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Some droids just have all the luck.

Jeongguk watches a droid sauntering past the window on graceful feet - model XR38 if he's correct. Lithe and muscular and petite. It makes Jeongguk's heart clench in longing.

Those kinds of droids, they're the ones that have all the luck. Not Jeongguk.

That would have been too convenient, right? If only his design had waited a little longer, his sibling line would have heralded the coming of a new era, a new design aesthetic. They didn't, though; the XR38 did, and it brought in a trend focusing on small and dainty with slightly blunted features and full lips, hair coloured light and soft.

It became the new ideal and stayed in droid design for the last ten years, much to Jeongguk's chagrin. Some tiny part of him had hoped it would loop around like fashion trends, but even he can admit the new models are pretty. Prettier.

Unfortunately for Jeongguk, his own model's shell managed to catch the tail end of the previous trend, and he lives with this fact thrown in his face every time he's allocated a new position by his temp agency.

'Is this really the latest model you have available?' His new bosses tend to say with another reluctant glance in his direction, 'I was hoping for something a little more.. petite,' Speaking about him as if he weren't even there, as if he were in charge mode and unaware of the world around him, 'He looks a bit.. severe. He might scare our clients,' Jeongguk knows he's not the Ideal, but the words still sting, always have and always will. It hasn't been an issue at his current occupation, but the wounds have lingered over the years. Mainly whenever he sees a newer rarer model strolling right past him, looking like perfection in clearly ill fitting clothes and not giving a shit, still out stripping all of Jeongguk's efforts with a minimum of care.

Jeongguk is taller than the new standard Ideal, has darker hair than Ideal, and his eyes are too round, apparently, though he thinks they're nice. The nose is the worst part - it's far too strong - the designs during his year of production had been based on a famous singer with a large nose, and Jeongguk's entire stock line has paid the consequences of the general public's momentary infatuation.

.. If only it had lasted longer than a year.

He's nice; he knows he's nice. But he's no model XR38.

The XR38 winks at him as he glides by the large glass window of the coffee shop, no doubt unsurprised by the older model watching his passage. Jeongguk's cheeks burn in embarrassment as he realises he's been caught making a fool of himself. They're both wearing similar outfits, tightly pressed black slacks and white business shirts with the specially cut arm that buttons up to expose enough skin on the forearm to allow a polite 'soulmate test'. However, the XR38's shirt looks like it belongs to someone else - it's so loose that the buttoned-up portion doesn't expose his arm, just lets his fingers poke out cutely. Even though they're both droids and won't be making anyone's dreams come true any day soon by revealing a soulmate mark, ease of purpose has become fashion, and fashion means fitting in.

Droids tend to like feeling like they fit in.

“Order for Jeongguk!” The barista calls out cheerily, and Jeongguk turns and steps up to the counter to take his collection of drinks with a polite smile, carefully threading his fingers through the handles of the bags so that he can carry 6 cups at once.

He works as a temp within Droid Health - the most prominent company that provides Droids and Droid health care to the world. They've had him working as an assistant at the local Droid Health centre for the last 3 weeks, and - while he can do much more - they mostly just have him running errands like this one, getting coffees or running pieces of paper to be signed from one office to another one across the hall. He has just two more months of this and then his next assignment will hopefully be somewhere in the company that takes fuller advantage of his capabilities.

He doesn't mean to seem ungrateful, but he's counting down the days.

"See you tomorrow, Jieun!" He calls cheerfully once he's ensured his bags are secure.

3 weeks is 2 weeks longer than necessary to ingratiate himself with the local coffee shop.

"See you tomorrow, cutie!" He blushes at the pet name and wishes for the thousandth time that he could talk with his programmer, who decided to counteract his intimidating eyebrows with a healthy dose of bashfulness.

He sighs quietly as he waits for a group to exit the cafe, stepping around the crowd of harried businesspeople waiting in line. It's not like he needs to rush, though, does he? There's not exactly a massive amount of work waiting back at the office for him; nothing urgent or pressing needs attention. If he gets the coffees sorted quickly enough, he can head down to the lab and see if any of the doctors need help with their experimental trials... Dr. Kim had said yesterday that he might need a hand with one of the more 'playful' models, whatever that had meant. Jeongguk typically only goes down into the trial labs in the morning to drop off patient files before he's relegated to his usual office work, but Dr. Kim is kind, and he wants to help him if he c-

The droid realises he's caught in a firm grip before realising he is falling. His chest blooms in pain from the impact of their bodies hitting each other and his systems flare yellow as they assess the damage. He stares in shock at the Enforcement Officer who has him caught by the arms, letting his brain take a moment to consider his current position.

6 coffees of liquid slowly seep into his pant leg from being jostled by his panicked arm.

"Farns, sorry citizen," Jeongguk cranes his head down slightly to catch the Enforcement Officer staring at him in concern. The skin of the Officer's large, pale hand grabs Jeongguk's elbow, and they both gasp as heat rushes through them like an energy surge, setting Jeongguk's limbs on fire like thousands of pins and needles jabbing his nerves. His recovery system goes into overdrive trying to locate the danger, sending blaring signals into his receptors to escape it.

"What the?" The Officer croaks, stepping back to let his eyes sweep up and down Jeongguk's form, swallowing harshly, "Really?" He sounds disbelieving, but pulls back his slim fitting black sleeve to reveal a newly embedded soulmate mark on his inner wrist. Jeongguk looked down at himself and saw the same soft white petals and yellow centre - a daisy. Like from the park near his apartment.

Jeongguk gulps and hears the clamouring of bells in his head as his systems warn that his heartbeat is having trouble levelling out. He looks down at the badge on the smaller man's chest. "Officer Min, I don't-"

The Officer shakes his head, "I'm on the job; sorry, I really can't talk. Permission to I.D. for personal purposes?" Jeongguk nods dumbly and watches the Officer reach out tentatively to scan his I.D. band. While he does so he turns to the rest of the coffee shop patrons and raises his voice. "Citizens, I need your attention, please! I'm trying to find a droid - XR38 model, high class, small and light-haired? You wouldn't miss him," Everyone shakes their heads in dissent.

Jeongguk's eyes darted to the large bay window before he turned back to the Officer. "Is he lost?"

"Wha, who? The droid?" Jeongguk nods, and the Officer shakes his head, "No, he's not lost, just.. deliberately missing. He's committed some artificial crimes, but it's nothing too serious," Jeongguk tries smiling and is rewarded with a slight grin quirked up at him in reply. The same slightly disbelieving gaze pins him to the floor. "Farns, I'm still in pursuit; I have to go, but," His pale skin colours lightly, and Jeongguk's cheeks pinken to match without his consent, "May I comm you after my shift, citizen?"

"Yes," Jeongguk whispers, confused, elated, excited. Terrified. He wants to smudge a careful hand over the mark on his wrist to see if it's real but he can't, because he's holding a sopping wet bag full of half empty coffee cups.

Officer Min - Jeongguk's

soulmate?

- gives him another appreciative lookup and down. Jeongguk looks right back, eyeing his white blonde hair and sharp eyes in a soft, round face. He's a little shorter than Jeongguk and looks kind despite his obviously rushed expression. "Can't believe someone as pretty as you are supposed to be my soulmate," he snickers softly. "Guess I lucked out for once, huh?"

"Um, I-" Jeongguk starts, apologetic, but the Officer breaks away and steps to the door, eyes distracted as he listens to whatever comms are coming through in his ear receptor. He waves at Jeongguk and is gone as fast as he arrives, dashing down the street on quick feet.

"Wow, congratulations!" Jieun says from behind the counter, blatantly ignoring the other customers, letting her weight fall across the hard surface with the trademark lack of professionalism that Jeongguk has come to expect from her, "Let's remake those coffees for you, huh? As a congratulations on your special day,"

"That would be amazing," Jeongguk says in relief. Fast-cooling coffee seeps into his sock. His toes curl in repugnance, and he peels the leg of his pants away from his skin in thinly veiled displeasure.

"Let's have a look then!" The barista says, leaning over the counter curiously. Her coworkers click their tongues in annoyance as they continue serving the other customers but Jeongguk steps forward anyway. She whistles once she sees the flower, "So cute!"

"So cute," Jeongguk agrees, rubbing an absent finger over the mark once he hands her the ruined drinks, puzzling over their existence.

Once Officer Min looks up his profile from his I.D., will he even message Jeongguk?

Probably not, not once he realises the truth. His stomach turns slightly. Maybe he'll just have a protein pill for lunch instead of the meal he'd carefully packed this morning. He doesn't think he'll be able to keep it down.

A cleaning bot zooms out from under the counter to remove the spilt mess on the ground. Jeongguk watches it in a daze.

"So weird," Jieun continues, "I could've sworn you were a droid; you're so pretty! I guess you get that all the time, huh," She laughs, busying herself on the machine as she makes his drinks. "Some people just get all the luck, am I right? You're pretty

and

you found your soulmate so young! I can't wait to tell my roomie I saw it happen to someone firsthand." Eventually, she handed him the new bag of drinks and gave him a wink. "See you tomorrow, okay, Jeongguk?" He smiles and nods, keeping the smile on his face until he exits the small shop, shivering as the chilled spring air rips through his wet trousers.

"But I

am

a droid," he whispers to no one, confused. A solitary person standing alone in the surge of the city's streets. People ebb and flow around him like an endless tide, oblivious to his inner turmoil.

Droids are machines, and that means they can't have soulmates.

Right?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

He doesn't hear from Officer Min, not that he genuinely thought he would. The mark is a fluke, a mistake. He almost feels his system must've tricked Officer Min's soul somehow. Did he steal Officer Min from his rightful soulmate? Is there such a thing as a soulmate crime? Will he be jailed for something he didn't mean to do?

He doesn't know, and he doesn't know who to ask. He runs calculations through his mind repeatedly, but without an appropriate compilation of relevant data he is inundated by a stream of uncertain conclusions. His search results ping with confused responses every time - there's no such thing as a droid for a soulmate in recorded history. Not anywhere, not for any reason. The closest he finds is a case of someone with over 60% of their body being converted to mechanical parts because of a truck accident, cyborg now, but still essentially human. Not droid. Never a droid.

That night, while lying in his charging station, he dreams for the first time that he is aware of. Typically his system doesn't account for rem cycles in its general maintenance - it has far more efficient ways to help his systems recharge and absorb his day. But for some reason all he sees that night is the model XR38 sweeping past him with its dark eyes, smiling at him in a way that seems mischievous. Purposeful.

The sleek model holds a daisy and brings it close to his face as he walks past the window, closing his eyes in pleasure and inhaling deeply. Opens his eyes to wink at Jeongguk and continues on as if nothing had happened.

Over and over again, it loops until Jeongguk is half convinced that the XR38 did this to him. Officer Min had said the droid had committed artificial crimes. Maybe the XR38 was a virus, corrupting everyone's code as he walked past. Perhaps he was hacking passwords while sitting patiently on the subway beside his unsuspecting victims. Giving them fake soulmates with unsuspecting droids. For what purpose, though? It doesn't make any sense.

Jeongguk wakes from his recharge and doesn't feel rested at all.

-

Usually, no people are in the lab this early, but Jeongguk is certain he hears voices.

Jeongguk takes stock of the time once more to be sure, despite knowing that he charged the same amount he always does, despite taking the same subway he always does. He knows he took the same one because the identical droids were in the car with him, just like they always are, smiling politely and conversing while their human counterparts doze - they were definitely all there this morning.

Too early in the morning,

they all say with their smiles, rolling their eyes slightly as another human tilts against the glass windows, asleep. Fondly exasperated, as if the humans were pets they had to coddle through life.

Poor silly baby meat sacks, they can't help it. All grown up and still can't figure out how to programme the proper amount of sleep to fully recharge

. Some mornings (typically Monday mornings), the droids he shares eye contact have smiles that are a little more superior than usual.

But today wasn't one of those days. Jeongguk had boarded the train in a daze, eyes blinking lazily against the harsh light, wondering if he looked like one of the humans that had poured themselves into a chair two rows down, looking and smelling like a night on the town. The two slimline droid models that habitually sit near Jeongguk immediately notice the aberration in his arm pigment.

"What's that on your wrist?" Seulgi had asked, eyes blinking rapidly under her toffee-coloured bangs as she scanned the soulmate mark.

"Oh... it's a tattoo." Trying to keep it simple, trying not to push his hand over his wrist to hide it. He had washed it thoroughly the night before and this morning, but it refused to budge.

"Nice! How progressive, getting a tattoo where Marks normally sit! Don't see too many droids with ink these days - do you think your body team will replicate it for you when you get skinned up next time?"

"I... I don't know," he replied honestly, and his concern must have been evident because they sent him reassuring smiles, "I guess I'll just.. have to find out."

"I guess it's a perk of the job? Do you get a health insurance discount while working at the Center?" The other droid had asked - Mina of the pout, eyelashes, and crinkly nose - leaning over his other side to poke at it with a carefully manicured fingernail.

Jeongguk had nodded. "Company perk that all the droids in the office get complementary checkups." Strategic marketing, he doesn't say. All of their company's droids are kept in tip top health. Jeongguk is only a temp worker within Droid Health, but his jobs are still within the same company wherever he goes. Out to smaller branches, within maintenance, within consults or physical rehabilitation or accounting or.. the point is that he's always working within Droid Health. All the company perks come along with that. Seulgi had pouted and made a sad sound, Mina had joked that he'd need to tell her if a permanent job opening came up. He made a show of setting himself a reminder.

His next skin checkup is next week - they'll completely overhaul his epidermis this time - it gets done at the same time every year. Will the soulmate mark bleed through once he has his new epidermis? How far does it go down, anyway? Would he have to touch Officer Min again for it to come back?

He barely made it off the subway, so distracted was he by his thoughts. Jeongguk scanned into the building, greeted by the soft muted lights of a not-fully-awake office building.

Now it's barely 7.30am, and typically, it's only droids in the office at this time of morning. Murmuring quietly, moving about on soft feet, smiles more gently and easily before they have to deal with the rest of the world. It's Jeongguk's favourite part of the day, to be honest.

But even with those droids puttering around, there's no reason for anyone to chat in the experimental labs.

"Hello?" He calls out, poking his head around the frosted glass.

Dr. Kim grins at him, all bedhead and sleepy eyes under his stark white lab coat. "Jeongguk! Good morning,"

"Good morning, Dr. Kim," He taps the stack of patient files that weigh down his arms, "I was just about to drop your consult files off for the day; I wasn't expecting to hear anyone in here,"

"Ah, well," Dr Kim's smile turns rueful. He turns to the droid he has sat on the bed in front of him and pats their knee comfortingly, "We've had a long night, haven't we, Jiminie?"

Jeongguk turns to look at the unfamiliar droid, ready to greet him.

Wait.

"I saw you yesterday!" He splutters as the XR38 turns to face him, leanly muscled back flexing as he angles himself around. The droid smiles sweetly, raises a dainty hand and tinkles his fingers at Jeongguk in greeting. Jeongguk's fingers itch to do the same but the files weigh him down.

"I think I saw you, too," Jiminie replies, voice soft and husky. Jeongguk wonders where his privacy robe is.

"An Enforcement Officer was looking for you," Jeongguk recalls, letting the thick plastic of the files rub at his soulmate mark in memory. Tries not to think of the complete lack of messages waiting for him upon waking.

"Jiminie here was a bit naughty yesterday, weren't you!" The droid flushes prettily under Dr. Kim's gaze.

"Sorry, Tae,"

The doctor sighs and plucks at this tablet, "It's alright, we got it all sorted, didn't we?" He turns back to Jeongguk, "Jiminie's helping us with a special experiment, but his coding needs to stay secure until we've passed all the preliminary trials. And have we passed all the trials Jiminie?" Jiminie mumbles a no, "Exactly,"

"How come I've never seen him around the company if you've been working with him?"

"Ah," Dr Kim scrubs his long fingers against the back of his neck awkwardly, "He technically shouldn't be near you right now; he has to be in isolation for the trials,"

Jiminie rolls his eyes and kicks his legs out to nudge Dr. Kim.

The doctor grunts and shifts away, sighing in exasperation. "He's not doing too well with the enforced quiet,"

"Nobody would," The XR38 mutters with a pout. Jeongguk's never seen someone swing their legs aggressively but the droid easily manages it. "I'm made to be social; I want to talk to people! Let me free!"

"Do I need to remind you that you volunteered for this?"

"You're no fun," He pokes his tongue out at the doctor, who smiles gently.

"Not everything's fun,"

Jeongguk tries to slide out the door as the naked droid and his doctor argue, "Oh Jeongguk, you said you saw Jimin yesterday?"

"Uh," He's unsure what to answer, "Yes?"

"Did you notice any aberrations in your behaviour patterns to anyone around you after the visual interaction?" Two pairs of curious eyes blink at him in wide-eyed hope.

"Uhh," He wedges his inner wrist firmly against the files, "No? What - what kind of aberrations exactly?"

Jimin slumps, shoulders drawing inwards, "Nothing, never mind,"

"You knew it wouldn't be as easy as that anyway, Jiminie," Taehyung soothed softly.

Jeongguk feels his heart sink. His lower lip trembles, and he struggles to hold it with his teeth. He was right. Jimin let out some kind of virus. This mark - it, it isn't real, it's just a virus, it's fake. He doesn't have a soulmate. Officer Min is not his forever.

It's for the best that the Officer never messaged him then.

Jeongguk turns down their offers of a shared breakfast and continues allocating patient files throughout the rest of the office as the building slowly wakes up, struggling to greet people with his usual shy cheer as they stumble into the office in various states of wakefulness.

-

INBOX (1)

Unknown number: It's Yoongi, the Officer from the other day. Can we meet up?

Yoongi wraps his long, knuckled fingers around his glass of beer and stares at the table between them as if it holds the meaning of the world trapped within its faux wooden confines. "I got it tested," He says without preamble, in a deep voice that Jeongguk still hasn't quite acclimatised to. The apartment is dimly lit and small but it feels comfortable and warm. It smells intensely of some kind of cologne that Yoongi must use, making Jeongguk's olfactory senses itch. He likes the deep dark colours of the walls, though, and the contrast between the sleek metal appliances that Yoongi has purchased and the stuff he has clearly swiped from his parent's home, pastel cushions, an old throw blanket strewn over the bed in the corner, a ceramic cow that holds his chopsticks on the windowpane.

"Once I got back to the precinct and checked your file... I figured it must have been some kind of fucked up prank," Jeongguk's jaw tightens, but he nods, not that Yoongi is looking at him. He can understand his reasoning, after all. "There's no ink, no burn, nothing. It doesn't register as even existing on the med scans,"

Which means it's legit. Jeongguk knows. He's read the social media pages of people trying to fake their way into being soulmates with millionaires and famous people. The tests always find proof that someone put the mark there intentionally.

He nods again in mute understanding. Officer Min - Yoongi, as he'd introduced himself earlier - must have had the shock of his life when he opened Jeongguk's I.D. and found the blue glow of a droid profile instead of the green of a human's or orange of a cyborg.

Jeongguk feels guilt creep through his synaptics and looks around nervously, trying desperately to find something to offer up in this.. strange situation. Yoongi's single living apartment is lovely and lived in, homely in a way Jeongguk wasn't expecting; he gets the feeling the Officer doesn't often have guests, judging by the feel of the plushly cushioned dining chair he sits on, untested as yet by the pressure of many occupants. An old-fashioned analogue clock ticks away the seconds above the tiny kitchen unit, the harsh sound jarring on his nerves the longer he focuses on it.

"I don't understand it any more than you do," He finally replies, feeling his heart kick up a notch at the technicality - while it's true he doesn't understand and only has unconfirmed suspicions, it is clear that his primary function should be to tell his human soulmate the information he's omitting.

Too bad they made him stubborn. And romantic. Too romantic for a droid.

"I'll try to be the best soulmate there ever was, though!" He blurts out, fighting to catch Yoongi's line of sight, bobbing this way and that as his fake soulmate stares at the table in determination, "I know 7 languages, I can cook to a first-year college culinary degree standard, I've compiled 16 different sexual kink lists for your perusal - "He gulps nervously at that one. His temp agency has never sent him somewhere even remotely like a sexual healing centre and he's never wanted to venture out alone due to the stupid bashfulness they'd inserted into him.. anyway. "I enjoy watching movies and P.C. gaming and visiting dog cafes; I can play the piano?" He finishes his mini tirade with a hurried breath and stares over at his soulmate. At the same time, he tries to gather himself, pushing back against his brain as it pushes potential skills to the front that Yoongi might consider the One Thing that will convince him to give Jeongguk a chance. Yoongi finally looks up at him, really looking at him for maybe the first time since Jeongguk walked through his front door. "I don't know if I'm really your soulmate or if this is some strange aberration (lies, his mind whispers), but Officer Min, I'd like to do my best. If you'd let me,"

Please give me a chance. This might be the only one you get if this stupid virus puts me in the way of your actual soulmate. Please just try.

"Where on earth did you find 16 kinds of kink lists?" Yoongi asks, disbelieving, painting his low voice incredulously, "Are they all different things, or do they repeat? Wait, I'm getting distracted," He swipes a rough hand across his face, and Jeongguk notes the weary pallor of his skin. Yoongi seems to have trouble regulating his recharge time like the humans on the subway every morning. Jeongguk could help with that. If Yoongi wanted him to. "I've never heard of anything like this happening with a droid. Have you?"

Jeongguk shakes his head in dissent, tidying his overly long fringe with annoyed fingers when it swipes over his eyelashes, "No reported cases. Anywhere,"

Yoongi whistles and leans back, taking his beer to take a long gulp. The holo screen on the far wall flicks from a sun drenched meadow to a dark moonlit scene above an inky black lake, set to a timer to encourage Yoongi to sleep at a proper time. A small puff of perfumed air spurts from a vent, the tell tale chemicals of a chronic insomniac scenting the air in soft lavender. Yoongi swears and turns his fan on to disperse the chemical cocktail designed to force rest on him.

"Sorry, forgot that was going to go off. It's programmed to my shifts so it means I need to get up in 6 hours,"

"That's not enough sleep for such a physical job," Jeongguk says immediately, concern filling up like a distended water balloon, "You need at least 7 if you're going to be fully functional and running after criminals," He pulls himself out of the chair, "I'll go, you need more rest,"

"That's how great I look, huh? You look like you think I'm gonna fall over in the next few seconds,"

"I don't want to get in the way of your rest; we can speak to each other on a different day,"

"But we haven't figured anything out yet," Yoongi says, though he also stands up to tuck his glass of beer into his tiny fridge.

Jeongguk pulls his coat on and slips on his boots at the door, watching Yoongi tidying things in a slow, methodical way that tells him that despite the man's efforts, his sleep spray is affecting him. As a droid it doesn't affect Jeongguk, all it does is make him grin. Min Yoongi, police officer, has a face that is slowly softening into full sleepiness, his gestures start looking loose and clumsy as he potters about his apartment. It's adorable.

"Have you ever dated a droid?" Jeongguk asks as he opens the door. Yoongi turns slowly and blinks like a cat trapped in the sunlight for three hours.

"No, never,"

"Because you don't date droids at all, or you just.. never met one you wanted to spend time with?"

Another slow blink that takes a few seconds to resolve. The following voice has dipped into dangerously low territory, husky like Yoongi's throat already wants him to be asleep. "Never thought 'bout it,"

"Good night, Yoongi,"

"Good night, Jeongguk,"

Jeongguk closes the door behind him and immediately sinks his weight against it, closing his eyes in defeat. Yoongi had never thought about droids at all. It is less and less likely that Jimin and his virus had nothing to do with it.

"Farns," He swears softly.

He takes the train home.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"So that virus you're secretly working on that I know nothing about."

"Yeah," Jimin swings his legs obnoxiously, grinning at Jeongguk's annoyed pout. 6.30 am Jimin is naked on a gurney again, listening to Dr Kim puttering about behind them at the desk.

"Has it worked on anyone yet?"

Jimin pouts moodily, and Jeongguk kind of wishes he'd put it away. And his dick. It'd be nice if his dick would stop tumbling about with every kick of his legs. It's kind of distracting. "No. We thought converting it over for me to release electronically would work better? But it doesn't seem to have had any effect. We've been tracking all the news channels and there's been nothing. A controlled group of participants would be better, but we can't get any funding. We're technically, you know," He lowers his voice and looks around as if hiding staff members are going to jump out, "It's a little bit illegal," He winks at Jeongguk, and Jeongguk feels the blush stir in his cheeks. The XR38 really is too pretty on the best of days. Feeling playful and looking sparkly-eyed and very naked is not helpful when Jeongguk's brain keeps running through those kink lists he'd found the other day, wondering which ones might tempt Yoongi into giving the whole soulmate thing a try.

"If it's illegal," Jeongguk asks, clearing his throat and looking away. Dr. Kim gives him a knowing glance, "If it's illegal, why are you doing it?"

"Because we're people too!" Jimin yells, holding an indignant fist up into the air. "Equal rights, equal opportunities!"

"What kind of equal opportunities?"

"Soulmates!" Jimin blurts out before Taehyung can stop him. The doctor sends Jimin a withering glare but Jimin just snorts and holds his ground, undeterred.

Jeongguk pretends this news surprises him. "Wow, that's.. That's something. But they haven't even been able to get everyone to settle on whether or not we even have souls yet," Jeongguk doesn't like thinking about it too much, to be honest. It typically makes him sad, just like it does right now. He pushes himself onto the gurney next to Jimin, who holds a hand and laces their fingers together. Jeongguk has to prop the waiting case files next to his other side.

"What better way to figure out that age old question than by making it possible for Droids to have soulmates too?" Dr Kim proposes happily over his shoulder as if it were that easy and doesn't raise a thousand more questions.

"What if you make it possible, and then we steal other people's soulmates? What if people accuse us of doing just that? You know it'll happen." His real fear dropped like a stone, wrapped in a hypothetical situation. Smooth, Jeongguk. So smooth.

"Consider this," Dr. Kim says, returning to the gurney with a tray of implements. He holds it out, and Jeongguk perches it on his lap as the doctor works, taping little electrodes to Jimin's naked body. "Only 40% of the world's human population either have soulmates or find their soulmates within their lifetime."

"Well, it's a whole world full of people; it's impossible to touch everyone."

"Yes, that's true," Dr. Kim accedes. He tickles under Jimin's chin and Jimin giggles sweetly, catching at the doctor's wrist.

Jeongguk wondered if they had more personal reasons for wanting to try this out.

"But the percentage used to be 60% before droids gained full sentience. I'm extremely certain that if we can find the right programming and something to help the droids along, we will uncover a universal truth - Droids have souls, which means droids have soulmates. We just haven't figured out how to unlock this ability from within them yet," He taps on his plexi tablet quickly, humming at the figures he sees, "Despite being your creators, we still haven't discovered all there is to how you actually work. Where does sentience even begin? That defining moment during programming and design that suddenly happens that makes you different to every other droid in your stock line? How does it happen? Why are you so different to Sungjin in accounting, even though I know you were made of the same coding? You're siblings, but you aren't one and the same."

Jeongguk shrugs, catching at his bottom lip with his teeth.

"Souls," Jimin says in satisfaction, "My sister Soojin joined the police force last year, and I clearly won't be following in her footsteps, but there's barely any differences between us if you look at our files,"

Jeongguk fingers his shirt sleeve, pushing the fabric over his soulmate mark.

"We deserve soulmates," Jimin whispers, rubbing his delicate thumb along the back of Jeongguk's hand, "Don't you think you deserve to be on a level playing field with all these dumb meat sacks?"

Jeongguk snickers and Taehyung smacks Jimin lightly with his Flexi tablet. "That's enough out of you! Meat sacks indeed. And put some clothes on! I tell you every time you don't need to get naked but you go ahead and do it anyway."

"You might not need me to be naked but maybe I do, did you ever think of that?" Jimin replies, hopping off the bed to grab his clothes. He juts a hip out and flutters his eyelashes at them before drawing up his underwear.

"You're already too pretty; it's not fair," Jeongguk says, pouting, "I need to have a soulmate, or no one would ever look at a droid model like mine."

Jimin coos and draws Jeongguk's face between his hands, "If this soulmate thing doesn't work, I'll take ownership of both you and Taehyungie; just you watch me!"

Jeongguk thinks of Yoongi and crinkles his nose. "Gross!"

Jimin squawks indignantly, Jeongguk is tackled to the ground, and the patient files go flying.

-

Soyeon and Hoseok are the most similar droid 'siblings' Jeongguk thinks he has ever met.

They sit on either side of him on the subway ride home, books out but ignoring them as they chatter about their day with each other and Jeongguk.

"Are you going to the midnight showing of Tangled on Saturday night?"

Jeongguk shakes his head, listening to the echo of a feeling at the back of his mind. It started a couple of days ago, and he thinks it's his soulmate Mark telling him to go see Yoongi.

"But you never miss a cartoon movie night!" Soyeon says, nudging his shoulder to annoy him. He tips sideways floppily, and her brother catches him quickly, looping his arm around his waist and pulling him close. He gets dragged back and forth like a rag doll between them, which is often the case.

"I've got a date," he says under their bickering.

"Oooooooh!" They singsong in unison, fixing him with broad smiles and interested eyes. He sinks down under their attention and feels his ears warm up. "Who's the lucky person?" Hoseok questions lightly, "Will they let me cuddle you still, or are they too possessive?" Jeongguk scoffs and lets his weight fall against the older droid. As if he'd ever end up with someone that would deny him getting cuddles from those around him.

Wait. Jeongguk doesn't even know if Yoongi is like that. He freezes momentarily before reassuring himself that it's a soulmate mark for a reason. Yoongi won't mind.

"An enforcement officer," they let out some more ooohs. "Green," the oohs are more prominent this time. A human date. Not all humans are into the idea that droids are actually people, too - it's still an uphill battle despite how far society has come.

"When will we meet him?" Soyeon asks. Jeongguk rubs at the mark concealed under his jacket.

"He's not likely to be training home with me from work, right?"

"He might turn up on your doorstep, though," Soyeon insists, "I'm going to keep an ear pressed to your wall."

Jeongguk flushes again, "Please don't," Just like on the subway, Hoseok and Soyeon have matching living quarters on either side of Jeongguk's. He doesn't need either of them listening in on him at the moment - the soulmate mark has been leaving him with strange echoing thoughts when he pulls himself off charge in the morning, as if.. as if he'd been dreaming, he thinks. They leave him flustered enough with images of Officer Min's pale skin and soft petal-like lips that he's had to wake up earlier to account for the extra time spent in the shower before work. Waiting a week before finding a time to talk again is Too Long, he is discovering.

"Do you believe droids have souls?" He asks and watches both their smiles dim.

"What?"

"Do we have souls?" He whips his head back and forth, but neither of them answers. It's a question that everyone ponders at one stage or another, and they don't tend to talk about it face to face. They leave it to the angry human communities online to write long essays about, justifying their violent behaviour to their mechanised counterparts with keyboards laced with vitriol.

"Why are you asking?"

"If droids could have soulmate marks, would you want a soulmate?"

"What is this, 20 questions?" Soyeon asks, face a picture of dumb shock, "Aren't you reaching too far here? What did you get up to at work today to be asking something so crazy?"

Hoseok laughs loud, grating, and completely fake, "Isn't your re-skin next week? Maybe they should do a brain scan while they're poking around at you," Soyeon laughs and agrees; they jostle him and hold him close and definitely Do Not Answer.

-

INBOX (1)

Officer Min Yoongi: I'm sorry, I can't do this

JK2019: Do what? This weekend? I can reschedule

Officer Min Yoongi: Any of this. I don't think it's real, I'm sorry. Best of luck.

JK2019: Please give me a chance

This number is unavailable to your I.D. Please contact your services for potential wiring faults. Would you like to rate your service?

Dr. Kim does his re-skin for him.

For the first time in his 15 years of life, Jeongguk is terrified.

"Can I stay awake?" He stutters as the assistant guides him into the room.

"Of course," Dr. Kim murmurs after a startled glance in his direction.

He watches them turn off his nerve receptors, double and triple checking before pulling out the equipment to hook him up. He hovers naked, suspended with hooks under his armpits so they can reach as much skin as possible for the sake of efficiency.

It's a slow and meticulous process, convincing all the mechanical vessels to separate from the flesh - they grow attached, as you would, being held close together like a mother and baby for the last year.

He usually asks to stay in charge mode for the time it takes to peel his skin off and apply a new custom-fit one. It takes so much time, and it's boring. He has no motor function to speak of or muscles to voice his thoughts to others. There's no point being awake. But Jeongguk doesn't know what will happen if the dreams come while he's charging, and he's scared to wake up to a blank wrist as if he imagined it all. So he asks to stay awake and smiles blithely when Dr. Kim teases him, asking if he doesn't trust him to skin him up properly.

The slim doctor keeps everything moving efficiently - he listens to retro jazz music that Jeongguk wouldn't usually listen to on his own - and his assistant hums along and bobs his head, clearly familiar.

"I didn't know you liked skin art," Dr Kim murmurs close to Jeongguk's wrist, focusing on extricating his fingers from their skin sleeve with precise focus, "Hopefully, the artist won't mind doing it again? I hope you got the artwork on file, or I can just - Woojin! Grab my phone and take a picture of this before I pull it off?" His assistant mutters and pulls his gloves off, finding the doctor's phone and taking a picture with all the grace of a sulky teenager, "Thank you, my angel, my darling assistant, my best assistant in the world called Woojin, a wonder, thank you!" Woojin snorts and pries more gloves out of the box, sitting on their little operation table.

Jeongguk watches from the corner of his optics as Dr Kim retracts his soulmate mark from his wrist and removes the skin, exposing the very essence of Jeongguk underneath. Pulsing bionic body parts that keep him functioning - one wrong move and his system will blare an alarm, but for now, everything is quiet. His system logs everything done to him during this time, just as it logs anything else done at any time, and he can review it later internally, which is something humans can't do, and Jeongguk is glad for it. He can't imagine going to sleep as a human and knowing people could do anything to you, and you just.. wouldn't know.

Once Jeongguk is fully bared, they do a complete systems check to make sure everything is in order, recording things in soft, soothing voices in a kind of distant tone that makes Jeongguk feel a little bit like he's just a tool on a table being talked about, not that he blames them - they're used to droids being in charge mode for this, Jeongguk doesn't think he knows anyone at all that stays awake for the lengthy process. Definitely none of his siblings would do it.

And then Woojin wheels out his new skin.

They work as a pair, four hands moving for one purpose. The nerves and connectors know what to do; they search for each other as Dr. Kim and his assistant slide the skin over the right areas. It takes time, in which Dr. Kim sings wordlessly to his jazz music and Woojin hums along; Dr. Kim complains about his trial subject (who Jeongguk now knows is Jimin) and talks about inviting people over for his dog's birthday. Jeongguk cannot speak, but Dr. Kim smiles and reassures him he's invited.

"Jeon Jeongguk," the doctor whispers softly once everything's connected, eyes soft and large. "What is this?" His head bows and Woojin makes a sound of concern, bending with him until Dr. Kim waves him away.

He can't feel it, but he can see Dr Kim rubbing a soft hand over the skin on his wrist. Where his daisy has reappeared, just as bright as before.

The tight feeling in his chest dissipated as if someone had been sitting on him for the last few days and had finally gotten up. He struggles to gasp at the sensation and feels tears come to his eyes completely unbidden.

So relieved.

"Why didn't you say something?" Dr. Kim whispers, staring up into Jeongguk's eyes. Jeongguk stares back at him, mute. "I have to tell Jimin, we have to go back, test the parameters again, send him out, test you, we have to test... Farns, Jeonggukie, you have a soulmate!" He loses all sense of professionalism and reaches up to wrap his arms around Jeongguk's waist, holding him tightly, "You have a soulmate! You have one! Do they know? Do you - wait, I'm getting too flustered, we have to - Woojin! Unhook Jeongguk from the harness; we have made groundbreaking progress!" They unhooked Jeongguk as quickly as possible and restored all his nerve settings before the doctor called ahead and got Jeongguk pulled out of work for the day so he could run tests.

Jeongguk tries to ignore the hint of hurt lingering in the doctor's eyes when he mentions telling Jimin. His bright smile quavers slightly, and Jeongguk knows that the proof that their experiment worked has taken away their quiet hope that Jimin might've been the doctor's soulmate.

JK2019: I need to talk to you

This number is unavailable to your I.D. Please contact your services for potential wiring faults. Would you like to rate your service?

JK2019: Fuck you.

I'm sorry, that was rude. You're automated but it was rude and I'm sorry

This number is unavailable to your I.D. Please contact your services for potential wiring faults. Would you like to rate your service?

-

The Enforcement Station is grey. As grey as the sky in its permanently polluted hue, as grey as the buildings surrounding him, as grey as the streets under his feet, though those at least flare in a low blue sheen every few moments to indicate that their solar charging strips are in effect, ensuring no vehicles or droids lose power in an inappropriate place. He's dressed as sleekly and un-droidly as he can manage in a warm black woollen coat that he still manages to have pulled up to expose the slightest amount of wrist for fashion's sake, even though it means his mark is evident. It means all can see he won't need to slide a polite amount of skin against anyone in greeting any time soon.

An officer stands guard outside the door, large and intimidating in his solid black uniform and severe expression. He nods politely at Jeongguk, and Jeongguk nods back, feeling a nervous smile slide onto his face - humanising himself to a perceived threat so they'll be less likely to hurt him.

The door swooshes open, and Jeongguk steps into the waiting room of the Enforcement Station, letting the air conditioning sweep over him in chemical-grade coolness. He can smell the slightest twist in the air being aimed toward the door, something minty that the station probably uses to take the edge off people's emotions. A few people occupy the chairs lined up along one side, and a couple glances up to watch him enter with bored interest. Jeongguk feels his shoulders tuck in a bit, and a blush creeps over his cheeks as he shuffles quickly to the front desk hidden behind the plexiglass.

"Good day, citizen," the man behind the counter droned, eyes focused on the glowing screen on the right-hand side. "How can we help you today?" Jeongguk waits for the man to look at him, pausing for 5 long, heavy seconds before he realises that's all he will get. His teeth latch nervously onto the meat of the inside of his cheek.

"I was wondering if Officer Min was here? I need to speak with him,"

The officer drags his gaze away from the screen and narrows his rodent eyes at the droid. "Let me just.. check," He scratches his goatee before even reaching for the comms unit, so slowly Jeongguk is tempted to get into the narrow gap and do it himself.

"Hey," The man drawls softly. Waits. He looked at Jeongguk again and let a polite smile curl his lips.

Jeongguk is on a short lunch break before he has to go back for more testing. He doesn't have time for this. He huffs quietly and tries not to look impatient.

"Yeah, is Min in?" Jeongguk eyes the man's soulmate mark with sympathy. Whoever has this man as a soulmate must have the patience of a saint. He holds the comm unit away from his face. "Which Min?"

"Min Yoongi," Jeongguk answers almost before the man asks his question. What if Jeongguk had been a victim in a case and he needed to speak to the officer urgently? What kind of bullshit is this? He pushes his tongue into the pouch of his cheek to stop himself from being bothersome.

"Min, there's someone here for you," Jeongguk's soulmate is loud enough on the other end for Jeongguk to catch some semblance of words, yelling at the officer in reception about being unprofessional. The man hangs up the comms unit through Yoongi's spitting tone and smiles at Jeongguk wanly. "He'll be here soon, take a seat,"

Jeongguk takes a seat and stares at the clock on the wall. He has... ten minutes before heading back to work, and he can't be late because he's literally what they're working on. An afternoon hooked up to more monitors doesn't seem fun but he has little choice, not if it means he can help his brothers and sisters have soulmates.

Hopefully their experience will go a bit more easily than Jeongguk's.

A door to the side clicks open and swings heavily, revealing a pissed-off-looking Officer Min. His face is schooled to polite concern until he sees Jeongguk rise to his feet, and then - it becomes a wall.

"No." He starts shutting the door.

"Yoongi, please!" He rushes forward and grips the door, holding it open. "I need to talk to you."

"I told you I couldn't do this, please stop it."

"Just let me explain!" He pulls too hard and doesn't realise when Yoongi finally lets go. The door smacks into the back of the wall with a sharp thud, and everyone turns to look at them. Jeongguk's cheeks flush again, and he curses his programming for the millionth time in a day when he sees Yoongi's eyes absorbing his embarrassment and frowning as if disappointed in a child's behaviour.

Yoongi steps through the door and right up into Jeongguk's space, pulling Jeongguk's hand away so it'll swing shut behind him. His hand is cool in Jeongguk's because of Jeongguk's slightly raised temperature, slightly smooth in places and rough in others, larger but vaguely square in shape, just like Jeongguk's. He resists the urge to lace their fingers together and relish in the coolness against his skin.

He's forgotten how pretty the officer is, somehow. Tired as usual, complexion wan under the harsh lights from above, but so so pretty. There's a sharpness to his eyes that Jeongguk finds entrancing. He watches his own hand as if it were someone else's as his fingers brush the fabric at Yoongi's wrist where his soulmate mark will be lingering unseen.

Tries to pretend it doesn't hurt that Yoongi is concealing it.

"What do you want?" Yoongi asks sharply, pulling his arm away, though his fingers twitch back towards Jeongguk as though they enjoyed his warmth. During his brief visit, Jeongguk noticed the plethora of blankets lying around Yoongi's apartment - he must get cold often or just like to feel snuggly when he can. Jeongguk has a lot of warmth to give, and he wants to tell Yoongi so.

"I," He starts nervously, "I got re-skinned this week."

"You what?"

Jeongguk frowns. "Re-skinned?"

"What's that?" Yoongi asks grumpily.

How does he not know what that means?

"Listen, I'm a recent transfer from a rural town. We had about 3 droids in our whole city, and they were old clunky things that people used to cart stuff around; I don't know any of your fancy lingo,"

"That doesn't even sound like a town, that sounds like a bus stop."

Yoongi snorts before he can stop himself, and Jeongguk covers his mouth in embarrassment. The officer's eyes glimmer in amusement, which Jeongguk lets himself appreciate for a moment before he wipes away the humour with his following words. "It's where they replace your skin; we get it done yearly; otherwise, it's.." He scrunches his nose, "It's not good."

That's it, Jeongguk. Just throw your fake humanness in front of your skittish soulmate. Good job.

"You look exactly the same," Yoongi says, frowning. His eyes swept over Jeongguk's body speculatively, "The models back home didn't have human-looking skin, just.."

"Shell models," Jeongguk offers, and Yoongi nods in agreement. Wow, they must have been super, super old. It must have been a bizarre backwater town. Yoongi's hand twitches towards Jeongguk's wrist, where the daisy still resides. "It came back as soon as the skin was attached; I made them keep me awake because I was - (

terrified, worried) -

because I was curious, so I saw it happen,"

Yoongi's jaw tightens. "That doesn't make it real."

"They said it was, though", Jeongguk whispers desperately, feeling his heart plummet at Yoongi's words. The hope inside him doesn't seem enough to carry them both and he can't figure out what to say to make Yoongi listen. He was hoping the soulmate mark moving through his re-skinning would be enough. Was he stupid to think it'd be enough? "I'm being tested because this is just - unprecedented. It's never happened before, and they said it's real, Yoongi. It'll be on the T.V. and everything. Am I really that abhorrent to you that you can't even entertain the thought?"

"This is some kind of fucking weird prank, do you understand?" Yoongi snaps, all humour gone, "I don't know who put you up to this, but it's not fucking

funny

, alright?"

Hurt shoots Jeongguk in the chest like an arrow, sending his programming into a whirlwind of emotions and chemicals. He feels tears prick at his eyes mercilessly and scrubs at his face with a clumsy fist. Hold it together hold it together, it's okay, don't cry, just get your words out, Jeongguk. Be big, be strong. "Why would it be a joke to be with me?" He asks brokenly, "What's wrong with me that you think you're so much better than me?! I'm a person, too, you know! I have feelings; I deserve a soulmate that wants me, too." He sniffs and searches his pocket for a tissue, hands shaking. Where the farns are his tissues?

Yoongi just looks at him. He doesn't seem to care that Jeongguk's upset. "Listen, this is a

mistake

; I don't care what they say. You can't be my soulmate; you just can't."

Jeongguk locks his jaw to fight against the sobs that fight to escape his throat. Maybe if he were an XR38, Yoongi would make an exception, but clearly, his unsuperior model isn't convincing him. If only he were a bit newer..

But no. Even then, Jeongguk knows. Yoongi wouldn't want him, no matter how he looked.

"You're so mean," Jeongguk says in a watery voice, helpless against the overwhelming signals in his brain telling him to retreat, to heal and get away from the thing causing him pain.

"Stop crying," Yoongi mutters angrily.

"I'm not crying," Jeongguk sniffs. His fingers come away from his cheeks wet, but Yoongi is like a wall now, eyes glinting black as if they were glass.

"You're wasting an Enforcement Officer's time, Citizen. You need to leave."

Jeongguk blinks down at him in shock and feels a sob rise and escape before he has time to suppress it. He turns on the spot and watches everyone's heads turn away quickly as if they hadn't been watching the entire thing. Embarrassment colours his cheeks again, and he slaps his hands to his cheeks to cover them.

"He your boyfriend, Min?" The officer behind the desk asks as Jeongguk flings himself towards the exit.

"He's just a broken fucking robot, Sawyer. Mind your own business."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Jeongguk watches a sparrow flitter unsurely around the traffic light above him. It shouldn't be here - there are systems to keep the wildlife out of danger, away from air traffic accidents involving delivery drones and hover cars. Carefully cultivated hectares upon hectares of land preserve natural life and the trees that humanity still relies on to function. For breath, for peace. The sparrow shouldn't be here, and he wonders, absently, if he should call someone and let them know that it's stuck in a world it doesn't belong in, trying to function in a place where it can't find anything to make a nest for itself, hovering reluctantly on top of a glowing green light.

Security has probably seen it already, though.

He watches it through a series of traffic light changes, misses the pedestrian's turn and gets jostled from behind by the crowd, passive-aggressive 'excuse me's' barely reaching his auditory processors.

"Jeongguk?"

He turns his head in confusion, "Jihyo?" His sister smiles in barely contained joy and Jeongguk smiles back, surprised.

"I thought you were working in Ilsan?" He scans back quickly, trying to recall any mention of a trip up to Seoul, and realises with shock that he hasn't checked his sibling's hive chat for a week or so; he's been so caught up in his own world and troubles.

"Got called in. Didn't you get called in too?" His sister shrugs, "Shall we go in together?" He agrees and holds out his arm, because he knows she likes to cling. They cross the road together, and Jeongguk feels like his soulmate's mark pulses every time her fingers brush over the bare skin unknowingly, listening to her oblivious chatter with half an ear.

The sun barely tinges on the sky, but it doesn't seem to bother Jihyo at all. She tilts her face to the sky and smiles at the lukewarm beams. Will he ever feel that at peace again? Every time he looks down at the innocuous daisy on his wrist it makes him want to throw up.

Their brother Sungjin soon joins them from the other side of the street; the sibling who works for the same company as Jeongguk looks curious and bemused, and he'd rather not be included in whatever's going on. Jeongguk can relate.

His siblings muse over what might be happening - has one of the wildest siblings behaved aberrantly, and does it mean they all require a system overhaul to ensure nothing pings against whatever the bad egg has done? Jeongguk doesn't say anything to dissuade them from this theory. He didn't get the message calling him in, so he didn't know the wording and didn't want to give himself away. Is it lying if he just smiles wanly in reply and doesn't say anything? He doesn't know how to explain that he might know what has happened; he doesn't want to have to explain everything and see their pitying faces when they realise their brother had a chance at 'true happiness' and blew it.

Jihyo waves at their brother Jisung who waits at the elevator as they enter the building. Their brother raises his eyebrow at them in greeting and turns back to face the wall next to the elevator, scanning the signs with a furrowed brow that Jeongguk often sees reflected in his own mirror. "Isn't this like a blast from the past?" He says, quirking a brow at the building.

"Smells weird, like…" Jihyo wrinkles her nose.

"Citrus," Sungjin sighed, banging his thumb on the elevator button, "They use citrus to mask the chemical smell."

"Someone lied to the humans then, it's just making it worse,"

She looked to Jeongguk for backup, but he just shrugged - he works here daily and is used to it now. It bothered him initially; his nose is quite sensitive, and the citrus is sharp, but now it just smells like work.

They step up to wait together, their faces all in similar quirks of amused confusion, baffled but entirely agreeable to finding out whatever's in store for them. Far more agreeable than Jeongguk would've been if he'd been called into the lab for a Family Line check-up. He's always run a little more anxious than his siblings, and it takes them all meeting up to remind him that while there are a lot of similarities, there are also a lot of differences. They're not necessarily all positive ones. His siblings stand easily, looking unsure but confident next to him, which is ridiculous considering he's the one who knows the most out of all of them.

It's not fair, he thinks for the hundredth time since their creation. They all have the same coding, and Jeongguk is one of the only ones who worries about anything.

They ride the elevator down to the lab levels in companionable silence. Then Jeongguk leads them towards the lab he's assuming they've been called to, simply because his steps are slightly more assured and familiar than the others.

"How's working here been, Jeonggukie?" Jisung asks, head swivelling around in circles as he takes in the dimmed morning lights and the bright white walls. Every lab is walled in frosted glass so that you can't see inside, and it tends to feel quite austere when you first enter the building until you notice the small pops of personality spilling out of the edges of the labs, office spaces and reception desks.

"They treat me well,"

"That means he's

bored,"

Jihyo snickers, linking hands with him again so she can swing their arms back and forth obnoxiously, yanking on every backward pass.

"I'm just doing office stuff," He says defensively, heartbeat accelerating slightly as they get closer to Dr. Kim's lab, "You'd be bored too,"

"Oh my stars, yes. You won't catch me taking an office assignment, no way!" They round the corner and enter the first lab with its door open.

"Always late," Christian smirked at them from where he stood with three of their other siblings.

"We're 15 minutes early," Sungjin scoffs quietly before branching off to find the nearest chair. Christian makes a lazy swipe at Sungjin's shaved head but Sungjin ducks out of the way with a warning glance. Christian and Jihyo grin to each other and Jisung sighs, already irritated with them both.

Dr Kim murmurs quietly in a corner with Jimin, who sits on the back sink swinging his legs as usual, looking blankly unimpressed as every new addition to Jeongguk's sibling line enters the room. Jeongguk knows the truth behind the behaviour, though - Jimin's eyes are very carefully schooled to look like he is watching everything with bored disdain. There's a weight there, though, hiding behind his pretty face.

Jeongguk feels he doesn't need to ask Jimin for a wellness report to know that Jeongguk's soulmate mark has hit Jimin hard. He resists the urge to check and make sure it's still there. He and Jimin are the only ones who don't have their shirt arms drawn up in polite invitation of a touch. Jeongguk tries to squish his nerves under a thumb - no one's looking, it's okay. It'll

be

fine. Probably.

Once it's only 5 minutes until the start of the work day Dr. Kim turns and steps over to the middle of the room, clapping his hands together in excitement. "Well! Droid line JK19, I expected more of you to arrive before we started, but that's okay. I have another doctor joining me for this project, but he must be running late - he took the train this morning and should hopefully arrive very soon!" Jeongguk watches Sunyeol and Sungjeon nudging at each other and leaning in to whisper - the two siblings are often paired together for work and have been working on the other side of Seoul at the aquarium as veterinarians. "We've got some amazing news to share with you and a project that - I hope - you're all going to want to be a part of,"

"Why's the XR38 here?" Jihyo asks curiously. Jimin stares into space, legs hanging limp.

"He's part of the original experiment; we couldn't have gotten this far without him - he's been a treasure," Dr. Kim receives a wan smile.

"Don't keep us in suspense then," Sungjin says, whirling slowly in circles on the chair he's procured, "What's the scientific breakthrough or whatever?"

Dr Kim seems to pout momentarily at the break in his clearly thought-out speech, "Well, yes, well then." He clears his throat, then beckons to Jeongguk, "Jeongguk, if you'd join me?"

The droid stares at him for a moment. He wonders if his processors have glitched - 5 pairs of sibling's eyes stare at him in burning curiosity; he can sense in the background of his mind that he's being sent blaring messages into their hive mind chat and blatantly ignores it all.

"Um, no thanks," He squeaks.

"Jeonggukie, don't be difficult, come on. You know it's inevitable,"

"Is it, though? You could just, you could just pretend I don't know anything and I could just go to work, you know? Just do my job; that's all I'm here for. I didn't get sent a summons," He edges towards the door, but Jihyo digs her claw-like nails into the meat of his arm, restricting his movement. He whines softly and tries to prise her fingers from his delicate skin.

"Jeonggukie," Jihyo hisses, sounding betrayed. And oops, she probably does feel slightly betrayed - they must all do. He's been a bad brother, keeping this secret close to his chest. Maybe it'd be different if he had a willing soulmate, but he doesn't. He has Yoongi. Shame bubbles up inside him as he remembers all the eyes staring at him in the Enforcement Precinct and tries not to compare them to his sisters and brothers all staring at him now, waiting, some more patiently than others. Jihyo lets him go and points with her eyes to the space next to Dr. Kim.

With feet like lead he shuffles to the middle of the room. He gives everyone a weak grin. He raises the sleeve on his left arm.

Silence.

"Did you get a tattoo, Jeonggukie?" Sungjin asks in a careful voice. His chair has stopped moving. They all pin him under the same gaze that he gives other people; the one people have told him gets slightly too intense when he's passionate about something.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Jisung whispers, and you can tell Jihyo's just as shocked because she doesn't slap him for swearing like she usually would.

"We've been testing various methods to unroot the secret behind the droid's soulmates." Dr Kim says quietly. Proudly. "Jeongguk was an accidental discovery when Jimin walked past him in a coffee shop and infected him with the programme we've been trialling. No other droid has reported the same phenomenon from Jimin's unmonitored stroll. Just Jeongguk."

"So it wasn't a controlled experiment?" Jisung asks, creeping forward until he's close enough to reach out and ask for permission with his eyes -

can I touch?

Jeongguk nods his permission, and his brother brushes a soft thumb over the skin, knowing he's scanning for pigment and finding nothing.

"I'm afraid not,"

"So Jeongguk went and found a soulmate like.. in the wild?" Sungjin sounds disbelieving from where he stands towards the back of the room, "He just so happened to touch someone after Jimin had wandered by, and this.. happened?"

His mind buzzes with all the questions thundering at him behind closed doors, all the questions he's had and is still unsure of. He just has Dr Kim's theories, which are not facts; he can't say anything. His other siblings present are coming forward and touching the skin, murmuring in wonder. They seem more open to the possibility of having a soul and a soulmate than the JG models that Jeongguk takes the train with. Still, he supposes that shouldn't be a surprise considering how willing he himself has been to entertain the concept.

"What's your soulmate like?" Jihyo asks, and everyone falls silent. Even Jimin turns to look, body stiff with thinly veiled curiosity.

"He, um," Jeongguk bites his bottom lip unsurely, not knowing what to say. "He's an enforcement officer for the local precinct,"

They all make understanding noises. "Jeongguk's always liked being taken care of," Christian snickers, waggling his eyebrows at his brother raunchily. Jeongguk rolls his eyes and tries to ensure his facial features don't give away just how heartbroken he feels.

"Did it feel like anything?" "Was it straight away or was it a while afterwards?" "I heard you can hear your soulmate's emotions. Is it true?" "Will you get married?" Jeongguk blinks, overwhelmed.

"I didn't know we were camping!" A voice calls from the doorway. Jeongguk whirls to look and sees another man in a doctor's coat. Tall, broad shouldered, and far beyond most droid levels of handsome, the new doctor saunters in with a confident smile.

"Camping?" Jimin slips off the sink to walk (glide) over, wearing a beautiful smile that Jeongguk has only witnessed once or twice since getting to know the droid; he knows that he saves it for special occasions or meeting new humans.

"It's just... You're all so intense," Jeongguk feels his brain trying to short circuit itself after realising what he means.

"What the fuck," Christian says.

"You know? In Tents? Camping? Get it?" The suave looking doctor cracks up in the middle of the lab, laughing louder than Jeongguk is necessarily ready for at this time in the morning. Jimin folds completely in half as his giggles take over his body, seemingly uncaring that he's one of the only two laughing. The new doctor reaches out a hand to steady him before he falls and gasps in shock. Jimin huffs, too and crashes to the floor.

Everyone stares at them momentarily, but Dr Kim makes a pained noise that sounds suspiciously like 'no'.

A red apple shimmers its way across the new doctor's bared wrist.

"Holy shit," Sungjin says. "Where's this virus medicine hoodoo thing? I want to try,"

"Please say hello to the new Dr. Kim," Dr. Kim - Kim Taehyung, that is, says, sounding strangled.

"This is a mess," Jeongguk says in shock. His siblings crowd Dr Ki- Dr Taehyung as the new doctor and Jimin stare at each other in wonder, not knowing what to do with themselves. Jeongguk finds their blank shock extremely relatable.

Behind all the shock and awe, behind the polite smiles of the JK model droids and the slightly dizzy expressions on their faces, he sees the look Yoongi had given him straight after their soulmate marks had revealed themselves - hope. Excitement. Anticipation.

Hot, scorching jealousy sours his stomach and paints his insides in acid yellow, forcing his eyes to drag away only to find Dr Taehyung watching everyone's excitement and wonder as though someone had ripped out the only part of his life that had given him joy.

They make eye contact over the crowd, and Jeongguk offers him his weakest grin.

"Alright, everyone!" The younger doctor calls out so loud that Jeongguk's shoulders curl up to his ears, "Yes, it is amazing, yes, it is magical - now comes your part," They all settle into expectant silence. However, Jeongguk sees the fluttering blink echoing in his siblings' eyelashes as they absorb the yelling that's going on in their siblings' hive chat. Everyone is clamouring to know what's happening as the early arrivals stop responding to messages.

"So here's the situation, people. We know the virus worked on Jeongguk, but we need to figure out

why

. It wasn't supposed to work yet; it wasn't in the right phase for actual testing. We thought the best place to start would be with his sibling line, so you'll all be coming in so we can run some tests,"

"How long will we be here for?" Jisung asks warily.

"Just for today," The new Dr. Kim says, smiling shakily, "We should have all of you filtered through by the end of the day, and then..." He gulps tremulously, "It looks as though we'll have more data we'll need to collect." Jimin and the new doctor give each other a shy smile, and Jeongguk pretends not to notice that the XR droid is still angling his body as though he wants to turn and run to Dr. Taehyung for reassurance.

Jihyo folds her arms against her chest and leans against Christian's side for support, "Will it even be relevant now since you thought it might be something in his programming that might've been spread throughout us? Obviously, we don't have a lot of physical similarities to this pretty new model, so it feels redundant," She questions, looking troubled.

"We didn't know that was going to happen right now, and we can't pretend it might not be a complete coincidence," Dr Taehyung replies, grabbing a clipboard hastily and scanning through it far too fast to actually read it, "We're going to forge ahead with our planned tests and then... send you back out into your natural worlds, so to speak. If you're consenting, that is. This is not a factory upgrade at this point - it is purely voluntary,"

Everyone pulls away to discuss the merits of a potential 'soulmate activation implant'. Jeongguk turns away from them, looking towards the door just in time to see a carefully blank faced Enforcement Officer Yoongi being escorted down the hall to another examination room.

"Who's that?" Sungjin asks, and Jeongguk startles, peering quickly behind his shoulder to where his brother had snuck up behind him in that quiet way of his.

"Oh. Um,"

"He didn't look like a droid,"

"He isn't,"

"Is he your.."

The question goes unfinished as Sungjin absorbs the downtrodden expression on Jeongguk's face. Of all his siblings, Jeongguk tends to see Sungjin the most since they're both working for the same company. He doesn't mind letting some of his heartbreak leak out in front of him, Sungjin, the first of their line. He tends to be more stern than the others because of the implication that he should pave the way. As such, Jeongguk sometimes feels like a ridiculous child around him, jumping wherever he's sent by his employers. At the same time, Sungjin remains steadfast in the accounting department, earning a reputation as a dedicated team member. And so, with all this crashing through his mind like a wave taking him down from behind, he lets Sungjin in, with a tiny secret invite hidden from their hive, into the fear and shame that has been living inside his cortex ever since Yoongi said he was broken. Sungjin slips in and explores the sliver of his mind that Jeongguk has allowed him to see the pulsing hurt like a raw wound.

"Oh, bunny," Sungjin murmurs quietly, pulling him into his warm embrace, a rare gift that Jeongguk accepts with reckless abandon, letting himself need the comfort as everyone around them ignores them altogether, too busy discussing the prospects of getting their own soulmate that might not even want them.

"Maybe we'll leave them to it for a while, huh?" Dr. Taehyung murmurs quietly as he sidles up to them, smooth as silk.

"I guess," Jeongguk says, wishing more than anything to stay in this room with his excited siblings and pretend he was still waiting to discover his soulmate. It kind of sucks to be the person that has to forge ahead and make all the mistakes so that the people behind him will have an easier time of it.

He reluctantly pulls himself from Sungjin's comforting embrace and follows Dr. Taehyung out the door and down the corridor. An almost silent caress of feet on the soft flooring behind him is the only indication he has that Jimin has also decided to leave Jeongguk's siblings and his brand new soulmate.

He sees Yoongi before Yoongi sees them, staring vacantly at his clasped hands that rest in his lap as if they were a physical representation of how helpless he feels in the current situation.

"He's pretty," Jimin says appreciatively.

"Yeah," Jeongguk agrees in complete misery.

Enforcement Officer Min Yoongi looks up when he hears the glass door slide open. Jeongguk witnesses the exact moment Yoongi's expression shifts from wary politeness to absolute fury.

"You," He growls and slides off the gurney before Jimin enters the room. His movements are limp and loose, but Jeongguk can feel the heat in his arms as he moves closer, ignoring Dr. Taehyung's polite greeting to stand before his droid soulmate, fuming.

Despite his slightly shorter stature and Jeongguk's 97% certainty that he has more combat knowledge than his soulmate, Jeongguk is incredibly intimidated.

"Hi," He breathes.

"Don't you 'hi' me, like you haven't done anything wrong," Yoongi snarls, eyebrows furrowed, lips pursed in what Jeongguk would describe as a pout in literally any other circumstance than right now, being yelled at.

It happens to be one of his least favourite things.

"This is all your fault!"

"Um, what is?" Jeongguk asks innocently, though the answer is clear.

"I got pulled off my new case because of this whole.." He waves a spindly hand in the air that practically thrums with pent up energy, "What the fuck did you do? Are you in trouble for fucking with human biology? Have you broken something in me to make this happen?" He waves his covered wrist in Jeongguk's face, and that hurts him more than anything he's said, the fact that he's so ashamed to be Jeongguk's soulmate that he'd still rather hide it from the world.

Jeongguk blinks away the sudden wetness in his eyes, staring blankly as Yoongi starts pacing between him and the gurney.

"There's no need for that kind of behaviour, Officer Min. Please tone it down," Dr. Taehyung says mildly, stepping past them to set up a privacy curtain between the two gurneys.

"Bit histrionic, aren't we?" Jimin drawled, giving the officer a sharp smile that lacked warmth, "Maybe you should be more careful of how you speak to our sweet Jeonggukie?" He strolls past them and leans against the doctor's desk, shoved to one side, buffing his fingers against his soft cotton shirt. Jeongguk realises distantly that it feels weird to see Jimin with clothes on.

"Besides, if you want to blame anyone, you have to blame me. I'm the experiment that went wandering, not Jeongguk,"

Yoongi opens his mouth to respond but catches sight of something behind Jeongguk and watches, soft mouth opened in surprise.

Jeongguk turns to see his siblings strolling down to the usually empty consult rooms, where he assumes they'll be taking their tests.

They each turn to smile at him as they go; Christian goes so far as to give him a double thumbs up and a pair of excitedly wiggling eyebrows.

Jeongguk smiles back and tries not to curl up in embarrassment as his own large-toothed smile attacks him from many different faces. He can't even imagine what Yoongi must be thinking right now.

They are different in lots of ways, his siblings. They are. But they are still fundamentally the same. In the corner of his eye, he sees Yoongi huddling further and further against the back wall, bumping against all the buttons and fixtures that convert the lab into a room that can adequately care for any type of patient - human or droid. "The fuck is going on," He mumbles darkly, eyes like black glass, staring as the small procession of droids trails off.

"Enforcement Officer Min Yoongi," Dr. Taehyung says, gesturing to the chair next to where he has seated himself, "We need to have a conversation, and I think you may like to sit down for it,"

"Is this some kind of government conspiracy?" Yoongi mutters, looking increasingly vulnerable, shuffling across the room and flicking his eyes around quickly, scoping out the security cameras, the late model droid lingering by the desk with a Cheshire smile. He skirted the beds and sat down, suddenly looking smaller than Jeongguk realised he could get.

"No, Officer Min, it's not a conspiracy. We've made a scientific breakthrough that will change the world and everyone in it. And you and your soulmate," - Yoongi winces, "are leading the charge, so to speak,"

"I didn't ask for this,"

"Don't be so ungrateful!" Jimin spits, leaning forward enough that Yoongi leans backwards, "We can finally have soulmates like you stupid meat sacks, and you're salty that you get one of us? Don't you understand how lucky you are to have him?" He throws his hand out to Jeongguk, and Jeongguk shuffles uncomfortably, eyes pinning themselves to the floor in shame. "They've pulled his sibling line in so that they can decide if they want the code that'll open this freaking - this damned soulmate

door

or whatever it is, so stop thinking about just yourself and let us feel like we belong on this planet for once!"

Jimin's quick pants fill the room as he tries to settle down.

Dr. Taehyung's quiet voice. "Jimin, can you help Dr. Kim in the other lab?"

"Yup," He snaps bitterly, pulling himself off the desk with startling grace, considering the anger that seems to be powering his body. They watch him depart.

"His line all tend to have a bit of a temper, even at the best of times,"

"No kidding," Jeongguk says.

"So what you're trying to tell me is that this.. this is real? He's really my soulmate?" Yoongi asks, not even looking at Jeongguk. His voice sounds despaired as if he's sitting in front of a doctor getting a bad diagnosis - 'I'm sorry sir, you've been diagnosed with a lifetime of droid soulmateness, there's no treatment available'.

Jeongguk gulps back the hurt with a clenched jaw and focuses on holding himself still. If he doesn't move, then the words won't find him. They're like t-rex's, maybe. They won't see him as long as he's still. Dr. Taehyung looks at Yoongi as if he's crazy. "Of course, it's real. We've been working on this for years, Officer Min. Can you honestly look at Jeongguk and say that you don't believe there's the capacity for love within him?"

"You can't be serious, he's a robot," Jeongguk flinches. His face flushes with shamed heat.

"I'm a droid, and that makes me a person, too; the law says so," Jeongguk says. Yoongi looks away, and Jeongguk huffs in irritation. "I

am

a person. Why don't I get to be a person just because more care was put into my neurons, painstakingly created and decided upon by a team of experts, rather than just two bits of meat rubbing themselves together for two minutes of entertainment? Why does that make you more important than me?" Shame washes through him again, and it takes him a moment to realise it's coming from somewhere else.

This isn't his shame. He isn't ashamed to be a droid, so what is this? Yoongi's eyes snap in shock, and Jeongguk feels his own widen in response as they both realise together - this is Yoongi inside him, his soulmate mark flaring within him as he catches the tail end of Yoongi's high emotions.

Like a rubber band, the connection breaks with a snap, causing them both to gasp at the recoil.

"Fascinating," Dr. Taehyung says, "Was that your first merge?"

"Fuck off," Yoongi mutters, launching himself out of the chair and throwing himself onto the gurney clearly marked for human use - the other has a droid charge station affixed to the base, glowing a subtle blue.

"We're going to have our hands full with this one." The doctor says to Jeongguk, smiling a little. It looks sympathetic.

"Yay," Jeongguk says, glaring at his soulmate, "How long are we in here for?"

"Oh, we just want to monitor the first-ever soulmate bond between humans and droids, so... a week?"

Jeongguk hears Yoongi groan and lets the sound echo within himself as if inside a vast, empty cavern.

So lucky to have a soulmate.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"I don't see anything," Jeongguk hears from the other side of the partition. He flicks a glare up at the pristine whiteboard and counts to five extremely. Extremely. Slowly.

After taking the slowest breath through his nose that he's ever taken, he focuses his attention back on the shiny red apple in front of him.

Woojin, Dr. Taehyung's assistant, watches with a clipboard. A glowing blue timer ticks away the seconds through the plexiglass.

Focus.

Apple apple apple. Red. Red apple. Crunchy sweet, smooth skin and rough slide once your teeth crunch through, red red red, the stalk's still poking out from the top, it's right in front of him and making his mouth water, and he doesn't think he could possibly think about an apple any harder than Jeongguk has at this moment, there's no way Yoongi can't hear him screaming APPLE through his brain, so focused that he's given his sibling's numerous frights as the morning has progressed, this is an Apple, and there is nothing in the world but this Apple and

"Is it.. a rubber band?" Yoongi offers limply.

Jeongguk considers throwing the apple at Yoongi's pouting face for one delicious second, then calmly pushes back his chair and retreats to the far corner, head pressed against the cool glass.

"We're nearly finished," Woojin calls in his chirpy voice.

"I just need a minute," He whispers softly, too soft for them to hear.

He closes his eyes and feels a brush of something strange against his consciousness, an echo of a blue paper aeroplane that disappears before it becomes clear.

You fucker. I have you now.

Jeongguk's eyes snap open, and he stomps to the partition. He glares over it down at his soulmate, who whirls around in his wheeled chair idly with the same bored pout on his face that he's had for the last two days they've been together.

"You're lying," Jeongguk snaps, cursing the stupid programming that makes him one of

those

angry people. A person who can't stop the tears from taking over, from taking away any ability to be calm, rational, righteously angry.

Yoongi peers up at him, innocent. Tired. A little sardonic. Jeongguk feels his fingers dig into the top of the partition. His relaxed position on the chair screams nonchalance - the splayed legs, lolling neck, dangling arms. His eyes tell a different story. Their sharp features accentuate the darting of his pupils to the right as he tries to hide a secret. It's like he forgets he's talking to a droid sometimes.

"You're thinking about a blue paper aeroplane. I saw it right now in my head," The Officer blinks.

"I'm what now? Did I?"

"I didn't put it in my head; you did," Jeongguk says, fighting to keep his voice sounding cool and keep the trembling pout off his face, "I saw the aeroplane, and I didn't put it there; you did,"

"Sorry for thinking about aeroplanes?" Yoongi says, shrugging, though now his shoulders are up defensively, his arms are drawing in towards his stomach.

With a slow, careful hand, Jeongguk reaches down and pulls items from the box on his side of the partition. A red apple. A green toy train.

A blue paper aeroplane.

What little colour there is to Yoongi's face seems to bleed off him like a bleach rinse.

"Fascinating," Woojin says, pressing the timer lightly. "How long have you been hiding your positive results for, Officer Min?"

Yoongi sputters, eyes wide as his head whips back and forth.

"I don't think he was hiding it; I think he just didn't believe it," Jeongguk says, sweeping the items back into the box with a numb arm, "I'm clearly the worst soulmate someone could possibly have; he still doesn't believe it's true,"

Woojin makes a soft noise of dissent, scribbling notes down as he records the vital signs he's reading from Yoongi's chart. "I mean, he's an enforcement officer, right, Officer Min? I can think of a million more awkward soulmates for him to have than you,"

Jeongguk glowers at them and retreats to his bed, pulling the opaque privacy curtain around him to have a semblance of privacy.

"We still have a few more tests for today,"

"I'm finished for today, please," Jeongguk says, curling up into a tight ball and wishing he could just go home. Are his train buddies worried about him? Hoseok said he'd water Jeongguk's plants, but will he water them the right amount? Will he ignore the research all over Jeongguk's table about soulmate marks and different brands of sleep-inducing sprays that only work on humans? He pulls his wrist before his face and glares at the cheerful daisy emblazoned. When he pushes his thumb into the meat of his arm, he can feel his 'blood' churning through him underneath the thin epidermis, working hard to keep him living and healthy.

He hears muttered whispers beyond his curtain and people shuffling away, breaking down the temporary partition they keep using to test their soulmate mark's boundaries.

Typically, if the emotion is high enough, soulmates can convey a tone or a meaning to each other through their minds. It gets easier over time and easier over shorter distances, but it usually works eventually.

The problem is that Jeongguk already knows it's there. He can't prove it because when it's Yoongi's turn, Yoongi purposely doesn't think of the item he's supposed to focus on, throwing Jeongguk off. When Jeongguk accuses him of cheating, Yoongi's eyes open comically wide, and his arms flail about, and no one believes Jeongguk when he says Yoongi's doing it on purpose. But Jeongguk knows. He knows Yoongi knows.

Yoongi had trickled into Jeongguk's brain so slyly that Jeongguk didn't even realise it was him at first.

Since the day Jeongguk was first Awakened, the voices of his brothers and sisters had been there. The first voice was Yujin, reaching out in an imitation of her tiny hands slipping against his palm from the cradle next to him, an impression of a wrinkle-nosed grin and a tinkling laugh that she hadn't even discovered in herself yet, having just Woken herself. She fluttered in his head and settled like a butterfly, invisible but tangible in a fascinating way.

And a split second after that first moment that was amplified by physical touch, the rest of them flooded in, all his brothers and sisters, Awake for the first time, Alive, filled with wonder, disconnecting themselves from their cradles and given space to wander for a few minutes before the Droid Health workers would step in to do preliminary testing, sensing how to single out a voice inside their head and find that sibling in the artificial flesh, exploring how they all connected together to become a hive of a support system that would be with them until the end of their being.

He went through days of testing all of his necessary functions, and during these tests, his siblings found themselves inside each other and figured out how they fit together. They figured out how to talk to each other without using their mouths and how to whisper so that they could single people out. They figured out how different they seemed despite their duplicated programming and wondered about it together, awed. Well. Some cared more than others. By the time they left their facility for their commissioned jobs, they had found the siblings that fit more closely and identified those that would need more support than others. Though Jeongguk had ended up staying inside the Droid Health Company, which had created them, he was given his own small apartment and sent on his way, taking the subway for the first time on his own, completely safe and assured that everything would work out, because he had his siblings with him always, in his head, ready to help.

The point is. Having someone in Jeongguk's brain with him is not an entirely unfamiliar concept.

Once he notices the difference in Yoongi's mind, he finds it hard not to fixate. He spends an inordinate amount of his day glancing down to the side of his vision as if he could see Yoongi's mind there, surprised to find him lurking in the corner, seamlessly slotted. How had Jeongguk never noticed a space there waiting to be filled?

At first, it's small pulses of emotion, like a cloud of mist that lingers and dissipates before he's adequately caught hold of it. It becomes more tangible once he realises its presence-in mere hours, he can feel the stronger emotions that pour off Yoongi's small frame and into his brain every time one of the Doctors asks him anything related to their soulmark.

Mostly anger. There's a lot of anger. And what Jeongguk thinks is hurt.

Embarrassment, which puzzled him a bit until he realised it was embarrassment over

him

. Embarrassed that his soulmate is a droid.

That one had hurt for a while. Longer than Jeongguk would like to admit. Since they've been shut up together in this converted office, he's had his siblings' hive mind dampened, and he's been

lonely

like never before.

But it makes it easier to hear Yoongi.

With eyes jammed shut and breath held tight within him, he could feel where Yoongi was in the room, milling aimlessly as if he didn't know what to do with himself. They've barely spoken because every attempt Jeongguk makes is firmly rebuffed. Jeongguk can feel Yoongi's fear and self-loathing as if they were a part of him, and he wants to

help

; he really does. The problem is that it is soaking through into his own view of his Self and it hurts to think Yoongi hates himself this much just because his soulmate is.. Jeongguk. Yoongi wanders closer on cat-light feet and stands outside the curtain, close enough that if Jeongguk opened his eyes, he would see his slight silhouette illuminated in the thin fabric. Yoongi seems so calm on the surface, but inside, he's like a duck on a pond, frantic motions hidden underneath a placid, glassy mirror image, concealing all of the rampaging feelings as if letting go of them for a moment would be too much.

It probably would be; Jeongguk's not too sure. The awareness of the Officer's emotions has crept over him in the last day or so, a strange Otherness that bleeds into him as they spend more time together, restricted to this one room and the bathroom.

Yoongi feels like... well. So far, Jeongguk associates the awareness of Yoongi's presence within him with the feeling of a slowly burgeoning headache and the slightly nauseating sensation of the intimate knowledge that every time your soulmate looks at you, he appears to feel a combination of white-hot rage and the overwhelming urge to cry.

He just wants the chance to get to know him, at least enough that they can decide whether they like each other or not. How can he convince Yoongi it might be a good idea if Yoongi won't speak to him?

-

Jeongguk pretends he's not watching because he wants to give Yoongi his privacy; he really does.

He's totally looking, though.

Yoongi seems to know exactly when the staff will come in and clear their food trays because about ten minutes beforehand, he'll slip off his bed, gather both trays and tidy them up nicely, stacking everything carefully and placing them on the desk by the door.

When Jimin comes in and seems off, staring into space as he updates files with little scribbles of his stylus, Yoongi appears like a ghost and speaks to him quietly with a soft drawl and upturned lip that seems to make Jimin's own smile arise, completely unbidden. They grin at each other wryly, making Jeongguk feel like they're both world-weary in a way they both understand without much speech, like kindred spirits. Whenever Jeongguk tries to talk to Jimin, he just smushes him into the mattress and tells him not to worry about grown-up things, as if he were a

child

. Jeongguk is

older

than Jimin, but Jimin doesn't seem to care at all.

To Jeongguk, Yoongi is polite, distant when they don't have to talk, and willfully ignorant whenever they do tests. But to everyone else, he sees how Yoongi makes an effort to be a kind and thoughtful person. Despite his apparent prejudice, he doesn't treat any of the obvious droids differently to humans; he only seems to have a problem when it's droids in relation to himself.

Whatever,

Jeongguk often thinks bitterly; he tries not to watch Yoongi attempt to tidy his blonde locks by roughly shuffling his long fingers through them. He watches the thin white shirt stretch between Yoongi's wide shoulder blades and breathes through his nose shallowly. That morning, Yoongi had spoken to Dr. Taehyung before drinking any water, and Jeongguk's throat had gone dry at the sound of it, so rough and deep he almost couldn't understand what he was saying.

It's been a boring time in this room, and the only thing different to observe is Yoongi. So he watches him as inconspicuously as possible.

Sometimes, just to punish himself, he watches Yoongi watching him and pretending not to. The shorts they'd been given to wear stretched tightly across the droid's thighs, and he hadn't even thought anything of it until he noticed Yoongi's expression, zoned in entirely with his lips slightly parted. Jeongguk had brushed a hand against his inner thigh just to see what would happen, and Yoongi had gulped dryly as if he were parched.

Jeongguk thought about that moment quite a bit.

-

Day Five and Jeongguk is ready to leave. Yoongi was prepared to go on Day One, but Jeongguk's patience strengthened him. Jeongguk stares at the photo lineup of awkward boys in awkward haircuts, trying to look like they don't give a shit.

He glances back up at Dr. Taehyung unsurely, who gives him a reassuring smile. Yoongi stands off to the side, staring at the pictures before Jeongguk and gnawing on his thumb as if worried. Is he worried?

Does he want Jeongguk to fail or succeed?

"Wow," he says.

"Don't say anything."

"Did you." He feels a giggle bubble up inside him. "Did you follow this snazzy hair trend, too? It's amazing."

"Shut up."

"Just amazing," Dr. Taehyung stifles his giggle behind a giant hand. "So these were your... friends? Classmates? Was one of them your crush?"

"That'd be cheating," Yoongi murmurs, nose wrinkling when Jeongguk offers the last guess. "Just pick one so we can move on."

Jeongguk clears his throat and settles in, closing his eyes to clear his thoughts and open his mind to that tiny pink mist in the back of his mind that he now associates with his soulmate.

One of these people from Yoongi's childhood brings up a powerful emotion in him - theoretically. The lab has meticulously researched; they have delved into Yoongi and Jeongguk's pasts, found what they would prefer to keep hidden, and brought it to light. Jeongguk has to guess which one of these gangly youths evokes a strong emotion in Yoongi, just from the small cloud of Yoongi's mind that resides within him, the one Yoongi insists he doesn't have of Jeongguk at all.

He opens his eyes and stares at the pictures, absorbing the features of the four teenage boys spread out across the table.

Boy one seems completely forgettable apart from the huge eyebrows gracing his forehead; boy two almost seems like a weasel, with tiny features and short, sharp teeth. Boy three is soft and dimpled in all the wrong places, and boy four is... nothing. There is no discerning feature; his eyes are normal, his nose is normal, and his chin is normal. Normal, normal, normal.

So why does the sight of him make Jeongguk feel sick to his stomach? A wave of

fearangershame

crashes over him, leaving him gasping. Tears prick at his eyes, and his chin wobbles; he feels his limbs curl in without thought, hiding. Defending.

Looking up at Yoongi, he feels almost too raw, but he does it anyway and sees the same pain reflected there. Whoever this boy was, whatever he did... it has lingered throughout the years. "What did he do to you?" Jeongguk whispers, hating the fragility he hears in his own voice.

Yoongi shrugs, lips pressed tight as if to stop himself from letting the words tumble out.

Dr. Taehyung presses a soft hand to Jeongguk's shoulder to call his attention back. "Which one do you feel has an emotional connection?" Jeongguk points to the fourth boy, "And what emotions are you feeling?"

"Is that necessary?" Yoongi interrupts quickly, his voice hanging ragged in his throat like a hangnail worried all day.

"We need to gauge the connection, I'm afraid," Dr. Taehyung says apologetically.

Yoongi makes a dismissive noise and leans against Jeongguk's bed with a familiarity that has Jeongguk's heart leaping in his chest. "So, Jeongguk? What feelings?"

Jeongguk bites his lip. Still trying to figure out what to say. The surge of emotions had been so primal that his body still shook with the memory of how Yoongi felt in the presence of that boy. He tries his best to explain without giving too much of Yoongi away. "I think, um. Distrust. Fear. He um," he gulps quickly, "I think it feels like... it's very negative. He really didn't like him."

Dr. Taehyung makes a considering noise. "Is that all?"

He can clearly tell Jeongguk is holding things back.

"That's all." To his relief, the Doctor lets it go and moves on to Yoongi's turn. Jeongguk moved off the chair and spread new pictures along the table. Yoongi sits in the warmth Jeongguk left behind, and Jeongguk readies himself to watch Yoongi bullshit his way through another test.

Except this time, he doesn't.

Yoongi points at a picture with unerring focus, and Jeongguk is left in a stupor at the about-face Yoongi has done.

Why is he suddenly willing to participate?

"This photo. This man." Jeongguk hadn't even had time to look at the pictures himself. He glances over at them curiously and tries to stop a gasp halfway through, causing him to choke. He splutters noisily and tries to cover it up by hiding his blushing face in his arms.

"Why this man? What feelings are you getting?" The Doctor asks, and Jeongguk wants to hide forever and a day, climb into his bed, pull the sheet over him, and pretend he's not in the same room as these people as they look at his most...

"Warmth," Yoongi says, a pretty pink dusting over his cheeks. "Butterflies, um." He glances at Jeongguk with wonder and back to the picture of the man. "Love? Something like love? Happiness."

"My first boyfriend," Jeongguk whispers in embarrassment. At only two years old, Jeongguk had found someone who treated him like he was special and made him feel beautiful, and he felt like he was the luckiest droid in the world. After a few months, he'd come to realise just how many droids the man had made feel like they were beautiful at the same time he had been dating Jeongguk, but at the time... the falling part had been the most fantastic part of Jeongguk's entire existence. He'd purposely missed his charge cycles to lay in his bed and think over how their lips had brushed together when they kissed goodnight, thrumming in his excitement and giddiness.

"A positive mark in progress," Dr. Taehyung says with a smile, his clipboard glowing with captured data.

"Pretty boy," Yoongi murmurs in a low voice, so soft and sweet. It seems he's whispering it to the picture, which would be fair - Gyeongeun had been lovely to look at, especially under the strobing blue lights of the arcades they used to spend time in together. But the way he said it, in that soft voice...

It's what Gyeongeun used to call Jeongguk, and it's how he used to say it, too.

Yoongi was so caught up in the emotions that he hadn't even realised he'd caught an actual memory.

Maybe Yoongi thinks Jeongguk is a pretty boy, too. He blushes and hides his face in his shirt, embarrassed.

Dr Taehyung packs up his things, speaking about meeting up with the other Dr Kim and Jeongguk's siblings, ready to send them off with the new tech that will give them the ability to connect with their soulmates. Speaks in a slightly more sedate voice about Jimin and the other Dr. Kim becoming the face of the entire endeavour they'll present to the public - it's better this way. It makes it look slightly better than the accidental disaster that had been Yoongi and Jeongguk falling into each other in a cafe.

"They're doing well," The slim Doctor asserts with a frozen grin that feels too sharp around the edges.

Nobody had asked.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The rest of the day is spent in relative quiet. One consistency among his siblings has been their love of computer games, and with so many of them ending up having to stay longer and loiter around the lab because they decide to initiate the soulmate mark straight away, they've

ended up with a lot of downtime on their hands. Because of this, Jeongguk finds he has no lack of partners for the game he's been currently focused on. He tries to keep his triumphant shouts to a minimum as he bashes at his keyboard, constantly aware of the privacy curtain carefully pulled around Yoongi's bed. When he's playing with his siblings, he doesn't need to talk because they can pull themselves into a separate hive to game together, and Jeongguk knows he must look weird with his eyelashes fluttering more frequently than usual as he processes the stream of conversation. Still, no one's looking at him anyway, so who cares?

'How's it going with your Officer?' Jisung asks. Jeongguk sighs softly, though his siblings can't hear it. He sends an eye-roll emoji in reply and pushes his character ahead of his siblings on the computer screen so that he can attack a group in front of them.

'Have you pushed your beds together yet?'

'No,' Jeongguk replies, hacking and slashing his way through their enemies. Sujin's character leaps around him, swirling dramatically as she riddles the monsters with arrows.

'Did he like that list I gave you about the-'

'Oh my Cosmos, please shut up' Jeongguk groans.

"What?" Yoongi's voice floats over his privacy curtain.

"Um." Oh farns. Had he answered Jisung in real life? "Nothing?"

Dread settles in his stomach as he listens to his soulmate pulling himself off his bed, watching from the corner of his eye as the curtain twitches and moves back.

Yoongi pads over to Jeongguk's bed on bare feet, looking soft and worn in his casual grey sweatpants and oversized Enforcement Academy hoodie. The dark blue of the overly soft fabric contrasts beautifully with his pale skin and hair. He peers over Jeongguk's shoulder just as Jeongguk's character dies from his inattention.

"Huh. You're gaming."

"Uhh yeah? And?"

Yoongi shrugs casually, snickering as he watches three of Jeongguk's siblings jump all over his dead corpse, taunting him. He mutes their hive without a single comment.

"I didn't think droids would like it."

"Why wouldn't we like games? Games are fun."

Yoongi shrugs again. "I guess I just thought they'd be too... easy. For you."

Jeongguk snorts inelegantly and takes a moment to straighten his back out and stretch his neck to either side, rolling his eyes skyward in an attempt to convince himself that his heart doesn't skip a beat when he catches Yoongi's dark eyes sweeping the length of his torso and catch sight of the workout shorts he's wearing with his overly large t-shirt.

"I'm starting to get the feeling you don't even have a basic understanding of us like... at all, just at all. Frankly, I'm impressed you've been in the city this long and are still this ignorant. How have you managed?"

Yoongi flicks his ear and Jeongguk squawks, cradling it in indignation. "I can't believe you just did that!"

"I'm older than you; pay me some respect."

"Well, don't abuse me!"

"Don't be a big baby."

Jeongguk pokes his tongue out like a mature adult and tries to refocus on his game. Yoongi lingers, watching quietly as he resurrects his character and gets back into business, leading his group through the slow dungeon crawl they'd been pacing themselves through throughout the day. They might be androids, but they're not the same as a basic robot - they're made to be fallible. They can't play a game and master it immediately; they have to go through trial and error as if they were humans. That's one of the reasons why a lot of droids like MMO games so much - increased human interactions mean the game becomes more unpredictable and challenging, so they play with random people as often as possible.

"How come you're always at the front?" Yoongi asks quietly.

"I'm the Tank; it means it's my job to draw all the enemies to me because I'm the strongest - I've got to make sure they're all hitting me so that they don't go and attack our weaker members."

"Why doesn't everyone just be a Tank then?"

Jeongguk quirks a smile at the question. "Well, because we need the full team. We need a healer to ensure we don't die; we need the damage dealers to help kill them while I hold their attention. Teamwork makes the dream work, Yoongi, don't you know?" He can almost feel the eye roll happening next to him and feels the moment Yoongi tentatively settles his weight next to Jeongguk on the bed.

"That guy looks cool," Yoongi says, pointing to Jisung's rogue character darting in and out of bad guys to stab them with poisoned knives. "Why is he so tiny, though?"

"He's a gnome." Yoongi makes a noise of disgust, and Jeongguk laughs. "This is only one faction. There's a different faction with different races; maybe you'd prefer those ones." Yoongi shrugs.

And Jeongguk takes a chance.

"Do you want me to show you?"

A moment's silence, and then. "Yeah, sure. Got nothing better to do."

And because of Jisung's glib comment about the stupid sex articles earlier, Jeongguk doesn't even warn his siblings. He just logs straight out and leaves them in the dungeon to fend for themselves. Assholes.

He's forgotten how exciting it is to introduce someone to a game he loves. Yoongi drags his laptop over to Jeongguk's bed and fails to glare at Jeongguk's charge platform as usual. Jeongguk talks him through the game download and barely holds himself back from describing too much too fast. His legs are tucked under him, and he bounces a little as he watches Yoongi read the descriptions of all the classes and races with utmost seriousness before making his choices and entering the game. Jeongguk makes a new character with him, his entire being thrumming with giddiness at getting to baby step someone through such a familiar and fun process for him, and that happiness is magnified a thousandfold every time Yoongi makes a little squawk of success or gets so sucked into the game that he doesn't notice how many times he's jabbed Jeongguk with his elbow.

They play together until 2 am, and Jeongguk can no longer make fun of the humans on the train in the morning for not planning their charge cycle correctly because why would you ever go to bed when you're caught on such a roll of genuine

fun

?

-

They both tip themselves out of bed late the next day, rubbing tiredly at raw red eyes with unimpressed expressions as their breakfast is dropped off and Jimin (who has taken over Jeongguk's usual position for the week) bustles around the converted office space, making everything obnoxiously bright and humming to himself in a light husky voice that manages to coax a half-hearted harmony out of Jeongguk's sleepy lungs before he gives it permission. They take turns using the bathroom and then swallow their rice and soup in quiet mechanical silence before their next test can be brought into the room.

"Guess who's in charge today!" Jimin sings happily as he re-enters the room. As usual, he looks ridiculously put together - perfectly soft in a white button-up shirt and slim-fitting black jeans, skin dewy and smooth, hair fluffy and light.

Sitting craned over his bowl of soup like a vulture, all bowed over and dark, Jeongguk struggles not to try to straighten his casually slept-in t-shirt and attempt to tidy up his hair, hating that he feels the need to look a bit better in front of his soulmate next to the perfect droid.

"Do we actually have to guess, or can you just pretend we did?" Yoongi asks his soup. Jeongguk snickers.

Jimin pouts at them both in consternation, and Jeongguk assures him they're glad to have him because he can't resist Jimin's pout - who could? It'd be impossible.

Despite feeling like a lumbering oaf next to the two shorter men, he shuffles to where Jimin has set up a camera. Jeongguk's hand brushes Yoongi's as they stand closely together, and he nearly pulls it away, apology already halfway out of his mouth before he makes the connection between the warmth in the back of his mind and the slightly pink tips of Yoongi's ears.

Oh, oh yes, he thinks and lets their pinky fingers linger closely together before they wrap around one another in a tentative grip. Not a handhold, but something.

Something more than they've ever had.

Jimin explains the activity, and they nod quickly - he's going to say a word, and they have to perform an action that they think describes the action. The aim, Jeongguk assumes, is that they want Yoongi and Jeongguk to use the same gesture.

"Let's get it," he mutters in determination.

Yoongi slides his glance over Jeongguk's prepared stance and grins up at him, loosening their hands from each other so that he's ready for the activity. "I didn't realise droids could get so competitive."

Jeongguk rolls his eyes at his soulmate and elbows him softly. "I didn't realise humans could be so dense, but here we are." Yoongi's mouth opens in shock, but Jeongguk's saved from whatever he would say by Jimin whirling over on a computer chair. The recorder is switched on by his head, and he grins at them, pleased that they're ready and waiting.

"Test 15, participants Jeon Jeongguk JK2019 and Min Yoongi HB1287, 4Day, 6Month, 3031Year, the time is," His eyes flick upwards for a second, "the time is 0713."

"Be chill," Yoongi murmurs under his breath. "Don't do anything too over the top." Jeongguk nods, feeling adrenaline streaming through him despite the calmness of the situation.

"First word: Sand." Jeongguk's mind blanks completely. He blinks for a moment. "Five, four -" Jimin continues blithely, smiling at him with a glint that says he knows exactly what has happened, "One!"

Like an idiot, Jeongguk does the only thing he can think of - he wiggles his toes.

Jimin stares at them both for a moment in confusion; Jeongguk can't even look over to see what Yoongi's doing; he's so embarrassed.

And then Yoongi laughs. Jeongguk's whips around, startled. "What?" Yoongi points.

Both of their feet have toes wiggling in their socks.

"Nailed it!" Yoongi crows, holding a hand up, ready for Jeongguk to slap.

Jeongguk eyes the hand and wonders if maybe Yoongi is feeling okay. Why is he suddenly acting like he doesn't care that Jeongguk's a droid? He'd been so quick to dismiss him from his entire life, and then one night of gaming and... everything was okay?

Jeongguk slaps their hands together and smothers his confusion as best he can.

"Weird choice, but okay," Jimin chirps, flipping the next card over. "Let's try... Banana! Five, four, three.."

Feeling like an idiot, Jeongguk holds up his index finger, using his other hand to mimic peeling the peel downwards. Yoongi shrieks excitedly when he looks over and discovers they've done the same thing again.

Warmth bubbles in Jeongguk's stomach and fills his cheeks with warmth as every correct choice cements Yoongi's acceptance of their bond.

"Fifteen out of fifteen," Jimin eventually says, settling back in his chair with an awed expression. "Seokjin and I only got 5." He says it lightly, but Jeongguk can see the worry on his face. Things have been tense between Jimin and the new Doctor, Jeongguk has gleaned from their brief conversations. Seokjin is eager, but Jimin clearly has prior emotional commitments, even though Droid Health wants his complete attention on the progression of their relationship for the sake of positive media coverage.

He hopes Jimin is talking all of this through with his siblings. It's not nice to feel alone.

"Well, you've not been stuck in a room together for days." Jeongguk says, "And we've had more time for it all to settle in."

Jimin nods, bottom lip tucked into his mouth. "I'll go set up the next test."

"It's not in here?" Yoongi asks, returning to his book where he'd left it on the bed.

"Nope, separate rooms this time!" He says it with a grin that makes Jeongguk nervous.

"Phew, some peace and quiet!" Yoongi says dramatically, flopping back against his unmade sheets. He wrinkles his nose at Jeongguk to show that he's kidding, discards his book and reaches for his laptop. "Do you think we have time to run a dungeon before the next test?"

Jeongguk smiles.

-

Jeongguk rubs his bare arms and stares at the white door before him.

All he could see was Jimin's sly grin before he was pushed inside the tiny, soundproof room. The new Dr. Kim's voice crackles over the speaker in the ceiling.

"Hello, soulmates!" he chirps happily, mouth sounding far too close to the microphone. Jeongguk winces and adjusts his auditory processor. He doesn't know where Yoongi is but presumes he's in a tiny room next to Jeongguk's, from what the droid saw of the layout before he was shown his own space. A slim gurney sits on the side, a pristine white side table next to it. The white of the walls is glaring and bright.

Jeongguk shifts uneasily and hops onto the bed, letting his socked feet swing freely. "I bet you're wondering why you've been separated." Jeongguk nods, pouting at the floor. He'd been excited to have a test outside their room but thought they'd be together. The newly interested Yoongi has been a refreshing change and a tempting open door into their relationship in the future, given time. "We will be testing for... emotional and physical stimulation." Jeongguk frowns in confusion. "Of the sexual variety."

Oh. Oh

Farns.

"According to our psych reports, we have compiled some footage that should be stimulating for your individual tastes."

"Oh no," Jeongguk whispers.

Dr. Kim's voice doesn't seem deterred by Jeongguk's nerves. "Often soulmates will feel their partner's sexual excitement through the bond - as many as seventy per cent of soulmates, in fact! We'd like to gauge where you sit on the spectrum, so while we will understand and cancel the test if it makes you feel uncomfortable, we would greatly appreciate any data we can collect from you. Do we have your consent to continue?"

Jeongguk can't feel anything from Yoongi's side. He's not sure what to do. He looks down at his bare chest, white boxer briefs and white socks, wondering why he didn't realise what this would be about when they asked him to disrobe.

"I consent," he murmurs. This could help further the cause; he wants his siblings and all the other droids out there to have the opportunity to find their soulmates if they want to be found. If he has to sit around with a hard dick for a while, then so be it. He'll do it for his family.

"This is going to be the weirdest boner I'll ever experience."

"That's the spirit!" Seokjin says far too loudly. Jeongguk can only assume Yoongi consented (why though, why would he even agree?) because it's only a few moments later that a file comes knocking in Jeongguk's mind from Droid Health, asking for permission to open.

Jeongguk opens it and immediately feels his body tip backwards as it tries to orient itself.

Apparently, they're going to test Yoongi's receptivity to Jeongguk's arousal.

His eyes go blind to the outside world as his brain processes the video file, and then he's left with this: whispered impressions of soft, wet lips kissing their way over his neck, teeth biting quick and neatly along his collarbone. His fingers drift up to chase the phantom mouth, but of course, there's nothing. Android porn is slightly different than human porn since they can process it in a much more raw form, so Jeongguk can't even begin to imagine how it feels for Yoongi on the other end if indeed he can feel anything at all.

He hears the phantom panting of someone's damp breath against his ear and feels the pressing of a lean body against him, pushing him down into the gurney. He feels his cock harden in his underwear despite his nerves. The feeling of someone rutting against him is fake; he knows it is, but it doesn't stop his hips from tilting upwards ever so slightly to meet the soft friction the programme is emulating.

A quiet moan fills his ears, and he hears himself whimper in reply to the deep voice, almost like Yoongi's, so close that there's no way it's an accident.

"Not fair," He whimpers, wondering if he's ever been this hard this quickly in his entire life. (The answer is a resounding no, he's sure).

The pressure continues, and his body thrums in warm pleasure as the sensation of someone grinding against him keeps going. Has him thrusting his hips off the bed to meet the phantom body, panting and whining, clamping his teeth down hard against his lips to quiet himself. He realises with shock that the heat has started pooling quickly; he shakes with pent-up frustration and ruts desperately up against the hardness stroking itself against him, whines to himself because as lovely as it is, he wants it to keep going, to progress, to

touch

him -

Then, suddenly, the programme shuts off.

He chokes out a surprised hiccup, and his hips thud back onto the mattress. Jeongguk stares at the ceiling and tries to catch his breath, blinking weakly as his eyes come back into focus.

"Those are great results; thanks, team," Dr. Kim's voice echoes over the loudspeaker. Jeongguk groans in frustration and rubs weakly at his underwear, glaring down at his throbbing erection.

"Go away," he mutters, worried about returning to their room with a tent in his pants.

"We'll just wait about... let's say fifteen minutes. Will that do?" Dr Kim muffles the mic, but Jeongguk can hear Jimin's opinion in the background about how long it takes a boner to go down. "Fifteen minutes before round two."

"Round two?!" Jeongguk yells at the ceiling. He bites his lip and lets his hand creep back down to his cock. He's so wound up he's sure he could finish quickly and be ready to go again in fifteen minutes - they've been stuck in the same room for a week without any privacy, and he's sure Yoongi's feeling the same way.

"Jeonggukie," Jimin purrs over the speaker, "Don't be naughty."

"Fuck you," Jeongguk pouts, curling his hands into fists and thinking resolutely about nothing. He tries to send signals to his body to calm down, but it tends to have a mind of its own when it comes to physical excitement and runs off like an over-hyperactive puppy let off its leash.

It takes twelve minutes for his cock to soften completely.

Fifteen minutes pass, and he hears nothing. It's complete radio silence. "Hello?" He says, but no one responds. He crosses his arms over his chest to keep warm and waits, trying to be patient.

After the twenty-minute mark, the part of his brain where his awareness of Yoongi resides starts warming up and pinking at the edges, as if... as if it were blushing.

He focuses on it, confused and pleased to note that he can sense Yoongi's arousal starting to seep through into his mind and body. It feels kind of strange, like his body is having phantom memories of a significant bout of sex from the night before. His cock twitches in interest and starts thickening of its own accord, excited by Yoongi's excitement.

Until he notices the shame. Lying heavy under Yoongi's arousal is a shame as thick as sludge. It poisons everything - whatever they're making Yoongi watch, he's ashamed that he's liking it.

"Red! Stop! I quit!" Jeongguk yells, leaping from the gurney and lurching towards the door. "Red light, red light!" He continues, banging on the door.

The door immediately opens, and he almost falls outside the hallway. The door next to his opens, and a couple of minutes later, Yoongi stumbles out, eyes dilated, hair askew. Adjusting his shorts surreptitiously.

Dr. Kim trots down the hallway, wearing a concerned frown. "Jeongguk are you okay? Why did you pull the plug?"

"I wasn't comfortable," he says, eyes sweeping over Yoongi's dishevelled form, letting his brain etch the image into his memory forever. "I wanted to stop. You said we could stop whenever we wanted."

"Well, yes, but you'd already had your turn, I don't understand?"

"You don't need to understand. I was uncomfortable. Can we go back to our room now?" Dr Kim nodded slowly and turned to lead them back to their room, talking about using the data they'd managed to collect before Jeongguk wanted to stop.

Jeongguk doesn't listen. His mind focuses only on the soft, warm hand reaching to hold him as they return to their room. All he sees is the tiny smile Yoongi had given them in thanks for getting them out of the situation.

His heart warms along with his hand, and he can't bring himself to regret aborting the test for a single moment.

-

"We need to discuss something that you might find... Sensitive," Dr. Taehyung says.

They're sitting on either end of Jeongguk's stupid temporary bed, computers in their laps and headsets wrapped around their ears so that they can hear their temporary team. Yoongi raises his head, and his eyes narrow slightly at Jeongguk with a quirk on his lips that says he doesn't feel like playing nice.

Mission received. Jeongguk ducks his head down and focuses on their game, hacking and slashing with abandon, while the slim Doctor watches them both with thinly veiled impatience.

"We really need to discuss why you were uncomfortable during the test so we can find alternate ways to compile the data," Dr Taehyung says softly, his deep voice barely making itself heard above the sound of monsters dying in Jeongguk's ears.

"No thanks," Jeongguk says, ensuring he sounds as distracted as possible.

"We can go into a private room if you like?" he says. Yoongi snorts, and Jeongguk tries not to grin in reply.

When they ignore him, he huffs childishly and clambers onto the bed, shoes and all sitting wedged between their knees and laptop screens, tapping a stylus absently against his tablet.

"Did you find it uncomfortable that you felt Yoongi's arousal or because you didn't feel anything at all?"

Jeongguk flushes and continues clicking his mouse. Dr. Taehyung makes a considering noise and notes something down. "Would you prefer to do a test with Yoongi that is more hands-on with him personally? Was it the feeling of disconnection that you didn't like?"

Yoongi coughs and ducks his face behind his monitor, but not before Jeongguk sees the pink tips of his ears.

“It was fine,” Jeongguk mumbles. He doesn't want to make up a lie, but he doesn't want to throw Yoongi under the bus, either.

Dr. Taehyung shrugs casually. "You won't mind if I just chill out here for my break then, right?"

Jeongguk shrugs, Yoongi shrugs. "Be my guest."

"Do you care if I review some stuff? I'd like to check our process and see what I'm missing."

They both shrug again, though Jeongguk can tell Yoongi is just as curious as he is about what the Doctor is up to.

'He's up to something,' Yoongi types.

Jeongguk raises his brows in acknowledgement.

A video flicks onto the front of Dr. Taehyung's tablet with fluctuating charts alongside. The audio snaps on and fills the room with the sounds of moaning.

It's porn. Jeongguk flicks a nervous look in Yoongi's direction, but Yoongi has leaned forward so far into his own screen that Jeongguk is surprised his nose doesn't hit his laptop.

"Um," Jeongguk says.

"Give me that robot cock!" The woman on the screen yells dramatically. Jeongguk flushes, trying not to look as she starts moaning wantonly, presumably receiving the robot's dick.

"As you command, mistress," The droid says in a fake 'robot voice'. Jeongguk's nose wrinkles in distaste, but he does his best to ignore it. He looks over at Yoongi in time to catch Yoongi rolling his eyes, clearly unimpressed. Through their soulmate bond, Jeongguk can quickly tell it's not affecting him.

"Interesting," the Doctor says, shimmying a little further so his slim frame doesn't obscure the screen. "Let's try something else."

Jeongguk ignores him and plays his game, and so does Yoongi. He almost forgets the Doctor's even there for a moment. The tablet has been playing a video for a few minutes, but there's been no noise. It didn't occur to Jeongguk that anything was playing until he noticed that Yoongi's character had utterly stopped moving.

He glances over curiously and sees him staring dark-eyed at the tablet, and a noise catches him off guard.

A soft, gasping moan that sounds... Very like himself.

The tablet is running a recording of Jeongguk from earlier in the test room. He sees himself lying back on the bed, eyes gleaming green with the simulation he'd undergone. With a blush creeping up his cheeks, he watches his own hips buck slightly under an imaginary touch, watches his boxer shorts tent as his body fills with arousal. Hears a shocked gasp that must mean he listened to the deep voice, only just catches himself moan a mumbled version of Yoongi's name before his back arches against imaginary lips on his neck.

When he signed away his right to security footage within the company, he hadn't realised that would include this.

The bond between him and his soulmate is blank, blank, blank. He can't bring himself to look over to see Yoongi's face; this is so.. embarrassing? His face flushes as the tiny video loops and repeats, starting with Jeongguk titling back onto the bed to orient himself.

Maybe Yoongi likes it, perhaps he's trying to be polite, Jeongguk thinks, maybe...

Then, he feels the disgust rip through Yoongi so fast it almost gives Jeongguk whiplash. Thick, heavy disgust rolls over him in a wave.

"Shut it the fuck off," Yoongi growls abruptly, an arm out as if he's about to throw the Doctor's tablet across the room.

The tablet clicks off.

"I think I need to sleep," Jeongguk blurts out, trying to keep the wobbles out of his voice - his throat fills with too much air and not enough, and he wants to rake his nails over his neck to scratch at the strange feeling. Dr. Taehyung murmurs a quiet 'well, I'll be off' and slips away.

"Jeongguk," Yoongi starts, worry saturating Jeongguk's mind like a blanket.

"Please, Yoongi. I think I just, I'm just suddenly exhausted? I need to sleep," he choked out. His brusque soulmate pulls himself off the bed and tosses his laptop to the other side. Gives Jeongguk a pointed look, which Jeongguk steadfastly ignores, staring down at the pristine white of his sheets.

They leave him in silence.

He gives himself over to examining the pure repulsion that Yoongi had felt upon thinking about Jeongguk in

that

way. He feels himself flush again in shame as he recalls his eagerness to pursue Yoongi. Those kink lists...

If he could gather the energy, he would burrow himself under the sheets and pretend for a while that he just didn't exist anymore.

They could be friends. It doesn't have to be this way.

What if... What if... Yoongi's asexual and finds it disgusting that Jeongguk had been thinking of him like that? He won't want to be friends then, will he? But surely, they would have checked all that before starting the test.

Is he just making excuses? He's just making excuses. It's not Yoongi, it's Jeongguk, it's always Jeongguk, that's the problem. If Jeongguk hadn't been Yoongi's soulmate, they could have been friends without all the other pressure. They've proven they can get along if they don't focus on the soulmate thing.

He lays in silence until night falls. Ignores his tray of dinner, eyes firmly closed. Everyone knows he's not in charge mode, but they do him the courtesy of pretending. He mulls the situation over in his head continuously. Yoongi's disgust. Jeongguk's timid and hopeful reaching towards love. He doesn't even want to care anymore but can't stop himself. This is his

soulmate

. The first and only thing that would be meant only for him. And he can't have it.

Well, fine.

Around 2300, Yoongi turns off the lights and murmurs a goodnight. Jeongguk can feel the worry and upset radiating off him and hates himself for being able to see through this window into his soulmate when it's clear it's not appreciated or wanted.

He waits until his system tells him Yoongi has finally slipped into sleep. His monitor tells him it is somewhere near 0200.

'System, detect virus,' He whispers into his mind, targeting the soft cloud inside himself where Yoongi resides. His system scans and bleeps back a negative result.

Detect virus
Jeongguk insists
Manual detection enabled
. He tries to target it himself, but it slips out of his grasp like smoke. Clicks his tongue and tries again, descending further down inside himself. But the further he gets, the more tendrils he sees, like vines that seem corporeal until he reaches out to touch.

It's everywhere. All throughout his system, soaking him, permeating him.

It's everywhere.

With teeth gritted, he yanks his security system into focus.

'I love you,' He sends to his sleeping hive.

Select all
He swallows
 Purge

Someone screams.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

He's sitting in the corner of the hallway, not in the class with the other kids. Eating lunch.

"There you are." Dread pools inside him. Adrenaline spikes.

He was trying to avoid this.

They drag him to his feet and pull him back into the classroom, where everyone eats. They draw a familiar symbol on his wrist using a marker, though he can't place it now. "Oh look, Yoongi has a soulmate!" Yoongi keeps his face blank, trying to ignore the derisive tone that hurts more than he likes to admit, mashing his thumb roughly against the skin to smear the mark they've clumsily scrawled on his pale skin.

The maintenance droid whistles and clacks as it enters the room, and Yoongi's heart sinks into the pit of his stomach as he recognises the logo on the droid's bare chest. Undressed, barely the shell of a person, it doesn't even have its own words, just automated phrases.

"Excuse me, I'm here to collect the rubbish." The robot warbles on its way to the bins at the front of the class.

"Yoongi, it's your soulmate! Don't be so coy!" Jax crows, ecstatic. He is the ringmaster of all of Yoongi's torment. The others push Yoongi against the droid with rough hands. Yoongi's face scrapes the blinking red button on its chest. He feels tears pricking his eyes and scrunches them to stop them from falling. There's no point yelling back; there never is.

"Look, you're perfect together!" Jax cackles, "Were you made in the same factory, you have the same personality and everything!' They laugh like hyenas.

"Excuse me, citizen," the droid says blankly, trying to step around Yoongi to the rubbish bins.

All of a sudden, the light goes out. Yoongi sucks in a breath, and plastic fills his mouth and nose. In a panic, he sucks harder, but it just fills more - he reaches up and scrabbles madly, trying to free himself; he's going to die, farnsfarnshelpmummy! He wants to scream, but he has no air. Finally, a torn fingernail drags enough at the plastic to rip a hole against his mouth, and he sucks in a hungry breath, gasping as his lungs struggle to fill.

The world returns enough for him to realise the robot has lifted him completely. They've put a bar-coded rubbish bag on his head, and the robot thinks he's rubbish.

"Clear the way for the happy couple!" His classmates yell. Yoongi hears the classroom doors open as the droid is corralled down the hall. He tries to pull himself out of its grip, but it is hard steel under his torn fingernails.

"We prepared the marriage suite! In you go!" Jax yells, and Yoongi's arm scrapes hard against the doorframe as they're pushed into a custodial closet.

"Excuse me, citizen, I am locked inside," the droid says, presumably to the door. They drop Yoongi to the ground with a thump.

Somebody hoots outside. "Did you hear that; they're already going at it!" Endless laughter. Yoongi tears at the rubbish bag until he can rip it off his head.

"Excuse me, citizen," The droid rattles at the locked door.

"Excuse me,"

Thud

.

Excuse me.

-

Yoongi stares at the I.D. page he'd brought up on his tablet.

Blue. Blue blue blue.

That sweet, soft smile, those nervous eyes staring at him all wide and sparkling.

"He's a fucking robot," Yoongi whispers.

He nearly doesn't make it to the toilet before he throws up.

-

Systems Online

Scanning

Scanning

Systems viable

Vitals stable

A flood of pings overloads his waking brain. Jeongguk groans in annoyance and shoves the hive chat to the side. Had he left it open before charging the night before?

"Jeongguk?" His eyes feel like sand as he tries to open them and turn toward the voice. What time did he charge? Why does he feel so sluggish? He raises a heavy hand and rubs at his face.

"Farns, I can't believe you're awake."

A hand catches him - it's cool and rough, and it soothes the ache he only just now noticed settling heavily on his chest, like a weight lifted before he even registered how difficult it was becoming to hold it.

"I can't believe you," the voice says wetly; oh no, were they crying? Are they upset? Jeongguk hears himself make a sound of sympathy and tries to reach out his hand in comfort.

Hey, it's okay. Everything will be okay.

"Don't strain yourself, you fucking idiot; just wait for your system to catch up, or whatever it's called." Well, that's rude, but it makes sense. Fine.

He lets himself just exist in his mind, takes stock of his extremities and pings a group message to the hive:

'Hello! Just busy, be with you soon!'

He isn't prepared for the deluge of private messages, so he mutes it all and settles back into the quiet of his mind. His system is taking a bit longer to reboot after his recharge - should he send a report to the droid health centre for a check-up?

His system tells him they are already aware.

Somewhere inside him is a well of emotion cresting like a wave, crashing into the sand and dispersing. Pain, relief, and sadness coil up inside Jeongguk like the skin of a drum. It pulls taut, and within his awareness of himself is the realisation that he has lost his awareness of Yoongi.

He's gone.

"Are you okay?" Yoongi asks through tears, face hidden against Jeongguk's hand on the bed sheets. He can feel the wet saltiness of his tears against his skin.

The room is dark - he's woken at night time. He checks his system and sees he has been unconscious for two days.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not okay." He winces at the rusty tone his voice takes on. "But it was nice of you to ask." Yoongi's shoulders shake quietly. He sees the dark outline of his soulmate mark, completely unblemished and feels relief and bitterness mixed into one. Has he failed, or hasn't he? The daisy is a glaring tribute to his possible failure. They do say daisies are weeds, after all.

"I'm sorry. Maybe it didn't work, and I don't know what else to do, but I'll figure something else out. Just be patient, okay?" He reaches out with his other hand and strokes Yoongi's unkempt platinum hair. His undercut has grown slightly and feels a little fuzzy and soft. It feels nice.

Even if he can't hold him close and make him feel better, touching his soulmate is nice, even for a moment.

Yoongi sniffs inelegantly. "Why do you sound calm?! I don't understand?"

"I don't know," Jeongguk answers. "Is it that bad?"

Yoongi raises his head and glares at Jeongguk, eyes puffy and red, face streaked with the salt of his tears. He doesn't look like he's slept in days. "I made you try to kill yourself! How can you ask me that?!"

"You.. what? No? I didn't.." he sighs softly. "I guess it looked that way? But I just. The way you felt when.. you seemed so unhappy with me. I figured it'd be better if we just.. be friends. Or not, you know, if you don't want to be. We don't have to be, obviously, I just thought... it would be better.. if the mark wasn't in the way."

"You tried to get rid of our soulmate mark. You tried to rip out the part that connects us."

"Well, yeah. Why are you so upset, though? I thought you would have wanted me to succeed?" A memory flashes through his mind - a smaller version of Yoongi clawing at a droid's unyielding hands, screaming for help - "I must be your worst nightmare, huh?" He tries to retract his hand, but Yoongi holds on tight. Jeongguk stares down at the daisy again.

He doesn't know what to do anymore. What are his options? The government has ways to dull soulmate marks for people with soulmates who are in jail for life. He could convince Dr Taehyung to help him.

"You're not my worst nightmare."

And just like that, Jeongguk's patience wears away. He's lost two days trying to get rid of a mark on himself that attached him to a man who hates his very existence, and now this?

"That's kind of weird to say," he spits, "considering every time I think I might have a chance to win you over, you shove how much you hate my kind in my face."

"I don't, Jeongguk. I don't hate your kind; I'm just trying, can't you see that? It's just," Yoongi sighs, does one of those shuddering breaths that tend to follow a colossal crying episode. "It's just a lot, you know?"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Just give me time to adjust."

"You didn't even want time to adjust! I would have given it to you! I tried! And you tried to cut me out of your life!" Jeongguk couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice. "If it hadn't been for this stupid experiment, you wouldn't care. You would have just left me like, like I was nothing."

Silence.

He stares into the half-darkness, blinking away the angry tears that have risen unbidden. Scrubs at his face with his free hand, huffing softly.

"I," Yoongi starts. Clears his throat. "Listen. I don't want to be like those tired old sayings where they say that you don't know what you have until it's gone." Jeongguk snorts. "But honestly... I didn't realise how open I'd become to the idea of spending time with you and getting to know you better until there was a chance that I might not be able to do it anymore."

"Wow, I'm so touched," Jeongguk drawls. "Thanks for the chance to let me prove I deserve to exist."

"Jeongguk!" The newer Dr. Kim strides into the room on quick feet. "You're awake!" He says pointedly. "Yoongi was supposed to notify us," He flicks the overhead lights on and heads towards the monitors.

Yoongi shrugs and stares back at him with his chin tilted up. Defiant. "We had things to talk about,"

"Nice easy things, I hope, for our patient who nearly broke himself trying to please you?" Seokjin bangs on the screen next to Jeongguk's head more forcefully than necessary. It wobbles uncertainly under his finger.

"Yeah, sure."

"I need to talk with Jeongguk for a while."

Yoongi gestures for him to continue. Seokjin turned to Jeongguk, raising his eyebrows. Do you mind that he's here? Should I continue?

Jeongguk flaps a weak hand at him. Why should he care what Yoongi hears, as if Yoongi doesn't already know? Seokjin abandons his professional persona for a moment to rest his butt against Jeongguk's bed. He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, sliding his glasses up slightly to do so. He looks tired, more tired than Jeongguk has noticed in the time they've been here. The last nights and his own tests must be wearing him out.

Is he staying in the lab with Jimin, too? Why hadn't Jeongguk even thought about that yet? They're probably doing all the same stuff Yoongi and Jeongguk are doing, along with their other jobs within the facility, and preparing for a press conference where they'll be the poster couple for the entire rollout of the Soulmate Upgrade.

"It's fine, Dr. Kim. You can continue."

"Jeongguk. We don't know precisely what you did, but your system was manually overridden and commanded to find a virus that didn't exist," Jeongguk nods. "When it couldn't find anything, it decided your central programming was at risk and started attacking your healthy cortex."

"Right."

"We had to shut you down and have someone coerce your system into calming down."

"Okay."

"Yoongi says he can't feel you anymore."

Jeongguk nods. He doesn't want to, but the tears well up unbidden. Yoongi still hasn't let go of his hand, and it's a strange comfort. He wants to know if Yoongi feels good about touching him or if he's doing it out of a sense of responsibility, but he can't know now unless he asks.

He looks up through watery eyes at Yoongi and glances away when he finds Yoongi watching him through dark eyes and a fringe of slightly greasy hair.

"Yeah," he says, feeling his fingers curl reflexively around Yoongi's, searching for comfort where he's unsure it's freely given. "I can't feel him either."

"The mark's still there, so we believe it's similar to our human cases with physical or emotional trauma - your mind has distanced itself in an act of self-preservation. If you work hard in your relationship, it will return in time. You're still each other's soulmates... you just can't hear each other properly right now."

"We'll work on it," Yoongi promises soberly. Jeongguk's eyebrows raise. Yoongi gives him a little smile and squeezes his hand just enough to feel the pressure.

"Well, we've cleared you for discharge, so you'll have a couple of days to rest and recuperate before the press conference," Seokjin says, smiling warmly and patting Jeongguk's leg. "Have a good time while you can because things are about to get messy!"

"How are you and Jimin going with all of that?"

Seokjin's smile bends a bit. "Oh, you know. It's going. We're doing okay, chugging along as best we can. There's a lot of pressure, so it seems to be..."

"Are you having some performance anxiety?" Yoongi says, humour glinting in his eyes.

"Honestly? Yes. It's been hard to feel positive about our forward steps when you two have been so exemplary in comparison."

Jeongguk smiles bitterly and rubs his soulmate mark against the blanket. "Well," Yoongi replies. "I guess you get to take the lead now; we've taken on a handicap, so you can win."

"Gee, thanks," Seokjin snorts. "Okay, I'll leave you to it! Get some rest; you'll be out probably around 7."

"Goodie," Jeongguk mumbles, settling back in his bed. Yoongi rises slowly, pulling his shoulders back until he hears a click and groans in satisfaction. Jeongguk watches as he shuffles to his own bed.

"Night."

"Night."

Yoongi left their privacy curtains open. Jeongguk slips his toe down to his recharge pad and closes his eyes.

"What are we going to do?" Jeongguk asks the ceiling two minutes later, toe lifted away carefully.

"About what?"

"About all of this."

"We'll try to set it right."

"You mean you properly want to. What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I want to... I want you around. I fucked up, okay?" There's some jostling in the sheets from Yoongi's bed.

"You realise you don't need to keep me around to keep playing the computer game I showed you; you can do it alone." And just like that, the mood is broken.

"Yeah," Yoongi pouts, "but I get my own personal tank this way." He grins cheekily.

"So you're just using me to be carried through the gaming process."

"Exactly."

"Does that mean that we'll just talk to each other online?" That's not working it out, Jeongguk wants to say. He doesn't because he doesn't want to seem needy. He's the one who went to Yoongi's apartment, he's the one who went to the precinct to have his heart stomped into the ground, he's the one who put a hand out again and again.

"I don't know when I'll get time," Yoongi replies, settling back into his pillows. "I've been away for an unexpected medical absence, so they'll definitely give me shit shifts for the next while. Probably split shifts, so I'll get a few hours off in the middle of the day instead of day or night."

"Wow, that is shit."

Yoongi chuckles. "I know."

"How will we see each other, then? If you want to, I mean." Farns, he wasn't supposed to say anything. Good job, Jeongguk. Real smooth.

But it's a valid question. They live too far away from each other. If Yoongi has a standard shift and Jeongguk trains to Yoongi's house, they'll have twenty minutes at most before he has to leave to catch the train home. Pointless. Kind of disheartening.

They both stare into the darkness and contemplate their schedules in mutual silence.

"We could," Yoongi flounders, nearly knocking over his drink from his side table. He steadies it with a nervous hand and clicks his tongue when his ring clacks against the glass. "We could... There's not a lot of space, but."

"But?"

"You could come and stay for a while. Just until..." Until their soulmate mark starts working? Until work settles down? Until? Until?

Yoongi doesn't elaborate.

"It wouldn't be much, timewise, but it's more time than we'd be likely to get otherwise," Yoongi says.

"That might work," Jeongguk says in an uncommitted tone. The soulmate mark betrays his fluttering heart, or at least it would if Yoongi could feel it still.

-

Jeongguk feels himself become aware of his charge cycle, and it's the strangest feeling. He feels himself being pulled down and reaches up to break through what feels like waves.

Everyone is tall and scary. Yoongi watches the other children at the playground like he always does, waiting for his mother to come and get him. His job after school is running straight to the playground and playing until she finishes work and talking to no one, not a single grown-up or even enforcement.

The soft foam from the security matting gleams green under his shoes. He pushes at it to watch it give slightly.

"Excuse me, citizen, have you seen this child?" James Lim's nanny bot is in the background, asking everyone where James is. Yoongi saw James hiding in the red tunnel on the 2nd level of the playground, so he readied himself to let the bot know as soon as it neared. The Lims own this 3rd generation bot that loses James all. The. Time. James knows how to slip its leash all of the time; the bot is too old to be anyone's nanny, according to Yoongi's dad. Yoongi's dad thinks it should go to the chop shop - none of the North American bot models functions right after they pass the five-year mark. So he says.

"James!" The bot calls, and Yoongi puffs in relief that the droid has finally spotted their ward. He doesn't have to talk to anyone, not even a bot. Fifteen more minutes and his mother will be there to get him home. His family definitely can't afford a nanny, not even a deranged bot. He wishes he could just train home on his own like some of the other kids do, but his mother doesn't trust him on public transport on his own.

A shining hand reaches out and grasps Yoongi's hand. He squeals as he's yanked to his feet by a steel grip. "James! We're late for dinner; your mummy will be upset!"

"Wait!" Yoongi's backpack drops to the floor as he pulls at the robot's fingers, "I'm not James! Let go!"

"James, stop fretting!"

"Let me go! Help! Help!" Everyone ignores him, thinking he's a recalcitrant child.

He sees James' head poking out of the tunnel and ducking back down. "Please!" He digs his shoes into the ground, but the safety foam slides against his heels. He trips and falls; the bot drags him a meter before realising and yanks him up so hard his shoulder screams.

He ends up at James' house.

"Fucking racist derelict robot," Yoongi's father mutters when he picks Yoongi up from James' apologetic parents.

Jeongguk gasps, his systems flaring yellow, reporting his heart is under stress. Stop exercising, it says. You need to regulate your breathing.

He sinks again.

He meets his new university roommate and offers his wrist in a standard greeting. His roommate blinks at him in surprise, laughs in embarrassment and lets their wrists slide together. There's no sudden appearance of a soulmate mark. They smile and shrug, moving to separate sides of the room to continue unpacking.

"Sorry, I could have sworn for a second that you were a droid! Just the way you hold yourself, I guess," his new roommate says, a friendly grin waiting for Yoongi's accepting response.

Yoongi thinks back to his town's droids, and his shy smile freezes.

-

Jeongguk doesn't take the time to rest. He wakes up in the morning feeling woozy as if his brain is coming apart at the seams. He puts on his work clothes that have been cleaned for him, slips away from a sleeping Yoongi, with whom he absolutely isn't ready to discuss living arrangements, and heads upstairs to wrest his filing job away from an indignant Jimin.

He's actually not that indignant; if anything, he's relieved, lips subtly chewed at, sleeves pulled over his hands in the first properly nervous countenance Jeongguk thinks he's ever seen the droid in.

By the time he gets back to the lab with his client files, Dr. Taehyung is directing an orderly to remove the human bed and rearranging his office to how it used to be - a vague semblance of order. Yoongi is long gone, the doctor tells him, grinning at him all wide and excited. "Soulmates out in the wild! This is exciting stuff. I can't wait to monitor your progress, trying to get his Presence back within you."

"Go away."

“Aww but Jeonggukie, just a few-”

"No more tests, go away!"

Yoongi calls him at lunchtime. Jeongguk sits out in the sun with Hoseok, his train buddy and neighbour, to whom he messages and announces his freedom. Soyeon sits on his other side, sipping at her flask of soup deliciously.

"Jeonggukie, I'm so glad you called me; we've been worried about you for ages!" Hoseok exclaims, poking at Jeongguk all over, trying to figure out where he was hurt.

"Your pot plants are in amazing condition," Soyeon adds. "Two of them have gone mysteriously missing; we just don't know where they could have gotten to."

Hoseok looks at him with wide eyes, and Jeongguk grins. "Wow, that is quite the mystery."

"I know. Hey, look, a distraction!" Hoseok says, pointing off into the distance.

Soyeon scoffs. "You're the one that said it, and you're still looking."

"Well, wouldn't it be embarrassing if I pointed at nothing, and it turned out there was a dinosaur there or something? I'd get eaten, and you guys would be way down the road, running away from the approaching danger."

Jeongguk sighs in fond exasperation as the two bicker.

And then Yoongi calls.

"Hello?"

A garbled hello comes back with the obvious sounds of crunching.

"Eating on a mic is so obnoxious."

"You want me to starve?"

"Would you do it quietly?"

Yoongi has this laugh that sounds like silence and an occasional click. It's bizarre but also adorable, and when he hears it now, he can picture Yoongi's shoulders shaking and his mouth stretched wide.

"I'd be dead, you moron."

"I'll have to weigh up my options."

"Such a brat," Yoongi mutters. "Listen, if you're staying for a bit, should I grab a precinct car and pick up some stuff from your place? I was right; at least they've put me on weird shifts for the next month."

"Can you wait to go until I can go with you? I need to pack."

"Sure, sure; when do you finish work?"

They plan it all out, and then he's gone.

Hoseok and Soyeon stare at him with matching, curious expressions. "Well?" They ask in unison.

"Oh, just. I'm gonna stay at my boyfriend's place for a bit?" He winces at the word boyfriend since it's not technically true, but he doesn't know what else to call him. Soulmate is still out of bounds, at least until the press conference.

Hoseok gasps through his kimbap. "I didn't know you guys were at that stage already!"

"We're not; it's just he has some weird shifts coming up, and we won't see each other properly for ages if we don't.. do something about it."

"Wow. Moving fast, look at you, Jeonggukie!" Soyeon crows proudly, thumping him on the arm. He cradles it against his chest and pouts until she kisses it better.

He messages Yoongi, his home address.

"Do you feel bad that he's not your soulmate?" Hoseok asks suddenly.

"What?" Jeongguk stutters, eyes wide in panic.

"Because if he tries to make you feel guilty about it, then he's an asshole and doesn't deserve you. I've met people like that before, and they're worthless. I just wanted you to know."

Jeongguk gapes at Hoseok, who watches him message Yoongi with a frown.

"What are you talking about?"

Hoseok gestures to Jeongguk's covered wrist. "Your green boyfriend. Are you upset he can't be your soulmate, or is he the one upset?"

"Wh-no, nothing like that!" Jeongguk stammers awkwardly, tugging at his sleeves. All his clothes have been cuffed for so long they didn't want to be pulled down over his wrist; the creases are ingrained in the fabric. He just has to keep the mark covered for another day until the press conference, and then he won't have to lie to his friends anymore.

"Are you sure? If he's mean to you, I'll beat him up."

"He's an enforcement officer," Jeongguk reminds him gently.

"Still."

Jeongguk smiles. Too late for that, he thinks.

"We should have a double date with my new boyfriend."

Jeongguk groans. "Hoseok, no."

"Hoseok, yes!"

-

The first night he charges in a bed next to Yoongi, he thinks the weird dreams will stop. They don't. He reluctantly touches his toe to the charge station as Yoongi makes little sleep noises, lulled by his lavender sleep spray into slumber.

He feels the now familiar weight of slipping under something and holds his breath close in his chest.

"He's such a pleasure to have in class," The teacher says, smiling too brightly at his worn parents. Her lipstick had dried at the corners of her mouth, and Yoongi always found it hard to concentrate when it was like that.

It's so bright.

"If he's so great, why are we here?" Yoongi's father asks. He sounds sick of being at the school before walking in the door.

"We've had some concerns, and I wanted to check in with you regarding Yoongi's socialisation."

His parents stare at his teacher, blank-faced. Yoongi waits for them to say the same thing they always say to him. 'You're not there to make friends; you're there to learn.'

"Uhuh," his mother says.

The teacher clears her throat. "We've found he's having trouble making meaningful connections with the other children? He doesn't seem willing to speak to them outside of classroom group activities, which has resulted in some... well. Some negative responses from the other students."

Yoongi stares at the plas board behind the teacher and chews at a hangnail on his thumb.

"Is he being beat up?" His father asks, voice low.

"No, no, nothing like that, just..." The teacher trails off. Yoongi doesn't think he's ever heard her sound so unsure how to talk to someone. Maybe she doesn't speak to adults much, like how Yoongi's dad doesn't talk to kids. "They've just started saying that he acts like..."

"Like what? Like he's dumb? Because he's not dumb, miss, we've seen his reports!"

His teacher shakes her head furiously, "Not dumb, just. Automated. Like a.. like a droid,"

There's silence.

"Well, that's not a big deal; it'll pass," Yoongi's father says, shrugging his shoulders. He rises to his feet so quickly that Yoongi has to scramble to get up in time - when his father is ready to go, Yoongi must also be immediately ready to go; that's the rules - his hat is almost back on his head before the teacher lifts her hand out, palm out 'wait'.

"Please, Mr. Min. It's been two years now. I don't know if it will pass. Can you at least discuss it at home?"

"You bet." Yoongi feels his father's hard grip around his elbow as he leads his son out of the classroom and then out of the school, his mother bringing up the rear. They reach the car, and Yoongi throws himself inside.

The inside of the car is silent. Yoongi scratches the inside of his wrist, where a dry patch has formed.

"I don't wanna get called in for this nonsense again, you hear me?"

"Yes sir," he whispers and repeats himself more clearly when he sees his father's eyes flick toward him in the mirror.

"You stop being weird at school and be a good boy,"

Yoongi nods firmly.

He thought he was being a good boy. That's what got him into trouble with the other kids to start with.

He'll just have to try harder.

-

"Is there anything new going on in this big city of yours, sweetheart?"

"Nope."

"Have you met anyone nice yet to bring home to us?"

Only my soulmate. Only the love of my life, probably. But you know. He's a robot, just like everyone always said, so.

"No, haven't met anyone yet."

His mother sighs over the call, ready to lecture him again about trying to get out more to meet people.

Yoongi settles in and listens, heart heavy.

-

Two days later, they watched the press conference together on Yoongi's wall screen, pressed into his little two-seater couch.

Jeongguk's coloured pencils are fanned out across the table from where he was sketching a cartoon elephant eating a baby Cthulu monster - he got bored, okay? Yoongi has already told him off three times for slipping his feet onto the small coffee table in front of them.

"It's my coffee table; I should be allowed to put my feet on my coffee table," he whines.

"Don't be a brat; just sit like a normal person."

"Don't try to put me in one of your boring boxes!" Jeongguk pouts and adjusts himself so that he's sitting sideways. He plonks his feet in Yoongi's lap, and Yoongi sighs. He prods Jeongguk's big toes, then uncaringly rests his beer on Jeongguk's bare ankle.

"I'm not a drink coaster."

"Funny, you look like a drink coaster."

"How does a person even begin to look like a drink coaster."

"I can't hear you because drink coasters don't have mouths."

Jeongguk snorts loudly.

They look up once the ads are gone and see a million camera flashes lighting up the faces chosen to represent their discovery that will change the world they know.

Jimin and Dr. Kim Seokjin look amazing as they wait on the sidelines, perfectly coiffed.

"Are we sure he's not a droid?" Yoongi mutters, presumably looking at Seokjin.

Jeongguk kicks Yoongi's thigh and gets a pinch for jostling his drink. Seokjin is blinking a million times a minute, awkward and bemused; Jimin looks cool, calm, and relaxed like he is used to a crowd of people staring at him and wanting his attention - he probably is, though, so that's unsurprising. "Even the assistant looks great," Yoongi continues.

"Woojin," Jeongguk adds. "He does. They all look great."

Dr. Taehyung steps up to the microphone at the centre of the room, and they are all quiet. For a moment, Jimin looks like he wants to hurl himself across the room to hide in his arms, but he straightens his back and turns to face the front again with a benign, blank expression.

Dr. Taehyung doesn't even have notes. He looks out at the room with an open face and direct eye contact, fierce eyebrows lending a hand to communicate how serious he is.

"Droid Health has made a discovery that will change the world as we know it - we hope, for the better," He starts, immediately grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. Jeongguk and Yoongi are equally entranced. Yoongi's beer stays perched on Jeongguk's ankle, wholly forgotten as Jeongguk's doctor outlines to the world just what they've done (with some sneaky side edits because they weren't supposed to be

looking

for this; they're pretending it was just some accidental discovery they happened upon along the way to something else)

Seokjin and Jimin step forward, and their I.D.s, blue and green, flash across a screen behind them.

They lift their sleeves to reveal their soulmate marks, and the polite and respectful press conference collapses into chaos.

"I can't tell you how glad I am that that's not us in that room," Yoongi says drily.

They both shudder.

"Stop knocking my fucking beer!"

"Be nice, or I'll trigger your sleep spray early."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Jeongguk stares at the vid screen in the cafe, chewing softly at the inside of his cheek.

A polished JG model droid delivers the news in a professional tone despite the little knot between her brows. "Many businesses have been forced to close today as droid workers take emergency leave to receive their 'soulmate upgrade' - netizens are at war with each other over whether or not the upgrade is real or a government conspiracy, and there are concerns the argument will take to the streets in the upcoming weeks -"

"Jeongguk!" A barista calls, not the one Jeongguk sees typically, and Jeongguk steps forward to grab his bag with polite thanks.

It apparently hasn't reached the news yet, but when Jeongguk left for the coffee shop, there were already people with pickets gathering outside his work. They'd eyed him suspiciously from the side of the building, where security had stood, clearly radioing for backup.

There will be protests very soon. Some of them might not be peaceful. This means Yoongi, his Enforcement Officer soulmate, will be put in the line of fire for something he's only just starting to believe in. It's kind of ironic that he's only just beginning to get it now that they can't even

feel

their marks anymore, but it is what it is because his soulmate is a dumbass.

Two days later, they're both pulled in for extra shifts.

Droid Health is inundated with people calling in to get their upgrades. It only takes a few minutes to administer, but they must do it safely (now that it's not a secret and Jimin isn't wandering around infecting anyone and everyone), so each droid needs a full health scan before getting it. Jeongguk's just relieved they haven't decided to monetise it, considering it costs the company nothing. They've also announced the upgrade will come as part of the general programming for any new droids created.

There will be a big switch in people's mindsets in the coming years, but it will be slow. There are still many towns like Yoongi's, where the only droids anyone has seen are from thirty years ago and can't even talk alone. In the meantime, Jeongguk is pulled into the labs to be an assistant, answering excited and nervous questions from a platitude of hopeful droids once they spy his soulmate mark, making their appointments take even longer, dragging it out until it takes Jeongguk an extra hour just to escape the centre after work.

Yoongi's shifts go completely haywire for a while. He gets pulled into extra patrols due to the inevitable protests as people shout vitriol into the air around them. 'NO ROBOTS FOR ME' they yell obnoxiously as if any droid would even want them.

They collapse onto the couch together whenever they're home simultaneously. Make dinner for each other when unsure when the other will be home. One night, Jeongguk gets to Yoongi's place, drags himself into the kitchen, cooks up some soup and rice, eats it standing up and hurls himself onto the bed only to discover Yoongi has already gotten home, made dinner and left some in the fridge for Jeongguk and then passed out in his uniform on the bed.

Like ships in the night, except that they are sometimes awake and tired and listing against each other half-dressed. Jeongguk has to keep taking earlier trains to beat the protesters, stops going to get coffee at the coffee shop, and doesn't have time to check in with Yoongi during the day. Even if he did, Yoongi wouldn't have time for him either because he's

out there

with people screaming in his face that robots don't have souls and that god didn't make droids, so anyone with a droid soulmate is an abomination by proxy.

Oh boy.

-

Man, is he getting sick of this dream nonsense. He can't remember them when he wakes, but the lingering sadness sticks to him like paint. Listening to the silence of the tiny apartment, Jeongguk wished Yoongi were here so he could at least pretend he'd hold his hand in comfort.

He wouldn't, but it's nice to pretend. Yoongi is at work, and Jeongguk doesn't want to charge. He's already put it off an hour.

He sighs and closes his eyes.

"I'm in pursuit," Yoongi says into his comm, walking at speed through the clusters of people that crowd the street seamlessly.

"A camera saw him outside that coffee shop on Merit," Yoongi racks his brain until the image bursts into his brain - a soft mint green exterior, frilly writing spelling out its name.

"Got it, I'm on my way," They don't want to alarm the citizens - despite the call out for the droid to be picked up, there's no huge amount of urgency in his retrieval. It had been a strange call from the higher ups - Bring him in, but nicely. He's dangerous, but not too dangerous, don't worry.

Confusing.

Yoongi spots the shop just a little further down the road and picks up speed. His ability to spot droids is entirely non existent, but his commanding officer had said she didn't care - they'd point him out to him through the video feed implant that connects him back to the precinct. He's too used to the older broken models from his old town - he hadn't believed the two people in his training who said they were droids. They just looked like.. people. It boggled his mind, but it still does. It doesn't connect with his entire life's worth of experiences, these robots that look like people, smiling, laughing, eating, and carrying on as if they were real. Yoongi's social anxiety comes back from his youth full force in the form of not being able to trust that people are who they say they are.

Fake people are hiding amongst all the real people, and he doesn't know how to tell them apart. Many people do, including those who grew up in bigger cities or more affluent neighbourhoods. They can spot the tiny signs and try to point them out, but Yoongi is blind to it. They say they're slightly better looking than everyone else, but Yoongi's shit at that too; all these city people look nice and smell nice and take care of themselves in a way he's not used to. He's adjusted after spending uni in a shared dorm, after spending training with the other enforcement recruits. But it was a steep learning curve.

"Check the coffee shop; the sighting didn't verify if he went inside or not."

"On it," he says, veering to the left into the shop.

He's too busy checking the exits and doesn't notice an entire person until he's stepped right up into their face. His vest knocks the man's chest in a solid thump, and Yoongi watches him flail a bit before reaching out to catch him.

"Farns, sorry citizen," he apologises, listening to his boss ask if the cafe is clear. He adjusts his grip on the young man's warm arm and feels the heat flare from their point of contact, spreading up his own arm and into his chest like fireworks going off. "What the," he hears himself gasp, stepping back.

'Min, what's going on?' Sawyer repeats in his ear.

Yoongi looks at the man - the

young

man, he notes. Hair skirting over his eyebrows, so soft and dark, eyes warm and brown, intense nose, gaping little mouth. So cute, so

pretty

. "Really?"

He asks, and the young man just blinks at him like a deer caught in headlights. Yoongi checks his wrist and sees a flower on his wrist - the tiny ones he used to see on his walk to the shops, that grew throughout the grass.

His soulmate. His

soulmate

. 'Yoongi, what's the status on the XR38?' Sawyer spits.

His soulmate starts speaking, and his soft voice starts Yoongi's heart up again like a jackhammer, "Officer Min, I don't," 'MIN! REPORT!'

Yoongi shakes his head quickly, "I'm on the job; sorry, I can't talk. Permission to I.D for personal purposes?" He receives a nod and promptly scans his soulmate's I.D that hangs off a delicate wrist. Then, he turns to the rest of the patrons. "Citizens, I need your attention, please! I'm trying to find a droid - XR38 model, high class, small and light-haired? You wouldn't miss him." Everyone shakes their heads in dissent.

"Is he lost?" his soulmate asks quietly.

"Wha, who? The droid?" Yoongi shakes his head at the timid young man, "No, he's not lost, just... deliberately missing. He's committed some artificial crimes, but it's nothing serious."

He receives a smile, small and cute, and can't stop his own lips from responding. In fact, it's hard to stop smiling in general - a soulmate! He can't wait to tell... well. Namjoon, his one friend. He can't wait to tell him; he'll be so pleased for Yoongi! He'll go straight home and call his mother, too, so she can tell the aunties at their bingo night how lucky Yoongi has been since coming to the city.

Wow.

"May I comm you after my shift, citizen?" he asks, just to be sure.

"Yes." Is the reply. Yes. Yes, this pretty man is his soulmate; he wants to talk to Yoongi. Yes. Wow. He catches the young man's sweeping gaze and feels like he doesn't look disappointed. Yoongi knows he's kind of a bit short, but he doesn't think he leaves a wrong first impression and has been told enough times that he's cute, sometimes pretty, sometimes handsome. His soulmate certainly doesn't leave a bad impression.

Wow. Yoongi can't wait to take him to the precinct's New Year's party. "Can't believe someone as pretty as you are supposed to be my soulmate," he snickers softly, disbelieving. "Guess I lucked out for once, huh?"

"Um, I-" He replies, but Yoongi's boss is screaming at him now. Yoongi shakes his head and steps away, wary of being assigned extra paperwork that'll hold him back from contacting him after hours. He waves and breaks away, dashing down the street in pursuit of the elusive XR38.

"I'm going on a date on Saturday," Yoongi's friend says.

"No kidding?"

Namjoon grins over his coffee, and Yoongi leans over to clap a hand over his shoulder in congratulations, "Who are they? I didn't even know you were interested in anyone!"

Namjoon scrubs the back of his neck shyly. "Just a guy I met a while back who I saw at my apartment complexes movie night? You know, the one I always try to get you to go to on Fridays?"

"I'm not watching kids' movies," Yoongi pouts, and his friend laughs, unleashing the full force of his dimples.

"Well, anyway. I have a date, and it's with someone in my building. I have a really good feeling about it."

"That's great, Joon. Where do they work?"

"His name's Hoseok; he works for the Animal Rescue Center in the town centre."

"I don't know it."

"No?" Namjoon looks puzzled. "It's a part of the Droid Health Community Outreach programme."

"Oh, so he works mostly with droids?" Yoongi wrinkles his nose.

Namjoon's head tilts in confusion. "Well, yeah. He is a droid. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

Yoongi considers the I.D. of the sweet droid soulmate that he'd blocked only a couple of days ago. Swallows. "Nope."

-

One night, when Yoongi is in the shower, his phone rings. Jeongguk answers it, thinking it's his work.

"Min Yoongi's phone." He scratches at a mark on the table that he refuses to believe is from his pens.

"What, who is this? Where is my son?"

Farns.

Jeongguk stands up immediately, phone clamped to his ear. Ridiculously, he feels his shoulders push back as if she will magically see his poor posture and immediately tell him off. His fingers go to his cheek, and he nervously picks at the invisible hairs. "Hello, Yoongi is in the shower right now. May I take a message?"

"Why is there someone in his home while he's showering?"

"Uhm."

"What's your name?"

"Jeon Jeongguk, Mrs. Min. I'm..."

"Are you his friend?"

"Uhm." That's a good question; she's got him there. "Yes?"

"I've never heard of you before. Are you sure you're not Namjoon?"

"Uhh, yes. I'm pretty sure."

"Take me to my son, I need to make sure he's okay with all that city trouble."

"He's. He's in the shower." Please don't make me go talk to your naked son while he's covered in slippery soap.

"I've seen him naked before; I don't care. Put him on the phone."

Jeongguk stands for a moment, staring at the phone. They're not on a video call. He wants to sigh and say, 'You can't magically see through my eyes; you're not going to be the one seeing all that soft pale skin and thinking terrible things, I've been staying in this apartment so long, and I'm so tired, but I'm also so -'

"Of course, Mrs Min. I'll just be a moment."

He strides to the bathroom, knocks loudly, opens the door and shoves the phone in unceremoniously. "Your mother is on the phone!" He roars.

The shower turns off. A wet, clammy hand pulls the phone from his grasp. "Ma? Couldn't I just call you back?" He turns it on to speaker phone.

Don't shut the door. Jeongguk watches water spitting onto the tile from the tiny cubicle bathroom and wavers on the spot.

"How are you doing with all this robot nonsense?"

"I'm doing fine."

"Your father says you should come home."

"I'm fine doing my job here."

"You'll catch the robot flu."

A snort loud enough that Jeongguk can hear it over the soft patter of the shower that's been turned on again. "Ma, what the farns is a robot flu."

"That new-fangled robot upgrade that makes people sick and ruins their chance at a proper soulmate."

There's a moment of silence. Jeongguk rubs at his daisy absently and swishes his socked feet against the floor. Spins in a circle.

Robot flu.

"It's real, Ma. They're real soulmate marks."

"That city is corrupting you. Who would've thought you, of all people, would think that rubbish is true?! Wait till your father hears about this."

"I gotta go, Ma. I'll talk to you later."

The shower switches off. Yoongi steps out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and his white-blond hair dripping water all down his pale chest. Jeongguk sucks in a breath. He considers pretending he hadn't been listening, but he's sure he would've heard them from anywhere else in the apartment. They look at each other silently.

"Where are you going at this time of night?" she asks.

"Nowhere. Just feel like I'm coming down with the flu." Yoongi hangs up, and his dark eyes seem filled with something unknown. Jeongguk wishes so hard that he hadn't messed up their mark. What he would give to know how his soulmate is feeling right at this moment.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"I'm fine. They're old."

"Do you think you'll ever get to tell them about me?"

"It's not about whether or not I can tell them; it's about whether or not they'll hear it." Yoongi whips his towel off without fanfare and dries himself off. Jeongguk can't even pretend not to watch. There are too many people in the world; modesty isn't a thing anymore, though politeness obviously is. Jeongguk can't bring himself to be polite right now after listening to Yoongi's mother call him a sickness, after having to get a doctor to drop him at the subway station from the underground carpark so that he wouldn't have to walk through the crowds at the front of the Droid Health Centre. He sucks in the sight of Yoongi's lean muscular body, his soft flat tummy and his broad bony shoulders, hungry for some kind of recognition that this is right and okay and meant to be in every way that it's supposed to.

"Hey, it's okay," Yoongi says softly, drawing his boxer briefs up his slim legs. He paces over to Jeongguk and rests a cool hand against Jeongguk's shoulder, rubbing softly with his thumb. "Don't worry about them. Let's get ready for bed, okay?"

Jeongguk doesn't even think about it until the following day. The fact that Yoongi could tell he was upset without having to say anything, without the soulmate mark to guide his way. The gentle way that he herded Jeongguk around the room, soft and kind with his murmuring as he showed him onto the bed, lined him up so that the requisite toe was in contact with his charge station.

So soft and kind, and Jeongguk had been too exhausted and sad to truly appreciate it. There may be hope for them yet.

-

The train rides home to return to their usual pace, and Yoongi's hours calm down to a vague sense of normalcy. He gets home later than Jeongguk, enough time for Jeongguk to flop onto the couch for half an hour and stare mutely into space as he finally lets his mind relax. Enough time for him to have a perfunctory shower in the tiny bathroom cubicle and have dinner halfway ready before Yoongi slips through the door, tired. Wan. Wrung out.

They can't talk about work, not really, with Jeongguk working in a Health Centre with clients and Yoongi working as someone people need to trust daily. They find other words to say what they need to say to let the other person know what delicacy they need to be handled.

'I've got bruises on my knees,' Jeongguk says as Yoongi eyes his legs with concern, his way of saying, 'One of my clients had a breakdown over the soulmate upgrade, and I held her on the floor for two hours while she freaked out over deciding.'

'My neck hurts from looking down so much today,' Yoongi says, rubbing at his neck and shoulders, his way of saying 'there was someone very small at work today, and they needed tender care until the proper officials arrived'.

Somehow, without the proper words, they communicate what they must, paired with careful looks and pointedly blank expressions, waiting for the other to read between the lines. And they do, somehow. When Jeongguk presents his not-stories, somehow Yoongi watches him with a weight that says that he thinks Jeongguk's are just as crucial as Yoongi's, even though they both know that Yoongi is doing things that are so much

more

in the grand scheme of things. Jeongguk is just a helper in a Droid Health Centre; Yoongi is changing lives by being the person people go to for help.

But he treats it like it's the same. Jeongguk doesn't think he's ever had a person in his corner with this much sincerity. One day, he comes home far later than Yoongi and has to wrestle Yoongi's comm away before he rings Dr Kim to complain about how tired Jeongguk looks.

This weird not-relationship is as calming as it is stressful.

The way Yoongi looks at Jeongguk changes as well. It's small, but it's present. He catches Yoongi watching him fishing around in the back of the fridge for the carefully hoarded milk in the same way he did when they first banged into each other in the cafe, this look that says 'I can't believe you're my soulmate', full of wonder and curiosity. For a while, the look was terrible, like dread, sorrow, and hurt, but it was back to being nice again, making Jeongguk's stomach flip over itself every time he saw it. The smile that forced its way onto his face lasted long enough that he chased it with his fingertips before he recharged it at night, tracing it slowly in the darkness.

Sometimes. Sometimes, Yoongi will walk through the door, and the thing is, he always seems so big to Jeongguk, with his uniform on and looking intelligent and so serious. He seems so big right up until he takes off his jacket. As he walks through the cramped apartment, he becomes smaller and smaller until Jeongguk feels like he could tuck him in a little box and hide him under the bed away from the world; like suddenly he has become bigger than this Enforcement Officer, suddenly Jeongguk is the one that needs to be strong and big as Yoongi folds into himself and becomes small small small, and he looks like he's hurt. Jeongguk knows nothing has happened to him personally. Still, for some reason, Yoongi needs time.. and he gives so freely to Jeongguk the ability to comfort him, wrap him up in his arms, and not ask him what's wrong because that's always unhelpful when it comes to Yoongi, but to make a noise of comfort and let the weight of his chin rest on the top of Yoongi's head and to pat his hair to say it's okay, I'm here, it's okay, it's finished now.

Whatever it is that made you feel this way. Let it go. And Yoongi sighs, and his shoulders finally release their tension, and it's so so.. nice.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"So I guess you guys are all good now?" Hoseok asks. They stand clustered by a food truck, sipping fresh juice and looking around at the crowd. Jeongguk has returned to his own apartment for a movie night, which he has missed for weeks during the soulmate controversy.

"Yeah?" He says. "I think so? You mean Yoongi and me?" He'd told Hoseok ages ago about his mark when Hoseok had sent him an urgent comm about the 'tattoo' he'd seen on Jeongguk's wrist, what seemed forever ago.

"Yes, I mean Yoongi and you! Do you think you'll get married?"

"... What?"

"Now that you're dating?"

"We're not - we're not dating. We're just.."

What

are

they even doing?

"Jeongguk," Hoseok levels him with a look.

"Yeah?"

"You've been basically living there for two months."

"What? No." But he has, hasn't he? Work has been so busy he didn't notice how long they've been stuck in this routine. Most of his stuff is in Yoongi's tiny apartment. They rarely eat together because Yoongi's shifts are all over the place, but they spend small snippets of time together most of the week. This week, in particular, it seems the worst of the noise over soulmate marks for droids has blown over. They played Jeongguk's game together for the first time in a while and watched a new show Yujin had been bugging Jeongguk about.

Jeongguk has started a new habit of programming waking from his charge cycle an hour early so he can curl around Yoongi's warm sleeping body before getting up in the morning.

"I think I need to talk to Yoongi," he says, but it's easier said than done.

The next night, Yoongi gets home earlier than usual.

"I wasn't kidding when I said I'd take him if his soulmate wouldn't take care of him," Jimin coos, straddling Jeongguk's chest where he has him trapped so he can feed him strawberries. He looks up at Yoongi, winks and smiles brightly before focusing back on Jeongguk, patting him on the cheek. "You deserve to be taken care of."

"I kind of feel like your hands are full right now," Jeongguk mumbles through the sweet slush in his mouth. "Also, I feel like you're deflecting."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Jimin singsongs, pressing another strawberry against his teeth.

"Do I need to ask what's going on here?"

Jimin leans back and assesses the tired Enforcement Officer as he trudges through the doorway with takeout hanging off his wrist. "Jeongguk hasn't been out, and he promised he'd come to see me. He hasn't, and I'm holding you accountable!"

"Shouldn't you be busy with your soulmates?"

Jimin's smile slides off his face. "I only have one soulmate."

"Could've fooled me."

Jimin pouts down at Jeongguk and presses another strawberry into his mouth. Jeongguk splutters, mouth already too full. "I don't like him; he's being mean to me."

"Sure, sure, I'm just a cop; what do I know?" He hangs up his jacket and hat and pads to the tiny kitchenette. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"Yes, I am."

"Could you kindly get off Jeongguk then? He might choke lying down like that." Jimin slips off Jeongguk's chest and helps clear the coffee table for food. They sit on the floor and pick out of the boxes with their chopsticks.

"How is it actually going, then?" Yoongi asks finally, once they're all settled in with their food.

"With what exactly?" Jimin asks casually, shoving more food into Jeongguk's face.

"With the doctors." Jeongguk snorts. Doctors. If Jimin were human, this would no doubt be a drama or one of those sappy romance books they sell at the convenience store.

"It's fine. Everything's fine."

Yoongi and Jeongguk share a look, and even without the soulmate mark, he can tell Yoongi is dying to talk to him about it once Jimin leaves. He gives his soulmate a little smile and re-programmes Yoongi's sleep spray for an hour after his usual bedtime.

They chat about Jeongguk's friend's drama-filled lives, and though he thinks of it, Jeongguk never mentions that the protests have stopped, and he could probably go home now.

-

"How are you going?" Dr. Taehyung asks, sliding a small peg thing onto Jeongguk's finger. The monitor behind him pings as it picks up Jeongguk's vitals.

Jeongguk shrugs. Things are going okay, he thinks. He's still walking on a wire, waiting for Yoongi to realise he has yet to leave the apartment. "Tired," he says, "I'm getting the right amount of charge in, but I'm waking feeling slow and.. gritty. My system tells me this is feeling tired. I'm tired."

Dr. Taehyung hums. "Jimin said you think you've been dreaming?"

Jeongguk snorts inelegantly. "I didn't realise I was telling my doctor when I told Jimin." This is nonsense because despite all the soulmate drama Jimin is going through with Seokjin and Taehyung, they're still friends who talk, hang out, and spend time together outside of work. Jeongguk hadn't told Jimin

not

to tell Taehyung, and he knew that even though Jimin and Seokjin were soulmates, it had somehow translated to all three of them spending all their outside time together instead of.. well. Jeongguk just doesn't know. They're confusing but seem okay, so he doesn't ask.

Dr. Taehyung watches him, waiting.

Jeongguk sighs. "I don't know that I'm dreaming, but I wake up feeling sad and like I'm trying to catch something that was right there a moment ago. I think it means I'm dreaming, but I don't know what about it. Is that weird?"

"Well, we don't know what's weird yet; it's a new situation. I'd say your mind is trying to reach out to Yoongi's, or Yoongi's mind is trying to reach out to you. Even subconsciously, your brains want you to be together. Connected."

"Well, how is that supposed to help me if I don't even remember the dreams?" Jeongguk complains. He steals a sweet from the bowl on the desk and unwraps it aggressively, tearing the paper. Sweet strawberry explodes in his mouth.

"Why don't you just check your logs?"

Why don't you just check your logs?

Whydontyoujustcheckyourlogs.

"You forgot you could do that, didn't you," the doctor snickers.

"I'm

tired

!" Jeongguk whines, slumping down in his seat. "I'm such an idiot; why didn't I think of that?! I'll check my logs! Ugh!"

"This is why I get paid the big bucks," Dr. Taehyung preens.

"You get paid big bucks?"

"Well. The medium bucks."

"Uhuh."

Jeongguk waits, though. He doesn't want to recount his logs in the Health Centre. He wants to be home.

All day and night, he busies himself chatting to his siblings, sits with Yoongi and watches a weird TV show with people trying to climb a mountain covered in soap, sleeps, and wakes feeling breathless with despair, though he doesn't even know why.

Only then, in the calm hours of 4am, wide awake and slowly creeping over the soft yellow sheets of Yoongi's bed, does he prepare himself. He gently slips his arm around the slim man's waist and wiggles his knees up against the back of Yoongi's knees; only then does he close his eyes and track back in his mind, accessing the logs of the many nights that he has woken from charge feeling like sadness was punching him in the gut.

With eyes shut and nose skirting the skin on the nape of Yoongi's neck, he plays back the watery video feed, the voices sounding slippery one second, too loud in the next. His mind falls into the memories like a lake, and he immediately discovers that it's too far to reach the bottom with an extended toe.

Excuse me, citizen - Clear the way for the happy couple! - Excuse me citizen - Blue, blue I.D 'He's a fucking robot' - Have you seen this child? - Excuse me citizen - Help! Help me I'm not - I could've sworn you were a droid - Excuse me citizen - I can't breathe I'm going to! - You stop being weird at school - Automated.. he's like an android - Excuse me citizen - Can't believe my soulmate is so pretty - You don't have a problem with droids, do you? - Excuse me citizen

Thud. Thud.

"Jeongguk!" Something shakes him roughly, "Jeongguk, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Jeongguk sobs, feeling the hurt and pain wash over him again and again. Yoongi wipes his face, and he feels wetness smearing his cheeks. Yoongi has turned over, has his hands cradling Jeongguk's face, and a frantic tone to his voice. The lights have barely started lightening up to emulate the sun rising behind the clouds, and Jeongguk's entire body heaves as another sob catches him by the throat. How long had he been stuck in the loop of memories he'd been dreaming of? He thinks he might throw up. Yoongi pulls him closer, and Jeongguk buries his face into the crook of his neck, clinging to his small frame weakly like he wants to burrow his way inside.

Slowly, the world comes back to him. He hears Yoongi whispering, 'Shhhhhh, it's okay' repeatedly, slow and low and in time, with the large warm hand stroking its way up and down his back. He shudders as his breath struggles to steady and breathes out in wet hiccups, feeling Yoongi's worry bleeding through.

Feeling Yoongi's worry?

Jeongguk's breath catches in his throat, poking in his mind tentatively as he realises yes, that's Yoongi, he's there, he's back, he's huddled small and quiet in Jeongguk's mind. Yoongi sniffs, and Jeongguk realises he is feeling him too, reflecting some of the phantom sadness Jeongguk is feeling.

"Don't be sad," Jeongguk says weakly, patting Yoongi's cheek, still shuddering through the remnants of his own tears.

"M'not sad," Yoongi says, pulling Jeongguk closer. His nose snuffles against Yoongi's skin, and he giggles into it sadly, letting himself snuggle in properly. Yoongi's arms link up underneath Jeongguk, and he lies there, trapped in his tight embrace. "What's going on? Why are you so sad?"

Jeongguk makes a noise of dissent. Yoongi laughs lowly, rubbing circles with his thumbs against the bare skin where Jeongguk's shirt has managed to ride up. Despite the unhappy circumstances, it makes Jeongguk want to purr in delight and wriggle. It's been so long since he was held so tenderly.

"I. Bad dreams,"

Yoongi makes a sympathetic noise. "You had a nightmare?"

Jeongguk doesn't know what to say. "I. I think the soulmate mark has been sending me.. memories.."

"Memories?" Yoongi asks carefully. His hand keeps going, but his shoulders stiffen in that way Jeongguk's familiar with now, the way he holds himself when his mother calls when his work calls him back in for an emergency. Now, realising Jeongguk isn't talking about his own memories.

"Yeah."

"I've been getting memories, too, I think," Yoongi says. "They don't make me cry like that, though."

Jeongguk hums sadly. "I'm sorry," he whispers.

"Hey, what? What are you sorry for, huh. You can't help it. I'm sorry I spent years as a sad, dumb, dramatic kid, running around feeling sorry for myself all the time."

"But it was justified!" Jeongguk cries, feeling his puffy eyes start to well up again. Yoongi shushes him softly. "I just want to track down past you and... I don't know. Give him so many snuggles! And love him so much that he wouldn't know what to do with it."

"He would've liked that, though he never would've admitted it," Yoongi says, smiling into Jeongguk's hair.

"I have a lot of love to give."

"I know, Jeonggukie. I know."

Jeongguk kisses his neck aggressively, sharp little pecks, eyes still half-filled with tears. "Gonna do it right now," Yoongi giggles unexpectedly, flinching at the ticklish sensation.

"Hey, don't! What are you!" He pushes away, but Jeongguk doesn't let him; he pulls himself closer and keeps kissing, mashing his lips over and over Yoongi's neck, chin, and jawline.

"Have to make you feel better!" He chants forcefully.

"I do feel better!"

"Have to make you so happy you'll feel it twenty years ago!" Jeongguk pushes Yoongi down into the mattress, and Yoongi stares up at him, shocked and bewildered. "I'm going to unleash more kisses on you; this is a warning. Unless you're opposed, of course."

Yoongi flails a bit, blushing and looking away momentarily while he shrugs against Jeongguk's hands. "Do what you want," he whispers softly, but Jeongguk can feel the happy little flutters from that tiny corner of his mind that give away Yoongi's laser focus on Jeongguk's ministrations. He leans down and continues on his mission, kissing all over Yoongi's pink face, all down the bridge of his slightly lumpy nose, over his cheekbones, spanning the width of his forehead, spitting like a cat when he gets Yoongi's hair caught in his mouth. Yoongi rasps a laugh as Jeongguk whines slightly when his lips catch the unshaven stubble of Yoongi's cheeks - Jeongguk rubs his lips together and keeps going until he's done two circuits, three circuits, circling closer and closer until there's nowhere to go except Yoongi's softly pouted lips.

He kisses the corner of his mouth first, unsure of his welcome. A soft, gentle press sends his circuits soaring inside of him as he feels the answering echo of hunger from Yoongi's soulmate mark. He puffs out a breath and lets his mouth go where it has been aching to go for the last couple of minutes, softly brushing against the moue of Yoongi's delicate pink lips.

Yoongi gasps, presses his mouth up against Jeongguk's, and they moan gently as the soft and healing intentions of the previous kisses burn away into a heat that speaks of hunger and pent-up tension.

Yoongi licks at Jeongguk's mouth with the tip of his tongue, and Jeongguk opens to meet him, curling his tongue and wriggling in pleasure on Yoongi's hips.

The room brightens around them, and Yoongi's alarm goes off for work, tinkling softly.

Yoongi groans, and Jeongguk tips himself backwards, landing on the mattress between Yoongi's parted legs.

"Farns."

Yoongi snickers. "That's what I was gonna say."

-

Jeongguk walks into the Enforcement building nervously. It's a couple of hours past lunchtime, and the waiting area is filled with people milling about, looking stressed, upset, or worse. Jeongguk lines up at the front desk and adjusts his sweater for the millionth time. The air has started warming up, and he's discarded his thick coat with preemptive abandon. Regret fills him the second he leaves the apartment in the chill of the morning and shivers his way down the road. Smugness leads the charge when he sees everyone sweating in their oversized winter-weight jackets during the train ride home. Jeongguk's sweater is a warm chocolate brown, so overworn it's as soft as butter, the arms so long he's had to roll them up four times to get them to his elbows.

He feels pleased with himself all day and doesn't bother telling himself it's not because he's wearing Yoongi's clothes. Yoongi had eyed the smooth expanse of collarbone bared by the stretched neckline and mumbled, 'Keep it, keep it forever', so he's got a new sweater now, he guesses.

When it's finally his turn, he beams a smile at the man behind the partition, the same as before, looking somehow more dishevelled and exhausted from sitting at the desk dealing with people in a potential crisis.

"Hi!" Jeongguk says.

"Yes, hello," the officer replies, lifting his eyes slowly from the computer.

"I'm here to see Enforcement Office Min. Yoongi."

The man blinks at him slowly, forehead crinkling. "Haven't you been in to see him before? And he told you to go away?"

"It's different now." The officer narrows his eyes. "It

is

different now. Please, can you let him know I'm here?"

The officer sighs nasally and reaches for his comm. "Officer Min, we need you out here."

A short silence. "I'm on my lunch break."

"There's someone here to see you. That weird dude from before. You want me to get rid of him?" His gaze sweeps down Jeongguk's torso, and he nods slowly, confirming that he thinks it would be easy. Jeongguk sees the man's beer belly and disagrees but says nothing.

"No, leave him be; I'm coming," Yoongi's voice crackles over the comm. The officer gestures with a shake of his head for Jeongguk to wait to the side and settles himself into staring at his computer fully before the next person in line can get his attention.

The side door clacks open heavily, and Yoongi steps out, confusion and worry painting every fibre of his being.

"Jeongguk? Is everything alright at work?" Jeongguk steps forward, smiling, and reaches his arm out to show Yoongi the carefully wrapped bento boxes in his grasp. His daisy is bare for the world to see. So is Yoongi's, he notices, sleeve carefully buttoned up to expose the pale wrist, delicate petals unfurled around the yellow centre. So cute. His stomach flips over.

"Our lunch times were going to coincide, so I thought. We could... Spend it together?" Yoongi smiles, wide and gummy and surprised, mind flaring in pleasure at the thought of Jeongguk wanting to be out with him any moment he can.

"Sure, sure, Sawyer, I'm out for a while."

"Wait, Min, isn't that -"

"My soulmate, yes, yes it is," Yoongi waves to his slothlike coworker, soulmate mark exposed for the world to see, and catches Jeongguk's free hand in his own, tugging him softly so that they can get free of the precinct and into the busy streets outside.

They walk until they find an unused bench and set up their bento boxes, crossing their legs like children to make little tables of themselves. They spend the half hour chatting about their days and filling their tummies. And all Jeongguk can think is that he could get used to this. Yoongi's happiness nestles inside him like a warm pillow.

"You seem like you're in a good mood today," Yoongi remarks through a mouthful of rice, smiling politely whenever he catches the eye of someone in the crowd. Jeongguk thinks Yoongi probably isn't supposed to be sitting outside in his uniform during his break, but he won't say anything.

"I guess so."

"You feel happier. Is that okay to say?"

Jeongguk shrugs, blushes a little and hates himself for it. "It's fine. No point pretending, right?" He shoves more food into his mouth and chews rapidly, trying not to point out how nice it is to see Yoongi in his uniform in the daylight, looking all smart and sharp on one hand but also jiggling his leg a little and having to re-steady his food every few seconds because of it. Like a little kid playing dress-ups. "You feel happier, too."

"Happier than what?"

"Happier than when I first started feeling your emotions."

"Well," He gives a self-deprecating smile and fidgets with his chopsticks, "That's not too surprising. I guess things have just relaxed a lot in my head recently. Everything shouldn't be a big deal if I don't want it to be."

"That's a nice way to think."

Yoongi laughs, "I know, right? I don't think I realised it was an option before."

"Are you going to be okay tomorrow?"

It's Yoongi's turn to shrug.

Tomorrow will be... Well.

There's been a lot of uproar since the announcement about the soulmate upgrade, and now that things have calmed down, people have found a new thing to complain about - saying the enhancements don't work. No one else has officially come forward with a confirmed droid soulmate, and with how unsettled the general public has been about it, it's unsurprising.

So they're calling in the backups. Two other couples Jeongguk has heard of have quietly informed the company of their success. And there's Jeongguk and Yoongi.

Dr Kim had asked them if they could come forward, assuring them they wouldn't let the public know if they didn't want them to. But.

Surprisingly, it had been Yoongi who had put his foot forward first, had given the nod and answered with a calm 'do what you have to do', which set Jeongguk's cheeks blazing more than he'd ever be likely to admit. Yoongi would put himself out of his comfort zone so publically like that for Jeongguk's sake - or rather, for all his android siblings - it's a lot to absorb. He's still getting used to a Yoongi, trying hard to accept a new perspective.

They've scheduled a news channel release, utterly separate from the Droid Health Centre so that it won't look like a conspiracy - three random droid/human couples that have been tracked down and are willing to talk to the press about their experiences. The interview had been polite, understanding, and short. They took a few photos at the fountain near Jeongguk's work, with Yoongi out of his uniform, looking soft and warm in a black beanie, thick glasses and sports coat. Jeongguk had worn a cream sweater and his favourite earrings that dangled prettily against each other. His favourite shot was of them smiling at each other in embarrassment with their forearms bared towards the camera. It probably looks completely fake, but it took a split second before they burst into laughter and hid against each other's shoulders to hide their blushing cheeks.

"Do you think there'll be any trouble at work?" Jeongguk asks, sipping at his iced tea.

"I got permission to do the interview; it'll be fine."

"What about your coworkers?"

Yoongi smiles at him in amusement. "Now that I've stopped ignoring any droid cops in the precinct, I've discovered there's more than I ever realised were there to start with. If anyone complains loudly, they won't just have me to answer to."

"Good, good," Jeongguk says. He leans over impulsively and squeezes Yoongi's free hand tightly. "I'm so glad," he blurts out, watching this man, his soulmate, wriggling the box in his lap to fish more food with one hand. "I'm so glad it was you."

Yoongi looks up and smiles again; maybe he never stopped to begin with. There are so many more smiles now than at the start, that same smile that catches Jeongguk and still holds him still as Yoongi's eyes trace over him with the same sense of wonder as that first time, like he can't believe how lucky he is.

"Me too, sweetheart, me too."