Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

technically, he's safe.

in the middle of a virus, killing off humans and eating away at their minds, he's safe.

the creatures don't smell him, they don't perceive him. they run off, chasing anything that was alive and wanting to further their species. it's a common goal amongst living creatures but it's certainly not through any kind of reproduction he'd ever seen, so he's not sure how to perceive them either.

alive, unalive, dead, undead? it doesn't matter. he knows that they're more alive than he is, though.

"please, pl-please help me, please—!" the person is eaten right before his eyes. and what does he feel?

red. gore. guts, blood. those things are supposed to be on the inside, he thinks. the person in front of him dies. the zombies have their gnaw and ignore him. the creatures don't sense anything living in him.

that thought stings a little.

so he doesn't feel anything for the human. is he supposed to?

he was scheduled to get powered down permanently and sent to be scrapped in a mere amount of hours because of the fact that he could feel. so why doesn't he feel anything for that person who just died?

there's no use thinking about it now. the human's already dead and one of the creatures. the creatures groan at him, walking aimlessly past him. he just watches it as it hobbles away, no second thought to him.

well.

if he wasn't going to be scrapped, then he supposes he should stay that way.

he picks up the wallet of the person who had died in front of him.

inspects it. leafs through it.

there's some other cards. there's a wad of cash.

there's an identification card. 

jeon wonwoo.

that sounds like a nice name.

INPUT NEW NAME:

JEON WONWOO

CONFIRM?  >YES  >NO

electricity isn't so hard to find. it's everywhere.

but not when there's nobody to man any utility units. so wonwoo  (he rather likes this name) decides that maybe it's best to venture out and find one. or a battery or charger for himself, which would be more ideal.

wonwoo passes by a lot of wreckages, vehicles that crashed into others and buildings and such. 

when wonwoo stops in stores or buildings to charge himself up again, everywhere inside is also a wreck.

sometimes, he feels heavy at the amount of messes there are, human remains and human absences. no one ever expected the world to fall apart like this, no one ever expected there not to be humans around to take care of their own dwellings.

he wonders why he feels so heavy when there's no physical weight on top of him.

he prods at his own chest during those times, checks his systems, checks how much weight he's carrying.

nothing ever comes back wrong and yet he wonders why he doesn't seem to feel any lighter.

unlike his peers, wonwoo wasn't equipped with pain receptors yet.

actually, he wasn't outfitted with much in general, an unfitted being who happened to sprout sentience where he wasn't supposed to. he'd only just been physically built when the white coats realized this, promptly being shipped off with a partial database and half-finished to be discarded already.

wonwoo supposes it's a good thing he didn't have any nerve endings, therefore freeing him from the pains of... pain.

he doesn't feel cold or hot, he doesn't feel hungry, he doesn't feel hurt, he doesn't feel sleepy. it's a blessing and a curse, wonwoo supposes. he can't feel his pains, so therefore he can't solve any bodily problems either, relying on simple system error messages to tell him to recharge or take breaks.

the first living human wonwoo finds (after the previously alive jeon wonwoo) isn't as helpless as his namesake was.

"dino! run! i'll take care of it!" the bright-haired one shouts to the other. wonwoo's a little confused, but he stands there, surveying them. he'd never really encountered humans outside of white coats before. "hyung, what is it?!" the other calls, cowering behind the bright-haired human. the bright-haired one twirls a metal pipe in his hands.

"not human, that's all we need to know!"

wonwoo only takes a step back when the he starts running towards him at an alarmingly fast speed, pipe raised menacingly—

clang.

wonwoo stares at the end of his wrist, where the metal pipe made contact. there's a dent in it now. the human almost falls back from the knockback, backing up from wonwoo. his eyes are wide, staring at wonwoo.

"what the hell? what are you?"

uh.

okay.

"hoshi hyung!" the other boy calls, still standing a distance away.

wonwoo's hand twitches. wonwoo's gaze switches into intermitted glances from the human to his hand. his hand keeps twitching.

"uh," is all wonwoo says before the human apparently snaps out of his shock and starts backing up even further.

"hoshi, let's go," the other boy has apparently found the courage to approach them now, seeing as he drags his hyung by the back of the shirt away from wonwoo. his eyes are latched onto wonwoo though, even as he pulls the bright-haired boy away, slowly, like sudden movements might spur wonwoo into action.

wonwoo blinks at them. "hi?"

bit late for a greeting, but it wasn't like wonwoo was equipped with social skills either. meant to be scrapped, remember?

and then the pair are running.

wonwoo blinks again at their retreating figures.

and then his hand falls off.

wonwoo inspects his hand. it's like his left one, but mirrored and on his right. and loose from his body.

the wires in his wrist are the only things keeping his right hand from completely detaching, so he thinks it can't be too bad of a situation. still, wonwoo tucks his right hand into the pocket of his jacket (another dead person's jacket. he can't feel temperatures or textures, but he still thinks it's a nice one) and ventures on.

he adds 'new hand' to his meager list of needed supplies. 

(it only has two supplies needed at the moment: battery and 'new hand')

wonwoo stops by the nearest electronics store.

"excuse me, would you know where to get a new hand?" wonwoo asks as he leans over the counter. someone's crouched over behind it with what wonwoo assumes is the store's work uniform. "my hand is coming off and..."

wonwoo trails off when the figure lifts their head. wonwoo frowns at the disfigured face in front of him. "urgh?" the creature asks, clearly not human anymore. "i.." wonwoo's eyes trail down to the dead body below the creature's form. "sorry. continue on."

the creature grunts at him and then bends over again, going back to it's meal.

how rude of wonwoo to interrupt it like that.

wonwoo walks away from the counter to peruse the store himself, wandering around the aisles. his eyes scan the rows, the information scrolling along his vision as he tries to take in all the products being advertised.

his attention catches on a small, bright sign.

portable charger! solar, portable, long-lasting, durable!

wonwoo picks up the small device under the sign and pockets it.

after a few moments, he picks up a few more and pockets those too.

the next human he runs into wears a white coat

he wears a white coat, yet he is nothing like the scientists where wonwoo came from.

he brandishes a knife at wonwoo and wonwoo lifts his hands up. admittedly, he feels a little silly for doing that but he's seen humans do it in their television shows and web dramas in the face of authority. the short boy in front of him does not feel like authority, but wonwoo submits anyways. humans like their sense of control.

the human's eyes catch on wonwoo's hand. wonwoo follows the gaze.

ah, shit.

he had forgotten about his hand, right now fully showing off his fritzing wrist with wires on full display, attached to his hand. 

the boy's knife slightly lowers and his eyebrows knit in confusion.

"uh," wonwoo says intelligently. "i come in peace?"

"take no step closer," the boy says sharply, pulling the knife up again.

"robotics is not my strong suit, so i don't trust you, okay?" the boy grits out and wonwoo just nods, perched in the corner on top of the stool. he's cornered, he thinks. wonwoo doesn't have nerve endings but if he did, he'd expect the seat to be very uncomfortable and feel fear at the sight of the knife.

wonwoo hadn't had the chance to see many human medias, but he's sure being cornered in an abandoned warehouse is not an uncommon setting. for medias, anyways.

"are you a cyborg?"

"no." wonwoo simply states. the boy frowns at him.

"then what are you?"

"a," wonwoo says. "uh,"

"great. even you don't know what you are?" the boy asks, glare so cold wonwoo wants to shiver. he doesn't though, because he's not cold. obviously.

"i am a robot? android?"

"bullshit. no way can you guys just be running around like this." wonwoo isn't sure what that means.

"i don't see what bull droppings have to do with anything."

the human sighs.

"what's your model?" 

oh, that's an easy question.

"GAM3-801."

"a GAM3?" the human repeats back and wonwoo nods.

"huh." the boy studies him with a different expression. wonwoo hasn't been around humans enough to know what that means.

"my name is... woozi."

"i'm wonwoo."

the human looks at him skeptically. wonwoo suddenly worries if his name was too weird. it's a human name, isn't it? maybe he should go with his model number next time to start.

"you're on your own, right? a runaway?"

wonwoo blinks at the other. he supposes that sounds right, a 'runaway'. he did run away from being scrapped.

"yes." wonwoo says. the other narrows his eyes at him.

"i have no one with me." wonwoo says, adding on in case woozi didn't understand.

it appears that woozi does, though.

"look, i'll strike you a deal." the boy does his best to hide his wince as he walks around wonwoo, putting weight onto what wonwoo assumes is an injured leg. it makes sense why the human was so defensive now, wonwoo supposes.

"i'm not someone who works with robotics, but i can reattach your hand over there." wonwoo perks up. "really?"

"only if you help me out first." woozi glares at wonwoo but wonwoo just nods, undeterred by the boy's attempt to be intimidating.

"hi, woozi." wonwoo chirps, entering the warehouse. wonwoo's feeling the lightest he had in days despite having his hands full with supplies.

"don't say hi to me." wonwoo blinks at the odd request. he had thought humans needed to greet each other when they met.

he ignores woozi's gruffness and sets the plastic shopping container on the floor. "i got you your stuff."

"okay. back up and stay near the doorway." wonwoo complies, backing up a safe distance.

woozi unsteadily pushes himself to his feet and makes his way over to the plastic container, hands rifling and rummaging through wonwoo's stolen goods. woozi had asked him to get a variety of supplies for him from the nearby grocery store. there were a lot of things wonwoo had to look in his database to define what he was looking for, stuff like water bottles, bandages, tools to fix wonwoo's arm, food—

"wonwoo, this is the wrong thing." woozi frowns at a small glass container.

"food?" wonwoo wasn't sure what woozi had meant by a lot of his supply list so he just looked for any containers that were actually labeled with what woozi wanted. like 'food'.

woozi gives him an unimpressed look. "this is for babies."

"but it says 'food' on it. am i mistaken?"

jihoon sighs. "very." 

"so different foods are needed for different humans. babies are small humans, the one just born that scream and cry all the time? that's them."

wonwoo does his best to take notes in his head. he doesn't have a built-in voice recorder though, so he tries his best to memorize it into his database.

"the ones that i can eat are the ones in cans. a lot of those are nonperishable, meaning i can eat them because they haven't spoiled yet. when you get me food, get cans."

wonwoo nods. "okay." he makes for the door, slipping out to do another supply trip.

"wait, wonwoo, i didn't mean you had to go right now—"

but wonwoo's already out the door, determined to do right this time.

"your skin is very soft."

woozi's hands are steady on wonwoo's wrist as he tries to reconnect the hand back to it. it's a little after wonwoo had come back from his second supply trip and granted woozi with the right foods this time. woozi had instantly pried one of the cans open and eaten right then and there, eyes never leaving wonwoo's until he was done.

and then he had beckoned wonwoo over to take a look at his hand, the closest they had been in proximity thus far.

"yes. i've overheard that the skin grafts and hair implants were top of the line." wonwoo nods.

woozi glances up at him, but only for a moment. "for a GAM3, i'm sure they were. aren't you supposed to be naturally regenerating too?" 

"yes. i am unfinished though, so i don't have a lot of my features, if that's what you're asking."

this time, woozi stills his hands and actually looks up at wonwoo. "what, you're saying you didn't just walk out of an android store?"

"no, i did not. my physical body was only finished hours prior to the decision to scrap me."

"oh." woozi shifts. "i'm sorry."

wonwoo looks at him curiously. "for what?"

"for.." woozi trails off. "you know what? never mind."

this continues for a few more days.

wonwoo goes out for supply trips during the day and woozi stays in the warehouse, eating and sleeping in wonwoo's absence.

in the evening, woozi works on wonwoo's hand and stays alert all night.

wonwoo flexes his hand.

"good?" woozi asks.

wonwoo nods, pleased smile making its way onto his lips.

"that's good."

"why do you not sleep in the night?" wonwoo asks. "don't humans stay awake during the day and sleep at night?"

woozi had just shrugged. "i'm usually the one taking night watches and doing work at night. i'm used to it."

wonwoo tilts his head in curiosity. "'night watch'?"

woozi blinks at him. the two stare at each other for a little bit.

eventually, woozi looks away and turns his attention to something completely unrelated.

"what are these?" woozi asks, nudging at the solar portable chargers wonwoo had placed in the window. the sun had gone down already, and they had turned on the electric lanterns, so there was no sunlight to charge them. they should be fully charged though, so wonwoo stands to collect them.

"they're my chargers." wonwoo says simply and checks the chargers. 100%  beams up at him and wonwoo tucks them into his jacket pocket, satisfied.

"..right." woozi says, facial expression not changing. maybe woozi was still confused.

"i use them to recharge, like how you eat to recharge." wonwoo tries. woozi nods slowly. wonwoo thinks on how he could be clearer to the other.

wonwoo unzips his jacket, pulling it down all the way and woozi chokes. wonwoo ignores him and just points to his charger port on the side of his hip. "see?" wonwoo looks up at the other, whose mouth was open and seemed to be staring in shock at wonwoo's bare torso.

"y-you're not wearing anything under there." now it's wonwoo's turn to be confused. he was wearing a jacket and pants, but no, he wasn't wearing anything under the jacket. it's not like his inner wiring and machinery was bared to the world either, so why was woozi so still?

wonwoo frowns. maybe he was cold? so cold that he froze? 

wonwoo decides to be outright.

"are you cold?" wonwoo asks. "i— uh," unintelligible words come out of woozi's mouth. was the cold getting to his brain? nighttime does make the world colder, wonwoo thinks.

what do humans need to not feel cold?

wonwoo leans over, his arm spread out towards woozi. human's hug to generate warmth, right? "what are you doing? don't touch me," woozi says and pushes wonwoo away. wonwoo twists his lips contemplatively .

okay, so maybe that wasn't the way to go.

wonwoo starts taking his portable chargers out of his jacket pockets and starts shoving them into his pant pockets instead. woozi just watches on warily.

"if you're cold, then here," wonwoo says, taking off his jacket and approaching woozi. the human's reaction is instantaneous. "w-wait! no! you can keep it!" woozi waves his hands in front of him. wonwoo falters. "but aren't you healing? you need to stay warm for your body to operate properly." wonwoo says, nodding towards woozi's clothed leg.

"w-well that's, uh," woozi stammers, eyes averting from wonwoo. "just keep your jacket!" his face is weirdly red in the lantern light. wonwoo's doesn't understand his reasoning and just places the jacket around him anyways. satisfied with himself, wonwoo sits down next to woozi in case the other starts to show more signs of being cold.

when woozi speaks, his voice is quiet.

"you're just.. hotter than i thought you'd be."

"i'm hot?" wonwoo asks, confusion showing on his face and woozi's face grows redder. "my system hasn't said anything about overheating though." wonwoo states, utterly puzzled at woozi's words.

woozi's mouth twists for a little bit before he looks away, leaving wonwoo with no other answer.

it's woozi's first time venturing outside since their arrangement started.

wonwoo's arm had been fixed long ago and woozi's leg is (mostly) healed, so he ventures out willingly into the outside world.

"my leg's okay enough to walk around for a bit." woozi reassures wonwoo. "besides, we need to find you a shirt."

wonwoo just adjusts his jacket still wrapped around woozi's shoulders. "why?" wonwoo asks. the jacket drowns woozi's frame, draping over like blanket. woozi had tried to give it back but wonwoo had refused, only caving under the condition that woozi give it back after the human's coldness goes away.

woozi fixes him with an unimpressed look. wonwoo doesn't know what it means, but wonwoo feels light.

"i can't run just yet," woozi panics, looking around. they're hardly in a place where they could run and escape. "they're like dogs, can pick up scents really easily," the crowd is almost to them. any moment now, they would probably pick up on woozi.

"what if i carry you?" wonwoo suggests. they're hidden just behind a corner, safe from the crowd's eyes, but only for a distance. if they can take advantage of that distance...

"no." woozi tugs wonwoo's jacket tighter around himself. "even if you don't get tired, our combined weight would still slow you down. we'd be caught immediately." wonwoo frowns at that.

"then i don't have any other ideas," wonwoo turns to watch the approaching hoard, eyes locked onto the crowd of creatures. it's more than wonwoo had seen in a while. do they usually stay in such large groups? if he weren't looking at the crowd, he'd have noticed the weird look in woozi's eyes.

"well," woozi shifts. "i might have one."

"a what?" wonwoo turns back to woozi, completely missing the other's look. "you've got an idea—"

woozi suddenly shoves wonwoo's jacket into his hands and then pushes at him out of their hiding place so that wonwoo stumbles into clear view of the creatures.  the hoard immediately turns their attention to the sudden movement, groaning incessantly as they rush towards wonwoo in a frenzy. wonwoo winces at the sounds and turns down his auditory sensors. the hoard grabs at his hands, hands tugging at the jacket he holds.

wonwoo turns back and finds woozi's eyes. the human's eyes are wide, staring directly at wonwoo. woozi backs up, preparing to rush away at a moment's notice.

"oh." is all wonwoo says, realization dawning on him as to why he was pushed into the crowd.

they're like dogs, can pick up scents really easily.

the creatures moan around him, attracted to the human scent that wonwoo must be carrying in his jacket. they tug at his hands roughly, seams ripping and fabric tearing but wonwoo pays no mind to that. his chest aches. "go, then." is all wonwoo says but his voice gets drowned out by the crowd. woozi must understand though, because the human nods and starts rushing away as discreetly as he can. 

the creatures seem to finally take notice of woozi, groans getting louder in volume as they spot the small human. they start to push at each other, attention on wonwoo lost now that the jacket in his hands had been ripped to shreds. wonwoo spreads his arms out trying his best to push back and keep the hoard at bay.

the next time he looks up though, woozi is gone.

once he gets out of the crowd, he comes across a clothing store. wonwoo only contemplates for a moment before he steps inside.

he wonders when he'll get to see woozi again.

"watch out! hey! HEY!"

an arm yanks at wonwoo's shirt sleeve and wonwoo eyes widen when his body jerks to the side.

a creature at wonwoo's side snaps it's head over, instantly growling when it catches sight of—

wait, who yanked at wonwoo again?

wonwoo turns over to be met with what he wants to call the most handsome human he'd ever seen, but unfortunately, the human is scowling and tugging at his arm roughly.

"move, move, we gotta go—"

"are you okay?" wonwoo asks the human, who was on his knees and gasping for breath. they managed to outrun the creature, perched safely on the rooftop of a building where the creature shouldn't be able to climb (this time, the creature had no legs).

"shouldn't i—" wheeze. "be asking you that?"

wonwoo's confused. "no?"

the human heaves a few more breaths. and then he stands up straight with a big exhale.

he holds out his hand. "i'm s.coups." he introduces.

wonwoo stares at his hands, unsure of what to do. s.coups nods to his hand and wonwoo takes it, uncertainly. s.coups shakes it up and down and wonwoo catalogues the motion in his database. it must be some greeting contact, he figures.

"i'm G-A-M-3-8-0-1."

s.coups lets go of his hand. wonwoo wonders if he did something wrong or if that was just the end of the greeting contact. "kind of a weird name, to be honest. got a better one?"

"what?" wonwoo backtracks. maybe using a human name was the right thing to do?

wonwoo shakes his head. "never mind that. just call me wonwoo."

"okay, wonwoo."

did humans usually look this attractive? wonwoo searches the definition up in his database.

1. arousing interest or pleasure

2. having or relating to the power to attract

wonwoo studies scoups. he doesn't really look magnetic, not really, not wonwoo doesn't really look like a robot either, he supposes.

maybe the dictionary in his database is out-of-date. he resolves to update his system when he can find the signal to do so.

"so, where are you from?"

where was he manufactured? easy question. "changwon."

s.coups nods. "cool, i'm from daegu. born before '95 or after?"

definitely after. "after. does that mean i can call you 'hyung'?"

s.coups smiles at him. "sure. if you want."

woozi and wonwoo were only with each other for the sake of upholding a deal. between s.coups and wonwoo though, there was no such deal taking place. so what relation did they have?

the thought comes to wonwoo's mind as he's following the human.

following the human... like a pet? humans like to keep pets, wonwoo thinks.

whenever wonwoo passed by a lot of human homes, he'd break into houses to let out any animals trapped inside. chances were low that they would survive though, seeing as they were domesticated. wonwoo still resolves to try and free any animals he could, thinking that if there was a chance for them to be alive...

wonwoo blinks.

perhaps he was s.coups' pet. he finds that he doesn't mind that.

"hey wonwoo, are you hungry?"

it's a very human way to ask if wonwoo needs energy. but then again, he's always checking up on wonwoo, asking if he needed breaks or food or rest. he's a good hyung like that.

"no. i'm fine." it's a little difficult to charge his solar portable chargers with their unpredictable ventures, but wonwoo manages. besides, he has a charger plugged into his charger port right now, but wonwoo supposes s.coups can't see it beneath wonwoo's shirt.

"okay, just let me know if you are." and wonwoo nods.

wonwoo does his best to observe the human in proximity with him, curious as to how different woozi and s.coups were.

the first difference is that unlike woozi, s.coups doesn't stay still.

s.coups lets wonwoo tag along easily, openly happy to have another person with him and adjusting easily to wonwoo's presence. he travels, walking along streets and willingly ventures into forests and really, any terrain that he could set foot on.

he's not totally naive though, eyes roving and constantly alert despite his friendly nature.

(his arms certainly don't discredit him either.)

the two usually use the day to travel about and the night to rest.

"we can see better during the day. it's too dangerous to travel at night, where it'll be too dark to see." s.coups reasons. "if we have light as we travel in the night though, it'll attract attention to us." wonwoo nods, internally noting the difference between s.coups and woozi.

(wonwoo kind of misses woozi.)

s.coups is friendly enough though that he grows on wonwoo fairly quickly.

wonwoo never has a destination in mind, so it's always s.coups who leads them in their travels. wonwoo usually doesn't have any complaints, content to have someone around to talk and interact with.

but even for a being like wonwoo, he has his obstacles too.

"wonu-yah?"

the water in the river runs steadily.

"uh," wonwoo says, taking a few steps back from the rushing water. "i don't think i can.. make it across."

s.coups is already halfway across the stream, feet planted firmly on the slippery rocks. the other frowns at wonwoo and wonwoo resists the urge to shrink back.

wonwoo knows fully well that his physical body is waterproof and should be able to survive getting wet on the outside. wonwoo also knows that water and electronics do not mix well together.

so wonwoo cowers away from the water.

that spurs s.coups into action again and the older starts trudging his way back to wonwoo's side of the river.

"here, i'll guide you." the human stretches out a hand to wonwoo, who just shakes his head. "i... don't like the water." wonwoo's voice shakes a little and he's not sure why. s.coups reaches his hand out further.

"it's okay won, i'll help you across." his eyes are big and soft as he says so. wonwoo blinks at the other.

slowly but surely, wonwoo reaches his hand out and places it in s.coups' hand. "okay, hyung."

true to his word, s.coups had helped guide wonwoo across the same rocks he had just passed. it was slow, no doubt burning daylight as wonwoo flinched at every little splash that came his way. despite his pace though, s.coups was patient and says reassurances as they take it step-by-step across the river.

they do reach the other side of the river though, feet finally out of the water, and if wonwoo had lungs, he would breathe out the biggest exhale ever. 

"hyung, we did it," joy pulls wonwoo's his lips up in a foreign motion. he looks up to see s.coups, utterly too close to his face and an unreadable expression. "hyung?" wonwoo asks when s.coups doesn't move for a few moments.

s.coups snaps out of it quickly though, hands letting go of wonwoo's and he steps back into a more appropriate range.

"y-yeah, good job, wonwoo-yah," s.coups says, smiling as he pats wonwoo's head. wonwoo resists the urge to lean into it.

"you really don't get cold at all?" 

s.coups sits near the fire, rubbing his hands together near it.

"not really." wonwoo says but comes to sit next to s.coups anyways. they've set up camp for the night and wonwoo had offered to take the first watch today. s.coups had readily agreed when the wind howled around them, prompting a shiver out of the older boy.

"you feel so cold though, how are you not freezing?" s.coups complains, taking wonwoo's hands in his and rubbing them between his own. wonwoo only watches as the human does his best to rub warmth into wonwoo's hands despite the lack of need to do so. that in itself makes wonwoo feel warm on the inside, though he doesn't know why.

maybe he should check his wires later to make sure he doesn't have an internal, electrical fire.

"i'm just not." wonwoo says and the older leans into wonwoo. "no way you aren't. your body is literally so cold." s.coups says but the human doesn't move away from wonwoo at all. s.coups doesn't say any more words after that.

wonwoo peers down at the older's face, his eyes are shut and his breaths come out evenly. he's recharging, in the way humans do, wonwoo notices. wonwoo stays still where he is and resolves to not move lest he disturb the other's recharging.

wonwoo doesn't wake him up for his watch, simply content to sit there all night with the human resting against him, even when the fire dies out.

with the amount of traveling they do, they're bound to run into other people.

if it were a creature, wonwoo and s.coups would work well as a team to either cut them down or escape with no injuries.

if it were a human...

"i'm.. the8."

they introduce themselves, but with caution.

"the8? nice to meet you."

wonwoo twists his lips together. humans have such weird names. "i'm s.coups, this is wonwoo." s.coups says, sticking out his hand to do a handshake with the8 (wonwoo had managed to find out the name of the greeting contact a little while ago).

the black and silver-haired human nods and shakes hands with s.coups. "i am trying.. look... friend?"

"sorry?" s.coups says, leaning forward like he didn't catch what the8 said. an accent coats the8's words, making it clear that he was not a native korean speaker.

"friend... find?" the8 tries again but no recognition flits over s.coups' face. the8 must pick up on that because he sighs harshly and turns away from s.coups and wonwoo.

"why are things so hard!" the other boy complains, tones completely foreign to what wonwoo is used to hearing, yet he completely understands it.

wonwoo perks up. maybe he has a language translating feature in his system. wonwoo searches through his functions and flips over.

"you are trying to look for your friend?" wonwoo says in mandarin. he'd never actually tested out this part of him yet, having never encountered those who spoke anything other than korean in his life.

both s.coups and the8 gape at him. 

"my friend is closeby, we got separated."

"he got separated from his friend." wonwoo translates to s.coups. 

"i was visiting him in korea when the virus broke out."

"he traveled here to visit his friend but the virus broke out and now he's stuck here."

"i'm really scared. please help me find my friend, i'm very worried about him."

s.coups pats at the8's shoulder once wonwoo translates his words over.

"it's okay, don't worry. we'll get your friend back."

wonwoo doesn't need to translate that one apparently, because the8 gets the message and pulls s.coups into a hug.

"so.. what are you?" the8 asks wonwoo. he usually only talks to wonwoo, the language barrier a big challenge between s.coups and the8. the8 can mostly understand, but speaking is more of a struggle for him.

"what do you mean?" wonwoo asks, head tilting in question. s.coups looks over at them from where he's setting up. he doesn't seem to sense any need to butt in though, so he keeps on with his task.

the8 tilts his head back at wonwoo. "you're not human, are you." it's not a question this time but wonwoo nods anyways to confirm it.

the8 reaches forward and takes wonwoo's face in his, inspecting it closely. he traces his fingers across wonwoo's skin, trailing all along wonwoo's features. if wonwoo could feel heat, he's sure that he'd be heating up right now.

wonwoo does his best to ignore the other pair of eyes watching them. 

the8's eyes stare intently into his, leaning in a little closer to wonwoo. "you're really realistic-looking." he breathes out.

wonwoo blinks at the other, the8's hands still holding onto his face. "is that a good thing or bad thing?"

the other boy hums. "really good. you're pretty handsome, you know." the8 teases and squishes wonwoo's cheeks together. wonwoo's lips unknowingly pull into a pout and the8 just giggles.

"okay, that's enough." a voice cuts through their conversation. the8 lets go of wonwoo's face with a satisfied smile on his face. "the8, you have your own sleeping bag, right?" s.coups asks and wonwoo's not sure how to interpret his terse tone.

"yes, i do." the8 says, accented korean coming through. s.coups nods. "good. you should set up your stuff."

"okay." the8 says cheerily, looking strangely smug as he stands up and walks past s.coups. the8 does turn back around to wink at wonwoo though, who had just sat there watching the whole exchange. s.coups scoffs and shakes his head at the other once his back turns but when he looks over to wonwoo, it looks like his demeanor softens.

"hey wonwoo, want to help me gather firewood?"

they find the8's friend reasonably quick, only after a day or so of looking.

they're walking around the nearby abandoned town when the8 suddenly starts sprinting off, leaving s.coups and wonwoo behind. the two left behind only take one glance at each other before they shrug and follow after the8.

they find the black and silver-haired boy embracing another brown-haired human their age, hugging and grinning at each other.

s.coups and wonwoo wait awkwardly for the two to finish catching up, s.coups scuffing the ground with his shoes and wonwoo just standing there, watching the human interaction.

the two finally seem to notice s.coups and wonwoo because they break apart and turn to them, smiles still wide and open on their faces. 

"hi! my name is seo—"

"dk. your name is dk." the8 cuts him off, leveling a warning look at the other boy.

dk blinks. "right. my name is.. dokyeom."

s.coups nods, stepping forward to introduce himself and wonwoo as he always does. "i'm s.coups, this is wonwoo."

dokyeom nods and shakes hands with s.coups.

"thank you so much for getting my friend back to me, everywhere is so dangerous these days."

they're walking around the ghost city as they talk, rummaging through any buildings they pass as they talk. mostly, it's just dokyeom and s.coups doing the talking as wonwoo and the8 listen on.

s.coups nods. "i bet it is. how have you guys managed this long?"

"to be honest, i think pure luck."

the8 perks his head up and gives an offended look to dokyeom. he then points to his own arm, gesturing aggressively to it. "your arm."

"..and my arm here, i guess." dokyeom says shyly and pulls up his sleeve. s.coups' and wonwoo's eyes widen for a second at the metal arm, the way it melds into dokyeom's skin and the lines of it.

cyborg.

dokyeom is quick to pull his sleeve back down, averting his gaze as he does. luckily, s.coups is cool with it (and wonwoo too, for obvious reasons). "oh, that's really cool."

"yes, it is cool." the8 nods, thoroughly agreeing.

"thanks." dokeyom ducks his head to look like he's intently searching the building. "it really comes in handy sometimes, like holding a lot of stuff."

"wow, that makes life a lot easier." s.coups exhales. "wish we had that."

dokyeom seems to get confused at that and looks up to s.coups.

"is... wonwoo not a cyborg either?"

"no, we're both human, actually." s.coups says so surely and then a fact suddenly dawns on wonwoo. it makes so much more sense now. the8, still quietly listening on, nudges at wonwoo. wonwoo glances over and the other just gestures imploringly at s.coups. wonwoo blinks.

"s.coups, you know i'm not human, right?"

the older man in turn looks up at wonwoo with a confused look back.

"no?"

they're all silent for a moment, all of them staring at each other.

and then wonwoo turns to dokyeom and the8. 

"can you guys please give us a minute?"

"this whole time i thought you were just one of those immunes!" s.coups runs his hands through his hair, tugging at the strands. wonwoo wonders how it would feel to also tug at those strands. he heard that human hair was soft, however that felt like.

"no wonder you never needed to eat, no wonder zombies always just ignored you, no wonder you've never been afraid of anything!" s.coups exclaims, turning back to face wonwoo again. wonwoo uses his features to frown.

"i can feel," wonwoo protests, but he's not exactly sure why he's doing so. "i can feel emotions." 

"well, if course you can, i'm not saying you can't," s.coups rambles. "you just don't get scared of dying because you're not human!"

wonwoo pauses in his tracks.

that's right. he's not human. he shouldn't be feeling, as if he were.

"yeah." wonwoo says. nothing s.coups had said was untrue, he wasn't lying. but why did wonwoo suddenly feel heavy? "sorry i wasn't truthful."

"no, i'm not worried about that at all, just— wait. wonwoo?" s.coups asks, inspecting wonwoo's face. "are you okay?"

okay? is wonwoo okay?

wonwoo backs up from s.coups, arms coming to wrap around himself.

is he okay?

"i'm not sure. let me do a system check."

"wonwoo, wait—"

PERFORM SYSTEM CHECK?  >YES  >NO

PLEASE WAIT...

"hey, not to butt in or anything, but we both totally overheard you two."

sigh. "i figured. it's not like we were quiet or anything."

a couple beats of silence.

"look, if wonwoo's still up and running, he's probably a runaway, you know? runaways typically have a reason for.. running away. it's not exactly cool, what you said."

"i know," another sigh. "i know that now. i've just felt.. i don't know."

"...are you going to apologize to him, then?"

"hey, wonu?"

s.coups says and sits next to wonwoo. the8 and dokyeom are still with them, having decided to join their duo for the while. they're setting up camp in one of the city's abandoned buildings. when wonwoo looks up, lantern light reflects off of s.coups' worried face. "i'm sorry about what i said earlier."

nothing came back from wonwoo's system check. he's perfectly fine. and yet, why does he still feel heavy?

he doesn't want to talk to s.coups right now and goes to turn away. the older's hand catches on his shoulder though, but turn doesn't turn hiim back around. he does keep talking though.

"i know you have feelings, i totally get that," the older seems to hesitate. "it must have.. hurt.. to hear that, right?"

wonwoo's lips twist. he isn't in pain, he doesn't think. "i..." wonwoo doesn't know how to express himself. "i feel heavy." his face is still turned away from s.coups.

arms pull at wonwoo into a strong embrace. wonwoo goes willingly, but doesn't do anything to hug s.coups back.

"i'm really sorry about what i said," s.coups' voice is now right above wonwoo's ear. instead of turning his audio sensors down though, wonwoo turns it just the smallest bit up, intent on catching s.coups' words even if he doesn't give him his attention. "but you're allowed to feel, you know? you don't have to be human in order to feel."

something in wonwoo lifts. wonwoo blinks. and swallows. 

"okay."

wonwoo allows himself to reach up and hug s.coups back. the older holds onto him tighter and they don't say anymore words.

"good morning, wonwoo!" dokyeom greets him. the8, at dokyeom's side, only silently nods at wonwoo in greeting.

"good morning." wonwoo greets back, watching his chargers as they soak up the morning sun. the8 sits down and settles next to wonwoo's side easily, leaning his head on the other's shoulder.

"are those.. yours?" dokyeom asks, sitting down on the8's other side. his brown hair looks almost orange in the morning light.

"yes," wonwoo says, eyes never straying from the chargers. "they're solar powered."

dokyeom lets out an interested sound. "that's really smart of you. i didn't know you could charge using portable chargers."

wonwoo shrugs and turns to look over at dokyeom. "do you not need to charge your arm?" dokyeom shakes his head.

"his arm.. long battery. built-in, long-lasting battery." the8 explains, head still on wonwoo's shoulder.

wonwoo nods. "i would've offered you one of my chargers if you needed them." dokyeom looks over at him, eyes slightly wide and swimming with an emotion wonwoo can't identify. "that's nice of you, wonwoo." dokyeom chuckles. "not many people are willing to share with others, these days."

wonwoo ignores the light feeling inside of him when dokyeom refers to him as part of 'people'.

the8 and dokeyom don't stay for long.

"we heard of a safe place that's not too far from here and we've been trying to get to it for days. want to come with us?" dokyeom offers. the8 holds both s.coups' and wonwoo's arms, tugging lightly. "go, go?" he asks. "safe place. go to safe pace together."

s.coups shares a look with wonwoo. wonwoo twists his lips and s.coups sees his hesitation. s.coups shakes his head to dokeom and the8. "no, i think we're okay to keep traveling ourselves."

dokyeom and the8 both nod. "that's alright. stay safe out there, you guys!"

"we will, likewise." s.coups says back and dokyeom hugs both s.coups and wonwoo. the8 does the same, holding on a little bit longer with wonwoo, and then the pair are off.

once their footsteps have faded off to the distance, wonwoo turns to s.coups.

"i'm going to miss them."

s.coups sighs. "me too, wonu."

they stand there in silence for a few moments before wonwoo looks up.

"let's keep going, then?"

s.coups nods and then they're off too.

wonwoo plugs the portable charger into himself and presses the button on the side of it to get it to start charging him. to wonwoo's satisfaction, the portable charger lights up with the charging symbol, so wonwoo tucks it comfortable into his pants pocket in a way that doesn't disconnect the wire.

he puts his shirt back down and looks up just in time to see s.coups look away from him.

"you can ask, you know." wonwoo says and s.coups looks like he turns red in the firelight. what is it with human's and their redness?

"i, uh," s.coups stammers but he does look back to wonwoo. "that's how you recharge, right? solar?" wonwoo nods. "i just never realized that they were for you." s.coups laughs nervously.

wonwoo sits down right next to s.coups and leans into the older. s.coups seems to take well to physical contact so wonwoo does just that, hoping the older calms down a little.

it works, a little. s.coups relaxes and leans into wonwoo as well. "...the8 and dokyeom both knew, didn't they?"

wonwoo only nods, lips pulling up in a smile when s.coups just groans at his answer.

"wonwoo?"

wonwoo jerks at the call of his own name. s.coups turns as well.

"woozi?" wonwoo calls back, not wanting to believe that the voice matched the one in his database. at wonwoo's side, s.coups frowns. "jihoon?"

"seungcheol?? wonwoo?!" a short human comes into view and sure enough, it's woozi. wonwoo's lips lift up at the sight of him, disbelieving.

"jihoon! you know wonwoo?!" s.coups (seungcheol?) calls, scrambling forward towards woozi (jihoon?). wonwoo is quick to follow.

"seungcheol! you know wonwoo??" woozi is making his way towards them too before he's suddenly swept up into s.coups' arms. wonwoo is right at s.coups' heels though and tugs the older by the back of the shirt, pulling him back from the hug.

he might have used a little too much strength though because seungcheol falls back and starts to lose his balance. wonwoo is quick to catch him though, falling back into his arms and then wonwoo is staring upside down at his face. everyone pauses for a second.

"woozi doesn't like being touched. please refrain from doing so." is all wonwoo says. s.coups face looks up at him, dazed and staring.

then, for some reason, seungcheol's face starts turning red and woozi burst out laughing.

"where have you been all this time?" s.coups asks.

woozi shrugs. "here and there. how do you know wonwoo?"

"we met after you.. left." wonwoo says. woozi looks a little guilty at wonwoo's words and s.coups glances between them curiously. "oh." is all woozi says. "right." s.coups narrows his eyes at the both of them. woozi clears his throat. "well i'm.. sorry about what i did."

wonwoo just nods. "woozi and i met before i meet you." wonwoo explains to s.coups, who had been keeping quiet as wonwoo and woozi reconciled. s.coups tilts his head at him. "woozi?" s.coups turns back to the other human. "that's the fake name you chose?"

"i bet it's better than whatever you have," woozi says defensively, but they all knows he's being playful. "what's yours?"

"s.coups." wonwoo answers for the other and woozi chuckles. wonwoo frowns. "those aren't your real names??" now it's wonwoo's turn to tilt his head in confusion and woozi starts to laugh a little harder. s.coups spares wonwoo an amused glance.

"no, they're not. a lot of humans come up with nicknames these days, mostly to protect our identities from one another."

wonwoo scrunches his face. "i just thought humans had really weird names." s.coups rolls his eyes at him. "shut up, G-A-M-3-8-0-1. as if your name isn't any better." wonwoo's only a little impressed that s.coups had remembered.

"we've just been friends for a long time, that's why we know each other's real names." woozi says once he's recovered from his laughter. "i'm lee jihoon and he's choi seungcheol." woozi— jihoon points to him and s.co— seungcheol in turn. wonwoo updates his database with their actual names and nods. 

"we've— i mean me and some other old friends— have a camp set up nearby. it's in the mountains, so it's harder to get to but easier to look down on everything. it's a really promising place for a camp." jihoon shares, looking expectantly at the two of them.

seungcheol and wonwoo share a look.

"do you think it's the same..." wonwoo starts and seungcheol just presses his lips together.

"i missed you, you know." wonwoo says quietly. jihoon looks up at him, a slight bit of guilt crossing his face.

seungcheol's off looking for a suitable place to unpack their tent. jihoon and wonwoo are off finding wood to make a fire.

"i found a shirt, though." wonwoo tugs at his black shirt, showing it off to woozi.

the other lets out a surprised laugh. "good. i'm glad." 

they're lighthearted with each other, harboring no hard feelings.

"how's being to seungcheol?" jihoon asks, out of curiosity. wonwoo tilts his head side-to-side.

"he's good. i like being around him." wonwoo says honestly and jihoon just nods back.

"jihoon, how could you have just left him like that?"

"i had no choice! i was down a leg and the zombies wouldn't have gone after wonwoo anyways."

sigh. "i guess if he forgives you, then it's not my place to butt in, then."

"yup."

a few beats of silence.

"it's.. good.. that you care for him though."

"...likewise."

"..where is wonwoo, anyways?"

"he's charging right now. i let him take my sleeping bag for a little bit."

a small huff. "okay."

seuncheol and wonwoo take up jihoon's offer, on the off-chance that that might be where the8 and dokyeom are heading. of course, wonwoo and seuncheol are both perfectly able to live on their own without a safe place but jihoon stays there too, so it's more of an incentive to go.

all three of them meld into an easy dynamic, splitting up roles and jobs and looking out for each other on the way.

nothing eventful happens until they actually finish their trek up the mountains, when wonwoo spots a familiar bright head of hair. he can't exactly place where he knows the shock of bright hair though until they get closer.

"hey, hoshi! it's woozi! i have more people!" jihoon calls to the human at the front of the fence. the human turns over and waves at them and suddenly, recognition hits wonwoo.

"hey, woozi! you're back!" the human cheers and bounds over to the trio, meeting them halfway to the gate. he holds a beat-up metal pipe, firm in his grip. "woah," wonwoo says, staring at the pipe in the person's hand. "you still have your pipe."

the bright-haired human stares back at wonwoo, confusion over his features.

and then his mouth drops, eyes widening in recognition.

"guys, get back!"

he's quick to leap in front of jihoon and seungcheol, arms splayed out to keep them behind him. wonwoo blinks.

"whatever that thing is, i'll protect you guys!" the metal pipe is brandished in wonwoo's direction. "run, go quickly!" from behind the bright-haired human, jihoon and seungcheol trade looks and also look confusedly at wonwoo.

wonwoo shrugs and lifts his hands up placatingly. thing..

"hoshi, he's with us." seungcheol says calmly, placing a hand on the other's shoulder. the other's eyes look like they almost bulge out of his head at jihoon's statement.

"wait, what?"

"you're the one who damaged wonwoo's hand?" jihoon says incredulously. "well in my defense, i didn't know!" soonyoung exclaims, throwing his hands up.

soonyoung, or hoshi as wonwoo has heard him been called, had immediately backed off at jihoon and seungcheol's orders despite his reluctance to. wonwoo remembers him clearly and so did soonyoung, judging by how he keeps tight hold of his pipe. wonwoo eyes it warily.

"it's fine. my hand is okay now, see?"

wonwoo holds up his fixed hand, flexing it and showing it off to the other three. "all thanks to jihoon."

"you guys are on first-name basis?" soonyoung sends a skeptical look between wonwoo and jihoon. "i didn't even know your real name until last year!"

"soonyoung, play nice. wonwoo is the same as any of us." seungcheol says warningly. it makes wonwoo feel light to hear those words especially from the older, but to even have to have those words said in the first place. soonyoung pulls his hands up placatingly.

"i don't mean anything bad. i'm sure wonwoo is nice and all," soonyoung seems to hesitate in his words. jihoon raises a challenging eyebrow at the other and soonyoung just nods. "yeah. wonwoo's nice." even for someone inept at the intricacies of human language, wonwoo can tell that soonyoung had more to say than just that.

seungcheol nods too. "wonwoo is nice. now can we get behind the border? i'd rather not encounter any zombies right now."

"the8? dokyeom?"

"xu minghao and lee seokmin. you know them?" soonyoung asks curiously but wonwoo is already off and walking towards the pair. "hey, hey, wait!"

"dokyeom! the8!!" wonwoo calls and the two look towards him, expressions morphing into surprise and excitement at the sight of him. "wonwoo?!" dokyeom yells back and reaches his arms out as he too runs towards wonwoo. "wonwoo!!" the8 also exclaims and rushes towards him as well.

they all meet in the middle, arms tangled within each other as the other three humans behind wonwoo follow at a more leisurely pace.

"wonwoo! i didn't know you were coming here!" dokyeom screeches a little too loudly, pulling away to clutch at wonwoo's face like he's making sure the other was real in his hands. the8 points at behind wonwoo and dokyeom's eyes shift towards it, eyes widening. "seungcheol hyung too??"

seungcheol's mouth is pulled in a wide smile and the older simply lifts his hand at them. "hey."

minghao is ecstatic to introduce wonwoo to his new friend. actually, everyone is, so it doesn't take long to introduce wonwoo to the rest of the group of eight, now nine including wonwoo.

minghao nods. "nine is a good number. auspicious."

"of course." wonwoo says. "but you'll always be the eighth though, right?" minghao beams at him.

"woah, he knows mandarin too?" someone asks and wonwoo turns to the new voice. it's another human with unique looking hair, mostly brown except for the front bangs which were blond. wonwoo wants to take a closer look at them. 

so he does, fingers coming up to hold at the odd colored strands.

the human seems to freeze, eyes darting up to wonwoo's face at the sudden contact. the human stares at his features as wonwoo observes the hair between his fingers, paying no mind to the person's gaze. "uh, maybe don't do that, wonwoo-yah." seokmin gently pulls wonwoo's hand away from the human, who oddly looks a little red. wonwoo blinks curiously at him. a lot of humans seem to turn red around him.

minghao slings an arm around the odd hair-colored human, nonplussed at the interaction. "this is junhui, he can speak mandarin too!"

wonwoo nods and sticks his hand out for a handshake. "i'm wonwoo. nice to meet you." junhui seems to shake himself out of whatever stare he was in and takes wonwoo's hand to shake it in turn. "nice to meet you too."

"i'm yoon jeonghan, nice to meet you, wonu-yah." the long-haired human smiles warmly at wonwoo, throwing in the term of endearment so casually in that wonwoo almost didn't notice.

the human's hair looks so nice and neat, wonwoo wants to touch it too but after junhui's reaction, wonwoo keeps his hands to himself. it's not often that he encounters anyone with long hair, most humans deciding to cut it short for easier survival. wonwoo decides to voice his thought out loud instead of touching it himself.

"i like your hair. it looks nice and neat." jeonghan seems to be taken off-guard by that, eyes slightly widening in surprise. after a moment, his eyes crinkle into a smile. "thanks, wonwoo."

"hoshi hyung, that's— that's—" 

"lee chan, this is uh.. wonwoo. wonwoo, this is chan." soonyoung cuts him off, pushing down chan's hand that had come up to point at wonwoo. wonwoo just tilts his head curiously at the other, who's still staring at him in horror. "wonwoo is nice, he came in with seungcheol hyung and jihoon." even if he says all this, soonyoung doesn't exactly look like he fully believes his own words.

wonwoo will take what he can get though, so he bows politely. "nice to meet you, chan. i hope we can get along."

days at the camp has wonwoo follow a routine.

"hahh, i wish i had your stamina, wonwoo-yah." jeonghan groans. they're helping gather firewood and hauling around materials to different places. wonwoo has no problem with it, hefting up logs easily enough while jeonghan trails behind a little, puffing in exertion. "i'm so sweaty already, how are you not?" the elder's long hair sticking to his forehead with sweat.

wonwoo reaches out to brush jeonghan's hair back, not noticing the unreadable stare on the older's face as he does so. "i don't have any sweat glands."

"ah, right. i forgot you were like that." jeonghan nods and breathes out a breath. wonwoo stands there to wait for the other to catch his breath and muster up the energy to go again. jeonghan sighs. 

"okay, let's keep going."

nights are more free reign to him, seeing as he was the only one who didn't require set time to rest.

chan, despite his reservations, gets used to and warms up to wonwoo pretty quickly. it probably has to do with the both of them usually getting assigned to nighttime jobs. the constant exposure to each other makes chan relax and ease up, enough to talk lightheartedly and joke around wonwoo.

"your face is just so unchanging, i can't ever tell what you're thinking in there," chan teases. wonwoo knows he's teasing. he knows. "oh." wonwoo says. is.. having facials expressions a requisite of emotions? chan laughs slightly at wonwoo's small reaction.

"you're cute, hyung." chan smiles at him and wonwoo nods, subtly trying to imprint that smile into his database.

later night, he spends his time scrunching around his face. he smiles, half-smiles, smirks, grins, winks, blinks, frowns, any expression he can think of, all while feeling his own face after every facial expression. he needs to remember how to do this. should he do a sad expression too? and then he relaxes his face into what he thinks sad looks like.  his hands come up to brush around his face. it's weird. new to him, too.

wonwoo has too many emotions for his kind, he has too little on the outside.

he's in between. 

"here's your chargers, wonwoo-yah," junhui says warmly, handing them off to wonwoo.

"thank you." wonwoo says, gratefully taking them from the other. junhui's staring at him, mouth slightly parted as he still grips around the chargers. wonwoo's sure he could wrench it out of his grip, but he'd rather not when he doesn't know if it would harm the human or not. "uh, junhui?" wonwoo tugs.

junhui snaps back into himself and lets go of the chargers. "s-sorry, my bad," he nervously chuckles. 

"you can just call me 'jun', by the way. it's what everyone else calls me." jun offers. wonwoo nods. "okay, jun."

jun seems to flush a little at that. wonwoo frowns at him, using one of his new expressions he's been practicing. eyebrows going down, face slightly scrunching up. "jun, are you getting sick?" wonwoo asks, staring up at the other. wonwoo would also reach his hand up to feel the other's forehead as he's seen other humans do to sick people, but it's not like wonwoo has any nerve endings to feel temperature anyways.

jun jerks a little, smiling nervously. "no, i'm perfectly fine. why?"

wonwoo tilts his head to the side. "it looks like you're turning red."

at that, jun's hands come up to cover his pink cheeks, rubbing at them. "ah, really?" jun keeps smiling nervously, hands rubbing in circles that slightly misshapen his smile. wonwoo wonders if that's a new human expression he should consider learning. "don't worry about it, wonwoo. i'm not sick." jun reassures.

wonwoo shrugs. he'd seen jihoon raise his shoulders as a shrug before. "if you say so."

within their group, they seldom switch roles around, keeping to their specialties to keep their camp efficient. most jobs are set in stone while others are freebies for whoever wasn't busy.

venturing outside of the border for supplies is one of them and today, it's wonwoo and soonyoung's turn to go out. 

wonwoo's only a little apprehensive to be paired up with the other, not having ever interacted one-on-one with soonyoung before. wonwoo's not entirely sure if the other still held hard feelings towards him and it's hard to tell by his behavior too.

"remember, don't use my real name outside of the borders, okay?" soonyoung reminds as he's lacing up his shoes. wonwoo nods. "i have my chargers. we can go whenever you're ready." wonwoo says and soonyoung just glances at him with an unreadable look. he turns back to his shoes just as quickly though, so wonwoo doesn't pay it any mind.

outside the borders, it's inevitable that they'd find creatures (or 'zombies' as all the humans call them) lurking about. other living humans are an uncommon sight but they're not totally out of sight either. both creatures and people spotted together? usually not a good sign.

soonyoung and wonwoo work quickly to dislodge a creature from the trail of two other humans, wonwoo walking straight in with just his bare hands and soonyoung hanging back to take on the one's that wonwoo can't occupy. with no distance between wonwoo and the creatures like with soonyoung and his pipe, the creatures do their best to bite into wonwoo's arms, teeth clanging with the metal. wonwoo pays no mind to them though, simply just shoving them away and letting soonyoung's pipe deal all the finishing blows.

when they're done, soonyoung isn't even out of breath though a slight sheen of sweat shines over his forehead. wonwoo just stands tall, surveying the carnage and toeing an immobile creature at his feet. 

"t-thank you so much for your help,"

both wonwoo and soonyoung look over to the pair of humans, soonyoung smiling lightly. "it's no problem. we're always happy to help out." the human who spoke nods his head, grateful. the other human is frozen stock-still beside him, her eyes staring directly at wonwoo. wonwoo tries for a smile, like he'd been practicing.

"that thing's not normal," the person heaves, staring wide-eyed. "that thing, whatever it is! keep it away from me!" she starts to scramble back, hands coming to tug at the first human to pull him with her.

wonwoo blinks.

the man next to the person smiles tightly wonwoo and soonyoung. soonyoung places a hand on wonwoo's arm.

"we'll, uh, we have to be on our way now," the man chuckles nervously. "thanks for all your help." the man bows at them and the person swats at his shoulder. "don't bow to them, they're robot-sympathizers!" they hiss and start dragging the man away.

soonyoung and wonwoo are both silent even long after the two are gone. the wind blows between them.

wonwoo turns to soonyoung. "hoshi, can i ask—"

the other cuts him off. "it's probably better if you don't?" soonyoung's voice is weird. the other just shakes his head and straightens himself up. "don't worry about them, wonwoo. come on, let's keep going."

"o— kay." is all wonwoo says as soonyoung walks past him, 

when they get back, chan hugs him enthusiastically.

"hi hyung! how was the outside?"

"good." wonwoo replies automatically, arms awkwardly held out to his side. he wasn't sure how this human interaction worked.

soonyoung walks by them, sparing them only a small glance before entirely bypassing them. "you're so awkward, wonwoo." he says and somehow, the passing comment feels like an insult. chan giggles against wonwoo's shoulder.

"hyung, when was the last time you got a hug?" chan teases and wonwoo feels his system slow in thought. were hugs normal? a human thing? "i— uh," wonwoo stammers. "i don't... know.." wonwoo's words trail off and chan's face slowly drains of mirth. "oh." his tone is serious. "i'm sorry, hyung."

that catches wonwoo by surprise. he'd never had anyone say sorry for him before. he's so surprised.

who's ever apologized for something like him before?

"i'll just.. have to hug you more, then!" chan decides. 

he's programmed and conditioned with a need to work, he thinks. so he throws himself into it.

he's not sure why the interaction with the humans outside the border turned out that way, neither does he know why he can't stop thinking about it. animals have a fight or flight instinct, usually towards perceived threats.

is wonwoo a threat?

soonyoung didn't tell him anything about the interaction nor does he say a word about it up until now. wonwoo doesn't ask either, having enough tact to know that perhaps the other wouldn't be inclined to talk about it.

so he throws himself into work, doing all he can to help out the others and do what the humans can't, making himself useful. 

when he's by himself, he practices being human. he hums and sings and makes faces and dances and wonders. what does it really mean to be human?

is it really all of this?

he resolves to work harder.

"no, i'm not sad." wonwoo insists. "okay, you're not sad." jeonghan backs down. wonwoo finds that he doesn't feel any better at those words. "talk to me, wonwoo." jeonghan pleads and pulls wonwoo into his arms. wonwoo doesn't hug back, he doesn't lean into it, he freezes. "i don't care if you are sad or not, just tell me how you're feeling," wonwoo only stares ahead.

"am.. i sad?" wonwoo repeats jeonghan's words, but it sounds more like a question when he says it. his resolve crumbles and yet he doesn't let himself enjoy jeonghan's hug.

"i just—" wonwoo has never been a talker, never good with his verbal words. how can he, when voicing needs is such a human thing to do? it's still so foreign to him. he squirms in jeonghan's grip and places his hands on the elder's chest. he only pushes lightly at jeonghan and the older easily goes. jeonghan's eyes shine with hurt and wonwoo looks away, suddenly feeling very heavy.

"i'm sorry hyung, i don't know. just give me some space to think." it's nowhere near the words he wants to say. he's always had too much space these days, he's always had too much time to think. jeonghan's face looks downcast. "okay, wonwoo." he says, so softly that wonwoo's heart sinks even further.

jeonghan goes to brush at his hair but it stops right before it can touch his hair. wonwoo doesn't move an inch. jeonghan's faltered hand pulls back, a sigh passing through his lips. wonwoo's chest burns, heaviness weighing him down at the hesitation and result.

"hey won, do you need a break?"

"no. i am perfectly capable of finishing my tasks."

seungcheol's expression doesn't look any less concerned, but he only purses his lips together. 

"okay, if you say so."

"relax, you work too much these days."

wonwoo just looks at the other. "i don't get tired. no need to worry about me."

jun is silent on minghao's other side, eyeing the empty chargers next to wonwoo. he's been having to charge using all the battery he has these days, body going through enough physical exertion to require more and more battery. 

"hey jihoon, i found this machine a few days ago. think it could help with our recycling efforts?"

"a shredder?"

"yeah! minghao and chan brought it back. it looks pretty handy, right?"

"if it works, then yeah, i guess. we can try it out soon."

"hey, wonwoo?"

wonwoo ignores whoever it is.

there's a breaking point to his emotions. it's irony that it happens when he's literally watching other things break.

wonwoo only stares at the machine, crushing plastic and metal scraps up.

could this have been him? would this.. he..

wonwoo can't look away. the sounds of the plastics and metals being crushed up grates in his ears.

he can't look away.

for having emotions, isn't this his fate?

wonwoo just leaves with the clothes on his back and his chargers.

there's no heat detector to sense him, there's nothing to stop him.

he leaves. he doesn't look back.

(the whirring of the metal crusher echoes in his database.)

he comes across two humans.

joshua and vernon are nice. they don't ask wonwoo why he's so ragged, where he came from, or why he's here.

"we can take you back to our camp. there's only four of us in total, we're all good people." joshua reassures wonwoo, american accent peeking through his words. wonwoo just nods tiredly, eager to get away. anywhere, just anywhere away.

it's been too rainy. autumn and winter approaches and with that, sunny days die out quicker and rainy days start to pick up. it's been several days, it's been too many days, wonwoo can barely charge his chargers.

still, it's reminiscent to be traveling like this again, out in the open. being non-human, it's not like wonwoo really needs any luxuries to live like a bed or food.

the autumn rains patter down though, and wonwoo just watches, sitting down in a nearby cave with vernon and joshua.

his chargers sit at his side, not unforgotten, but rendered useless in the dimness of the rain and in his mind.

TURN ON POWER-SAVING MODE?  >YES  >NO

somehow, it feels wrong to use his chargers. it's like, he's ashamed to use them. 

humans don't need chargers. human don't need to plug a wire into them to feel emotions.

why should wonwoo?

"hey, wonwoo, we're almost there," vernon encourages him. wonwoo nods, head leaning down.

he's not catching his breath or anything (it's not like he even has lungs) but his systems have been slowing their pace recently.

"still need a minute?" joshua asks kindly. wonwoo stands up and straightens himself out. "no, i'm okay." the world is dull in his eyes, vision growing dimmer by the hour. his systems churn slower and his body is lethargic. 

does he need to charge?

"let's keep going." wonwoo says determinedly. the other two watch him warily, slightly concerned. wonwoo steps forward and his vision glitches. he stops. "le- let's keep going." wonwoo repeats, voice cutting out and tone unsure. "let's ke-ke-keep going-ng?" his vocal box is glitching too.

"dude, are you sure? you're kind of.. uh..." vernon trails off, eyes still trained on wonwoo. "n-no. let's g-go." wonwoo pushes out, forcing his feet to move. his body moves jerkily. "let's take a break, wonwoo." joshua cuts in, walking forward to gently hold onto wonwoo's shoulder. the other's tone is firm.

wonwoo doesn't stop though, pulling away from the other to keep walking forward. his vision starts filling up to warning alerts, but he dismisses them, determined to not be reminded of his digital-ness.

and then, his knees buckle.

"oh my god!" "wonwoo?!"

LOW BATTERY ALERT

LOW BATTERY ALERT

LOW BATTERY ALERT

LOW BATTERY ALERT—

"...powering back on," an unfamiliar voice says.

"we're... really sorry... doing this," the voice sounds so guilty. "...no choice, we replaced... battery.. work better... charge less..."

the words don't make sense to wonwoo, sounding like a jumble. it's all a garble to him and his processors can't string together any coherent message.

so wonwoo falls back into sleep mode.

"i'm boo seungkwan, this is kim mingyu." wonwoo shakes the other's hand.

"GAM3 models are so.. i've never seen one in real life before." seungkwan says, hands burying into his own pants pockets. "again, i'm so sorry we didn't ask before replacing your battery." wonwoo shakes his head. "it's okay now, i'm just glad you didn't dismantle me." seungkwan's eyes widen. "what? no! never!!"

"it really pains me to see androids scrapped or dismantled just because they have feelings like we humans do. it's so immoral, to condone others for their emotions when we have them too!" seungkwan rants passionately. at his side, mingyu just nods and pats the younger's back. wonwoo stares wide-eyed at the younger.

the two mechanics have grease stains all over their clothing, hands worn looking from their work.

wonwoo should be scared of them, two people with the power to break him down to his bare fundamentals and yet, he isn't. he's never met someone so open with their thoughts as seungkwan.

but it's too honest for wonwoo. too raw, too close to home, too hard-hitting.

so wonwoo does as any runaway would do, and runs.

"hi wonwoo," joshua greets, sitting down next to wonwoo. "you don't have to say anything, i'm just here for you."

wonwoo stares ahead. "am i really allowed to be like this? am i really allowed to... feel?"

"well, everybody feels all sorts of emotions. there's no one way to feel or even a right way to do so." joshua hums. "we all have our own ways."

wonwoo leans into joshua's side and closes his eyes. if he doesn't think about it, it's almost like he were leaning into seungcheol again.

"wonwoo! how's your battery?" mingyu is always excitable for his demeanor, tall and yet amicable at any given moment. mingyu slings an arm around wonwoo easily.

"good." is all wonwoo replies with but mingyu still seems like he beams at wonwoo's word. "that's good." is all mingyu replies back, eyes crinkling with his smile.

"we're running low on supplies, we can't stay around here anymore." jisoo comments. "there isn't any sustainable resources around here either."

"it's really dangerous to move though! we have so much stuff to lug around!" mingyu protests. seungkwan nods at his side.

"your fault for being mechanics," hansol grumbles. "we need to find a new safe place soon."

"um," wonwoo blinks at them as they all turn their attention to him. it's a bit of a weird feeling, to have so many pairs of eyes on him. he hesitates saying his next words.

he leads them up the mountain, easily remembering the way up despite having only trekked it twice.

"wonwoo?" jun is the first to spot him but soonyoung is the first up on his feet. soonyoung sprints over to wonwoo, who barely has any time to react before soonyoung is pulling wonwoo in for a tight hug.

"wonwoo, i'm so sorry," the other blubbers out, wonwoo hardly being able to process the words in his audio sensors. wonwoo awkwardly reaches to hug soonyoung back, patting at his back slowly.