#055
His heart nearly sank at the words uttered by one of the big guys. Yeon Tae-soo had arrived. Isn’t it too early?
He heard the sound of the door opening and Yeon Tae-soo conversing with the big guys.
“Popo, even if you arrive… hide outside for a moment.”
Popo tilted its head quizzically while rushing over fiercely. Soon, a beeping sound was heard, indicating understanding. Yoo Seong-woo swallowed a sigh and reduced the size of the screen shared with Popo.
Sensory Sensor Abnormality – Blocking Warning: D-20 hours
Even amidst all this, time had decreased again. It was just a few dozen minutes ago that he saw the indication of one day left. It must be accelerating rather than decreasing at the same rate as real time.
“Dr. Yoo, are you in there? I finished work earlier than expected and came back quickly.”
Yeon Tae-soo’s voice was close. Yoo Seong-woo took a deep breath and raised his crouched body.
For now, it would be better to act naturally as if nothing was happening.
“You’re here.”
In the time it took to come out of the room and greet Yeon Tae-soo, 20 had decreased to 19. Yoo Seong-woo rubbed his thigh unnecessarily to hide his trembling hands.
“Are you not feeling well? Your complexion looks terrible.”
“Ah, yes. Just… I think I have a slight indigestion.”
Yeon Tae-soo came close and examined his face.
“Did you take any medicine? Are you in a lot of pain? Does your stomach hurt?”
“Ah, no, it’s not that. Really, it’s just a slight indigestion…”
Yeon Tae-soo’s fingers touched his cheek. A warmth he had now become familiar with.
At the same time, Yoo Seong-woo suddenly realized something. Except during sex, he mostly touched him with his non-prosthetic hand.
It was such a trivial fact, but the moment he recognized it, his body suddenly heated up.
‘What is this…?’
Surprised by the sudden heat, Yoo Seong-woo gently pushed Yeon Tae-soo away. Eyes dripping with worry examined him. A careful gaze, as gentle as the fingers that had touched his cheek.
Yeon Tae-soo grabbed his hand. Again, it was not the prosthetic hand.
Pulling up the hand he held, Yeon Tae-soo kissed the tip of his fingers with a soft ‘chu’.
“Do we need to amputate your hand?”
Sensory Sensor Abnormality – Blocking Warning: D-14 hours
The number had decreased again without notice. It seemed like only a few seconds had passed. Was it just his imagination that it seemed faster than before?
His heart raced. It was a natural response due to tension. It had to be. There was no other possible reaction.
“I just need to rest.”
Thump, thump. The sound was so loud he worried it might be audible outside. Yoo Seong-woo was so focused on watching Yeon Tae-soo’s expression that he didn’t realize his own face had turned red, nor that his hands were fidgeting uncontrollably.
“Really? Just resting will do?”
Their faces were suddenly close enough to touch. Yoo Seong-woo couldn’t avoid his face and just rolled his eyes around. This shouldn’t be happening. There wasn’t much time left.
“Should I buy you some digestive medicine? Or do you want to go for a walk?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Sensory Sensor Abnormality – Blocking Warning: D-10 hours
This won’t do. Yoo Seong-woo gently pushed against his chest. To be precise, he placed his hand on his chest as if to push him away.
What’s this hand on my chest for, Yeon Tae-soo looked down at him with a face trying to hold back laughter. Yoo Seong-woo turned his head away, feeling his pride suddenly hurt. He didn’t even notice that Yeon Tae-soo finally couldn’t hold back his smile and raised the corners of his mouth.
“I need… to rest a bit.”
“Alright, alright. Go inside and rest for now. I’ll sit here and do some work.”
He was worried Yeon Tae-soo might follow him into the room, but fortunately, it didn’t seem like he intended to. Yoo Seong-woo quietly locked the door with a sense of relief.
Sensory Sensor Abnormality – Blocking Warning: D-7 hours
It was clear that Yeon Tae-soo had been the catalyst. Otherwise, how could time decrease so rapidly in just a few minutes?
“Popo, where are you?”
He asked in a lowered voice while enlarging the screen he had minimized in one corner of his vision. Popo poked its head out from the dim screen. It was still on its way. The one fortunate thing was that it was nearly there. The surrounding roads and scenery looked familiar.
“Come carefully to the back of the hospital without being noticed by Eden staff.”
Popo beeped in acknowledgment and picked up speed.
Not long after, Yoo Seong-woo could sense Popo’s presence. He opened the small, high window and looked out to see Popo approaching cautiously but quickly.
“Did you dispose of the box?”
– Disposal complete! Incineration complete!
“Well done.”
The problem was that he needed to receive the medicine right away…
The window’s position was too high and too small for Popo to enter. Flustered, Popo extended its robot arm and waved it around.
“Take out one from the box and throw it to me.”
At Yoo Seong-woo’s words, Popo took out the box. After extending its robot arm, it sliced the box precisely with a surgical scalpel. Yoo Seong-woo was dumbfounded, thinking that’s probably how they do it in general hospitals too.
Regardless, Popo confidently took out one Centimeneide bottle and tossed it towards the window.
Yoo Seong-woo reached out his hand. Just then, there was a knock on the door.
“Seong-woo, should I buy you some fruit juice to drink? It might make you feel better.”
“Ah, no, no. I’m fine.”
With a clang, the medicine bottle he failed to catch shattered against the wall. Popo rolled its round body in place, and Yoo Seong-woo couldn’t hide the panic in his voice.
“…Honey, is everything alright?”
Yeon Tae-soo’s voice from beyond the door was incredibly affectionate, but Yoo Seong-woo swallowed hard.
“No, it’s nothing. The window was a bit misaligned… I’m fixing it. It’s fine.”
He might have offered to help or send someone in, but for some reason, he was quiet. That silence made Yoo Seong-woo even more anxious.
Should he say it’s really fine, twice? But that might make him more suspicious. As he was pondering, he heard Yeon Tae-soo’s footsteps turning and moving away.
It was strange that he left without saying anything, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
“Don’t throw it, try to lift it up as high as you can.”
As he whispered to Popo, its robot arm stretched out. However, Popo’s robot arm was too short to reach the high window.
Flustered, Popo blinked its lamp and then extended another robot arm to brace against the ground. Stretching both robot arms to their limit, it barely managed to reach Yoo Seong-woo’s hand extended out the window. A syringe that Popo always carried inside its body was handed over in the same way.
“Put the box back inside your body and enter through the main entrance as if nothing happened.”
– Roger! Roger!
Without time to watch Popo roll away, Yoo Seong-woo sat down on the bed and filled the syringe with the medication.
Sensory Sensor Abnormality – Blocking Warning: D-0 hours
It seems it doesn’t display in minutes. It says minutes, but he couldn’t know how many seconds were left.
While searching for a vein, his hand holding the syringe trembled violently. Stay calm, stay calm. Commanding himself, Yoo Seong-woo finally found a vein and inserted the needle.
Sensory Sensor Abnormality – Emergency measures are being implemented to block.
No… The warning message disappeared, and the next moment, a sensation like blood draining from his entire body hit him.
It felt like he had entered cold water. He realized how important what was leaving him was. He must not lose it. He must not lose these…
He reached out into the empty air, trying to grasp something invisible. And the next moment, his body tilted to the side and collapsed onto the bed.
“Ah, hic, ah…!”
Tears had already formed in the eyes of the man lying on his side in a rigid posture. Tears that flowed sideways soaked the bed.
His stiff body convulsed slightly, as if receiving an electric shock. And the next moment, all expression disappeared from Yoo Seong-woo’s face.
As if he had suddenly put on a mask, his face, completely devoid of expression like a different person, reflected the sunset coming through the small window.
He got up with that same expressionless face. The movement of sitting up straight and assuming a formal sitting position was not human.
Each muscle movement calculated for efficiency, and a face without the slightest disturbance. The tear stains remaining on the completely expressionless face even evoked a sense of eeriness.
“Seong-woo, your robot is here.”
Yeon Tae-soo’s voice was heard from outside. Yoo Seong-woo turned his gaze towards the door, but there was still no emotion in that gaze. Tears were still in his eyes, but his gaze was just hard. Turning his gaze was a simple reaction. It was the reaction of a ‘robot’ looking towards a sound it heard.
“Didn’t you say you sent this for repairs? Why is it so dirty?”
Yeon Tae-soo’s voice was heard again. Yoo Seong-woo’s emotionless lips finally opened.
