Feb. 14th, 2017 | 7:16 PM

Sigh~ 
Another Valentine’s spent alone, aside from the pile of deadlines that can wait until tomorrow and a cat that wants about as much to do with you as [insert any of your multiple celebrity crushes]… whom obviously isn’t even aware of your existence.  Honestly, you’re better off that way anyway.  Who needs to burden themselves with a corny Valentine’s date anyway? And how lame are the gifts? Flowers that will die in a few days and take up space in your already small apartment. Cheap chocolate packaged in heart shaped cardboard that you’ll probably devour so fast your stomach will protest, and you’ll have to eat extra healthy for a week to make lesson the guilt of that unnecessary binge.  Nah, you’re better off alone… and bored.  So very bored.  

How is it that every single one of your friends managed to find dates for today and left you high and dry to wallow in self pity? Where is their loyalty?  Then again, you can’t blame them.  As much as you’d like to convince yourself otherwise, had the chance presented itself, you also would be out celebrating the day of love along with everyone else and not counting down the hours until all the ‘expired’ chocolates go on sale. It’s seriously like the day after Valentine’s is like a holiday for all those rejected from society to crawl out from the shadows and engorge themselves with the candies that had also happened to be neglected on the day they were supposed to be loved the most.

As boredom ensues, you find yourself idly scrolling through your Facebook feed, glowering at all the proposal announcements and pictures of the ‘amazing’ gifts other girls got from their significant others.  It was just a bunch of hoopla, and still, you couldn’t find it in you to break free from the trans until your phone started vibrating in your hand and your screen announced a call from an ‘unknown number’.  Any other time you would have immediately declined the call, the reasonable thing to do, but for some reason today you found yourself actually debating over answering it.  Upon the fourth ring you shrugged to yourself and proposed that you really had nothing better than to do than to mess with whomever it was deciding you disturb your ‘me time’.  In all honesty; though you would never admit it… even to yourself, you were just desperate for some human contact on this damn day that everyone else is feeling the love.

Y/N: Hello?
Bang: -Clears throat- Good evening. I’m Bang Yongguk, you’re new account manager for-
Y: You’re seriously calling and trying to sell people on Valentine’s Day?
-Half second of awkward silence-
B: Well, you answered a call from an unknown number on Valentine’s Day, so…Y: Touche. I’m sure you’ve probably had a pretty good day so far too with that voice of yours.  Are you just picking out the female names to call and hoping to get lucky to find the desperate single girls that will dish out their hard earned money just to have a few moments of conversation with you?
B: -Chuckle- Maybe I would have been having more luck if I was doing that. Is it working on you? Could this voice of mine interest you in some insurance?

You laughed aloud at his wit. You had to hand it to him, he thought well on his feet and still remained respectful even with your taunts.  How horrible was it that you were actually finding yourself already enjoying this conversation and silently giving yourself kudos for answering the phone.  Perhaps you were a horrible person by wasting this man’s time while he was trying to make a few bucks, but really, he didn’t seem that off put with the conversation so far.  It’d be easy enough to hang up on you and carry on with his work if he really wanted to.

Y: Do I sound like I need insurance? … Then again, what does a person that needs insurance sound like?
B: Lonely or old. Half the time I wonder if the person on the other end of the line actually knows what they’re buying from me.  And usually if they’ve actually answered the call and stayed on the line this long I’d be halfway through my pitch by now…
Y: So why aren’t you?
B: Because you don’t sound like you need a sale’s pitch today.

His comment caught you off guard.  Did you sound as desperate as you were feeling?  Were you so transparent, even over the phone?  Panic and despair washed over you with that thought.  Were you really so seemingly pathetic that even a telemarketer found it necessary to have mercy on you? Your silence had must of cued him in on your inner turmoil.

B: Don’t overanalyze it. I meant you sound like someone that’s got things put together well enough that you don’t need to hear some spiel put together by market research and devised psychology to convince you that you need something so useless.
Y: Yeah, I’ve obviously got my together while I’m sitting here bored enough that I’m actually having a conversation with a telemarketer… on Valentine’s Day, no less.
B: Ouch. We can be good conversation, you know.  And at least you’re comfortably at home enjoying the day rather than awkwardly calling a bunch of strangers trying to selling to sell them ‘’ … on Valentine’s Day, no less.
Y: You got me again. I’m sorry. I guess even would rather be out celebrating your fabulous romance with the love of your life.
B: -Chuckles- Who wouldn’t? But I have to find her first.
Y: You’re single?
B: It’s not like telemarketing is a nine to five job. If I had someone to spend the day with, that’s exactly what I would be doing.

Suddenly you found yourself rather curious about this man.  His voice was so low and incredibly sensual, even in casual conversation.  You had to wonder what he looked like.  Why was he single?

Y: Are you ugly?

The question had escaped you before you had the chance to censor yourself.  In that moment you thanked the heavens that this man could not see how warm your cheeks had gotten in your own embarrassment.  Hell, you were grateful he couldn’t see your face in general.  At least you had the nice coverage of anonymity for the most part.  There was no possibility of running into him on the street and ending up with gum in your hair for being so rude.  Granted, the hearty laugh from the other end of the line told you that he hadn’t taken your question as ridicule.

B: I wouldn’t say I’m a model by any means, but I don’t think I’m downright ugly, either.
Y: Oh… I didn’t mean to be so blunt about it.  I just meant that you sound hot, so I was wondering.  What am I saying?!  Am I drunk?
B: -Laughs- I don’t think I have to ask why you’re single.
Y: What’s that supposed to mean?
B: Not everyone can appreciate the lack of filter. I think it’s refreshing.  So… are you as cute as you sound then, too?

If you weren’t blushing before you sure as hell were now.  Seriously, had you no discretion? You had become far too bold with this conversation.  You felt bad for giving this man the wrong impression of yourself.  At the same time, you actually felt liberated. For some reason it felt like you were conversing with a good friend rather than a stranger. Maybe it was the comfort of obscurity, or perhaps the casualness of the conversation from the start.  No matter the cause, you found yourself successfully forgetting about your loneliness and thoroughly enjoying the flirtations that had developed.

Y: I wouldn’t say I’m a model by any means, but I don’t think I was slapped too hard with the ugly stick, either.

You received another deep laugh from your mocking.  You had to bite your lip from smiling too wide at that wonderful sound.  It was a sound you spent the next hours and a half trying to coerce out of him amongst your chatting.  There was never a single lull in conversation; the two of you managed to swing from one topic to the next seamlessly.  It was like catching up with an old friend and learning a lifetime from another person all at once.  You couldn’t remember the last time you had felt so comfortable talking with someone.  With this Bang Yongguk, there was no need for a filter, you could say exactly what was on your mind without ridicule.  Not only that, but you found that you had more in common with him than you could ever have imagined.  So many shared interests, opinions and even a few similar childhood stories here and there.  It seemed like you would never run out of things to talk about.  In the nearly two hours spent on the phone together, you continuously felt like an over-pouring fountain of information and stories meant only for him.  

B: Hey, I really have enjoyed talking to you but my phone is about to die and I can’t charge the landline while talking unless I use speakerphone.  Any other time I’d be fine with that, but my roommate seems to have had a successful Valentine’s and I’d rather not stick around to play awkward third wheel his shared celebration if you know what I mean.
Y: Ahhhh… Yeah. Lucky for him.
B: -Chuckle- Valentine’s Day , but next year don’t spend it alone, okay?  
Y: I won’t if you won’t. Do you think you’ll find the love of your life by then?
B: Who knows… Maybe I have already.

You didn’t miss the implication in his words and it sent you soaring through the roof.  You felt like a schoolgirl that had just been asked to prom by the quarterback of the football team.  Biting you lip, you curbed the urge to dance about your room and squeal like a fangirl.  But that high was short lived as a wave of disappointment washed over you.  You had enjoyed the conversation so much that you had forgotten that it would have to come to an end.  Not to mention, in that time there was never a mention of a repeated call in the future.  The thought of never hearing from him again made you oddly anxious.  You had only spent a couple hours talking to him and getting to know him, but in that time you had felt some kind of connection.  Already you were starting to miss him and you hadn’t properly said goodbye.

B: Anyway… -clears throat- Thank you for your time Miss [Y/N] it was a pleasure doing business with you and I hope you’re happy with your services.
Y: Thank you as well, Mister Yongguk.  
B: I hope you’ve had a better Valentine’s Day. I know you surely improved mine.
Y: I did, all thanks to you as well.
B: Have a good rest of your night and make sure to rest well.
Y: Thank you… You as well.
B: Oh, and [Y/N]. Don’t answer the phone to any other telemarketers, okay?

-Dialtone-