rewrite the stars - jaywon

chapter 33

They were meant to meet Yeonjun and his computer science major friend in a building on the nearby college campus.

Jungwon had worried, at first, that Jay would stick out like a sore thumb amidst the image he had of campus. Of beleaguered students touting overstuffed backpacks, of rushing professors in spectacles. But Jungwon's preconceptions appeared not to be aligned with the reality of the university at all

The building Yeonjun had told them to go to was teeming with technology. Jay's flashing eyes were among the least remarkable things within it. Just peering around the massive, airport-like entrance lobby, Jungwon was able to spot more than a handful of androids among the masses of over-caffeinated engineering students. The androids didn't all look entirely human either.

Jungwon surreptitiously scooted away from a 'bot a few yards from him. It had its skin entirely peeled away, revealing the smooth porcelain-white plastic that made up its internal structure.

The skin-less 'bot suddenly looked at Jungwon and Jungwon froze, paralyzed at the sight of its eyeballs, uncovered, just spheres rolling in its plastic skull directed his way.

"I hate this place," Beomgyu said, crossing his leg over his knee and frowning at the skinned 'bot.

Taehyun wasn't even looking around. He had his eyes closed. He tilted his head back on Beomgyu's shoulder and had an earbud sticking out from his exposed ear. He must have cranked the volume on his music way up, because Jungwon caught faint, angry drumbeats and inaudible shouting.

"Sorry..." Jungwon apologized. And he meant it. It was because of him that the two of them had to even be here.

He glanced at Jay, seated beside him, his shoulders set and his back straight as a ruler. He tried not to think of if Jay resembled the skinned 'bot, and failed miserably.

"Oh, God no. You're good, Jungwon. It's the engineering students I can't stand."

Jungwon's eye was drawn to a sudden flurry of motion as two winged creatures simultaneously took flight. They soared to the heights of the criss-crossing metal beams at the top of the ceiling, a hundred feet above their heads, before dropping down and flitting through the air, chasing each other, like a dance.

Jungwon wondered how birds that big had even gotten into the building. He craned his neck, and saw that they weren't birds at all. One resembled a Monarch butterfly, if Monarch butterflies had hazard lights fixed to them and were the size of a car's wheel. The other looked like a sleek black fighter jet, only it was miniaturized, the exact same size as the butterfly.

As Jungwon watched, the butterfly crashed into the mini-jet. The crash was immediately followed by a hoot and a holler down below, close to them.

One student with a remote control was jumping up and down in victory, peering up at the butterfly as it flew victorious circles through the metal beams. The other had a despondent face as he tried to bring the broken jet safely back down to the ground.

"They're so... obnoxious," Beomgyu looked as though he'd tasted something sour. Jungwon wanted to ask him more about his apparent antipathy towards engineering students, when a shrill voice cut him off.

"Oh my God, is that the 'bot? He's stunning," A student ran forward towards them, leaning in to stare at Jay. He had blue hair and glasses that looked, for some reason, familiar in combination.

Jungwon shook his head. He'd never seen this guy before in his life.

"What are you doing?" Jungwon asked, as he pushed off his seat and stood up.

He was about to-- he didn't know-- shove the guy away from Jay, maybe. He did, however, look ridiculously taller than Jungwon. Still, Jungwon thinks he could do it.

But then Yeonjun came jogging up.

"Watch out. You're gonna make me jealous," Yeonjun said, breathlessly, presumably directed to the guy who was up in Jay's face.

Panting, Yeonjun leaned down and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath after catching up with his silver-haired friend.

"Hi, kid," Yeonjun lifted his head with effort, waving at Jungwon.

Jungwon looked from Yeonjun, to the guy with the glasses, and back to Yeonjun. A realization hit him. The guy was familiar because he'd seen his face a half dozen times, back when Yeonjun had shown him the sketches of his crush from design class.

All Jungwon could think was, maybe he'd misjudged Yeonjun, if this was the kind of guy he fell for.

Just then, the guy reached forward, grasping Jay's chin. The unexpected contact elicited an embarrassing pained sound from Jungwon.

"What are you doing ?" he asked, again, balling up his hands into fists. He didn't care if Yeonjun liked this guy. Jungwon didn't.

"You can barely tell he's a robot," the guy said, tilting Jay's head to the side, "Of course, he has some tells. A couple manufacturing flaws... there! and there! , but for the most part--."

"Manufacturing flaws?" Jungwon repeated, teeth clenched, cutting the guy off. He asked his most pressing question next, "Who are you?"

"Oh! I didn't introduce myself?" The guy looked at Jungwon in genuine confusion, his eyes wide behind the lenses of his glasses.

"No?"

Under his breath, Beomgyu muttered, "Obnoxious."

The guy extended a hand to Jungwon. It was the same one that'd held Jay's chin only moments before. Jungwon hesitated a moment, then took it.

"I'm Soobin! And I'm here to look at your gorgeous 'bot for you." the guy said, cheerily.

— the end of chapter 33 ♡

you guessed it right! it's soobin ^_^

do you think soobin can help them? or
will he make things more complicated?
stay tuned to find out!