After she says yes, he picks her up and brings her to my desk. “There you are. See, I was able to customize her and put WB on her torso. And I can make her say a few lines. You can choose which ones you want to give her.”
“Thank you!”
She tells him what lines to say, and he hurries back to Minnie and adds them to her. When I interact with WB, she says in a robotic female voice, “A healthy diet leads to a healthy mind. Please be careful what foods you choose to consume.” I interact with her again for the next line. “I am WillowBot, created by Willow Park. How may I help you today?” Then, “It is important to receive a good night’s sleep. Please try to refrain from staying up too late, Mia Park.”
That has me giggling. “This is all so awesome.”
“I agree,” WillowBot says.
Suddenly, something appears in WB’s hand. “What’s that?” I ask.
“I think she wants to give you something,” Declan says.
I place WillowBot down on my desk and click on the automaton’s hand. A scroll floats onto the screen and opens up, revealing these words:
Mia Park, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?
I turn to Declan, seeing the hopeful look in his eyes. With a large smile, I say, “Of course I’ll be your girlfriend!” Once again leaping off my chair, I race over and throw my arms around him, kissing his cheek.
“I must say, I very much approve of this,” WillowBot says.
“Thanks,” we both tell her.
“But how can we do this?” I ask as I take his hand and lead him to my bed, where we sit side by side. “You’re moving back to L.A. after the semester is over.”
Declan nods as he tucks some hair behind my ear. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. It’s really just next year we have to worry about, right? We’ll both spend some of the summer in L.A. doing the movie, and then we can hang out here in Edenbury. Are you okay with doing long distance next year? I mean, that’s assuming I have a job. If not, maybe I’ll enroll back here.”
I cover my hands with his. “Of course you’ll have a job. And of course I’m okay with long distance. I’ll have to get used to being away from the people I care about while I work on projects in L.A. I’ll miss my family and Musketeers so much when I’m not in Edenbury. But my mom and her friends always tell us that their strong bond kept them together through the separation of college. The same goes for my Musketeers. I know it could be the same for us.”
He gathers me in his arms and murmurs in my ear, “I’ll visit every weekend. Chase is thinking of moving here permanently so he could be with Tori. I can stay with him.”
“So you’ll have to look for a new manager?”
He nods. “I’m totally okay with it. I want him to be happy.”
“That’s so generous of you, Declan. And I’ll visit you, too,” I promise. “I’m sure my parents would be cool with taking a trip to L.A. every now and then.”
“Thanks. And we’ll video chat every day. I really think we can do this, Mia. If you want to, I mean.”
“I do!” I throw my arms around him. “I really do.”
“You have no idea how happy that makes me, my beautiful girlfriend.”
I smile. “I sure as heck do, my handsome, charming boyfriend, because I feel the exact same way.”
His eyes shine with intense emotions. “Mia…it might be too early for me to say this, but it’s the way I feel. I love you.”
I gape at him. “You…?”
He nods, giving me a sweet smile. “I love you, Mia Park. I’m crazy about you.”
My heart hammers all over my body. Placing my hands on his cheeks, I stare into his eyes. “Saranghae, Declan.”
His eyes widen. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
Nodding, I rub his nose with mine. “I love you, too.”
Our lips collide and we make out for what feels like forever. He’s right that it might be too early to feel this way, but it’s right and it’s perfect and it’s us.