Preorder Love ⌬ Park Jongseong

Two

ONCE MUNHYE REACHED her house, she settled down on the couch, her face buried into the pillows as she shuts her eyes closed. The pain travelled from her waist to her back as the many hours she spent in front of the computer finally reflected on her. She should search for a heating pad later. For now, all she yearned for was sleep.

Just as her eyelids relaxed, her stomach let out an alarmingly loud growl. It was as if she was being scolded for neglecting her food. With a sigh, she fluttered her eyes open and grabbed her phone. She began scrolling through her phone, half-heartedly searching for a menu to order. Why did her stomach had to disrupt her when she finally was able to sleep?

She tapped the order button and tossed her phone away as she immediately lied back down.

Not a minute later, her phone rang, irking the girl. She cursed loudly as she harshly gripped her phone. "Who is calling me?!"

Her hand faltered as she saw her mother's name on her screen. Oh no. What does she want now? The last time she called her, mother only pressured her to find a boyfriend even when Munhye had explained her already busy lifestyle.
Yet after all of her explaining, her mom cut the call short, telling her to find herself a boyfriend by the end of this year or else she would arrange a blind date for her.

Munhye groaned, answering the call as she put it on speaker. "Hello, mom?"

"Munhye! Finally, you answered my call!" Her mother exclaimed through the speaker. "Where have you been?"
"Just doing work. Why?"
"Hm, good. Has anyone been troubling you?"
"Nope."

"That's good..." Her mom trailed off, "Have you found yourself a partner?"
There it is. The golden question. Munhye rolled her eyes, "Mom! For the last time, I don't have time to find a boyfriend!" She told.

Her mother sighed. "At this point I won't get any grandchildren." She said dejectedly.

Munhye shook her head in dismay, "Whatever. I'm hanging up." Her finger hovered above the red button, ending the call without a goodbye.

As she waited for her food to arrive, her finger busily scrolled down her phone, posts of her friends getting engaged appeared and she paused. "Huh...I didn't know they were dating."

She checked the date of the post and frowned. It was a month ago since it was posted? She shrugged it off and opened her jar of biscuits while still scrolling on her phone.

Another post caught her eyes as she saw a video of her friend going on a date with her boyfriend. She ignored it and continued scrolling until her screen stopped on another post. This time it was different. It was her ex.

He was getting married to one of her friends. Munhye sighed, partially out of annoyance. "Love is seriously in the air." She sneered.

She munched on the chocolate biscuits as the silence in the house engulfed her. Her eyes roamed her living room. Everything was where she last left it. In that moment, she felt a familiar feeling swimming in her heart. Loneliness.

"Ouch!"
She hissed as she touched her cheek, having to accidentally bit the walls of her cheeks while eating.

"Munhye, are you seriously feeling lonely? You were the one who insisted on staying home to rest!" The girl scolded herself as she angrily threw the pillow on the other side of the couch. Yet, she still felt sad.

She didn't want to bother Mark since he was probably having fun right now. It would ruin his night. So, Munhye got on her phone and called her colleague.

"Ayeee, what made you call?" Kako immediately greeted after answering the call, her bright personality shining even over a phone call.
"No reason."
"..No reason?" Kako repeated slowly, "Yeah right. You're lonely, aren't you?"
Munhye gritted her teeth, hating the mischief that was held in her voice. "No, I'm not." She denied.

Kako chuckled, "You don't have to lie." She told.
"Whatever."

Munhye heard a distant soft music playing in the background as Kako softly hummed along. "You know, you can order an AI to accompany you. Some of my friends and family members purchased one and I heard all of them never looked back ever since." She suggested, sounding occupied as Munhye heard her tapped her keyboard. "Maybe you should try."

Upon hearing Kako's suggestion, the purple-haired girl quirked her brow in doubt. "You think a robot will be able to help me?" She shook her head. "I know I sound pitiful, but I didn't know it was to that extent."
Kako shrugged. "It's only a suggestion."
"Thanks, but I'll have to think about it first."
"Okay."

As silenced seeped into the call, Munhye couldn't help but take her friend's suggestion seriously. Many scenarios filled her head and it managed form a smile on her face. The thought of having someone waiting for her when she comes home after a long day of work warmed her. Caving in, she began searching for the popular website, she pressed on the links as she read the recent reviews. Most of it was good ones filled with nothing but compliments.

As she read the rules to order an AI, Kako had abruptly ended the call. "Write you order..." Munhye mumbled.

A few minutes later, Haeyul stared at the big words printed on her screen.

"YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY PREORDERED YOUR LOVE!"

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