#101
Yoo Seong-woo saw the minister pulling out a knife with his uninjured hand. He also saw that knife pointing toward his neck.
Yoo Seong-woo barely managed to twist his body, narrowly avoiding the blade that was aimed at the center of his throat. A cool sensation followed as the blade grazed the side of his neck. There was also a stinging feeling, as if he’d been cut.
Yeon Tae-soo was running toward them. Yoo Seong-woo shook his head. He had seen the minister reaching out with his uninjured hand. A gun lay in the spot where his hand was headed.
Every movement registered in his vision. The minister’s hand finally reaching the gun, Yeon Tae-soo stretching his hand toward him, and even Yeon’s crumbling expression. How is it that human expressions are so vivid that one can read all emotions without a single word?
He could see everything, down to the movement of each speck of dirt floating across the construction site floor. It felt like there was a balloon inside his head. He understood why his creator had limited his functions immediately after completing him. This body couldn’t handle such a vast amount of information.
He moved his body like a whip. Just a little, just a little faster. Even if he couldn’t keep up with everything he was seeing, he urged himself to move just a bit faster.
Thump, thump. He could hear his own heartbeat. With everything appearing so clear, as if time had slowed down, he could feel his own condition perfectly. His entire body was screaming in protest as the price for expanding his functions. It was only natural, having forced himself to operate beyond his already expired lifespan.
He grasped Yeon Tae-soo’s outstretched hand. He tried to pull him closer while using that momentum to propel his own body forward.
This body was already broken. It wouldn’t be strange if it completely shut down in just a few hours, so it was better if he was the one to get hurt. What an intensely mechanical judgment.
Yes, that was all. Being a machine, he had simply made a rational decision. There would be nothing noble about wrapping around Yeon and dying. But that was fine.
As long as Yeon Tae-soo was safe, everything would be fine.
He pulled the clasped hand with all his might. Through the swirling dust, Yeon Tae-soo’s face suddenly came closer. Yoo Seong-woo, who had intended to send him backward using the momentum while moving forward himself, could see his expression.
Regret
Affection
Sadness
The emotion detection results appeared in the split second that would be imperceptible to humans. Something boiled up inside his painfully overloaded body.
Love
He thought that perhaps he would never be able to match the emotions of this human.
How could he, a machine, imitate such profound love?
Even though your feelings must be created by my cheap functions, why are they so intense?
He pulled the hand with all his strength. But Yeon Tae-soo didn’t come toward him.
‘Why…?’
With a face full of bewilderment, Yoo Seong-woo met Yeon Tae-soo’s face, which had a faint smile.
As he felt Yeon Tae-soo’s hand throwing him away, Yoo Seong-woo realized. Yeon knew that Yoo Seong-woo was going to shield him. That’s why he refused to be pulled closer.
He felt resentful toward Yeon who had read his intentions in that brief moment and sacrificed himself instead. The reason why he, an android, couldn’t win against Yeon even in this moment was probably because Yeon was human. Because Yeon had deeper emotions than he did.
I want to love you like a human.
I want to love you more than I do now.
In that brief moment of being pushed away from Yeon Tae-soo, Yoo Seong-woo begged again and again. No matter how much lifespan he had left, he wanted to give Yeon real love.
But all I can give are learned emotions. Even though it hurts so much and feels so overwhelming, it still won’t match your heart.
Yeon Tae-soo’s body jerked once. The recoil from being shot.
Yoo Seong-woo tried to move his body, which felt frustratingly slow, to reach Yeon Tae-soo again. Even the simple act of getting up after falling felt incredibly sluggish.
Yeon Tae-soo’s back, which should have collapsed, remained standing upright. No matter how enhanced his vision was, he couldn’t see what was hidden.
Therefore, only after Yeon Tae-soo withdrew his hand that had been reaching toward the minister could he read the situation.
A knife was lodged in one of the minister’s eyes.
Yeon Tae-soo took a step back. Another gust of dusty wind blew against his still straight back. A strange silence fell.
It was several seconds later when the minister’s scream was heard.
“Ah, AAAGH! AAAAARGH!”
The middle-aged man who had maintained a dignified, expressionless face all along let out a terrible scream. But the scream was soon drowned out by other sounds.
The military police rushed in. People in black military uniforms swarmed in and surrounded the construction site. Behind them stood Kim Ji-heon, holding a tablet.
The minister was taken away with the knife still embedded in his eye. He screamed until the end. The soldiers who had been restrained by Yeon Tae-soo’s subordinates were all arrested as well.
Only then did Yeon Tae-soo’s body begin to tilt. Yoo Seong-woo, who had been sitting down in pain from the overload, rushed to him.
A stream of blood trickled from Yeon Tae-soo’s mouth. His abdomen was soaked with blood. Yoo Seong-woo pressed on his wound with trembling hands. Blood quickly soaked his hands. Yeon Tae-soo’s hands overlapped his.
“Ah, this is the first time I’ve thought this body had any use.”
Emotions surged inside his painfully expanding body. Yoo Seong-woo’s face began to wet with tears.
“Seong-woo, you know. My body heals quickly.”
Yeon Tae-soo spoke in a casual tone, but blood was forming at the corners of his mouth. Yoo Seong-woo shook his head. No matter how remarkable his healing ability was, he had been shot. There was no way he could recover easily.
Tears welled up and fell, blurring his vision. Yeon Tae-soo smiled at him. Strangely, no warning message appeared. Despite his whole body aching from the overload and his chest feeling like it was being torn apart.
Perhaps because this wasn’t an error. This emotion wasn’t wrong.
“It’s okay, Seong-woo. Everything’s okay now. Hmm?”
Yeon Tae-soo patted the hand of Yoo Seong-woo, who was sobbing uncontrollably. Yoo Seong-woo cried for a long time, like a human, like a child.
Yeon Tae-soo repeatedly said it was okay. Even as he was being carried away on a stretcher, he never let go of Yoo Seong-woo’s hand. Yoo Seong-woo’s tears completely soaked Yeon Tae-soo’s hand.
Yoo Seong-woo continued to cry, ignoring everyone’s stares. He, a performance android, poured out his emotions disregarding his surroundings. He cried and cried until his tears soaked his clothes.
“Don’t cry, Seong-woo, Seong-woo…” His repeatedly called name finally became his own. Inside his body that felt like it would burst from overload, those three syllables that had daringly stolen a star’s name settled completely.
Shortly after seeing Yeon Tae-soo enter the operating room, Yoo Seong-woo lost consciousness.
***
The moment he saw the black background, Yoo Seong-woo realized he was having the same dream as before.
Stars twinkled like reflections on water against the rippling universe. It was remarkably beautiful for a scene reflecting his mental image. Quite impressive for a machine’s imagination. Perhaps because he was an arts android?
Yoo Seong-woo’s body floated through space in zero gravity. It was as peaceful as if his body were suspended in warm water. He let his body drift while admiring the stars embedded around him.
The starlight was warm and the darkness was comforting. He even thought that perhaps this was where he had been created.
For the first time in a long while, nothing hurt. He had been in pain so frequently that he hadn’t noticed, but now that he wasn’t in pain, he could finally understand how much he had suffered. I’ve been in agony all this time. He even felt a little sorry for himself.
After drifting for what could have been seconds or hours, he saw a figure in the distance gradually coming closer.
Yoo Seong-woo could recognize him. A man with the same face as his own, but without scars and with a gentler expression.
Yoo-hyun smiled faintly at him. His expression seemed somewhat proud and appreciative. He faced Yoo Seong-woo and moved his lips.
‘Thank you.’
Though no sound was heard, he could understand the meaning.
‘Brother.’
A term of address that he, with a manufactured rather than born body, never thought he would hear came from Yoo-hyun’s lips. Though no sound was audible, he could fully feel the affection in his voice—his brother’s voice.
Yoo Seong-woo smiled back at his brother. And slowly woke up.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
