Sentimental Shower

#023

Mr. Yoo didn’t have human-like intuition. However, he did have the ability to read the “atmosphere.” As most performance androids do.

The body temperature of Yeon Tae-soo, the only human in the stairwell; the sound of breathing detected between brief silences; the shape of the shadow touching his back. All of these were leading to one conclusion.

Don’t turn around.

His vision was filled with warning messages about skyrocketing heart rate and stress levels, but he couldn’t see them. He mulled over this fact. I can act this much, can’t I? That’s how I was programmed.

How contradictory that this terribly “human-like” fear only subsides when he becomes aware of the fact that he’s an android.

The breath he inhaled and exhaled smelled of fear. He reminded himself that he was an android optimized for “performance” and composed his usual expression.

It took less than two seconds from hearing the voice to creating the expression and turning towards Yeon Tae-soo. If it had taken any longer, it would have certainly aroused suspicion.

“I was wondering how much further I’d have to go down these hot stairs, but I’m glad I ran into you, President.”

Fortunately, his system, reading Yeon Tae-soo’s expression, made no particular judgment. It meant there were no noticeable intense emotions.

Maintaining eye contact with Yeon Tae-soo, he climbed back up the stairs he had been descending. He didn’t forget to let out a small sigh as if tired.

Yeon Tae-soo’s gaze scanned him. In the dim stairwell, his blue artificial eye looked like a glinting blade.

He hadn’t been caught. There’s no way. It hadn’t even been a few seconds since they met, so there was no reason for suspicion.

“You get lost often?”

The question, asked with a slight tilt of the head, sent chills down his spine, but Yeon Tae-soo surely wouldn’t know that.

“What kind of building is this? Who designed this structure?”

Afraid his nervousness might show, he deliberately snapped back sharply.

“Are you directionally challenged?”

This time, he asked with his head tilted slightly to the other side. There was a hint of a smile on his lips, but not in his eyes.

“Cutely so.”

With this added remark, his eyes finally showed a hint of a smile, and only then did Mr. Yoo feel relieved.

“I hope you get lost often, Mr. Yoo.”

“…What kind of new curse is that?”

“That way you’ll have to ask me for help, won’t you?”

He couldn’t bring himself to say that even without getting lost, he had no choice but to ask for his help.

Mr. Yoo was afraid. Afraid that someday, he might have to cling to this man, begging him to help him, to save him.

Yeon Tae-soo held out his hand. The hand he grasped wasn’t a prosthetic, so it was warm.

Guilt welled up. Why was he so kind to him? He was only trying to use Yeon Tae-soo’s power.

“Looking at the tiny place you live in, you don’t seem to have claustrophobia…”

As they climbed the stairs together, Yeon Tae-soo spoke. It sounded like he was talking to himself, so Mr. Yoo didn’t respond.

At a landing between floors, Yeon Tae-soo suddenly stopped. Mr. Yoo looked up. The man beside him turned his head. His artificial eye seemed to be absorbing the dim light.

“But why do you look scared?”

It felt like he could hear his own heartbeat. Thump, thump. The heartbeat that sounded like a second hand tearing through the silence continued until it was interrupted by the sound of Mr. Yoo climbing one more step.

“Are you talking about me?”

“Aren’t I?”

This time, he could discern the emotion visible on his face. Curiosity. He couldn’t relax. Curiosity is the closest friend of suspicion, after all.

“You look scared.”

Mr. Yoo ignored him, shook off his hand, and took a step forward. Yeon Tae-soo quickly caught up with him, taking two steps at a time.

“Don’t worry, honey. As long as I’m here, Eden is safe. If you’re my person, that is.”

To receive his protection, he had to become his perfect “person.” Mulling over this obvious fact, he climbed the stairs.

***

Mr. Yoo had never really appreciated the importance of windows, but staying in a room without a single window was more suffocating than he expected. He hadn’t realized he would miss the small window in his room behind Byeolbyeol Animal Hospital.

After tossing and turning for a while, he carefully got up. The scene inside the bedroom looked like an oil painting painted in bluish hues.

The digital clock embedded in one wall came into view. 5:05 AM. It felt like three hours had passed, but it hadn’t even been an hour since he returned to the room.

What were the chances of running into Yeon Tae-soo again if he went out now? His brain couldn’t even perform such a simple calculation.

He couldn’t shake off the thought that if he went out now, he might run into Yeon Tae-soo again, or his subordinates might report sightings of him. He felt anxious.

He abruptly got up from the bed. He couldn’t bear it any longer. He decided to go out for now. If Yeon Tae-soo caught him, he planned to make the excuse that he couldn’t sleep and was just walking around.

As he stood by the door, listening for any sounds outside, he heard someone passing by. Leisurely footsteps. Steps that didn’t seem to be trying to hide their presence.

Mr. Yoo quietly pressed the peephole button. Through the now-transparent door, he saw a figure.

‘Why is that man…’

It was the man he had encountered in the room with the grand piano. The man with hair close to blonde.

The man hesitated for a moment in front of the door, then disappeared. Mr. Yoo hurriedly turned off the peephole function and took a step back.

Why would that person come all the way here? It was unsettling because there was no reason for someone who didn’t know his face to come looking for him.

Once startled, his desire to go out quickly cooled. How much time had passed? Probably about ten minutes since the brown-haired man left. He was considering just lying back down on the bed.

Thump thump. The sound of someone knocking on the door with their fist startled Mr. Yoo, and he took a step back.

“Are you in there?”

It wasn’t Yeon Tae-soo’s voice. It wasn’t the voice of the brown-haired man from the grand piano room either. And it didn’t seem like the big guys would speak to him so informally.

He took another step back, holding his breath. It didn’t take long to realize that the voice he just heard belonged to the captured android.

He approached and lightly pressed the peephole button next to the door. About half of the door became transparent, revealing the outside.

The unwelcome visitor revealed through the peephole function was indeed that android man from earlier. Although the outside couldn’t see in, looking at the clearly visible outside made him uneasy, so he pressed the button again. The door became opaque once more.

He held his breath, hoping desperately that his presence inside wouldn’t be discovered. Why had this person come? He didn’t need to think too deeply about it.

‘He must have come to make a deal.’

Anyway, this person was currently captured by Yeon Tae-soo. And he also knows that I’m an android. Of course, he must also know that Yeon Tae-soo despises androids.

However, he had no reason to make a deal with this person. It was clear who would protect him better between an android caught stealing money from Eden and the owner of Eden.

“Hey. Teacher… was it? As I said earlier, I’m a security android. I can see through doors like this.”

The feet that were quietly retreating stopped abruptly.

“So, shall we have a chat?”

He inhaled. If there had been a mirror in front of him, his facial expression would have been identified as fear and displayed on the screen.

He didn’t answer. Right now, that person was outside, and he was in a safe place, and in a little while, Yeon Tae-soo’s subordinates would realize that person had disappeared and start looking for him.

Even if it wasn’t for this incident, subordinates were always coming and going in the corridor. One of the passing big guys would soon discover that man.

“I can guess what you’re thinking, but for about the next ten minutes, no one will pass by here. I tweaked the system a bit. They’ll all be gathered elsewhere.”

Not knowing exactly what functions a security android had, he couldn’t determine whether his words were true or false. Would it be possible if he could read his expression? Can a machine judge another machine?

“You seemed close to the boss here. Then you must know that human’s personality.”

It was time for clear words of threat to begin. Mr. Yoo became curious about the probability of there being CCTV in the corridor and the likelihood of that CCTV recording voices as well.

“…What do you want to talk about?”

He decided to stall for time for now. If one of Yeon Tae-soo’s subordinates came and took him back, he might be able to confirm his location.

“Help me escape with the money. Then nothing will happen to you either.”

It was as expected. He took a small breath to compose himself.

“Why should I comply with your demand?”

After taking a breath, he felt a bit more stable. He even found some courage he didn’t have before.

“Obviously because you don’t want Yeon Tae-soo to find out your secret.”

“Do you think Yeon Tae-soo would believe you? As you said, I have a close relationship with President Yeon Tae-soo, so whose word do you think he’d believe?”

“…At this rate, I’ll die. By Yeon Tae-soo’s hand.”

This time, a bitter laugh escaped him. The android was mistaken. He wasn’t the type to feel solidarity with his own kind. He had experienced too many betrayals to feel such things.

When he didn’t respond, perhaps the other became anxious. He heard the sound of pacing and sighing outside the door.

“Hey, there seems to be some misunderstanding, I’m not trying to threaten you…”

The voice cut off. Mr. Yoo listened intently. Soon he could filter out an unusual noise.

“Ugh, urgh?”

The android man made a bewildered sound. It seemed like his mouth was covered. Then, thud, thud. The sound of someone being hit was heard. There was also a terrible sound like bones breaking.

“Ha, this is ridiculous.”

And then a familiar voice.

“How did you get out? Huh? You tin cans have all sorts of tricks. This is why I hate you guys.”

Yeon Tae-soo, who spat out these sharp words, seemed to take a breath. Again, the sound of flesh being crushed was heard. Occasionally, the muffled groans of the android man could be heard. There was also the sound of blood splattering mixed in. Mr. Yoo belatedly realized that he was covering his mouth with his hand.

Yeon Tae-soo had once asked him if he had a strong stomach. Saying that he must be used to seeing people with severed hands every day.

Of course, he was used to amputation patients. He didn’t panic at the sight of severed fingers or hands. But why couldn’t he still adapt to violence?

He had shot and killed people with his own hands more than once. Yet why was he still afraid of violence committed by others?

The sounds of punching and kicking finally stopped. And before he could feel relieved, another sound followed.

It sounded like squelching or tearing. As a doctor, he knew what kind of sound it was.

The android man’s groans had stopped.

He took a few steps back. The noise he had just heard was still ringing in his ears. A sticky fear flowed from his earlobes down his neck.

And then footsteps approaching the door.

“Honey.”

With a beep, the sound of the lock being released, the locked door opened from the outside.