#I am just desperate to know what circumstances (Ai bullying him) led to this interaction

[shitpostingkats]

Literally in what situation did this come up. Ai. Speak to me. Ai what do you mean by this.

[tinamaetales]

Anti-human?!

Thirteenth K Drama: I am not a robot

They said that no man is an island but what if a person chooses to live in seclusion because of his allergy to his fellow human? Is that really possible for someone to survive just by himself? Is it possible for a human to have an allergy by having even the slightest human contact?  And what triggers such allergy? I am not a Robot is a romantic comedy drama that tells us the story of Kim Min Kyu, the Director of KM Financial Corporation, who lived 15 years of his life in seclusion – avoiding human contact at all cost.  Until, he met a robot that looks exactly like a human, AJI 3. With AJI 3, he was able to interact with her as if she’s a human and his allergy is not being triggered because he knows that it is just a robot and not a human. But what if the AJI 3 that he knows is actually not a robot?

Synopsis

For a successful man like Kim Min Kyu, Director of KM Financial Corporation, you would think that he has it all in life. Sure, he’s rich, good looking and intelligent but if there’s one thing weird about him is that he’s not fond of being near with people. And by that I mean, you’re not literally allowed to have even a slightest contact with him for there would be an extreme allergic reaction on his body. Despite being the chairman of a large corporation, Min Kyu is seldom seen in their office and when he shows up, everyone’s instructed to hide and is not allowed to go near him. Although he never told anyone about it, it has become the norm in their office. He’s always fully clothed and even wears gloves no matter the weather and he also carries a “baton” which gained him the title “three part baton”. What people around him don’t know is that the reason why he behaves that way is because he has an extreme allergy with human contact. Ever since his parents died, he lives alone in their mansion (although he has a butler but he lives in a different house). He doesn’t trust anyone for at such a young age he already experiences betrayal and that traumatized him so bad that even a slight touch would cause for an extreme allergic reaction. And then, he met the Santa Maria Team. They are a group of scientists who specializes in creating the most advanced robot. They introduced Min Kyu to AJI 3; AJI 3 is a super advanced AI robot that functions and look exactly like a human but is more intelligent than an average human. Seems like an answered prayer for Min Kyu who’s been living his life in seclusion however, before they can even get the chance to send AJI 3 to Min Kyu it encounters a problem. Out of desperation, they seek the help of Jo Ji A, the human that AJI 3 was modeled after. They made Ji A pretend as AJI 3 until they fix the real robot. What will happen now that the AJI 3 that Min Kyu knows is actually NOT a robot?

Okay, I know this is another drama that would make me say “I can relate so much to the main character” but I swear this time it is on a whole different level of connection. Early this year, I was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder and the name itself is already the clue that it has something to do with being around people. Actually, I can tolerate people when they’re about a kilometer (I’m bad at this measurement thing, sorry) away from me and they’re minding their own businesses. But once I get myself in a crowd and people starts being noisy and if bad luck would have it, they will strike a conversation with me, I will start having panic attacks. It will start with having difficulty in breathing, then my heart would feel like it beats faster than normal which will then led to the feeling of my chest tightening and then the rest of my body would be numb. I would have this paranoia that those people would hurt me. Most of the time I will run to the nearest bathroom but sometimes if I’m lucky enough to have a brown bag, I would inhale through it. When I started taking my meds for my anxiety disorder, the attacks lessened and somewhat become milder. So there are days wherein I would be confident enough to not take the meds at all – some days are good because I get to have zero attacks but there are days wherein I would have at least 2-3 attacks. The worst part is that, I work outside Cavite and has to take public transportation. The work that I have is related to frontline services so imagine the kind of suffering I have to endure for months before my former boss decided to transfer me to the back-end operations office (God Bless her, she’s the best!) Now that I’m not in the frontline, I can say that I’ve calmed down already. However, there are still series of attacks. I guess it will really take time – maybe years, before I can recover. I’m not rushing into things but sometimes I feel so bad about it – it makes me feel like I’m not normal and will never be. In Min Kyu’s case, it was more visible physically. A slight contact with another human would result to him having severe allergic reaction in which his body will be covered with rashes and he will also have difficulty in breathing. It was somehow deadly. His doctor pointed out that it was being triggered psychologically since Min Kyu doesn’t trust anyone. So, his body would definitely react when another human, whom he doesn’t trust, would make a contact with him. The root cause was the betrayal he experienced when he was still younger. After that, he doesn’t have the ability to trust anyone anymore. Who could blame him, though? Humans tend to do that all the time – betrayal, even though you’ve shown them nothing but kindness. I truly understand why Min Kyu chooses to live in seclusion. Most of the time, it is better to just be alone than be with people who will turn their backs on you once they’ve realized that the benefits they’re gaining from associating their selves with you ran out. What makes this story unique is that it shows the journey of Min Kyu’s healing and the romance aspect is a beautiful addition to that. Its theme might be rom-com but there really is more to it.

Picking up the broken pieces

As they say, pain changes people and I truly believe that. Min Kyu’s life changed drastically after his parents died and at such a young age he was forced to face the world by himself. He chose to live in seclusion as to not get hurt anymore. He ended up being a bit arrogant because of that. As I’ve said earlier, I can truly understand where he is coming from. Most of the time, dealing with people is stressful. I’ve experienced a lot of horrible things with people too, especially at school wherein bullying is common and sometimes can’t be helped. Once you’ve experienced betrayal, trusting people again would be a challenge. Min Kyu kept his guard up as to not experience the same kind of pain he’d been through when he was young. However, even though he won’t admit it, he’s lonely. Having that kind of medical condition didn’t only affect him physically but also morally and psychologically. He can’t even enlist himself in the military and fulfill his obligation as a citizen of his country because of it. But I guess fate is on his side because he gets to meet the Sta. Maria Team who are developing the most advanced AI robot. With AJI3 by his side, he slowly learns how to face the world again. It was as if AJI3 gives him the confidence and assurance that despite the craziness of the world, if you have at least one person by your side that you can trust, then life is bearable.

Nobody’s perfect

I’ve read this phrase somewhere online before and I couldn’t agree more to it: We are very good judges with the mistakes or others but are also very good lawyers with our own. And, I can pretty much relate it to Min Kyu’s situation, somehow.

It is already a given fact that in this world, people has the ability to hurt and disappoint us whether it be intentional or not and that’s okay because it is part of our journey and character development. What we often forget is that everyone makes mistakes for nobody’s perfect – something that Min Kyu seems to be struggling with. He tend to get mad at the slightest mistake of his employees without thinking that most of the time he is being too much; he is already hurting people. Sending AJI 3 to him is actually a good step towards “transforming” him to become and live like a normal human being should be however due to the circumstances, the Santa Maria Team has to do something out of desperation, a “detour”

 Letting go

Someone once told me that in order for me to live better, I must let go of all the negative emotions that I am carrying – anger, pain, resentment. It is not easy but once you’ve done it, you will feel better – as if something heavy has been lifted off your chest. It is when you learn that the world is cruel yet you can make it become less of it that can make you feel more at ease – acceptance is the key.

Min Kyu is not anti-human, he’s just protecting himself from the pain he once experienced that’s why he ended up that way and I totally get where he is coming from when he gets mad at the Santa Maria Team and Ji A for manipulating him. Although their intention’s a bit good, what they’ve done is dangerous and lies, no matter how big or small, are still lies and they are not good. What Min Kyu has to learn, the hard way though, is that there will always be people who would hurt you and betray you but that’s okay because what they do and/or say actually says more about them than you. And even him, he can also hurt people, may it be unintentional or not but what’s important is you know how to accept mistakes and learn from it. After all, a single mistake should not define who a person is. People change, they do it all the time so we should be ready to forgive because despite the cruelties in this world, there are still a lot of people who are willing to learn from their mistakes and make up for it. Sometimes we do things that can hurt people that we never intended to and it sucks that we can’t just go back in time to change it, we only have the present to make up for the mistakes of the past and I strongly believe that we all deserve a second chance. At the end of the day, the good will always outweigh the bad.

It is when he decided to let go of all the anger, resentment and grief that he’s been carrying on his shoulders ever since he was young that he finally opened himself to love – self love. It is when he realized that people make mistakes but that doesn’t mean that they won’t learn from them and change for the better that he was able to open his heart to accept people in his life again. Of course there would still be people who will try to take advantage of him but upon realizing that those people can be outnumbered and overpowered by those who truly care for him, then life is still worth fighting for. Min Kyu’s journey towards healing is a great inspiration. This drama is really something else. There are a lot of life lessons that we can get from it. Give it a chance, go watch it I promise you won’t regret it.

x,

TinaMae

for more of my kdrama review, click here: https://tinamaetales.tumblr.com/tagged/k-drama

PS, I have so much backlog with my kdrama review/reflection posts (the ones I am posting so far are the kdramas I’ve watched in 2018! ) because I just recently recovered my tumblr account wew