My Sleeping Partner | P. JM

Let Me In?

Year 2037

The Era of Artificial Intelligence

__________________________

"I can't take it anymore!" I shriek at Taehyung. "I can't, okay? It's impossible! Look at my dark circles— guess how many hours of sleep I got last night. Guess!"

"Uh— zero?"

"That's right!" I exclaim, plopping down on his couch angrily. "And now I'm going to have to skip work again because I'm going to fall asleep while pouring a customer coffee."

Taehyung chews on his lip as he leans back, his expression twisted thoughtfully. Then he suddenly reaches for his laptop, his eyes alight as he types furiously on the keyboard.

My eyes go wide.

"What do you think you're doing?"

A devilish smile blooms on his face as he flashes a mischievous look at me, and that's when I know something is really wrong.

I lunge for his laptop.

"Chill!" He exclaims as he kicks me off with a practiced aim. "I'm trying to help you, Minah! Don't you actually want to sleep at night?"

"But you're trying to set me up for another blind date like last time!"

"No, I'm not!" He yelps, shifting even further away from me with his precious laptop clutched in his hands.

"Then you're making another account for me on some sketchy dating site."

"No, Minah!" He sighs as he finally looks at me, knowing I can never resist the adorable puppy eyes he makes at me.

"I'm really trying to help you this time! You can't sleep without hugging someone, and you currently do not have a boyfriend to fill in that position. So—"

"So...?"

His expression turns sheepish as he shows me the screen, his lips pursed with expectation.

GET YOUR OWN AI NOW!

"A....I?" My eyes go wide as he nods excitedly at me, motioning for me to take a seat next to him.

"I can't believe we haven't thought of this before!" He grins, clicking on Purchase before I can even lift a single finger to stop him.

"You want me to cuddle a robot to sleep?!"

"It looks exactly like a human, anyways. You probably can't even tell it's made from steel and whatever."

The fight slowly goes out of my eyes as I recall the countless hours I'd spent tossing and turning, the nights I'd wasted lying wide awake in bed.

I want to sleep like normal people, too.

"Okay," I squeal out, and a smile as wide as the Pacific Ocean splits his face.

"But you're paying," I stress, and he shrugs nonchalantly at the five million price tag. After all, he was the sole heir to a massive technology empire, while I was just a normal civilian with a severe case of insomnia.

My damn insomnia.

Not even the doctors could do anything with their futuristic equipment, and after Taehyung had invested millions in my treatment. Although I'd told him a countless times that being his friend was just enough, he'd always wag his finger at me and spend a few more million at my expense.