CHAPTER 135: THEIR ENDING (PAST) – THE MORNING PHONE CALL

In the end, Joshua and 001 still became "best friends."

Mostly because 001 talked far too much, while Joshua simply listened in silence—or sometimes didn’t listen at all. His mind would drift somewhere far away, or he would just be crying, just hurting.

001 couldn’t see Joshua cry, but every time it sensed it, it would always try to pull some sort of trick to make Joshua laugh. Though its "tricks" were really just changing the expression formed by the three little lines on its "face," or rolling around Joshua in circles, trying to get his attention.

"Joshua, look, look, this expression on my face—you definitely haven’t seen it before."

One day, Joshua was thrown back from the laboratory again. Today, he didn’t have many injuries on his body, but he simply curled up on the floor, refusing to get up. His whole body wouldn’t stop trembling.

It wasn’t until 001 approached that it realized Joshua was still vomiting fresh blood over and over. His entire face was soaked in blood, a large pool spreading beneath him.

001 couldn’t help pausing for a moment, almost dazed. Then it suddenly plopped down right in front of Joshua. It gently held him, even though its body had no warmth—rigid and cold.

At that moment, Joshua couldn’t feel anything except pain. It was as if all his internal organs were twisting, tearing apart. Blood surged up, and all he could do was vomit—nothing came out except bright red blood.

"Joshua... how about we leave this place?" Suddenly, 001’s voice rang out.

Joshua froze for a moment.

He wanted to say something, but the blood endlessly rising in his throat only made him choke. He shook his head, thinking to himself that this robot truly was stupid—so stupid it was unbearable.

That night was colder than usual. Joshua didn’t know when he lost consciousness, and when he finally woke up, 001 was no longer beside him.

Joshua sat dazed on the ground, eyes staring blankly into the distance.

Until the door suddenly opened again...

"Bang!"

The deafening sound of metal crashing against the ground rang out, making Joshua flinch.

He lowered his eyes and saw a mechanical body lying on the floor—its entire frame charred black, ashes falling off in scattered flakes the moment it hit the ground. Its limbs were all gone, its synthetic wig had fallen off somewhere, and its electronic screen flickered weakly, dim and gray.

Joshua slowly looked up, only to see the towering door before him—the prison he would never escape.

They wanted 001 to be his companion, but they would never allow it to develop thoughts of betrayal.

They told him he would have a new friend now, that he should forget 001.

Joshua only felt his face grow wet, even though it clearly wasn’t raining.

His lungs swelled with pain. He opened his mouth, gasping for air, only to realize he couldn’t breathe.

Instinctively, Joshua clawed at his own neck. At the same time, the blaring of an alarm erupted from outside.

Joshua clutched a remaining piece of 001’s body and fainted.

...

001 had truly wanted to take Joshua away from this place.

Its system had already infiltrated the laboratory’s data center. It only needed to keep hiding; the rest was up to Joshua—to use his own power. He already had a guide.

The day the entire laboratory exploded, Joshua merely closed his eyes and waited. In his arms, he still held the mangled remains of 001’s body. He gripped it so tightly that blood seeped from his hands, but now, skeletal and frail, he no longer cared about the pain.

001’s screen flickered on and off. In its final moments, it seemed to say something joyfully—but its best friend would never be able to hear it again.

Together, they were buried beneath the cage where their nightmare had begun.

In truth, 001 hadn’t lied. 001 had a story of its own, and 001 remembered Joshua clearly.

It remembered the early days when Joshua was first brought to that dark place—a beautiful boy who looked almost like a source of light. At that point, 001 had already reached the end of its life cycle, yet it still got to accompany Joshua. How fortunate.

001 had never lied. Joshua really was beautiful—no matter what he became. To 001, its best friend would always be the most beautiful, the most beautiful...

...

"Joshua..."

In the darkness, Luther jolted upright in bed, his breathing a little unsteady.

He felt something roll down his face, and when he reached up, he realized his cheeks were soaked with tears.

What the hell had he just dreamed? Luther couldn’t even clearly remember the scenes in the dream. He only knew that he and Joshua were together—and they were both suffering. Joshua, especially, was living in complete despair.

In the end, everything was buried, and in the very end, Joshua still couldn’t escape the nightmare.

Luther held his head in both hands, eyes shut tight, shaking his head as he instinctively reached for his phone beside him.

It was only a bit past three in the morning; he shouldn’t disturb Joshua’s sleep. But the restlessness was unbearable, leaving him unable to sit still. Luther was sure he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again.

Joshua, Joshua, are you still mad at me? I really did act rudely.

Luther despised Leonard, yet when it came down to it, he wasn’t any better than Leonard.

Lowering his gaze, Luther stared fixedly at his phone screen. In the photo, Joshua’s eyes were tightly shut, and Luther was biting Joshua’s cheek.

They had clearly been so close—truly very close.

It felt as though he had ruined everything.

"But if I hadn’t done that..." Luther couldn’t accept the idea of being lifelong best friends.

But right now, his heart was racing like a wild horse breaking free. God—after that awful dream... all he wanted was to see Joshua standing right in front of him.

Luther curled up in bed for a while, but in the end, he just couldn’t hold back anymore. He sat up abruptly, grabbed his coat from the rack, threw it on, and immediately headed out—his destination nowhere else but Joshua’s apartment.

The next morning, Joshua woke up a bit later than usual. His head throbbed as if he hadn’t slept at all. The nightmare made his memories feel painfully vivid.

Joshua sat dazed on his bed. A moment later, two sharp slap sounds rang out.

He slapped his own cheeks, then jumped out of bed.

At that moment, his phone suddenly chimed. Surprisingly, it was a message from Henry—just a sticker of a bunny patting someone’s head.

Joshua paused for a moment, then said softly, "I’m fine, Henry."

Right after that, he called Nine.

Nine hadn’t slept all night.

Of course, he didn’t need sleep, but a human body did—and that was annoying. Since he couldn’t sleep, his mood was even worse than usual today.

When the phone rang, Nine instinctively rubbed his eyes before answering: "So you do remember how to call me, you terrible brat?! Go talk to your precious Luther!"

Joshua: "...what’s wrong with you? It’s barely morning."

Nine huffed coldly, but he didn’t hang up. His voice stayed icy: "If you’ve got something to say, say it quickly!"

Joshua paused. "Never mind."

Nine: "...Can’t you act cute or speak gently to me even a little? You clearly know what I’m like."

Hearing that, Joshua couldn’t help but laugh softly, though he didn’t say anything.

Nine secretly blushed, feeling utterly pathetic—he lost all sense whenever he faced Joshua.

He snorted and lifted his chin. "Speak."

Joshua didn’t speak immediately—only the sound of running water came through, as if he were in the bathroom.

Nine fell silent instinctively, lips pressed into a thin line, and finally couldn’t hold back: "Joshua, you shouldn’t talk to someone else while you’re showering!"

Joshua’s face suddenly appeared on the screen. He was wearing a small bunny-ear hair clip—a fan gift—his hair pinned back, foam still clinging to his face.

He smiled mischievously and said in a teasing tone, "I’m only talking to you."

The other end went quiet. Finally, a heavy snort came through, as if the person on the line was deliberately making it loud enough for Joshua to hear.

Joshua couldn’t help finding it a little funny.

Then he suddenly said, "Nine, you’re not hiding anything from me, are you?"

Everything shifted too abruptly—so much so that Nine almost couldn’t react.

His mind spun wildly.

Why was Joshua suddenly asking this?

What did Joshua know?

Did he know about the axe incident with Henry?

Did he sense something off about Henry?

Or... did Joshua know something even worse?

Nine’s brain felt like it was going to explode. He stammered, "Hide... hide what? Why would I hide anything from you!" His voice grew louder as he spoke, as if raising the volume could give him more courage.

Joshua was speechless for a moment—he had only been testing him. Since he’d started, he might as well go all the way. Joshua dropped a bomb: "It’s about Henry."

Nine: "..."

Impossible—could Joshua really know? Maybe Henry had hinted at something to Joshua! That two-faced bastard!

Nine was so angry he bit the corner of his shirt, though he still wasn’t ready to expose himself.

Just then, Joshua added, "Don’t you think Henry seemed strange? At the fansign."

That day, he had noticed Henry and Nine staring at each other like they were about to kill each other with their eyes.

But then both had suddenly pulled back at the same time—Henry looked like he was in pain, and Nine had seemed startled. Something had to have happened.

Nine never expected Joshua to have noticed that moment.

Out of Joshua’s sight, Nine secretly let out a breath of relief.

As long as Joshua didn’t know about the axe swing, everything was fine. Nine thought for a moment, then said, "That? I just tried to scare him a little. But I realized I couldn’t attack his mental sea. That is impossible—no one in this world can escape my mental attack! Henry is not simple, Joshua!"

Nine decided to seize the chance to plant as many warnings about Henry as possible into Joshua’s head. The farther Joshua stayed from Henry, the better!