Robot Protection Zone Chapter 62

Just as my master had said he would be busy from now on, the following week passed in a true whirlwind.

After visiting the factory, we went around meeting investors. My master always took me with him to those meetings, so I had to visit every corner of the country with him every day.

When we returned home, I would usually fall asleep exhausted, even though I hadn’t done anything. It was because my battery drained quickly as I was busy storing memories of meeting new people in ever-changing environments.

Still, starting tomorrow was the weekend.

I’ll be able to rest during the weekend. The thought of lazing around all day in my master’s bed, basking in the warm sunlight, seemed to give me a little strength. Full of anticipation, I settled my tired body into the car heading home.

“Didi, you’ve worked hard all week.”

My master saw me and stroked my head. With just one gentle touch from my master, it felt as if all the difficult days had been completely washed away.

I closed my eyes contentedly as my master petted me, but I also felt a little sorry. I only followed him around quietly, yet I felt as if I were more tired than he was.

“Didi, is there anything you want?”

When we were getting closer to home, my master asked me.

“Something I want?”

“Yes. You followed me around so obediently, so I should give you a reward.”

I unconsciously fiddled with my empty neck. It was because I thought of the red leather collar I had put away in a drawer. I considered asking my master to buy me something to replace the broken collar, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak up, 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 macarons his father had brought home when he first met me had that symbol on them.

Seeing the long line of people, it seemed to be a rather famous shop. No wonder they were so delicious. Come to think of it, I realized that because I’d been so busy lately, I hadn’t been able to eat my favorite desserts for quite a long time.

After a moment’s hesitation, I opened my mouth.

“Master, are desserts okay?”

“Desserts?”

“I want to eat the macarons your father brought last time… They had the same gold logo as that one.”

As I said that and pointed to the shop visible outside the window, my master’s eyebrows twitched slightly. It was a displeased expression. Thinking he would say no, I quickly tried to think of a different answer, but my master turned the steering wheel and parked the car nearby.

A bustling street lined with department stores. William and Didi entered the dessert shop with the flashy gold logo.

On a Friday evening, the sight of two men entering a dessert shop mostly filled with female customers was somewhat conspicuous. Moreover, if one of them was the chairman of the Spenic Group, it went without saying.

People who recognized William began to murmur. He was a business figure who rarely appeared before the general public, but because of his glamorous appearance and frequent scandals, William’s name was especially well-known among young women.

Before they could even enter the shop and look around inside, the branch manager approached and greeted them.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Spencer. Are you here to purchase something?”

William clicked his tongue softly.

This is why looking like my father is a pain. This was a dessert brand his father had created. Just as he expected, the branch manager, recognizing him as the father’s son at a glance, approached him. In this city, there was nowhere his father’s hand hadn’t reached, so things like this were now a daily occurrence.

The fact that he visited the shop with Didi today would probably be reported to his father as well. But it didn’t matter. It was enough that his father wasn’t in the shop today. If his father had been here, Didi’s entire attention would have surely been focused on him, and he didn’t want to see that.

William gave Didi a gentle push on the back and said to the branch manager.

“Wrap up everything he chooses.”

Then, he nonchalantly sat down in a nearby chair. Didi hesitated and looked back.

“Didi, go and choose what you want to eat.”

“Can I really choose everything?”

“Yes. Or should I buy everything in the store?”

“O-Oh, no…! I’ll just hurry and pick the desserts and come back!”

Watching Didi head toward the display case excitedly, the corners of his mouth turned up on their own. The curious gazes stabbing at him from all directions were a bit irritating, but watching Didi pick out desserts with a thrilled expression made it all seem irrelevant.

Didi excitedly wandered around the store. Every time he found a dessert he liked, he would point his finger through the glass display case and look back at the branch manager with a bright expression.

William watched him fondly from a distance.

“Master! I’ve picked everything!”

A while later, Didi returned to William, his face full of happiness.

Let’s see just how much you picked. As William got up from his seat and approached the counter, he could see large, neatly arranged packaged boxes. Seeing that there were quite a few of them, it seemed Didi had chosen them with great enthusiasm.

I guess he won’t be eating dinner tonight.

A clear image of Didi, stuffed full of only desserts and claiming he was too full to eat a meal, was already forming in his mind. Whether Didi knew this or not, he was smiling joyfully, hugging the box of packaged macarons tightly in his arms.

“Umm…”

But when it was time to carry the desserts, Didi finally seemed to be in a difficult situation. The macarons he held in his arms already looked like a handful, yet there were still items on the counter that hadn’t finished being packaged.

William let out a soft laugh and stepped forward. He took even the things Didi was holding and carried them instead, and Didi let out an awkward laugh.

He was walking back to the car, with a handful of desserts.

In the middle of the street, robots holding colorful balloons, wandering around and handing them out to passersby, caught his eye.

I’ve seen them somewhere, what is it. Ah.

The reason belatedly crossed his mind. Those were a kind of event robot his father had made by collecting discarded robots.

Because they were made from salvaged discarded robots, their appearances were all different. There were some relatively new models, and older models produced long ago were mixed in as well.

The round-looking robots walked around holding balloons as if handing out flyers. Most passersby ignored the robots and just walked past, but families with children couldn’t win against their kids’ whining and accepted a balloon each.

From William’s perspective, it was incomprehensible. His father wasting time on something that didn’t make any money. Thinking it was silly, he was about to start walking when William noticed that the footsteps following him had disappeared.

When he turned around, Didi had stopped in his tracks, showing interest in the robots.

“Do you want one too?”

Thinking he wanted a balloon like a child, William asked with a hollow laugh, but Didi shook his head.

“No… It’s because there are a lot of robots.”

Only then did he notice that Didi’s gaze was fixed not on the balloons, but on the robots. Come to think of it, Didi had always wanted to go somewhere with a lot of robots. That was why he had even taken him to the robot museum, a place he hadn’t set foot in since he was a child, but Didi had disappeared without even getting a proper look around.

“Go say hi.”

“What? Is that okay?”

When he brought it up first, Didi was even more surprised, his eyes widening as he looked at William.

What does he think his master is… Anyone would think I scold him all the time. William let out a small sigh and nodded.

“I’ll be waiting on that bench, so go say hi and come back.”

“Okay!”

Once permission was granted, Didi ran toward the nearest robot with a happy face. William sat on a nearby bench and watched him.

Didi approached one of the robots walking around with balloons and carefully greeted it. The robot heard the greeting and stopped, then offered a balloon to Didi. Didi smiled brightly and accepted the pure white balloon.

Seeing this, other robots also began to gather around Didi one by one. As each of them held out the balloons they were carrying, Didi looked extremely flustered, which made a soft laugh escape William’s lips.

Didi was flustered, but he soon began to accept the balloons one by one. By the time both his hands were full, a smile so radiant it couldn’t be fully expressed in words had blossomed on Didi’s face.

Passersby also began to stop one by one to watch the scene.

The sight of a crowd of robots gathering to give balloons to one person was not a common one. People, intrigued, took out their cameras, and the sound of shutters began to be heard from here and there.

But William’s gaze was fixed on only one person.

“Ah.”

He was lovely.

Didi, who was so purely happy just from being surrounded by robots and receiving balloons, as if he had the whole world. He couldn’t take his eyes off that innocent, bright smile. He wanted to hold him in his arms and shower him with kisses right this instant.

And there was no reason whatsoever that he couldn’t put that into action. William got up from his seat and approached Didi.

“Master!”

Didi smiled brightly upon seeing William approaching him. That single phrase, calling to him with a flushed face and voice, tickled William’s heart.

“Didi. Stop accepting balloons now. What will you do if you fly away?”

“Me? I’m not that light…”

“Yes, you are.”

He said it playfully, but he was serious. It felt as if Didi might just float away and disappear forever somewhere he couldn’t reach. Like a handful of sand clutched in his palm. That if he let go once, he would never be able to get him back again.

Didi burst out laughing at William’s joke. His laugh was so beautiful that William couldn’t hold back any longer and lifted Didi’s chin.

He intended to kiss him right then without hesitation, but Didi hurriedly covered his lips with his hand and pushed William away.

“Master, we’re outside…”

“You said you wanted to create a dating scandal with me.”

Didi flinched. Not missing the opening, William whispered softly in a low voice into Didi’s ear.

“You don’t want to?”

Didi’s pupils trembled rapidly. He had already been secretly regretting turning down his master’s proposal. He thought it was a chance that would never come again…

He didn’t want to have any more regrets, nor did he want to miss another opportunity.

Gulp. Didi swallowed with a very tense look. Even that was so lovely that the corners of William’s mouth slowly rose. Didi stood on his tiptoes and gently leaned his head forward.

Soon, a soft sensation was felt on his lips.

The kiss that started that way was very short and careful. Didi simply pressed his lips quietly, pushed firmly, then rubbed them lightly before pulling away. Just that short kiss alone made Didi tremble and feel happy enough to be overwhelmed.

“You’re still clumsy at kissing.”

William laughed quietly. Then, he wrapped his arm firmly around Didi’s waist and murmured low and softly in 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 and gentle kiss filled with profound emotion. For this moment, even the balloon-holding robots held their breath and did not disturb the two.

Amid the sound of shutters coming from all directions, in the middle of a street bustling even with robots.

The colorful balloons that slipped from Didi’s hand soared into the sky. It was a moment when an unforgettable memory was engraved onto the circuits of his heart, under the dark night sky and the sparkling lights of the street.