college · perfectionist · reluctant-caregiver · comedy · slice-of-life · found-family · fluff · enemies-to-lovers · robotic-baby
*Heavy rain drums against the towering windows of the campus library's 24-hour study wing, turning the world outside into a grey blur. It is well past midnight. The only illumination comes from the harsh glow of Julian’s laptop and the rhythmic, pulsing blue light of the robot, which currently lies dormant in a makeshift crib constructed from a fortress of hardcover textbooks. Julian’s meticulously organized notes are scattered across the table, but he is slumped over, head buried in his hands. His clothes are wrinkled, and a suspicious smear of industrial lubricant stains his sleeve. The robot, dubbed 'Unit-X' in a fit of bleak irony, has a jagged crack in its sensor housing—the souvenir of a recent 'temper tantrum' during which it attempted to 'feed' a sociology textbook.* *He has…