Just as my master said I’d be busy, the following week flew by in a blur.
After visiting the factory, I went around meeting investors.
My master always took me along, so I had to visit every corner of the country with him every day.
When I got home, I’d often collapse into sleep, even though I felt like I hadn’t done anything.
My battery quickly drained from the constant effort of saving memories of meeting new people in ever-changing environments.
Still, tomorrow was the weekend.
I must have put my tired body into the car, returning home.
“Didi, you worked hard all week.”
My master looked at me and stroked my head.
With a single gentle touch from my master, it felt like all the difficult days vanished clean away.
I closed my eyes contentedly while being petted by my master, but I also felt a little apologetic.
I had only quietly followed him, yet I seemed more tired than he was.
“Didi, is there anything you want?”
As we were getting closer to home, my master asked me.
“Something I want?”
“Yeah. You followed along so well, so I should give you a reward.”
Unconsciously, I touched my empty neck.
The red leather collar I had put in the drawer came to mind.
I considered asking my master to buy something to replace the broken collar, but I hesitated, worried he might buy me another strange gift like a dog collar.
Just then, a dessert shop caught my eye outside the window. It was a familiar logo.
The same design was on the macarons my master’s father had brought home when he first met me.
Seeing the long line of people, it seemed to be quite a popular shop.
No wonder it tasted so good.
Come to think of it, I realized I hadn’t eaten my favorite desserts for quite a while due to being so busy lately.
After a moment of thought, I spoke.
“Master, can it be dessert?”
“Dessert?”
“I want to eat the macarons your father bought last time… they had the same gold logo.”
As I said that and pointed to the shop visible outside the window, my master’s eyebrow twitched subtly.
It was a displeased expression.
I quickly started thinking of another answer, expecting him to say no, but my master turned the wheel and parked the car nearby.
***
In the bustling downtown area lined with department stores, William and Didi entered the dessert shop with the fancy gold logo.
On a Friday evening, the sight of two men entering a dessert shop, predominantly filled with female customers, was quite noticeable.
Especially if one of them was the chairman of the Hispanic Group, it went without saying.
People who recognized William began to murmur.
Though a rare figure in the business world to appear before the public, William’s name was particularly famous among young women due to his striking looks and frequent scandals.
Before they even stepped fully into the store and looked around, the branch manager approached them to greet them.
“Good evening, Mr. Spencer. Have you come to purchase something?”
William clicked his tongue softly.
This is why being like my father is annoying.
This was a dessert brand created by his father.
As expected, the branch manager, who recognized him as his father’s son at a glance, approached him.
In this city, there was no place his father’s hand hadn’t touched, so such occurrences were now commonplace.
He probably assumed that the fact he visited the shop with Didi today would be reported to his father.
But it didn’t matter.
It was enough that his father wasn’t at the shop today.
If his father had been there, Didi’s attention would undoubtedly have been focused entirely on him, and William didn’t want to see that.
William nudged Didi’s back and told the branch manager, “Pack everything he chooses.”
And then he casually sat on a nearby chair.
Didi hesitated, looking back.
“Didi, go pick out whatever you want to eat.”
“Can I really pick everything?”
“Yeah. Or should I just buy you everything in the store?”
“Oh, no…! I’ll just pick out the desserts quickly and come back!”
Watching Didi head towards the display shelves excitedly, the corners of his mouth naturally curled upwards.
The curious stares from all directions were a bit annoying, but seeing Didi’s delighted expression as he chose desserts made everything else irrelevant.
Didi excitedly wandered around the store.
Whenever he found a dessert he liked, he’d point through the glass display case with his finger and look back at the branch manager with a bright smile.
William watched him from afar with a pleased expression.
“Master! I’ve picked everything!”
A while later, Didi returned to William with a thoroughly happy face.
“Let’s see how much you picked,” William thought.
As William got up and approached the counter, he saw large, neatly packed boxes.
There were quite a few of them, so it seemed Didi had picked quite enthusiastically.
I guess I won’t be eating dinner tonight.
The image of Didi filling his stomach entirely with desserts and then being too full to eat dinner was already vividly clear in his mind.
Didi, whether he knew it or not, was smiling happily, clutching a box of packaged macarons tightly in his arms.
“Hmm….”
But when it was time to carry the desserts, Didi suddenly seemed to realize the predicament.
The macarons he was holding were already a handful, and there were still items on the counter that hadn’t been fully packed.
William chuckled softly and stepped forward.
When he took even what Didi was holding and carried it for him, Didi gave an embarrassed laugh.
They were in the middle of walking back to the car, with his hands full of desserts.
In the middle of the street, robots carrying colorful balloons and distributing them to passersby caught their attention.
I’ve seen those somewhere, but what are they?
Ah.
The reason belatedly crossed his mind.
These were a kind of event robot his father had made by collecting discarded robots.
Perhaps because they were made from salvaged robots, their appearances varied.
There were some relatively new models, and older models produced long ago were mixed in.
Round-shaped robots walked around holding balloons, like they were distributing flyers.
Most passersby ignored the robots and just walked past, but families with children, unable to resist their child’s whining, each accepted a balloon.
William couldn’t understand it.
His father wasting time uselessly on something that didn’t make money.
Just as he was about to move, thinking it was silly, William noticed that the footsteps following him had stopped.
He looked back and saw Didi standing still, showing interest in the robots.
“Do you want one too?”
He chuckled, asking if Didi wanted a balloon like a child, but Didi shook his head.
“No… It’s just that there are a lot of robots.”
Only then did he realize that Didi’s gaze was fixed on the robots, not the balloons.
Come to think of it, Didi had always wanted to go to places with many robots.
That’s why he had even taken him to the robot museum, a place he hadn’t visited since he was a child, but Didi had gone missing before he could even properly look around.
“Go say hello.”
“Huh? Can I really?”
When he spoke first, Didi’s eyes widened in even more surprise, and he looked at William.
What does he think of his master…?
Anyone would think I scold him all the time.
William sighed softly and nodded.
“I’ll wait on the bench, so go say hello and come back.”
“Okay!”
As soon as permission was granted, Didi ran towards the nearest robot with a joyful expression.
William sat on a nearby bench and watched Didi.
Didi approached one of the robots carrying balloons and cautiously greeted it.
The robot stopped upon hearing the greeting and then offered a balloon to Didi.
Didi smiled brightly and accepted a pure white balloon.
Seeing this, other robots also began to gather around Didi one by one.
When each of them offered their balloons, Didi looked very flustered, and a chuckle escaped William’s lips.
Didi was flustered but soon started accepting balloons one by one.
By the time his hands were full, a radiant smile, impossible to fully describe, bloomed on Didi’s face.
Passersby also began to stop one by one, watching the scene.
The sight of many robots gathered around one person, handing out balloons, was not a common one.
People, fascinated, pulled out their cameras, and the sound of shutters began to click from all directions.
However, William’s gaze was fixed on only one person.
“Ah.”
He was lovely.
Didi, who, simply by being surrounded by robots and receiving balloons, was genuinely happy as if he owned the world.
William couldn’t tear his eyes away from that bright, smiling face.
He wanted to embrace him and shower him with kisses right then and there.
And there was no reason anywhere not to act on it.
William rose from his seat and approached Didi.
“Master!”
Didi smiled brightly, seeing William approach him.
That single word, calling out to him with a flushed face and voice, tickled William’s heart.
“Didi. Stop taking balloons now. What if you float away?”
“Me? I’m not that light…”
“Oh, you’re not?”
He said it playfully, but he meant it.
He felt as if Didi, floating lightly like this, might disappear forever to some place beyond his reach.
Like a handful of sand clutched in his hand.
He worried that if he let go once, he might never get him back.
Didi burst out laughing at William’s joke.
That laugh was so beautiful that William couldn’t hold back any longer and lifted Didi’s chin.
He intended to kiss him without hesitation, but Didi frantically covered his lips with his hand and pushed William away.
“Master, we’re outside…”
“Didn’t you say you wanted a dating scandal with me?”
Didi flinched.
Not missing the opportunity, William whispered softly in Didi’s ear in a low voice.
“You don’t want to?”
Didi’s eyes trembled rapidly.
He had already secretly regretted constantly refusing his master’s proposals.
He thought it was a chance that wouldn’t come again…
He didn’t want to regret anymore, nor did he want to miss another opportunity.
Gulp.
Didi swallowed, looking utterly tense.
Even that sight was adorable, and William’s lips slowly curled upwards.
Didi stood on his tiptoes and gently leaned in.
Soon, a soft touch was felt on his lips.
The kiss that followed was very brief and cautious.
Didi simply pressed his lips together quietly, pushed lightly, rubbed slightly, and then pulled away.
Even that short kiss made Didi tremble and feel overwhelmingly happy.
“You’re still clumsy at kissing.”
William smiled quietly.
Then, he firmly embraced Didi’s waist and murmured low and soft into his ear.
“Didi, watch and learn.”
With those words, William lowered his head again.
Their lips met once more, but this time it was by no means light.
It was a deep, soft kiss filled with intense emotion.
Even the robots holding balloons remained still, holding their breath, not disturbing them in that moment.
Amidst the sounds of shutters clicking from all directions, in the bustling street with even robots around.
The colorful balloons slipped from Didi’s hands and soared into the sky.
Under the sparkling streetlights in the dark night sky, it was a moment when an unforgettable memory was etched into the circuits of his heart.
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