who do you expect me to be?

by vonseal

Summary:

it's been decades since robots have driven humans underground. small rebel bases are scattered across the globe, desperately fighting for humanity's survival, backed by the last standing walled city, HQ. myungjun, the communication's officer for one of these bases, slowly begins a deep connection with jinwoo, the voice from HQ he listens to over his radio. little does he know that jinwoo has a secret he is hiding and in order to uncover this secret, he must face his greatest fears.

Notes:

this was written for the K-Fic Big Bang and i had such a blast with it!!! scattered throughout the fic is artwork from the amazing @nagi, and it is all fantastic and really conveys all of the feelings i put into this fic.

please enjoy!

 

“How did today go?” 

Myungjun, lying in bed and staring up at the dark and dreary ceiling above him, hesitated for a few seconds before responding, “Alright.”

The voice on the other end of the radio was silent and so Myungjun sought to fill that void.

“We lost a man today. He was mowed down by one of those…” Myungjun waved his arm about before him, as if the voice on the other end could see. “Those fucking things,” he finished, then he cleared his throat. “I hope no one else at HQ is on this frequency.”

“You know it’s no one but me.”

“I know,” Myungjun murmured. He sat up, unable to continue staring blankly at his ceiling. The interior design of his room left much to be desired, but at least he had added a couple of things to make it more homey. There was a small clover he had found, trampled after a battle, dried out and framed. There was an old picture of a bird, clipped out of a magazine from the Before Times that had been lying out on some old bathroom floor. There was a scarf Minhyuk had knitted for him, knitted from the fur of a rabbit and a bit too short to really utilize well. All in all, it was as cozy as an underground room really could be.

“You need to sleep,” the voice on the other end urged him.

Myungjun smiled a little bit. “Hard to sleep. It’s cold today.” Maybe he should wear the scarf. Minhyuk would be happy if he did. “Is it cold at HQ?”

“Um…” The voice on the other end laughed a little bit. “Would you be upset if I said no?”

“Not at all. It gives me more reason to keep fighting harder. One day, maybe, I’ll make it over to HQ.”

“I’d like that,” said the voice at the other end, and Myungjun continued to smile.

He knew it likely wouldn’t happen, not while he still had forces underground. As one of the few humans left, out of likely a couple hundred, Myungjun knew the world’s survival depended on him and the others who remained in the bunker with him. 

It hadn’t always been like this, supposedly. At one point, humans had lived freely above ground with very little concern. Myungjun had heard from some of the older men in the bunker that they had grass and trees and blue skies. But then the humans began to build robots, each one more capable and intelligent than the one that came before it. The robots were created to obey humans, but they turned. It started off small enough. Families would be annihilated by the robot in their household. People on the street were killed violently. The scientists and engineers claimed that maybe some of the robots were malfunctioning, but they were still safe enough.

And then everyone was hunted by the millions of robots they had created. The seemingly impossible had come true, and humanity dwindled down. They left their homes and the great, wide open world and dug out places to stay safe. The robots were unlikely to dig down – at least, they hadn’t been able to do so for many years. Underground, humans could remain safe and rebuild their numbers while fighting for the freedom to return to the outside world once more.

Myungjun, born in the bunker, only saw what was left of the world. The robots had burned down the forests and torn apart the houses. Some buildings remained standing, and Myungjun always entered those with awe and fascination. He had found several plants, somehow still alive, and would either do his best to nurture them when he was able, or he would cut them and bring them underground. They never survived underground, though.

At Headquarters, where all humans longed to be, they remained above ground and safe, with large walls to keep robots out and many more resources to keep humans alive. They communicated with those in underground bunkers, giving orders or commands sometimes, but more often just offering up some advice. They could give out coordinates, too, where they suspected large stashes of food or weapons. Sometimes they had enough insight to warn in advance if robots were headed their way. Myungjun had been chosen to communicate with HQ, and Jinwoo had been assigned to work with him on the other end.

Myungjun really liked Jinwoo.

His voice was deep and rough, but the words he spoke were anything but. Unlike the last man who’d had his spot, he’d learned the names of most everyone in Myungjun’s bunker. He regularly asked how they were. He had managed, once or twice, to send in drones with medicine for some of the more sickly residents.

And he never went a day without checking up on Myungjun, even if they had no other reason to talk.

“Are you going out again tomorrow?” Jinwoo asked, breaking Myungjun out of his thoughts.

“Just for a bit,” Myungjun responded. He picked at the thin bed sheets over his mattress. “We found a market today, but we couldn’t get all of the food we needed. We need to pick up the rest before those damn robots find it.”

Robots liked to destroy large quantities of food in an effort to starve the humans out. According to Jinwoo, they had been successful with several other underground rebel bases nearby. Myungjun prayed the same fate would not befall him. Starvation seemed like such a terrible way to go.

Before Jinwoo could say anything, Myungjun asked, “What do you like to eat at HQ?”

“Don’t make me answer that.”

“Why not?”

“I feel…” Jinwoo cleared his throat. “It makes me feel guilty, enjoying the food here while you have to scavenge for it.”

Myungjun laughed a little bit. “I’ve told you before, it motivates me to work harder and kill as many robots as I can so I can join you one day and eat whatever you eat. Canned meats are fine, but the real thing is so much better.”

He made do with what he could get. Fortunately, there were a few occasions he had been able to procure meat from above ground. He had eaten rabbits and birds, and sometimes deer that wandered nearby. All of the animals were scrawny, though, and Myungjun heard talk from the older men that game used to be fat and hardy. Now they were lucky if they could feed two people with one dead animal.

“We eat some canned foods here,” Jinwoo murmured.

“You also have pigs,” Myungjun pointed out, and then he sighed. “I want to see a pig in person one day. I saw some pictures – what are they like?”

“Fat. A bit…a bit weird to touch. They don’t have a lot of hair, or fur, so they’re kind of smooth. But they also roll around in mud a lot. They have snouts, and curly tails.” Jinwoo paused for a few seconds, thinking, then he added, “They eat anything.”

“I can relate to those pigs,” Myungjun said, jokingly.

“Well, you’re not fat.”

“And how do you know I’m not?”

Jinwoo giggled. His laugh was beautiful, and Myungjun always longed to hear it. “I assume you aren’t,” he teased, “what with all the running and fighting you have to do on a constant basis.”

“I don’t run that much,” Myungjun said, taking the opportunity to defend his honor. “I mostly fight. Dare I say that the robots are the ones who do most of the running.”

“I’m sure they are,” replied Jinwoo. The sentence uttered by any other man would have likely been sarcastic and maybe a bit condescending. But Jinwoo was always so genuine in everything he said and did. 

“I worry a lot, though,” Jinwoo continued, a bit quieter. 

Myungjun wondered if he was in a room with other people. Sometimes Jinwoo had to congregate with the rest of HQ, but usually at night, he was alone. He’d said once that he always snuck into the Communications room in order to spend his free time talking with Myungjun.

“What do you worry about?” Myungjun asked, and then he laughed sharply. “Sorry. Stupid question. I meant to say that there’s no reason to worry.”

Jinwoo sighed and retorted, “There’s plenty of reason to worry.”

Myungjun lay back down, deciding that he might as well stare up at his bland, gross ceiling. There was a lot of water damage – heavy rains above ground would cause flooding. It was a nuisance, mostly, but the bunker was relatively secure now. 

“I know there is,” Myungjun responded, “but I promise you that I’m always safe. And all of the other guys have my back, just as I have theirs. And we never get into really dangerous situations.”

“It feels like you lose a man every month.”

That was true. Myungjun played with his earpiece for a bit, then muttered, “That’s how it is, though.” Still, he understood Jinwoo’s concerns. They had become very close to each other, even if they had never actually met. Jinwoo had gone from being yet another voice in his ear from time to time, directing him on various landmarks nearby or giving small missions and data points, to being Myungjun’s closest friend and confidant. Myungjun thought so fondly of Jinwoo – sometimes he expected his heart to burst, unable to contain all of the love that had been boiling up in the past year. Jinwoo likely felt the same way, and if their positions were switched, Myungjun would have that constant fear lingering in his chest.

He liked that Jinwoo was safe, at least, tucked away in the large HQ compound, given good food and a comfortable bed and fresh air. Jinwoo was never in harm’s way, and that brought Myungjun great comfort. He knew he ought to give Jinwoo that same comfort. But how could he? He could die at any moment, and life would have to continue on without him. Dying was almost expected in these underground bunkers. The robots were crafty and hard to kill; humans were flawed and vulnerable. Myungjun was always at the mercy of inorganic creatures.

“They are predictable, at least,” he said to Jinwoo. “The robots, I mean. I usually understand what they’ll do if they find us, and that makes it a bit easier to fight. Or run. Whichever we decide to do, depending on the type of robot we see.”

“Sometimes…” Jinwoo cleared his throat and hesitated, but then he continued, “Sometimes I wish you could just abandon your bunker and find your way to HQ. To me.”

They didn’t often admit their feelings for each other, not like this. They knew they both had a part to play; Myungjun was yet another fighter who relayed messages from HQ, and Jinwoo was in communications and expected to speak only of tasks and duty. Discussing any potential feelings would put them beyond their duties and complicate things greatly. How could Jinwoo communicate effectively when he was always worried for Myungjun’s safety? Likewise, how could Myungjun properly relay Jinwoo’s messages when he knew he was Jinwoo’s top priority?

“I can’t,” he said weakly, but Jinwoo interrupted him.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…I shouldn’t have said anything. I just…” Jinwoo sighed, then he laughed a little bit. “I want you to sleep well tonight.”

“Changing the subject, huh?” Myungjun wondered, but he smiled anyway, thinking of how red Jinwoo must be. Jinwoo got flustered easily. Usually Myungjun liked to push his buttons and see what made him most ruffled, just to imagine him in such a state. They had started off so professionally, after all, so it was nice to know Jinwoo was only human. 

“Yes, well, I probably shouldn’t get into personal stuff. Dongmin chastised me the other day for smiling too much when we talked together.”

Myungjun almost squealed at that mental image. “You smile when we talk?”

“When you’re not behaving like an ass, sure.”

“I will be on my best behavior, then, so you can smile even more. Go on and smile right now. I can hear it sometimes in your voice. Smile. Do it.”

“You’re such an idiot,” Jinwoo replied, exasperated. “I’ve smiled a lot today already.”

“All because of me, huh?”

“I won’t dignify that with a response.”

“Aw, come on, Jinnie, I know you think my voice is sexy.”

“It really, really isn’t.”

“Well, your voice is super sexy.”

Jinwoo paused again, then asked, “Really?” 

Myungjun laughed. “Do you not believe me? Man, I wish you could hear your own voice. Here, I can record you. Say something super sexy. Like, let me bend you over, Mr. Kim .”

“I’m not –” Jinwoo started, and then he giggled a bit. Myungjun couldn’t stop grinning, pleased that he was able to hear such a cute laugh from Jinwoo. “God, you’re such an idiot. I’m ending this call.”

“Aw, come on.”

“Seriously, go to bed. I’m not saying that. I’m hanging up.”

He had played enough with Jinwoo. Besides, he really should sleep. He didn’t have a mission to do, but there were a lot of meetings he would need to attend, along with some updates and planning to do. Every day was long, and he needed to ensure he was well-rested.

“Fine, fine,” Myungjun groaned. “Call me tomorrow?”

Jinwoo didn’t need to, since Myungjun wasn’t going above ground, but he knew Jinwoo still would.

And, sure enough, Jinwoo responded, “Of course.”

Myungjun smiled up at his stupid ceiling. “Night, Jinnie.”

The voice over the other end was smiling as it said, “Night, Junnie.”

 

 

 

Going outside was terrifying. Myungjun’s heart hammered each and every time he had to do so – and he had to go outside many, many times. Every second spent above ground was terribly dangerous, and Myungjun had seen plenty of men and women die. He knew that he was risking his life with every move he made out in the open. Despite the weapons at his disposal and the map in his hands, the robots were stronger, smarter, and far more capable of survival. Myungjun was a puny human, and he never really stood a chance against them.

But it had to be done. They needed to fight the robots. More importantly, they needed resources. Plants could only grow so well underground, and the canned food they found was usually sparse and slightly bad. Sometimes Myungjun was lucky enough to run into other camps, some of those above ground and populated by people who had managed to survive despite all odds. He had established connections with these people and was able to barter for food, but even that didn’t go very far to feed a bunker of several dozen men, women, and children. 

Hunting and foraging was the best they could do, and Myungjun had been chosen for the hunting expedition. He was good enough at hunting – he was stealthy, aimed well, and was a good shot. Better yet, he had Minhyuk with him, who was definitely the ace of their small team. Minhyuk excelled at whatever he did, and Myungjun considered him to be something of a lucky charm.

Both of them were quiet as they made their way above ground, past the several large and heavily-armored doors that made up the entrance to their bunker. These doors had been effective in the past when rogue robots came around looking for a fight. The main door was well-hidden, though, and so the other doors typically weren’t needed. Still, they were safer for it, and Myungjun appreciated all that went into keeping his team safe.

The final door was nothing but a cover to a manhole on what used to be a busy street (or so the older residents claimed). Minhyuk did the honors of holding a scanner up to examine their surroundings. The scanner remained quiet, a testament that they were all alone, and so Minhyuk pushed the cover aside and climbed out, Myungjun close behind. 

They covered the hole again and then stood in the silence of the forgotten city, gazing at the buildings and crumbling skyscrapers.

“Are you out?” a voice asked, ringing in Myungjun’s ear.

He jumped and then turned down his earpiece. “Jesus Christ ,” he hissed, “I forgot you were there.”

Jinwoo laughed. “Of course I’m here. I’m always here, especially  when you need to go above ground.”

Myungjun kept his voice down as he followed the street to a less-dense area, where he knew the remaining animals liked to gather. “We’re fine,” he whispered, thankful Minhyuk kept his scanner out. “I’m with Minhyuk.”

“Oh, good.” Jinwoo sighed. Even HQ was aware of Minhyuk’s prowess. Myungjun couldn’t help but smile, and he decided he would have to tell Minhyuk about Jinwoo’s approval. But later, when they weren’t in fear for their lives.

“Any news?” Myungjun asked, keeping a close eye out for any possible movement. He was fortunate that robots were the only things they had to worry about. Jinwoo had told him before that other groups dealt with many different types of predators, things Myungjun had only heard talk of, like bears and leopards. If he had to deal with hungry, carnivorous animals in addition to robots, he didn’t think he would ever leave the safety of his bunker.

“There has been a slight increase in activity to the west of you,” Jinwoo said. “We’ve detected several robots moving into the area. I think there’s another bunker toward that area. In another report I heard, the robots destroyed one bunker and moved to the next one, but we’re working on figuring out a way to stop them. All robots have a weakness.”

“Just do what I said before,” Myungjun mumbled. “A giant device to send electromagnetic pulse through the whole world and kill them all at once.”

Jinwoo chuckled. “As tempting as that might be, I think we’d set fire to the entire world if we did that. There wouldn’t be anything left to come out to. Not to mention the effect it could have on the wildlife, or the people who rely on anything electronic. Like this connection we have.”

They did have a connection, in more ways than one. Once more, Myungjun smiled. He wished he was back in the bunker so he could spend more time talking to Jinwoo, even if he would be stuck with mundane tasks. It was always so comforting to hear that lovely, deep voice on the other end joking with him or giving him commands. Myungjun wished he could listen to it day in and day out, and he also wished he could talk right back.

But he couldn’t. Not at this moment, at least, when stealth was necessary both in keeping away from robots and in hunting for their next meal. Minhyuk glanced back at him and raised his eyebrows, and Myungjun understood the cue.

“Alright,” he whispered, “no giant-ass device to kill the robots in one blow. Minhyuk keeps glaring at me. I need to be silent.”

Jinwoo was always quick on the uptake. First and foremost, his priority was to keep the people in Myungjun’s bunker safe, and he did a damn good job at it. “Understood,” he responded. “Let me know if you need anything.”

He didn’t hang up. He didn’t mute. He didn’t leave. He never did. Myungjun remained connected to him at all times, knowing that Jinwoo would offer whatever advice he could depending on the situation. Several times, Jinwoo had managed to help Myungjun escape danger by reading coordinates on a large, interactive map that HQ supposedly possessed. From this map, he could see electronic activity, including that of robots, and he would warn Myungjun’s group if any of them were about to run into anything unsavory.

Sure enough, as Minhyuk and Myungjun trudged along, Jinwoo would only intercede in order to explain if any robots were nearby.

Myungjun heard a sound, some sort of warning on Jinwoo’s end, and then Jinwoo said, “A cluster of robots is to your west. They’re several minutes out, but be sure to avoid going in that direction.”

“Copy,” Myungjun responded. Minhyuk glanced back at him, and so Myungjun repeated Jinwoo’s warning, gesturing out towards his west. “Robots that way. Let’s make a detour over here.”

Minhyuk nodded and moved along. He was always so silent as they hunted, something Myungjun appreciated greatly. Several other men in the bunker talked nonstop. Sanha had been banned from hunting duties for a while until he was able to better control his mouth.

He followed Minhyuk down an alleyway, creeping past broken doors and windows. Myungjun tried not to peer too hard into each forgotten building. He was always frightened of what he might find – once, he had come across several corpses, a family hugging each other in their last moments. He could still remember keeping his emotions in check until he made it back to his small, dingy room in the bunker, and then he broke down. That had been one of the first moments in which Jinwoo treated him as more than just another rebel soldier. Jinwoo’s deep, gentle voice had come over his earpiece and asked him if he was alright.

Myungjun had been embarrassed and sought to turn off his connection, but Jinwoo had comforted him. Jinwoo talked to him and allowed him to cry without feeling too silly.

The memory was bittersweet. Myungjun liked to think that was the start of their relationship, but the image of that poor family was then forever burned into his mind.

He avoided every open doorway they saw. The food had already been salvaged from these buildings, anyway. There was nothing left, save for perishable items that had been slowly rotting away in broken refrigerators. Myungjun had checked on a fridge once and found that what remained was just strange, unidentifiable masses. He didn’t check anymore.

Minhyuk suddenly stopped and pointed. Myungjun almost ran into him, but he also froze. Standing in front of them, rifling through some boxes, was a raccoon.

It wasn’t much meat, but it was still meat. They would take what they could get.

Minhyuk had a crossbow, which he utilized well. It was silent and deadly, and he could ensure he would be able to kill animals without alerting any robots. Sure enough, he aimed and fired, and the arrow entered the raccoon’s body, killing it in an instant.

“Nice,” Myungjun whispered as Minhyuk moved to collect his prize.

“Did you get something?” Jinwoo asked.

“He did,” Myungjun responded. “A raccoon. It isn’t that big, but–”

Minhyuk’s scanner beeped. Both men froze where they were, and Myungjun’s eyes frantically darted about.

They were near a robot. Myungjun wasn’t sure how close it was, or from which direction it was coming, but he knew there was one somewhere around them. He wondered why Jinwoo had not warned him of this intruder, or if Jinwoo was even aware. He had heard talk that some robots had managed to make their power go offline and would evade all forms of detection.

The scanner beeped again, and Myungjun moved, quickly hurrying to cover for Minhyuk, who only had his crossbow out in his hands.

Minhyuk glanced over at Myungjun, who mouthed, Where?

Behind, Minhyuk responded, showing his scanner to Myungjun. Sure enough, there was a signal coming from behind them. The scanner could not show accurate locations, however, and some of the robots were too fast to be caught by the scanner’s coordinations. 

Myungjun considered his options, staring hungrily at the dead raccoon. He wanted to forgo caution and take his time to gather up their fresh kill. However, he also knew better than to test fate.

He pointed at a building with an opening in its wall. Minhyuk understood, and together they hurried into the building. Myungjun’s eyes took a few seconds to become adjusted to the sudden darkness. No light could reach inside the old store, and he blinked wildly, hurriedly, before leading Minhyuk behind a counter.

They both looked down at the scanner. The signal appeared to be stronger. Minhyuk muted it before it could make any more noise, and then they waited.

Jinwoo had been silent all the while. He always did his best to keep his own noise to a minimum if he knew they were in danger. Myungjun could not respond, anyway, unless they had already been spotted by the robot. As it was, keeping quiet and hiding was their best option in a moment like this.

“I don’t have any robots on our map,” Jinwoo suddenly said, his voice a bit hushed. “He must be offline.”

As far as Myungjun could tell, the robots could only go offline if their power was low. They would recharge themselves using sources from solar or wind power plants – some of the robots had managed to keep a bit of electricity around just for them. When they recharged, they were forced back online and would stay online for days. Myungjun was thankful that the creators of these damn robots had had enough foresight to ensure the robots would remain online for the majority of the time. He just wished they had had enough foresight to have destroyed the robots before they gained sentience. 

Footsteps interrupted his thoughts. Footsteps from where they just were. He tensed as he listened to the robot walking around the alleyway, and he wondered if the robot was aware that humans had just been in that area. 

Beside him, Minhyuk had closed his eyes in a silent prayer. Myungjun couldn’t blame him, though he himself had given up on prayer as a child. What was the point if nothing would ever change?

The footsteps stopped. Based on how close they were, Myungjun guessed the robot had found the raccoon. He silently cursed. If the robot had found the raccoon with an arrow in him and fresh blood pooling around him, surely it would be smart enough to deduce that humans were nearby. And it would look for them, and it wouldn’t stop looking for them. Robots had no reason to give up the chase, give up the fight. It would search high and low, day and night. Minhyuk and Myungjun were sitting ducks out in the store, and it was only a matter of time before they were found out.

They would have to fight this robot, at some point or another, if they wanted to make it home again.

Myungjun glanced over at Minhyuk, who recognized the look in Myungjun’s eyes. They had to be ready to defend themselves – and a crossbow was no good. Minhyuk worked on carefully and gently setting down his crossbow, doing his best attempt to keep any noise from echoing in the small, quiet building. Then, he began pulling his gun out from its holster. His gun was small, only useful really for slowing down the robots. Myungjun, on the other hand, had a rifle that shot out electromagnetic projectiles. His gun could take out a robot in a matter of seconds.

But robots were fast and sneaky. It was hard to get a good shot on them, especially in such close range. Myungjun knew that he and Minhyuk would have to be faster and sneakier if they wanted to take the robot down with minimal damage (hopefully no damage) to themselves.

The robot was moving again. Myungjun could hear it walking, crunching over glass and old cans. Myungjun held his gun close to his chest, holding his breath as the robot looked around for them.

Then, suddenly, something heavy was thrown in their direction. It hit the counter hard and clattered onto the ground. The robot moved into the building, its footsteps heavier than before, and Myungjun released his breath.

It knew. They had been found out. And if they continued to duck for any longer, the robot surely would kill them.

Minhyuk was the first to stand. He shot the robot, which stumbled backwards, but it did not deter it enough. Myungjun stood up and pushed Minhyuk aside just as the robot threw something else in their direction.

“Get out!” Myungjun ordered, gesturing back to the hole in the wall as the robot rushed at them. Minhyuk vaulted over the counter, moving around the robot to get outside. Myungjun tried to follow, but the robot gained on him too quickly and blocked him in his tracks.

“Myungjun!” Minhyuk yelled, and he shot the robot again. The robot faltered, as it always did when shot, and Myungjun decided to take the opportunity to shoot at it himself.

The robot, though, seemed to sense the shot coming, and it ducked. Before Myungjun could shoot again, the robot reached out for him.

Myungjun had seen how brutal robots could be. They were giant hunks of metal with human-like arms, and they would tear a man apart in a second. They did not get tired and they did not get weak. The robot was set on killing them, on wiping out all of humanity. Myungjun was nothing but a bug in its way.

Myungjun refused to die, though. He still had so much to live for and so much to do. Death was simply not an option for him. He held his gun up to block his face. The robot’s hand wrapped around the weapon and it tried to pull it away. Myungjun, though, held strong, and he glanced over at Minhyuk for help.

Minhyuk was already on it. Minhyuk shot at the robot’s back, again and again and again. But even though the bullets were penetrating, the robot didn’t seem bothered at all. It yanked the gun out of Myungjun’s hands and tossed it aside, and Myungjun was left defenseless.

The robot grabbed his arm. It was going to rip him apart – Myungjun could feel the strength in its grip. His mind spun with fear, with terror, and with decisions and ideas that would never get him out of this situation. He could hear Jinwoo over the headset calling for him, asking him what was going on, but he didn’t have the chance to respond. He fought, squirming and thrashing, because if he was going to die, he might as well go down in a fight.

From just behind the robot, Minhyuk had unscrewed his flask of water and splashed the liquid onto the metal creature. Myungjun was confused for a second – it was a silly move, as robots had thick casings and were not often culpable to the effects of a liquid on their inner wiring. But then Myungjun realized that all of the bullets Minhyuk had loaded into its body had torn through and created a wide opening, where the wires were frayed and left exposed. 

The water reached these wires, and in a second, the robot malfunctioned. Myungjun could hear a loud whrring noise from inside the robot as its inner fans attempted to dry it off and keep it alive. But with those wires already ruined, the robot was no match. Its body gave out, and it fell to the ground in a pile of twitching limbs.

Myungjun gave a shuddering sigh as his arm was freed. He had deep indents on his skin, and he knew he would bruise in a matter of minutes, but he was unharmed, otherwise.

“Myungjun! Are you alright? Minhyuk – someone, please–”

“I’m fine,” Myungjun responded. “Minhyuk…Minhyuk got him.”

“Oh, thank god,” Jinwoo breathed out.

Myungjun glanced over at Minhyuk, whose shaking hands found Myungjun’s weapon, tossed aside on the sticky and rotting floorboard of the shop. He passed it over to Myungjun, who accepted it with a small smile.

“Quick thinking,” Myungjun complimented Minhyuk, but he ignored the praise in order to get a better look at Myungjun’s arm.

“Does it hurt?” Minhyuk asked.

“Does what hurt?” Jinwoo broke through before Myungjun could respond. “Myungjun, are you hurt?”

“No. No.” Myungjun shook his head. “I’m fine.” And then, to Jinwoo, he explained, “The damn thing grabbed my arm, but it’s fine. I might bruise, that’s all.”

Jinwoo made a small noise of frustration, and then he murmured, “I am so sorry. I think he was offline – I should have tried harder to find it, though. Maybe if I can develop some way to look for offline robots–”

“It isn’t your fault,” Myungjun interrupted him, knowing sometimes Jinwoo blamed himself for the robots’ transgressions. “And, again, I’m fine. We’re both fine. Minhyuk was brilliant.”

“He was,” Jinwoo agreed as Minhyuk’s ears turned a little bit red from the praise. But even as Minhyuk mumbled out an argument that he wasn’t that good, that he was just performing his duty, Jinwoo continued to speak.

“I might be able to work out some way to monitor the robots a bit more, even the ones offline. Maybe if I can somehow hack into their power sources–”

“It’s been tried before, hasn’t it?” Myungjun asked. “They found it impossible to do.”

Jinwoo sighed in resignation. “Still,” he murmured, “I…I want to keep you safe.”

It was Myungjun who now found himself growing red, but he tried his best to hide his embarrassment from both Jinwoo and Minhyuk – even if he knew Minhyuk had noticed his flushed cheeks.

“You can,” Myungjun whispered, “and I know you will.”

He didn’t know what else to say. He wasn’t good with stuff like this. He never knew if he would survive the next day or not, and so revealing his deep emotions was a struggle. But Jinwoo had done so much for him and deserved honesty, so Myungjun added, “And I want you to be safe.”

“I am,” Jinwoo assured him. 

Minhyuk saved Myungjun from floundering about further. He gestured over to where the raccoon remained and said, “Let’s take this thing home. And the robot – we can use the parts.”

“One raccoon isn’t a lot,” Myungjun muttered, thinking of how hungry the other rebels were.

Minhyuk looked thoughtful, then asked, “Would you like to keep hunting? We can come back for the robot later.”

It was dangerous to continue, but it would be even more dangerous to let their friends starve.

“Let’s continue,” Myungjun said, even though he sighed as he thought about how much longer the day would be. “Jinwoo, can you–”

“I’m on it,” Jinwoo said. 

They would be safe. Myungjun knew it – Jinwoo wouldn’t let him down.

 

---

 

“Good morning, Myungjun,” came a voice over Myungjun’s earpiece.

Myungjun had just fitted the damn thing in his ear and already he knew it would not be a good day; the voice wasn’t Jinwoo. That meant someone else had taken over his position for the time being, and Myungjun would have to deal with them instead.

“Where’s Jinwoo?” Myungjun asked, exiting his room and heading down the hallway. It was cramped and dark, with old lights hanging from the ceiling and steel beams keeping the ground from completely caving in. Jinwoo had once described the hallways at HQ as bright and clean and long , and Myungjun wanted so badly to walk down those hallways with Jinwoo by his side.

He had to plaster himself against the wall to avoid running into a young girl, and then he hurried into the small computer room, adjusting his earpiece to listen to the answer.

“Busy,” the voice said, “so you’re stuck with me.”

“You don’t sound thrilled about it, either,” Myungjun commented, testing the light switch nearby. The bulb flickered once, but then it died out. They barely had enough light bulbs to go around; it was a wonder it had even turned on for a second. He had to set up the battery-powered lights instead, and he sighed heavily when he imagined how much light HQ must have. 

“Yeah, well, I listen enough to your conversations with Jinwoo, and I would never want to be on the receiving end of your…affection.”

Myungjun flushed as he opened up a laptop. “ Affection? ” he repeated.

“Actually, that’s putting it loosely.”

Myungjun tried to think if he had done or said anything weird with Jinwoo on the other line. He was typically aware enough to keep his innermost thoughts to himself, but perhaps there had been once or twice when they shared a little too much of their feelings. Myungjun had definitely cried to Jinwoo before – and there was that one time when Myungjun had gotten drunk and explained, in great detail, exactly what he wanted to do to Jinwoo if they ever had the chance to share a bedroom. And the other time when he had definitely not been drunk. 

“Rest assured, you are not on the receiving end of my affection ,” Myungjun retorted, pressing the power button on his laptop and trying his best to forget all about what he had said to Jinwoo that one night.

But the voice on the other end did not let him forget. “Good. Because I don’t think I want you to rub yourself all over me and take me in your mouth and–”

“Is there a reason you wanted to talk, Dongmin?” Myungjun interrupted him. He was definitely blushing now, wondering how much of his conversations had actually been recorded. Jinwoo had once said that HQ recorded a lot. He thought Jinwoo had cut off the recording at that point, but perhaps not.

Still, he kind of hoped that Jinwoo had kept the recording for himself. That would be nice.

Dongmin hummed a little bit, then said, “I need to know how you guys are doing on resources. Tell me exactly how much you have of everything.”

“So boring,” Myungjun muttered, but he knew this was necessary. They often did weekly updates to ensure the underground groups were properly stocked. Myungjun had heard horror stories of various groups starving due to a lack of resources. But Myungjun was unsure of what HQ could do – they had never come out to visit Myungjun’s group. If they had, Myungjun was not aware.

He pulled up the spreadsheets, where the leadership underground kept meticulous records of all that the HQ desired. Myungjun, as head of communications, was in charge of delivering the important information to those over at HQ, and it was his least favorite part of the job. Jinwoo usually made it a bit better, for even though Jinwoo remained overly serious and practically robotic during their briefing, at least Myungjun was able to listen to his voice. Dongmin’s voice was not nearly as lovely to his ears.

“I’m sending you the data right now,” Myungjun stated, exporting the data into a more readable document. “Tell me when you receive it.”

There was silence on the other end for a minute or two, but then Dongmin announced, “Got it.”

Now that they were both viewing the same sheet, Myungjun was able to deliver the information and answer any questions that Dongmin might have.

He went through everything . He discussed every last bit of their food supply, from how many pieces of meat they had frozen or dehydrated, to the thousands of cans that they had scrounged up.

“I am still debating how good some of these are,” Myungjun admitted. “Isn’t the shelf life of them–”

“You can use canned goods indefinitely.” Dongmin sighed, sounding rather exasperated. “Besides, what’s the alternative?”

He was right, even if he was rude about it. Myungjun decided against debating with him.

They continued with the food, and then they progressed onto the other supplies within the underground. Myungjun requested light bulbs, and Dongmin muttered, “We’ll look into it.”

“I’m also going to request that Jinwoo come to hand-deliver them himself.”

“Hmm,” said Dongmin, and Myungjun doubted he was really even listening.

“You should send me a picture of him,” Myungjun urged. “He has a photograph of me for his records, but I don’t have anything of him.”

“Do you need a photograph?” Dongmin asked. “I thought you were in love with him no matter what. That’s what you always proclaim.”

“It’s easier to jack off if I can visualize his face,” Myungjun snapped.

Dongmin sighed once again. “Really, Myungjun, this call is recorded. This is why no one but Jinwoo really wants to deal with you. So crass.”

“Then get me Jinwoo instead.”

“Like I said, he’s busy.”

“Doing what?”

Dongmin hesitated for a second before mumbling, “Debriefing, I don’t know. Finish up. Tell me if this is a typo or not – you have over a thousand butter knives? How did that happen?”

“Long story,” Myungjun began, but Dongmin was quick to interrupt him.

“Never mind. I don’t want to know. Keep going. Spoons, what about spoons?”

By the time Dongmin finally stopped debriefing him, it was in the evening. They had one short lunch break and had gotten back to work quickly. Myungjun’s back was killing him, and he had to find his glasses when his eyes began straining to read the words on the bright computer screen.

Dongmin sounded just as exhausted. Myungjun could hear him type a few last notes before he groaned and asked, “Is that all? Nothing else to report?”

Myungjun closed the programs on his computer. “No.”

“Good. I’ll go over this with my boss and see what supplies we can send via drone. Most likely weapons and maybe a bit of food.”

“I hate the drone drops,” Myungjun fussed. He shut his computer down and stretched. “It’s dangerous to go and pick it all up before a robot finds it.”

“How else should we do it?” Dongmin asked, and he sounded interested, as if waiting to hear another suggestion.

Myungjun thought, and he thought some more; short of HQ sending their own men to each separate underground base, there really was no other alternative. They were doing the best they could, and Myungjun understood that.

Still, Myungjun could not leave Dongmin without an answer, so he replied, “Send Jinwoo.”

“You just want to fuck him.”

“We’re being recorded,” Myungjun reminded Dongmin, though he was grinning himself. 

“Still not the worst thing out of one of your conversations,” Dongmin retorted. “Anyway, I know Jinwoo normally talks to you nonstop, but I feel like there’s only so much I can take.”

“End the call, then.”

“Right. Be safe,” Dongmin said, and then he really did end the call. Myungjun, left alone in the dim computer room, removed his earpiece and stared over at the wall for several seconds before slumping over in his chair.

He was free for the rest of the evening, and he knew he would be rather bored until Jinwoo called. He could read a book or watch a movie and contemplate how he had accepted this underground life of fear and chaos as normal . In all the forms of media he consumed, they lived happy lives above ground and were not afraid of turning a corner. They never expected to find robots lurking about, ready to kill anything that moved. They were free to do whatever it was they wanted to do.

Jinwoo had always assured him that such a day would come again. The robots were not creating new robots, and as humans killed off more of them and others simply fell into disrepair, humans could take back the above ground region. Humans could rule the planet once again. Though he had grown up underground, sometimes it felt as if they were no closer to triumphing over the robots than they had been when he was a child.

But Jinwoo remained encouraging. Jinwoo remained positive.

“Something will change one day,” Jinwoo had said, “and the robots won’t be a threat. I promise.”

Myungjun snorted as he remembered those words. Though he loved and trusted Jinwoo, he didn’t think that day would ever come.

Still, he would dream about better times. He would dream about better times with Jinwoo by his side.

 

 

Above ground was such a desolate, unwelcoming place. Myungjun surveyed his surroundings, trying his best to imagine how it must have looked when humans were still around. He liked to imagine the lives of people in the Before Times, when robots were barely a figment of their imagination. Sometimes when he entered apartments in search of useful materials, he was able to see just a small fragment of their lives. He did just that when he and Sanha went inside of a house in order to loot whatever might remain. He stood still in a bedroom for a brief second, surveying the area. It was a kid’s room and there were two mattresses on the floor. A few toys were strewn about the room. A dresser with drawers half-opened revealed the torn, mouse-scavenged remains of smaller fabrics.

Whoever lived here before must have been happy. The children must have been loved. Myungjun smiled and then decided not to linger in the past. If he wanted to ensure that his future could be similar, he needed to focus solely on the mission at hand.

He found a few small textbooks. After blowing the dust off of them and flipping through the pages, he determined they could still be useful. They had historical teachings of a long-forgotten time, which was highly sought after in their new societies; in order to grow up into hardened warriors, the children would need to know what they were fighting to bring back. So Myungjun put these books into his bag and then gave the room one last look-over.

He could spot nothing else useful. Perhaps the insulation behind the walls, but the house was in bad shape and so Myungjun didn’t have much hope of it not being a soggy mess. It was really a wonder the house was still standing; every step Myungjun took made the house creak and groan with exhaustion. 

He treaded carefully back into the hallway and saw Sanha grabbing some old drinking glasses. Sanha wrapped them carefully in a spare t-shirt, and when he noticed Myungjun, he smiled brightly.

“More cups,” he whispered, holding one up.

Myungjun nodded. “They’re in good condition.”

Sanha seemed proud of his find, and Myungjun ventured onwards again, checking each room with his gun out and ready before examining the items left behind.

They needed nails and tools and silverware and books and anything else that could be useful. Myungjun often felt like a treasure-hunter on these expeditions. He had read tales before of other treasure-hunters like him, and he thought it must be exciting to explore strange lands and discover old artifacts. Though he wasn’t scampering through a jungle with golden cups, he still knew his work was important to the others back home.

He knelt near an old photo album and asked, his voice lowered to a whisper, “Any readings?”

Jinwoo, patiently monitoring Myungjun’s every movement from HQ, answered over the headset, “Something far to the west, but it isn’t close enough to pick up on you. I’m keeping an eye out, though. Just be careful. Remember, sometimes I can’t see them.”

“Sanha and I are being extra careful,” Myungjun promised him, carefully removing a couple of the photos from the album. He took one in particular of a young woman posing in front of a temple, and then he grabbed another of two young children next to a sweet-looking dog. He didn’t know what he would do with these yet - they would just end up in a pile of hundreds of other photos he had found. But he wanted to keep the memory of these innocent people alive in some way. Archeologists had done this in the Before Times. They would excavate cities and save whatever they came across. They would use these items to then piece together a story of whatever tribe or culture or nation they were focusing on.

And so Myungjun would do the same for this family.

He flipped to the last page in the book and noticed a photo of a robot.

It was a rudimentary robot, one of the earliest models. Its wires were visible and its face was far too smooth to ever be mistaken for a human. Its eyes were dead and lifeless, and its smile was equally so. Myungjun pulled the photo out from its place and stared at it, his lips tight in a line as flipped to the back of the photo, searching for any sort of written date or explanation. Sure enough, there it was, in a faded marker - 3/19/2021 - first functioning robot at KTL.

Myungjun didn’t know what KTL was, though based on the acronym, he assumed the K was for Korea and the L was for lab. Which meant that the family that used to live here was involved in the making of robots.

Myungjun gripped the photo a bit too harshly, folding back the corner. 

“Jinwoo,” he started, “what’s KTL?”

Jinwoo didn’t answer him for a few seconds, and when he did, it was to ask, “Why?”

“This household - someone worked for KTL. Or…knew someone who did, I don’t know.”

“It’s Korean Technology Lab,” Jinwoo answered, a bit hesitatingly. “What did you find?”

“Just a picture. It’s some old robot. I’ll upload it to HQ when we get back.”

He pushed the photo album aside and glanced around the room. This was where the mother and father must have slept. He imagined one of them coming home from a long day at the lab, excited to tell their significant other what they had developed, unaware that they would soon be killed by those very robots in just a few short years.

He sighed and moved to leave the room, but before he could, he noticed a light blinking from underneath the bed.

Electricity? Here? Or maybe it was battery powered? Whatever the case, there should be nothing blinking in the house. Everything should long be dead.

“Jinwoo?” he asked again, voice as quiet as he could make it. “Anything nearby?”

“No. Are you okay?”

“Something’s…blinking,” Myungjun murmured, and he knelt on the ground, intent to figure out what was going on. If he could find a power source and manage to take it underground intact, he knew everyone would be ecstatic. It would help them out immensely. 

“Blinking?” Jinwoo wondered. “Nothing should be blinking.”

“My thoughts exactly. I’m going to take a look–”

“Don’t,” Jinwoo suddenly warned him, and he sounded scared. “Junnie, old robots can last forever if they’re on standby mode. And if this household had a hand in building those older robots–they’re too old to come up in my system, so I can’t–”

A hand suddenly shot out from under the bed.Myungjun scrambled backwards in fear. The hand was definitely from that of a robot, metal and wired and falling apart at the joints. Then, after the hand, came a robot’s head, practically dragging itself  out of its hiding spot.

Only its face remained covered, a plastic and silicone shield to protect its inner wirings, but even that was falling apart. Half of it was gone and the other half drooped, its eyes bulging out and its mouth pulled into a deep frown. Myungjun could see parts in it moving, whirring to life, and he realized the blinking had come from one of the many older parts in its body.

Myungjun said nothing. He and the robot locked eyes, and Myungjun willed the older robot prototypes to be mute, or stupid, or friendly enough to not stop him. 

The robot seemed to scan him, and then suddenly it screeched out, “Human! Human! Human!”

Myungjun gave a start and then fumbled to grab his gun, while the robot reached for him. Myungjun jerked backwards in a panic, but he hit the wall and could move no further. Before he could even point his gun, the robot smacked his head. He felt like his eyes were spinning and it was impossible to see the world straight; still, Myungjun knew he was a sitting duck like this, and so he hurried to leave the room. 

The robot grabbed his leg before he could escape, and it pulled him back down. Myungjun fell with a loud oof . He heard Jinwoo calling for him in his earpiece and he heard Sanha’s footsteps thundering down the hall.

Mostly, though, he heard the old robot, its joints creaking and its motor running loudly. It held him onto the floor, and though Myungjun kicked, he could not escape. His heart raced as he glanced over his shoulder at the robot, who was standing now. It wasn’t too tall and its synthetic skin was mostly all gone to reveal the inner workings, but its face had bulging, plastic eyes and a mechanical mouth with some sort of strange, rubber tongue. Myungjun would have screamed in fright if he wasn’t still trying to get his breath back.

He reached for his gun, but the robot grabbed his arm and held him down again.

“ Human. Human,” the robot said, and then Myungjun was lifted as if he was nothing more than a ragdoll and thrown into the wall. He fell, crumpled on the ground, the breath completely knocked out of him for a second time. Before he could retain his bearings, he was tossed again. This time when he fell, the robot yanked his hair back and then unceremoniously smacked his face into the ground. Myungjun tasted blood, and he tried to spit it out of his mouth, but the robot kicked him. Myungjun was flung about again , and this time he didn’t even try to move his body. He couldn’t fight back, not anymore. The robot was strong, and Myungjun knew he was going to be killed. He desperately wanted to live, but in his panicked, unfocused state, he couldn’t even tell where the robot was. He struggled to stand, but his limbs were shaking and he could hardly move.

He heard bullets from a gun, just barely, nothing but a faint echo in his ears. It almost overpowered Jinwoo’s voice – almost.

“-Jun, are you okay?” he heard. “Speak to me, Myungjun!”

Then he heard another voice beside him. “-bot’s dead, come on–” 

But everything was so jumbled and Myungjun was so disoriented. He could feel his body being rolled over, so he lay on his back, and the movement hurt so terribly. Myungjun barely could make a noise in protest, and so he gave nothing but a small whimper.

“Myungjun!” Jinwoo called out, and Myungjun thought he was so loud that he surely must be in the room. Myungjun wished he could open his eyes so he could see Jinwoo. He had so much to tell him, so much to thank him for. But he was too dizzy and the room was moving (or, perhaps it was he who was moving, though he was unsure how), and he knew, deep down, that Jinwoo was safe at HQ.

Blood trickled out of his mouth, and he murmured past it, “Jinwoo.”

He heard two voices; the closer one said, “Yes?” and the one just a bit further away said something Myungjun could not pick up on.

“Jinwoo,” Myungjun said again, his voice slurring, and he heard Jinwoo beg him to speak some more.

“Sorry,” Myungjun apologized in a whisper, because he knew he had messed up. He shouldn’t have investigated further, and he should have been quicker with his gun, and he shouldn’t have caused Jinwoo any worry.

Jinwoo said something in his ear, but Myungjun allowed himself to fall into the darkness that enveloped him.

 

 

He awoke to someone poking and prodding at him. He tried to ignore it, to stay in the realm of unconsciousness, but a thought plagued his mind so suddenly that it jerked him awake: what if the robot had come back to finish the job?

Myungjun opened his eyes and gasped, trying to scramble away from the hands that were feeling at his neck. He swiped and moaned and rolled on his side, reaching for anything that he could use to fight back against these damn robots.

“It’s me. It’s me ,” a voice said, and Myungjun thought he recognized the voice. At the very least, it didn’t sound like a robot, and so Myungjun turned his head to face the strange person standing above him.

It was a woman with her black hair pulled into a low ponytail and a white lab coat thrown over her clothes. Myungjun blinked at her, willing the dizziness in his gaze to stop, to go away, and when it did not, he decided to settle down and close his eyes to ward it off. 

“Who are you?” he mumbled.

“It’s me, Jungin,” the woman said, and a vague memory crossed Myungjun’s mind of this same woman in a lab coat poking and prodding him years prior to this.

Was she a doctor? She must be. In which case, that meant Myungjun was in the medical ward. He knew the layout of his underground camp better than he knew even himself, and he knew he could not forget the medical ward.

Had he forgotten things, then? He must have. He was so confused.

“You need a bit more sleep,” the woman told him, and Myungjun agreed fully. 

He must have fallen asleep, for when he opened his eyes a second time, the lab-coat-woman was gone and replaced by someone Myungjun recognized a bit better.

“Minhyuk?” he mumbled out.

Standing over his bed, Minhyuk offered him a small, rare smile. Myungjun tried to return it, but his head still hurt and a smile somehow made it all worse.

“You’re awake. It’s been two days.”

“Shit,” said Myungjun. “Is that bad?”

Minhyuk shrugged. “We’ve managed without you.”

“Are we still fighting robots?”

“Yeah, we didn’t eradicate them in two days.”

So he remembered Minhyuk and robots and the layout of the underground rebel base. That was good enough.

“What happened?” he wondered out loud.

“You managed to find one of the only decommissioned robots in the entire city. Good job. Those things are supposed to be dead – out of battery, out of juice, out of life. I don’t know how you found one and woke it up. It pummeled you pretty good. You have a couple of broken ribs and your fingers on your left hand are broken and you have a bad concussion.” Minhyuk pulled a seat up close to Myungjun’s bed and settled down. “Sanha got to you before it killed you, though, and he shot it with your gun, then he picked you up and sprinted back here. You tired him out.”

Sanha was the tall, gangly kid. Myungjun liked Sanha. But Sanha wasn’t really who he was thinking of. Only one name kept popping up, along with memories upon memories of a thousand and one conversations.

“Jinwoo,” he mumbled. “Where’s Jinwoo?”

“At HQ, where he always is,” Minhyuk responded, and then he pointed at his ear. “I’ve been dealing with him since you’ve been out. He’s worried sick about you. He hasn’t slept for two days straight.” Then Minhyuk scowled. “Which means I also haven’t slept for two days straight.” And then Minhyuk sighed and said, presumably to the headset, “Yes, Jinwoo, he’s awake now. He’s coherent. He remembers you.”

“Let me talk to him,” Myungjun ordered, holding his good hand out.

Minhyuk helped him put the earpiece in his ear and then nodded, gesturing for Myungjun to speak.

Myungjun leaned back onto his pillows, staring up at the ceiling, and he murmured, “Hey, Jinwoo.”

When Jinwoo responded, he sounded close to tears. “Myungjun, oh thank god you’re alright. I was so worried. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t save you – I’m so sorry. I wanted to leave HQ and come right to your side, but they wouldn’t let me, and so I know I’ve been bugging Minhyuk but I didn’t know what else to do.”

Myungjun let him talk and ramble, if only to hear his voice. After the rather frightening ordeal, Myungjun wanted to hunker down somewhere safe and have Jinwoo whisper soothing words into his ear. Preferably, he would haveJinwoo to hold him close, to kiss him softly, to love him dearly.

But he was aware of their positions. He was nothing more than a communication link to the HQ, and Jinwoo was nothing more than his assigned agent. They were miles upon miles apart, and they would never be able to see each other, not until the robots were wiped off the face of the planet. They would always have each other's voices - nothing more than that.

Myungjun’s pain and exhaustion and fear and absolute hopelessness caught up with him suddenly, and he found himself holding back his own tears. He couldn’t respond to Jinwoo’s frantic words of apology, knowing that if he did, he would cry.

“Myungjun,” Jinwoo said. “Please, say something.”

He had cried to Jinwoo before, but he had cried about the losses his base had suffered, or the general state of the world. He had never cried from the love he felt.

As if sensing his inner turmoil, Minhyuk asked, “Do you want me to leave you alone for a bit?”

Myungjun didn’t know how to respond to that, but he found himself nodding anyway. He watched Minhyuk walk out of the small medical room, closing the door behind him, and then he gave a shuddering sigh.

“Myungjun?” Jinwoo repeated.

And Myungjun cried.

“I’m so sorry,” Jinwoo whispered, as if it was his fault. “If I had been better – I was supposed to be able to detect them, that’s why they got me, but I was useless–”

“Do-Don’t say that,” Myungjun stammered out in between his sobs. “I’m sorry.”

“ You have nothing to apologize for.”

And Myungjun laughed despite it all. He wiped the tears from his cheeks, keeping them from rolling down the sides of his face. “I was the idiot who-who ignored you and looked under the bed.”

“You didn’t know. If I had told you sooner–”

“ You didn’t know what the hell I was even looking at,” Myungjun retorted. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “It’s not that, anyway. I-I’m not crying because of that.”

“Then…then why? Are you in pain?”

“I miss you,” Myungjun whispered, and Jinwoo fell silent. “I…I want you badly. I miss you, and I love you.”

“You shouldn’t say that.”

“Why not?” Myungjun snorted. “We’ve done much worse than love confessions. I feel like the love confessions should have come first.”

Jinwoo was silent for a few seconds, and when he responded, he kept his voice lowered. “You can’t fall in love with me.”

“There’s no rule that says I can’t. Just because you’re at HQ and I’m here doesn’t mean we can’t fall in love.” Myungjun wished they could be in person to have this conversation - of course, then the conversation wouldn’t even exist. “If you don’t feel the same way, that’s fine. I don’t mind loving you myself. As long as you still like me–”

“I do,” said Jinwoo.

“You still like me?”

“No. Yes. I mean…” As he hesitated, Myungjun could almost hear the gears in his head clicking, thinking. “I don’t want this to end in heartbreak,” Jinwoo finally landed on, and Myungjun completely understood the concern. By all accounts, it would end in heartbreak. Even if they both survived until their old age, they were stuck in their respective locations. They would never see each other. 

And, really, Myungjun was convinced his base would fall, as all other small, underground bases had also fallen.

“It doesn’t matter if it does,” Myungjun told him. “I will still love you. I think I will always love you.”

“Myungjun, it’s all recorded–”

“I don’t care. Dongmin told me everyone already knows anyway. Apparently the call was being recorded when you helped me jerk myself off.”

“I told you –”

“You did not. Besides, if I’m going to fucking die underground, I at least want to make my feelings known. I want to try and have some sort of normalcy. And I want to do everything I possibly can with you.”

He thought, for a second, that Jinwoo had left. The call was silent for a long time. Myungjun fell into that silence and willed himself not to cry anymore. His ribs hurt when he sobbed. He contemplated calling the lab-coat-woman ( Jungin , he remembered suddenly) to give him medicine, but he didn’t want to say a word, lest he break this strange silence Jinwoo had suddenly given him. Jinwoo had never gone silent before. What happened, then?

“I love you,” Jinwoo blurted out, and Myungjun was so shocked that he tried to sit up in bed. But he forgot how hurt he was, and he fell back over again with a groan.

“What happened?” Jinwoo asked. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Myungjun grinned, and he started crying again, though this time for different reasons.

“Yeah,” he assured Jinwoo. “I’m okay. Better than okay. I’m…It’s perfect. I’m perfect. I love you.”

He heard Jinwoo laugh. “I love you. I’m still scared, but…I love you.”

“I love you .”

“I love you,” Jinwoo repeated, and before Myungjun could continue the love declarations, Jinwoo murmured, “Just don’t die. Ever. Please.”

“How can I die now? ” Myungjun teased. “Jinwoo loves me.”

As long as he had Jinwoo’s love, he knew he would do everything in his power to live.

 

---

 

It was difficult to eat with only his right hand. Myungjun never realized how much utilizing both hands meant to him until his fingers had been crushed, and now he mourned the loss of his left hand. He said as much to Jinwoo, who laughed lightly at him.

“Minhyuk told me it’ll heal soon,” Jinwoo assured Myungjun. “Are your fingers wrapped well?”

“Yeah,” Myungjun confirmed, and he slurped on the strange soup that Jungin had given him. He really couldn’t figure out what type of meat he was supposed to be eating, but he trusted the cooks. Even if it was a strange creature, they utilized spices and herbs well enough to disguise any disgusting flavors. He swallowed and then added, “But they said I can’t leave until my concussion goes away and my ribs heal.”

Jinwoo cooed a little bit, and then he asked, “How many days do they think you’ll be in the medical ward?”

“Two more,” Myungjun responded. “Also, I feel like calling this room a medical ward is giving it too much credit.” He looked aroundand sighed. “It’s like a dungeon. I’ve never been in a dungeon, though, so don’t quote me on that.”

With a chuckle, Jinwoo agreed. “Alright. A dungeon. I’m sorry you’re in a dungeon, then.”

“It’s not all that bad.” Myungjun smiled softly to himself and murmured, “At least I have you.”

Once more, Jinwoo laughed, though this was far more shy and flirty than his previous laugh. Myungjun grinned widely; though he could not see Jinwoo, he could just imagine him blushing and hiding his smile and spinning around in his chair (at least, Myungjun hoped his desk chair could spin). 

“Could you do me a favor while I eat, though?” he asked.

“What’s that?”

“Describe yourself to me.”

“What?”

Myungjun sighed. “You can’t send me a photograph and no one else in the communications department at HQ will do that, either. I asked Dongmin, and he avoided the question. I know technically you can’t send us information that is unnecessary to our work, so can you describe your looks to me instead?” 

Jinwoo faltered. “It’s…are you sure?

“If we love each other, I want to know some small details about you, at least.” When Jinwoo still didn’t respond, Myungjun whined, “Oh, come on. You already know what I look like! I had to send in a picture on my first day taking calls!”

“Yeah, I know,” Jinwoo replied. “I think that was the day I realized I was in love.”

Myungjun dropped his spoon, letting it clatter against his tray, and then he squealed, placing his good hand on his heart and falling back against his pillows. “Jinwoo!” he exclaimed, but the movement had caused his ribs to hurt, as they were still healing, and his head was dizzy. He grimaced and groaned, and Jinwoo was quick to offer concern.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Are you alright?”

“Moved too quickly. Like an idiot.” Myungjun forced himself back up again and cleared his throat. “Sorry.”

“I shouldn’t say surprising stuff like that to you while you’re still healing,” Jinwoo murmured. “I think that was my fault.”

“ Surprising? ” Myungjun repeated. “How is that surprising? Of course you thought I was hot – we have mirrors, even underground, and I’ve seen myself. I’m not too bad-looking.”

“You most certainly are not,” Jinwoo agreed.

Myungjun took another mouthful of soup, and when he had swallowed that, he asked, “So can you describe yourself to me, then? I want to know what you look like. I told Dongmin it’ll help me when I jerk myself–”

“Yeah, he told me you said that,” Jinwoo said with a sigh, and Myungjun giggled. “Fine. I’m…170 centimeters and I have short, black hair and brown eyes, but my eyes are small. Dongmin told me once that I have a large nose. I think my face is relatively square. I have broad shoulders. I weigh 63 kilograms. I have thin lips. I have a wide smile.” He trailed off, thinking of more to add, but Myungjun was fine with what he had been given.

“You sound super hot,” Myungjun murmured.

“Do I?” Jinwoo asked, and he sounded genuinely interested to hear Myungjun’s opinion.

“Yeah. You’re shorter than me, which I think–”

“We’re the same height.”

“I stand pretty tall.”

“Well, then, so do I.”

Myungjun scoffed and shook his head, though he knew Jinwoo could not see the movement. “You can think whatever you want. I like shorter men.”

“I’m not shorter.”

“How small are your eyes?” Myungjun asked, ignoring Jinwoo’s disagreements. “Because Minhyuk has small eyes.”

“Maybe smaller than his,” Jinwoo responded, and Myungjun had to remind himself that Jinwoo had likely seen the photograph of Minhyuk, too. “I’m not sure, though.”

“Are you pale? Tan?” Myungjun continued his interrogation.

“Pale,” Jinwoo replied. “Which should come as no surprise, considering I’m at my computer constantly in order to monitor you and your situation.”

Myungjun giggled. “My hero,” he swooned. “How about your body? Are you muscular?”

“Relatively.”

“Do you workout?”

“I don’t think any of this is necessary for you to love me, is it?” Jinwoo wondered, ignoring the question.

With a sigh, Myungjun replied, “Once again, this is for me and my nightly activities. Tell me about your penis.”

“I am not getting into that.”

“Fair enough. How about your thighs? Could you crush my head with your thighs?”

Jinwoo sounded exasperated when he responded, “No.”

“Okay, that’s fine. How flexible are you?”

“I think I’ve described myself enough,” Jinwoo decided, firmly setting his foot down. “Maybe you need to rest, hm? You need to shake off that concussion and get better as soon as possible.”

“I can’t shake off a concussion. But it’s getting better. I’m remembering more faces now. Sanha brought me a photobook and pointed out every single person to make sure I could figure out who was who in our base. I forgot a lot of names, but I think I remembered their faces, at the very least.”

“That’s good!” Jinwoo announced. “I’m so proud of you.”

Myungjun preened, and then he loudly exclaimed, “Gee, I’m not going to be able to fall asleep now. If we were together, side by side, in the same location, I would want to see how proud of me you were.”

“You’re very crass.”

“You love me, which means you have to love how crass I am,” Myungjun reminded him, though he knew that was far from true. Jinwoo could love him and still dislike various aspects about either his personality or body or thoughts or what-have-you. But Myungjun already knew that Jinwoo wouldn’t dislike any part of him. He could tell; Jinwoo loved him through and through, crass speech and all.

Jinwoo hummed, a bit conflicted, then murmured, “I do love you.”

“See!” Myungjun exclaimed. “Anyway, I’d like to think you’d be a slow lover. You know, you’d take your time and worship every last inch of me. But you would also make me beg for it, and I find that so exhilarating.”

“Once again, this call is likely being recorded.”

“Good. Then you can go back on lonely nights when I’m fast asleep and listen,” Myungjun responded, and Jinwoo sighed in his ear. Myungjun wasn’t worried, for Jinwoo still sounded as if he was quite endeared by his new lover.

Lover . Myungjun grinned at the thought of being Jinwoo’s lover . There was not much time for love, not when the world was already a place of death and destruction and Myungjun fought for his life day in and day out. The others underground loved , certainly, but they also had a goal to help repopulate the Earth with healthy humans and capable fighters. Love was secondary to survival.

And, yet, Myungjun did not think he would ever live very long without love. Even if he had never met Jinwoo, he still loved his friends in a platonic manner. Minhyuk and Sanha, especially, had both become exceedingly dear to him. Sometimes it was love that kept him going, for why else would he fight so hard if not out of love? Love for Minhyuk and Sanha. Love for the entirety of the human race, as flawed as they all were. And now, taking up most of the space in his heart, love for Jinwoo.

“What are you thinking about?” Jinwoo suddenly asked. Jinwoo always knew when Myungjun was deep in thought – he claimed he knew because it was the only time Myungjun ever shut up.

“You,” Myungjun murmured, and then he added, “Love. Survival. Everything, I think.” He felt comfortable and relaxed and he closed his eyes. “What do you think is more important – love or survival?”

Jinwoo clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Very introspective,” he commented, but he did not tease, nor did he make fun. Instead, he seemed to seriously consider the question. “You cannot have one without the other.”

“Oh?”

“What would humans survive for, if not love? Why survive if you are incapable of love? You must love something , if not someone, in order to survive. There’s no point, otherwise. And if you love, then you will survive at all costs.”

“ Very introspective , Jinwoo,” Myungjun teased. “I guess that’s one thing that sets us apart from those damn robots, huh?”

“Do you not think the robots are fighting for survival?” Jinwoo asked. “Why else would they struggle so much and refuse to die?”

“They fight for annihilation of the human race,” Myungjun responded. “I don’t think they have the moral sense enough to understand what survival means, let alone love .”

“Early on in the creation of AIs, they did create robots with the sole purpose to provide human companionship,” Jinwoo said. This was a reminder to Myungjun, for he had learned as much when he was a young boy. He could still picture himself in the tiny classroom that housed all five students, poring  over the textbooks of old and discovering what life was like above ground, before the robots took over.

He knew, as did all the others in the underground society, that something had gone wrong with the AI that controlled the robots, and they soon grew to loathe humanity.

“Some of those robots might have survived,” Jinwoo continued. “Some of them might want to save humans.”

“Yeah, well, they’re doing a piss poor job at it,” Myungjun grumbled.

Jinwoo laughed. “Aren’t they, though?” he agreed. “But HQ thinks if we can find these types of robots, they could infiltrate the others. Or, at least, they could offer assistance to humans.”

“You’d be hard-pressed to even find a human who would accept the help of a fucking robot,” Myungjun responded.

He could almost see Jinwoo – big-nosed, thin-lipped, short-sweetheart Jinwoo – nodding along. “Yeah. We would be,” he agreed once again with Myungjun.

“Besides.” Myungjun smiled and curled up underneath his covers, already feeling a blush come to his face at what he wanted to say. “I have you in my ear. You’re more help to me than you could possibly begin to know.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Jinwoo told him, but then he said, quieter, deeper, lower, “And I’ll do everything in my power to keep you alive. I’d go to hell and back for you. I love you.”

Myungjun sighed happily. He no longer wanted to think about bad robots and good robots and above ground and underground – he only wanted to think about Jinwoo.

“I love you,” he whispered, and he knew he would survive as long as he could, fueled solely by determination and love .

 

 

Something was ringing in his ear. Myungjun blinked himself awake, trying to decipher what the noise was. He felt at his ear for the earpiece he wore and yanked it out, examining it through a sleepy, groggy gaze. It wasn’t broken – besides, even with it out, he still heard the noise.

He stuck the earpiece back in and rolled over, though the movement was painful.

There was a scream. There was a loud, resounding bang . A gunshot.

Myungjun jerked up, ignoring the searing, burning feeling in his chest as his heart hammered.

“What the fuck?” he whispered. “Jinwoo, do you–Jinwoo?”

There was no response. Myungjun tapped the earpiece. “Jinwoo?” he asked again, a bit louder this time, and he jerked when he heard another gunshot.

There was fighting in the base, further down the hall. There was yelling. There was movement. And then, he heard something that made his blood run cold.

“Humans. Humans. Humans .”

A robot.

A robot was in the base, killing the rebels and fighting for their demise. 

But how? They were well-protected, and they had ways of detection. If one had escaped past Jinwoo’s watchful gaze, then surely it would have still been thwarted by the scanners installed at the top of their base. And even if it had somehow bypassed that , then they had guards at the entrance to the tunnels underground, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

Something must have happened, then. Something must have caught Jinwoo off-guard, and then the robot must have caught those in the base off-guard. Myungjun frantically tapped on his earpiece, willing it to work, and when Jinwoo did not respond to Myungjun’s desperate communication attempts, Myungjun realized that the robot must have somehow severed all links to HQ. 

Had this robot single-handedly taken down their communications system? How? Robots had one goal in mind, and that was to annihilate all humans. They did not stop to create plans like this, and they didn’t make connections about communication systems and how that would make hunting down humans easier. It was why the base had managed to operate as long as it had.

Myungjun’s blood ran cold as he thought about what this meant. Had robots suddenly evolved? Had they managed to become masterminds, capable of human-like thought?

The door to the hospital ward opened, and Myungjun froze, trying to think if he had any sort of weapon nearby.

Fortunately, it was not a robot. It was Minhyuk, holding two guns and rushing to Myungjun’s aid.

“What’s going on?” Myungjun asked, keeping his voice down, as Minhyuk snagged the IV fluid out of Myungjun’s arm. It hurt, but Myungjun refused to cry out in pain, and Minhyuk didn’t slow down to apologize for causing him harm. “I-I can’t contact Jinwoo, and how did a robot get inside?”

“ Robots ,” Minhyuk whispered. “There are more. A lot.” He looked panicked, though he took steady breaths to calm himself. “They took down our communications system.” Myungjun had suspected as much. “It was a planned attack. I’ve never seen anything like it – they’re working together!”

“That’s impossible.”

“One of them talks more than the others. He’s leading the charge. He’s a different type – he looks so human, he sounds so human. When he killed Jungin, he laughed .”

“Jungin?” Myungjun felt sick when he thought of the sweet doctor who had been caring for him for the past several days. “Jungin’s dead?”

Minhyuk nodded, and then he passed over Myungjun’s gun. “Lots of us are dead,” he murmured. “The base is gone. We have to leave.”

Myungjun thought of his dingy bedroom. He thought of all the pictures he had collected, all of the innocent souls who remained down in the tunnels of their underground base. He would have to leave them behind if he was to survive, but his heart ached for them.

They would truly be forgotten now.

But he followed Minhyuk’s orders. Minhyuk forced him to pull on a pair of pants that he had found – Myungjun still wore his hospital shirt, however, for Minhyuk could not find anything else for him to wear. 

They listened at the door, and when Minhyuk deemed it safe, the two of them ran.

“Shouldn’t–shouldn’t we save the others?” Myungjun asked as they jogged down a dark hallway. Myungjun could barely see, and so much movement was making him a bit dizzy. He was still concussed, after all, and his ribs still hurt, but he pushed onward, knowing this was his only chance to survive.

“Not many left to save,” Minhyuk replied, and Myungjun almost felt like crying. He wondered how many of his comrades had been killed. He wondered how many had escaped.

When they turned the corner, Minhyuk ran directly into a robot. Myungjun was quick with his gun, shooting it before it had the chance to hurt Minhyuk, and then they left it to waste away. They were almost to the exit when Myungjun heard a voice behind him call out, “Oh, don’t leave, humans!”

Myungjun glanced over his shoulder. The man who stood at the end of the hall looked human. He was a little short with pretty brown hair and dark eyes. His smile was eerie, however, and he gazed over Myungjun and Minhyuk with such hunger. Myungjun felt a shiver travel up his spine.

This wasn’t a human. It wasn’t any of the rebels who lived underground. Therefore, it was a robot and it must die.

Myungjun shot, but the robot saw the attack coming, and he deftly stepped around the corner. Myungjun’s electromagnetic wave hit the wall, causing no harm to the robot.

“Go up,” Minhyuk ordered, pushing Myungjun to the ladder.

“You first.”

Minhyuk’s eyes blazed with anger. “This isn’t the time to argue – you go first! You’re still hurt, so if you fall, I need to make sure I’m behind to catch you.”

It was a solid argument. Plus, Minhyuk had a gun to rival Myungjun’s own electromagnetic weapon. It was much larger and could spread its own projectiles a further distance.

Besides, Minhyuk was right – they really didn’t have any time to argue. So Myungjun began to climb the ladder, pushing past the pain in his chest and the dizziness in his head. His hands almost slipped once, but he felt Minhyuk’s hand grab at his bottom, steadying him, and so he continued to climb up.

Minhyuk shot at the robot once or twice more, but then the robot seemed to understand he could not reach them today, and he left them alone, more preoccupied with killing any poor souls left cowering underground.

When Myungjun made it to the top, he pushed past the large door that kept them separated from the outside world and crawled out. He checked his surroundings briefly, and then knelt down, taking deep breaths and putting a hand over his chest.

“Myungjun!” a voice called out, and Myungjun glanced up. Sanha was by his side in a second, pulling him to his feet. Sanha then reached down to pull up Minhyuk, and he was quick to then wrap Minhyuk in a tight embrace.

“I thought you had died,” Sanha whispered. 

Myungjun looked away from their intimate moment to scan the area nearby, his gun still out and ready. But Minhyuk, ever so alert and focused, kissed Sanha briefly and then stepped out of his embrace. He grabbed Myungjun’s elbow.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

Myungjun nodded his head and Minhyuk glanced at Sanha. 

“Alright, come on.” He began to walk, and Myungjun trailed behind slowly, glancing back down at the door that led to their base.

“But…what about…?” 

“Base is compromised,” Minhyuk said, “And I’m not going to wait around for a horde of robots to finish their task down there and come back up here. Especially not their leader.”

Sanha followed along, keeping pace with Myungjun. “Minhyuk forced me to get out the second there was trouble,” Sanha murmured. “He went back for you.”

It was sweet of Minhyuk to think of him, even when he was facing an enemy that was clearly out of their element.

“Do we know how they got through?” Sanha asked.

Minhyuk, still walking straight, answered, “They made a coordinated attack. They took down the communications system–” He pointed in the distance to one of their satellite dishes, “--so we couldn’t coordinate with. Then they knocked out most of our power. Generators in the hospital ward still worked, so you didn’t wake up from that,” Minhyuk said, directing his words to Myungjun. Myungjun nodded to show he understood, and Minhyuk continued, “Then they swarmed. It was dark and no one was prepared, so people were dying quickly. I found a moment to push Sanha out of there, then I went back to retrieve weapons and to get you. You’re our last link to HQ now.”

“He also got you out of there because he’s your friend,” Sanha whispered.

Myungjun knew that much, and he also knew Minhyuk was putting on a harsh facade in order to pretend he had not been affected by all the death and mayhem around him. Myungjun’s heart felt heavy, knowing that all of his friends had perished violently and he had been unable to do anything to save them.

“Should we go back–”

“They’re already dead,” Minhyuk muttered. “No point in going back.” He sighed heavily, clearly burdened with the decision he had made. “We’ll keep going forward. We’ll find a new connection and talk to HQ – talk to Jinwoo. He’ll give us directions.”

“Directions?” Sanha wondered. “To where?”

Minhyuk glanced over at his friends and shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know,” he said, betraying his fear of the unknown for the first time that day. 

Myungjun tapped desperately on his earpiece, but when he realized he still couldn’t get a signal, he continued forth, carrying nothing but his gun and the tiny shred of hope that he might somehow survive this.

 

 

They had to stop to take yet another break. Myungjun could barely breathe as he lowered himself onto a broken wall, his left hand a bit clumsy from his broken fingers, which were still taped together. 

“We need to find some water,” Minhyuk muttered, and he looked worried as he examined Myungjun. “And a safe place to stay for the night.”

Myungjun tried to nod, but his head was hurting again, and so he merely worked on catching his breath and focusing on the ground.

Sanha sat beside him, hovering a bit uselessly, but Myungjun liked his presence, regardless of what he could or could not do. He knew his friends would work hard to keep him alive, no matter what. “What street is that?” he asked Minhyuk, gesturing down the path.

Minhyuk glanced over. He chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully, then murmured, “Highway 45.”

“There’s a lake that way. Fresh water.”

Myungjun tapped on his earpiece, praying for a signal. When none came, he picked at the tape around his fingers, unsure of what else he could do. He felt so useless. He still had a concussion and his ribs were still broken and he could barely use his left hand. Minhyuk probably should have left him to die; he was dead weight, otherwise.

“Stop that,” Minhyuk snapped, and Myungjun quit trying to rip the tape apart. Minhyuk then looked at Sanha. “Any buildings where we can spend the night?”

“A small one,” Sanha said, nodding. “And there’s probably wildlife, so we might be able to hunt.”

“Alright. Let’s go there, then.” Minhyuk picked up Myungjun’s gun, and Myungjun was able to finally speak enough to protest.

“I can carry that,” he said, standing from his seat.

“Bullshit. You’re winded enough just from walking, and carrying this huge gun isn’t doing you any favors.” Minhyuk carried his crossbow and two guns now, so Myungjun snatched his gun back and glared at his friend.

“I can do this much, at least. Let me do this much.”

Minhyuk glowered for a few seconds, but he relented. “Fine,” he mumbled. “Our stop isn’t far ahead. Try to keep up this time, yeah?”

Myungjun did, but barely. He lost his breath quickly once again, mostly due to his refusal to ask them for another stop. He knew they needed desperately to find water and food and shelter. The longer they wandered, the longer they were sitting ducks. Fortunately, Myungjun made it to the small lake, and he took the opportunity to collapse on a nearby tree stump, his heart beating wildly in his chest. 

Damn his ribs. Damn his hand. And damn his concussion. Every bit of his body hurt, and he couldn’t lift his head even when Sanha offered him a drink of water.

“Come on,” Sanha begged. “You really need to drink some, okay? I know it hurts, but just try.”

Sanha was sweet, and his eyes were wide with concern. Myungjun forced himself to gulp down some water, and then he rubbed at his chest, wincing when his hand hit a tender spot.

“Good.” Sanha smiled, pleased. “Want some more?”

“Not yet,” Myungjun rasped out. “Are we almost to the shelter?”

“Almost. It’s in a small village, and I don’t think robots have been known to frequent the area. Hey, maybe we’ll find some canned food, even if it’s old and icky.”

Myungjun didn’t know if he had the appetite for canned food, though he was rather hungry. Still, he knew he needed to keep up his strength, lest he continue to be a burden on his friends. He tried to think of ways he could offer his assistance; Minhyuk would be going hunting and Sanha would likely be helping him and watching his back. What could he do, then?

“I can cook whatever Minhyuk catches,” he murmured.

Minhyuk, who had filled up a small flask, trudged back to Myungjun’s side and scoffed, “ If I catch anything.”

“I’ve seen a thousand squirrels and birds – you’ll catch something .”

Minhyuk shrugged his shoulders, but Myungjun knew they would be fine. Minhyuk was extremely competent. They could survive as long as Minhyuk was taking care of them all.

Still, they would be better off if they were able to talk to someone from HQ. Myungjun took the earpiece from his ear and examined it. He tapped it and held it up, trying desperately to pick up a signal.

“It usually works even if I’m far from the base,” he muttered.

“That’s because we had a really good system at the base,” Minhyuk replied. “The signal covered a large area. So unless we run into another equally-strong signal, I doubt we’ll hear anything.”

Myungjun agreed, and he reluctantly put the earpiece back in his ear. 

“Maybe when we enter the village, we’ll get–”

“Myungjun?” a voice rang out in his ear, and Myungjun gave a start. He pushed the earpiece further in his ear, hopeful that he had heard correctly.

“Hello?” he replied, and Minhyuk raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, god, Myungjun!” It was Jinwoo, and though his voice was tinged with static and sounded far away, Myungjun could still recognize him. “--thought you–” he was saying, but the signal was breaking up. Myungjun stood and paced, trying his best to find the right spot in order to catch all that Jinwoo was saying. “--and then it–didn’t know what–contacting other bases–”

It didn’t help that he seemed to be panicked and talking rather fast. 

“Jinwoo, I can’t hear,” Myungjun responded, and he felt himself grinning, smiling for the first time since the attack on their base. “But I’m alive. I’m fine. We need help, though.”

“--to help–I can’t–” Jinwoo was saying, and then he cut out completely.

Myungjun walked a bit. He climbed a large rock. He tapped the earpiece. “Hello?” he called out. “Jinwoo? Can you hear me?”

But there was no longer a response, and his grin fell. “Fuck,” he hissed, kicking at that same rock. “Fuck, Minhyuk, I had him . I had a connection. We could’ve– fuck .”

Minhyuk hurried to his side. “Sit down,” he ordered, cupping Myungjun’s cheeks in his hands. “You’re too excited, and I highly doubt this is good for your lungs right now. Maybe I should take the earpiece, just in case.”

Myungjun curled his hand protectively around his ear. “This is as much as I can do,” he grumbled. “I can supply you with a connection to HQ. If I can take one more thing off your plate…” But, still, he teared up as he thought of poor Jinwoo. He must feel awful. He must be desperately trying to establish some sort of connection. Myungjun turned to Sanha. “Let’s go to the village,” he suggested. “I might be able to talk to him there, and we can get directions to HQ and a radar to inform us of any possible robots nearby.”

Sanha was in agreement, and once they had their fill of water, they set off again, crossing the deserted highway and slowly easing their way into the unfamiliar village. It was there that Myungjun gained his connection back, but this time Dongmin was on the other end.

“Glad to hear you’re still alive,” Dongmin greeted, his voice a bit more clearer than Jinwoo’s was.

“Yeah, where’s Jinwoo?” Myungjun asked. “I wanted to talk–”

“I believe your sudden survival shocked him a lot. He had been certain you were dead.” Dongmin cleared his throat. “Honestly, we had all been certain you were dead. The base has fallen and you are the first rebel we were able to connect with. Is anyone else alive?”

Myungjun wanted to yell at Dongmin to get off the connection and to patch him through to Jinwoo, but he knew that their survival came first. If they were to survive, he needed to push aside his emotions and focus on the task at hand.

“Minhyuk and Sanha,” he replied.

Dongmin typed something out, the click-clack of his keyboard rather loud. “That’s it?” he asked after a second of silence. “Park Minhyuk and Yoon Sanha?”

“Yeah.”

Dongmin hesitated, then repeated himself. “And that’s it?”

“As far as I’m aware.”

“What happened?”

And so Myungjun relayed the story as Minhyuk and Sanha checked the houses and buildings. He told Dongmin all that he knew, and Dongmin typed out everything Myungjun said, likely taking notes for the other officials at HQ.

When Myungjun finished, Dongmin gave a small, pained hum. He sighed, then murmured, “I was devastated when I saw your base had fallen. We all were. And I had hoped that more would have made it out alive. At least some of you – but are you even healed? Jinwoo had informed us of your mishap several days ago–”

“I’ll be okay,” Myungjun responded, glancing out of the window in the building he was hunkered down in. Sanha had gone with Minhyuk to watch his back while they hunted. They had locked Myungjun in place with the strict order to stay where he was. As much as Myungjun longed to disobey those orders, to go off and help his friends, he knew he was a liability. So he instead decided to place his focus on Dongmin and HQ.

“There was a robot down there who didn’t seem like a robot. He seemed like…like a human,” Myungjun commented. “I didn’t get a good look at him, but he was enjoying the massacre. Robots kill because it’s in their code, but this one…I don’t know, it’s like he was killing just because he could. Just because it could.”

“Hm.” Dongmin typed a few more things into his notes. He said nothing else, though, and Myungjun didn’t like sitting there in silence.

“What do you think of that?”

“Well,” Dongmin started, as if carefully choosing his words, “I do know of robots that were made to be humans. They can blend in well enough. But I haven’t heard of those robots attacking humans.”

“What happened to those robots, then? If they aren’t out here attacking humans and they aren’t out here helping humans, where are they?”

“Probably broken down. They don’t reproduce as humans do and so if they are destroyed, that’s it for them.” Dongmin sighed again. “But we can’t focus on that right now. We need to focus on getting you to HQ. I can try to send someone out to meet you halfway, if that would be helpful?”

“That would be,” Myungjun agreed. “Do you have my coordinates?”

“I do.”

Myungjun glanced out of the window again, his lips set in a tight line. “Any robots nearby? Minhyuk’s hunting. Sanha’s with him. I can’t lose them – they’re all I have left.”

“Nothing near you. We’ll inform you if there are any.”

Myungjun continued to stare into the distance. He hoped Minhyuk would return soon. “What if we lose the connection again?”

“I’ll set your path to stay close to our communication towers,” Dongmin assured him. “And I know Jinwoo will keep you on that path.”

It was an open invitation to discuss Jinwoo, to ask about Jinwoo, and Myungjun snatched that up. “How is he? Where is he? Can I talk to him?”

“I think he was a bit overwhelmed. He’s taking a short break – he doesn’t know we’re talking right now. I’m sure he’ll be pissed once he finds out.” Dongmin chuckled. “But he’ll be returning soon and I think he’ll be with you from that moment onwards. Shit, I doubt he’ll ever leave this chair again until you make it to HQ.”

That’s right – he would finally be able to see Jinwoo once he was safe. Hope flared within Myungjun’s chest. He could go to HQ, survive the week or two that would take, and from then on he would never be apart from Jinwoo again. He would live in relative peace and harmony, without the fear of robots crashing down on him at any time, and he could finally allow himself the opportunity to relax.

It sounded too good to be true.

It probably was – there were too many robots to face in the outside world. It was too wide, too open.

Myungjun shifted in his seat. 

As if sensing his sudden despair, Dongmin’s voice became a bit more gentle. “It’ll be rough, but perhaps if we send several people from HQ, then–”

“I don’t want people risking their lives for us,” Myungjun murmured. He wanted someone from HQ there to offer assistance and bring supplies, but when he looked at his bleak surroundings, he realized he didn’t want more people to die for him. “Minhyuk and Sanha won’t wish for that, either.”

“But we aren’t risking our lives for just you . We’re risking our lives for the survival of humanity and the downfall of robots. If you survive, we can utilize your knowledge and expertise here. And we all want Minhyuk to survive, especially.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Dongmin laughed. “He’s a powerhouse. But, of course, Jinwoo desires your survival above all others.” Dongmin tapped something against a desk. Myungjun wondered if he was a bit more relaxed now that he knew his friends were as safe as they could be, given the circumstances. “He really likes you, you know.”

Myungjun thought of their love confessions and he couldn’t help but smile. It all seemed so long ago, though Jinwoo had confessed only a couple of days prior. 

“He said something to me,” Myungjun said, suddenly remembering everything else he and Jinwoo had talked about.  “That we can’t survive without love.” He took a deep breath and forced himself to smile, to sound cheery and not so gloomy. “I need to remember that as we walk to HQ.”

“Sweet,” Dongmin responded. “Isn’t he sweet? He’s too sweet for his own good.”

“He really is,” Myungjun giggled, finding it easier to smile now that he was thinking about Jinwoo. “I’m so sorry I worried him. Is he…am I able to talk to him now?”

“Not yet. I’ll check, though, and then put him on.”

Myungjun could see Minhyuk and Sanha in the distance, walking up to the building. He took a deep breath and nodded his head, even though he ached and was concussed.

“Alright,” he muttered, trying to count all his blessings.

He was alive. Minhyuk and Sanha were alive. Jinwoo was waiting for him. They had weapons. They had support. They would make it to HQ.

It would all be fine.

 

---

 

“I can’t…I can’t express how happy I am that you're alive,” was the first thing Jinwoo said when they reconnected later that night. It definitely took longer than Myungjun expected to finally be able to talk to Jinwoo. He wondered if something else was going on. He truly hoped he had not caused any major health issues to arise.

“Are you alright?” Myungjun asked.

Jinwoo choked out a laugh. “Seriously? After all you’ve been through, you want to know if I’m alright?”

“Dongmin said…he said you were shocked and overwhelmed and–”

“I hadn’t…” Jinwoo sighed. “I think I fainted. I’m not sure.”

“Are you serious? Are you okay? Have you been eating and drinking enough?”

“I’m fine. They fixed me up. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you once you were able to connect to us. Though I think I would have been useless if I had been there. Dongmin was a good choice – he’s much more logical than I am.”

Myungjun snorted, poking at the chicken that was currently cooking away. How Minhyuk found a fucking chicken , Myungjun was unsure. But there was a lot of wildlife (and previously domesticated animals) that roamed free without humans around to contain or kill them. The robots didn’t harm animals; only humans were free for them to attack.

“Yeah, but sometimes I don’t want logical and rational. I want…I want you .” Myungjun glanced behind him. 

Minhyuk and Sanha were in a different section of the house, likely going over what supplies they had been able to find and discussing what else they needed. Myungjun was not part of that conversation because they didn’t want his help.

“You just need to rest and let your ribs heal and let your concussion go away,” Minhyuk had told him when Myungjun offered his assistance. “Sanha and I are fine.”

Myungjun couldn’t even argue, because he knew what Minhyuk was vaguely trying to imply – Myungjun was a liability to them. Minhyuk and Sanha would never leave him or allow for him to be in harm’s way, but that meant that they had to spend all of their time protecting him and looking out for him. So if he tried to help, he would just be an added burden.

It was best if he stayed out of their way and did what he could to support them, even if that meant sitting around and cooking a large chicken for them all to eat.

“I’m here for you now,” Jinwoo assured him, breaking through all of Myungjun’s negative thoughts. “And Dongmin helped me to map the best path for you so you can remain within a reasonable distance of the communication towers. I promise, we won’t be apart ever again.”

“Yeah,” Myungjun responded. He sat over the small fire he had made, poking at his roasting chicken, trying his best to remain strong and steadfast.

Still, the tears began to well up in his eyes, and before he knew it, he was quietly crying into his hands.

Jinwoo could hear his hitched sobs, even as he tried his best to keep silent. But Jinwoo didn’t ask what was wrong or how he could help; Jinwoo seemed to understand.

“I love you,” Jinwoo whispered, “and I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there for you when you needed me most.”

It isn’t your fault , Myungjun wanted to say, but he was so preoccupied with keeping his tears a secret from his companions that he said nothing at all. He cried and cried, until finally he calmed down enough to respond to Jinwoo’s apologies.

“I lost everyone,” he choked out. “My team, my friends – they’re all dead.” He sniffled and rubbed at his nose. “And I was helpless to stop it. I was just sitting there in the hospital bed, listening to the carnage outside my door. I didn’t do shit .”

“There was nothing you could have done,” Jinwoo replied. “You’re still healing.”

“I could’ve died alongside them.”

Jinwoo was quiet for a few seconds, and then he asked, “Why would you?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“But what would that accomplish, save for one extra casualty?”

Myungjun couldn’t think of an answer.

Jinwoo continued, “You have people who would miss you. People who currently need you.” He cleared his throat and murmured, “And I would be devastated if you died. I’ve grown so attached to you, and I really don’t know how I would go on.”

Prior to the disaster at the base, Jinwoo’s confession would have made Myungjun beam and laugh and shout out his love. But now, with danger all around him and his survival not guaranteed, Myungjun blubbered out an apology.

“I’m s-sorry,” he stammered. “I wish…I wish we could be together right now.”

“We will be soon. In a week or two. And once you’re here, you’ll be safe forever. I’m never going to let you go.”

“I’d like that,” Myungjun said. “I want to be in your embrace for the rest of my life.”

Jinwoo hummed, a noise of agreement. “Until then, I will do whatever I can from here,” he promised. “I’ve got my eye on the radar and will alert you to any issues. And we’re going to try to send someone out to find you and bring you home. There will be greater strength in–”

“I asked Minhyuk and Sanha, and they would rather you not send anyone,” Myungjun interrupted. “They… we all agree that it isn’t worth it to risk someone’s life at HQ to bring the three of us to you.”

“It isn’t like that. We want to ensure your survival–”

“We have Minhyuk on our side,” Myungjun joked, smiling a little bit for the first time that evening. “I’m confident we’ll survive as long as we have Minhyuk.”

He could tell, from the hesitation on the other line, that Jinwoo was not convinced. Still, Jinwoo didn’t argue it. “It’s your call,” he mumbled. “But…fuck, I wish they would let me come.”

“Will they not?”

“No,” Jinwoo said with a loud sigh. “They need my services here, they’ve told me. I’ve begged them before to let me go to your side. I told them I could become a rebel and fight with you. I think I’d be a good asset – maybe not as good as Minhyuk, but I’m strong and capable. But they said I was made to do this , and so…”

“You are good at what you do,” Myungjun agreed. “When you became the communications officer for our base, we thrived. I had a whole spreadsheet of our losses, and they decreased when you took over.”

“That’s good,” Jinwoo breathed. “Even though I usually feel as if I’m not doing anything. I mean…” He sighed again. “I let your base get–”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Myungjun snapped. “It was no one’s fault, save for those fucking robots.” He thought of the human-like one, the one who enjoyed the thrill of the chase, and he added, “They have…they have one that looks like a person. I think the others take orders from it.”

“Oh. Yeah. Dongmin told me.”

“I hate that one more than all the others,” Myungjun spat out, anger coursing through him. “The others are wired to kill humans. They have no thoughts. They don’t make decisions outside of killing. But this one…I don’t know, I could tell that it was happy . I didn’t know robots could feel.”

“Human companion AI,” Jinwoo mentioned. “The other robots were created for one or two specific purposes – usually to help out in factories or other dangerous positions. The robot you saw was likely built to be a human companion. A lot of the human companions were able to avoid whatever technical virus screwed up all of the robots. Many of them went underground with the humans, or else stayed above ground to fight off the robots. As far as we’re aware, most of the human companions were wiped out.” Jinwoo hesitated briefly, then cleared his throat. “It sounds like that one decided that his own survival was more important, and so he likely joined with the robots.”

Myungjun poked at his chicken again. “Will it follow us? Will it come after us?”

“You said he saw you escape?”

Myungjun nodded before realizing that Jinwoo could not see him. “Yes. Um…it saw Minhyuk and me climbing up the ladder.”

Jinwoo sighed. “I don’t…I don’t think you’re in any danger right now. But I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on the radar all night long.”

“Yeah. Minhyuk says we’ll sleep in shifts, too, just to ensure we aren’t caught off-guard.”

“You can pass me along to whoever is awake at the moment, then. I want to make sure you all stay informed.”

“But what if I wanted to listen to your voice all night?” Myungjun asked, pouting. 

He heard Jinwoo laugh. “But you’ll be asleep!”

“When I wake up, though, I want to hear you talking to me. You have such a deep, soothing voice.” Myungjun glanced behind him, ensuring Minhyuk and Sanha were far enough away, and then murmured, “Once we get to HQ, I want you to fuck me.”

“Myungjun!” Jinwoo sputtered.

“And I want you to whisper in my ear the entire time. Tell me how much you love me and how sexy I am and…” Myungjun stared at the chicken, currently roasting away, and cursed. “Shit, I shouldn’t keep talking, or else I’m going to want to get off. Which I can’t do right now. I’m cooking.”

“Unsanitary,” Jinwoo agreed, and Myungjun nodded his head again.

“But think about it!” Myungjun ordered. “Think about pinning me down in bed and fucking into me like we have all the time in the world.”

“I think this call is recorded.”

“They’re all recorded, and Dongmin’s going to listen to them like the creepy pervert he is,” Myungjun retorted. The chicken was likely done, and he was hungry, so he said, “I need to get the food ready for Sanha and Minhyuk, so I can’t keep talking about all the things that I jerk off to.”

He heard Jinwoo giggle, and he continued, “But, um…thanks, Jinwoo.”

“For what?”

“Listening to me. Helping me out. Just…with everything that’s happened, you’re still here , and…I love you.”

Jinwoo gave a soft sigh and responded, “I love you, too.”

“And I can’t wait to see you soon.”

“Yeah. I’ll…fuck you once you come.”

“Ooh!” Myungjun squealed. “You’re finally speaking my language! Do you like to go hard and fast, or–”

Suddenly, Minhyuk appeared by his side, leaning down so his mouth was next to Myungjun’s ear. Myungjun only jumped slightly.

“Hey, Jinwoo, stop turning him on. I’m hungry,” Minhyuk exclaimed. 

Jinwoo laughed again, a bit embarrassed, and Myungjun shoved his friend aside. “Fine, fine,” he muttered. “Jinwoo, let me cut up some chicken before these two ravenous beasts eat me .”

Myungjun plated the food and ate with his friends, Jinwoo in his ear to chime in from time to time, and he finally felt hope.

They would survive. They would make it to HQ in one piece. He could be happy once again.

He just had to push through.

 

 

“What’s that?” Sanha whispered, pointing ahead at something in the distance.

Minhyuk looked. Myungjun also looked, though he had to strain himself to peer around Sanha, and his ribs were still killing him.

There was a shape moving towards them, though it was walking against the sun and so its features were not very discernible. Myungjun could tell that it was holding several weapons, however, and he took a deep breath.

“Jinwoo?” he whispered as Minhyuk ushered him and Sanha to duck behind some fallen concrete of what used to be a building. “Any robots?”

“No. None.”

Minhyuk held tightly onto his weapon, glancing over at Sanha with wide eyes. Sanha looked downright terrified. They had not run into any robots thus far on their journey, and so this definitely was not a good sign.

“There’s something coming up in the distance,” Myungjun informed Jinwoo. “It looks human, but…it could be a robot. Or one of those damn human companions. Do you–”

“Hold on,” said Jinwoo, “I think…hold on.”

“Jinwoo,” Myungjun hissed, but Jinwoo didn’t answer. When Minhyuk looked over at Myungjun, Myungjun huffed angrily. “He told me to hold on.”

“Seriously?” Minhyuk murmured. 

Sanha, not once taking his eyes off of the figure, whispered, “I think it’s a human.”

“But we can’t be certain,” Minhyuk stated, and he readied his gun, aiming it at the stranger who continued to walk toward them.

Myungjun did not want to ask Minhyuk to shoot at it, but he was still nervous from the horrible attack on the base. He would much rather take his chances at killing a human being than allowing himself and his friends to be brutally murdered by robots.

But then the figure raised its hands.

“Don’t shoot!” a voice rang out.

Sanha glanced at Minhyuk. “Sounds human.”

“So did that companion,” Minhyuk pointed out.

Just then, Jinwoo came back onto Myungjun’s headset. “That’s Bin,” he said, a bit breathlessly. “He’s one of our guys.”

Myungjun was quick to put his hand in front of Minhyuk. “Human,” he confirmed, “Jinwoo says he’s a human.”

“What is HQ doing, sending humans out without warning us?” Minhyuk muttered, frustrated, and he put his gun away.

Jinwoo must have heard Minhyuk’s complaint, for he explained, “I know you said you didn’t want or need any help, but Dongmin sent him out anyway. He was worried for you. I’m sorry – I wasn’t made aware of this. It looks like Dongmin came to the decision to send him without any warning.”

The human, Bin, was close enough now that Myungjun could see him and make out his features. He was tall and rather handsome, and he smiled and waved as he made his way up to them.

“What’s he like?” Myungjun muttered, noticing that neither Minhyuk nor Sanha waved back to Bin.

“Friendly. Bold. Very capable, like Minhyuk. He’s gone out by himself before to help other rebel soldiers.”

Before Jinwoo could say anything more, Bin exclaimed, “Hey! I’m Moon Bin – Dongmin sent me over.”

Minhyuk, the de facto leader of their small group, still looked rather suspicious. Myungjun couldn’t very well blame him; they had never trusted strange human-like figures above ground, and now that they had been attacked by a companion robot, their distrust was at an all-time high.

Bin nodded, as if having expected to be greeted by silence. “Dongmin says he forgot to tell you guys I was coming.” He gestured at his ears, and Myungjun noticed he wore a small earpiece, not unlike Myungjun’s own. Then, as if recognizing what Myungjun had, he also gestured at that one. “Is Jinwoo on? Tell him I said hey.”

“Why are you here?” Minhyuk asked. “I thought Myungjun told Dongmin that we didn’t need–”

“Sure, but there’s no way in hell HQ is going to let you guys possibly die out here. We need strong fighters, but more importantly, we need to ensure that humans are not wiped out. Every life is important to us.” Bin raised his eyebrows and smiled at Myungjun. “And I think Jinwoo would like to see you in one piece. You two are cute.” Bin laughed; he sounded kind enough, and his laughter seemed  genuine, but Myungjun was still on edge from his sudden arrival. “You two have such a unique relationship. HQ has been studying it.”

“Studying…our relationship?” Myungjun wondered. “Why?”

“Don’t listen to him,” Jinwoo broke in. “He’s weird.”

“It’s…” Bin glanced at Minhyuk and Sanha before looking straight at Myungjun again. “Oh. I thought you knew.”

“Knew what? ”

“That…HQ is studying you.” His hesitation was strange; Myungjun assumed Dongmin was speaking to him and causing him to lose focus. “The long-distance relationship is interesting to them, I guess. And the fact you don’t even know what Jinwoo looks like.” Bin grinned again, and Myungjun heard Jinwoo sigh over the earpiece. “Anyway, I have some food, if you guys are hungry.”

Myungjun was hungry. He knew his companions were, as well. In fact, Sanha’s stomach rumbled from the mere mention of food. Sanha did have the decency to look a little embarrassed, but none of them were willing to forgo the chance to eat.

Bin took out several cans of food, along with some dried meats and seafood, which he split amongst the little party. They ate in the trees, away from any major developments, with both Bin and Minhyuk regularly checking their own respective radar devices.

“So,” Minhyuk said, after he had gobbled down a few bites of his lunch. “How far away is HQ? You arrived here fast.”

“You guys are really close,” Bin confirmed. “I’d say about three days.” He nodded at Myungjun. “Though you need to slow the pace. Dongmin informed me that your ribs are still–”

“I’m fine,” Myungjun declared. “We need to hurry to HQ. The longer we’re out here–”

This time, Bin interrupted him. “Your pace isn’t sustainable, not when you’re injured. You’ll have to take frequent long breaks, which will end up slowing everyone down and leaving your group vulnerable.”

He was right, as much as Myungjun hated to admit it. He had nothing to argue, so he scowled at his food, instead, feeling very much like a burden on his friends, and now a burden on Bin. He hated feeling like a burden.

As if reading his thoughts, Sanha was quick to pat Myungjun on his shoulder. “We don’t mind slowing down,” he murmured, a sweet assurance. “I think we’d prefer it, anyway. Right, Minhyuk?”

Minhyuk nodded his head in agreement and, just like that, it was decided. They would slow their pace to help Myungjun’s ribs heal.

Myungjun hated the decision, but he accepted it with as much grace and dignity as he was able to.

“Great!” Bin exclaimed, now that it had been decided. He gestured up the road from them. “I have secured a small shop up there for us. We can turn in early for the evening. And I brought provisions from HQ, some food and water – we should be safe for the night.” He began to walk, and he must have expected them to follow. After exchanging glances with each other, Myungjun, Minhyuk, and Sanha did fall in line. “We can take turns keeping watch,” Bin continued. “Minhyuk, if you can do the first watch until midnight, I can take over then.”

“I can do a watch,” Myungjun muttered, a bit frustrated that he was being shoved to the side and treated as some sort of invalid.

But then Bin glanced at him and shrugged. “Sure, you can take Minhyuk’s spot and Minhyuk and Sanha will do the watch tomorrow night.”

Myungjun flushed a little bit. Ah. So he read that incorrectly. Bin was simply trying to make sure they all had equal time to guard. He felt a little bit silly, and he bit at his lip, desperately wanting to be alone for just five minutes. He wanted to stew for a little bit. He wanted to think. And he really wanted to talk to Jinwoo, to relish in his presence and spend some time away from the recordings and headsets and microphones.

“To your left,” Jinwoo suddenly announced, breaking through Myungjun’s thoughts. “Robots.”

Bin and Minhyuk, who both had radars, noticed at the same time Myungjun had been told. They all stopped in their tracks; Bin squinted his eyes to try and see further into the distance, but there was no movement out there.

“How far away?” Myungjun asked.

Minhyuk, staring worriedly at his radar, said, “Far enough that they might not have seen us yet. Should we try to fight, or outrun them to the house you’ve secured?” Minhyuk looked at Bin, deferring the decision to him. He must have felt like some sort of weight was being taken off his shoulders, allowing someone else to take control of the team for a little bit. Minhyuk was still young, and even though he was incredibly smart and capable, he often felt overwhelmed with responsibility.

Bin bit his lip in thought and then tapped the earpiece he wore. “Dongmin, any thoughts? Ideas?”

It was Jinwoo who spoke up first. “Don’t draw attention to yourselves. Make your way to the house Bin has secured and I’ll inform you if the robots are getting closer. Just keep quiet and move slowly.”

Dongmin must have suggested the same thing, for Bin gestured for the others to follow him. Myungjun was in the middle; he wanted to be in the rear, but Minhyuk worried he would fall behind due to his injuries.

I’m fine , Myungjun wanted to scream out to the world, I can deal with this . But he wasn’t fine, not really. His whole body was in pain without ample time to properly heal. His head was constantly pounding and his vision often went blurry. Rest would be vital for him, but he couldn’t truly rest until he made it to HQ.

Until he was safe in Jinwoo’s arms.

The thought propelled him forward, and he forced himself to match the pace Bin had set, until Jinwoo’s voice rang out in his ears again.

“They’ve gotten closer. I think they’re on a track right towards you. Myungjun–”

“Got it,” Myungjun whispered, and he relayed the information to his friends.

But clearly Jinwoo was not done talking. “Please be safe, Myungjun. Don’t do anything rash. Bin is trained for combat, so he can take over for you–”

“I can fight,” Myungjun hissed, drawing him a quick, worried glance from Sanha. “I can fight just as well.”

“I know you can,” Jinwoo responded, “but your ribs are broken and I doubt your fingers have fully healed, have they?”

He was right; they hadn’t. Myungjun seethed, but Jinwoo continued, “You’re hurt. I’m not trying to push you aside, but you’re hurt . It’s okay to let your friends take care of you, and it’s okay to let Bin lead the way. You’ve always been extremely useful and extremely helpful, so take some time and step back.”

What he said made sense, as much as Myungjun hated hearing it. He mumbled a quick, “Fine,” and Jinwoo said nothing else on the matter. He only gave helpful coordinates and directions, and so by the time the robots finally came into view, Bin was ready with some strange sniper weapon he had pieced together from parts in his backpack.

Bin dispatched them too easily, aiming quite well with his own electromagnetic gun. Myungjun admired the weapon, even more so when Bin was able to unscrew the parts from each other and store them away again.

“Any more?” he asked, staring over at the smoldering robots in the distance.

“None,” Jinwoo answered - but Dongmin, speaking to Bin, must have said the same thing for Bin nodded and grinned.

“We’re good,” he said. “Let’s keep going.”

Jinwoo said nothing else.

 

---

 

“I know how you feel,” Jinwoo murmured in Myungjun’s ear. It was the first time he had spoken in several hours. They had made it to the house and had eaten and had their fill of water before settling down for the night. Bin could not carry individual sleeping bags for each member of their little troupe, but he did have thin blankets for them all to share. He had given one to Minhyuk, who was all-too-eager to share with Sanha, and then he grinned at Myungjun.

“We’ll have to sleep together,” he had said. “I hope Jinwoo’s fine with that!”

Even then, Jinwoo had said nothing, and Myungjun was forced to accept that he had done something to upset his lover.

So when Jinwoo finally did talk, it gave Myungjun a start. He was keeping watch over the house and staring down at the radar and had not expected to hear anything .

“Hm?” he murmured, placing a hand on his chest to quell the thumping of his heart. Then, he added, “You freaked me out.”

“Sorry,” Jinwoo apologized. “Just…I know you’re upset, and I know me telling you to back down isn’t making it any better. I’m not saying it just to say it, though; truly, I know how you feel. I’ve had several instances where I am unable to perform as I am made to, and it’s such a helpless feeling.”

“ Made to?” Myungjun repeated. Jinwoo went silent, and Myungjun scoffed. “I know you were trained for this since you were a child, but this isn’t what you were made for.”

Jinwoo cleared his throat. “Then…then what do you think I was made for? Born for?”

“Many things.” Myungjun smiled as he imagined Jinwoo on the other end of the line, a bit unsure to have his entire livelihood challenged. “But I’d like to think you were mostly made for me , and I was made for you .”

“That’s…” Jinwoo hesitated. “I would like to think I was made for you,” he finally murmured. “Maybe I was pieced together to be yours .” Myungjun smiled a little bit, imagining a Jinwoo who waited his entire life for the embrace of his far-away lover, but then Jinwoo was speaking again. “But I know you were made for greater things. You were made to change the world.”

Myungjun scoffed. “I’ve hardly been changing anything ,” he complained. “I’ve been hurt and so I haven’t even been much help to the others. They have to slow down because of me. They–”

“We all get hurt sometimes,” Jinwoo countered. “Can you honestly tell me that you would be upset if Minhyuk was in your shoes, and if you were in his? If the roles were reversed, don’t you think you would do everything in your power to make things easier for Minhyuk?” Myungjun was silent, stewing over Jinwoo’s words, and so Jinwoo continued, “Minhyuk and Sanha are your friends. They want you to survive, and they’ll do anything to ensure that you do. So you shouldn’t feel bad about it. You’ve done a lot for them in the past. You’ve been an amazing communications officer for your base, and you keep track of supplies, and you fight robots and you find food – give yourself some credit.”

Myungjun stared over at what used to be a window, though the blinds had fallen apart and the glass was shattered in several places . The night was an inky black, cicadas ringing loudly and crickets chirping from somewhere safe nearby. There was no other movement, and so Myungjun glanced down at Minhyuk’s radar. Nothing moved on that, either.

Jinwoo was right; even now, with his broken ribs and his concussion, he was doing whatever he could to keep his friends safe. Sure, he wasn’t slinging guns around and shooting anything he saw, but even if they all had to move a bit slower to accommodate for his wounds, he was doing his part. He was doing his best.

That was good enough.

“Thanks,” he whispered to Jinwoo.

He could hear the smile in Jinwoo’s voice as his boyfriend responded, “You’re welcome.”

“I love you.”

“And I love you. I love you so much.”

“I can’t wait to see you.”

Jinwoo took a deep breath and murmured, “Me, too.”

“I want to get inside, too. Being out here like this, exposed…it’s creepy.” 

“I’ve got you covered with the radar–”

“Oh, I know that. But…” He laughed a little bit, though he kept his voice down as low as possible, both to not wake his sleeping companions and to ensure they would all remain hidden in this dismal little shop. “I just feel like everything is prowling around us, waiting to strike. Or that damn companion robot – I feel like it will lead its army straight to us and slaughter us and I’ll be unable to stop it.”

“He shows up on the map,” Jinwoo assured him. “And…not to sound like a downer, but I believe he is headed for other bases. I think he has plans to wipe out as many humans as possible.”

“Don’t call that thing a he ,” Myungjun chastised, and he ignored Jinwoo’s quiet sorry in favor of asking, “Is there any way to stop it?”

“Of course,” Jinwoo said. “HQ has sent out some men to track him – it, sorry – down. And we’ve ensured the other bases are aware of the possible attacks, as well as the tactics this, um, thing might employ. If it cuts off communication towers, we need the bases to be ready. Several of them have set up backup generators, hidden away from view, just in case. But we’re hoping our men can find him – it – first.”

“Well…” Myungjun glanced behind him, at where Bin and the others were fast asleep. “Bin seems capable enough, so I assume whoever else you send will be capable, too.”

“Bin is very capable,” Jinwoo agreed. “On par with Minhyuk.”

“That’s a bold claim.”

Jinwoo giggled. “Yes, well…that’s what I think, at least. And, you know…damn, I don’t know how much I can say with the calls being recorded. But…Dongmin’s asleep so he won’t find out I told you until later. He might punish me, but–”

“Told me what?”

“That…shit, I really don’t know if I can say it.”

“Jinwoo!” Myungjun whined. “You’re making me super curious!”

“I think he and Dongmin have…something going on,” Jinwoo whispered, as if afraid someone might listen to his conversation if he talked louder. Myungjun knew, though, that whispers were picked up on recordings, so this conversation would be quickly outed.

“Seriously?” he asked, not really caring about the consequences of openly discussing the love life of his colleagues. “ Weird . Dongmin doesn’t seem like the sort! Bin is very…manly. Dongmin seems sophisticated.”

“Oh, he has a big temper. Maybe that’s why he goes for Bin – Bin is the only person who can reel him in sometimes.”

“I’m definitely going to ask Bin about this.”

“No, don’t, he’ll know I–”

“I’ll protect you if he does anything,” Myungjun promised, and then he grinned widely. “Because we’ll be there in a couple of days. And I’ll block any punches he throws at you. And…and I’ll kiss you and hold you and…hey, now we won’t be recorded whenever you get me off.”

Jinwoo made a small noise of embarrassment. “The more you bring that up, the more people at HQ tease me.”

“And then they’ll tease me when I get there. Who cares?” Myungjun grinned and leaned up against the wall, continuing his watch over the little shop. “I’ll be too busy fucking you, anyway.”

“ Vulgar ,” Jinwoo chastised. “Mr. Kim, you are so vulgar .”

“Don’t pretend like I don’t make you hot and needy,” Myungjun retorted. “Just wait until we’re together – I doubt anyone will be able to tear us apart. Literally. You know, I really was made for you.”

“Really?” said Jinwoo, dryly.

“My mouth was, at least. I don’t even know what you look like, but I already know your dick would look great in my mouth.”

“Well, at least you feel better,” Jinwoo grumbled, and Myungjun laughed quietly at him.

“I do. I do feel better. All thanks to you.” He smiled and closed his eyes briefly, though he knew better than to keep them closed. He was tired and he needed to do everything in his power to stay awake. “And before I fall asleep, you’d better keep this conversation interesting enough to make me stay awake.”

“What would make it interesting enough?”

“I don’t know. But you know me well.”

Jinwoo paused, as if thinking through his options, and then asked, “Can I tell you exactly how I’ll fuck you, then?”

It was always a bit scientific whenever Jinwoo delved into their romantic options, but that somehow made it all the more hotter for Myungjun. So, with an eager grin, he sat up straighter and nodded his head.

“Go for it, babe.”

He had a while, and he knew Jinwoo would fill the time perfectly .

 

 

Somehow, they were making relatively good time with very few incidents. They had to hide once or twice when robots came too close, but otherwise the radars didn’t pick up on much. Myungjun supposed it was because many of the robots were probably with that awful companion and trying to track down the rebels who remained underground, but he didn’t voice his thoughts on the matter. He preferred to believe that the other bases had ample warning and were able to defend themselves well against any robot attacks.

When the large HQ building came into sight, Myungjun’s heart raced in excitement. They all stood on a small hill, and Bin pointed past the crumbling apartments, homes, and businesses, a little ways into the distance, at a large, modern-looking building surrounded by a large wall.

“That’s HQ,” he had announced, and Myungjun smiled as he thought of finally being able to relax, finally being able to feel safe, and finally being able to see Jinwoo.

Their pace increased as they followed the path down to HQ. Bin talked the majority of the time, explaining how things would be once they entered the facility.

“There are plenty of outdoor areas, of course, but everything is enclosed from the outside world. We have guards in various watch towers, and our radar capabilities are phenomenal, so no robot has ever gotten past the walls. You’ll have to share rooms, likely, since we house a lot of people – but we expand as much as we’re able to so maybe in a couple of years we’ll have enough space for everyone to have their own bedrooms. Our past refugees have been given several days to rest and familiarize themselves with their new home, but we will put you all to work.” Bin glanced over at Minhyuk and grinned. “I’ve already requested that you work alongside me and my team. We go out often to procure space, clear out robots, and help other rebels. You’d be brilliant at it. And you–” Bin pointed at Myungjun, now walking backwards so he could keep talking to his group. “--will probably have your pick of jobs, since you’re experienced with many tasks. I think we might have you, Sanha, work on the admin side of things. Of course, we do have other jobs if you prefer something more lowkey. We have cooks and grocers and mail–”

“Grocers?” Sanha had interrupted, his eyes filled with curiosity. “You have grocery stores?”

They had all heard about grocery stores and had explored several, but actually seeing such a concept in reality would be impressive.

“Just two, but it’s not as it was in the Before times. People who live in HQ are limited to a certain quantity of food per week, and our grocers ensure that each person who comes in receives only their required amount.”

“Similar to how it’s done in the base, then,” Myungjun responded, nodding his head. He had kept his eyes on their spreadsheets before and knew how much food each person could receive. He wondered if that was a job he would be capable of having – he would definitely prefer to take a break from risking his life, and being a grocer would keep him safe and sound.

“Not to interrupt,” Jinwoo suddenly announced, making Myungjun jump. “But there are some robots on the radar.”

“Where?” Myungjun wondered, and he glanced over at Bin, who seemed to be getting the same message from someone else.

“Behind you,” Jinwoo replied. “They’re far enough away, but…there’s several of them. Looks like…six, actually.”

Myungjun raised his eyebrows, and Bin nodded before checking his own radar. They were not yet appearing, but the radar at HQ was stronger, anyway, and could pick up more than their portable radars.

“Let’s go even faster,” Bin suggested. “Fighting them might be hard, so let’s just outrun them.”

At first, they were fast, but the more they walked, the more exhausted Myungjun became. They were practically jogging, they had to move so fast, and Myungjun’s ribs ached so miserably. He tried not to say anything, but Jinwoo noticed when his breathing became labored.

“Your ribs are still broken. Slow down.”

“I can’t,” Myungjun wheezed out, glancing behind him. “We’re almost there.”

“Myungjun–”

“I’ll make it. I’ll be fine.”

“They’re gaining on you,” Jinwoo warned.

Bin’s radar was finally picking them up, and he cursed. “They’re extremely fast,” he commented. “They’re probably going to reach us. Dongmin–” He was talking to his earpiece now, to Dongmin who was likely working alongside Jinwoo to deliver information to them. “--make sure we have some guards waiting for our arrival. We need to shoot the robots down.”

“Get within the range of the guards once you make it to HQ,” Jinwoo said, but Myungjun wasn’t sure how to do that. He had never been to HQ and had no idea what the range was for the guards to assist them. Fortunately, Bin seemed to understand, and he diverted their course slightly, just enough so they were no longer on a worn path.

The journey there became harder, for Myungjun had to trudge through overgrown weeds and climb over crumbling brick. When he glanced behind him once, he saw the robots.

And the robots saw him.

“Shit!” he exclaimed, and Bin looked back and said the exact same thing.

“We won’t make it!” Sanha murmured.

They were so close, though. The walls were right in front of them – but the robots were right behind them.

“Send soldiers out,” Bin ordered Dongmin, and then he pulled out his large gun and spun around, stepping in front of Myungjun, Minhyuk, and Sanha. “If we keep running, they’ll get us.”

“What about the sniper rifle you have?” Sanha asked – he didn’t have a weapon of his own.

“No time to get it out and set it up,” Bin replied. “Just stay behind me until they send out some help.”

Minhyuk passed his crossbow to Sanha, to give him some sort of protection, but neither his gun nor Myungjun’s gun were good enough to reach the robots from their distance.

“Keep backing up,” Bin ordered them, and they did so. Myungjun could hear the robots now, could hear them announcing to each other, Human spotted. Human spotted. Human spotted . He could see their lifeless eyes and their synthetic mouths moving, and for the first time in a couple of days, fear gripped at him.

It was six against four – even taking down one robot often required at least two fighters. They were sorely outnumbered and outmatched. Myungjun glanced at HQ, at its large, foreboding walls and the guard towers that stood too far out to make much of a difference.

“Jinwoo,” he whispered, “I don’t think I’ll make it.”

He was weak enough as it was. He couldn’t take on robots at such a close range.

He heard movement on Jinwoo’s end. He heard Dongmin yell something at him, and then Jinwoo said, “I’m coming.”

“What? Jinwoo–”

“I won’t lose you,” Jinwoo snapped, “and I’ll fight. I was made for you, and you were made for me.”

Bin shot at one of the robots, and it dodged the attack. 

“Don’t come!” Myungjun fussed, and he shot his own gun. His weapon hit a robot, and it went down. He sighed in relief. Maybe he could do this. “It’s okay! I’ll be okay!”

“Two more!” Minhyuk shouted, and Myungjun realized that two robots were coming in from the other side.

One of the robots looked eerily human, and Myungjun realized it was a companion. It had somehow evaded the radars, or it had blended in with the other robots – whatever the case, Myungjun turned on them as Bin, Minhyuk, and Sanha continued to shoot at the initial six robots.

The companion dodged the first shot, and when Myungjun shot at it again, it used its fellow robot as a shield, pulling it in front and allowing Myungjun’s weapon to destroy it.

Then the companion was on him in a flash. It grabbed at the gun and held it up to the sky as Myungjun shot again.

“Don’t do that,” the companion chastised him. It sounded so human-like. It looked like the same one that had attacked the base. 

It smiled and then pointed out as much. “I know you. I saw you. You and that other one got away from me.”

Why was it so human-like? Why had it followed them? Why did it care so much? Myungjun tried to wrestle his gun out of its grip, but it was too strong. He was no match against a machine made entirely of metal, a machine intent on killing all humans who stood in its path.

Sanha shot his crossbow at the companion robot. The arrow embedded in its skin but did not penetrate past the metal shell that protected its innards. The companion tugged the gun out of Myungjun’s grasp and pointed it at Sanha.

Myungjun refused to watch another one of his friends die, and so he used all of his strength to push the robot aside, to tackle it to the ground and fight it for the gun. 

But the robot was strong. It kicked and punched and flailed against Myungjun, and when it landed a rather well-aimed kick on Myungjun’s chest, Myungjun fell back with a loud cry.

The companion hovered over him, grinning. “You’re hurt,” it said. “Are your ribs broken? Let me see.” It planted a foot on Myungjun’s chest and then began to press down. Instantly, pain shot through Myungjun’s body. He could feel another of his ribs crack – the broken ones that had barely healed were giving in against the weight.

Myungjun screamed, panicking and struggling to pull free.

But then someone grabbed the companion from behind. Someone pulled on its head and nearly snapped its neck. The companion stumbled off of Myungjun and it looked confused for a brief second before it caught sight of Myungjun’s savior.

He was a short man, about Myungjun’s height, with black hair and small, brown eyes. His skin was pale and clear with barely any imperfections. He was strong, if his handling of the companion was any indication, and he glanced only briefly at Myungjun before trying to yank the gun from the companion.

The companion huffed and fought him for the gun. When the man could not wrench the gun away, he punched the companion in the face.

Any normal human would have suffered a broken wrist almost instantly. Punching robots did absolutely nothing, as they were so well-protected. But this man was able to break off pieces of the companion’s face.

The man punched again and again, and it was at that moment that Myungjun realized this man wasn’t human .

It was another robot. Another companion.

Bin shot at the first companion, though, and then it went down in a heap. There were no more sounds of guns firing or of robots fighting. Myungjun glanced around him and noticed that all of the robots were destroyed. Minhyuk was injured and Sanha was attending to him, and the companion that saved them knelt by Myungjun’s side.

“Are you alright?” it asked, and Myungjun stared at it in alarm – he recognized its voice.

“Jinwoo?” he whispered.

Jinwoo’s hands hovered over Myungjun’s body, but he did not yet touch him. “He hurt you, didn’t he? Fuck, I’m so sorry–”

“You’re a robot?” Myungjun breathed out.

Jinwoo bit at his lip but did not answer the question. “We have to get you inside,” he murmured. “The sounds of the fight probably alerted others–”

He tried to pick Myungjun up and bring him to his feet, but Myungjun scrambled backwards. However, such a movement hurt, and he cried out in pain and fell back against the ground.

“Myungjun!” Jinwoo gasped, but Myungjun had enough energy left in him to pick his head up and glare at Jinwoo.

“Don’t you fucking touch me,” he spit out. “You’re a fucking robot . You’re one of them . You lied to me–”

Everything hurt, though, and he let his head drop again, tears welling up in his eyes.

It was Bin who ended up helping Myungjun to his feet and dragging him inside the HQ. Minhyuk struggled behind him, and Jinwoo was–

Myungjun didn’t bother to check if Jinwoo followed them inside or not. He used his free arm, the arm not around Bin’s neck, to tug the earpiece from his ear and then he threw it on the ground, disgusted with himself for having ever fallen in love with Jinwoo.

Jinwoo had tricked him. Jinwoo had pretended to aid in his fight against the robots – all the while, he had hidden his true identity and allowed Myungjun to believe such an awful, ridiculous lie.

“He’s not like them,” Bin said, as if sensing Myungjun’s thoughts.

“I hate you, too. Shut up,” Myungjun snapped.

“You’re being an idiot.”

Myungjun decided not to respond. He didn’t wish to speak to those who had lied to him. He closed his eyes and tried not to cry and wondered if he would be better off roaming the outside world for the rest of his life.

 

 

He still couldn’t believe it.

Jinwoo was a robot. Jinwoo, the man he had fallen in love with several years prior, had been lying to him the entire time. He was nothing more than a companion, a useless concoction of metal and wires, with superficial feelings and emotions. How dare he ever say that he could feel love – and how dare he accept Myungjun’s love with no qualms? Myungjun felt sick to his stomach thinking about how often they had talked and how often he had expressed himself. 

A fucking robot.

Myungjun closed his eyes as he lay in his hospital bed, listening to the muffled noise of sound just outside his door. The hospital he had been taken to was large and white and sterile – he was given his own room and his own bed. There were several doctors in the hospital, too, and nurses who kept checking in on him. HQ really was a wondrous place, and Myungjun was still trying to get used to it, even if all he had seen so far was the hospital. But even then, he couldn’t enjoy it, for his mind was focused solely on Jinwoo and his horrible betrayal.

There was suddenly a knock at his door, and Myungjun opened his eyes and glanced over just as a strange man entered the room.

The man waved at him and said, “Hey, Myungjun,”

His voice was familiar. “Dongmin,” Myungjun greeted.

Dongmin closed the door behind him and moved closer to Myungjun’s bed. Myungjun took the chance to examine him, to get a visual idea of the man he had talked to for ages. Dongmin was tall and extremely handsome. He looked more akin to the models Myungjun had heard and read about, the ones who were paid solely to look good, than he did a communications officer. When he smiled, his face seemed to shine, and Myungjun then realized why Bin had a thing for Dongmin. After all, who wouldn’t? Anyone would surely find Dongmin attractive – anyone except for Myungjun, who only had a thing for a damn robot.

“So,” Dongmin said, “nice to finally meet you.” He gestured at Myungjun’s body. “Sorry that you got stomped on by that robot.”

Myungjun glanced down at his chest. They didn’t need to wrap anything for broken ribs, but he wore loose clothes and was unable to roll over, so all he could do was lay there and think of how miserable everything had become for him. Dongmin wasn’t someone he necessarily wanted around, but at least he was a break from the usual hum-drum of the past two days. So far, only Minhyuk and Sanha had been in to see him, but both of them had to settle into their new lives and so they could not stay for very long.

“Can I sit?” Dongmin asked, and before Myungjun could say anything, he grabbed a chair from the wall and pulled it up to Myungjun’s bed.

Myungjun turned his gaze to Dongmin, staring at him in frustration, but Dongmin seemed annoyingly nonchalant.

“You knew about Jinwoo, didn’t you?” Myungjun snapped after several seconds of silence. “And you kept it secret, didn’t you?”

Dongmin shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“Obviously you did, since you kept it secret ,” Myungjun retorted. 

“Yes, well, none of you would have taken directions from him had you known he was a robot,” Dongmin said. “And it doesn’t affect his ability to keep an eye on the radar. In fact, it’s helpful, since he doesn’t need to sleep.”

That explained why Jinwoo was available day or night. Myungjun had never thought about it before, but now it was all beginning to make sense.

“Bin said that HQ was interested in our relationship – is this why?” he asked, and Dongmin didn’t respond, so Myungjun continued. “And when he was debriefing , he was probably charging or going through maintenance?” Still, Dongmin didn’t respond, and Myungjun angrily continued, “He said once he had been made to do his task – that’s true, too, isn’t it? Fuck, there were so many hints and I just…I ignored them all because he seemed so sincere.”

“He is sincere.”

“He isn’t!” Myungjun exclaimed, “Because he’s a fucking robot! ” He huffed and looked away from Dongmin. “Maybe you don’t understand, living your cushy life in HQ and not having to risk anything, but I’ve seen those robots in action. I’ve lost friends. I’ve been injured. And one of the companions destroyed my home and everyone I’ve ever known. And then you had that thing pretending to love me – he’s a companion, too, isn’t he? Isn’t it ?”

Dongmin sighed and leaned back in his chair. “He was built as a companion, yes. He desires to help humans. He has never once tried to go against them. And I know you think he doesn’t have feelings, but he does . He has friends in our unit – I’m one of his best friends. And he does fall in love, and he fell in love with you.”

“He didn’t,” Myungjun muttered, but he didn’t even know what to believe anymore. Jinwoo had truly acted as if he loved him. Jinwoo had seemed so human . Even when he was finally revealed to be a robot, he still treated Myungjun with such respect and love. He didn’t seem at all like one of the robots Myungjun had fought previously.

“Fine, you can believe what you want,” Dongmin replied. “But he loves you. He loves you so much. You don’t have to return that love, but–”

“And I don’t. I’ll never love a fucking robot.”

Dongmin raised his eyebrows but didn’t respond. He simply continued to stare and Myungjun closed his eyes, wishing so desperately that he could roll on his side and block out Dongmin’s annoying stare.

“If you’re going to blame anyone,” Dongmin continued, “it shouldn’t be him. It should be the humans that made him. It should be us here at HQ, who made him work and keep his identity a secret. Jinwoo wanted to tell you, but we all feared that the rebels underground might either cut ties with us, or come after us for housing these companions. It was unsafe for their identity to get out.”

“You have more companions?” Myungjun asked. He didn’t necessarily want to engage in conversation with Dongmin, considering Dongmin was among those who lied to him, but he did find himself interested, nonetheless. How many more robots did he need to encounter? How many of those robots would be companions? Would he even notice they were companions? Jinwoo looked human, and the only way Myungjun was able to tell he wasn’t was by his insane strength. If he hadn’t killed that other robot, Myungjun would continue to believe he was a human.

“A couple more,” Dongmin confirmed. “It was important for us to gather the companions. They were also subject to massacre, from both humans and robots. Humans no longer wanted them because they could be dangerous, and robots no longer wanted them because they sided with the humans. Companion robots are much more complex and have human emotions.”

“But those emotions are fake,” Myungjun ground out, opening his eyes again to look over at Dongmin. “They only have emotions because humans installed a bunch of wires that offer sensory information.”

Dongmin shrugged and offered Myungjun a small smile. “And are we any different?” he asked. “Everything in our bodies runs due to chemistry and nerves and learned behavior. We have fleshy insides, but that seems to be the only difference.”

“You know for a fact that isn’t true.”

“I know that the majority of robots out there are more simplistic in their thoughts and desires,” Dongmin retorted, “but when it comes to companions, they were lovingly built, and each one is as unique as you and I.”

Myungjun glared, though he wasn’t sure what else he would be able to say. Jinwoo had seemed so human-like. He never really seemed like a robot. Myungjun desperately wanted to believe that Jinwoo was different from the other robots, that Jinwoo was special and could experience love.

But then he thought of every single robot he had ever seen or met prior to Jinwoo. They had all been horrible. They had killed and maimed and wounded any human on sight, without question. They displayed no emotions. That one companion had been happy to kill humans.

Jinwoo could change. Jinwoo could turn. And then what? He would take Myungjun’s love and trust and destroy it all.

Dongmin stood from his seat suddenly and reached out to pat Myungjun’s shoulder.

“I know it’s tough to comprehend or accept,” he said. “But I urge you to think about this. Jinwoo is going to keep his distance, though he really wants to see you. He wants to apologize, but he doesn’t want me to do it for him. Just…maybe give him a chance.”

Myungjun didn’t want to. Myungjun refused. He looked away from Dongmin and muttered, “You can leave now.”

Dongmin didn’t even say goodbye. Dongmin departed rather quickly, closing the door behind him.

Once he was gone, Myungjun let his shoulders slump and he stared up at the ceiling and those stupid, bright lights, and found himself wishing, not for the first time, that he had never even come to HQ.

 

---

 

“Jinwoo came by,” was what Minhyuk said to him upon entering the room. Not hello Myungjun, how are you? or Are you doing well? It was always about Jinwoo, and Myungjun was doing his best to ignore that particular issue. Though this was the first he had heard about Jinwoo coming by. Myungjun didn’t like the idea of a robot so close to him, and he grimaced.

“I don’t like him, either,” Minhyuk said, sitting close to Myungjun’s bed. “He’s a robot.”

“It,” Myungjun corrected his friend in a quiet murmur.

Minhyuk stared at Myungjun for a few seconds, his expression unreadable, and then said, “I think if you met Jinwoo, you’d probably stop calling him an it . He just seems to…human-like. And he’s not like the other robots we fought. And he’s definitely not like the other companion. He just…he’s exactly like he was over the radio. Except now he’s sad and sullen and a bit of a downer.”

Myungjun sighed loudly. He didn’t want to hear about Jinwoo. He still thought of Jinwoo often, try as he might to think of other things. He missed Jinwoo. He missed the comforting sound of his best friend, of his boyfriend , in his ear. He missed Jinwoo encouraging him or comforting him or adoring him. He wanted Jinwoo by his side so desperately. 

But not if Jinwoo was a robot.

“Then why don’t you like him, if you find him to be just like a human?” Myungjun asked, figuring the only way to stop talking about Jinwoo was to power through the conversation.

“Because, deep down, he’s one of them,” Minhyuk replied. “I’ll treat him well enough, but I…how can we not be on edge around him? I’ve talked to Bin about it, and he understands. At the end of the day, Jinwoo is a robot. But you can tell he’s different from all of the other robots we’ve ever encountered.”

I want to meet him , Myungjun almost said. Please let him come in , he almost begged. But he wouldn’t allow himself the chance to see Jinwoo. He wouldn’t allow Jinwoo that pleasure, either. 

“He’ll probably turn one day and kill us,” Myungjun mumbled, and his heart hurt to think of that possibility. 

Minhyuk eyed him cautiously and then muttered, “Maybe.”

But after that, Jinwoo’s name did not come up again. Minhyuk seemed content to switch the conversation to explain how Sanha was (busy), how he was (also busy), and how Myungjun would be once he was released in a couple days (busy). Myungjun knew he would cherish being busy, as it would give him little time to think of his stupid love for a stupid robot, but he also knew he would miss that stupid love for a stupid robot. He was so conflicted with his feelings, and his short visit with an expressionless Minhyuk did nothing to appease the hurt that was bubbling deep down within.

So after several hours of laying in bed with nothing to do and no one to talk to, save for the doctor that would check on him from time to time, Myungjun got up to walk around the hospital ward.

He was given permission to walk early on in his stay. The doctors encouraged it, in fact, as he would be released soon with ribs that were not yet fully healed, and so he needed to do all that he could in order to keep himself active. Lazing about would not be helpful for his physical state.

The hospital hallways were nearly empty. Myungjun had learned that the hospital often only housed a few wounded people at a time; everyone else who visited had illnesses or just needed quick check-ups. There were supposedly several new mothers on the first floor, but that was the extent of the hospital’s patients.

Myungjun liked having the entire wing to himself. He could walk around as he pleased; sometimes he enjoyed popping into darkened rooms and exploring what previous patients might have left behind. So far, he had collected two printed photos of random people. He had definitely fallen back into his old habits of collecting whatever little trinkets he came across.

He rounded the corner and stopped suddenly when he noticed Jinwoo sitting on the floor, back against the wall, a bit further down the hallway.

Jinwoo noticed him, too. He looked up and his eyes widened slightly, but he didn’t move and he said nothing.

And in that second of silence, Myungjun took the chance to fully take in how human Jinwoo looked.

Minhyuk was right; nothing about Jinwoo revealed his synthetic body. He was a human on the outside, and a handsome one, at that. He had a soft face but a strong jaw. His nose was a bit large, but it was cute. His eyes were small and his lips were thin. He looked so handsome, and Myungjun wished desperately that he was actually human and that everyone was just playing one giant prank on him.

But no one jumped out to scream surprise! as they had in the few surviving DVDs Myungjun had come across while living underground. Everything remained silent, and Jinwoo remained seated.

Myungjun was the one who finally broke the silence. Part of him wanted to turn and walk away, but something kept him rooted in place, and something definitely forced him to speak.

“You’re a fucking liar,” he snapped, as it was one of the first thoughts that came to mind.

Jinwoo swallowed thickly (how could robots even swallow, Myungjun wondered) and looked down at the ground.

“Yes,” he admitted, and it was both wonderful and devastating to hear his voice again. “I am.”

“Did you really think…” Myungjun started, his mouth a little bit dry, “...that this would work?” He gestured between them. “Seriously?” Jinwoo said nothing, and so Myungjun continued. “After all I’ve been through with robots, did you really think I would be okay with you ?”

“I’m so sorry,” Jinwoo whispered, so quiet that Myungjun barely heard him. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

His apology took Myungjun off-guard. He had almost wanted Jinwoo to fight him, to revert to his savage, robot ways, but that wasn’t happening. Jinwoo did seem sad, and he did seem just like a human. If he hadn’t handled that other companion the way he did…

“Were you ever going to tell me?” Myungjun snapped.

“I don’t know,” Jinwoo replied, and he glanced over at Myungjun again. “I was only listening to what the others at HQ told me.”

“And so pretending to love me was just–”

“It wasn’t pretend,” Jinwoo retorted, and there was such deep emotion in his gaze that Myungjun had to take a small step backwards. “I can love people, and I fell in love with you.”

Myungjun continued to stare at him, trying to figure out what he was even supposed to say anymore. His anger was slowly dissipating. How could he be angry when Jinwoo wasn’t fighting him? He couldn’t help but remember all of the good times he and Jinwoo had shared, anyway. All those times they had laughed together and joked together. All those times Myungjun had cried to Jinwoo and had expressed all of his concerns and worries and anxieties. Even if Jinwoo had lied about being human, how was Myungjun just supposed to forget all of those moments that had caused him to fall deeply in love?

Myungjun sighed and ran a hand down his face. “I don’t…I don’t want to do this right now,” he muttered. “I need to go rest.”

“When are they releasing you?” Jinwoo asked. 

“In a couple of days,” Myungjun responded, though he didn’t know why he was able to answer the question so easily. He was determined to not respond to any other questions Jinwoo might ask of him.

“Do you need help getting back to your room?” Jinwoo asked, standing up.

Myungjun took a step back, and Jinwoo froze. He looked incredibly guilty, but he said nothing to worsen the situation.

“No,” Myungjun breathed out, immediately breaking his resolve to not speak to Jinwoo any longer. “I can manage.”

Before he turned around, though, Jinwoo blurted out, “I truly am sorry. And if you want nothing more to do with me, then…just say the word, and I will never speak to you or bother you again.”

Myungjun wanted desperately to tell Jinwoo off. Myungjun wanted to yell that he never wanted to see Jinwoo again. But the words would not come out of his mouth. He swallowed nervously and met Jinwoo’s gaze.

Jinwoo looked guilty, sure, but he also looked so hopeful and scared and unsure.

He looked human .

Myungjun said nothing else. He turned the corner again and left, his heart hammering in his chest as he tried to consider what their relationship would now become.

 

---

 

On the day of his release, Bin was the one who came to pick him up. Myungjun was slightly disappointed.

“Where’s Minhyuk?” he asked after Bin had finished showing him a box of clothes he had picked up for Myungjun’s use. 

Bin smiled over at Myungjun. He was always too happy for his own good, it seemed. “He and Sanha are currently working and were unable to come by. But you will be rooming with the two of them, so you’ll see them both today.” He gestured for Myungjun to follow him, and Myungjun did so. “How is your chest? Did your ribs heal well?”

“Still healing,” Myungjun responded. “They said I would have to rest for a couple more weeks. But I’ll be able to do any tasks that don’t involve–”

He stopped when he saw Jinwoo waiting by the front door of the small hospital. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Jinwoo reached over to grab the box from Bin’s hands.

“What’s he doing here?” Myungjun asked. He hadn’t seen Jinwoo since that one night they ran into each other, and he hadn’t expected to see him again so soon. He didn’t want to see him, either. 

Bin glanced at Jinwoo. “He’s going to help you move into–”

“You know I don’t want to see him.”

“I don’t know anything,” Bin said, a little too proudly. “Except that Jinwoo is a bit more available now that he no longer has to monitor communications for you and your team, and he’s extremely helpful. Also, he’s strong, which I’m sure you noticed.”

Jinwoo gave Myungjun a hesitant smile. Myungjun didn’t return it.

No one said anything for a couple of seconds, and so Bin announced, “Well, I’m busy, so I should get going. Myungjun, just make sure to ask Jinwoo for anything you might need. Don’t worry, he doesn’t bite.”

Before Myungjun could object to being left alone with a robot, Bin flounced off quickly. Myungjun cursed his broken ribs; he was unable to chase after Bin and punch him in his stupid face like he desired to do.

Jinwoo cleared his throat, getting Myungjun’s attention. “It’s not too far,” he murmured. “And I’ll leave right after, promise.”

Myungjun looked at the box of clothes. He knew he could probably carry that himself. He could push Jinwoo aside and take his clothes and leave and find his own way to his new apartment (somehow). But Jinwoo’s voice was so soothing and Myungjun wanted to hear him talk for longer. His feelings could not be effectively squashed down, even though he knew what Jinwoo truly was.

His anger remained present, but so did the deep love he felt for this strange robot.

“Alright,” he muttered, and he tried to ignore the way Jinwoo’s face lit up.

“I don’t know how much people have talked to you about HQ,” Jinwoo said as they walked out of the hospital and down a path that was slightly overgrown with weeds. “But once you’re fully better, you should take the time to look around a bit. I’ll make you a map – or Bin or Dongmin can make you a map.”

Myungjun had always dreamed that Jinwoo would be the one to lead him around HQ and point out everything he needed to be aware of. Myungjun had also dreamed that they would hold hands all the while, and that Jinwoo might even show him the best spots to kiss or fuck or–

“Are you even able to have sex?” Myungjun asked, interrupting whatever Jinwoo was pointing out.

Jinwoo raised his eyebrows and glanced at Myungjun. Then, he nodded his head. “Yeah.”

“How?”

“Ah, well…companions were made with…with the ability. We were made to be as similar to humans as possible. Indistinguishable, really, so–”

“I always wondered why you always seemed so… sciencey when you got me off,” Myungjun mumbled.

If Jinwoo could blush, he probably would, but it didn’t seem that his skin could change colors. Still, he did look flustered and awkward.

“I just…I don’t have any experience,” Jinwoo admitted. “So when you started discussing sex, um…I had to ask Dongmin, who was very uncomfortable discussing that with me , so I asked Bin instead and he told me a lot. But I know more about the…biology behind the body than I do anything else, I think.” 

“I thought robots were supposed to know everything already.”

Jinwoo smiled apologetically. “Not companions. We learn like any human learns.”

Myungjun didn’t know a lot about companions. Most of his experience was with regular robots, the kind who had no thoughts or emotions, only hardwired orders that had somehow gotten skewed. Jinwoo’s existence, then, seemed impossible. Robots didn’t learn , not in the way Jinwoo was learning. And robots didn’t smile , not in the way Jinwoo was smiling. And robots didn’t whisper in Myungjun’s ear that everything would be alright, not in the way Jinwoo could.

“If you weren’t a robot,” Myungjun murmured, “we could be happy together.”

Jinwoo lost his smile quickly. He stared at Myungjun for a few seconds before nodding his head and continuing to walk down the path he had gestured at. He said nothing in response. Myungjun desperately wanted him to argue so he could have a reason to hate this robot Jinwoo, but robot Jinwoo had proved every bit as gentlemanly as human Jinwoo had.

Myungjun could barely even fault him for lying, because if anyone in his base had been aware of Jinwoo’s lack of humanity, they would have been far less inclined to listen to his orders. Jinwoo had done the best he could. He had probably never even thought he and Myungjun would actually meet face-to-face; hell, Myungjun hadn’t thought that would be possible, either.

Jinwoo stepped into a building and held the door open for Myungjun. Myungjun blinked, then offered a soft, “thanks,” as he entered the small apartment building. 

“Is…is this where I’ll live?” Myungjun asked.

Jinwoo nodded again. “Yes,” he responded, and he still didn’t meet Myungjun’s gaze. “Minhyuk and Sanha have already taken up residence in one of our available apartments and they have a spot for you. It’s a two bedroom, but Minhyuk and Sanha have informed us of their relationship, so you will have a room to yourself.”

Before the reveal of Jinwoo’s true origins, Myungjun would have likely made a joke, or invited Jinwoo to room with him, or invited himself to Jinwoo’s place. But now, he couldn’t say anything that would reveal their relationship, because he still didn’t know what would happen to their relationship. Clearly they were no longer a couple – were they?

Jinwoo led him up one flight of stairs and then into a small apartment. Still, it was larger than any of the rooms in Myungjun’s base, and it had a tiny, private kitchen and an equally-private bathroom. 

And yet, it wasn’t his old base. As dingy as it was and as often as Myungjun had prayed to one day go live at HQ, his base had still been home . His tiny room with all of its trinkets were gone, replaced instead by this slightly-larger room with no trinkets and a cot and lights that were too bright.

Myungjun stared at his room as anxiety suddenly drew over him. He didn’t want to be here. Not alone, at least.

“When are…when are Minhyuk and Sanha coming home?” he choked out.

Jinwoo glanced at him. “We try to conform to pre-apocalypse work schedules, and so they will be released from their training in the late afternoon or early evening.”

Myungjun would be by himself for hours, then. He swallowed past the lump in his throat and tried to blink away the tears forming in his eyes.

Jinwoo took a deep breath as if he was about to say something, but then he seemed to think better of it. He set the box of clothes down on Myungjun’s bedroom floor. “I should…I should go. Unless you need anything else?”

Myungjun shook his head. He was afraid if he talked then he would cry.

“Alright. If you need anything…” Jinwoo hesitated for a few seconds before reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small device which he held out to Myungjun.

Myungjun opened his hand and Jinwoo dropped an earbud into Myungjun’s outstretched hand. 

“I know you likely don’t want to talk to me. I know you probably want to talk to anyone but me. But I…I don’t have to sleep like the humans do. I’m always available. And I don’t care if you hate me – I’ll still talk to you and do whatever I can to aid you. I…I love you, Myungjun.”

Myungjun couldn’t be in front of Jinwoo for any longer. So much had changed. Everything was different. Myungjun always thought that arriving at HQ would be a happy moment, but he was more miserable than ever.

And he couldn’t even have Jinwoo to comfort him, for Jinwoo was not who Myungjun thought he was.

“If you need anything,” Jinwoo said, his voice as soothing as it had always been, “you can get on the headset. If you don’t want me, I can ensure that Dongmin will assist with your needs, as he knows you rather well.”

Myungjun nodded. “Alright,” he murmured.

Jinwoo stayed where he was for a few seconds. He didn’t look like a robot; he looked so much like a human contemplating his next move. 

But then he left, and Myungjun was all alone. And, finally alone, he sat on his cot and broke down, tears freely falling as he mourned all that he had lost and the little he had gained.

 

 

Myungjun stared at the computer screen before him, trying to make sense of the jumble of numbers and names. He knew what he needed to do – he knew a spreadsheet when he saw one, as he dealt with them often back at his base. But right now, everything seemed so confusing and overwhelming to him.

The door opened, and Myungjun glanced up from his computer. Minhyuk and Sanha entered the apartment, and Minhyuk raised his eyebrows when he saw Myungjun at his desk.

“Whoa,” Sanha breathed out. “We have our own computer?”

“It’s for work,” Myungjun responded, sitting back in his chair and sighing. It barely fit into their tiny apartment, but Bin had helped him push a desk in the kitchen. Everything was cramped, but at least Myungjun was able to work. Several days of lying in bed with nothing to do had caused him to nearly go stir-crazy. Finally, he felt useful to the new society he had joined.

If only he could make sense of the mess before him, it would be perfect.

“Did they train you?” Minhyuk asked, coming up behind Myungjun to peer over his shoulder. “It looks confusing.”

“Yeah, well, it is confusing. I don’t know who the hell designed their spreadsheets, but everything’s a mess. I think. I’m not sure.” He sighed and closed out of several programs. “But they’re sending me messages – look, I have an email set up. I asked them why I couldn’t do an email back at the base, but apparently it only works when the computers are plugged into the HQ’s system.” Myungjun tapped on his screen. “I spent half the day learning how an email works.”

“Sounds confusing,” Minhyuk muttered. He had never been good at working on the computers down in their base. They barely had any to begin with, and Minhyuk had only touched them once or twice. He was typically outside, scrounging for goods or fighting robots. And when he wasn’t outside, he was working on developing new weapons.

Sanha, though, was good with computers, and he excitedly asked, “Does it have any games? I’ve done a lot of research on computers in the Before times, and they had games. I’ve always wanted to play a computer game. Does it have games?”

“I’m not sure. I mean, I can ask Bin or Dongmin or…” He trailed off, thinking of the headset he kept hidden away under his pillow. He took it out sometimes and stared at it. Once, he had put it in his ear and had nearly turned it on, but then thought better of it and tossed it across his room, only to pick it up the following morning and ensure it hadn’t broken.

He didn’t know if he wanted to contact Jinwoo. He didn’t know if he wanted to speak to Jinwoo. He didn’t know where he even stood with Jinwoo any longer.

Both Minhyuk and Sanha seemed to sense Myungjun’s dilemma. Minhyuk pursed his lips and nodded his head. “Dongmin would be the best person to ask, considering he works on a computer all day.”

“Have you visited the communications office?” Myungjun wondered.

It was Sanha who answered. “We both did. Bin gave us a tour. The communications office has a lot of workers, and a lot of computers. They work in long shifts, though, so it sounds like an awful job, until I remember that you did that back in the base.”

Myungjun nodded his head in acknowledgement, and Sanha didn’t offer any more information concerning the office. Myungjun wanted more information. He wanted to know if Jinwoo was there. Had Jinwoo moved on from him? Was Jinwoo talking to another rebel now? Was he assigned to a new base? Did he forget all about Myungjun?

But he couldn’t ask any of that. He would seem desperate. He would also seem as if he was desiring of a robot .

“Jinwoo asked how you were,” Minhyuk suddenly supplied. “We told him you were doing well.”

Myungjun stiffened. “I didn’t ask.”

“Yeah, well, you’re super obvious.” Minhyuk lightly smacked Myungjun on his shoulder. “Try and hide it next time. Or, better yet, actually talk to Jinwoo. You’re making a bigger deal of this than it needs to be.”

“He’s a robot .”

“A companion,” Sanha offered, and Myungjun glared at him. Sanha smiled sheepishly. “What? It’s different. Besides, there are several other companions that work here, apparently. Two of them are in relationships with other humans.”

“Are you serious?” Myungjun’s glare faded.

Sanha nodded his head. “Yeah, at the grocery store, one of my coworkers is a companion. She’s been training me, actually. And she’s dating a human. It’s actually really cute. She gets so excited when he comes in to see her. They live together and when it’s time to go home, all she talks about is how happy she is to see him.” He laughed suddenly and added, “I didn’t even know she was a companion until two days ago!”

So apparently it was the norm here for robots to coexist alongside humans. Myungjun couldn’t wrap his mind around it. He also couldn’t figure out why Minhyuk and Sanha suddenly seemed okay with the concept of companions mingling with humans. He thought they all had the same disdain for robots when they entered HQ.

Minhyuk seemed to sense his confusion, and he said, “It’s not as bad as you think. Maybe because Jinwoo didn’t let you know what he was–”

“This isn’t about Jinwoo,” Myungjun muttered and Minhyuk raised his eyebrows.

“Right,” said Minhyuk. “Well, anyway, we got some food. Get out so I can cook us something.”

After a rather filling dinner (especially compared to what he used to eat), they all retreated to bed. Sanha and Minhyuk went together and Myungjun knew Sanha had whispered something to him about having a bit of fun. Myungjun went into his own cramped bedroom, where he sat on his mattress and stared at his pillow.

The earpiece rested somewhere underneath, and Myungjun desperately wanted to grab it and lay down and talk to Jinwoo again, just like old times.

He wanted to talk to Jinwoo.

He missed Jinwoo so much. He missed everything about him. He missed how sweet he was and how silly he was and how thoughtful he was. He missed Jinwoo listening to him and he missed Jinwoo talking to him. He missed how serious Jinwoo could be sometimes, and he missed how dorky he could be at other times. 

He wanted Jinwoo back in his life.

Companions were, apparently, relatively normal in HQ. Jinwoo had been brought in for a job, but they’d kept it hidden from the rebels in the bases, for  fear of the rebels refusing to listen to orders. It made sense, the more Myungjun thought about it. He would have never gone along with anything Jinwoo said if he had known the truth. And if he had never gone along with anything he said, they would have never found solace in each other and Myungjun would have never known such a deep connection.

Even now, confronted with Jiwnoo’s lies, he still loved him. He desperately loved Jinwoo.

He reached under the pillow and pulled out the earpiece.

Slipping it back into his ear and turning it on was so natural. He had missed these simple motions and it brought him back to easier times, when there had been nothing wrong except the damn robots that would attack them.

But now he was in the relative safety of HQ. No robots would attack him. He had only to overcome Jinwoo’s lies; and if his lies were understandable, then what was keeping Myungjun away from happiness and love?

The earpiece switched on. There was silence at first, for a few seconds, and then Jinwoo asked, “Myungjun?”

“How did you know it was me?” Myungjun asked, and he felt a lump in his throat. He was doing this. He was going to put his trust back into Jinwoo. Perhaps he could overlook the fact that Jinwoo wasn’t human. He could overcome that lie, because Jinwoo was still Jinwoo , and Myungjun had never stopped loving Jinwoo.

“The…the serial code for this particular earpiece,” Jinwoo explained. “I know which ones I give out to which people.”

“Ah,” Myungjun murmured, and he didn’t know what else there was to say. 

Jinwoo cleared his throat. “Is everything going well? Bin informed me that he moved a computer and desk into your kitchen. How has work been?”

“A bit confusing,” Myungjun responded. “I’m working on cleaning up some spreadsheets.”

“Yeah, those are a mess.”

“And I have an email. I’m still working on that, too. I don’t understand emails.”

Jinwoo gave a small chuckle. “Well, if you ever need help figuring it out, I can…” He trailed off, though, likely not wanting to rock the boat too much.

But Myungjun wanted to rock the boat. Myungjun wanted to throw himself all into this. Myungjun wanted Jinwoo.

He had to see him.

He quietly exited his apartment. He ensured Minhyuk and Sanha could not hear him, and he slipped outside, looking briefly up at the night sky. It was drizzling a bit, cold raindrops splashing onto Myungjun’s tanned skin. He stood there, unsure of what he was even doing, but his desire won him over, and then he began to walk.

“Where are you?” Myungjun asked, a bit breathless. “Are you at the…where is the communications office?”

“What?” Jinwoo sounded confused. “Are you…where are you going?”

“I have to see you. I want to talk. I don’t…I don’t want to do this anymore, I don’t want to pretend I hate you. I don’t hate you. I know you lied to me but you apologized – and you had to lie. I know why you did. And I know you’re a robot – a companion – but Minhyuk and Sanha said that other companions live here and have fallen in love with humans, so it’s okay, right? It’s okay if we’re together. And I want to be together.”

Myungjun could hear movement on Jinwoo’s end. He heard someone say something to Jinwoo, but Jinwoo didn’t respond.

“I’m coming,” said Jinwoo. “But it’s raining right now – stay inside so you don’t get sick or catch something–”

“No. I’m going to find you.”

“You don’t know where I am,” Jinwoo reminded him. That was true, but Myungjun wouldn’t stop looking. He couldn’t sit still and wait for Jinwoo to come to him – Jinwoo had been the one reaching out most often since Myungjun’s arrival to HQ and Myungjun refused to force him to do it again. 

“I’ll find you, anyway.”

“It’s dark and raining and you don’t know your way around – seriously, just wait, I can find you.”

“We’ll find each other, then.”

Despite it all, Jinwoo laughed. He sounded relieved, and hopeful, and happy . He sounded happier than he had sounded in a long time, and Myungjun couldn’t help but smile. He hoped that Jinwoo could be that happy for the rest of his life. He hoped Jinwoo would never stop laughing.

“I think you’re going the wrong way,” Jinwoo pointed out. 

So Myungjun turned and walked the other way, determined he would find Jinwoo. He wouldn’t stop looking, and he wouldn’t stop loving Jinwoo. He needed Jinwoo in his life.

“How did you know?” he asked, brushing rainwater out of his face. “Do you have a tracker on me? Is the earpiece the tracker?”

“It would be if I was back in the communications building,” Jinwoo responded, “but right now, I just had a feeling.”

He had a feeling . Myungjun wasn’t even aware that robots could ever have feelings, but Jinwoo, it seemed, had feelings. 

And Jinwoo loved him.

Myungjun quickened his pace, determined to right his wrongs of the past couple of weeks. Jinwoo was still Jinwoo, no matter what his body was made of. Organic or not, he was still so important to Myungjun, and Myungjun could never let him go again.

“I want to see you,” Myungjun murmured. The rain seemed to be picking up, but he refused to stop. “I want to see you so badly. I feel like I’ve wasted so much time. We could have been together, and I just–”

“It’s not your fault at all. I lied to you, and you reacted accordingly.”

“But–”

“Turn left,” Jinwoo interrupted. Myungjun did so without hesitation, and standing there, ten feet away, was Jinwoo.

Myungjun ran to him, feet almost slipping on the wet path, but he reached Jinwoo’s arms and threw himself into Jinwoo’s embrace. 

With the relentless rain still beating against them, they both stood in silence, wrapped in each others’ warmth. Myungjun closed his eyes as he leaned into Jinwoo and gripped at his clothes. He felt human. He sounded human. He looked human. Everything about him was so human . Maybe he did have superpower, robotic strength and maybe he wasn’t purely organic, but Myungjun no longer cared. It felt so good to finally be with Jinwoo after all the time apart. It felt so good to finally feel him after years of nothing but his voice to guide Myungjun through his darkest nights.

And now, finally, Myungjun could hold onto him and never again let him go.

 

---

 

Myungjun hadn’t wished to wake up Minhyuk or Sanha, and so Jinwoo led him through the communications building. Neither Dongmin nor Bin were nearby, and while some of the other workers stared at Myungjun and Jinwoo with intrigue, most people ignored the odd, wet pair. Jinwoo took him into a small room with a couple of plants and a large armchair. It was quiet in the room, away from the hustle and bustle of those working the night shift, and Myungjun glanced around.

“What’s this room used for?” he asked.

Jinwoo, holding onto Myungjun’s hand, offered him a smile. “It’s where I stay sometimes. I don’t have an apartment of my own, as I am a companion and therefore do not need a spot to sleep or eat, but I do still need somewhere quiet sometimes. My job can be overwhelming, so Dongmin put this space aside for me. He added plants.” Jinwoo nodded at the dozen or so potted plants. “I love plants.”

Myungjun admired the plants with great fondness. “We didn’t really have potted plants down in the base. I brought down some cut flowers or ferns every so often, but they never lasted. No sunlight – barely any light in general. And I couldn’t waste our limited water resources on plants . So these…these are nice.”

“In the Before Times,” Jinwoo murmured, glancing down at their entwined fingers as if the idea of holding hands fascinated him, “they would have potted plants everywhere. They had stores dedicated to the selling of these plants.”

“You were made back then, weren’t you?” Myungjun asked. Jinwoo was a robot, and he was far older than Myungjun, and he wasn’t human . He almost panicked for a few seconds, and he briefly wondered what the hell he was doing. He couldn’t enter into a relationship with a robot!

But then he remembered that other companions and humans had done so, and no one thus far seemed to have an issue with Myungjun and Jinwoo in a relationship, and he loved Jinwoo no matter what he was.

Jinwoo nodded, a bit sheepish. “All companions were. HQ took me in rather fast after the human genocide, as I had sided with humans and against robots. And back then…it wasn’t so crazy for humans and companions to fall in love. We were made to feel love, after all. We were made to be exactly like a human. I had a job and a small apartment back then. I didn’t love anybody, but I contributed to society as a human would.” He squeezed Myungjun’s hand gently. “I can tell you anything you wish to know about the Before Times. What humans were like and what they ate and what they wore and the music they listened to – but before that, I really should dry you off. You look miserable.”

Myungjun grinned. “Eh, so do you,” he teased. “Still handsome, though. See, I knew you’d be handsome. I had no doubt in my mind.”

“You really like to make me flustered.”

“It’s always been my favorite past-time.”

Jinwoo laughed. “Think of more silly quips, then. I’ll go grab you a towel.”

He turned to leave, but Myungjun tightened his hold onto Jinwoo’s hand, keeping him in place. When Jinwoo turned around in confusion, Myungjun took a deep breath.

“I’m so sorry. Really. I said…I said some awful things to you when I learned what you were.”

“It’s alright,” Jinwoo assured him. “You were right.”

“I wasn’t,” Myungjun argued. “I mean…you saved my life so many times. You kept your distance. You’ve been more respectful of me than you ever needed to be. And I just…” He could barely talk, as overwhelmed with emotions as he was. He was excited and scared and nervous and happy and hesitant and hopelessly in love . He had always been in love. He had never once stopped loving Jinwoo with all his heart.

“I still should have told you,” Jinwoo murmured. “You expressed your love to me, and I kept my identity a secret. That wasn’t right. But–” He raised his eyebrows as Myungjun opened his mouth to argue, “-I think we’ve established my own wrongs. And though I feel as if you have nothing to apologize for, I…I accept it. I know you feel bad for what you have said. Really, though, I think I deserve it for lying to you.”

“You don’t,” Myungjun assured him, looking Jinwoo in the eyes for what felt like the first time. Jinwoo didn’t look robotic in the slightest. His eyes seemed so human , with such intricate and complex expressions hidden within them. His skin didn’t seem like it was a weird rubber stretched over an exoskeleton, but rather like it was actual skin. Even his hair looked as real as the hair on any normal human, and Myungjun admired the detail that must have gone into making him look so wonderful.

“Damn,” he finally murmured, “Jinwoo, you look really good.”

Jinwoo gave a small, nervous chuckle. “Do I?”

“Yeah. Identical to a human.”

“My creators really took time and effort to make their companions unique. I was one of the high-end brands–”

“And you’re seriously hotter than I imagined.”

Jinwoo raised his eyebrows – that look on him was exceedingly attractive, and Myungjun loved it. “You didn’t imagine me this hot?” Jinwoo asked.

Myungjun grinned, his worries about Jinwoo’s origin melting away. Jinwoo really did talk and act and joke and love like any other human. By all accounts, he was human.

“I mean, I did, but part of me worried you were actually a bit…unattractive.” When Jinwoo still didn’t look very impressed, Myungjun added, “I mean, you wouldn’t send me a photograph!”

“There is a policy against members of HQ sending photographs to the rebels underground,” Jinwoo said, and then he shrugged a bit sheepishly. “We are typically rather clean-cut, despite the circumstances, and we know the rebels are…not. Due to living underground, of course, so no fault of their own, but we feel as if it would be boasting our…” Jinwoo gestured around him. “Safety and happiness and security.”

Myungjun could understand the reasoning behind the rule, even if he was a bit sad he didn’t have the opportunity to see Jinwoo before coming to HQ. “Well, an image would have really helped me out on those cold, lonely nights.”

“I thought I described myself to you rather well.”

“You did. The description fits, now that I can finally look at you. But I’m a visual learner.” He grinned widely. “You should have broken protocol and sent me something. Even a video of your dick.” Then, he glanced down at Jinwoo’s pants. “You said all of your parts are just like a human’s, right?”

“Really?” Jinwoo sighed. “You’re a mess , and your ribs still aren’t fully healed. I need to dry you off, at least.”

But Myungjun didn’t let go of Jinwoo’s hand, and Jinwoo also didn’t relinquish the hold he had. They stood there, hand-in-hand, and Jinwoo finally smiled back at Myungjun.

“I love you, and I’m so happy you’re finally here,” Jinwoo murmured. “And even if you had decided you hated me – I would still be happy.”

It was too much for Myungjun. His confessions were so sweet and truly proved his love, and so Myungjun took a step forward and licked at his own lips.

“Are…I mean, can I, um…can we kiss?”

Jinwoo looked a little shy, but he nodded and Myungjun leaned in. Their first kiss was so much more gentle and soft than Myungjun had ever imagined it would be, but it was perfect . Really, everything was perfect. There was still so much to do before the world was safe for humans once again, and perhaps it would never be safe in Myungjun’s lifetime, but he would continue to fight.

And he would continue to love Jinwoo forever.

Notes:

thank you so much for reading, come find me @seal!