Artificial Love || Minho

39 || Files

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The moments after that was all a blur.

The screaming of police sirens burned into my brain, as more backup came to storm the rest of the base.

Chan and I were nearly carried out of the building- the police couldn't let us stay there any longer. After all, it was a crime scene.

The bustling of dozens of bodies is the last thing I can bring myself to remember, already feeling a piercing headache coming on.

And there I sit, at the office, as if nothing has happened.

I sit in my chair, familiar faces all around me. Jisung, Hyunjin, even Hyunjin's manager, Jinyoung, is there.

The grim look on Jisung face floods my veins with worry, the sense-making a cold wave of dread wash over my body. He looks up from his phone, and sits beside me with a sigh, pocketing the device.

"Minah... how are you holding up?" He asks, trying to smile.

The simple action is like a wrecking ball to my heart, as I hold back the desire to burst out into tears.

"I'm... trying," I let out a weak, fake laugh, finding it impossible to meet anybody's gaze. "Is there.. any more information?"

"Chan is still talking to the police," Jisung tells me, letting out a long breath. "So, yeah... and I'm gonna try my best to explain it all. Okay?"

I nod, my voice husky. "Okay.. I'll be fine, Sungie, just talk," I add at the last minute, noticing his hesitation.

"Lee Knows system.. is extremely damaged. We don't know if it's possible to fix him yet. But we're trying everything we can."

I freeze.

But why?

I expected the worst from this situation, and my expectations were met. I shouldn't feel this heartbroken.

But I am.

And just like a sinking ship, any positivity I felt about this situation slowly floats down to the deep ocean floor, no chance left of survival, the chances of resurfacing being nearly impossible.

Just like your system being fixed.

"O-okay. Anything else?" I croak out, fiddling with my hands. "Oh, and when's Felix coming back?"

We sent Felix to get some files earlier since that boy is the best with computers and can sort out all the transferred files about Lee know. But if it wasn't for the situation at hand, he would have already gotten in trouble for taking too long.

"Felix can take his sweet time, I doubt the files have been sent anyways." Jisung sighs, nodding gravely, a look I'd rarely seen before. "Minho's systems.. they sort of crashed together. He couldn't handle whatever hostility function Yonghwa gave him, combined with all of the natural systems he had built up by being with you. We're sort of stumped."

And that's when I felt dread beginning to consume me, my breathing then becoming shaky as I swallowed back the tears that pricked the corners of my eyes.

"I-I understand... if there's nothing we can do, I guess we can just..."

My voice trails off, and I can feel everyone's gaze fall on me.

"Just...?" Hyunjin asks, a worrying expression on his face.

I blink. "W-we can just..."

"Just..."

And then I freeze once again.

The room falls silent, before I then hear Jisung's panicked voice directing towards me.

"Wah-- Minah, don't cry..."

Tears cascade down my cheeks, my eyes a watery blur as I hold back the urge to start breaking down.

Just, forget about him...?

I scrub my eyes with the back of my sleeves, but the tears just wouldn't stop flowing.

Minho-ah, isn't it funny?

I can't do it either.

Because right now, I want nothing more to be in your arms, to feel the same warmth that had once brought me so much comfort.

I miss you, so much.

...Why?

I feel Jisung pat my head, eyes flickering in warmth and worry as he began to softly comfort me. "Minah, it's okay, we'll find a solution, I know it-"

But before he could finish, a loud bang suddenly emits from the office door, Hyunjin and I flinching as we see Jisung fall out of his chair.

"Who the fuck-" Jisung begins, but was immediately cut off by a hard glare from Jinyoung. Hyunjin and I just laugh, the boy beside me then helping the squirrel up.

"Oops, sorry mate." A familiar voice chuckles, and we all turn our heads towards the doorway.

There stands Felix, in all his glory, his body leaning against the doorway, his breathing jagged and out of breath.

But before we could question any antics, he springs towards a chair, sitting down while crossing his legs over. "Guys, guess what I found."

Ignoring the piercing glare he's earning from Jisung, he immediately dives his hand into his pocket. He pulls out a ziplock bag, a tiny microchip situated inside. "I went through the files Lee Know gave us access to, and I found this!"

"Ah.. what exactly is that?" I ask, curiously tilting my head. A panic also begins growing in my chest. Chan filled me in on how a hacker managed to gain total access to his computer, just because he went to a website with these files.

Hyunjin and Jisung close in, each one with an equally confused look on their face.

"This, my friends," Felix pulls his chair over to his desk, inserting the tiny device into his computer. "Is a microchip that I took from one of the terrorist group files. It has all the information-"

He clicks on a file that pops up on his screen, while I fight the urge to tell him it's probably not safe, everybody immediately letting out a gasp.

"-for the android to human process?"

We all stare, either adrenaline or the panic from a few short moments ago still fueling my veins.

Jisung suddenly lets out quite a loud gasp, pushing Felix aside as he smashes a few buttons on his keyboard.

Paragraphs of incoherent sprawls of numbers pop on the screen, and I find myself drawing a blank.

"Jisung, if this file is math-related, am I allowed to return it?" Felix mumbles, earning another chuckle from me and Hyunjin.

But the boy himself doesn't falter, scanning the data as he immediately furrows his brows, turning around to look us all in the eye.

But then, he only meets my gaze.

"We can save Lee Know."

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I'm writing and editing this on the car oops