William, who was entering the room, sensed something strange and stopped at the threshold.
Didi had nonchalantly followed behind him and, upon entering William’s room, naturally started getting ready for bed.
It was quite shocking to see him, someone who had once been pampered, now putting on pajamas and crawling into William’s bed as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
William silently watched Didi with a baffled expression.
He waited, wondering when this robot would finally catch on—but Didi didn’t notice at all for a long while.
He simply lay down on the bed, shifted to get comfortable, and pulled the blanket over himself.
Then, after a while, he glanced around hesitantly and looked at William…
Just when William thought he had finally realized his mistake, he was dumbfounded and laughed when he saw the pure expression on Didi’s face—an expression that said he had no idea what was wrong.
After seeing that, William found it bothersome even to explain things and simply shook his head.
He went to wash up, leaving Didi, who had boldly taken over one side of the bed.
However, Didi, who William expected would have fallen asleep first, was still awake.
He was blinking his sleepy eyes with effort, seeming to force himself to stay awake until William returned.
That was… a bit touching.
William had originally planned to work a little more before going to sleep, but seeing Didi like that was quite endearing.
So he turned off the light and lay down, too.
Unlike last time, when he had quickly dozed off with soft breathing, Didi showed no signs of falling asleep easily tonight.
“Master, do things really change completely as time passes?”
He was even talking nonsense.
It seemed he was muttering in a half-asleep state.
William gave a rough answer.
“Yes.”
“Master, Sophia, and me too…?”
“Yes. Nothing lasts forever.”
After answering briefly, silence fell in the darkness.
William thought maybe it was finally going to be quiet.
He turned over and closed his eyes.
The sound of shifting bodies continued briefly, then silence returned.
***
In the morning, he woke up to see Didi already watching him, blinking.
Yesterday, Didi had stayed home alone all day.
Without Sophia, the empty house felt unfamiliar and quiet.
Because of that, it had also been a little scary.
He was sure he’d have to wait alone again after William left for work.
After hesitating and watching him for a moment, Didi finally spoke.
“Um… Master.”
When he called out hesitantly, William looked at him, waiting for him to speak.
Summoning courage, Didi opened his mouth.
“Could you take me to the office too…?”
“To the office?”
“Yes…”
He was scared to be alone, and above all, worried about Sophia.
William had said he was going to repair Sophia, but until Didi saw it with his own eyes, he couldn’t fully trust it.
If he went to the office, maybe he could see Thomas’s lab directly…
Yesterday, he had been caught lying, and today he didn’t really have a proper reason to go.
Even so, William was silent for a moment before giving an unexpected answer.
“We’re leaving soon, so get ready.”
“I’ll get ready right away!”
Half-expecting a refusal, Didi had asked timidly.
But permission was granted.
Smiling brightly, he jumped up and hurried to his room.
After quickly washing his face, he entered the dressing room and started choosing clothes.
Since it was the office, it would be best to dress neatly, right?
The only suit he had was ruined after the charity party and had been thrown out by William, so he searched for a replacement.
Wanting to look clean and proper, he picked clothes similar in color to the black suit William was wearing today—a black knit sweater and pants.
Wearing them gave him a sense of satisfaction.
This outfit shouldn’t cause any complaints, right?
Proud of his choice, Didi came out of the room—but William frowned as soon as he saw him.
“What’s with that dull outfit?”
“Is it strange…?”
“Take it off immediately.”
William didn’t seem pleased, his expression cold.
With a sullen face, Didi looked down at the clothes he had picked.
They were plain and ordinary…
In the end, William went into the dressing room himself and came out with an outfit.
Today’s pick: a thick cotton shirt and beige pants.
It was the complete opposite of the dark outfit Didi had chosen.
“This is better.”
Once he changed into the clothes William picked, the man finally looked satisfied.
But as he scanned him from head to toe, his gaze stopped at Didi’s feet.
Following his eyes, Didi looked down at the shoes he had worn to the charity event.
“Throw those shoes away.”
Well… if he wore those again, the heels would get torn up again.
He didn’t want to reopen the wounds that had just healed.
He nodded and changed into a pair of white sneakers instead of the black shoes.
“Let’s go. We’re late.”
“Yes..!”
He hurried to follow William, but on the way to the company, he couldn’t help feeling a little deflated.
He felt guilty for taking up William’s time just because he couldn’t even pick out the right clothes.
***
When they arrived, William already looked busy with a morning meeting.
He was reviewing documents with his secretary, deep in complicated discussion.
Watching silently, Didi started to think it would be better if he weren’t there.
He stood up cautiously, wanting to ask about Sophia.
“Master, Sophia…”
Before he could finish, William waved his hand, signaling him to go.
Not wanting to interrupt any further, Didi quietly slipped out of the office.
The company was huge.
Since he hadn’t gotten a good look at it on the first day, he decided to explore, wandering here and there.
That’s when he came across a floor directory near the elevator.
“Mechanical Analysis Team, Robot AI Research Team, Robotic Structure Design Team, Robot Repair Team… Mechanical Parts Development Team?”
As expected of a company that developed robots, there were many departments related to machines.
Which one was Thomas’s lab?
Didi studied the directory, visiting every department with the word “mechanical” in it.
But he couldn’t find the lab he had visited with William before—Thomas’s lab.
Then he suddenly realized something.
Standing blankly in the hallway, he muttered to himself:
“I’m… lost…”
Where was he?
He turned around, but all he saw were unfamiliar hallways.
He didn’t know how to get back to William’s office, nor did he know where Thomas’s lab was.
The building was complex, split into multiple wings, some requiring access cards just to enter.
In a maze-like place like this, there had to be an information desk for visitors…
But the real problem was, he didn’t even know how to get there.
Occasionally, employees passed by, but they moved with expressionless faces—more mechanical than machines.
It was too intimidating to ask them for help…
As he anxiously looked around, unsure of what to do, he suddenly spotted a robot gliding smoothly in the distance.
“Ah!”
Finally, a ray of hope.
If it was a robot like him, maybe he could talk to it comfortably.
He hurried over.
The robot flashed a smiling face on its screen and spoke in a cheerful, mechanical voice:
“Do you need assistance?”
“Hello, um… do you know where Mr. Thomas’s lab is…?”
“I will guide you to Mr. Thomas’s lab!”
Before he even finished speaking, the robot had already turned and started moving ahead.
It only needed to tell him the direction…
Seeing it hurriedly spinning its wheels to lead the way made Didi feel a little guilty.
While following the robot, he noticed it was carrying a stack of documents.
It must’ve been in the middle of a task, but had paused it to help him.
“Thank you. I’ve been here once before, but I still don’t know my way around…”
“No problem! If you have any questions, feel free to ask!”
The robot was extremely friendly.
It seemed knowledgeable about the company, so Didi thought it might even be able to answer questions about his new Master.
“Um… what kind of person is Mr. William Spencer? He’s my new Master, but… I don’t really know anything about him…”
“Mr. William Spencer is currently the CEO of Spenic. He was appointed president of the company one year ago. In addition…”
The robot began listing off information like a corporate brochure.
To others, it might be boring—but to Didi, it was valuable.
Thanks to the robot, he learned things he hadn’t known before.
As he listened closely to the robot and followed it through the hallway, another thought occurred to him:
Would it… know anything about his previous Master?