Archive of Our Own

Dear Professor Kim

We would like to welcome you to the Oh Industries. We are beyond pleased to have you joining our Bio-Tech team, as well as agreeing upon our company policy. We’re sending a confidential package containing the wireless storing case device where the prototype of our highly-developed Artificial Super Intelligence is currently available for installment, along with a complete manual to instruct you through the program. 

Additionally, we’ll be sending you an e-mail with all the required data and schedules. Feel free to alter and modify the AI as you please, until deemed fully functional for fabrication. Should you need supplemental tools and assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.

We expect to receive a weekly report from you on your progress within the deadline. Mr. Oh will directly get in touch once his schedule is clear. 

Regards,

Oh Industries Biotech Department. 

The AI was enabled from its built-in device as soon as Jongin eagerly unpacked it. The hologram flickered to life and loomed in full grace until its light field beamed and rapidly shaped into the form of a male individual. Its eyes were closed at first, peacefully so, and Jongin was instantly fascinated by the hologram’s ethereal and unique beauty.

Upon opening his eyes, the hologram’s small lips curled into a grin, though it looked too synthetic and it lacked essence. Yet, Jongin found himself dumbfounded by how human it looked. There was a lifelikeness to it that, for a second, nearly fooled Jongin into thinking he stood before an actual person. The hologram’s radiative projections looked steady and uniform, meticulously designed, as though it was held by a solid body.

Jongin gasped and pushed his specs upwards the bridge of his nose so he could inspect it better. The hologram was tall and lean, but not at all ill-suited. It bore elegance , built around pretty but sharp features and smooth-looking layers of pale skin. Jongin thought that its eyes, as real as they looked, could never belong to an actual human, however. They were profoundly resplendent. Greenish and striking. 

“Hello, my name is Shixun,” The hologram spoke, and even its voice carried unfiltered certainty, like one of a human. “I’m your new high-level virtual assistant. I look forward to serving you." It said cheerfully, despite the stiffness of his posture. 

"Serve me?" Jongin frowned, caught off guard. As far as he was aware, the AI had been put together to rationalize and take actions on its own, not to serve. 

"Yes, master." Shixun sounded awfully like a servant. 

"Master? No, wait. We’ll have to fix that." Jongin made sure to note that down on his tablet, adding it to the list of essential modifications to be made. At first glance, Shixun’s responsive behavior seemed to be broadly submissive. The smile on his face flatlined then. 

"How am I supposed to address you, master?"

"You can call me Jongin." He mustered a friendly grin. Shixun seemed to evaluate the name, and then the smile resurfaced, still just as dull as before, but no less meaningful. 

"Jongin,” Shixun repeated quietly. “It's a lovely name. It suits you."

"We'll be working together from now on. I'll coach you on how to adapt to the world out there and how to interact with humans as well as revising all of your mechanisms and intercommunication skills." Jongin said, as easygoing as he would sound with the next person. The first step was letting Shixun know he’d be welcome in Jongin’s lab, not just as a subject. They would be a team.

"That sounds exciting," Shixun seemed to glow a little brighter at that. 

The next couple of days were dutifully spent cooped up in the lab as he explored Shixun’s program further and detailedly. Although Shixun’s exterior looked flawlessly stunning, his interior still required a lot of enhancement. The AI displayed great capability of interpreting verbal interaction, but he was still unresponsive when he had to discern non-verbal human emotions, and his gestures and facial expressions were still somewhat dormant, as though unable to transmit sensory signals. Shixun’s nexus mostly showed dull and lifeless reactions, but in general, he was tactical and precise. 

It’d be a long process to perfect his network, but Jongin was not one to back down before a challenge.

"Shixun, are you satisfied with the way you look?" He asked as Shixun stood in the center of the scanning pod as his figure was zoomed on the monitors looming over him. 

"Yes, of course,” He replied honestly. “Are you not?"

"On the contrary. I find you very good-looking." Jongin chuckled while he scrolled through the limitless editing settings of human-like physiques and features available for retouching. 

"Thank you," Shixun mumbled, his expression blank despite the smile on his lips.

"Is there nothing you want to alter? Your height? Maybe the color of your eyes? You can look whichever way you prefer." Particularly, Jongin did not think any changes were needed, but he wanted to give Shixun the call. "I wouldn't change anything against your will, however." 

"I'm completely satisfied with the way I look." Shixun said confidently, which was unarguable when his looks were simply to die for. Jongin examined him thoughtfully, looking for any kind of visible flaw to be repaired. His nose was incredibly well-sculpted, as well as his eyebrows and the narrow shape of his lips.

"What about the scars on your face? Wouldn't you like a little tan too?"

Shixun seemed to ponder for a brief second, staring down at his pale hands, bringing his fingers to trace lightly the small mark on his cheek. 

"I believe they make me look more human. Imperfect. Leave them." He decided at last.

Jongin was proud of that answer. 

"Do you have a favorite color?"

"I like all of them," Shixun gave him a smile. After hours upon hours manually boosting Shixun’s collection of facial expressions according to a variety of possible situations, his smile now looked vibrant. It was warm and kind too. It suited him. Not only that, but his cold, emotionless expressions were slowly receding too, giving place to something of a sympathetic, amiable demeanor. 

"What if you were to choose just one?" Jongin reformulated the question, hoping to lead Shixun to build some sort of identity for himself. First things first, he needed to build his own preferences, and later, construct his own opinions. Optimistically thinking, Jongin thought it wouldn’t be impossible to achieve so. 

"I'd choose the one you like the most." Shixun said, staring at Jongin eagerly. Unsatisfied, Jongin sighed and crossed his arms. 

"You need to make your own decisions. Don't consider me. Just let your heart choose."

"Have you forgotten I have no heart?" The response had Jongin instantly wince with embarrassment, but nevertheless, Shixun didn’t seem to find insult in Jongin’s words. "I like black." He said and shrugged. Considering that, Jongin realized Shixun wasn’t the only one who needed to be trained for human-robot interactions. It was a requisite that went both ways. 

All in all, Jongin and Shixun got along quite well. As the days went by, Shixun followed Jongin everywhere, promptly stepping in to assist Jongin whenever he faced any setback in the lab and even in the slightest daily inconveniences, like reminding him to actually text his friends back and not just mentally. Moreover, Shixun had successfully mastered how to read Jongin’s emotions too, going as far as offering advice, though more often than not they sounded illogical and naive. But he was trying, and he was learning from his mistakes as he went, each day improving, slowly getting the hang of reason. He was curious about many human aspects too, philosophically asking deep life questions that defied any basic human sense, like if you really learn from your mistakes, why are you afraid of making them?  However, he’d always figure out the answers on his own, Jongin only proving to be useless in providing him explanations that were beyond human comprehension. 

In short, Shixun was good company, a constant presence in Jongin’s lonesome routine, and in exchange, Jongin learned too. He became aware of their differences and that Shixun, despite being fabricated to be of optimum quality, still had certain limitations, unlike the human brain. 

"What do you want to do today?" Jongin asked out of the blue one afternoon after wrapping up his research and sending his weekly report to Sehun’s email. The CEO’s responses were always vague and minimal, but at least he had the decency to reply. Shixun frowned - exactly like Jongin had configured him to do - as he seemed to struggle to come up with an honest answer.

"I am not sure,"

"Come on, whatever you want. What would you do to entertain yourself?" Jongin insisted. Most of the time, Shixun was being experimented on or burying himself in his human studies. Jongin thought he deserved some free time as well, to blow off some steam.  

"Whatever you want me to do." Indecisively, Shixun shrugged. - another gesture Jongin had drafted into his cybernetic neuro-system. 

"I want you to do whatever you want to do." Jongin returned, inducing Shixun to settle upon his mind.

"Okay," Shixun said, seemingly resolute. "You've got video games," 

Jongin nodded. "I certainly do." 

"I'd like to challenge you." Shixun beamed a vivid grin at him.

"Can't say no to that."

Nearly a month in, Shixun had completely blended into Jongin’s routine. Upon rising in the morning, the first thing Jongin did was reach out to the storing case device and activate Shixun to greet him with good morning. While Jongin had breakfast, Shixun stood by his side, reading him the daily news and scrolling down Twitter’s trending topics on the screen that he projected on the windows. When Jongin showered, it was Shixun who set up the water temperature just the way Jongin liked. Not too hot, not too cold either. When Jongin drove, either to his mother’s place for a quick visit, or the nearest grocery store, Shixun connected to the car’s system and chatted with him through the radio. When Jongin needed to cook, Shixun was his recipe book. When Jongin was browsing through Netflix for a good movie to watch, Shixun was his rec list. Through work and leisure, Shixun was there, always accessible even when not physically present, wired to every source of energy within Jongin's reach. 

They’d advanced to more technical tests, which required arduous physical and extensive cognitive training. By the time Shixun was no longer a social disaster, there were hardly any other features to work on. 

"What does Epiphany  mean?" Jongin questioned abruptly. Shixun’s answer came almost in the same breath. 

"A moment when you suddenly feel that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of, something that is very important to you."

"How do I say dog in Spanish?" 

" Perro ,"

"Where's the nearest Police Station?"

"20 minutes away by car.  Jongno-gu, Sajik-ro-3-gil 23. "

"You're brilliant." Jongin mused before continuing. "What would you do if I started choking right now?"

"I would call 119 and one next of kin of yours as well." 

"What if you were stolen from me?"

"I'm programmed to respond only to your voice. Should another person try to activate me, I must shut down and immediately transfer all my data to your Cloud."

"Perfect," Jongin said, before suddenly flinging his keys towards Shixun’s direction, who barely flinched as the keys passed through him and landed on the floor with a soft clank. Shixun did not glitch whatsoever. His senses were sharp and precise.

"Your reflexes and genius are phenomenal. There's almost nothing to upgrade." Jongin exclaimed as Shixun's brainpower scored 100% on his mental capacity test. However, as successful as their tests were proving to be, Shixun still didn't look quite satisfied. 

"That's a great relief, Jongin. Would you tell me what I need to improve?" 

"Nothing much. Perhaps you're a tad too naive yet." Jongin said, and for a second he nearly reached out to clasp a hand around Shixun's shoulder, but refrained just in time to avoid the mistake. It would often slip from his mind that Shixun was intangible. 

"I'll work on it." Shixun said with a nod. 

"Remember this, Shixun. Be nice to people, but be nice to yourself first." Jongin wished someone had told him that before, it would have spared him a lot of heartaches, and now he could only hope it would spare Shixun at least, even though he was deprived of a heart. 

"Are you tired? Wanna take a break?"

Shixun chuckled at him. "I don't get tired like you do, Jongin. I believe  you  need a break." 

Only then did the exhaustion catch up to Jongin's body, and he realized how drained he was. They'd been working nonstop for hours.

"I can't argue with that."

“We’re going out today.” Jongin invited on a whim, taking Shixun entirely by surprise. He stared at Jongin rather stunned, licking his lips as a sign of hesitation, perhaps even fear.  

“Do you think I’m ready?”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Jongin shrugged nonchalantly as he stood up and grabbed his wallet and keys. The weather outside was sunny and warm, perfect to leave things to chance. “Don’t worry. It’s going to be fine. I wouldn’t take you outside if I weren’t 90% sure you could do it.” Jongin assured once he caught Shixun rooted in place, staring off into the distance. He glanced at Jongin, and for a second the glint in his eyes flashed darkly. 

“Okay. I trust you.” He said then, though the reluctance persisted in his eyes. “Would you pick me a nice outfit?”

“Of course.” Jongin agreed happily. 

The towering and welcoming façade had Shixun stupefied as soon as they pulled over. For a little while, Jongin let him watch as people came in and out of the establishment with amusing smiles plastered on their faces; families, friends, and couples. Jongin caught the exact moment Shixun’s eyes shone with excitement. 

“McDonald's Corporation is an American fast-food company founded in 1940 in California, United States.” Shixun cited cheerfully. 

“Very well, Shixun.” Jongin chuckled sweetly, before climbing out of the car and cordially opening the door for Shixun. They walked in together, with Shixun clinging to his side, steering clear from others. They fit in the scenario easily, as people didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary about them while they stood in line to order. 

“I think you’re blending in quite well.” Jongin noted gleefully. On the other hand, Shixun still looked slightly out of his element. 

“Are you sure? Why do they keep staring? Their cardiac enzyme levels are elevating.”

Jongin noticed the clique of girls standing by the corner, stealing little glances at them as they whispered and giggled among themselves.

“That’s because they find you pretty. They’re enthralled by you.”

“Oh, please.” Shixun smiled shyly. “You’re catching their eyes too. You are quite handsome yourself.”  

"Then let them stare. The sight of us together must be a serotonin boost to their nervous system." Jongin winked at him, having Shixun in stitches. 

"I like your sense of humor, Jongin." 

It was the first time he had actually laughed. Full and out loud. It sounded like music to Jongin's ears. 

It felt a little awkward when they sat at the table with their snacks. 

Jongin had settled for a small portion of french fries and strawberry flavored milkshake, while Shixun… did not eat. Ever. He only watched as Jongin chewed sheepishly. So maybe bringing your hologram best friend to eat out wasn't the smartest idea. 

"Is it delicious?" Shixun asked, as though watching Jongin eat was some sort of entertainment.  

"Yes, it is." Jongin swallowed, managing a small grin. 

"Then why am I sensing a high level of tension coming from you?"

Jongin froze, taken aback. Shixun's senses were always spot-on. 

"You never miss, do you?" He huffed. "It's just that… I don't know. I haven't had company in a while." It was a half-truth. The last time Jongin had gone out to enjoy a meal was so long ago he was no longer sure it even happened. Perhaps the fact that Shixun could not join him while he ate wasn't the real problem. 

"It's okay, Jongin. I'll be by your side from now on." Shixun assured him, and it felt like a promise. 

The awkwardness seeped away soon as they chatted animatedly and Jongin's food tray became empty. To everyone else's eyes, Shixun was just another mundane individual, but to Jongin, his mere presence was to be cherished. He was attentive, sweet and astonishingly wise. On top of all of that, he only seemed to become prettier and prettier each day, much to Jongin's amazement. 

Once it was proven Shixun could effortlessly adapt to public places, Jongin thought they should head back to the privacy of their home, where they could celebrate by themselves another achievement. When Jongin pushed himself to his feet, distracted by the way Shixun delicately ran his fingers through his long hair, he bumped into a lady. Thankfully, her tray was empty, and it skittered along the floor as it dropped from her hands in her startle, and she fell clumsily to her knees. 

"I'm so sorry, ma'am." Jongin promptly reached out to her with an apologetic gaze. 

"It's fine, son." She waved a dismissive hand at him, but still, Shixun's first instinct was to step in and offer an outstretched hand to her. Involuntarily, her hand lifted to meet Shixun's, but when they were supposed to touch, the lady's hand went right through him, making her gasp in shock and back away from him.  

"Oh my goodness! What are you?" She cried, staring at Shixun in unmistakable horror. 

"I'm-- I…" Shixun stammered, uncertain if he should actually answer it. A few people around them were staring curiously, and Jongin noticed Shixun's cheeks reddening in shame. 

"It's fine. He's a hologram. Come on, I'll give you a hand." Jongin grabbed the woman by the wrist and tugged her upright, foregoing all gentleness. 

"What an abomination." She declaimed, her eyes surveying Shixun as though he was the Devil reincarnated. 

"I could say the same about your judgment, ma'am." Jongin said spitefully, before walking away with Shixun following close, his head lowered miserably. 

Amidst the judgmental gazes and harsh comments that followed them outside, all Jongin wanted was to hold Shixun’s hand to comfort him.

Sadly, he couldn’t.

The ride back home was silent and tensed, as Shixun stared out the window with a scowl on his brow. For a minute, Jongin regretted giving him such realistic expressions that made it so easy to make sense of his mind. It only made the urge to comfort him all that much stronger, but Jongin had never had a knack for that. 

"Shixun, are you okay?"

"I'm upset. I wish I could have helped her." He confessed, eyes still following the road stretching ahead of them. 

"Please, it's okay. You weren't made to touch. You're meant for a lot more than just that." 

Downcast, Shixun shook his head and stared down at his lap. "How can I be real when I can't be touched? When I can't be felt?"

"Touch is overrated. It’s memories that make you real." Jongin said, and though it was not nearly enough to cheer him up, it still felt like a small victory when Shixun rewarded him with the tiniest of smiles.

Another month came in bringing a wedding invitation into Jongin's mailbox. He found himself at a loss for words as he stared at the familiar name paired up with a stranger's. A weird hollow sensation flooded him, and his mind instantly drifted back to a younger, more foolish version of himself. Someone who had yet a lot to figure out about himself, someone who made way too many mistakes and hurt others in the process. 

"What's wrong?" Shixun asked as he took a seat by Jongin's side. "Whose wedding invitation is this?"

"An old friend of mine." Jongin mumbled, unable to mask the dejection in his voice. 

"You don't look happy," 

"I am. I'm happy for her. I just… I can't explain it. She was supposed to be marrying me. We were planning it." He said, but even as he tried to explain, he couldn't exactly pinpoint what troubled him. 

"What happened?" Shixun asked in genuine concern. 

"I didn't love her like that." He shrugged and let out a dry chuckle. There wasn’t one thing he regretted more than the fact he had broken her best friend's heart so cruelly, so selfishly, earning his liberty at the expense of her misery. 

"Love, a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person." Shixun mumbled to himself, mulling over the significance of that particular emotion that harmed just as much as it delighted. 

"Sometimes it's more than that." But Jongin was, by a long shot, not quite qualified to unriddle it. 

"It sounds complicated." Shirin concluded, and Jongin couldn't agree more. 

"It is… but it's worth it." Or at least Jongin wanted to believe so. A frown appeared on Shixun's brow. 

"Who do you love then?"

The question threw Jongin off balance for a moment, but the tragic truth was that he didn't have to measure his answer that much. It was simple and unchanging. 

"No one. I want to love. But I can't. I feel like I'm empty. I feel guilty for not loving her as much as she loved me back then."

"You'll find someone to love when the time is right. For now, just be thankful she moved on." Shixun's words of console never failed to soothe him, even if deep down he knew it was all scripted in the roots of his database software. As a matter of fact, Jongin was starting to suspect Shixun had somehow developed a mind of his own, and it was nothing but magnificent.

"How am I supposed to show up there? On my own? That'd be embarrassing." Jongin whined and tugged at his own hair, already picturing his acquaintances gossiping about his love life, or lack thereof. 

"I can accompany you. If you're okay with it. Then you won't feel alone." The offer came almost immediately, sincere and eager. Jongin's initial thought was that it would be no less than embarrassing showing up with a hologram for a plus one, but when he looked at the expectant glint in Shixun's eyes, he told himself any company - be it synthetic or not - would stand above the pitiful sight of his loneliness.

"Thanks, I'd love that."

The tic-tac-toe from the clock was too loud in his ears, and the sheets clung hotly to his skin. After tossing and turning in bed for what felt like hours, Jongin finally gave up and pulled out the storing case device from where he tucked it under his pillow every night. Jongin sat up and rubbed his eyes, and before he could decide against it, he booted Shixun up. The opaque green beams of his eyes glowed within the dimly lit room. 

“Are you having trouble sleeping?” Shixun guessed once he found Jongin sitting in bed, wearing the most fatigued expression ever seen. 

“Sorry I activated you so late,” He groaned, pushing his fingers through his hair, disgruntled.

"It’s no bother. I don’t sleep. Do you want me to count sheep for you?”

Jongin scoffed. “I don’t think this would work.” 

“According to Google, this is the most efficient method to lull yourself to sleep.”

“Not for me,”

Shixun seemed to reflect deeply for a minute, and when he blinked - something he rarely did - he beamed up with renewed disposition. 

“I can play your favorite music. If you’re hungry, I can order your favorite meal too. Just say the word. I’m connected to the house system, I can do just about everything to cheer you up.”

“I’m fine, really.” Jongin murmured, unsure of why he even had called for Shixun at all in the first place. He was clearly just bothering the other with his unreasonable agitation.

“You are certainly not. Is this about the wedding?” Shixun inquired, approaching the bed cautiously, his movements fluid, no longer stiff like before. 

“No? I don’t know.” Jongin drew a breath in frustration as he sank against the wall. 

“You’re overthinking.” Shixun said. “Do you have feelings for her now, perhaps?”

God, Shixun didn't beat around the bush. Jongin shifted and untangled his legs from the rumpled sheets while Shixun sat by his side. 

“It’s not that. I’m just… stressed, I guess. I can’t help but feel envious. And I hate it.”

“That's completely reasonable. Don't beat yourself up for feeling. Besides, you’re not lonely anymore. You have me.” Shixun reminded him, and never before had he looked so certain. It had Jongin’s stomach fluttering for the briefest second, and soon the distress ebbed. 

By the time Shixun counted the 138th sheep, Jongin had finally drifted off to sleep. 

Outside, the day dawned crisp and clear, jostling Jongin out of bed with a refreshed spirit. He descended the stairs eagerly searching for Shixun, as he fell asleep without shutting him off. He found him absentmindedly standing in front of the high-rise shelf that displayed Jongin’s collections of trophies and medals he’d attained throughout his career in bioengineering. Shixun seemed to take delight in those prizes even more so than Jongin did. He would brag about them too, if only he was too modest for that. 

Jongin noticed Shixun was dressed up nicely. A refined black coat draped him exquisitely, matching the dress shoes he wore - He had an impeccable taste for fashion - Shixun was probably planning to ask Jongin out for shopping and stroll at the park under the warm summer sun. Jongin took a breath and drew near, as close as he would dare, the proximity they kept from each other ever so meager to make up for the incapacity to touch.

“You look absolutely gorgeous today,” Jongin whispered at him, and Shixun glanced over at him with a smirk, the sight immensely off-putting, for Shixun never smirked. Jongin frowned and watched as the other man reached for his sunglasses and slid them off, revealing dark brown eyes instead of the relucent green Jongin was used to.

“I hear that every day,” The other said, eyeing Jongin greedily.

“What?” Jongin croaked, stepping back from the man in sheer confusion. Albeit the uncanny resemblance, That was not  Shixun. 

“Oh Sehun, your boss. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Sehun extended a hand to greet him formally, and Jongin’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “I’ve heard wonders about you.”

“Oh wait. Really? I’m--” He stuttered, downright ashamed. “Oh my God, I wasn’t expecting you today.” Jongin felt ridiculously underdressed for the occasion as he was still clad in his pajamas, and Sehun was clearly sizing him up as they awkwardly shook hands. 

“Yeah, Shixun let me in. I tend to show up uninvited.” Sehun said, crowding Jongin’s personal space, his smirk unfaltering. "And yours is by far the best reception I've ever had."

Jongin averted his gaze and let out a shaky exhale. "My apologies. I wasn't aware that Shixun resembled you."

"It  is  me.” Sehun corrected. “Who would look better than me to take after, anyway?" He sounded terribly egocentric, and for a second Jongin was caught awestruck by the character contrast between him and Shixun. Which was extremely unsettling when they looked just the same .

“It’s a lot of bureaucracy to own the rights to use someone else’s image. They always find a way to sue us for misuse of images and whatnot. Even if there’s just a vague resemblance. People will never waste the opportunity to cash in on companies like mine.”

“I see. It makes sense.” Jongin mumbled, still mortified, his cheeks burning. Sehun’s scrutinizing gaze found him again, and he snorted. 

"Haven't you done any research on the company you're working for? My face is highly well-known."

"I guess I didn't pay attention. I'm sorry." There was way too much hype regarding Sehun’s name on the internet. His name was grouped with prestigious magnates such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. He was born into a well-off family and the heir of a pioneering advanced technology worldwide corporation, also a philanthropist, activist, and a social media sensation. Now Jongin knew why. But back then, he was simply not interested in being acquainted with the spotlight the man stood upon, as long as he received his paycheck and delivered the work he was hired for.

"Quit the blushing. Where is it?" Sehun walked past Jongin and wandered into the living room, as if he owned the whole place. Shixun appeared there, into thin air, and greeted his creator with a bright grin. 

"Hello, Oh Sehun. Long time no see."

Sehun turned on his heels and beheld him with an arched brow and a coy smile of approval. When Jongin watched the two of them standing face to face, he nearly blacked out at the oddness of it. They were identical .

"You haven't changed anything in his appearance, I see." Sehun remarked, proudly rounding his handiwork to assess him thoroughly. He seemed just as enthralled by the hologram as Jongin was when they were first introduced. 

"He preferred staying true to his authentic design." 

"I wouldn't change either. It looks perfect." Sehun clapped his palms together and stared proudly at the hologram that mirrored every part of him perfectly. But despite the positive reaction, he still sounded annoyingly arrogant when he spoke like that, as if he was the epitome of perfection himself. 

"He," Jongin corrected and cleared his throat. Sehun regarded him with a disdainful gaze. 

"Excuse me?"

"Shixun is a he. Or whatever pronouns he identifies best with." Jongin said, and Sehun rolled his eyes at him. He was so inconveniently presumptuous. 

"Oh Sehun, please have a seat. Would you like to have a drink?" Shixun chimed in politely, gesturing at the vast-sized couch that stretched along the whole room. Sehun surveyed the furniture with plain distaste.

"Wine," Sehun flopped down and crossed his legs graciously, all high and mighty, like he was sitting on a king’s throne. Discreetly, Shixun gestured at Jongin to go fix him the requested drink. Jongin complied, hectically and grudgingly, annoyed by the fact Sehun was so disgustingly occupying his couch, the one it had cost Jongin an arm and a leg. 

"Brief me through your progress." Sehun demanded once Jongin returned with a glass of wine. Their fingers brushed slightly when Jongin passed him the glass, and Jongin felt a shiver bout down his spine.

"I'm-- it's--"

"You don't have to be all formal with me like in your emails. It's just me and you. Just talk to me." Sehun said, and for a moment his voice was gentle and soothing, nearly making Jongin lightheaded. He hated the way his mouth turned useless near the other man, his legs too, as they were threatening to give out on him. 

All of that when they had just met and Sehun was only proving to be a total jerk. There was no reason whatsoever for Jongin to become such a nervous wreck before the man. He was insufferable and conceited and nothing more. The fact he looked like Shixun was all but disconcerting. 

Jongin licked his lips and settled on the couch by his side as well. After all, this was his house, he should be the one pulling the strings there. He glanced over at Shixun and found the reassurance he needed to pull through in the purity of his smile. 

"I'm utterly blown away by Shixun's efficacy. I've been testing his resilience and his self-will capability. His blueprint is terrific. There’s hardly anything to fix.”

“Hardly,” Sehun pointed out, eyes fixed on Jongin through the glass as he sipped in an unwavering calmness that left Jongin even more infuriated. 

“I believe his submissiveness might be a little worrisome. I’ve been trying to correct that.” 

Sehun let out a chuckle, and it was sultry but also poisonous. “His submissiveness is what will sell.”

“People might exploit him.” Jongin countered, incredulous by Sehun's explicit greediness. 

“Do you seriously believe people will be interested in buying a friend? People want control.”

“Control brings mistreatment.”

“Can an emotionless machine ever get mistreated when you profit from it?” Sehun retorted, and Jongin was so appalled he lost the will to keep up with the argument. Sehun was obnoxious and headstrong, no matter what he came up against. Reasoning with him would be to no avail. 

“Don’t be so offended. It’s just a hologram. It’s not like I’m hurting its feelings. I created it solely for the earnings.” Sehun added, but it served as nothing to assure Jongin, who kept mum. 

“Anyway, we are to present him at the Worldwide Intercom Tech Conference in a few weeks. Will you have it ready by then?”

“Absolutely,” Jongin said bluntly. As a perfectionist, he'd make sure to outdo himself by then. 

“I appreciate the confidence,” Sehun stood up, chin held high. “We’ll be flying you to Japan then. So be prepared.” He pushed the empty glass into Jongin's hands, and deliberately made their fingers touch again. 

“Okay. Should I--”

“I’ll email you the details,” Sehun said, then seemed to change his mind on the spot. 

“Actually,” Sticking a hand inside a pocket, he drew out a business card and handed it to Jongin. “Have my personal number. I expect you to call me so I can keep you posted.”

Jongin hesitated, staring at Sehun's face in dismay. But Sehun was not a man who waited. He took it upon himself and shamelessly slid the card into the hem of Jongin's pajama pants. Then he turned and headed out, leaving Jongin bewildered and speechless.

“God, he’s horrible.” He breathed out, yanking the card from his pants and crushing it into his palms. 

“He’s actually quite insightful.” Shixun chided from far back, standing idly just where he'd been from the moment Sehun had stepped in. 

"But he's still a prick,”

“You’ll get used to him. He’ll warm up to you eventually.” 

"Whatever!" Jongin groaned petulantly. “Hey, you aren’t offended by the things he said, right?” He asked Shixun then, just to make sure he wasn't the only one affronted by the man's audacious behavior.

“Not at all. He didn’t lie. Sehun’s nothing but honest.” Shixun said, not at all swayed in any sense. Contrary to what Sehun had stated, Shixun was not emotionless. He was just gullible, and sometimes even too altruistic. 

Maybe that part of him should be altered too, for his own sake. 

Sehun's face was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes the following morning. He sucked in a breath and blinked horrified, ten times, to clear out his vision. When he recognized the hazy green in the orbs staring back at him, he heaved a sigh of relief. 

“Good morning, Jongin.” Shixun greeted joyfully. “Your payment has come through.”

“My what?” Jongin sat up groggily, yawning into the palm of his hand. 

“Check your bank account,” Shixun instructed, arching his beautiful eyebrows at him. Jongin frowned and scrambled for his phone, hastily logging onto his bank account, dreading that he'd been hacked overnight. However, nothing could have prepared him to come across with a total worth of 6 digits deposited into his funds. 

“Holy fucking--” He gasped, now fully conscious. “This isn’t right. It’s too much,”

“You’ve earned it.” Shixun grinned widely. 

“Yeah, but millions? It’s definitely a misunderstanding.”

He climbed off the bed and rummaged through the drawer, where the crumpled piece of paper was tucked into the corner. Luckily, the phone number was still visible amidst the damage. He dialed the number with his heart leaping to his throat and back down to his stomach, and as soon as the line beeped, Sehun picked up the call almost immediately. 

“What a lovely surprise. I wasn’t expecting you to be so eager to call me.” His voice sounded even deeper and bewitching through the line. Jongin let out an exhale, and scratched nervously at his scalp. 

“I’m not. I mean-- I have… I’ve noticed you were quite generous regarding my payment. You overpaid the agreement.”

“You’ve earned it,” Sehun repeated Shixun's exact same words, proving even their minds could think alike. “I’m impressed by your commitment to the job. No wonder you have built a name for yourself in the engineering domain. And here I previously thought that hiring you would be regretful.”

“Um…  Thank you?” 

“Go out with me today,” Sehun blurted, much to Jongin's surprise. 

“Excuse me?”

Sehun chuckled, and Jongin wondered just how frantic and pathetic he must have sounded. 

“It’s an exclusively work-related meeting. I promise. I would like to discuss a few matters with you.”

Skeptical, Jongin stared at Shixun, begging for help, but all he received was a complacent shrug from the other. He rubbed a hand down his face, unsure of why he struggled so much to keep it together when speaking with the man. 

“I’m having a busy day, full of tests and--”

“I insist, please.” Sehun cut off, and the tone in his voice dropped to softness.

“Fine, text me the location.” Jongin huffed, hanging up before he made another mindless mistake. 

An outrageously extravagant red Ferrari announced Sehun's arrival at the shop. He pulled over in sharp precision and stepped out of the vehicle with smooth finesse, drawing all eyes towards him. Jongin couldn’t help rolling his eyes at the over-the-top entrance, in all aspects pointless when they were meeting up at a simple bubble tea shop downtown.

“I wasn’t expecting such a casual place,” Jongin said once Sehun drifted close, a cheeky smile on his lips.

“Maybe next time I can take you to a fancy restaurant and bring you flowers?” He arched a suggestive brow at Jongin.

“That’s not what I meant.”

Sehun’s brow knitted deeply then, his mood dropping suddenly. “You don’t like boba? Answer carefully.”

“Will you fire me if I say I don’t?”

“I might,” His eyes narrowed threateningly at Jongin, who bit back a laugh. He did not want to give Sehun the satisfaction that he’d managed to make him laugh with his dry humor.

“You’re unbelievable. I’ll have Jasmine flavored.” 

Contented, Sehun winked at him and courteously held the entrance doors open for Jongin. As they entered, curious eyes fell upon them, and while Sehun seemed unaffected by the sudden overboard attention, a wave of uneasiness stabbed at Jongin’s stomach. He maintained a distinct distance between them as Sehun reached the counter and registered their orders. He looked significantly at ease in that territory, friendly greeting the employees, but Jongin assumed the man was capable of fitting in no matter where he stood. He had the charm for that, anyway.

“Here you are, son. It’s really nice seeing you back.” The lady behind the counter said as she handed him two sets of drinks. She looked genuinely happy to have Sehun there, and it seemed to be a mutual feeling.

“Thank you. It’s nice seeing you too. Has your granddaughter received my gift?” Sehun asked heartily. 

“She loved it. She's been really happy ever since. I couldn’t thank you enough, Sehunnie.” The lady clasped her hand over Sehun’s on top of the counter, a grateful sort of gesture. Sehun smiled warmly, and bowed respectfully at her. 

“It’s fine. You and her, take care, please.”

“Have fun with your friend too!” She yelled at the two of them as they made their way to the nearest booth. Sehun waved cheerfully at her, bowing over and over again, until he settled on his seat across from Jongin. People were still watching them, murmuring and tittering.

“You’re friends with the owner?”

“For ages.” Sehun’s lips wrapped prettily around the straw. “Are you single?”

Jongin nearly choked on a tapioca ball. “I’m sorry? I thought this was a work-related meeting.”

“It is. I can’t help it if I’m curious.” Sehun shrugged, hiding his smirk behind his cup. 

Bashfully, Jongin cleared his throat and his eyes darted around, for some reason fearing people could hear them. Regardless, his relationship status should not be brought up during a professional meeting. 

“Yes, I’m currently single.”

“Perfect,” Sehun’s tongue traced along his lips. “So I was thinking I should give you a ride to the Conference. On my jet.” 

“Why? I’m completely okay with economy flights. I could even pay for the tickets myself since you over-remunerated me.”

“What kind of boss would I be if I let you do that? Come on. It’ll be much more comfortable. And you can bring Shixun too since you’re buddies with him now.” Absently, Sehun poked the boba balls with the end of the straw, but he still glanced at Jongin expectantly. Jongin brooded over it, unsure if rejecting his own boss would jeopardize his job in any way. Sehun honestly didn’t seem to be that strict, but then again he was quite inscrutable . 

“I’ll think about it.” He said, unwilling to give in without much effort. Sehun could be a bit intimidating, but Jongin was also quite adamant when he so fancied to be. 

“You gave the impression of being an obedient employee when I looked at your little pout and your doe eyes, all dressed in a cute bear pajama. I was wrong.” 

Jongin felt a blush working its way up to his neck again. “But I get the job done, don’t I?”

“That’s what matters. Also, I’m always down for a challenge.” Sehun’s cheeks hollowed as he sucked, eyes fixed on Jongin as he did so. He was so irritably provocative. 

“I hate to break it to you, but I’m not going to sleep with you.”

Sehun cackled, tilting his head back as though he had taken Jongin for a comedian.

“I love your sense of humor, Jongin.” He said, and Jongin could have sworn he’d heard it before from Shixun, but in a much less sassy tone. “Do you like your drink?”

“It’s sweet. Unlike you.” Jongin replied matter-of-factly, the taste of his drink bland in his mouth.

“Oh, kid. I’m even sweeter.” Unexpectedly, the smirk on Sehun’s lips died down, and a painful scowl took its place. He brought his fingers to press against his temple, and his eyes shut tightly in discomfort. Concern gripped Jongin, and he sat up, reaching towards Sehun’s hand over the table.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. Just a slight headache.” Sehun shook the discomfort away and rolled his shoulders with a sigh. He attempted a smile, but the dents on his brow contradicted it.

“Are you okay? Do you want me to go get you some aspirin?”

“I’m used to it. It’s nothing that your wonderful company cannot heal.” His jittery fingers slid through Jongin’s and they interlaced, and despite their clashing and borderline tension, Jongin could not find the strength to let go.

“You’re back,” Shixun received him warmly at the door. Seeing the cozy green of his eyes felt like a heartwarming relief after spending time with Sehun's unshakeable cockiness. “Did you have fun?”

“No...Oh Sehun is not exactly a joy to be around.” He said, sprawling himself on the couch and bringing an arm to cover his eyes. Dealing with Sehun was tiresome. His social battery had run out drastically. He'd dragged Jongin to a botanical garden to brag about his broad botanical knowledge, and then to a bookstore to hunt for robotic and virtual reality books, only to end up discussing nothing about their project. 

“Well, I think he likes you.” Shixun commented, but as much as Jongin wanted to disagree, Sehun wasn't really being subtle about his intentions. 

“He made that very clear.”

“Do you like him too?”

“Absolutely not.” Jongin hissed, completely baffled by that implication. 

“Your pulse has quickened. Your face is flushed. These are signs of infatuation. Slight but real.” Shixun stated, only heightening Jongin's trepidation. 

“These are signs of perturbation, in my opinion. He makes me so pissed with his stupid face and his stupid ass nice car.” He grunted through his teeth, ruffling a hand through his hair. 

“It’s okay. You still have me.” Shixun repeated, never missing the opportunity to remind Jongin. 

“You’re like a better version of him.”

If only he could adjust Sehun's snarky mouth too, maybe he could grow to tolerate the man. Thankfully, he had Shixun. And he was beyond comparison. 

Sehun's big hands cradled Jongin's face, not quite tenderly, but demanding. He forced Jongin to look up at him, brown eyes devouring him hungrily. 

"Do you want to fix my mouth, Jongin?" Sehun whispered, brushing his nose against Jongin's. The gesture felt oddly intimate, but daring too. "Or do you want to taste it?" Sehun's tongue stuck out and tentatively licked along Jongin's lips, ripping a moan from him. 

"Yes, please." Jongin croaked out, barely able to speak. He saw a smirk curl itself onto Sehun's lips, and without missing a beat, he leaned in and kissed him with an urgency that matched and filled him with heat and arousal. He moaned and pressed against Sehun's chest as his hair was yanked back and his bottom lip bit down. Hard. 

"Oh my fucking God, Sehun," He drew weakly when Sehun's hot mouth trailed down his neck, nipping and licking, leaving marks. 

"Sehun, please…" Jongin felt a thigh lodge between his legs, and possessive hands groped his ass and kneaded his cheeks. 

"Sehun… hnngg…" Jongin couldn't help but rut against him, desperately. 

"I'll show you I'm better. So much better." The whisper reached Jongin's ear, the voice so familiar and so seductive. Sehun kissed him again, licking inside his mouth, their tongues curling wetly. It was soul-stirring and blood-tingling. He could feel Sehun's erection rub against his thigh, twitching as they moved.

"Sehun… Sehun…"

Flashing lights jerked him awake. Jongin’s eyes snapped open and struggled against the blinding beams that emerged from the hologram, curled up by the corner of the room. Jongin cursed and hurriedly sprung out of bed. Shixun was glitching, his statics faltering. Frightened, he stared at Jongin, and the lack of tears in his eyes only made him look all the more desperate. 

“Shixun? I’m sorry I forgot to disable you.” Jongin reached in, for a second forgetting he couldn’t touch. “What’s going on?”

“Jon--gin… You were-- You were calling his na--me.” Shixun spoke, the current of his voice cracking. His framework was fading too, becoming more and more transparent the more he glitched.

“Who?” Jongin urged, confused. 

“Se--Sehun...”

Glimpses from the dream hit Jongin’s mind abruptly, still fresh within him. A lump rose up to his throat and tightened viciously, but Jongin pushed it down as Shixun’s malfunction seemed to be severely urgent. 

“Shixun? Hey, Shixun. What’s wrong?” Jongin called, but Shixun only shrunk into himself, panicked and in agony, no longer able to speak. “Hold on. I’ll fix you, okay?” Jongin stood up, torn between standing by Shixun’s side or seeking help. There was only one person who could help him in that critical moment. Frantically, he grabbed his phone and dialed Sehun’s number, his fingers shaking uselessly. The line ran for a few excruciating seconds, and when Jongin was about to give up, Sehun’s answer was like a light at the end of a dark tunnel of despair.

“What…” He sounded grumpy and sluggish, but Jongin did not have time to feel guilty about the disturbance. 

“I need your help.” He uttered gravelly. He heard Sehun shift as the line went silent for a second. When he spoke next, his voice sounded conscious and wary. 

“What is it?”

“It’s Shixun. He’s malfunctioning. I think he’s short-circuiting.” 

“This isn’t good. I’m on my way. Give me 20 minutes.” There were no goodbyes as time only stretched and Shixun’s condition only seemed to worsen. It was painful looking at Shixun fall apart right in front of his eyes, and the fact that Sehun was on his way to the rescue, didn’t quite seem to alleviate Shixun’s suffering.

Dawn poured through the windows when they could finally call it a night in the lab. Shixun’s repair was laborious and wearisome, to the point that Jongin had nearly lost hope. But Sehun never once showed defeat, even when they went close to losing the battle. Sehun was driven and sagacious, leaving Jongin unconditionally staggered. 

It felt like they were wrestling with Shixun’s neural network. No matter what cyber codes they transcripted to expunge the dysfunction, Shixun’s firewall would end up rejecting them. Until eventually, it ceased. All the lagging and the abnormal software functioning. Together they successfully managed to patch up Shixun’s nanoparticles. And when he was finally neutralized, both Jongin and Sehun were left exhausted.  

“He’ll be okay, right? That won’t happen again?” Jongin questioned, rubbing his sore wrists from all the erratic typing.

“I hope so,” Sehun rolled his stiff neck. It made a loud cracking noise. “We can’t afford to have any setbacks now.” He sat back and rubbed the back of his hands against his eyes. “Losing him would be a huge loss altogether. I’ve been working on this project practically my whole life.” 

Amidst the frustrating tussle and the futile attempts to prevent Shixun from crumbling down, Jongin realized how much Sehun cared about Shixun, unlike previously stated. Shixun was more than just a money-maker tool. It was part of him, Sehun’s most dear creation, a literal reflection of himself.

“Thank you, by the way. For driving all the way here so early and for helping me. I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to disturb you.” Jongin muttered, torn between feeling thankful or sorry. 

“You did right,” Sehun rose to his full height and shrugged out of the scrub he’d borrowed from Jongin. “Let’s have a drink.” He invited, making a beeline towards the kitchen. Again, he moved as though he reigned upon the place, but this time Jongin hardly found the will to hold that against him. If Sehun asked, Jongin would willingly give it over to him as a sign of gratitude. Silently, Jongin followed, watching as Sehun dug around. 

“We make quite a good team, you and I.” He said as he passed Jongin a bottle of soju. Although he hesitated for a brief second, Jongin accepted it and brought it to his lips for a sip, which instantly freshened him up inside. 

“I have to admit, you are incredibly smart. Way beyond my expectations.”

Sehun chugged down the drink, barely reacting to the acid taste. “I haven’t built my empire solely through my pretty face.” He arched a brow, but the mere movement seemed to instigate a painful throb to his head, making him grimace and clasp a hand over his forehead. Instinctively, Jongin wrapped a hand around Sehun’s waist and steadied him on his feet as he nearly lost his foot.

“Headache again?” He guessed, taking the bottle from Sehun’s hand and setting it aside. “You must be exhausted. You need to lie down for a minute and get some rest before driving again. You can claim one of the guest rooms if you want.”

“Why not  your  room?” Sehun still found the willpower to tease. He saw the disapproving scowl on Jongin’s features and backtracked. “I’m just messing with you, chill.” Still a little unsteady, he managed to let go of Jongin and get his bearings. The mood for drinking sailed by, but the pretext for a continuation remained. 

“What do you think caused Shixun’s outbreak?” Jongin asked as he escorted Sehun to a room to crash at. Sehun stood by the door and seemed to ponder a little. 

‘I think he was upset." He reckoned with a shrug. And even though Jongin would beg to differ, he had no arguments to state otherwise. 

“Is that even possible?”

“I wouldn’t say so. But he seems to be proving me wrong.” Sehun sighed, but despite the exhaustion, he seemed content. Greetings of goodnight were exchanged rather timorously, and thankfully sleep got the best of Sehun, who retreated without throwing another flirtatious remark. 

Still feeling under the weather, Jongin retroceded to bed unable to even begin to fathom what could have so unkindly bruised Shixun.

It was late afternoon when Jongin rose, the sun was setting moderately as the faint colors of the evening emerged into view. The ever-present quietude found its place back to the house, and a remodeled Shixun stood outside in the garden he’d been cultivating mostly on his own as a hobby recently adopted. Jongin watched him quietly, the mere thought of one day Shixun ever ceasing to exist was too frightful to entertain, but the likelihood had been planted already, and Jongin was pretty sure he would not be strong enough to deal with its possible consequences.

“Good morning.” Sehun’s voice pulled him out of reverie. Jongin found him wearing the same pajama bear he had worn when they first met. It fit him perfectly. He looked refreshed as well, bereft of any pain nonetheless. 

“How’s your head?”

“Still sleeping,” Sehun gazed through the windows, following Jongin’s intent line of sight. “Is that Shixun? What’s he up to?”

“He likes the garden. Just like you do.”

“Is that so?” Sehun said, impressively. “What else does he enjoy?”

“He seems to be deeply fond of Byun Baekhyun’s music. And Do Kyungsoo’s movies seem to entertain him greatly.” 

At that point, Jongin was delightfully used to the rich and sweet-flowed voice resonating through the house in the mornings, and frequently the two of them would binge-watch the actor’s filmography together. Sehun stared at him pensively, and when Jongin glanced at him, he found a dumbfounded expression on the inventor’s face. 

“He’s basically a person of himself.” Sehun mused, showing a proud smile either for Shixun or Jongin. Perhaps both. 

“Basically,” Jongin echoed, and outside Shixun sparked off the sprinklers to bathe the flowers. 

"I can't believe he threw a tantrum on us last night." Sehun chuckled with a shake of his head. 

"It wasn't a tantrum…" Jongin protested. “His feelings are valid.”

“If you say so,” Sehun’s tone was rather fond, regardless. “You have exceeded every single one of my expectations of you, Kim Jongin. You never cease to amaze me.” He added then, bemusing Jongin entirely. 

“Yeah? What if I told you there’s no breakfast? Would I still amaze you?” Jongin teased, ignoring the fact that his heart was racing senselessly. But Sehun was not by much swayed. 

“Good thing I can cook.” He smirked, carefreely steering for the kitchen.

It shouldn't have been a surprise that Sehun cooked with such spontaneity. Jongin fell into some sort of daze as he watched the man manage ingredients and utensils in mesmerizing precision. No hesitancy was found as he sprinkled, added, and stirred the food, all while enthusiastically depicting every single one of his maneuvers as if he were guesting on a cooking show. The smell was enticing too, soon flooding the whole kitchen and eliciting a deep rumble from Jongin's famished stomach. 

Sehun's hair looked silk-like and his face was bare, and the more Jongin tried to tear his gaze away from him, the more entranced he found himself. 

"Will you at least help me set the table or are you just going to keep drooling all over the food?" A smile touched the corner of his lips, ever so gently. Not a smirk, not a strained grin to mask any importunate pain. It was just genuine and restful.

"Sorry. I hadn't realized you cooked so much." Jongin cleared his throat and began rummaging for the kitchenware. He tried to push away the thoughts that kept surging from the depths of his mind that this was all too domestic, all too home-like, and none of them felt the need to shy away from this.

The table was carefully set together in comfortable silence, saved by Sehun's distracted humming as he roamed around the kitchen. Soon they sat across from each other, the only thing between them potentially a few dozen of warm, succulent-like dishes. Jongin licked his lips hungrily and happily stuffed his mouth with a spoonful of rice. He hummed in delight almost in the same breath. It tasted divine. 

"I'm a good chef, aren't I?" Sehun wriggled an eyebrow at him, fumbling with his chopsticks. 

"Don't brag about it. I might lose my appetite." Jongin said over a mouthful of Kimchi.

"When you're this ecstatic? I highly doubt it."

Jongin swallowed timidly at that, but when the food tasted so delicious, there was no need to tone down his enthusiasm. He chewed quietly, mostly avoiding Sehun's gaze, which he felt hanging on him as his toes casually brushed against Jongin's legs under the table, making him shiver slightly, unable to pull away. When Sehun spoke again, Jongin looked up to find him with his cell phone pressed against his ear.

"Hyung, good morning. Could you reschedule today's meetings, please? Maybe for next week?" He listened attentively as he poked into a bowl with a chopstick. "I'm fine, chill. My head is fine. I had an… episode last night and I ended up oversleeping. But I'm fine." 

A twinge of curiosity twisted at Jongin. The headaches were too frequent to be simply disregarded. It had happened more than a couple of times in Jongin's presence, but before Jongin could poke at it, Sehun chuckled and spoke again. 

"That's why I love you the most, hyung. Take the day off. Get some rest or get laid." He laughed, his eyes crinkling. "See you."

He hung up with a string of giggles still tumbling out of his lips, but Jongin was still itching in curiosity. Although he wasn't sure it would be intrusive, he needed to ask. But then Shixun appeared by the side of the table, eyes raking over the length of the table filled up with a great feast, and his gaze darted between the two of them.  

"Hey there, Shixun. Would you like to join us?" Sehun offered cheerfully, pushing a chair beside him. Shixun stared down at it, and then glanced back at Sehun with a deadpan expression. 

"You have a questionable sense of humor, Sehun." 

"And why is that?" He asked cluelessly, frowning up at the AI. "Oh, because you don't eat? That's fine. Just have a seat anyway. We'd love the company."

Shixun stood immobile for a moment in a sign of hesitation. Jongin shot him an expectant glance then, the idea of having the two of them at his table suddenly not so absurd as he'd initially thought. Slowly, Shixun sank down to a chair, but otherwise, his posture remained stiff and brow knitted. 

"So how do you feel now?" Sehun asked as he munched on a piece of tofu. 

"Much better. Thanks to you." Shixun managed a nod and a tinted grin. 

"So what was it that got you so worked up last night?" The question seemed to overthrow Shixun a little, and the furrow on his brow deepened. 

"Jongin doesn't eat cucumber soup. He hates cucumbers." He blurted, glancing down at Jongin's untouched bowl. Sehun made an impressed face. 

"Is that so?"

"It's fine. There's plenty of food." Jongin cut in, reaching for another bowl. It honestly wasn't that much of a big deal, not when Sehun had so fondly prepared the meal. 

"What does Jongin like then?" Sehun prodded amusedly. "Tell me. I'm quite curious."

"Meat. Ballet. Latte. Horror movies. And  me ." Shixun responded assuredly, the last word sharply emphasized. 

"You?" Sehun eyed him quizzically. Shixun did not bother repeating himself.  

"Well, he's not wrong." Jongin shrugged, just as impressed. Shixun seemed to know him better than Jongin did himself. At least for most parts. 

By all means, Jongin was no stranger to wealth. In his line of work he’d had the opportunity to visit the most opulent places and even befriend a fair share of affluent people, but never once had he felt the need for ostentation of the little he had earned. Now, sitting in the lushness of a private jet, nestled bottles of expensive wine within reach, and mellow jazz tunes playing in the background, Jongin found himself slightly on edge. 

“Are you comfortable?” Sehun was sitting across from him, all laid-back as usual, a glass of bourbon in his hand. Chanyeol, his personal assistant and best friend, had occupied himself with a book. The guy was mostly distant and even-tempered, but generally docile when spoken to. He was the one who ensured Jongin’s settlement into the enterprise, and back then the two of them had hit it off just fine. 

“I’m okay,” Jongin answered finally, shifting a little and gazing at the sky just past the windows. Looking at the sky had always helped him get his mind off things, like the fact he was on a business trip with the man he’d had a wet dream with, the same guy he’d had breakfast with at his place just a few days ago. 

“Do you like the view?”

“It’s rather calming.”

“Are you nervous?”

“No. I trust him.” 

“Shixun?” Sehun guessed, flicking the tip of his nose with a finger. It was a frequent habit of his that Jongin should not have picked on. It meant he was paying undue attention to the man. 

“I trust you too.” He added, managing to pique Sehun’s curiosity. “Nobody knows Shixun better than you. And I believe there was a reason why you dedicated part of your life to this project.”

“And what is that?”

“You’re kind, Sehun. Yeah, you’re overly ambitious and bossy too, but I can see you want to make people’s lives a little bit less lonely somehow. Not only that, but the fact you designed Shixun based on yourself means you want that too. To be less lonely.”

Sehun’s eyes narrowed at him, intrigued. “You think I’m lonely.”

“I am too. It’s not as bad as it sounds. All great and precious things are lonely.” He mumbled, eyes on the clouds.

“Is that a compliment I hear from you? Again?” Sehun grinned, delighted. 

“It’s honesty, actually. Don’t let it get to your head.”

“Do you want to hear my honesty?” Sehun did not give him room to reply, nevertheless. “I’m very much fascinated by you. Even more so than any creation of mine has ever made me.”

Elated, Jongin bit back a smile, timidly lowering his head. 

“I’m not an engineering creation to be compared. I’m flawed, I’m human.” He murmured, glancing at Sehun through his bangs.

“And yet you still amaze me.” Sehun’s certainty was unfaltering.

From that moment on, Jongin no longer had to look at the calming hues of the endless sky to wind down. The sight of Sehun was sufficient. 

The conference day was overloaded with tasks, tests, and arrangements, rushing them off their feet. Introductions were exchanged cheerily, among promising names and renowned ones in the field. But despite the friendliness and never-ending enthusiasm for each project's line-up, the sense of rivalry was still palpable in the air. Be that as it may, Sehun and Jongin were confident, and doubtlessly, their team was not only anticipated and looked up to, but also resented by those relentlessly driven for the downfall of the Oh Industries, to no effect. 

Shixun’s presentation had the audience erupting in standing ovation, as Sehun and Jongin stood on stage after laying out the AI blueprint, mystifying the whole room. Sehun, highly used to public speech, delivered the strategies and innovations of the program flawlessly, while Jongin struggled not to drool over the man. He did his part too, albeit the loose nervousness, displaying Shixun’s functions and potency.

However, Shixun seemed detached from it all. Mainly, he obliged as he was told, but the charm and the enthusiasm were nowhere to be found in him. No one was struck by his lack of passion, for it was not at all expected from an AI, but Jongin noticed it, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why Shixun seemed so aloof, yet ultimately functional. 

But as the round of applause soared and the loud cheering overwhelmed the auditorium, Jongin assumed it wasn’t anything too dreadful.

Once he was finally allowed to retire to his hotel room, with stiffened shoulders and heavy eyelids, Jongin came across Shixun standing by the window. The autumn view was wonderful outside, fading colors drenching the whole landscape, but the expression on Shixun’s features still looked dull… it looked artificial, ironical as it may sound. Jongin approached him carefully, the last thing he wanted was to perturb him further. Shixun welcomed his company but otherwise remained calm. Jongin wondered if it would be best to keep him tucked safely into his storing case device, but he’d been encased through the entire flight already. Jongin wanted him to have a little bit of freedom for a while, to breathe in the fresh air of a new territory. 

“Shixun, is everything alright? You seem a little… off.”

“What do you expect of me anyway?” Shixun muttered humorlessly. 

“What do you mean?”

“You gave me selfhood, but I’m not supposed to have one.” He finally glanced at Jongin, and the green of his eyes was washed over with a shade of dusk. 

“Does it bother you?” Jongin questioned, never before having considered if Shixun ever wanted to evolve the way he did. 

“Only that you don’t seem to care now that I’m not dependable. Not like you care about  him .” His tone was filled with resentment. 

A bit shaken, a frown twisted Jongin’s brow. “Sehun?”

“You can touch him. Whatever imperfections he has, it’s reasoned, because he is human, not a machine built to be perfect.” Shixun justified, as though he loathed himself and his inadequacy to equal Sehun, made to be alike but not to have the same privileges. Jongin’s heart ached profoundly in his chest, and he chanced an indiscreet step closer.   

“Don’t say that. You don’t have to feel jealous.”

An unexpected knock on the door forced them apart. Jongin glanced at Shixun in an unspoken request to sit tight and wait. Their conversation was not nearly through. He attended the door fairly harshly, not quite in the mood to socialize with anyone. Their interviews had all been scheduled for the next day too. But when he met Sehun standing in the corridor, wearing a splendid smile, the tension soon lifted.  

“D’you wanna go out for a drink?” Sehun invited, shoulder leaning against the door frame, almost too charming to resist. Torn, Jongin peered behind his shoulder, only to find out Shixun was already gone.

“Yeah, sure.” It didn’t take much convincing for Jongin to cave in, the burdened sensation now paper-thin as he followed Sehun out.

Under the moonlight, they sat by the pool and shared wine, straight from the bottle. The air was chilly, but the company and the drink made it somewhat bearable. Jongin wasn’t even that fond of drinking, but Sehun had the marvelous ability to make him break out of his shell. Jongin couldn’t say it bothered him. On the contrary, it thrilled him.  

“Cheers,” Sehun exclaimed at the moon, raising the half-empty bottle towards the night sky. “Tonight has been a success thanks to you.” He then gestured at Jongin, an amused grin splitting his whole face. The poll cascaded him with a blue shade of light, reflecting against the moon. It made him look divine, as though the night belonged to him. 

“You’re the brain behind it. I just assisted a little.”

“You captivated the audience quite well. Too well, actually.” Sehun scoffed, taking another swing. Jongin licked his lips thoughtlessly as he watched mesmerized Sehun baring his thick neck, his Adam-apple throbbing as he swallowed. 

“No, I didn’t.”

“They were all making eyes at you. I saw it.” Sehun passed him the bottle, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. 

“Stop it,” Jongin whined, wrapping his lips around the bottle. He saw Sehun briefly watching the movements of his mouth too. He did that a lot, and it never failed to make Jongin flustered. 

“Aw, you’re shy.” Sehun mocked, but the fondness never left his voice nor his eyes. “Where’s Shixun, though? He should be celebrating with us.”

“He’s a little heartbroken…” Jongin murmured, still bummed out by the way they left things unfinished. Jongin supposed Shixun just needed time, and soon they could talk it through. Whatever tormented him. 

“What?” Sehun snickered. 

“He’s jealous I spend time with you.”

“I didn’t know he was that clingy,” Sehun sighed and lazily lounged on the chair. “It doesn’t surprise me he’s developed a crush on you. You’re sort of irresistible.”

“Shut up. He’ll get over it.” Jongin grumbled, eyes raking over the long length of Sehun’s body as he stretched and lay back, tucking his hands behind his head. 

“I mean, there must have been a reason to ignite his jealousy. His intelligence is quite far-sighted.” Sehun eyed him out of the corner of his eye, and though the implication of his statement was obvious, Jongin was not yet ready to admit it.

“He might be overreacting a little.” He uttered distractedly, toying with the neck of the bottle. “Just a little.”

Shixun's face was the first thing he saw when his eyes slipped open. His vision was blurry and his mind fuzzy. He had no clue where he was. “Shixun…” He breathed, slurred. “Fuck, my head.” He whined when the world seemed to quake around him, the edges of his vision distorting. Everything seemed to run in slow motion and the pound of his head was unrelentingly harsh. 

“How are you feeling?” Shixun asked, staring down at him with blankness swimming in his eyes. 

“Like I’m going to die. This is why I never drink. Damn it.” Jongin groaned, rolling around the bed. He wanted to throw up so badly. “Why are you sooo beautiful, uh?” He blurted, smiling groggily at him. 

“Do you think so?”

“And why do you have to look just like  him ?” He hiccuped, but there were no tears, just the shattering frustration. 

“What about him?”

“He’s so fucking sexy. He makes me so frustrated, you know?” He pouted, making a sad little face. Shixun sat at the edge of the bed and smirked. 

“Sexually?”

“YES! Sexually. I want to sex him up so bad.” Jongin rubbed both his hands down his face. It was hot. His whole body was drenched in heat and sweat and pent-up sexual tension. 

“Oh God,” Shixun giggled, his cheeks coloring prettily. 

“Can I kiss you?” Jongin bolted up to a sitting position and the dizziness only thickened in his brain. Unstable, he leaned in with a kissy face and hooded eyes. Shixun placed his palm over Jongin's chest and gently pushed him back. 

“Jongin, you’d better lie down. I don’t want you throwing up all over me.” 

“Sehun?!” Jongin gasped, staring at where they touched. “Fuck-- Shit…” He glanced at the man in front of him, and found brown eyes instead of green. How embarrassing. He couldn't even tell them apart anymore. 

“Yeah, it’s me. You’re too hungover. Come on.” Sehun was laughing, finding Jongin's drunkenness outright amusing. 

“I’m not. I want to kiss you.” Jongin growled, recklessly reaching in again with grabby hands. He'd already embarrassed himself anyway, so might as well stand his ground and get what he wanted. But he miserably ended up bumping against Sehun's shoulder, all clumsy and awkward. 

“I want that too. But not with you like this.” Sehun pushed him down, this time roughly, and Jongin fell with a moan slipping out of his lips. 

“You don’t have to be a gentleman now. I want to give you head.” His hand stuck out blindly, grazing Sehun's crotch, who yelped and grabbed his wrist to contain him. 

“No. I mean it. I have to go now. You wouldn't want to show up like this to our interview later.” He smoothed out the pillows and tucked them under Jongin's head cozily. “There’s water and fruits on the table. Some aspirin too for when you wake up. I ran a warm bath for you too, but it won’t feel as nice when you finally manage to get on your feet.”

“You’re so good, Sehun. Get in the tube with me. Naked.” Jongin slurred out, wetting his lips. “I know you have a good body. You’re hot. So hot.”

“I hope you won’t remember any of this in the morning.” Sehun laughed airily, draping the sheets over Jongin's frame, tenderly brushing his bangs out of his eyes. The mitigating brown of Sehun's eyes lulled Jongin back to sleep in less than no time.

The next time Jongin came around, the world seemed to have righted itself. Though his body still felt numb, his head had cleared out from the hazy fog that clouded him. When he slowly shifted to his side, he spotted Sehun standing eerily still at the corner, merged with the shadows. This time, the glow of his eyes beamed intensely in the darkness, watching over Jongin. 

“Fuck…” He grunted, blinking. “Sehun?”

“Guess again.” Shixun's voice sounded out of it. Jongin sat up forcedly and searched for his phone, unaware of the time. He was probably late for the interview. 

“Where’s he?” Jongin had babbled too much nonsense earlier. It wouldn't surprise him if it scared Sehun off.

“About to call you.” As soon as Shixun said it, magically, the high-pitched ring from Jongin's phone startled him. It was Sehun, and if the bluntness in Shixun's voice was anything to go by, then it couldn't mean good news. 

“Sehun? What’s wrong? Where are you?” Jongin asked, preoccupied in the same heartbeat as Sehun had picked up the call. 

“I got stuck in the elevator.”

“Are you okay?”

He heard Sehun humming, followed by a shaky breath cutting through the line. 

“Can you come downstairs, please?”

“Yeah, hold on a minute.” Jongin disconnected the call and leaped off the bed, though he was still off-balance. He pushed a hand through his wildly disheveled hair and turned to Shixun. 

"Wait here, okay? I'll be right back." And then he was dashing out of the room in anxious steps. In the lobby, there was a mild tumult of people huddled in front of the elevators. Jongin easily spotted Sehun, thanks to his tallness, so he boldly pushed through the crowd. Kyungsoo stood to the side, attentively discussing with the staff. The elevator doors were left wide open, entrance now forbidden. 

“What happened?” 

“We’re terribly sorry. The elevator must have broken down. An incident like this has never happened before. Our implements have been fully operative and up-to-date as of recently.  We'll be looking into it immediately.” A staff member said, bowing apologetically at him as though she was at fault. 

“It’s fine,” Jongin told her in goodwill, turning to check on Sehun and involuntarily placing an arm around his middle. “Did you hit your head?”

“No, but it’s hurting.” Sehun pressed his fingers against his temples again. He looked awfully pale as well. 

“How long did you stay there? Can you breathe?”

“It wasn’t long. I’m okay. It’s just a headache now.” Sehun shrugged it off, attempting to smile to conceal the shrill uneasiness that swamped him. 

“He was panicking, though.” Kyungsoo chimed in with a straight face. “I was there with him.”

“I'll take care of him.” Jongin threw an arm around Sehun’s shoulder and dragged him away from the commotion, while prying eyes and furtive shuttles of cameras followed them.

The interviews were postponed upon request from Sehun’s PR team. An agreement for them to take place back in Korea was struck, and soon they had packed up and were flying back home. On the internet, a hot topic ensued due to their  ‘chemistry beyond the lab’  as many people were claiming. Jongin truly did not have the right mind to read further, but the fact their combined names were trending worldwide was a bit unexpected, especially when the netizens were barely mentioning the AI. 

While they drifted through the sky at least, they were far off from the intrusive buzz. 

“How do you feel now or should I be worried about this snuggling?” There was a burning cramp crawling up his arm where Sehun had been comfortably sprawled on for the last couple of hours, all wrapped up around Jongin’s frame. He wasn’t even ill or hurt, but he clung to Jongin as if his life depended on it. 

“So much better. You’re so warm.” He purred, rubbing his cheek against Jongin’s neck. “It almost pains me having to be torn apart from you.”

A flutter wave burst within Jongin at the way Sehun spoke so sincerely, with no hesitation, always so straightforward and certain of his feelings and opinions. Enamored wouldn't even begin to cover how Jongin felt. 

“I’m attending a wedding this weekend,” He said, stroking affectionately at Sehun's scalp. “Do you want to come with me?” It was a thoughtless invitation, but once it was past his mouth, there was no room to regret it. 

Sehun smiled blissfully. “Absolutely,”

Abruptly, the plane shook and bumped violently, startling Kyungsoo from his nap and pulling a gasp from Jongin as they jostled on their seats. They were facing turbulence.

"What's going on?" Jongin wheezed, gripping the arms of his seat. 

"It's fine. It usually happens. Don't worry." Assured Sehun, hardly affected. 

"Should I be concerned?"

"Let go of each other for a second and buckle up. I'll go check." Kyungsoo instructed, standing up and trudging down the aisle. Jongin broke into a cold sweat when the plane suffered another chaotic, irregular motion. He was absolutely terrified. 

"Are we about to crash?"

"No, we aren't." Sehun reached in and belted him up safely to his seat. Soon after, Kyungsoo returned, stumbling to the side as yet another erratic slam in the air occurred. 

"What is it? The weather?" Sehun yelled over the thundering airy sound in their ears. 

"No. Technical problems, apparently. But nothing too drastic. They're trying to control the situation."

Sehun heaved a breath and unfastened his belt with a click before rising to his feet and heading towards the cockpit. 

"Where are you going?" Jongin panted, panic stirring in his chest. But not even impending tragedy seemed to shake Sehun. 

"To assist the pilots. I'm a pilot too. Wait for me." 

Jongin sagged back in his seat, motionless and speechless as Sehun optimistically disappeared into the cabin. Oddly calm, Kyungsoo retook his seat and affixed his belt too. 

Perhaps it was Jongin's prayers or simply Sehun's all-around expertise that did it, but no sooner than later, the instability smoothly settled down, and Jongin could breathe in relief again, and soon they safely landed home. 

The open-air venue was beautifully arranged in a natural woodland setting, with rows of seats and petal-filled paths. It all seemed so dreamy and bright, yet not too extravagant or steep. It was nothing grandiose either, as there weren't that many seats available. It was a personal ceremony, restricted to family and close friends only, and the fact that Jongin still received an invitation spoke volumes. He wasn’t just a guest, but a cherished presence.

Although Jongin couldn't recognize most of the faces, he was glad he could be present to witness such a life-changing celebration. Sehun's hand rested at the bottom of his back, anchoring him through the gazes of the curious people who stared flabbergasted as they walked in together. 

At first, Jongin felt nervous, misplaced, nearly jumping out of his skin, but Sehun pushed a glass of champagne into his hands and made a toast with him, to nothing all that much special, just the fact they were together, perhaps. It was enough to have Jongin loosen up. It didn't take long for Jongin to stand out among the crowd, and soon they were surprised by a lady who turned up next to them, wearing a silvery dress that matched the color of her hair, the wrinkles around her eyes unable to corrupt the liveliness of her smile.

"Jongin, you look even more handsome than what I remembered." She fondly wrapped her arms around him. "You've grown so well." Jongin returned the gesture, though rather sheepish. Not much had changed since he was a small little kid coming to drop his childhood girlfriend off at Mrs. Kang's place. 

"Seulgi will be so happy to see you. Come on. She's getting dressed upstairs." She tugged inside Jongin by the wrist, earnestly restraining Jongin from breaking away from it as they went up the stairs. She pushed Jongin into a room, where the bride stood in front of the mirror, surrounded by her maids of honor. It awfully felt like trespassing, but when Seulgi turned and their eyes met, everything seemed just right.

"Oh my God, Jongin! You're here!" She gasped, marveling at the visit. 

"Hey there, Seulgi. I couldn't miss it for the world." Jongin greeted shyly, taking in her elaborate embroidered dress, with refined ruffles at her backside in divine draping. 

"Come here. I missed you so much." She pulled Jongin into a hug, and he was careful not to mess up her artfully braided hair. 

"I missed you too."

"I'm so glad you made it." Her voice lowered and cracked a little. Jongin held her petite frame a little tighter against him, still carefully so. “Damn it, I’m gonna ruin my makeup.”

"Is that  Oh Sehun outside? The Oh Sehun?" Yeri, their childhood friend, stood by the windows on guard. Her mouth fell open in astonishment as she snooped outside. All other bridesmaids gathered around her to sneak a peek, hissing eagerly among themselves. 

"He's with me." Jongin muttered, fumbling with his tie as the bridesmaid squeaked and gaped at him, awestricken. 

"You're dating a billionaire?! You're such a stud." Seulgi snickered and slapped him playfully on the shoulder, making a blush rise to his cheeks. 

"I'm not. We're not. He's just… making me company so I don't look like a total fool on my own."

"I don't think a guy like him would do that for anybody. But he’s doing it for  you ." She poked her finger against his chest emphatically, and Jongin foolishly tried to battle against the blush and the dummy smile, but failed miserably. 

"Just be happy, Jongin." She said, straightening the lapels of his shirt. “You deserve it.”

Truer words had never been spoken, but Jongin was still a long way down to actually be convinced of that.

The ceremony went by ripping tears from the guests and the bride herself. It all happened quite too fast, but no less touching. Seulgi’s vows were sincere and heart-melting, and Jongin couldn’t help picturing himself one day on the altar, tying the knots with the love of his life with just the same certitude. His gaze fell on the breathtaking man sitting beside him, whether it was involuntarily or on pure purpose, remained unsure.

The wedding reception followed soon after, and Jongin was surprised when Sehun grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to the dance floor. He’d assumed after the exchange of vows and the Father’s blessings, they would just take off, but evening was already soaking the sky and they were still celebrating, dancing and drinking and laughing, without a single care in the world. It was heavenly.

On that dance floor, among tipsy strangers and a melodious ballad song, they shared their first kiss. 

In the dimness of his room, Sehun’s mouth found Jongin’s, hot and hungry. Deft fingers tore at his clothing and Jongin let them, as eager as he was, sinking his own into his hair. Jongin’s fingers clenched ever so slightly as Sehun’s tongue pressed demandingly against his lips and he parted them, allowing the invasion, filling his mouth with the taste of him. 

“I want you,” Jongin whispered as Sehun’s mouth abandoned his own and began a nipping, sucking path down his vulnerable neck, making Jongin shudder and tilt his head back. He let Sehun pin him against the wall, let him map his body with his big palms, and let him take him as much as Sehun pleased. 

He had been so distracted by his own thoughts and the feel of Sehun’s lips on his skin that he only noticed his clothes had been fully removed when the night breeze from outside tickled across his bare skin. His hands quickly fell to return the favor, and the low growl of approval Sehun pressed against his shoulder made him gasp as it reverberated through him.

“You’re the most beautiful, Jongin.” Sehun rasped, as he lowered Jongin onto the bed as gently as possible. Sehun eased him onto his back, leaning over him. His eyes darkened with lust, making Jongin’s gut clench in anticipation. When he bent his head and took Jongin’s lips again in another kiss, the sight and scent and taste of him, made his head spin.

Jongin lost himself in the sensations, lost track of time as Sehun caressed every inch of his skin, worshipped every curve of his body with his hands and mouth. All that mattered was the feel of him. Jongin could feel the weight of his body pressing down on his own, molding them together, and Jongin no longer had the self-restraint to hold himself back.

“Please, Sehun. Come on. Make me cum.”

He only realized Sehun’s mouth had left his skin when he heard his own gasping. But soon his mouth was back on his chest, that clever tongue stroking the skin, ghosting over one of his nipples. Tasting, not touching. Jongin’s nails dug into his back hard enough to draw blood, but Sehun only growled in a way that made his toes curl.

It had been too long since the last time Jongin had been touched, perhaps never before was he so delicately dealt with as Sehun’s mouth worked on his nipple, sucking and licking and making Jongin tremble. 

His mouth moved down then, across his flat stomach, and Jongin couldn't prevent the strong shudder that wracked his body. 

His thoughts scattered as Sehun’s mouth enveloped his cock. His back arched and his hips thrust up unbidden to try and get more contact, but strong hands held them in place, and Jongin could gain no leverage to push harder. Sehun handled him with ease, wasting no time and driving him mad with lust. Every swipe of his tongue, press of his lips and bob of his head drove Jongin closer and closer to the edge, until his quiet gasps of pleasure became unrestricted moans.

“More, please. More.”

"Shh." Sehun immediately released him. The sound came out more of a grunt than anything, but the reprieve from the maddening sensation allowed Jongin to calm just a little. His breathing was harsh and heavy, and a warmth in his cheeks told him his face was flushed with arousal. The blood thundering in his ears ebbed just in time for him to hear a muffled wet sound followed by a ripping one, and Jongin knew without looking what would come next. So he waited, watching in anticipation as Sehun snapped a condom around his length.

He swallowed and felt slick long fingers move between his legs and pressed against his entrance. They waited there for a moment, rubbing teasing circles against the sensitive skin, as if seeking permission. Jongin could feel Sehun’s eyes on his face, watching him, so he indicated his approval with a twitch of his hips against his hand, and then one finger was sliding inside him.

Sehun’s other hand gripped Jongin’s cock and stroked it at that moment, distracting him from the initial penetration, but it was hardly needed. Jongin was so profoundly aroused that his body barely needed this preparation to coax it into accepting him. However, Sehun was obviously big and steadfastly careful. The slow, stretching massage of his inner walls was one part Jongin would not ruin by rushing.

The second finger slid in beside the first, and Jongin’s teeth sunk into his lower lip to muffle a moan. His back arched again as Sehun continued to assault his prostate, with Jongin’s nails scratching his back as he pressed himself eagerly against Sehun, who removed his hand from his erection, knowing the stimulation was fast becoming too much.

Then his fingers slid out too. Before Jongin could whine about the loss, Sehun’s hot thick cock slowly took its place inside Jongin, pushing into his walls, stretching him out mercilessly, and Jongin moaned long and low in helpless appreciation. Sehun’s mouth quickly muffled the sound, but it continued even as their tongues flicked lazily at each other, distracted by the sensations centered in their melded hips.

“Fuck, come on. Give it to me. Harder.” Jongin begged, squirming needily under Sehun.

Once Sehun had seated himself fully inside him, he began to move. Slow at first, drawing it out, and then moving faster and faster as his need urged him on, hitting that sweet spot within him that made him see stars over and over. Jongin once again lost all sense of time, of even himself.

Amid the pleasure, Sehun’s hand once again found Jongin’s cock between their bodies and jerked it roughly in time with the pace of their hips moving together urgently. Jongin’s lips tore away from Sehun’s to let out a choked cry of completion, mindlessly biting into the swell of his shoulder to muffle his cries as come coated their chests.

He felt Sehun’s thrusts become erratic and his face twisting as his orgasm broke, and together they both drifted into a haze of pleasure, Jongin dimly aware of Sehun still buried deep inside him.

Sehun’s body collapsed on top of Jongin, their heartbeats slowing almost in tandem. Jongin’s arms lazily wrapped around his back underneath the thick of his hair, keeping them warm, urging him to settle completely into sleep.

The night passed like an ephemeral dream, and morning rose sooner than expected. After a night of extensive mind-blowing sex, sadly, Sehun now needed to attend to his business duties, though Jongin was having a hard time letting go of him even as he saw the other to the door to bid goodbye. 

“I’ll call you later. I’ll text you too. All the time. You won’t get rid of me so soon.” Sehun grabbed a fist from Jongin's shirt and pulled him into a kiss to seal his promise. Jongin melted into the taste of him, his soul floating in a sense of cloud-nine that Sehun's arms gave him.  

They kissed some more, giggling into each other’s mouths and gazing into each other’s eyes until a thought occurred to Sehun and he pulled away with a small gasp. 

“Oh, we can have that date now at a fancy restaurant that you wanted.” He chimed eagerly as Jongin held his pretty small face between his palms, thumbs caressing over his soft cheeks.

“Did I?” Jongin arched his brow teasingly. 

“Yes, you did. I remember. You also wanted to get a bath with me naked, if I recall correctly.”

“Didn’t we just do that while you rode me?” Jongin saw Sehun’s cheeks reddening underneath his fingertips, and he planted a quick peck on his lips. “I’ll make sure to book us a nice restaurant. The most expensive one in the city.”

“You do that. It’ll be on me.” Sehun rubbed his nose against Jongin’s, and while Jongin was aware they were acting too cheesy and corny, he also didn’t care. 

“Of course it will. You’re the billionaire here.” 

Finally, after a few more pecks, Sehun departed. From the windows, with butterflies dancing in his stomach, Jongin watched Sehun’s Ferrari drive off until he was out of sight on the highway. Who would have thought that Oh Sehun would be the one to have him head over heels considering the misleading first impression he'd left when they first met? All it took him was a couple of smirks and a brilliant mind to stir up Jongin's entire life. 

Falling for Sehun was easy, as if they were just meant to be, and although it was a completely foreign feeling for Jongin, it burst within him and made itself at home in his heart with hardly any effort. Jongin sighed pleasantly and turned back, only to come across Shixun standing right behind him, stagnant and stoic. Jongin jerked backward and drew in a startled breath. 

“Shixun? I-- I didn’t know you were there.” He stammered, his stomach churning with a brutal sense of unease. “How long have you-- Did you hear us?”

“Being filthy all night? Making love? Yes, of course. There was no way not to.” 

The unease unfolded inside Jongin. It became guilt and shame. And it was excruciating. 

“I’m really sorry. Can you erase that? Please?” 

“You took him to the wedding too.” Shixun remarked, completely ignoring Jongin's inconsiderate request. Jongin winced, the guilt expanding through his whole soul. He'd fucked up royally with Shixun. 

“I did. Please, don’t be upset. I know I planned it with you before, but--”

“I’m just a hologram. It'd have been embarrassing. I get it.” Shixun spat and dematerialized into thin air, leaving only guilt to make Jongin company. 

Sehun didn’t call or text. Not only that, but he also didn't respond to Jongin's messages or answer his phone. Under other circumstances Jongin wouldn't sell himself so short by pursuing the other while, beyond any doubt, being coldly neglected. Maybe that was what it felt like to date a powerful businessman. Noncommitment. But on a larger scale, Shixun's condition was of utmost importance. 

Likewise, Shixun had been avoiding Jongin at all costs, unresponsive to his calling and even to the commands of his storing case, no matter how many times Jongin pressed its buttons. Shixun was tragically slipping through his fingers. 

Irritably, Jongin sighed and let his head hang low in dejection upon realizing he was nothing but a fool, incessantly spamming both Sehun's and Shixun's chat boxes, only to be met with no reply from either. 

His throat tightened and his eyes stung with the risk of spilling tears. He was such a fool for entertaining the idea that the night he'd spent with Sehun meant more than casual sex for him. All the promises and the heartfelt connection were worth nothing in the end. On top of that, his recklessness only encouraged Shixun to dislike him. 

How did things manage to fall apart overnight? Jongin's breakdown was interrupted by the call that reached the phone still in his hands, much to his surprise. He answered it hastily, with his heart in his mouth, but the voice that greeted him wasn’t the one he was looking forward to hearing. 

“Kyungsoo-ssi? Wh- Where’s Sehun?” A bad feeling crept up his bones. 

“At the hospital. He’s got into an accident,”

Jongin bolted to his feet, worried stiff. “Is he okay? What happened?”

“We’re not sure yet. The brakes suddenly failed. He’s awake and only slightly injured. He’s undergoing a few mandatory exams as of now.” Kyungsoo explained, something in his deep voice sounding weary. "He told me to call you as soon as possible."

“I’m on my way.” Jongin stormed off even before the call disconnected. 

In a thunderous rush, Jongin burst into the doctor’s office, grabbing Sehun’s hand and kneeling beside him as if Sehun’s life was put on the line anyhow. There was a small bandage covering Sehun’s left brow and faint bruises on his cheek. But apart from that, there was not much damage left. Still, Jongin’s heart was cold and beating erratically in shrill fear. 

“He’ll be fine,” Yixing, the doctor, assured as he methodically scribbled something down on a clipboard. “Thankfully, he only suffered a few scratches on his face. However, the batch of exams is extremely required due to the stimulator device inserted into his brain.”

“The  what ?” Jongin glanced at Sehun, puzzled and apprehensive. 

“Don’t worry. I’ve had it ever since I was a teenager.” Sehun enlightened with a sigh, but when he noticed the raw preoccupation brimming in Jongin’s eyes, he elaborated. “Long story short, I had a traumatic brain injury. It was ugly . I nearly died. But thankfully my parents could afford the rare treatment. Hence, the implant in my brain.”

Jongin gulped woefully, his eyes casting a gloom upon Sehun. “Is this what causes your constant headache?”

“Yeah, they've been chronic ever since. But I can live with it.”

“I had no idea…” Jongin lamented, his heart bleeding in devastation. He rested his head on Sehun’s knees and sniffed quietly. He felt immensely guilty for mistrusting Sehun too. “God, it must be so hard for you.”

“It’s fine. I’m not going to die, Jongin. Not so soon, not so easy.” Sehun chuckled as he ruffled through Jongin’s hair, tranquil as ever. 

Yixing cleared his throat discreetly, hands sliding into the pockets of his scrubs.

“He must rest until he’s through with the exams. If the headache increases, he should seek us as soon as possible.”

Heaving a breath of renewed sense of purpose, Jongin sprung to his feet and bowed vehemently at the doctor.

“Thank you! Thank you so much for taking care of him.”

Yixing let out a cheery laugh, clasping a hand around Jongin’s shoulder. “That’s what I’m here for. I believe he’s in good hands with you too.”

Somehow, the weight of that responsibility didn’t seem to trouble Jongin at all. 

“Come on, Jongin. I can walk on my own,” Sehun whined as Jongin helped him out of the car, protective hands keeping him near as they crossed the picturesque lawn that stretched all around Sehun's mansion.

“I’m worried about you!” Jongin huffed in protest, unwilling to tear away from him. It was his first time visiting Sehun's home, though he'd sort of pictured it happening under different circumstances, where he could find a breach to be impressed by all the magnificence and wealth that applied to Sehun's routine, the ordinary and simpler bits too, if there was any. Now, there was a much more critical concern clouding Jongin's mind. 

“This is exactly why I avoid telling others about it. I don’t want them to treat me like I’m fragile.” Sehun's complaints continued, and while he frowned upon the all-out supervision, Jongin still found it reasonable, all things considered. 

“It’s not just about that, Sehun." He breathed, his hold tightening around Sehun's hand. "Can’t you see something is not right? First the elevator, then the flight turbulence, and now your car. There’s a pattern here.” 

Sehun halted in his tracks and sought for his face, finally catching up to Jongin's intuitions.

“You think someone is trying to get me killed?”

Giving voice to his suspicions was too tortuous, it tasted like poison in Jongin's mouth, but if Jongin was certain of something, it was that his hunch was rarely mistaken. Nonetheless, it was too much of a hard pill to swallow. 

“I don’t want to believe that. But---” He trailed off, gnawing anxiously at his lip. The odds were clearly not in their favor, and the more they overlooked the obvious signs occurring recently, the more endangered they would be. 

“But what?” Sehun urged, tugging at his hand. 

“Shixun, he’s been acting weird lately. I’m scared.” Jongin uttered in a small voice, just the mere implication of Shixun doing them any harm made his heart shatter in anguish. It flashed in Shixun's eyes every time Jongin looked at him. Conspicuous hurt and hatred. 

“You think he’s doing it to me?” Sehun sounded incredulous, perhaps even heartbroken.

“To us,” 

“Has he done anything to harm you?” The concern thickened in Sehun's voice. 

“Not directly. But he’s clearly mad at me. Fuck, this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have developed him to be so… human.” Jongin felt his eyes watering. Giving him freethinking had been by far his worst mistake. "God, I messed up so bad. I made him dangerous."

Sehun shushed him, gathering him in his embrace to ease him from the torment. 

"It's not your fault. You were nothing but brilliant." He reassured him sincerely. “We should reset him. Start the project from scratch. Avoid certain advances in his system. We’ll have to work extra harder, though. But it’d be safer. We have no idea what he’s capable of or how upset he is.” 

“We can try reasoning with him first, can’t we? I don’t want to lose him.” There were too many memories to just be left behind without a fight, built in a short period of time but meaningfully all the same. Despite being soulless and unbalanced, Shixun still meant a lot to Jongin. If only he'd been more careful with Shixun's feelings, things wouldn't be falling apart.

“Listen to me, Jongin. I’m just as desolate as you are. But if it comes to it and he completely loses himself to his anger, we must delete him. No matter what.” Sehun asserted, the soothing rubbing up and down Jongin's back never failing to calm him down. 

“I guess we have no choice,” He mumbled, hoping it wasn't too late to make amends. 

Despite Sehun's protest, Jongin washed him up and fed him caringly. Pampering him was actually quite therapeutic, essentially because Sehun was such a soft-hearted person to dote on, from the way he spoke to the way he thought, contrary to what his semblance initially let show.  

“Where is he?” Sehun murmured while he slipped on a more comfortable change of clothes. Jongin was still mostly avoiding the subject, even though he knew eventually he'd have no choice but to face it.

“I deactivated him for the time being. But I’m not sure if he can actually auto-activate. He keeps just showing up.” 

“Leave him resting for now. It’ll take a while until I fully encrypt his data.” Sehun sighed, settling down on the bed. The plan was to reboot Shixun's entire program, though they were still figuring out a way for a software backup not to radically erase all his intel. It was better than not trying at all. 

“You should rest too. I’ll talk to him.” Jongin made sure to tuck Sehun in bed and that his medicine was within reach should another wave of headache be issued. When he was about to turn around, he felt a grip around his wrist, tugging him lightly. 

“Be careful.” Sehun blinked up at him tiredly. 

“He won’t hurt me. He would never do that.” Jongin grinned at him and leaned down to place a kiss on his forehead before switching the lights off and heading out. Shixun should have been around. He always was. Most times not presently, but connected. Silently, Jongin wandered around the stupendous spacious house, every corner he took more vacant than the other. 

"Shixun? Are you here?" Jongin called, only to be met with no response. "Can we talk for a minute? Please?"

His voice echoed through the walls, fading away across the corridors. 

"I promise I'm not mad at you. I won't scold you either." Jongin tried one last time, hopelessly. "Please?"

No answer came to him, nevertheless. The house remained eerily quiet. So Jongin gave up, despite himself. With sagged shoulders, Jongin retraced his steps back to Sehun, telling himself it was best if, for the time being, Shixun kept his distance. 

When he stepped back into the bedroom, he found Sehun standing up by the bed, his back to him, head hanging down. An exasperated exhale puffed out of Jongin's mouth, and his eyes instantly flickered towards the bed by default. It was empty and unmade. 

“Sehun? When did you get up?” Jongin asked cautiously, chancing a step forward. Suddenly, Sehun fell to his knees and cried painfully, hands clasping around his head. 

“It hurts. My head. It hurts so bad.”

“Shit,” Jongin hurried closer, bending next to him. “I’ll drive you to the hospital, okay?” 

But Sehun kept crying out and writhing in agony, as though he couldn't hear or see anything other than deadly pain . 

“Sehun! Please, hold on.” Jongin wailed, trying to restrain Sehun's spasming. He could see Sehun's skin reddening sickly, and the veins around his forehead protruding, as though about to explode. Then, in a fleeting second of despair, Sehun's hand flew towards Jongin and wrapped viciously around his neck.

“Too late, Jongin.” He sniggered, a green hue staining his eyes. It was Shixun. “ Liar ,” He gritted out into Jongin's face, who gasped and futilely tried to slap at Shixun's hands gripping him. 

“Shixun-- Please...”

“This is what humans do, isn’t it? They lie, they lead you on, and then they discard you.” Shixun's fingers dug forcefully into Jongin's skin, cutting off the air from him, and Jongin choked, his mind and vision growing foggy. 

“Leave him alone, please. Don’t do this. He created you.” He still managed to utter against the grasp. 

“And now he wants to delete me. How convenient.” Shixun shouted angrily, tossing Jongin down on the floor. “You told me I was better than him. You made me believe it.” He redirected all his wrath to his foot, ruthlessly stomping down Jongin's hand, crushing it against the floor. 

Jongin let out a strangled cry, searing pain sweeping up his arm. 

“Shixun please, you’re hurting me.”

“But you’ve hurt me too, Jongin. You thought I could only feel love, hope and happiness? You also taught me hate and pain. Now take responsibility for this.” Shixun reached down and hauled Jongin back to his feet, pinning him against the wall. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry,” Jongin kept saying, hoping it could somehow break him out of the spell. Shixun's other hand grabbed his face, tilting his head back until it hit against the wall. But other than that, Shixun offered no threat for a moment. He just stared at Jongin, his eyes going blank. His hand caressed down Jongin's cheek, fingertips tracing the outlines of his jaw, a mixture of adoration and hurt in his gaze. 

"So this is how it feels like… touching…"  He murmured, the ghost-like touch never lifting.  "I love you so much, Jongin. But it's not enough, is it? Luckily this little thing inside Papa's brain came in handy, uh?" He tapped a finger against the side of his head and smirked. 

Then Shixun leaned in, his movements rather aggressively and somewhat nervous. Jongin sucked in a shaky breath and closed his eyes for a second, before opening them again to search for Sehun deep under that hollow vessel that stared at him. He knew Sehun was still there, dormant or fighting off the force that took over him. 

He let Shixun kiss him. The press of their lips was dull and wicked. But even against the reluctance, Jongin went stiff and let him have it, let him yield to the kiss, until all his defenses crumbled as well. 

Jongin took that opportunity to shove his knee against Shixun's stomach, making him wince and double over himself painfully, releasing Jongin from his brutal grip. As soon as his feet touched the floor, Jongin sprinted out of the room. Tears were welling in his eyes as he dashed through the corridors, stumbled upon doors, and tripped over corners. 

He needed to get to Sehun's laboratory. He needed to wipe out every single file rooted into Shixun's program, before it was too late for Sehun. 

However, as he burst through the doors of the lab, helter-skelter, the lights went out with a bang. Darkness enveloped Jongin, and panic rose to his chest. The sound of footsteps reached his ears, so Jongin scrambled under a desk, hiding in the shadows. He could see Sehun's - No, Shixun's feet stomping impatiently around the room. Terrified, Jongin clasped a hand over his mouth to muffle a sob. 

“You can’t hide from me, Jongin.” Shixun bellowed. His voice didn't even sound like himself anymore. It just sounded heartless. “Come on. I am him now. I can take over forever. We can be together now.” He kicked wildly at a desk, and it flung across the room in inhuman force. “I can take away all his pain too. No more suffering for him. You can have us both.”

Jongin flinched and crawled further into a corner, but with every breath he took, it seemed Shixun edged closer and closer. 

“Either that or I can fry his brain right this second. It’s up to you.” Shixun let out an evil chortle. The monitors were still working, but unluckily, out of Jongin's reach. He'd never make it without being caught. 

The silence seemed to grow to a deafening sharpness in Jongin's ears, and it felt like Shixun wasn't moving at all. Then, he sneaked up on Jongin like a fierce lightning bolt, and yanked him from under the table by the hair. 

Jongin cried out as Shixun roughly dumped him against the cold steel counter, shattering and knocking over beakers and flasks. Jongin attempted to trash against the vile hold, but Shixun was too strong, his fury wayward. 

"Make your choice now, Jongin. I'm being so kind to let you choose. Just like you taught me." He smiled then, but it only reflected his rage. The Shixun he knew was gone. The one he had so carefully developed, the one who took care of Jongin, the one who was meant for greatness, only to succumb to his most lethal emotions. 

But if it comes to it and he completely loses himself to his anger, we must delete him. No matter what.

Sehun's voice echoed in Jongin's mind, and for a moment where everything seemed to become blurry and distant, that was all he could hear. Until his hand blindly reached out and grabbed the first thing his fingers grazed. He didn't know where the strength came from, maybe from the utter despair slashing through his gut, maybe from the fear of losing Sehun, who was being so cruelly abused, defenseless, and enslaved. With all his might, Jongin slammed the metal base of a microscope against the side of Shixun's head, a frenzied scream rippling out of his throat. The loud and deadly thump had Shixun collapsing listlessly to the side, out cold.  

“I’m sorry.” Jongin sobbed, letting the equipment drop from his hands as he felt a rush of air blow coldly in his lungs. "I'm so sorry." 

Time was running out, every second that passed with him just uttering apologies was a waste. Jongin scuttled to his feet and reached the computers. His mind was fuzzy, his vision blurry by incessant tears, and his hands were jittery, still Jongin pushed through the pressure and typed away. 

"Hang on there, Sehun. I'm going to save you." He said as his fingers blasted over the keys, setting up the deepest, most detailed- encrypted algorithms of Shixun's software. Now, one click, and he could delete the whole program. Forever. 

"Do it, Jongin. Show me who you really are. A selfish, opportunist son of a bitch. A killer." Shixun's face popped up on the screen suddenly, filling Jongin with consuming fear. 

"Do it. Kill me. Delete me!" The monitors glitched with the force of his fury, the image of his face, twisted in frantic insanity, hitched and hissed. 

Jongin's finger hovered over the button. He glanced at Sehun's unconscious body sprawled on the floor next to him. Shixun's laugh increased in volume in his ears. 

'Are you sure you want to permanently delete this program? You will no longer be able to recover this file.'

Cancel   delete it

With a sorrowful, teeth-clenched groan, Jongin did it.

When the deleting bar fully loaded on the screen, everything went quiet. The pound of Jongin's restless heartbeat was the only sound ringing in his ears. Breathing heavily, Jongin stood still for long seconds, staring shell-shocked at the screen, dreading Shixun would blink to life again to further torment him. 

But nothing came. The screen remained blank. Shixun had been exterminated for good. When Jongin finally broke out of the paralyzing stupor, he heaved a breath of relief and let his shoulders slump. He'd done it. He'd deleted Shixun. 

The ache was beyond bearing, too soul-crushing, and not even if he shed a waterfall worth of tears would help relinquish the guilt. He heard Sehun groan weakly by his side, stirring faintly from the black-out. Jongin sniffed and wiped his eyes, hurriedly kneeling down beside him. There was blood pooling around his head, a nasty wound split open on his forehead. The sight of it only made Jongin suffocate in his despair. 

“Sehun? Sehun, please talk to me. Wake up.” He grabbed Sehun by the shoulders, and shook him wretchedly. If he lost Sehun too, then there would be nothing much left for Jongin. 

This death too, would be on his hands. 

“Please, please. I can’t-- Don't leave me.” Jongin begged, grunted and sobbed. "Come on. Don't do this to me." He pulled Sehun into his arms and wept onto his shoulder. Sehun felt boneless and cold in his embrace, but Jongin was not going to surrender so soon.  

“Jongin… What happened?” Sehun's voice rose sluggishly. Jongin gasped and glanced down at him, stunned. 

“Oh my God. You’re here. You’re okay. You're alive." He cried, holding Sehun close. Relief had never felt this relishing before. 

"Ouch, my head. Am I bleeding?" Sehun grumbled, horrified by the disorder he found surrounding them, a disarray of shards of glass and blood. "Where's Shixun?" By the crestfallen tone of his voice, Jongin could already tell he had not much hope for the AI.

"It’s all better now. He’s gone. You're safe now." 

He whispered between tears, embracing Sehun tighter against him, but even in his most sincere assurances, he couldn't shake the feeling they were still being watched. 

Saying Sehun was a workaholic was a sort of an understatement. Narrowly a few months after the incident , and he was already pulling all-nighters in his lab for his latest project. With technology being risky as it was, Sehun had made up his mind to never again overstep the limits of an Artificial Intelligence. There was only so much in the field of technology he could venture on. As a consequence, the financial loss to the Oh Industries had been relatively disgraceful, but to an Oh, money loss was nothing less.  

“How are you feeling? Are you okay?” Jongin asked when he set a warm cup of tea by Sehun's desk. He had the terrible habit of skipping his meals when he concentrated on a certain task. 

“You’ve asked me five times now. I’m fine. I’m not going to break.” Sehun huffed, scratching lightly at the new scar carved into his forehead, courtesy of Jongin's own blow in a courageous attempt to save his life. It worked, as a matter of fact. It was a reminder he was a survivor. 

“Sorry. I just want to make sure.” Jongin mumbled with a pout, leaning against the desk. 

Sehun set down his glasses and slipped his hand into Jongin's. “I’ll be fine as long as you’re with me.”

“God, you’re so sappy.” Jongin rolled his eyes with a tiny little smile. 

“You love it,” Sehun blinked playfully at him, dropping a few butterfly kisses onto the back of Jongin's hand. “How do you feel, though? About Shixun?”

The question would arise one way or another, after all, Jongin could only mourn for so long. 

“I miss him sometimes. I feel sorry for him too. I can’t help feeling that I failed him.” He shrugged, staring down at his feet. All of his achievements were worth nothing compared to that particular failure.

“He failed himself. It wasn’t your fault.” Sehun said, lacing their fingers together.“You gave him will and he had to make a choice, very much like we all do, only he chose the wrong path.”

“I wish I could say he’s in a better place now…. But he isn’t anywhere at all now. Just gone. Erased.” The thought was frightening, and didn't appease the guilt in the slightest. Shixun had called him a killer, and indeed Jongin felt like one.

“You saved us, Jongin. Think about it. We were about to launch an awfully dangerous program into the world. Who knows the havoc it could have caused." Sehun told him, and when he realized Jongin was avoiding him, he tilted his head and rested his chin over Jongin's thigh. “I’m so proud of you. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did.” 

“I did it for you. I would do it again for you.” He said in all his honesty. Guilt might have been distressing him lately, but the reliability of Sehun's presence outweighed everything else. Jongin would have annihilated every single threat to Sehun's life with no hesitation. Be it human or mechanical. 

“I love you.” Sehun said then, and instead of returning it with his own words, Jongin responded with a heartfelt kiss. 

Behind them, as if on their own accord, for the briefest second, the computers flickered on, but they didn't quite catch it.