid resistant. Without Ryan there or Himchan calling him, Yongguk was lost in his own dimension losing himself in his work.

                Suddenly, his main computer screen when black. Confusion was his first emotion before his stomach dropped in fear. His paranoia was answered when the black and white static littered the screen and strange text blinked on and off.

                                Try all you want to unlock your files but you will only have as much luck

                                                as you have with finding me from the armor I made.

                More than fear, Yongguk was pissed as he attempted to get back into his computer. Yongguk tried every trick in the book he knew, even going so hard as to pulling his hard drive out of the tower and putting it in another computer had had more control over.

                “Who dares to hack my computers?!” Yongguk screamed in frustration.

                A beep pulled his attention back to the main screen which had a few lines repeating.

                                I see you are done trying to figure things out on your own.

                                Let’s talk in person now that I know you will take me seriously.

                                Come to the university if you wish to have your computer fixed.

                Yongguk grumbled not liking that he was going to have to take orders from this unknown person but, there was nothing else he could do. He threw off his lab coat and replaced it with a leather jacket Himchan had bought for him a while back and grabbed his phone on his way out. He checked to make sure he had his transformation coin, just in case, and then dashed out to search of his enemy. He sent a quick text to Himchan letting him know what was going on and where he was going, making sue to emphasize that Himchan didn’t need to come if he was still busy with class.

                He reached the university and still hadn’t received a reply from Himchan, which he had expected since Himchan was in his favorite class, traditional instruments. Yongguk raced through the front entrance to the university only to realize he had absolutely no idea where to start looking for the computer hacker.

                A beep from his cellphone had him pulling it out frantically only to really become furious. ‘How does he have my cellphone number?! How does he know what I was working on? How does he know all this information about me???!’

                Yongguk wasted no time going to the science building, slamming the front door open as he made his way to his personal lab on campus. Students took one look at the pissed off Yongguk and promptly cleared the hallway he was walking down, his gaze promising death for anyone in his way.

                Yongguk finally reached the lab and slammed the door open. “Alright, whoever the hell you are, show yourself?”

                “Yongguk.” Ryan said, standing up from the computer he was working on.

                “Ryan?” Yongguk looked around. “What are you doing here? Have you seen anyone else in here?”

                Ryan shook his head. “No one else, just me.”

                Yongguk scowled. “That son of a . Lying to me—! I bet he ran back to get in my lab!”

                “No, I’m right here.” Ryan said stopping Yongguk from barreling out from the room.

                Yongguk looked at him in confusion. “I know you are here, I see you. I’m looking for someone who hacked my computer. By the way I might need your help with that if I can’t catch him—or her, no need to be disrespectful.”

                “No, Yongguk, I’m the one who hacked into your computer.” Ryan confessed and walked into the center of the room.   

                “You… hacked… my computer?” Yongguk was confounded.

                “Yeah…” Ryan rubbed the back of his neck. “I just… I just wanted your attention.”

                “My attention?” Yongguk frowned. “I don’t understand.”

                Ryan sighed. “I just… I wanted you to notice me! I have been working with you for months now and even a week in your own laboratory yet you barely talk to me, barely look at me, and yet you still think about Himchan who barely ever comes by.”

                “Himchan?”

                Ryan took a deep breath and closed his eyes in embarrassment. “I understand if you really do love Himchan and I’ll back off willingly but I wanted to, I guess, show off a bit to show you how great I am and tell you I liked you at least once!”

                “You like me?” Yongguk’s mind was still trying to catch up.

                “Yeah.” Ryan hung his head. “I know I’m not as good-looking as Himchan and I can’t make you smile like he does, but I can talk to you on your own level and I can appreciate you for exactly how much you are worth. You are amazing and I wish I could be the one to tell you that every day… but you have Himchan… so… I know things might be awkward after this. I understand if you want me to step down as you assistant.”

                Yongguk was still processing all of the information when Ryan made for the door. “Wait!” Yongguk grabbed his arm. “Wait for me to understand. What does Himchan have to do with any of this?”

                “Please let me go.”

                “No, explain.” Yongguk said sternly.

                Ryan groaned. “I heard you say that you lo—love him on the phone. Can you let me go now?”

                Yongguk smiled. “Ryan, that wasn’t what it sounded like.”

                “How can that not be what it sounds like!?”

                “Himchan is my best friend and one of my friends I’ve had since I was young. I love him like a brother and I was reassuring him that even though I may like someone that I’ll never forget about him and our friendship.”

                “You like someone?” Ryan said with a voice full of hope.

                Yongguk chuckled. “Yes. A guy who seems to be the only one to be able to distract me from my work and may even be my match when it comes to electronics.”

                “Yongguk…” Ryan looked up.

                “Yeah, I like you Ryan.” Yongguk smiled down at him. “Well,” Yongguk tilted his head. “I’m mad about the computer—“

                “I can fix that in a minute and teach you exactly what I did!” Ryan said hurriedly.

                “And I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were the one to make the armor I’ve been wasting sleep over—“

                “I didn’t want to give myself away in case you were a bad person after all and then it seemed too late to tell you.”

                Yongguk placed his finger on Ryan’s lips to stop the rambling and chuckled. “How about a date as repayment?”

                “A date…” Ryan said against Yongguk’s finger. Realizing, he blushed and back away. “Um.. a date.. yeah a date… when?”

               Yongguk looked up as he thought and then smiled. “How about now? It’s been awhile since I’ve been out of my lab. Let’s go have fun.”

                “Now?!”

                “Yeah.” Yongguk helped Ryan out of his coat and stated pushing him towards the door.

               Yongguk’s phone started ringing as they walked down the halls, Ryan now the one in shock over the turn of events. “Hello?”

                “Bbang! Who is the bastard?! Where do I meet you? Whose are we kicking?!” Himchan shouted.

                Yongguk laughed. “Don’t worry, false alarm. It was Ryan.”

                “It was Ryan…”

                “Yeah, oh, and you were right! I do like him and we are going on a date now.” Yongguk said cheerfully.

                “Wow… that was fast…” Himchan said.

                “Sure is… but I’ll talk to you later, okay? Make sure the kids study for their test tomorrow!” Yongguk hung up on Himchan who was complaining about how he always kept their younger friends and siblings in order.

                “Himchan?” Ryan asked.

                Yongguk nodded. “Yeah, you’ll both get my time… differently of course since he’s just a friend, but now it’s time for our first date and you have all my attention.”