CHAPTER 18
Later that night, Jeonguk returned home. It was dark inside, and turning on the light, Jeonguk found that everything was cleaned. Before he had left home, he remembered leaving clothes around and Aurora leaving other messy items all over the place. He was curious about why everything was suddenly spotless because Aurora wasn’t the cleaning type of girl. But he was glad. As he took off his shoes, he settled his jacket on the coat rack and headed for Aurora’s room. Peeking in stealthily, he found her fast asleep. A gentle smile came over him as he shut the door. He thought that Aurora was doing fine being home by herself so far. He just had to work a few more weeks of overtime in order to be up to date with the bills. His boss was kind enough to give him a tiny raise, even though he’s only been modeling for a month and change now.
That morning, Jeonguk went to wake Aurora up for breakfast. But as soon as he entered, Aurora woke up to the subtle sound of her door creaking.
“Hmm…they gotta put some oil in this door to stop the creaking.” Jeonguk noted to himself.
Aurora sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She turned to the door, seeing Jeonguk. “Oh, hey Jeonguk.”
“Good morning, master. Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah…I did,” Aurora paused, looking around. “Wait—I don’t remember coming to bed…?” She mumbled, questioning what happened last night.
“Really now?” Jeonguk smiled. Well, I guess you slept walk into bed. Your body knew that you needed rest.”
“No…” Aurora disagreed. Logan must have carried me to bed and left. That was nice of him. She thought. He better not had tried anything while I was sleeping though, or else I’ll kill him.
“No, what?”
“Oh, nothing.” Aurora shrugs it off.
“Well, anyways,” Jeonguk turned around. “I’m going to work early today, in a few.”
Saddened, Aurora froze before she stood from the bed and looked at him. “Again…?”
Jeonguk sensed the hurt in Aurora’s voice and looked the other way. “Well…I made breakfast for us!” He tried to excuse.
Aurora got out of bed and walked over to him. “You’ve been doing an awful lot of overtime…we’ve hardly been speaking to each other since we’ve moved here…” Jeonguk watched as she walked past him and headed towards the kitchen. She murmured, “…more like, when I started free loading here.”
Jeonguk felt terrible for making Aurora feel this way. He just wanted to be a good AI for his master—a young man who’d fulfill all the needs of what she says is needed or is to be done.
Following her to the kitchen, Jeonguk gathered the silver platter and settled it in between him and Aurora at the table. Aurora slumped her face in her hand, watching Jeonguk get everything prepared. He went to the fridge, bringing out a carton of orange juice. The juice struck Aurora’s eyes as she didn’t recall there being any juice in the fridge.
“I brought this in last night. I was going to let you know, but you were already in bed sleeping.”
“What time did you even get home?”
“Around twelve a.m.”
“Well, that figures.” Aurora frowned. “I must have fallen asleep while watching the movie with Logan.”
Jeonguk’s senses heightened. “Logan?”
“Oh yeah,” Aurora bumped her fist in the palm of her hand. “I’ve made a new friend. His name’s Logan. Lives next door,” Aurora pointed with her right hand to which side of the hallway he lived. “Right next to us. And he’s pretty nice. He came over yesterday and we hanged out.”
“Oh, that’s nice to know. I’m glad you have company now.”
Aurora bounced one eyebrow high, befuddled by how Jeonguk had no type of suspicion about their neighbor. Ah, he’s an AI…
“Enough about him though, he’s not important right now. How’s the modeling coming along?”
“It’s fantastic!” Jeonguk grinned ear to ear. “Actually, I’ve just gotten a little raise for the pay, and all the other models there are opening up to me now. They’re actually pretty cool people.”
“That’s cool,” Aurora jerked a smile on her right corner lip. “And what’s a raise, anyway?”
“A raise is what you receive when your boss promotes you. It increased your pay, or the salary you usually have. So, if I get paid $100 an hour, my boss raises it by 5%, so I end up getting paid…”
Aurora listened attentively to what Jeonguk said. “Damn, that’s a lot.”
“Thank you,” Jeonguk lifted the cover from the platter and placed it in the sink. He handed Aurora her plate with a fork and knife, as he settled his stash on his side of the table. Sitting down, he presses his hands together. “Well, enjoy.”
“Thank you, Jeonguk.” Aurora began eating.
“Your welcome.” Jeonguk began to partake in his meal.
Swallowing her food, Aurora wiped her mouth with her forearm. “So, you made new friends, huh?”
“Yeah, there’s quite a number of them. I never knew that so many models can work under the same agency.”
“Agency?”
“Agencies are businesses or organizations established to provide a particular service, typically one that involves organizing transactions between two other parties.”
“Ah,”
“But, I have to say, those girls are really interesting.”
“Those girls?” Aurora grinned mischievously.
“Yeah, there’s Ivory, Corina, Avlyn,” Jeonguk counted on his fingers. “Then the guys, Marron, Luther, Jordique—oh! And there’s this interesting girl that’s there. Her name is Aisha.”
“Aisha.” Aurora emphasized. “I like how she’s the last one you mentioned.”
Jeonguk raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“You’ve mentioned all the girls in the beginning, then the boys, but then you mention Aisha at the end. Hmm,” Aurora taps her chin playfully. “I wonder why.”
“It’s nothing,” Jeonguk assures her.
“Riiight.” Aurora folds her arms. “We all know that when a guy says it’s nothing, there’s something going on.”
“Are you suspecting something?” Jeonguk challenged.
“Nah, nah.” Aurora lifted her fork once more. “I’m not like that. Just remember to be careful with the people you’re hanging with.” Aurora warned, her tone getting darker. “Don’t just jump into the fire just because they claim to be harmless.”
Jeonguk was curious by what his master meant by that. “What do you mean?”
Looking at him, Aurora explained, “Don’t judge a book by its cover. You’ll meet people in the world who claim to be friendly and nice, but when things get tough, or they have something against you, or may even be plotting against you, they’ll burn you. Deep. I had to learn that throughout my whole life as an orphan.”
Jeonguk nodded. “So…don’t trust Aisha?”
“I don’t know Aisha personally, so I can’t say,” Aurora expressed. “But being that you know her, I’m trusting you to use your judgement to discern whether or not she—or the others—are good association for you.”
“Okay,” Jeonguk accepted her reasoning. “I’m trusting you, too.”
Aurora scoffs at Jeonguk, as though she was looking at a joke. “Trusting me? With what?”
“Logan.”
Aurora stared blankly at the boy.
Once Jeonguk finished, he went to the sink to wash his dishes. Aurora downed her food, handing it to Jeonguk. He swiftly took it, washing it.
Aurora stretched, turning from side to side. “The food was good. Keep up the good work.”
“Thanks.” Jeonguk smiled at Aurora. “You’re going to have to learn how to cook, soon.”
“Um, what?” Aurora gapes at him in disbelief.
“If I’m coming home so late most of the time,” Jeonguk glances at her before he continued washing the dishes. “How do you survive?”
“I just eat what you bring. That’s it.”
“But what if one night I don’t come home?”
“You better come home, Jeonguk.” Aurora deadpanned.
Jeonguk nods obediently. Finishing, he wipes his hands on the spare drying towel and tosses it back onto the counter. “Well, I need to get going now. It’s a long day ahead of me.”
“…right.” Aurora mumbled.
Watching Jeonguk prepare to leave, he knelt down and tied his shoes. He stood up and wrestled his arms through his jacket until it was fixed properly. Aurora walked up to Jeonguk and hugged him from behind. The AI was surprised by Aurora’s affection. “…please, don’t do overtime anymore, after this.”
The AI was touched by how tender the tomboy’s words came out. It was almost as though a feather gently grazed his heart, and it made him feel giddy inside. But despite his feelings, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he had a couple weeks of overtime ahead of him. Turning around, he looked down at the short girl, and patted her head. “I’ll be done with overtime soon. Just give me some time.”
Aurora lifted her head to him. “Why do you even need overtime, anyway?”
“To pay the bills, master.”
Aurora’s eyes shimmered with disappointment. “…the bills, huh?”
Jeonguk gave Aurora a loving hug, reassuring her that he’d be done with overtime in a matter of time. “I have to go now, Aurora. I’ll see you later.” He gives her a peck on the forehead, separating from her.
Aurora waved goodbye, and lowered her head in defeat.
Once Jeonguk had shut the door, he turned and bumped into Logan.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jeonguk bowed. He hurried down the hall before Logan could have said a word to him. Logan was baffled by what he just saw.
“Aurora had a guy in the apartment this whole time…?” Once Jeonguk entered the elevator and the door shut, Logan hastily knocked on her door. “Aurora, Aurora?!”
Aurora rushed to the door and opened it. “What?!”
“Oh, thank goodness—” Logan wiped the stress off of his forehead and exhaled in relief. “I just saw some guy come out of your apartment…and you’ve never mentioned a guy living with you so—” Logan paused abruptly. “Was that your boyfriend?”
Aurora rolled her eyes. “No,” Tilting her head at Logan she replies, “That’s my android.”
“Android.” Logan looks back, then snaps his head to Aurora again. “That…makes sense.” He nods with total agreement.
“Yeah, so what’s up?”
“Nothing, I was getting ready for work. My dad needs me to be a substitute…” He sighs. “…So annoying.”
“A substitute?” Aurora repeats intrigued. “What’s he got you doing?”
I gotta take some photos for him. If it’s not posing, it’s shooting…I tell you, this man is ridiculous.” Logan shuts his door. Aurora sensed his frustration from his hard pull on the knob. “I’m not getting paid enough to kiss his ass.”
Aurora giggled, slapping Logan on the back. “Hey, that’s what sons are for, right?”
“Please, no.” Logan deadpanned. “Anyways, I’ll be back later. You wanna hang out when I come back?”
“Sure,” Aurora shrugged. “Jeonguk’s not even gonna be here often anymore, so I don’t get any other company to chill with.”
“Lucky I’m your next-door neighbor,” Logan winks. “I’ll catch you around after one.”
“Alright, I’ll see you.”
Logan waves goodbye and disappears into the elevator.
Aurora was alone once again.
She lowered her head and sighed. “This is going to be the most boring year of my life.”