mechanical | xiuchen

sixteen.

good luck, friends

____

Jongdae's steps were heavy as he jogged around the cabin, listening to the sound of his own voice calling out a familiar name.

He was answered by his own echoes against the cabin walls, but nothing more, and with the passing of minutes, the emptiness of each room was starting to get to his head.

Now, he did know Minseok couldn't call back to him. The robot still hadn't been able to find his voice, and that was nobody's fault. Not to mention that in the time he'd been living there, Minseok had proved himself to be quite a wanderer, so it's not like Jongdae would usually make a big deal out of this. It wasn't even abnormal, really.

But that was just what bothered him. The past week had been abnormal. Minseok's behavior had scared the living daylights out of him more than once, all in just the past couple of days.

That being said, maybe there was good cause to worry for once.

"Minseok!" he tried one more time, raising his voice even louder as he looked around the room and out the window again.

And with hands that nervously scratched away at his collarbones, he waited. And waited, and waited.

There were birds fighting outside, and an uneasy wind blew, causing the walls to speak to each other in groans and creaks. It was the opposite of silence, but it felt just as unsettling.

His lips rubbed subconsciously together as he tried to gather his thoughts. His luck wasn't often kind to him, but he held a sliver of hope that maybe Minseok had found another injured animal like Lu, and was only trying to help.

Okay, relax, he told himself, suddenly noticing that his collarbones stung from his nails raking against them. With a sigh, he dropped his hands to his sides and gave them a time-out in his pockets. Everything is probably fine, and freaking out is only going to make it all worse. Just be calm and think.

Think.

Coherent thought was hard to achieve, but Jongdae was not a quitter when it came to the things he loved.

Flipping through the short list of memories from the day so far, he immediately recalled - with a slight worsening of his mood - that the last time he'd seen Minseok was this morning.

This morning, in which the knife in his gut was twisted around a bit.

It had been about ten, he remembered. He was only getting himself a drink from the kitchen to make his burning questions seem casual when he asked them. Obligatory, even.

"So, do you remember anything more since yesterday?" he'd asked as he filled his glass with water. "Or maybe your voice has starting working again?"

His voice didn't make him sound like he was expecting much. And it was a good thing he wasn't, because his only answer was Minseok's completely blank face as he shook his head.

It still sucked, though. It sucked, as much as - if not more than - that time he'd told Minseok he was leaving just to make him cry. At least it seemed like the robot cared then.

Ten o'clock passed them by, and Jongdae really hated this feeling. After downing his pointless glass of water, he succumbed to what was definitely desperation, and began to try anything he thought might help Minseok remember.