CHAPTER 2

Early in the morning, Aurora drew her eyes open. The tides returned behind the shoreline, and the sun was bright. Thankfully, she was stationed under the docks, so she didn't have to worry about her eyes burning from the sensation of bright light emitting on her. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and yawned. When Aurora saw someone lying next to her in her peripheral vision, she jumped up immediately. Gasping, she clenched her hoodie and exhaled deeply.

Jeonguk was sound asleep next to her. He looked so peaceful, almost making Aurora forget that this male is actually a machine. The tomboy ran her hand through her dirty hair and groaned. She realized suddenly that it would be dangerous for her to start traveling around with this beautiful pack of metal because The North Sea is known to be one of the most rundown neighborhoods and regions of York Seoul City. She'd have to move to an area that won't cause others to suspect her or target her and take him away.

Maybe I should just let him go… She thought. I've been by myself since I was born. I don't see why all of a sudden, this one decides to show up in my life now.

But then she realized, she was the one who brought him to her.

Scowling, she walked towards the ocean. Staring out in the distance, the wind made her feel drawn to the wide body of water. Aurora frequently thought about how many times she tried to take her life here, but the waves always sent her back to shore. She'd wake up, coughing excessively until all the sea water escaped her lungs. With Jeonguk now here, she wondered if things would be different. It didn't mean she wanted him around though.

Jeonguk soon woke up, clenching his fingers. Not seeing Aurora next to him, he whispered, "…master?"

Aurora never told him her name which he was interested in.

Looking back, Aurora saw that he was finally awake, but didn't bother to walk over. Instead, he did. Standing by her, Jeonguk decided to join in admiring the ocean. "The water is beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Aurora whispered. "It is."

Calculating the water's width and depth, Jeonguk turned to Aurora and asked, "Would you like to know the size of this ocean and how deep it is?"

"Sure."

"It exceeds across the East Coast, at least 400 miles. The depth of the ocean is limited, but humans cannot reach the bottom. Sharks and other possibly dangerous creatures dwell in this part, including…" Jeonguk went on to describe the fishes that lived in that area. Aurora listened, but her mind soon closed out the knowledge he was offering her.

Jeonguk kept talking until she put her hand up told him to stop. She had enough.

Jeonguk eyed her with a blank expression and turned back to the ocean. "Understood."

After some time, Aurora wanted to get some food. But of course, she'd have to steal. Although Jeonguk was just an AI, she felt uncomfortable with the idea of doing it in front of him. As he followed her up the sandy hill, Aurora turned back and stopped him. "I think it's best that you wait here until I return."

"Why?"

"It's not safe for either of us."

"And why is that?"

Aurora glowered at Jeonguk. "I'm hungry. Plus, it'd be suspicious to see a dirty and ugly kid like me walking around with a clean-looking and handsome AI like you—although you still stink— following me everywhere."

"Why is that a problem?"

Taken aback by his question, Aurora scowled. "Listen—just obey me and stay here!" She pointed back to the docks. "I don't need any burden on me if I get caught stealing—" It was too late to catch herself.

"A thief?" Jeonguk tilted his head intrigued. "My last master wanted me to dispose of any thief that tried to steal from anyone."

"I thought you couldn't remember your master?" Aurora sneered.

Jeonguk didn't say a word.

"Yeah well, your master ain't here, now are they? Unless you want to go back to whoever the hell they are, be my guest." Aurora turned her back to him. "Or, you can do as I asked, and sit your ass under the docks until I come back."

Jeonguk didn't respond, watching her march off.

Aurora deep down was offended by what Jeonguk inferred when he spoke about his previous owner.

He doesn't even know me…But he's just a damn AI, so of course he wouldn't understand what feelings are when he should. That's probably why he was in that trash pile. They were probably sick of him.

Aurora went into the city once more to embark on her journey. Looking around the stands, she remembered to be cautious of the man she stole from yesterday. If he saw her, it wouldn't be good. She swiped her hood on and kept her head low, shrouding her hands into her pockets. Shifting her eyes left and right, she tried to assess what was the best bet of taking today. Seeing a mango stand, Aurora already sat her eyes and heart to it.

Casually going over, she pretended that she was just examining the mangoes. She took one, and looked at the color. "It's not ripe yet." Putting it down, she observed another. After a few attempts, she found one that was just right, and the right size, too. As she was getting ready to hide it in her hoodie, a masculine hand snatched her hood off and yanked her from the stand.

"This street mouse is stealing from your stand!" The man boldly yells as he holds her in the air like a kitten.

Aurora recognized that voice. It was the same man from yesterday! She was stunned to see him in this part of the flea market. He was usually a little block down, but today he was in these parts.

The woman behind the mango stand sighed. "Just let her take it. One mango won't hurt my business."

"Oh really?" The man queried intrigued. On that note, he puts the girl down, and drags her along. "Then that's fine."

"Let me go, mister." Aurora demanded.

But he glared at her. She knew this man hated her guts. She stole from him so many times, but she didn't give a damn.

Aurora tried to fight him off, but he was a strong man for his size. He was obese and his hands were like bear paws. Dragging her into an alleyway, a few men were sitting around a round foldable table, smoking and playing Shades with cards when the man spoke up.

Angrily, he tossed her at them. "This is the S.O.B that's been stealing from my stand!"

The men looked down at her with pity.

Hurrying on her knees, Aurora eyed each of the men that gave her a questioning look.

"Do whatever the hell you want with this piece of s— and TEACH her a lesson!"

"The money?" One of the guys called out.

The man turned, marching over. "Here," He slammed the money on their table and looked at the girl. Kicking her in the stomach, she fell over and gasped.

"Enjoy your karma." He spits on her, leaving the alley.

Clenching her stomach, Aurora wiped the spit from her forehead and winced from the pain.

The guys couldn't care less. They all got up and cracked their knuckles, gathering around her. Each guy took a turn in hitting her. One of them snatched the mango from her and bit into it, earning a screeching shout of anger from her. She demanded it back, but all of them punched her, and beat on her until she screamed 'rape'.

One of the men snatched her up, ripping her hoodie and tried to slash her, but she stuck her thumbs in his eyes, violently trying to gouge them out. He shrieked in anguish, throwing her into the brick wall of the building. She had totally forgotten about the last apple that she had stolen from the man yesterday. But it fell out and rolled away from impact.

Falling to the ground, Aurora forced herself up and limped away as fast as she could.

The men wanted to chase after her, but they knew if the public saw that a group of men were following this badly wounded girl, they would be convicted of rape right then and there.

Aurora clenched her stomach in pain, staggering as fast as she could. It would take her a while to make it back to The North Sea in the condition she was in.

"Over a fruit," Aurora coughed a little blood. She groaned. "I think he punctured an organ…"

Aurora fell onto the sidewalk in the middle of the street. Everyone just looked at her like an animal and kept going.

Aurora's eyes teared up. Wiping them aggressively, she pushed forward to get out of the city.

It took her awhile to get back, and Jeonguk was wondering when she would return. Sitting in the ocean to rinse himself off, Jeonguk played with the water, letting it swim through his fingers. The scenery was breathtaking, but without Aurora being around, he didn't deem it necessary to be inspired by the creation. Picking up on his senses, Jeonguk looked back, seeing Aurora hobbling. He recognized that as a sign of defeat, and pain.

He got up and slowly walked over to her. "What is wrong?"

Aurora couldn't look him in the eye. She bit her lower lip and began to cry. "…it's nothing." She went around him to go and sit under the docks.

Jeonguk turned to look at her. Following her, he watched as she slowly sat, but ended up giving away and fell because of how badly she was injured.

Jeonguk examined her attire, and saw that her clothes were ruined, there were bruises all over her body and she had no food.

"Where is the food?"

Aurora didn't say anything.

With that, Jeonguk took his leave, leaving the beach.

Aurora didn't expect him to do that, but deep down, she blamed it on the fact that he was an AI.

He can't understand emotion…

Aurora's eyes flowed with tears. With the amount of agony, she was in, she thought of all the possibly worse outcomes for her near future.

No one loves me…no one cares for me…I can't receive food in peace…everyone looks at me as an animal…and I expect an AI to treat me differently…?

The sheer thought left her in shambles. She hugged her knees and buried her head into her arms and sulked. She was terribly hungry. She hardly ate anything by the daily, and to top it all off, she got badly jumped by men who didn't even know who she was or where she came from.

Aurora became bitter, wanting to kill herself now. At the end of the day, no one would remember her—not even Jeonguk. He clearly stopped caring for his original owner as soon as she found him. He'd just repeat the same steps if she were to leave him because he was an AI. That's how he was programmed to be.

After half an hour of sulking and lying around, and wanting to die, Jeonguk returned. But he came with a package.

Seeing him stand a few feet from her head, Aurora weakly lifted her head to see him, but only managed to see his feet, returning to her lifeless position. Jeonguk eyed her silently sensing that she was in the emotion of devastation.

"I brought you something." He announced.

Aurora didn't want to see what he had.

Probably some stupid rock he found while he left me here to suffer. She thought bitterly.

Jeonguk recognized that she would not give him the satisfaction of presenting to her what he got.

Putting the basket down, he walked off.

Aurora knew that he left her again. Her guts let her know she was right.

"Stupid AI…" She whispered hatefully.

After some minutes passed, Jeonguk returned, picking up the basket. He stepped in front of her. Aurora did not want to see him. "Get out of my way." She demanded.

Jeonguk stood there for a moment, and placed the basket down gently.

Sighing, she rolled her eyes.

…a basket.

Jeonguk knelt down, and took out mangoes. Aurora was startled to see what he brought. She looked in the basket, watching as he showed her a brand-new dress.

In complete awe, Aurora's eyes scattered over all the fruits that were within this huge bowl-basket.

"…where did you get all this…?"

"I stole it."

Sitting up, she looked at him. Aurora felt a sudden splash of laughter come over her. Jeonguk literally just went and copied something bad that she does on a regular basis.

Jeonguk didn't see what was so funny. "Why is that funny?"

Aurora wiped her eyes. "You shouldn't steal, Jeonguk."

Jeonguk stared with his normal blank expression. "You had no food. And your clothes are no good."

"Yeah, well…" Taking a good look at him, Aurora's mouth parted a little. "…you're wearing a new outfit?"

"I stole this, too."

Aurora had to admit she was impressed. "How were you able to get away with all of this?"

"Women on the street kept eyeing me, and they said that a young man like me should not be walking around with sheets dangling from my waist. They escorted me to a shop for men's clothing and I decided to steal these when they left."

"Did you at least shower?"

Jeonguk didn't say a word.

Aurora was too lost for words to describe what she thought. She continued laughing.

Jeonguk frowned. "I washed up in the water." Taking a mango, he peeled a portion of the skin off and gave it to her. Aurora was surprised by his gesture. "Eat it."

Sheepishly, Aurora accepted the fruit hesitantly. She looked at it. "…you even got the ripe ones."

Jeonguk watched as she bit into the mango. She definitely had a look of pleasure and satisfaction. Jeonguk processed that.

Aurora tried to hide her happiness in receiving a meal, but it kept on glowing from her lips.

Jeonguk eyed her lips, calculating that she was trying to hide her emotion. "Why are you hiding your smile?"

"Huh?" Aurora gaped at him hysterically.

"Smile."

Aurora was confused by how Jeonguk saw that her smile was fighting to unleash. She smiled faintly. Finishing the mango, she placed the seed aside and burped, excusing herself.

Jeonguk took in every detail of what and how Aurora was acting for future purposes.

Aurora leaned over, wiping her hands on her hoodie to remove the juicy residue from her fingers. Grabbing the dress, she glanced at Jeonguk. "Is this really for me?"

"Just you."

Aurora blushed, turning the dress back and front. "…it's really beautiful." She lowered the dress in her lap, giving him a doubtful and saddened look. "Why?"

"Earlier you said that you were ugly," Jeonguk expressed. "But you're just dirty. Not ugly."

A warm feeling of comfort washed over her. Embarrassed, she glued her eyes on the dress. "…thanks."

Aurora was deeply happy that she finally had something new to wear. But where would she shower to put it on? She couldn't possibly just wear this when she hasn't bathed for a couple of days.

"I…don't have a place to shower," She explained. "I don't want to put on this clean dress until I shower."

"Is the ocean water not good enough?"

"It…has salt." Aurora said. "Fresh water would be appropriate."

"There isn't any fresh water around here."

"…I know." Aurora used to take showers in the foster home she was in. But after she had turned eighteen, she left their care to do better things. But nothing gotten better. Whether she was in or out of the foster home, she was abused, had no friends or allies, still had bad odor either way because the other youth there would torture her by locking her in her room for most of the day so that she couldn't eat, use the bathroom, or shower. She explained this to Jeonguk.

Listening attentively, Jeonguk didn't utter a word. After doing so, he stood up. "Where should I retrieve fresh water?"

Aurora was shocked that he was going to go and find her water. "There isn't really much options on where to go…"

"Are there any foster homes here?"

Aurora thought deeply. "Well, there's the one I used to be in but," She sighed. "I don't have pleasant memories…I'd rather not go back there."

"I'll come with you."

Aurora was taken aback by his offer. "Nah…I'd prefer you'd stay here. Like I said earlier, it'd be suspicious of me to have you around me the way I look and my status."

"You'll be different once you wear the dress."

Aurora slowly let those words seep in. "Okay."

Leaving the basket behind, Jeonguk followed Aurora to the foster home. Aurora felt a bit unsure of how things would be if she were to just suddenly pop up after a couple months. She got a sunken feeling in her stomach. She mostly wanted to turn back and just hide at the beach. But Jeonguk was behind her. Exhaling, she blocked the intimidating feelings.

Stepping at the entrance of the foster home, Aurora reached out to knock but hesitated.

Jeonguk stepped ahead and knocked on the door hard enough for someone to hear. Aurora gawked at him. "Why would you do that?!" She cried.

Jeonguk looked at her. "I sensed fear."

Shaken by his theory, Aurora remained silent.

They both heard children behind the doors shouting, 'Mother Nan, Mother Nan! There's someone knocking!'

Aurora began to feel her stomach churn once more. Pulling her back, Jeonguk stepped in front of her. The door then opened. An older woman—most likely in her late fifties—smiled at the boy.

"Why, hello there. Can I help you?"

"I have a request to make," Jeonguk began. "My master needs to take a shower, but she has nowhere to go."

Aurora was shocked that Jeonguk boldly said such a thing to her previous mother.

"A shower?" Nan questioned. Trying to peer behind him, she asked, "May I see her?"

Aurora gradually stepped from behind the AI with a dress in her hand.

"Ah, Aurora."

Aurora frowned, looking away.

Looking at Aurora, Nan glanced at Jeonguk. "Wait—an AI?" She gawked. Glaring at Aurora, she questioned how she got in possession of one. This was what Aurora feared would happen.

"I quit my job, and wandered around this city, then found her," Jeonguk lies confidently. "It would be much appreciated if you do not try to delve deep into our relationship and relation."

Mother Nan furrowed a brow, giving Aurora one last look. "Alright," She stepped aside. "Aurora knows where the shower room is. Make it quick."

Aurora hurried inside, with Jeonguk following. "Thank you, ma'am," He bowed his head.

"Now, hold on a minute," Mother Nan stopped Jeonguk. "Your face looks very familiar."

Jeonguk didn't give any reaction to her statement.

"Why are you lying for that girl? She stole you, didn't she?"

"No," Jeonguk responded. "I stole her."

Speechless, Mother Nan didn't know what to say to that.

Meanwhile, Aurora had already taken a shower. She was so excited to try on the dress. The feeling of being fresh and her hair smelling good made her feel joyful once again. Grabbing a spare towel from the rack, she hurriedly wiped herself. But because she took a steaming hot shower, the mist lingered within the bathroom, making it harder for her to get dry. Opening the door a little to let the mist escape, Aurora inhaled deeply, then exhaled. The room was finally cleared of a watery atmosphere.

She takes the dress and looks in the mirror. It then dawned on her. She doesn't have any spare bra or underwear.

Previously leaving here, Aurora didn't bother to take any of her clothes with her. She didn't have any other place to store them, so to bring an extra load would just weigh her down. Quickly, she washed the only underwear she had. She had no bra either way, and being that she was only a side B-cup, her breasts didn't stick out as much as she wished. But it gave her benefits, which would also serve a purpose with the dress she was about to wear.

After washing her underwear, she puts it aside and puts the dress on. Zipping it up, she looked in the mirror, and took a few steps back. "Wow…" The dress was so beautiful, and it complimented her shape, although she wasn't a curvy female, she had a little curve below.

She spun around in the dress.

Aurora completely forgotten about her pain, and the fact that she was a tomboy. The dress was so eye appealing, it almost made her want to cry. It was a beautiful gothic red wine knee-high Lolita dress with short sleeves with black trims.

Aurora smiled ear to ear and clasped her hands together. With her hair now washed, it enhanced her features and expounded on the beauty of her attire. Taking her underwear, she wringed it out and hid it in her dress, hurrying back downstairs. She couldn't wait to show Jeonguk how she looked.

Once she had gotten back to the entrance, she saw that Mother Nan and Jeonguk weren't there. The door was closed, so he had to be inside.

Looking around the hallway, she was familiar with what was behind each door. She wasn't an innocent girl either. She used to browse through things she shouldn't have been peeping in, and that had gotten her into a lot of trouble. Choosing the door that led to the kitchen, Aurora slowly peeped in. Surprisingly, her guess was accurate. Jeonguk was sitting at the kitchen island, staring at something.

Opening the door further, Aurora was mortified, seeing Nan slowly taking her clothes off. "Oh, hell no!" Aurora snarled with fury. Slamming the door open, Mother Nan howled at the sight of Aurora.

"Aurora!" She gasped.

Aurora grabbed Jeonguk, running away. "You're sick!!!" She snapped at the woman.

Leaving the foster home, Aurora took Jeonguk as far as she could. She could not believe what he was doing. Stopping midway down the sidewalk, she stopped, letting his hand go. Jeonguk was confused by Aurora's reaction. Turning to him, she balled her fists.

"Why did you—"

Aurora slapped him. "Don't you ever let another woman treat you like that!"

Jeonguk had the ability to feel pain, but it wasn't within him to unlock that attribute yet.

Seeing the hurt in her eyes, Aurora gritted her teeth. "She's a sick bastard…" Aurora lowered her head in shame. "…that's another reason why I left the foster home."

"I'm sorry." Jeonguk apologized. "I did not understand what she was doing, because I do not recognize the pleasure of looking at a human."

Aurora looked at him.

Calmly, Jeonguk wiped her eyes. "Now, stop crying," Jeonguk looked at her and said, "You look beautiful."

Aurora's cheeks reddened. "Yeah, whatever…" Deep down she was relieved that Jeonguk couldn't recognize what the woman was doing. Although, she found it weird that he didn't know what Nan was doing being that AI were built advanced in these times, allowing them to basically function like a normal human being. No one would mostly know the difference between a human or AI until an AI acknowledges that they are an AI.

Jeonguk followed Aurora back home.