In his warm embrace, her pain slowly fades away.

To Janet, Junhong was human. Even though his internal organs were parts of computerized chips and pieces of metal & wirings; Junhong was more human than anyone else. He cared more about how Janet feels more than anyone else. His palms were heat packs to Janet’s cramps; his rhythmic air pump was Janet’s lullaby to sleep. In Junhong’s hand, Janet was safe, Janet was loved.

Amidst in her deep sleep, she reaches out to find Junhong’s warmth, but he wasn’t there. She never felt more insecure. ‘Junhong-ah, where are you?’ She shouted, she slowly gets up to move her feet to the edge of the bed; wanting to see Junhong. Not like he wasn’t okay but he was never once not by her side; out of sight.

‘Coming!’ Junhong voice was getting louder, closer. He comes into a room with a piping hot cup of hot chocolate, his lips circled, cooling the hot liquid. ‘Drink it slowly, it’s hot.’ Junhong smiled. Janet reached for the cup but Junhong pulled it away, ‘It’s hot, let me help you.’ Junhong pulls Janet closer by her left shoulder, swirling the hot chocolate with his breathe, he tilts the cup slightly near her lips.

‘Is it too hot?’ his voice sounded worried, he didn’t want to scald Janet’s tongue. She shakes her head reaching out for the cup, slowly finishing the warm hot chocolate that warms her heart. ‘Thank you, Junhong.’ He lifts the blanket up for Janet to get back into bed, tucking her in comfortable before making his way out to wash the cup. On the bed, her heart was pounding in her ears, as much as she hates to admit it; she was indeed in love with Junhong. She browsed through her mobile gallery; it was all pictures of Junhong: Junhong playing with kids, Junhong looking curiously at plants and bugs, selcas with Junhong. All there was was Junhong and a long forgotten history of her ex boyfriend, Sunggyu. She slowly ticks them one by one,

Do you want to delete the selected files?

| Yes | No |   

Yes

For there’s Junhong now, there’s no point holding onto the past. Sunggyu was 2089, 2100 is for Janet & Junhong & forever more.  

She starts the ZERO CONTROL App, thinking of what to have for dinner, since the entire day’s schedule was empty; the only command that was given to Junhong was ‘Accompany Janet’. It suddenly hit Janet that making Hot Chocolate was not in the commands, why did Junhong act on his own? She started the Period Planner App; neither were there any commands set there. How did Junhong make such decisions on his own accord? It’s almost been a month, neither has Janet remember to charge Junhong fortnightly, but he’s never low on batteries. There were just too many questions about Junhong that couldn’t be answered, her body wasn’t in the right condition to be sitting in front of the computer looking for answer, and she was weak.

At this very moment, she didn’t need the answers. She needed Junhong to be here, Junhong to be okay, Junhong to stay and not leave her. The door creeks as Junhong return quietly, she quickly hides her phone under her pillow while Junhong slowly positions himself beside her. Janet’s breathing and heart rate was unusual, Junhong senses something isn’t right but doesn’t say a word. He lowers himself to rest his head on the pillow, brushing away the strands of hair covering her beautiful face, tucking them neatly behind those red ears. His fingers were cold against her flushed cheeks, he eyes were mesmerizingly blue in the dark. It was hard to look Junhong in the eyes. She pulled Junhong’s pajamas collars, hiding her face in his chest; he just wraps his arms around her, one hand patting her back, the other hand holding her head close to his chest, making her feel at ease.

She was afraid of Junhong becoming something of his own, where she can no longer control him, but deep in her she was touched by Junhong’s actions. Junhong never fails to make her smile, make her feel all loved and fuzzy. A maid’s responsibility is to accomplish the household tasks assigned by its master making sure that she’s satisfied with his work, but Junhong was more than a maid. He was always going an extra mile to make sure Janet is more than satisfied with his assigned task, he was never a maid, not in Janet’s eyes.

Just as though the 2^nd day of menstruation wasn’t the worse day ever, a letter from American Express came to add onto Janet’s ty day.

Dear Janet,

You have an outstanding amount of $1700.19.

TS Electronics - $1600.00

ASOS Clothing Pte Ltd - $100.19

The outstanding payment is due on 1^st Aug 2100.

The minimum amount payable is $200.00 with a monthly interest of 2.39%.

Your Trusted Banking Services,

American Express

‘Right, that’s in 4 days time.’ Janet complained, Junhong who was doing the dishes after breakfast turned around to looking confused. ‘Everything’s good, Junhong’ she reassured Junhong with a smile. How could she regret something that’s already been done? It’s not like she regretted buying Junhong. It’s not like she could return Junhong back to TS Electronics and ask for a refund after using him for more than month or so. More importantly was that she couldn’t fathom a day without Junhong, she was too used to having Junhong in the house; she couldn’t bear to see Junhong leave her side.

With that in mind, she quickly dressed up and got her cranky body to work, for she needed the money to pay for Junhong, she needed the money to get life going to pay bills, to pay rent & groceries. For now, there’s something she looks forward to when she gets home; Junhong.