"I think I should do something for him before he comes over." Jungkook said. He leaned against the counter as Jimin cooked, tapped his fingers on the marble surface. Jimin turned around, the hum that came out of his mouth asking Jungkook what he meant. Jungkook bit the corner of his bottom lip. "Like... maybe I should do something- before he gets here. I could... make him something? I don't know. I'm useless."

"Hey." Jimin said, normally happy face turning into a frown. He moved over to where Jungkook was standing, held onto the boy's cheeks, made their gazes meet. "What did I tell you? Just keep looking up to him; he'll be fine.... Maybe give him a compliment when he comes in. Tell him how much you missed him. He'll feel really good if he knows he's appreciated."

"I wish he would have known before. I wish I would've just-" Jungkook shook his head. He dropped his gaze for a moment to look at the floor. When he looked back at Jimin, the robot hadn't looked away at all, eyes still trained on Jungkook. The boy gave a smile, "I'll tell him something sweet."

"Good." Jimin said. Jungkook didn't realize Jimin was getting closer until he jumped back, hands falling from Jungkook's face quickly. "Sorry. Sorry, I'm- sorry." Jimin turned, walked away from Jungkook again, began to stir whatever he was cooking. It took another slow moment for Jungkook to realize that Jimin had almost kissed him; and he really wondered how much Jimin wanted Jungkook to fall in love. He wondered if it hurt Jimin. Could he feel pain? Were these things Jungkook could just ask Jimin, rather than have to ask Seokjin?

Too late; and it didn't matter. Seokjin knocked a few times just as a warning before he let himself in, because he knew he was allowed to just walk in. He always knocked anyway, always said he didn't want to scare Jungkook, didn't want the younger to think he was a robber or something of the like. Jungkook perked up as soon as he saw Seokjin, ran over and threw himself into the boy's arms.

"Jin-hyung! I missed you!" Jungkook said. He tucked himself into Seokjin, something he always did when he hugged someone. The habit came from Seokjin himself, as the older had always been taller than Jungkook, and it was just so easy for Jungkook to tuck himself into Seokjin's neck and feel comfortable, protected like that.

"I missed you too, Kookie." Seokjin chuckled. He let one arm fall from Jungkook's side to push the door shut. He looked at Jimin and waved. "Hi, Jimin! Do you, uh, like your life so far? How are things going?"

"They're going really good, Jin! Jungkook is really fun to take care of, just like you said!" Jimin said. He reached over and turned off the stove, moving the pot away. He began to go through Jungkook's cabinets, to grab bowls and spoons and chopsticks. "I've made you guys some soup! I also made rice, but I'll serve that after you eat your soup. I'll add something sweet to it."

"Jimin's really kind." Jungkook muttered into Seokjin's neck. He pulled away, fingers wrapped around Seokjin's wrists, holding onto them softly. "Thank you for making him for me. I really, really appreciate it. And for the money you gave us and the nightstand-"

"It's nothing, Jungkook, you don't have to thank me." Seokjin chuckled, arms breaking away from Jungkook's hands to ruffle his hair. "Besides, I thought you could use someone to take care of you when I'm not around."

Jungkook wondered when Seokjin would tell him that he really shouldn't be so dependant, that he should start taking care of himself. But- he really could use someone right now, someone to help him while he was focusing on school. College was a gateway to the rest of his life, he knew, and he should be learning how to take care of himself now, but it felt so much more reliving to have Jimin all the time than it would be to be alone most of the time.

"Thank you so much, hyung, really." Jungkook said, and he hugged Seokjin again. He felt the older boy's cheek shift, lips forming a smile against the side of Jungkook's head. He kissed Jungkook's temple, and then Jimin was calling the two of them over. "Lunch is ready! Come eat quick, before it gets too cold!"

Seokjin and Jungkook sat across from each other at the counter in the middle of Jungkook's kitchen. Jimin sat right next to Jungkook, legs tucked beneath him on the chair- which must have been uncomfortable, but perhaps Jimin couldn't feel uncomfortable. Could he?

Jungkook decided to start with that. "Hyung, can Jimin... feel anything? Can he feel uncomfortable at all? Hurt? Angry?"

"He can feel everything we do. His senses are the same. Some will be dimmer than other. Everything that relates to love is stronger than anything that doesn't." Seokjin said. He swallowed the bite of food he'd been taking, pointed his spoon at Jimin. "So, for example, he can feel pain better than he would detect discomfort. Being comfortable has less to do with love than pain."

"Oh." Jungkook whispered. He wondered if Jimin was hurt right now, but that was something Jungkook could ask him later- when Seokjin had gone home, perhaps when Jimin was sleeping in his bed again. Jungkook tapped his spoon against his bowl, opened his mouth to say something, but Seokjin gestured to the bowl- "Eat, Jungkook. It's very good."

Jungkook did as he was told. Jimin had cooked various vegetables into a very nice-smelling broth. He hummed at the taste. "This is really good."

"Thank you, Kookie! I'm glad you like it." Jimin said, leaned in and kissed Jungkook's ear. He fell back cringing. "Sorry. Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay." Jungkook gave a positive smile, smoothing his hand over Jimin's to make the robot feel a little bit better. Could he feel that, Jungkook wondered, or was that a dimmed sense? He should be able to feel comfort, right? Comfort had to do with love. Jungkook assumed he could by the way he relaxed, by the way his smile came back to his face.

"I'm going to start cutting up some fruit for the rice. Eat up, okay? Don't get too full." Jimin said. He kissed Jungkook's ear again- without apologizing, this time around. He stood up and went to the counter, took some strawberries out of the refrigerator and took out a knife to cut them up with.

"What else is on your mind, Kookie?" Seokjin asked, gaining Jungkook's attention again. Seokjin was a quarter of the way through his soup, where Jungkook had only taken a single bite. Jungkook picked up his spoon again as Seokjin continued, "You said you had lots of questions for me."

"I do." Jungkook said, but he couldn't think of any more to ask. His mind was set on Jimin's feelings, something Seokjin wouldn't be able to tell him. Jungkook cleared his throat, sat up, took a bite of soup to give himself a moment to think. "How much does Jimin know?"

"What do you mean? Like, his education?" Seokjin asked, and Jungkook nodded. Seokjin had to think about that for a moment. "Well. He knows as much as we do, schooling wise. Hell, he could probably go out and get a job if he wanted.... If he were real. I don't think anyone would hire a robot, especially not one without any identification papers."

Seokjin chuckled, nervous. And then he cleared his throat. "But. He's very smart. I programmed him with a lot of knowledge that will continue to grow as he sees more of the world and such. His brain is very similar to ours, only he can't- his memory is different. He can't forget things."

Jungkook was silent for a moment. He remembered watching something- a television show, perhaps, in which a girl had a memory like that; she could never forget things. He remembered the events of the show, cringed. "That's... why, hyung? What if he sees something bad? Or hears something he shouldn't? I don't want him to never be able to let go of something awful like that."

"I know Jimin inside and out- especially his mind. If he happens to see or hear something less than pleasing.... I'll just take it away." Seokjin said. He put his spoon down, sighed. "I know, it's kind of awful. I hate to have the power to change someone, especially if I need to. But- I think that's also a good thing. If he malfunctions, I can fix him. Speaking of which, there haven't been any bumps in the road yet, right? JImin's working alright?"

"Yes, he's fine. I actually- I was curious about that." Jungkook said. "He's working really, really well. He's so well-built... what could go wrong?"

"A lot of things I didn't really think about when I was planning him, even when I was making him. You don't quite realize how much there is to a person until you make them." Seokjin chuckled nervously again, broke eye contact with Jungkook for a few moments. "He's waterproof, first of all. His skin is a shield for everything inside of him, but for all I know, his skin could be punctured. I didn't think about injuries, believe it or not. His skin is kind of like a human's- dig into it too hard and it'll break."

Seokjin paused to tap on his chin, thinking. "He's also- his personality is... different than what I'm used to. I've never made someone before, clearly, and I've never met someone like Jimin. I think he has some Taehyung vibes, but that's about it. There might be something wrong with his personality. I could have forgotten to add something. I'm not sure- there was a lot to think about that I just- wasn't thinking about."

"He's... been good so far." Jungkook said, which probably wouldn't make Seokjin feel much better. He'd only had Jimin for enough hours to equal a day, most of which were spent sleeping or in opposite locations. But Seokjin nodded anyway, little smile on his lips, a little more comforting than his nervous chuckles had been.

"Anyway. What else is on your mind, Kookie? I can imagine there's a lot." Seokjin said. His smile went apologetic. "I'm sorry for making him so confusing. It's just- I wanted him to be really good for you, and intricate seemed the way to go- so I know exactly what to fix in case something went wrong."

"It's alright. I'm sure I could live with him just fine without knowing all of this- I'm just curious." Jungkook said. He sat up a little bit straighter, took another bite of his soup. He glanced over at Jimin, who looked very busy, taking little slices of strawberries and dumping them into bowls. He put a strawberry slice on his tongue, and, from what Jungkook could assume, ate it. Did he have to eat? Could he eat?

Jungkook voiced this curiosity with his next question. "What about his senses, hyung? And his body functions? Will he need to eat or sleep? And he's- he seems to hear a lot better than I can. He hears me walk into a room, but I'm pretty quiet when I walk."

"Like a kitten." Seokjin chuckled. He told Jungkook that a lot- he was as quiet as a cat when he walked. "His senses are a lot better than the average. I knew that wasn't necessary, I just thought it would be nice. Like, if you fell in the shower or on the stairs, he would hear you. If there was a fire, he might be able to smell the smoke before the smoke detectors caught it. I'd just really like him to be able to save you if there's trouble."

Jungkook smiled softly. Seokjin was very considerate, he thought, but he already knew that. Seokjin was probably the most considerate person Jungkook knew, which did say a bit with the amount of people Jungkook talked to and had talked to over his years.

"He doesn't need to eat or sleep. I did tell him that he can taste food, and that he can swallow it if he wants. There's nothing to digest it, so he must always tell me if he eats. But he's allowed to put food in his mouth- he would just have to spit it out afterwards."

Jungkook glanced over at Jimin, nodded. He wondered if Jimin had eaten the strawberry slice, or if he'd perhaps spit it into the sink. He was tempted to call over and ask, but Seokjin was speaking again.

"Is that all you had to ask, Kookie?" Seokjin asked. He sounded almost impatient, but not quite impatient. He sounded- like he needed to say something. So Jungkook nodded, because he didn't care about questions anymore, thought he'd learned enough about Jimin for one day. Seokjin nodded, "Okay. Because I have- have a question for you now."

Seokjin put his spoon, hands coming up to rest under his chin, and his expression was serious enough to have Jungkook wondering if perhaps he'd done something wrong.

"Do you like Jimin? Really." Seokjin said, and Jungkook opened his mouth to answer, but Seokjin held up a finger. "I know it was almost rude of me to give you someone like that, someone that's hoping you'll fall in love with him. I'm forcing you into a relationship an it was wrong of me to give you Jimin without asking you if you wanted him first. If you don't want Jimin, I completely understand. I'll take him with me today. He won't die. I won't shut him down. You can get him again if you want. Just- it's whatever you want, Kookie. If you're not okay with living with him now, I'll take him away."

Jungkook glanced at Jimin yet again. He thought about it for a little while. He didn't mind Jimin. Sure, the robot was a little bit uncomfortable at points, but Jungkook thought that might just be the thought of letting himself fall in love. Did he mind that enough that he would want Jimin taken away? Did he even wantJimin? In the first place, no. He didn't ask for Jimin. But Jimin wasn't a burden at all; Jimin was kind of a blessing, really- someone to keep Jungkook company, keep him happy and laughing when Seokjin wasn't around.

The only burden was the falling in love. But, now that he was thinking in-depth like this, now that he was in a situation in which he was kind of forced to think about love, it didn't seem all that bad. To hug Jimin, to kiss him, to call him a lover- it didn't seem that bad. Even if Jimin was a robot. Even if Jimin acted like a kid. Even if Jimin was just something from Seokjin's mind turned into something crafted from Seokjin's hands. It didn't seem that bad.

It was almost tempting.

Jungkook noticed Jimin was a little tense now, remembered Seokjin's answer to his question about Jimin's senses. Could Jimin hear them talking? Probably. He wasn't that far way, and he had great hearing, and Jungkook and Seokjin were not whispering.

Jungkook looked at Seokjin again, positive smile on his face. "I like Jimin. I appreciate that you made him for me, really. Thank you, hyung- I'll keep him."

"As long as you don't feel forced." Seokjin said, and he put his hand on Jungkook's. "You don't have to fall in love with him, Jungkook. You don't have to do anything, okay? If you ever don't want him, you just have to tell me."

"I want him, I promise." Jungkook said, and he looked over at Jimin as the words came out in what he wanted to say next. "I don't think I'd mind falling in love with him."

Jungkook could see Jimin's little smile as he turned to the sink, dropped the knife in, as he was grabbing the strawberries to put them back in the refrigerator. Seokjin nodded, "Okay," and Jimin came over with two bowls- sweet white rice with strawberries on top. Jungkook hadn't even heard Jimin grab the sugar that he sprinkled over the rice. Jimin was so quiet.

"Eat up, Kookie. I don't want you to go hungry." Jimin said. He took his seat next to Jungkook and pressed a little kiss into the boy's hair, something that had Jungkook blushing once again. It almost made him wish he'd had a partner before, perhaps just a simple relationship in high school so he wasn't as sensitive to sweet things like this.

"You're a very, very good cook, Jimin." Seokjin complimented as he moved his spoon from his soup to the little bowl of white rice to take a bite.

"Thank you, Jin! I learned from the best!" Jimin said. He moved to face Seokjin completely. "I also did a lot of research today, and I learned how to make certain dishes. I'm going to try a new breakfast dish tomorrow, and I think Jungkook will like it.... It mentioned something about allergies, though. Is Kookie allergic to anything?"

"I didn't tell him about allergies! My God!" Seokjin nearly screeched. He began to list off Jungkook's allergies. There were only a few of them, all of which Jungkook could have easily listed off himself. They were very minor allergies as well, things that wouldn't kill Jungkook- he'd just have to go to the hospital for them.

"I'm sorry, Kookie, I overlooked that completely." Seokjin said. He ran his fingers through his hair. "I'll go over everything I put in my plans again tonight, make sure I didn't forget anything important."

"It's okay, hyung. I'm sure if I collapsed, Jimin would know to call an ambulance." Jungkook said. He chuckled to try to lift the mood, but Seokjin and Jimin both looked quite horrified. Jungkook cleared his throat, took another bite of his soup and hoped they would stop looking at him like that.

"I'll make sure to never, ever buy those things. I didn't buy any of them when I went shopping today." Jimin said. He leaned against the table, closer to Seokjin as they were talking. "Tomorrow I'll make sure I buy medicine just so we have some. I'll put together a first-aid kit."

"I can help you out with that, if you'd like." Seokjin said. Finished with his soup, he pushed the bowl off to the side, switched its position with the bowl of rice he began to eat. Jungkook worked on finishing his soup, for he kind of wanted to try the sweet rice, too, but he wanted to finish his actual lunch before he move on to dessert- if it could be called that this early in the day.

"You eat well, Jungkook." Jimin said, hand on the back of Jungkook's head as he was eating. Jungkook raised an eyebrow. He always thought he ate a bit on the slow side, thought he should eat a lot quicker than he did. He often held his friends up when they were out at dinner because he ate too slow, often distracted by the conversation or his own thoughts.

"Thank you." Jungkook decided to say rather than question it, and he ignored the look Jimin gave him next, the look that lingered a little bit longer than necessary. Jimin took both Seokjin's and Jungkook's bowls when Jungkook finished his soup, moved on to eat his rice. It was sweet, just barely sweet. Jimin had obviously mixed a little bit of sugar into the whole bowl of rice before sprinkling some extra on, but it all tasted very nice, not too overdone.

"I watched a really interesting movie today, Kookie. I think you and Jimin should watch it together when I'm out of your way." Seokjin said. Jungkook went to tell Seokjin that he wasn't in the way, to mention that Seokjin should stay to watch it with them, but Jimin was talking before he could.

"I've been wanting to watch a movie! What movie is it?" Jimin asked, and Seokjin told him what it was, began to explain the plot just enough to get them curious- not enough to give it away. He finished up lunch before Jungkook, took the bowl to the sink himself.

"I'll be off." Seokjin said, leaned in and gave Jungkook a kiss on the cheek, tugged him into a hug. "I'll come and visit again tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, hyung." Jungkook said. Seokjin always had something new to do when he visited Jungkook. Jungkook was kind of excited to see what the new day would bring, especially now that Jimin was there, too.

/

A/N: Sorry for the slow start, guys. I always do this-- the first chapters of my fics are always just me throwing information at you through way too much dialogue and probably not enough detail. I'm also sorry that this took me so long to get up. I hadn't actually written anything over these past couple days- I wrote all of this in the last couple hours. /cringe but I hope you'll forgive me! And I hope this chapter was worth like a five-day wait omg