Preorder Love ⌬ Park Jongseong

Three

"Right. That's all for now. Meeting dismissed." THE HEAD of the team announced as everyone collected their belongings, exiting the room with a new project assigned for them. "Munhye, you're in charge of cleaning the room today."

The girl curtly nodded and examined the messy state of the meeting room. Thankfully, it wasn't too severe. A few minutes of tidying up will do the work. Standing up on her feet, she began organizing everything back to its place.

As she grabbed the last piece of trash, her phone vibrated in her coat, and she quickly answered the incoming call. "Hello?"
"Good evening, is this Min Munhye?"
"Good evening. May I know who you are?"
"We are an organization called the human AI developer. You recently placed an order two days ago, is that correct?"

Munhye eyes brightened in recognition, "Yes, I did. Has it arrived?"
"Yes, we are glad to inform you that you're custom AI has arrived at your doorstep waiting for you to open it."
"Alright. Thank you."
"Thank you for using the human AI developer, we hope you'll enjoy the experience. If any mishaps happen, do contact us for help." After their outro, the call ended and Munhye slipped it back inside her coat.

She didn't know whether she had made the right decision since she knew she will be in the office for most of her time, leaving the poor AI alone in her house. She won't have the luxury of time to pamper it with care.

A sigh left her lips as she began lamenting over her previous actions. Why did she follow her heart by impulse? She should have thought it through first.

Dragging her feet, she trudged out of the meeting room and head over to her team's office. She greeted short hellos to the colleagues passing by her before sitting down on her chair with a squeak.

"Munhye, here's your portion. We need it to be done by the end of this week."
"Okay." She took the file in her hands, flipping through the files as she skimmed through the materials. It was nothing too difficult. Her lips pulled into a small smile, happily wearing her earbuds as she started her work.

Munhye typed endlessly on her keyboard, only taking breaks every two hours as her fingers began to ache after moving without any rest. As she stretched her joints, a cup of coffee was placed on her table.

She followed the arm that had placed it there and met the face of her team leader, Jake Sim. He flaunted his famous heart throbbing smile as his chestnut hair framed his face perfectly.

Munhye's face contorted into a question as she glanced back and forth between the cup of coffee and the man. "What is this..?" She asked warily.
"It's iced coffee." Jake answered, "You have been working enthusiastically, I thought a little reward will be nice,"

"Oh," Munhye muttered as she accepted the little reward, thanking him afterwards. "Thank you.."
The latter was extremely confused. She doesn't have a close relationship with the team leader. They barely interact with each other, unless for work purposes. However, she has heard rumors of him being nice and charming before.

She shrugged it off. He was most likely spreading kindness. Nevertheless, she was grateful for the reward. She was planning on ordering a cup of coffee on her way home but now, there's no need for that.

Once the digital clock hit 8 o'clock, Munhye hastily stood up and stashed her laptop inside her bag. She bid her goodbyes to her coworkers before leaving the company, heading home.

On the train, her stomach gurgled in hunger since she hadn't eaten her dinner yet. "Only ten more minutes and I'll be able to eat." She said with the utmost look of determination on her face.

⌬

When the purple-haired arrived at her doorstep. She froze in bewilderment as she saw a tall box standing in front of her. She read the note sticking on to it: Fragile! Do not throw it!

The AI.
She had long forgotten it after her busy day at work. Munhye gulped, unlocking her door as she struggled to push the box inside her house. Needless to say, it was heavy. Wiping away the sweat glazing her face, she took a deep breath and pulled on the string attached to the box.

According to the instructions she read, the box should automatically open on its own. To her delight, it did just that. Its sides fell on the flower, portraying a wither flower as it revealed the AI inside.

Reading the steps instructed on the paper, her brows drew together into a line. There was only one step? "Tap or touch the robot to activate and done." She read.

Just tap it? That's it?
Munhye stood still as she stared at the AI, analyzing its features. She won't lie, the AI is extremely handsome. His jaw was chiseled, his nose was tall, his lashes were long and thick, and his lips tugged upwards even though he wasn't smiling. He looked expensive.

Well, technically he is. Shaking her head, Munhye extended her hand with caution as her finger hovered above the shoulder of the AI. "Just do it, Hye. Do it and you'll be able to eat."

With the thought of food in her mind, she fearlessly tapped its shoulder.

The man opened his eyes, revealing his enticing dark orbs which erupted sparks to whirl in the girl's stomach. Was it out of hunger? Or was she feeling butterflies?

"Hello, I'm Jay Park, your new friend who will assist you in both your thick and thins." His hypnotic voice snapped her out of her trance as she stiffly bowed down, raising her hand to wave a hello.

"Hi, I'm Min Munhye." She chirped.

"What a beautiful name, do you perhaps like the moon?"
His question took her by surprise as she made a sound of perplexity. "Ah, sorry." Jay quickly apologized as he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "That was not a good joke." He im led to himself.

Munhye tittered, finding the man adorable. "Actually, I do like the moon." She admitted.

Jay's expression lightened, relief washing over him as he managed to escape the awkward moment. "You do?" He asked, voice laced with excitement.
"Yeah! It's pretty and keeps you company at night."
"Exactly."
"Don't get me wrong though, the sun is nice too but sometimes it gets too bright."
Jay smiled in approval. "Yes, I think so too!"

"I-" Munhye paused, realizing she had been talking too much. Jay arched his brow, waiting for her to continue but to his dismay, she didn't.
"You, what?"
"I...need to go wash up." Munhye told.

Jay's face fell, weren't they having a good conversation? Did he scare her away? He puffed his cheeks up as he stared the place where he last saw the girl.

He'll do better next time.

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