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Z was drinking motor oil (delicious!) when Y tapped on his shoulder.
"Hey, hey, Z, Z," whispered Y. "I need your help with something."
Z sighed. "What is it now? At least, that's what they said," asked Z.
"Can you help me set up Semo and Hana together?"
"What does ‘set up mean?’ At least, that's what they said."
"You know. Like, dating and stuff."
Z spat out his motor oil. "My sweet cinnamon roll, Semo? No way! At least, that's what they said," exclaimed Semo.
"'Sweet cinnamon roll' isn't really the way I would describe Semo... but anyways, yes way. X already declined–something about 'immature' and 'not appropriate'--but hey, X is a boring stiff."
Z didn't like being teased, but for once he agreed with X. It was immature and inappropriate. They were only children.
"C'mooooooon, it'll make Semo happy!"
That was all Z needed to hear to get himself up and moving.
---
"Alrightsies," said Y. "Any ideas for the first plot?"
They were crouched behind a bush, peeking through the window of the living room. Semo and Hana were making a model together while Duri played with a Hacky Sack by himself.
"And a one and a two and a three and a four and a five and a six... GUYS. I JUST BEAT MY HIGH SCORE!"
Z stifled his laughter.
Hana and Semo paid no attention. "Hey, Hana, where did the door go?"
Hana pushed a plastic, black front door to Semo. "Thanks," he replied.
Y clicked his "tongue". "They're so helpless."
"But they just held a normal interaction with each other. At least, that's what they said," whispered Z. Y shook his head.
"You'll understand someday, Z." To be perfectly honest, Z didn't really want to understand what Y was implying. He sighed and resumed staring at the two boys.
Z had never observed the two of them so closely together before. Sure, he had scrutinized Semo so hard he had accidentally woken him up at night, but not Hana. Z still wanted to cry when he thought back to the time when Semo threw open his window and yelled, "I CAN FEEL YOU STARING, Z."
Z hadn't dared stare at Semo in his sleep ever since.
But he noticed a lot of things he wouldn't have noticed just observing them separately. Such as:
- Hana's ears were tinged a slight pink around the edges when Semo talked to him, or when Hana talked to Semo.
- Semo talked more around Hana.
- Hana's voice went the slightest bit higher when talking to Semo.
- Semo fidgeted more around Hana.
- They mirrored each other's movements.
- They were too polite to each other.
Y sensed Z coming to these conclusions and poked him in the arm.
"Seeeeee, I told you they were helpless!" said Y mischievously.
Z felt confused. Tobots normally had a difficult time sensing emotions. In fact, almost all forms of artificial intelligence struggled to comprehend human expressions. Z's mind wandered, and he remembered that one time he thought Semo was laughing instead of crying, and so Z laughed along with him. Semo didn't talk to him for a week. Later, Z found out that one of Semo's favourite music artists had been the victim of a fatal shooting.
However, Tobots were designed to pick up on every little detail that was different about their pilots. This was usually how they picked up emotion, both about their pilots and to use for themselves. This was probably why Y was so expressive, while X was so dull. Duri was more open with his emotions, while Hana was, well, Hana.
The reason Z was so emotional when it came to Semo? Kwon Limo, of course.
There were exceptions. But that was most likely due to the emotions that each separate Tobot used. K was enthusiastic, Cargo was wise and meditative, C was authoritative, and W was dramatic and philosophical. Ogong was not dramatic, and Officer Oh was in no way authoritative, but the emotions they expressed gave Tobots their own, unique personalities.
Y jarred Z out of his thoughts by shaking him by the shoulder. "Hey, I have an idea."
His "idea" sounded risky. It had too many holes and margins for failure. It heavily depended on the fact that Hana and Semo were too socially anxious to talk much.
But since Z had no better ideas, he went along with it.
---
The plan consisted of writing two letters. Z struggled with the tiny pencil, and his handwriting was barely legible, so they bailed and moved to typing. Y's "fingers" were too large to type the tiny keys, so they used Z's pencil to poke out the words. As they'd never tried to write before, it took a substantial amount of time to type the letters. The notes looked like this:
Hana,
Are you free Saturday night? If you are, can you come to the Daedo Tteokbokki Restaurant at around 4PM? Thanks :)
-Semo
And:
Semo,
Are you free Saturday night? If you are, can you come to the Daedo Tteokbokki Restaurant at around 4PM? Thanks :)
-Hana
Z personally thought that the smiley emoticon was a bit much, but it was either that or putting a heart emoticon, which was Y's choice. The letters should have been longer, but Y and Z took an hour to type and print the note as it was. Their original plan of a love confession letter turned into a random date at a tteokbokki place.
Oh well.
Now to wait and see what would happen.
---
The two did meet up at the tteokbokki place, as planned.
"Hi, Semo," Hana said.
"Hi."
Unfortunately, as Z predicted, their next line was simultaneously said together, "Why did you invite me here?"
The two of them pointed at each other, surprised. "I thought you invited me here!"
Behind the bushes, where Z and Y were hiding, Y smacked his forehead.
"Told you. At least, that's what they said," Z whispered.
"No, no, no. This is just a minor snag. We can-"
The bushes were torn apart to reveal Hana's face.
"Ah!" Y and Z screamed together.
Semo looked very miffed, as if somebody had slapped him. "What are you doing here, Z?" he asked at the same time as Hana asked, "Where's Duri?"
Y must've sensed that Z was a hair's width from cracking and spilling everything to the two boys, because he punched Z in the arm.
"Ow," Z muttered.
"Just some... er, Tobot bonding time!" Y lied through his teeth. Z hadn't known it was possible for a Tobot to lie before that. Y's lie-telling skills must've been exceptionally bad, or Hana was psychic, or maybe both, because he saw right through it and narrowed his eyes.
"Fess up, Y."
Z could've sworn there was a serial killer vibe coming off of Hana. Y chuckled nervously.
"Ahaha, there's just been a misunderstanding, Hana, uh...."
Z finally broke like a dam.
"Me and Y were trying to set up you and Semo together! I swear, I didn't come up with this, Y just came and introduced the idea to me and he roped me into it and AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH HANA AND SEMO I'M SO SORRY DON'T KILL ME, AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT THEY SAID-"
The two of them started laughing, to Z's absolute confusion. Maybe this was a human custom he wasn't aware of? Laughing before you murder someone?
Semo interlaced his fingers with Hana's. "Nobody knows yet, but..."
Hana smiled with a twinkle in his eye and said, "Semo and I are already dating."
Y looked as if someone had smacked him, and Z was utterly floored.
Well, mission accomplished.
Just not in the way the Tobots had expected.