mechanical | xiuchen

two.

The chills were almost painful on Jongdae's skin as the younger looking man's intense and unnatural blue eyes stared directly back into his.

"You're awake," his soft voice commented.

Jongdae tried to find useful words, but ended up just choking out a, "Yeah."

The world stood still for what felt like a long time, and they remained frozen, eyes locked with each other's for a reason neither of them could seem to figure out. It had been several minutes, and Jongdae's heartbeat still had not slowed down at all.

"Who are you?" Jongdae asked cautiously, still intimidated by the stranger's unique and stunning features.

The young man sat down calmly on an old-fashioned couch, sitting with perfect posture. He motioned for Jongdae to sit as well, in the chair across from him.

Jongdae finally - reluctantly - left the spot he had hidden in for an eternity to obey him, setting himself with caution in the chair. His eye contact with the mysterious boy was never broken. That was the only courage he had left in him.

"My name is Minseok, sir. I understand you must be wondering why you're here, and I can tell you," he began, his expression unchanged. Gesturing to one of the foggy window panes that Jongdae had been staring out of before, ones revealing the misty forest outside, he continued.

"A few months ago, through my window, I saw something abnormally large fall to the ground," he explained. "I went outside to see what it was, and when I arrived, you were there, severely injured. I assumed you were a hiker who had lost your balance somewhere high up. So you're here now. I did my best to treat you."

Jongdae turned his head to look out the window, and the place that he most likely fell from stuck out like a sore thumb. The way his body had been moving and feeling when he'd first gotten up was clearly very off - the weakness in his legs and the pain in his chest. He just hadn't known why.

The explanation of what actually happened took him aback, though. He couldn't believe this stranger had been able to save him after a fall from that height, but he was incredibly grateful.

"Thank you," he managed to tell him sincerely, a little winded from the surprise of this whole situation. It felt like a very peculiar dream, but he knew by the aching in his body that it was very real.

Minseok nodded to him in acknowledgement of his thanks, shutting his eyes momentarily to pair with it.

It reminded Jongdae of their vibrant and oddly pretty pigment when he opened them again, and he continued to stare at him in awe. He kept trying to open his mouth to say something, but moments after, he'd shut it again, at a loss for words. "Is something wrong, sir?" Minseok asked politely after a few long, silent moments.

Jongdae almost told him no, but that would've been a lie. "How exactly are your..." he trailed off, gesturing to his own eyes to signify he was talking about Minseok's.

Minseok nodded steadily. Somehow, he'd been expecting his eyes to come up at some point, which meant explaining something else. "My eyes, yes. You see, sir, my creator always loved the color blue, so he gave me these," he explained, pointing to them.

"Creator?" Jongdae questioned, confused. For a second he thought it sounded like a really weird title to give your mother, or something of the sort, but then Minseok opened his mouth again.

"I'm a robot, sir," he returned without hesitation.

The four words sunk in slowly, and though the concept seemed improbable, Jongdae gaped at him. "A robot?" he repeated dumbly.

How could a robot have cured him? And why did he seem so freakishly human?

"Yes, sir. My creator was trying to give me as many qualities of a real human as possible," Minseok told him. "His name was Luhan, and he designed me to breathe like a human, sleep like a human, talk, walk, all of the basic sensory details. He didn't design me to eat and drink, though; I can produce food and water for my master but I do not eat or drink myself. Convenience, I presume," he explained. "He was designing emotions for me when he died. He managed to add curiosity and responsibility to me before he passed."

The information hit Jongdae like a brick thrown at his chest. This was all one hell of a coincidence; he had worked with machines for years now - he always had an incredible aptitude for it - and after finding out what this strange being had done for him, an unusual feeling of obligation was starting to steadily bubble inside of him.

When he really thought about it, staying here for a while shouldn't be too bad. It was just until he could add some new emotions. How hard could it be?

Then, when he was done, he could do whatever he pleased. Stay for a while longer, go somewhere else in the area, go home if someone didn't come looking for him first.

He didn't know whether or not he wanted that to happen.

"You know, I'm pretty good with machines myself. I could help finish you. I mean, if that's okay with you," he offered to Minseok with nerves in his voice.

This was an impulsive decision, especially for him, the professional over-thinker. Jongdae was well aware of that. It just seemed right to him in that moment. And with all of that time working with machines right behind him, how long could this possibly take?

A long chill seemed to be traveling through the air. Minseok had not ever spoken to anyone - let alone had anyone work on him - but his creator. But it had been a long time since Luhan had left him. Perhaps it was about time his project was finished.

"Are you sure about this?" Minseok asked steadily, expression unchanging. "I'm still a stranger to you."

Jongdae looked at him long and hard, stared right at his piercing blue eyes, yet couldn't seem to find anything mechanical in them. "Just as much of a stranger as everyone else in my life is," he commented, shrugging his shoulders.

Minseok stood up from his seat. "If you say so," he replied. "Should I show you Luhan's work space? You can get familiar with his tools before you start your work."

Jongdae found himself nodding in agreement, a slight excitement bubbling in his stomach. He got to his own feet. He'd never worked on something this weird before, something this intriguing. It really was making his anticipation stir.

The short robot began to lead him to another staircase, but when they reached it and his foot pressed down on the first step, no creaking sound was heard. Jongdae would have expected one, but he just waved it off before following Minseok down into the basement.

When they reached the bottom, a huge experimentation area opened out in front of them that Jongdae never would have expected from a cabin like this. There was an operating table right in the center of the room, and various little stations scattered throughout. Jongdae noted that Minseok was obviously a very big deal at the sight of old projects strewn about the place, abandoned for the focus on the "robot with emotions".

He walked into the mess, beginning to pick up tools from a little platform next to the operating table and study them, attempting to identify the use of each one.

"Do be cautious, sir," Minseok commented as Jongdae picked up one of the sharper of the tools to observe it.

"Don't you worry about me," he mumbled back. From what he saw, he certainly had his work cut out for him, but the feeling of finishing something as big as this would no doubt trump the amount of toil it would require.

He was up for the challenge.