It was getting ridiculous.

 

Her need to get along with people around her, her need to interact and be social but at the same time not wanting to give a about anyone anytime whatsoever.

 

Why couldn’t friendships come with a no-strings-attached contract?

 

Ridiculous really.

 

She sighed internally as she walked to the last class of the day.

 

Welcome to Irene Bae’s life. The ever so mundane and monotonous routine she goes through every day alone.

 

She watched as the majority of the student population howled in laughter and chattered endlessly already belonging to a clique.

 

Irene had a love-hate relationship with being an outcast.

 

It was very easy living a life with no friends. That was not a lie, not having to put up with people’s dramas and unnecessary .

 

But she wanted some sort of social life. Just one friend would do.

 

The feeling of loneliness haunted her. Being alone was something she didn’t mind she liked her peace and space but being lonely yeah that killed sometimes.

She went about the same routine. Walking to the last bench and taking a seat beside the window, plugging in her AirPods and trying to block the world outside as she locked herself in her music.

 

*

 

Throwing herself onto her bed after a long day of classes was a feeling that could not be described in words.

 

Silence.

 

No chirping of birds no murmur or yelling of neighbors. Heck not even a dog barking nearby.

 

She was slowly losing her mind.

 

She couldn’t recall when was the last time she had a conversation with an alive and breathing human being that didn’t include her parents.

 

Even the professors knew how to word their queries in such a manner so Irene wouldn’t have to say more than a few words.

 

Irene rolled around and huffed out a breath. 

 

Picking up her phone and seeing no notifications was nothing new to her but it still pinched her somewhere inside.

 

She was bored out of her mind.

 

Unlocking her phone Irene saw the time 5:08 pm.

Scrolling through her social media was all she did on her phone hoping, every time she opened her Instagram and Twitter that something would interest her enough to engage her mind for a few hours and help her get rid of the loud unnecessary thoughts.

 

But to no luck.

 

Irene sighed as she exited Twitter after liking some funny tweets and scrolled through her apps looking for some games or anything to just pass the time.

 

She paused, her finger hovering over the blue icon with a big A button.

 

App Store.

 

Maybe she might find something interesting perhaps a game?

 

She opened the app and scrolled through the popular apps all the way to the top paid apps nothing really caught her eye when she stopped at a very suspicious-looking one.

 

It had no rating whatsoever and was free.

 

Irene squinted her eyes trying to figure out what exactly it was.

 

Astra

 

Now, what kinda name was that? The icon looked very creepy with a black background and the symbol of a handshake made with what looked like a thread, it definitely looked creepy.

 

Irene was going to move on she was but she found herself clicking on the app and after seeing no information about it, it spurred her curiosity even more and she found herself downloading it.

 

She waited for maybe five minutes before it got installed on her phone.

 

Taking a deep breath and with her fingers shaking slightly she tapped on the app.

 

The app initiated with a black screen which took a few seconds to load and Irene’s patience was running thin. Just as she was about to exit and delete it, a sort of music started playing and the main screen came into view.

 

All she saw was

 

Hi welcome 

 

Click here to start

 

Sitting up a little, Irene backed up to the headboard and clicked on start.

 

She saw a pop-up box.

 

Please wait a few seconds before we assign you a virtual friend.

 

Huh.

 

Virtual friend? Now, what in the world does that even mean? Irene was really not well versed in the world of technology. Just last week she learned how to use emojis without offending her parents.

 

Yes her parents. Even they knew how and what emojis to use in certain situations.

 

“What is this” she whispered to herself. Every second she spent on this app piqued her curiosity till she was toppling over the edge in anticipation.

 

There was a loud ping on the app that scared her so much, she squeaked and hit her head on the edge of the headboard.

 

Damn it.

 

It wasn’t even loud. But anything in this pin drop silence seemed like a megaphone pressed right to her ear. Maybe she was exaggerating or maybe not, she was just very sensitive to sounds.

 

She looked down on her phone and her breath got caught in as she saw a message on her screen.

 

Welcome to Astra we have assigned you a virtual friend who will be your companion in your happy and sad days. A friend you can talk to at any time of the day. We wish you a very satisfying friendship

Click to view your virtual friend.

Click here to get in contact with us.

 

Irene was born impatient, not being able to hold her curiosity in any longer she clicked on the button that would take her to her ‘virtual friend’.

 

Holy butter on a bastard.

 

Irene was mesmerized by the sight in front of her. This person? Wait what can she even call it? A character? A character who awfully looked very real as if she could come out of her phone screen.

 

She raked her eyes over her supposed ‘friend’ 

 

A very insanely hot friend they assigned her.

 

Irene internally smacked herself for the weird thoughts that encircled her mind as she saw the appearance of her virtual friend.

 

Blonde soft hair that looked very real and just so touchable. A strong and narrow jaw. Her iris was blue like clear ocean water and the smirk on her lips raised Irene’s heartbeat as if she was going to enter a rollercoaster loop.

 

Her friend donned a black leather jacket with a white crop top underneath paired with black cargo pants and white sneakers.

 

Irene was pretty sure she had been drooling had she not touched her fist to the side of her lips.

 

Annyeonghaseyo!!!! I’m Wendy! Your very own personal friend. What's your name? :D

 

Irene blushed for a second but began panicking when she didn't know how to answer. Her eyes roamed all over the screen to find some kind of hint on how to answer her.

 

Wendy’s right eyebrow raised as if she understood what irene was struggling with.

 

If you are looking for a way to answer me there must be a small microphone option on the bottom right of your screen which you can use to talk to me and a keyboard beside that which you can use to text me. I am open to everything my dear.

 

Irene’s ears burned in embarrassment for being blind it was right in front of her eyes. She could kick herself for being that stupid.

 

Somewhere she knew that the reason for her heart beating a little louder than deemed normal was because of being called ‘my dear’ but she chose to ignore it.

 

She chose to text Wendy as she was not ready to reveal her voice to her y virtual friend.

 

Hi, my name is Irene but you can call me joohyun which's my Korean name.

 

Wendy’s eyebrows raised all the way to her hairline with forming an O.

 

Such a pretty name Irene. I'm glad to have met you. Said Wendy with a voice dripping with sweet honey.

 

Irene chuckled seeing her expression.

 

Cute.

 

It was shocking how real Wendy felt even tho she was a bot who was programmed she felt like she could talk to her without feeling pressured or awkward. Wendy did not seem judgemental either she seemed very warm and welcoming.

 

After selecting the texting mode with her virtual buddy she was shown a normal chat background like any other. Suddenly her phone pinged indicating she received a text.

 

How was your day Irene? :)

 

Her palms started sweating. Never in her life had anyone asked her such a genuine question besides her parents. There was a dull ache in her heart but she willed herself to not get sensitive now and bond with her new friend.

 

It was okay…do I call you wendy? Or do you prefer I call you something else? :)

 

You can call me anything you like my dear.

 

The reply came in with a speed of light and Irene wasn’t sure if it was all automated replies. She hoped they weren’t.

 

My dear.

 

The giddy feeling she got for the second time after Wendy called her made her want to bounce on her bed.

 

Before she could reply however Wendy sent her a wink and not the ‘ ;) ’ kind but the gif kind… god she looked so good it made her flustered. 

 

How was a bot supposed to feel this real?? The programmer must be a genius.

 

Irene sent a blushing emoji, she didn't understand how else to reply to the winking gif of Wendy.

 

What are your hobbies, Irene?

 

Well, this was tricky. She obviously didn’t have a budding social life. Her trips involved going to university, coming back home, and occasionally visiting the convenience store when she ran out of food.

 

There was one thing though.

 

I like to sing a lot. I don’t think I’m that good of a singer but I have always loved singing and playing the piano. I love to play and sing in my free time :D

 

As expected Wendy replied very quickly (since she was a bot).

 

That's a very nice hobby, Irene. I hope you can send me an audio of you singing sometime.

 

Irene smiled wide and laid down on her bed. She made herself comfortable as this would be a nice long conversation.

 

Her prediction was indeed correct.

 

**

Irene laughed loudly, her laughs echoing the walls of her otherwise silent apartment as she read Wendy’s reply.

 

What is ?

 

Wendy might seem very genius and real but she obviously couldn’t know some very basic things in life. They had started getting to know one another with Irene telling her about her favorite color favorite movies and so on and what she was majoring in.

 

When she told Wendy she was majoring in literature and how she wanted to be a writer in the future, Wendy was thrilled and encouraged her and supported her dreams. Although her vocabulary was very limited but that was to be expected.

 

YOU DONT KNOW WHAT IS?

 

How they got to the topic of even she couldn’t figure out.

 

Irene-ssi quit playing with me and tell me already :(

 

The reply made Irene’s throat go dry. How was she going to explain this to her virtual buddy…

 

Feeling the familiar blush on her cheeks she started typing.

I really don’t know how to explain it to you Wendy :0

 

I’m sure you can find a few words dear :D

 

She sighed but suddenly got hit by an idea. How about she just showed her.

 

Irene was kicking herself for doing this. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH HER? She grimaced as she copied a link from her browser and was about to paste it in the chatbox before a thought struck her.

 

Would she be banned from sending something like this?

 

Never mind it was worth a try. Irene took a deep breath as she pressed the send button.

 

The double ticks indicated that Wendy had read her text. Irene locked her phone as she groaned in regret and embarrassment. Today was the first day with her new friend and she did this???

 

However, it looked like the app didn't have strict policies and she didn't know how she felt about that.

 

Her phone pinged with a notification. She picked it up in horror and looked at the screen.

 

Astra:

Wendy is typing…

Wendy sent a message

 

Irene bit her lip as she stared at the screen for a minute or two, finally, she gathered some courage and unlocked the phone, and what she saw almost made her roll on the floor with tears in her eyes.

 

Is this how grown-up humans play? Why cant they play with their clothes on and why were they screaming? Although it did look interesting I want to try :D

 

Irene choked on her saliva. Wendy was killing her for sure.

 

After a whole ten minutes of trying to calm herself, she began to write back hoping to clear all of her friend’s doubts.

 

**

“”

 

Irene cursed when she looked at the time.

 

1:06 am

 

She was so screwed, how did she spend an entire evening talking to a bot.

 

Wendy-ah it's very late and I have classes tomorrow morning. Let's see each other tomorrow? :)

 

Very well Irene take good rest and I will be here when you need to talk my dear. Goodnight :)

 

Goodnight Wendy thank you for today. She contemplated on sending a heart but did it anyway.

 

<3

 

With a fluttering feeling, Irene exited the app and went to do her nightly routines.

 

**

 

When she laid down on her bed that night she fell asleep with a smile on her face feeling content and happiness wash her over bringing her a good night's sleep.

 

This might change the course of her life.