Three laws exist in the realm of robotics. 

Three laws by which all robots are bound, the most fundamental rules followed. All androids have these laws wired into every cell of their makeup, not a single part free of the binding texts. They sit on walls of most homes, an easy reminder to humans that they are truly safe in the company of androids. A constant to calm the nerves. 

The three laws of robotics
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Hakyeon, like any other person, knew them by heart, even having read the full outline of the laws. All 400 pages of them. He’d never had any real interaction with the wiring of these laws, since they came ingrained in the parts they ordered. He was entirely unsure of how this was done, how they managed to saturate every bolt and wire in the texts. “Magic potion” was what Wonshik called it, but it’s seemed to be some sort of liquid coding. The laws were entirely separate from the mechanics, residing somewhere in a remote high security government building. Not a single material they used was distributed without going through this building. Layers upon layers of code piled in to every part, and the world was safe. They could all be sure, nothing could break the laws.  

It was all a little out of Hakyeon’s area. He was much more at home fitting and repairing broken parts, making them whole again. He’d been working around robots since he was a kid, always helping his dad in his workshop. His dad knew almost everything there was to know about robots, having worked more than 30 years with and around some of the top android manufacturers and encoders. 

Hakyeon couldn’t boast quite such a position; his work primarily consisting of rewiring limbs and replacing damaged skins. But he loved the work, he loved figuring out the mechanics and bringing something broken back to life. It was enough for him.

“You done with that arm yet? The customers called for about the hundredth time asking about it,” Wonshik’s voice boomed through the doorway. 

He appeared, leaning against the frame. His face, as usual, was covered in smudges as black as his hands. It seemed the oil, which almost constantly covered them, had permanently stained Wonshik’s hands. Something that could easily be avoided by actually using the gloves Hakyeon bought him.

Hakyeon sighed, “No, I’ve still got a bit to do. The nerves are completely shot, I can’t even begin to imagine how they did it.”

“Maybe you should call them and break the news, I don’t think I can handle speaking to that woman again,” Wonshik grunted, his face belaying his displeasure. Customer service had never been Wonshik’s strength. Hakyeon couldn’t help but whine.

“Get Hongbin to do it, it’s his job! What kind of secretary is he; all he does is watch movies. I can’t believe you pay him.”

Wonshik just smiled and glided back out the door, “Just call her Hakyeon,” he called back.

Wonshik had been right to avoid the call. The moment she had picked, Hakyeon felt as though he was in a war zone. 

“I don’t understand why it takes you people so long to do anything! I’m sure if I’d taken this to my usual mechanic they’d have finished it in a day, and for half the price!”

Hakyeon could only close his eyes, his free hand coming up to massage at his temples. Her voice was harsh and grating, and she’d been talking at him for more than 10 minutes now. He could feel a migraine coming on.

It took another 10 minutes until Hakyeon could finally hang up.

“Oh shut up, you dimpled demon spawn,” he spat at Hongbin, who had come to laugh at him halfway through the conversation. Hongbin’s smile only grew wider.

“Why didn’t you just get Taekwoon to do it? I’m sure that sweet voice of his would have won her over,” Hongbin suggested.

“Unfortunately, I left Taekwoon at home today,” Hakyeon replied, regret filling his soul. Taekwoon could have probably gotten that woman off his back for the rest of eternity. The android had a certain knack at changing people’s minds. Maybe it was his constantly calm and quiet tone, or his low soft voice. Either way it almost always worked, especially (and infuriatingly) well on Hakyeon.

“Why did you stop bringing him in as often? He’s a funny little robot, he’s good company,” Hongbin mused.

“Mainly because you and Wonshik mess with him so much. Anyway, I think he likes being alone.”

Hongbin rolled his eyes at him.

“Shut up, I think he’s actually quite fond of me,” he sniffed, “What does he even do all day? He can’t just be cleaning.”

“I haven’t the faintest clue, he’s usually just sitting on the couch when I get home.”

“Weird.”

“You’re telling me.”

---

"What’re you reading?" 

Taekwoon looked up, his expression muted and serene as always. The way Taekwoon’s face never changed annoyed Hakyeon greatly, but it was just a part of living with androids. You were constantly reminded how incredibly inhuman they were.

Hakyeon had just arrived home, after another couple hours battling with the haywire arm. As usual, Taekwoon was sitting on the couch, sitting impossibly upright. His usually deep brown eyes were lit up to a slowly pulsing orange colour, indicating he was processing something. Hakyeon could tell he was reading, something he seemed to be seeing more and more from Taekwoon.

There was a faint click immediately after Hakyeon spoke, and Taekwoon’s eyes returned slowly to their usual colour.

Taekwoon blinked at him, “nothing of importance.”

The sigh Hakyeon let out was long and whiny, but as expected, Taekwoon didn’t hint at any reaction. 

“God you’re so secretive Taekwoonie, I just want to know what it was. You seemed very engrossed,” Hakyeon expressed, “was it a medical journal?”

Taekwoon was silent for a moment, his face showing nothing. Sometimes it was like talking to a wall, Taekwoon was incredibly stubborn for an android. But sometimes Hakyeon quiet enjoyed it, enjoyed the challenge Taekwoon offered, unlike other androids. 

The room was quiet apart from the very faint whirring Taekwoon always gave off when he was thinking. Hakyeon stood, annoyed, staring pointedly at the android.

“It was Animal Farm,” Taekwoon spoke softly, standing up and striding out of the room.

Hakyeon gurgled, slightly offended by Taekwoon’s rudeness. 

“Excuse me young man! Did I say you could leave?” He shouted after Taekwoon. He rounded the doorway, finding Taekwoon by the kitchen counter, apron already around his shoulders. He looked up, his eyes wide. 

“I need to start dinner, I apologise.”

With a sigh Hakyeon shuffled to the other side of the counter, sitting on one of the tall chairs. He was still a bit ruffled by Taekwoon’s sudden and unusual rudeness, but he tried not to let it get to him. Taekwoon probably didn’t fully understand the implications anyway. I would be nice if he did though, Hakyeon thought wistfully. 

He leaned forward on the spotless granite, watching Taekwoon work. His hands worked quickly, rapidly chopping vegetables and throwing them in an already sizzling pot. 

The way Taekwoon cooked always scared Hakyeon, his movements always sharp and harsh, but he could never convince himself to look away. It was mesmerising how perfectly the movements flowed, completing every task as the next begun. It made Hakyeon a little ashamed of himself when he attempted to fry an egg (which usually resulted in the fire alarms activating). Everything about the way Taekwoon moved was smooth and sleek, and ever so slightly inhuman. 

“I didn’t know you read novels,” Hakyeon spoke.

Taekwoon lifted his head at the words, continuing to cut the meat he was preparing. It made Hakyeon nervous but he tried to ignore it, focusing instead on Taekwoon’s curious eyes.

“I took it up a short time ago, I find them interesting,” the android said softly, but stopped his explanation there.

“What about them?” Hakyeon pressed. He’d never seen an android read for pleasure before; never seen Taekwoon read anything outside of medical journals and reports for that matter. It was interesting, very unexpected, but he’d never fully understood the psyche behind robots. He just connected the wires.

Taekwoon was still looking at him, calmly, but obviously contemplating the question. His mouth opened slightly in thought.

“The language patterns are interesting, but strange. They’re all so different, sometimes I can’t make sense of them,” he finally spoke, his hands actually slowing as he spoke, “The expression is all scattered, all different. I don’t really understand.”

Hakyeon chuckled softly. But Taekwoon’s thoughts were quite remarkable, but also not unusual coming from an android. The confusion was often a daily occurrence, especially from younger models. Though they had all the information in the world at their disposal, androids were very often unable to comprehend emotions or social norms. Myths and legends had always confused Taekwoon, probably still did, since his highly scientific mind could hardly begin to understand why they existed. He’d actually quite upset Hakyeon when he’d explained magic to Taekwoon, something Hakyeon was fond of. The android had brushed off the idea, stating fact after fact, which denied the existence of such things. Like he said, stubborn.

“Do you always read when I’m gone?”

The android gave a short nod, shifting his focus back to the cooking. It seemed that would probably be all Hakyeon got out of him. 

The kitchen already smelt amazing, and Hakyeon’s stomach gurgled angrily at him. Damn stomach, always so impatient. But Taekwoon’s cooking made always made it hard for him to wait, and he often found himself sneaking bites and spoonful’s while the android was preoccupied. Though he often burned himself and got scolded by Taekwoon, it was worth it. The bubbling jjigae on the stove looked all too tempting, but Taekwoon’s watchful eye stopped him from trying anything. Hakyeon squirmed in his seat.

“It will be done soon, be patient” Taekwoon murmured.

Hakyeon rolled his eyes, “yes mom.”

A couple minutes later they were sat at the table, a steaming bowl in front of Hakyeon. It was delicious, as usual. Taekwoon sat across from him, filtering through files from the day. He had a habit of staying close to Hakyeon when they were at home, and always sat with him when he ate. It had been a little weird at first, but Hakyeon had started to enjoy the company, as silent as the android was. He had Taekwoon project the news for him and he absently read through the stories. Mostly stories about the rise in black market androids, which was all there seemed to be these days. 

Hakyeon found it hard to worry too much about these cases, since this apparent rise had been going on for years now. Hakyeon didn’t really have anything to do with those incidents anyway, so why worry? There wasn’t really a day where there wasn’t more news about more arrests, another haywire android. It was never anything too bad generally just malfunctions and scams. It was mostly large-scale fraud from what Hakyeon could see. The main concern was the bots were often made with materials without law coding, but there had only ever been one case of an android breaking the laws, and that had been relatively minor. Honestly he wasn’t really sure why there was so much police and public concern, the actual cases seemed few an far between. It was likely just due to the way the tabloids blew it all up, running new stories warning of the criminal threat ‘lawless’ bots could be in future. That made Hakyeon laugh since people had always used androids for criminal activity for centuries, even with the codes. Sometimes it made him wonder why he even read the news anymore, if that was all it was. 

Hakyeon sighed and closed the projection, Taekwoon coming into view again.

“Thanks Taekwoonie,” Hakyeon said with a smile, and went back to finishing his dinner. It was quiet again.

“Have you read Animal Farm?” Taekwoon asked suddenly, cocking his head slightly. He looked like a puppy like that.

“Ah, yeah, I read it in high school,” he was a little surprised by Taekwoon’s sudden question. It was quite unusual for him to ask Hakyeon anything personal.

Taekwoon nodded, “did you like it?”

Hakyeon stuttered a little. The android was being weirder than usual.

“I, um, I don’t really remember it too well to be honest… It was a while ago.”

Taekwoon didn’t respond, rather opting to continue looking at Hakyeon, head still cocked. Obviously he wanted more than that. Hakyeon sighed, trying to remember anything about the book. Honestly he wasn’t even sure he finished it. He had usually done the bare minimum at school, and reading an entire novel when there were perfectly good summaries out there didn’t seem like something he would have done. He knew the general idea, which was kind of cool.

“I guess I liked the idea?” Hakyeon tried, hoping it was enough for the android. He had no idea what had gotten into him, he almost never asked about Hakyeon’s opinions on anything, especially not books. 

Taekwoon nodded again, a little more enthusiastically, “I thought it was very interesting, insightful. I very much enjoyed it.”

Hakyeon laughed. Only a small laugh, but a laugh all the same, making Taekwoon even more confused. The shock of hearing Taekwoon say something like that, say he enjoyed something, was almost too much. But Hakyeon liked it. He flapped his hand at Taekwoon.

“Sorry, I just, I’ve never heard you say anything like that,” he explained, “It’s nice.” 

The android moved his head a little, his face softening again. Quiet again.

The bowl was empty by now, and Hakyeon could felt full and sleepy, his eyes dropping a bit out of exhaustion. The amount of time he’d spent that day fiddling with tiny nerves and wires was ridiculous, and he could feel the strain in his eyes as a result. It was still pretty early, only 7:30 by the kitchen clock, but he felt tired enough to go to bed and get a good nights sleep for once. Languidly, he pushed his chair back, summoning the energy to stand up. Taekwoon looked up at him, waiting for some type of instruction.

“I think I’m going to go to bed. Can you set an alarm for seven tomorrow? I need to finish a job,” he said with a sigh, swaying slightly where he stood. Taekwoon nodded, a small circle of light pulsing around his pupil for a moment as he set the alarm. Hakyeon smiled and began to lumber toward his bedroom, only thinking of sleep. Taekwoon made a small noise, which slowed him.

“I think I have a small nerve damage in my chest, I have been experiencing small twinges for a few days now,” he said softly.

“Oh?” Hakyeon hummed, a yawn bubbling from his chest, “when’d it start?”

“Four days ago while I was reading. I’ve run diagnostics but they’ve been clear.”

Hakyeon waved his hand behind him and shuffled forward again, “Yeah sure I’ll check it out tomorrow, thanks Taekwoonie.”

---

Taekwoon was only the faintest beginnings of a being when Hakyeon had first seen him. 

It had been a cold morning and Hakyeon had woken up early, shivering under his sheets. The heater in his room had gone out, again. Living in an old house like theirs could be a struggle, especially in winter. But Hakyeon’s father refused to replace the heaters until they were beyond repair. So they were stuck with heaters that shut off randomly, often, in the very early morning, and restarting them was a total . The switchboard, stupidly, was out in the workshop, a place filled with so much metal and stone it was as good as a freezer.

“ing hell,” Hakyeon grumbled, struggling out of his thick blankets. When his feet hit the ground he hissed, darting to grab his slippers and dressing gown. Thank god he didn’t have school that day and could sleep in. The air actually bit at his face when he opened the door. He swore again. Good his mother was asleep, or he’d be dead. She didn’t have much patience for foul language, not that it really stopped him; he just toned it down around her. He probably had the foulest mouth amongst his friends. 

The workshop wasn’t far from his room, only a couple meters, but the hallway between the rooms had an awful draft. The ice breeze skimmed Hakyeon’s bare calves, which stuck out from his fluffy gown. He decided to run.

“, , ,” Hakyeon hissed, hopping from one foot to another while he fiddled with the door handle. The lights where already on when he opened the door, bringing a slight amount of warmth to the room. He sighed in relief. 

With the absence of the ice wind, he could move easier, shuffling tiredly to the switchboard.

He frowned. All the heaters were out.

Usually only two or three would go out at once, rarely all of them. That only really happened when his father used on of his machines.

Hakyeon sighed, “god dammit,” he turned and looked around the workshop, “dad?”

There wasn’t a reply. Hakyeon sighed again; his father had a tendency to get over involved in his work, sometimes he would have to yell at him just to get him to stop fiddling and have dinner with them. But it was probably best not to disturb him then. It did mean he’d have to leave the heaters off. He’d just have to get some heat packs and hope he could get back to sleep, it was way too early for him to stay awake. 

Reluctantly, he shuffled toward to door again, cursing his father under his breath. But before he was out of the room, he noticed something in the corner. Tucked away in the far right corner of the front room way a locker. Rather large, almost like a steel wardrobe. Hakyeon had never seen it opened. On the front was a large and study finger print lock, one of the expensive ones his father only used for the storerooms and the workshop door. But today, it was open, the doors ajar to give a slight peek inside. It was too dark to make out clearly. Curiosity itched at the back of his mind. He asked his father what was inside often, turning it into a joke as time went by, but he never got an answer. The locker had stood in that corner for years, always closed and always fascinating Hakyeon. He needed to know what was inside.

Slowly, he crept towards to corner, his slippers scuffling along the ground. He almost hummed in excitement, but his racing heart stopped him. He could only shuffle inch by inch towards the cabinet. Leaning over, he tried to peek inside. The light glinted dimly or metal and wire. With a slightly shaky hand, Hakyeon reached out and swung the door open; the hinges creaking softly as is went.

It was only in its beginnings, only a portion of a skeleton, wire and metal jutting hanging loosely from the frame. The frame stood by itself in the locker, swamped by dark, cold empty space. This form of an android, raw and stripped bare was what always interested Hakyeon, what he’d always ask to see. But the face was what drew his eye, as though a magnet was tugging at his attention. The face was complete, seemingly the sole focus of the being. 

It, he, was beautiful.

He was serene, eyes closed as though in a deep sleep. His bottom lips drooped just slightly, leaving a small gap through which a line of pearly white teeth peeked. High cheekbones and dark hair.

Hakyeon’s hands itched, itched to reach up and touch the smooth, pale skin. To run his thumb over the full rosy lips. So pretty, so perfect.

He looked so real. He was nothing like the androids Hakyeon was used to, all metal and sleek. Instead he was raw and delicate. Human.

Hakyeon sighed and moved closer, standing on his toes to reach up to the face. He was so much taller than Hakyeon, as long and tall as his father was. Inch by inch, Hakyeon reach his hand towards his face, his fingers shaking slightly. His eyes were wide in wonder.

“Pretty,” he whispered so softly it was barely more than escaped air, and his fingers brushed the androids cheek. A small electric tingle ran through Hakyeon’s fingers, and he smiled softly. 

“Hakyeon?”

A cold draft blew into the room, biting at Hakyeon’s knuckles. He flinched and whipped around, heart jumping. Across the room stood his father, clad in a thick apron and wielding gloves. Hakyeon squeaked.

“I was just- it was already open, I was just looking, I-I didn’t touch anything I promise,” his tongue tripped on the words. The look on his fathers face scared him; different to anything he’d seen on him before. It wasn’t anger, at least not the usual hot and lashing type. The expression was cold and all too calm, and that scared Hakyeon even more. He hadn’t meant to do anything wrong he just wanted to see what was hid in that locker.

His father sighed, dropping his hands by his sides as he strode surly towards Hakyeon.

“ no dad I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to I didn’t mess with anything I promise please-”

The man cut him off with a sharp slam of the locker doors.

“Go back to bed Hakyeon,” he said calmly. Hakyeon choked a little, unsure whether to stay or simply scamper away.

“I-I’m sorry, please don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry,” his father didn’t look at him as he said it, simply staring ahead at the closed locker, “It’s okay. Just go to bed, I’ll turn the heaters back on.”

Though his bed and room were warm when he got back, Hakyeon couldn’t go back to sleep. He couldn’t help wonder about the locker, the android. Images of his father’s cold face floated through his mind and he shivered under his warm blankets. He’d never seen that before, and he didn’t really want to see it again.

But the thoughts where later replaced with another face, much later when his eyes had drooped and he’d let the warmth of the room cradling him into a sleep. He dreamed of the pretty face and all of its soft colours. Dreamed of the plush lips and fluttering eyelashes. Dreamed of gentle brown eyes watching him softly in his sleep.

A/N: *whispers* I'm so sorry u had to read this