The sight was too surreal to be perceived by one’s logical mind. Even when logic was stripped off, Maerin still could not comprehend the situation she had found herself in. Was she dreaming? Was she hallucinating? But when she pinched her own cheeks and felt the sting, she knew it was very, very real.   “This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. May I come in?” Tae Min questioned, and her heart just couldn't get accustomed to the sweetness of his voice. Even a single breath could make her heart explode.   Maerin felt a big lump in and couldn’t find a way to vocalize her response. So she clumsily motioned him to come in. Though many questioned roamed in her mind, she couldn’t possible leave the familiar stranger outside.   His tall and slender body towered over her, and even within his shadows, she found his presence to be so brilliantly stunning. He reached out a hand to her and smiled the way he always did, only this time it was in full 3D and 4D experience.   “Thank you,” she voiced out a small whisper and decided to take his invitation. The moment her skin touched his, it felt like an electrifying jolt streamed through her system in the most perfect way possible.   When he led her to her coffee table and let go, she was a little disappointed. Not that she wanted to hold hands in any romantic way, but she was fascinated at the soft texture and realism of Lee Tae Min as a human being.   “You must have a lot of questions,” Tae Min said and sat down on his knees at the coffee table. The way he familiarized himself at her house was as if he had been there before.   Maerin nodded, the frown still engraved on her forehead.   “What do you wanna ask?” He promoted, ready to answer her burning curiosities.   “First of all, how can you be so real? Even your skin complexion is amazing.” Maerin leaned over the coffee table from the other side and subtly brushed the intrinsic detail of his face with her fingers. There were no single pores or pimples, and his skin felt so perfectly smooth against her hand. At a glance, it looked like there was a holy halo around him. This detail was important because she worked as as a sales consultant for a skincare product in the mall.   “I was born to shine.” Tae Min smiled, grabbing her fingers to stop the rather inappropriate admiration. Knowing she had done it unconsciously was rather entertaining to him.   “Sorry, I was just amazed by your complexion. That’s all. I am in no way a ert,” Maerin clarified, quickly keeping her hands to herself while her cheeks blushed. She had to remember he was real, and the act of admiring his beauty through the computer screen wouldn’t be the same.   “I know.” The smile was plastered on his face even as he leaned his head sideways against his hand and kept watching her with interest.   “I have so many questions I don’t even know where to start?” The frown reappeared on her face.   “Start at the beginning of course,” Tae Min answered just for his own amusement. Of course it was rhetorical and she scoffed.   “Are you full human with flesh and blood and all?” She started off with a rather gory curiosity.   “Yes.”   “If you’re human now, does that mean I finished the game and obtained the secret ending?”   “Not quite.” He shifted his position, and this was where she sensed things would get more complicated. “Apparently you did something to trigger and unlock the special feature before the secret ending was even obtained. You could say that the game now continues in real life.”   Maerin stared at him with so much confusion. She swiftly turned to her laptop screen and noticed the game never actually opened up. It returned an error message instead, stating that the application could no longer be opened.   “You need to finish the game now, Chris P. Bacon.”   All seriousness, panic, and confusion washed away by that one ridiculous nickname. Seeing it on screen during the chat was funny, but hearing it out loud was an embarrassment not even her lame humor could tolerate.   “Please, call me Maerin. My real name’s Ha Maerin,” she finally told him.   “I’ve grown quite fond of Chris P. Bacon,” Tae Min sang teasingly.   “Are you challenging me to call you Brock Lee in public?”   “Still not as bad as Chris P. Bacon.”   This made Maerin laugh out loud. And finally, finally she got to hear the sound of his laughter mingle along with her own. It brought such a joyous harmony of entertainment to the two of them. Their real life interaction was just as enjoyable as the time she had chatted with him.   “So what do you mean continue the game in real life?” Maerin focused back to the initial question.   “You’re the one familiar with the game play. Don’t ask me,” Tae Min shrugged, and again noted the girl’s cheeks flushing red.   An otome game technically meant developing the romantic storyline between the female player and the male character until they attain their happy ending. Maerin realized continuing the game in reality meant they had to get together.   “Okay,” she began to pull her mind together and sort out the information she retrieved. “Where do you live?”   “Here. I’m staying with you.”   “What?!” She impromptuly backed away from him and placed her hands in a protective way to cover her body. He chuckled instead, and she was probably never going to get over that beautiful sound.   “You’re the one who created me and brought me to reality. It’s only logical for you to take responsibilities,” he said as if it made so much sense.   Maerin fluttered her eyes in disbelief. It wasn’t like she made him pregnant. This was wrong. Even though he was a virtual character, he was still a guy, a male homo sapien. How could they live together pre-marriage? What would her friends think? What would her parents think? What would her dog Cuddles think?   “Wait,” she held up a hand to reorganize her thoughts again, “You know I created you?”   “Yes, and I know you are the reason I was brought to reality. So there really is no other way for me but to stay by your side.”   He had no idea how the mere statement made her heart go crazy once again. This was exactly what she had wished for, for Tae Min to stay with her, and her wish was being granted. Though the entire situation was strange, a part of her secretly didn’t put up any protest.   “Okay, so let’s set up a few ground rules,” she finally gave in and took a piece of paper and pen in her hand.   If he were to stay and they had to play the game until it reached the ending, from what she understood, they had to keep the chemistry and interaction going as natural as possible.   In the end, everything was still a game—a very peculiar yet intriguing game.     Lee Tae Min appeared as he was with his godly beauty wearing a white long cardigan made out of wool, a soft pastel grey t-shirt, and a faded light blue colored jeans with a brown belt holding it in place. There was no luggage or anything else he carried with him. So the first thing they decided on was to go shopping.   “Do you have money?” Maerin asked, and he replied with an indifferent smile.   “We aren’t actually expected to pay for anything inside the game itself,” he explained himself, and she knew he was right.   She opened her wallet, counting the money she had saved from her current part-time job. Did this mean she had to pay for all of Tae Min’s expenses? Her head began to calculate an estimated budget.   “I can get a job,” Tae Min told her, knowing she was being frugal. He didn’t blame her since he did come barging in her life out of nowhere.   “Hah,” she scoffed at his good intentions. She turned to face him and rested both hands on her hips. “Do you really think it’s that easy to find a job? I had to spend around three months, went to five interviews and got rejected ten times before I earned my job as sales consultant at Mushqroom.”   Mushqroom was a popular skincare brand that utilized fermented mushrooms for a revolutionary soft and smooth skin. The Q was supposed to be silent, like the G in the word gnome. But Q was visually fancier.   "How hard can it be?" Tae Min questioned, flashing her a sweet smile that hid his mild competitive spirit inside.

So he gave it a try.
"You're hired!" Maerin's sales manager spoke when the girl announced Tae Min was looking for a job, just for the heck of it. But this...

"Are you kidding me?" She widened her eyes in disagreement, seeing the elderly woman ogle at Tae Min. "No interviews? Previous working experience? Anything?"

"Have you noticed the female customers looking our way ever since Lee Tae Min walked in? He may as well stand still and do nothing, and our profit will still increase."

The manager was right. Maerin had been so focused on the unfairness of it all she never realized those girls practically drooling over him. There was a dislike growing inside her, and she wondered whether it was jealousy.

"Do I at least get commission for introducing him to you?" She tried sweetly, but the manager was no fan of female flattery.

  “No.”
"I would appreciate it if you could though," Tae Min added with his oh-so-gorgeous smile.

"Okay."

Maerin flattened her eyes. One thing was for sure; attractive people gained more privileges than less attractive ones. She had to beautify herself, or her manager would continue being completely biased.
 
They were now wandering through the aisle of the men's clothing department; the one section she never thought she'd ever stepped foot into. She never had a boyfriend and never felt the need to buy men's products. Except for the time when she bought her dad a wacky hippie colored looking shirt. He insisted she abstained from giving him any wearable items as a present since then.
"I wished I had given you incredible fashion senses," Maerin mumbled while browsing through some clothes. Ever since that incident, she slightly doubted her eye for fashion.

"But then I wouldn't be me," he simply stated, which instantly made her smile. Hyun Mi’s words rang in her head regarding accepting the other person despite their flaws and not.

"Okay, we can both be fashion terrorists then," she concluded.

"Hey, just because I a