#076
## Chapter 7
When Yeon Tae-soo finished speaking, Yoo Seong-woo couldn’t say anything. Any words of comfort seemed inadequate in the face of his pain.
“The sensation right after the surgery is still vivid. It’s hard to describe how terrible it was… but there’s no other way to express it.”
“…How old were you?”
“Probably ten. I was a sickly child. Smaller than others my age.”
Yeon Tae-soo’s voice was actually calm. It was more horrifying because one could guess that this composed tone was the result of adapting to extreme pain. How much he must have suffered. To undergo heart surgery as a child.
Yoo Seong-woo rose from his chair and grabbed his hand impulsively.
“It… must have hurt a lot.”
He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Of course it would have hurt terribly. Why did he ask such an obvious question?
“Yes, it hurt.”
But Yeon Tae-soo’s response made him pause.
A bitter smile had appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“Seong-woo, you’re the first. The first to ask if it hurt.”
The words that followed took his breath away. It seemed his adoptive father had carelessly cut into that young child’s body and hadn’t properly cared for him.
“Well, even though my adoptive father didn’t particularly take care of me, I healed on my own. Black moonstone is an amazing thing. I understand why people search for it with such desperation. Just having it implanted dramatically increases your recovery ability.”
The speed at which his wounds healed was certainly astonishing.
“Putting such a thing in a human body is madness. It’s the kind of idea only an android could come up with. Who would even imagine it? A human with black moonstone in their heart.”
His voice, with teeth half-clenched, flowed with suppressed anger. Yeon Tae-soo hated himself.
He might even think he was an existence that shouldn’t exist. A human with android materials implanted in his body.
‘But I’m no different.’
If anything, wasn’t he the existence that shouldn’t be? An incomplete body, an unfinished work, a failure. And an old piece that should have been discarded long ago.
“Didn’t the military… notice? If your body was modified by the surgery, they should have been able to tell.”
He asked to change the subject, but it was also something he was curious about. If the military had known, they wouldn’t have left Yeon Tae-soo alone.
“My adoptive father was an android specialized in hacking. He hid it brilliantly. All surgical records were deleted. As long as I keep my mouth shut, no one knows.”
“Your adoptive father…”
Yoo Seong-woo was about to ask if there was a risk of his adoptive father revealing the secret, but he closed his mouth.
“…He wouldn’t reveal it. Since he did it to protect you, Mr. Yeon.”
He nodded and smiled bitterly again.
“That’s right. My adoptive father was trying to protect me in his own way. Thanks to him, I couldn’t die and have stubbornly survived until now.”
He said he had been a mercenary. He must have faced death many times, but probably escaped more easily compared to the danger. As his adoptive father intended, the black moonstone would have helped his body recover quickly.
“Well, it still couldn’t restore completely damaged tissue. If it could, I wouldn’t need a prosthetic hand or eye.”
“…Such things would be impossible with any substance, not just black moonstone.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
A moment of silence followed. Yoo Seong-woo realized he had been holding Yeon Tae-soo’s hand tightly all this time and tried to let go, but this time Yeon Tae-soo held his hand and wouldn’t release it.
When a flustered Yoo Seong-woo averted his gaze, Yeon Tae-soo pulled the hand he was holding.
“The dulling of my senses and emotions is also because of this black moonstone. The little kid who used to get excited looking at dinosaurs in visual books tried to figure out the changes in his body by examining his MRI images and surgical records after coming out of the operating room.”
Yoo Seong-woo tried to imagine young Yeon Tae-soo in his mind, but it wasn’t easy. It was hard to believe that this man, bigger than himself, had once been small, weak, and in pain.
“In fact, while screaming until my voice was hoarse during recovery, I think I already realized it in one corner of my mind. That I could never go back to how I was before. That no matter how excellent my recovery ability was, I couldn’t regain what I had lost.”
“…You have every right to resent your adoptive father.”
Yeon Tae-soo nodded.
“There were times when I tried to think positively, wondering if it was a benefit. Well, regardless of the process, it’s true my body became stronger, right?”
There was a lot of self-mockery in his playful tone.
“But what’s broken is broken.”
What’s broken is broken.
For some reason, those words cut into Yoo Seong-woo’s heart. Even though he clearly knew Yeon Tae-soo was talking about himself.
“But what makes me most angry… is the fact that my adoptive father forcibly disposed of my adoptive mother.”
Yeon Tae-soo’s blue prosthetic eye briefly looked into the distance. Did he love his disposed adoptive mother? Did he… love an android? If he had depended on her and given her affection as a real mother, perhaps…
“My damn adoptive mother knew everything. How I would change, what pain I would suffer. Yet she voluntarily gave the black moonstone from her chest. Such touching maternal love from a mere machine. And yet I still keep the piano she left behind.”
At the word ‘piano,’ the grand piano Yoo Seong-woo had seen at Eden came to mind. It had seemed oddly out of place there, but now he understood—it had belonged to his adoptive mother.
“That’s stupid of me. I should have thrown it away.”
His voice suddenly turned cold.
“My adoptive parents modified my body without my consent when I was young, and as a result, my body became unable to feel and enjoy what others can.”
Cold blue eyes looked down at him. His body froze.
“That’s why I dislike androids.”
Though his tone was ordinary, somehow each word seemed spit out, landing heavily in his ears. Unable to face Yeon Tae-soo right in front of him, he lowered his gaze.
Unconsciously biting his lips fiercely, Yeon Tae-soo suddenly brought one hand to Yoo Seong-woo’s face. His soft fingers, not the prosthetic hand, pushed between his lips.
“You’ll hurt your lips. Stop biting them.”
As if it had never turned cold, the blue quickly became tender and enveloped him. That warmth felt even colder.
“The reason I’m telling you this story is because I want to get closer to you.”
“…I…”
“Yes, you don’t have to talk. Do it when you want to.”
Yoo Seong-woo had never resented Yeon Tae-soo so much. If only he weren’t so kind, it would hurt less. Why would he show such goodwill even in this situation?
And he felt sorry. Because the being in front of him was an android. Because he couldn’t even properly comfort him since he was the android that Yeon Tae-soo so despised.
“It’s okay now. Because you’re here.”
Misinterpreting his stiff expression, Yeon Tae-soo pulled his shoulder and embraced him. Held in Yeon Tae-soo’s arms, Yoo Seong-woo realized.
The fact that revealing his android identity and gaining his favor would be absolutely impossible.
***
Since Yeon Tae-soo stayed at the safe house continuously, Eden employees came and went for business. The burly men who were acquainted with Yoo Seong-woo would greet him with concerned faces.
Telling him about the weather outside and smiling awkwardly, they showed no hostility, which puzzled Yoo Seong-woo. Considering he had attacked Kim Ji-heon in front of them and fled, their attitude was incomprehensible.
This curiosity was resolved not long after, when one of the burly men, almost whimpering, lamented to Yoo Seong-woo.
“Do you know how heartbroken we were when we heard the story? Losing your twin brother, being practically driven out of your home…”
‘Twin?’
He’s talking about Yoo-hyun. The Eden employees seemed to think of him as the hidden twin brother of singer Yoo-hyun. Since it wasn’t exactly wrong, Yoo Seong-woo didn’t make excuses.
Rather, he felt relieved. The employees’ talk must have reached Yeon Tae-soo’s ears, and if Yeon Tae-soo was letting the rumor stand, he must be thinking similarly.
Even though he himself wasn’t asking Yoo Seong-woo anything.
“B-Boss, I mean, Mr. Yeon… had a really hard time.”
At first, he couldn’t understand what the man meant by his sudden confession-like statement. He was in the middle of putting the groceries they had brought into storage. Another man who had just entered with groceries interrupted.
“Hey, why are you saying that?”
“Well, it’s true. Since they’ve met again, he should know.”
What had happened to Yeon Tae-soo while he was gone? While helping move the groceries, Yoo Seong-woo asked casually.
“What do you mean Mr. Yeon had a hard time?”
“The boss couldn’t sleep and didn’t eat properly.”
Yoo Seong-woo’s hand paused briefly as he was moving a side dish container. He had guessed that Yeon Tae-soo had been looking for him, but…
‘Why?’
He had assumed Yeon Tae-soo might search for him, but why would he care so much?
No, he already knew the answer. He was just afraid to acknowledge it.
It seemed that his function as a companion android had created a kind of illusion for Yeon Tae-soo.
Human emotions are easily overlaid. If one perceives oneself as sad, one naturally becomes sadder. Affection must be the same.
“So seeing the boss so comfortable now, we’re just grateful to you, sir…”
Even now, Yeon Tae-soo didn’t look particularly comfortable. Seeing him anxious about what might happen to Yoo Seong-woo’s body next. If this was him being comfortable, Yoo Seong-woo couldn’t imagine how chaotic he must have been in his absence.
“The boss doesn’t even curse these days, and we’ve never seen him so soft before.”
“Yes, that’s right, sir. And nowadays, he seems to be sleeping well, his complexion is much better.”
Well, compared to before, he had softened a lot. But Yoo Seong-woo had never thought it was because of him.
“Anyway, sir, our boss might have done a lot wrong, but please cut him some slack. You can hit him, curse at him, just please stay with him.”
Yoo Seong-woo couldn’t help but smile with his eyes above his mask at the suggestion that he could hit and curse at their boss, and the men grinned back.
“I’ll finish organizing, so go ahead. Just let me put this in…”
Yoo Seong-woo paused as he was lifting the last onion net. The handle of the net slipped from his hand.
Was he tired? He bent down again to grip the net handle, but it slipped away just the same.
His hand had no strength.
Watching men also noticed something was wrong and approached. One of them took Yoo Seong-woo to the living room and sat him on the sofa.
“Sir, you must be very tired. Please sit for now.”
Seated, Yoo Seong-woo stared blankly at his hand. The hand with a pale pink tint and faintly visible blue veins seemed like someone else’s. It was fortunate that Yeon Tae-soo had gone out briefly. If he had seen this, who knows how much he would have panicked.
“…It’s just a simple side effect of the toxin, there’s no need to tell Mr. Yeon.”
The burly men hesitated at Yoo Seong-woo’s words.
“I’ll definitely tell him if it gets worse.”
With that added with a smile, the men finally nodded.
He was trying not to show it as he stood up when suddenly his vision flickered rapidly and an intense pain washed over him.
A large warning window appeared on his flashing visual display.
Unknown error: Partial sensory blockage
“Sir?”
“Are you okay?”
The men’s voices grew distant. After the threatening warning screen, the fuse blew out.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
