“So… what kind of boyfriend am I getting?” Seh Lyung managed to ask. It was all bark and no bite. When it came to discussing the robot boy, she had no problem; it was like discussing a fairytale. But now it was all coming to life and all that could run in her mind was—is this really happening!?

                K.Will scratched his head. “Well… that depends. What kind of boyfriend do you want?”

                “Excuse me?” asked Seh Lyung, her jaw dropping. “I just did a seven-hundred question test for you, and you’re still asking me what boyfriend I want?”

                “Maybe if you had answered the questions less vaguely, I wouldn’t have to have asked you.”

                “What do you mean by vague?” she asked, crossing her arms.

                “Let’s see.” Professor K.Will dramatically opened up Seh Lyung’s test results. “Question number eight, would you like your Boyfriend to have colored hair? Your response was, I don’t know. And that response was repeated through half the test!”

                “I seriously didn’t know!” she said, her eyebrows furring. “Does it even matter if his hair is dyed or not?”

                “That was my question. And since I’m pretty tight on time,” Professor K.Will was always busy with being a nearly world-known professor.

                Seh Lyung sighed. “You could always hold off this experiment for later if you can’t—”

                “So I decided to stop thinking about one boyfriend and made you four separate boyfriends to choose from!”

                Cool.

                WHAT.

                One is more than enough.

                FOUR, WHY FOUR.

                A headache was slowly growing in Seh Lyung’s head. She didn’t want to disrespect her elder, so she took a few deep breaths before speaking. “Four… boyfriends? And how is this possible?”

                “Well, above from the technical stuff, it isn’t that hard to produce a boyfriend.” Her uncle said casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal.

                She shivered, producing a boyfriend, it didn’t sound natural, not that it was supposed to. “But why four?”

                “Would you like to re-check your answers?” her uncle said, slapping the papers with his hands. “They all point to various personalities, you have no standards. I would’ve created the typical,” he started air-quoting. “Flower boy for you, but there were too many technicalities for that. Do you have any idea how much Boys Over Flowers I’d have to re-watch?”

                Seh Lyung started waving him off. “Fine-fine, I understand. Let’s just…” Don’t shiver, don’t shiver! “Get this over with.”

                She walked over to the four shut capsules, unable to tell what was inside. Her hand slowly grazed the one in the middle-left. It strangely felt warm, but then again, the boyfriend would have to be warm, to portray a human.

                Suddenly, the capsule popped open. Seh Lyung jumped, and shut her eyes tightly. There was a boy inside!

                “Should I activate the kiss-to-operate function?”

                Snap. No robot would be stealing her first kiss.

                “NO!” She yelled, earning at disapproving look from her uncle. “Just turn it on already! This is scary enough! You’re so lucky to have a nice niece who will do such crazy experiments for you!” she was going crazy with fear, and she didn’t want to show it, so she continued rambling.

                K.Will rolled his eyes. Teenagers. He reached into his lab coat pocket and took out a remote with six switches. It was about as compact as car keys. He picked a switch and flipped it on.

                “Sahm-chon, this better be worth it!” her breathing turned erratic, as if she was suffering from some sort of breathing problem. “AGH!”

                Click.

                “Girlfriend? Why are you screaming?”

                She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Someone was holding her shoulder. The feel was surprisingly warm and comforting, but it wouldn’t suffice. The words kept ringing in her head. It isn’t human. It’s a robot.

                She came face-to-face with an older looking boy, but in reality it was probably only a couple days old. The face was handsome, with almost spiky black hair, and a slightly burly body with biceps. But the fact that it wasn’t human ruined it.

                Also, it had no clothes on.

                Her uncle cut through the science. “Meet 02, I’ve programed him with a Korean name, since you’d probably want everything already set up. Wouldn’t it be weird to name your own boyfriend?” Oh, really? She would’ve never thought.

                Seh Lyung observed the robot’s face. It was shy-looking, but very endearing. It opened its mouth, but then shut it and its cheeks went red. Was this really a robot? It looked too realistic. Coughing, it did it’s best to sound to a normal state. “Good afternoon, girlfriend! Nice to meet you!” it even sounded human.

                “02, please say your Korean identification.” Professor K.Will instructed kindly.

                “Omo, I forgot!” Do robots even forget? It was sure good at not acting its part. “I’m Shim Hyunseong!”

                Seh Lyung bowed, even though it seemed unnecessary, in fact, she accidentally saw something she didn’t want to. “Please put some clothes on,” she said, forgetting to introduce herself.

                Professor K.Will sighed, adjusting the collar of his white coat. “02, your clothes are in the closet upstairs.”

                Hyunseong’s smile never wavered as it led Seh Lyung upstairs, as if it already had a built-in map of the house programed. “Girlfriend, please pick out clothes for me.”

                Now it was being a baby—who didn’t know how to pick out clothes? “Just put something on.” She said, waving him off.

                Hyunseong picked out a flowery pink apron and put it over his bear body. “How about this?

                She stared at the material for a long time. As long as it covered him. “Whatever… let’s just go back.”

                “You are so cool, girlfriend.” Hyunseong said, tying the girly apron in a perfect knot, almost too small for his wide torso.

                She ignored the robot, going back down to the lab first, so she wouldn’t have to face it.

                Professor K.Will tapped his foot impatiently, and checked his activation remote. Was it a bad idea to activate 02 without warning Seh Lyung first? She didn’t look too comfortable before. He shrugged, and pressed another switch. The next boyfriend emerged.

                On cue, Seh Lyung quickly dashed down the stairs, blindly avoiding Hyunseong, as the apron was dangerously falling off his body.

                She crashed into yet another, robot.

                It easily caught her it its arms so she wouldn’t fall back. She was far too shocked to even scream. “Hello, girlfriend!” it was a tad skinner than Hyunseong, and his appearance was even older. “I am 01, Kim Donghyun!”

                “Hi, Hyung!” Hyunseong waved from the back.

                Seh Lyung took a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure. “I was wondering where the first one was,” she muttered to herself.

                It nodded frankly. “I have no clothes on.” Stated Donghyun. “Would you like to help me?”

                Seh Lyung knew it didn’t mean it that way, but she immediately shook her head. “No, thank you. But please take Hyunseong with you.”

                Donghyun finally peeled its eyes away from her and immediately grimaced at the other robot’s attire. “Yah, you’re wearing girl’s cooking clothing.” It said, pulling away from Seh Lyung and dragging Hyunseong upstairs to change.

                K.Will grinned haughtily, the third button in his remote. “01 and 02 seem fun, right?”

                “Yeah…” Seh Lyung replied warily, stepping up to the capsules. “So… what about three and four?”

                “Eager, aren’t we?”

                Not really, more of, eager to get it over with and call it a day. She didn’t want to spend all day and night in her uncle’s lab.

                Donghyun and Hyunseong quickly returned, fully covered. And they didn’t dress that bad, adorning dark blazers and white high tops. Hyunseong was holding two other male outfits, probably for 03 and 04.

                Donghyun spun around, giving Seh Lyung a better look. “Girlfriend, you like chic style, right?” She suddenly remembered how she wanted a guy with chic style, so this was when the application affected the robots? “I’ve been programed with the ideas of fifty of the best fashion designers in the world.”

                “That’s great.” Seh Lyung replied, forcing a smile.

                Hyunseong approached the two. “Who looks better, girlfriend? Me or him?” and did they seriously have to keep calling her girlfriend?

                K.Will interrupted the three, and pressed the next switch on his remote. Seh Lyung frowned, she felt like she was with Dr. Frankenstein more than her own uncle. “Ready for 03?”

                Donghyun turned to Hyunseong. “Help me dress 03 before girlfriend becomes uncomfortable.”

                The younger looking one turned to Seh Lyung in disbelief. “Why would she be uncomfortable of her boyfriend’s body?”

                “Girlfriend is underage.” Donghyun stated maturely.

                03’s eyes fluttered open, and looked extremely dreamy, as if it just came out of a flower boy drama. Adorning honey brown hair with a slight wave, its bright eyes instantly searched for Seh Lyung. “Hi, girlfriend!” its smile was surprisingly refreshing. “My name is—AH!”

                The young girl tried not to laugh as she watched the latest robot being ambushed by Donghyun and Hyunseong, forcing clothes on it. Her uncle watched her from the corner of his eye, she was warming up quickly.

                03 hopped out of its capsule, staring at the new plaid shirt and tight denim jeans. “Hyungs, I could have changed later, what gives?”

                “Girlfriend is underage.” Hyunseong repeated from Donghyun. “She won’t like it.”         

                03 returned its gaze to Seh Lyung, and quickly grabbed her hands before she could put them behind her back. “Whatever girlfriend doesn’t like, I don’t like.” It said simply, and it made her cease knowing how to breathe for a split second, she hoped robots couldn’t detect that. “My name is Lee Jeongmin, what’s yours?”

                “Keh-Kim Seh Lyung.” She stuttered, realizing she never introduced herself.

                “Would you like a nickname?” Hyunseong asked, breaking Jeongmin’s moment. “I have a name generator in my computer.”

                Seh Lyung gave a stiff grin. “No, thank you.” She turned around to look for the sanest robot, Kim Donghyun. It was with her uncle, as they pressed the switch for the fourth and final boyfriend, without telling her. “Hey!” she ran from Jeongmin and started punching her uncle’s arms. Three boyfriends was more than enough already.

                “What!!!” K.Will asked, hiding behind Donghyun, who didn’t seem to care. “You’ll like 04!”

                “More than me?” Jeongmin pouted, pointing to his chest.

                Ignoring Jeongmin, Donghyun ordered Hyunseong to aid the youngest robot. “Please change 04 into clothes.”

                The final boyfriend was already awake, and its eyes were continuously blinking, adjusting to the light. Very human-like, it yawned, and didn’t argue as Hyunseong dressed it. It was just like watching a puppy! The boyish haircut and baby features complimented nicely.

                Jeongmin helped 04 out of the capsule, and the tinier robot waddled over to Seh Lyung. “Girl… friend?” it asked sleepily, which was far too adorable for Seh Lyung not to ignore. Without warning, the robot wrapped its arms around her tiny waist, resting his head on her shoulder. “It’s me… No Minwoo.” He mumbled, as if they had known each other for years. Seh Lyung awkwardly pouted the sleepy one on the back, returning his hug half-heartedly.

                “No fair!” Jeongmin shouted from the sidelines, crossing his arms. “I didn’t get to hug her!”

                “Can I get a hug too?” Hyunseong asked shyly.

                “No time.” Professor K.Will chastised, clapping his hand a few times. “Say your greeting, it’s late and there’s school tomorrow.”

                “What greeting?” Seh Lyung asked, giving a strange expression. She watched as the four robots shuffled in a line, their faces suddenly attentive, Minwoo didn’t even seem tired anymore. So these four, were her uncles prototypes? And they all wanted to be their girlfriend?

                Kim Donghyun.

                Shim Hyunseong.

                Lee Jeongmin.

                No Minwoo.

                “I’m your boyfriend!” they saluted in unison. “Hello, we are Boyfriend!”

~~~

WAHH. WHY ARE WE CALLING THE BOYFRIENDS 'IT'. Well, it's only this chapter, for the most part. They will be referred to be more human-like in future chapters. In the meantime, thank you for reading! Now that you've met all the main characters, all that's left is the first day of school!

~Camille