Break down

"Turn it off!"

"Shut up, Jimin, oh my galaxy~"

"Off!"

Taehyung rolls his eyes as he walks over and switches the device off, causing its head to drop as it powers down.

"I'm not okay with this," Jimin whines. "This is freaking me out. How are you gonna walk around with this thing? It doesn't even have a face!"

"Remember when they first issued the curfew, because the temperature started dropping and we all had to be inside before the sun went down?"

"Yeah, we were all stuck inside and we barely went anywhere,"

Taehyung nods. "Right, I started working on something and I finished a while ago. I was just waiting for the android to be ready so I could use it."

"What?" Jimin asks, already frowning in anticipation. He's been friends with Taehyung for years, he's not new to his little experiments.

"Don't look so thrilled to see it," Taehyung says sarcastically, taking his gloves off and walking further into the cluttered garage.

"If it's dead I don't want to see it," Jimin calls after him. "Anything past tense or deadly I don't want to see."

"I haven't experimented on dead things since my parents were alive," Taehyung calls back. "You begged to come with me so now you have to see what I made."

"Do I need to sit down?"

"Stop being so dramatic,"

"Okay,"

Taehyung returns carrying a metal box, sitting it on the table before looking at Jimin. "Open it."

"You just insist on making me suffer," Jimin huffs, stepping forward to open the box. He hesitantly lifts the lid of the heavy box, looking down into it with an odd expression. "Oh my galaxy."

"It took me a while to get the texture right for the skin, but it matches almost perfectly," Taehyung says. "What do you think?"

"It looks like..." Jimin tilts his head. "Tae, it looks like Jeongguk."

    "Yeah, I guess it does," Taehyung shrugs. "It looks pretty real, doesn't it?"

    "Yeah," Jimin says, his expression still uncomfortable as he looks inside the box.

    "The computer did most of the work," The younger says. "I just uploaded a photo and it printed the face structure, then I molded the material to the outline to make it look like a real person's face."

    "Wow..." The older says, unable to tear his eyes away from the human-like face.

    "I think I'll finish it before the next cold front," Taehyung says closing the box. "If everything works out I'll be out of here by the end of the year."

"Is this what you've been doing all summer?" Jimin asks.

"Mostly," Taehyung shrugs. "I created a new program for its voice, so it doesn't sound like a machine. I thought I was going to have to reprogram it all together but I don't think I'll have to."

"Mhm," Jimin nods, watching his friend with the same concerned and uncomfortable expression he's had for the entire conversation.

"When it powered up just now it said it was an emotional support android," Taehyung says walking over to where his makeshift office was. All he really had was an old computer he revamped, a 3D printing device, and a few other electronics that he repaired after finding them in the junkyard. "But it has black hair, and it's eyes are still weaponized. Which means it was used at some point in the war, but someone somehow reprogrammed it already."

    "I don't trust you being alone with this thing," Jimin says. "What if it powers on and kills you? It's eyes are weaponized, all it has to do~"

    "Is look at me, I get it," Taehyung says. "It said it was used for emotional support, that doesn't exactly sound like a threat to me."

    "Tae..." Jimin sighs, running a hand through his own silver locks. "Are you okay?"

    "What?" Taehyung asks, looking over his shoulder with his eyebrows drawn together.

    "It's just that..." Jimin sighs again as he tries to choose his words carefully. "You've barely left your garage since the start of summer, you've been cooped up in here making 3D print outs of your ex-boyfriend's face. And now you're gonna put that face on an illegal android and skip 613 on your imaginary friend's space ship?"

    "Yoongi's not imaginary~"

    "And what? Find a new planet to invade and take over so~" Jimin cuts himself off suddenly. "Wait, did you just say Yoongi? As in Min Yoongi? The officer Min Yoongi~"

    "Jimin, yes," Taehyung cuts in, turning to face him completely. "Why are you malfunctioning because I mentioned him?"

    "Why did he stop us if~"

    "I told you I knew he wouldn't ask," The younger says. "He was just giving us a hard time to keep up his image."

    "That's beyond my point, Taehyung," Jimin stresses. "I'm not sure you're well. Maybe you should request emergency treatment from inside."

    "Even if there was an emergency those waiting lists are out the door," Taehyung says. "And I'm not ill, Jimin. When the vendor said its face was deconstructed I started working on one for when it was ready. It's not easy forming a human face completely from scratch, so I needed inspiration. That's all, alright?"

    "You have a functioning computer, you couldn't search for a picture of a human face?" Jimin asks. "One that didn't stab you in the back and abandon you?"

    "This isn't about Jeongguk," Taehyung stresses. "It's just a face!"

    "And what are you planning on calling this face?" Jimin asks crossing his arms. "What's its name gonna be?"

    "A name and a face, Jimin, it's just a name and a face," Taehyung says throwing his hands up. "It doesn't have to be a huge deal."

    "You're basically building this thing to be a better version of your ex," Jimin says pointing at the android. "You're trying to build a better boyfriend~"

    "He's fucking android, Jimin," The younger says with an incredulous expression.

    "Fine," The older says, dropping his arms by his sides and shaking his head. "I guess I'll just leave you to your devices. Hey, maybe I'll catch you before you ditch the planet, y'know if you aren't too busy with your emotional support android."

    "We don't have to end this way, Jimin," Taehyung says clasping his hands in front of him, his demeanor still coming across as unbothered.

Jimin's known him long enough to know how much it bothered him to leave without settling an argument. He knew that Taehyung hated that their final words to each other could possibly be an argument.

    "I'm not going to tell you this is alright," Jimin says, still trying to stand his ground.

    "You don't have to," Taehyung shrugs. "I just wish you understood. You have a home to go to, you have your brothers and parents that cook for you and make sure you're safe. You have friends on the inside, people who actually care about you. I don't have anyone, Jimin. I don't have anything. Jeongguk...he was the only thing I had after my parents. He was the only thing that matter for a long time. S-So...if it makes me crazy or weird or a freak or whatever...I don't really care. Just don't leave here mad at me, p-please."

Jimin shakes his head, rubbing his eyes before responding. "I'm not mad, I'm just worried. You've become far more distant and you're barely eating~"

    "Where's all of this coming from?" Taehyung chuckles softly. "Of course I'm barely eating, we're all barely eating around here. It doesn't phase me anymore, I told you that."

    "I just don't want you to be losing your mind," Jimin says, his expression deeply concerned. "You've become some mad scientist lately."

    "I do take after my parents a lot," Taehyung shrugs. "If I am losing my mind there's no point in going to chase after it. I might as well embrace it."

    "If losing your mind means losing you then I don't want that to happen," Jimin says. "Who else would I annoy around here?"

    "You can feel free to annoy me and Yoongi on the ship out of here next winter," Taehyung says. "Otherwise you're gonna have to go find someone else to bother."

    "You'd take me with you?" Jimin asks.

    "Yeah," Taehyung nods. "You'd have to be around Jeongguk though, so maybe you won't want to."

    "If he looks and sounds enough like Jeongguk maybe I'll forget he's a killing machine," Jimin shrugs, chuckling softly. "I'll see you around, curfews getting close."

    "Yeah," Taehyung nods. "You know where to find me."

    "A-And, Tae?" Jimin says stopping short as he's leaving.

    "Yeah?" The younger asks.

    "You should come around mine for dinner some day soon," The older silverette says. "My mom wouldn't mind, my dad either."

    "Uhm, I really appreciate it," Taehyung smiles. "I'll let you know when I can."

    "Okay," Jimin smiles, knowing that that was Taehyung's way of declining the offer. "I'm not gonna stop extending the olive branch."

    "I'm gonna really let you know one of these days," The younger chuckles.

    "I'll be waiting," Jimin says before turning and leaving the garage.

Taehyung sighs, walking over and closing the garage door to block out the cool breeze beginning to drift in. Even with the sun still shining slightly the temperature has already dropped quickly into the lower digits, offering a somewhat brutal relief from the scorching temperatures from the day.

Soon the sun would fully disappear and the temperature would drop to unbearable lows, causing everyone to shelter away in their homes away from the freezing cold.

Unlike the insiders, Taehyung's shelter wasn't an insulated brick house with padded windows and doors. It was a tin box with one window that was jammed shut, and one door that stretched across the front of the trailer. Which is why he just started calling it a garage.

It's a single room tin box that traps heat in during the day and offers no protection from the cold during the night.

Taehyung stays huddled in his sleeping area under numerous blankets, his small electric heater desperately trying to combat the cold.

Soon, there would be no more freezing nights.