[got7] one day, robots will cry (4/7)
Fic: GOT7, JB/Jr., Yugyeom/Bambam
Summary: Jaebum is the owner of an android repair shop. Jinyoung is a prototype that gets abandoned on his front step one night in desperate need of repairs, and also quite possibly the best thing that ever happened to Jaebum.
Rating: PG
Contents: Slice of life with android stuff mixed in.
A/N:Title is from the Cobra Starship song. All pseudoscience stuff is 100% made up, probably illogical, and not based on reality.
Series tag is here. Also on AO3.
Jinyoung knows, objectively, that it’s a bad idea to start a fresh book before bed.
Every single time, he always ends up getting engrossed in it and staying up way too late, so he tries his best not to, but it inevitably happens sometimes anyway. He’s down in the kitchen late on one of those nights for a fresh mug of tea when he hears something strange-not the cat, for once, but a person.
He goes down the hallway, cracks open the door to Yugyeom and Youngjae’s room.
“Yugyeommie…?”
Just like he suspected, Yugyeom is sitting on the edge of his bed, crying softly. Youngjae is snoring loudly and though Jinyoung doesn’t think he’ll wake up if they talk in there he leads Yugyeom out into the kitchen anyway, wrapping a blanket around him and pouring him some tea. They both sit down and Jinyoung puts his arm around Yugyeom’s shoulders.
“Tell hyung what’s wrong. Does it hurt somewhere?”
Yugyeom shakes his head. He sniffles, wipes his tears with his sleeve. “I’m just… sad about Bambam.”
“Did something happen?”
“He has to go back to Thailand after the school year’s over.” He sighs heavily. “I’ve been trying not to think about it, but he got a call from his mom earlier, and it just kind of… hit me.”
Jinyoung frowns sympathetically. “You two are really good friends.”
“We, um, sort of hated each other at first,” Yugyeom admits shyly. It’s the first Jinyoung’s heard of that.
“Really…? Like actually hated?” he asks, skeptical.
Yugyeom nods again, pursing his lips.
“We got put in the same group for a project, and we used to argue all the time. But when some of the other kids complained about me going to school with humans, he… stood up for me,” he explains to Jinyoung, his hands balling into fists at the memory. “He said it didn’t matter if people were androids or humans, and it just… it stuck with me. And now he’s my best friend in the whole world.”
“It’s okay,” Jinyoung says soothingly. He thinks he understands a little now. He pulls Yugyeom into a hug, letting his head rest on Jinyoung’s shoulder.
“Everything’s gonna be okay,” he repeats, rubbing Yugyeom’s back gently. Yugyeom’s lip trembles, and fresh tears spill onto Jinyoung’s shirt.
“I… I just don’t want him to go.” Yugyeom sobs like his heart is broken, and it feels like Jinyoung’s heart is breaking too.
“I’m sorry,” he says softly, because he doesn’t know what other words he can give to console him.
He lets Yugyeom cry as much as he wants, patting his back and handing him more tissues occasionally. When he’s finally cried himself out, the subject unexpectedly changes to Jinyoung.
“Hyung, you aren’t… going anywhere, are you?” Yugyeom asks, wiping away the last of his tears.
Jinyoung raises his eyebrows, genuinely confused. “I hope not? Why would I go anywhere?”
“I dunno, I just sort of think Jaebum hyung is scared that something will happen and you’ll have to go away,” Yugyeom confesses, staring at his lap. “He… told me and Youngjae hyung about how he first found you all broken down, and I got kind of scared too.”
There’s a silence as Jinyoung tries to sort out his feelings. He’d gotten used to not thinking about it anymore, but it’s true that they still don’t really know where he came from or why he was left here. What if something happens and he has to leave, someday?
He shakes his head vigorously, as if trying to clear out his doubts.
“I won’t leave. Whatever happened to me before, it doesn’t matter,” he says, half to himself. “My life is here with you guys. As long as you all want me here, I’m going to stay.”
Jinyoung isn’t sure how convinced he feels even after saying it out loud, but Yugyeom seems relieved at least.
“Oh, that’s good! I mean, not that Jaebum hyung doesn’t take good care of us, but it’s nicer with both of you,” Yugyeom tells him, all smiles even though his eyes are red from crying still. “It’s like I really have a mom and a dad now.”
“Oh, so I’m the mom?” Jinyoung laughs and pinches Yugyeom’s cheek, but to be perfectly honest he doesn’t technically oppose the idea. “Aigoo, to think I already have such a troublesome son.”
Yugyeom just laughs, and despite himself Jinyoung laughs too. When they finally decide to go back to sleep, Jinyoung goes and tucks Yugyeom in himself, as if to solidify their little inside joke.
“Good night, Mom.” Yugyeom grins up at him from his pillow.
“Good night, Gyeommie.”
Jinyoung returns the smile, stroking Yugyeom’s hair gently. Even if they’re just playing around, it still feels nice, like they’re a family. Maybe, he allows himself to think as he heads back up to his attic, they really are one.
--
Jinyoung doesn’t know where he is.
He’s strapped to a table similar to the work table in Jaebum’s lab, but the lights are much brighter, almost painfully so. He’s unable to move, or even look anywhere but straight ahead. Muffled voices are coming from nearby, but most of the words don’t make any sense to him.
“The programming was overwritten? With no input…?”
“Yes. It appears to be an error in the main database that occurred when we installed transferral capability into the memory bank…”
There’s a frustrated sigh.
“Make sure you debug it. We’re too late in testing to start from scratch, and the CEO has high expectations for this project. We can’t afford more defective models.”
It ends as suddenly as it began.
Jinyoung bolts upright, disoriented for a few moments before he fully processes what just happened.
“A dream…?”
He knew on some level he should be capable of having dreams, but he always assumed he wouldn’t be able to. When he closes his eyes and goes to sleep at nights, it’s only ever been completely blank up until now, and the shock won’t wear off even when he tries to lie back down.
The sun is only barely rising when Jinyoung eventually gives up on falling back asleep, and goes down to the kitchen to make himself some hot milk. He’s read before that it helps with relaxation, and he might as well try it.
Jaebum is already sitting at the table, sipping coffee and scrolling through something on his tablet computer. His hair is slightly messy still, and when he smiles at Jinyoung it makes Jinyoung’s chest feel strange.
“You’re up early,” he notes as Jinyoung goes about heating up some milk. “Didn’t sleep too well?”
“I… had a dream. I’ve never had one before,” Jinyoung confesses as he sits down across from him. “I don’t know for sure, but I think… it was from my memory bank.”
“You mean it was from your past?” Jaebum sets down his mug, immediately concerned.
“I feel like it was.” Jinyoung isn’t sure he wants to explain the whole thing right this second. “Um… you’re not always up this early, are you?”
“Me? Not usually, I was just going over some stuff Mark sent me.” Jaebum holds up his tablet, then sets it down in favor of reaching out to cover Jinyoung’s hand with his own.
“If you don’t want to talk about it now, it’s fine, but I… was going to tell you I have some leads on where you came from,” he says after a moment. “I wanted to research it to make sure I didn’t give you any false hope, but I think I can at least give you a really basic idea. If you’re ready.”
Jinyoung stares at the table. Now that he’s seen the first glimpse of his past, he feels reluctant to know more, yet more curious at the same time… Eventually, he nods.
“Tell me everything you can.”
“Park Jinyoung is what ‘JYP’ stands for,” Jaebum begins after a deep breath. “JYP Industries is Korea’s largest robotics manufacturer. I just finished some comparisons and there aren’t many others that would have the resources to make a prototype as advanced as you, so… you’re almost definitely related to JYP somehow, I just don’t know how yet.”
He reaches out and squeezes both of Jinyoung’s hands in his, looking him straight in the eye. “I want to make sure you know that this doesn’t actually change anything. You’re still our Jinyoungie, okay?”
“O… okay.”
Jinyoung purses his lips, taking in all the information. A mess of emotions is tangled inside him, and Jaebum’s hands around his are as warm as ever, making him feel better and worse all at the same time.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jaebum doesn’t seem convinced. “I can watch the shop by myself today if you need to rest and think about things.”
“I…” Jinyoung hesitates. “I think I might rest today, yeah. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I can have Youngjae help me out instead,” Jaebum shakes his head. “I’m sorry I dumped all that on you, but if you’re starting to remember...”
“No, it’s better this way,” Jinyoung says quickly, getting up from the table. He’s glad Jaebum told him the truth, but he also feels like if they talk about this any longer he might break down in front of him.
He goes back up to the attic for the rest of the day, staring blankly out the window as the sky changes colors. This doubt, this ache in his chest is what he gets for trying to live a normal life, to forget even for a little while that he wasn’t human, or even a normal android. The one thing he thought he had from his past, his name, might not even be his after all. The voices in his dream whispered to him that he was defective, a failed experiment.
Jinyoung has experienced something like sadness many times since he woke up, but he’s never actually cried before. Yugyeom cried when he was sad, the characters in his books cry when they’re sad, and it’s there in his reflex drive if he wants to manually activate it, so he does. He lies down and cries bitterly into his pillow until he’s too exhausted to do anything besides slip back into sleep mode and hope that nothing but darkness overtakes him.
chapter five