Tired grumbling resounded through the room as a young woman of average stature and black shoulder-length hair stumbled through the door of her tiny one-room apartment. She kicked off her high heels and flopped right onto her bed unmoving.
A moment of silence passed by when suddenly her howl shook the place.
"UghhhhhhHHHHHH. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" She yelled, burying her face in her hands and rolling around.
"He says that he feels sick so he just dumps the rest of the work on me and leaves! What the hell!? What a liar, that bastard's face was as healthy as could be! I had to fucking work overtime because of him! There was a deadline!!!"
She jumped up in indignant rage and looked at her reflection in a body-length mirror. Her face was flushed and dark circles could be seen under her eyes from pulling consecutive all-nighters. Her usual crisp outfit was in a crumpled mess and her bright brown eyes were dimmed with exhaustion.
Seeing herself in such a state, she slowly calmed down and sat back down on her bed with a depressed sigh. However, before she could completely recover her sanity a feminine voice rang out from the doorway.
"April! Oh my god, girl, you look like you were just dumped, stepped on, and then thrown in a ditch with a couple of dogs!" She exclaimed with a harmless laugh. "Was your coworker being a good-for-nothing again?"
April looked up at her with a death stare.
"Steph…... You're not helping right now. At all. I just want some damn sleep."
"Awwww, April is acting all sulky~! How cute."
"Steph....." April warned in a dangerous tone. "Don't make me throw you out."
"Yes yes, I got it. I don't want a repeat of last time, the old lady next door looked at me like I was mentally insane! Hahaha!"
"You probably are."
"As expected, you're responses are always so refreshingly honest! This is why we're best friends."
"…...Befriending you is the thing I regret most in my 23 years of living. So, what did you come here for?"
"Obviously to comfort my best friend!"
"Be serious."
"Okay okay, you don't need to look at me like I ran over your cat."
Steph finally decided to get to the point and slumped down next to April on the bed before taking out her phone.
"April, you're already 23, single, never dated, and you live alone. You're wasting all your pretty looks. Like seriously." She chided.
April rolled her eyes in response and walked into the small bathroom to start removing her makeup.
"If you came here just to bother me about my love life, AGAIN, then just leave because I'm not in the mood for that."
Steph clicked her tongue. "April, you don't even HAVE a love life. That's the problem! Look at the state you're in, you need a good man to help you out. Even if it's just being a source of comfort for you, I'm worried that you're just going to be single forever at this rate."
"Yup, I'll be single forever. Now go away, it's almost midnight." April said without listening. "I want to sleep in peace."
"April!"
"You like my name a lot huh. You can thank my mom for that."
"Oh my--. Okay fine, I'll only leave if you do one small thing for me."
April paused in the middle of her makeup removal and looked at Steph with an eyebrow raised. "What is it?"
Steph held up her phone and pointed at an app.
"Download this. Then I'll leave."
Squinting at the screen, April froze for a moment before scowling at Steph in incredulity.
"Uh, what? Download a dating app?! Are you nuts? Psh...stop fooling around I want to sleep."
Steph didn't move and just stood there stubbornly. April ignored her and continued to remove the rest of her makeup. It took just a few minutes before she was finished and when she turned around she saw Steph still holding out the phone in a resolute stance.
"Snap out of it, you should know that finding successful love online is practically impossible. How are you expecting me to develop feelings for some stranger I've never even seen before."
"..."
".....Steph, you know that the screen turned off right?"
The stubborn blonde just continued to stand there like a statue while staring at her friend with a blank expression.
"Hey uh, Steph you're seriously just going to stand there….?"
She responded with a short nod and April stared back at her with disbelieving eyes.
"Why in the world are you so obsessed with matching me up with somebody?"
A tiny bit of sorrow showed up in Steph's eyes. She studied April's face for a few seconds before opening her mouth.
"April…...I've been friends with you since middle school right? I honestly think of you as my soulmate."
April nodded.
"I met your mother while shopping today. I found out what happened to your father and what he did to make your mother divorce him."
April stayed silent.
"Now I finally know why you keep telling me over and over again that you would rather remain single than fall in love. You don't want to be hurt like your mother right?"
April still didn't say anything.
"Hey, we've been friends for so long but why didn't you ever tell me?"
April finally sighed deeply before rubbing her forehead.
"There was no point. I don't need your pity and I've already made up my mind anyway. Since you know, you should stop nagging at me and just let me sleep."
"No! There's more of a reason to nag at you now, not all men are like your father. You should be shown that. It's only fair for you that you can enjoy love."
Glancing at her friend, April gave up on persuading her to leave and closed the door of the bathroom. The sounds of showering came through the door and Steph stood in her spot speechlessly not sure whether she should cry or laugh.
Did her best friend just ignore her heartfelt worries and start taking a shower?! Excuse me? This isn't how things usually go in dramas! Weren't they supposed to continue having a deep conversation that ends in tears and growing trust?! Return my feelings!
Steph's inner cries, unfortunately, went unheard as once April was finished showering and re-entered the bedroom she simply closed the lights, locked the door, and lept straight into bed.
Steph was starting to wonder if she was invisible and didn't know it.
".....April?"
No response.
"You know that I'm still here right….?" Steph whimpered pitifully.
Still, no response could be heard.
"Er, can you just please download the app? I promise I'll leave you alone after you make an account. Really."
"Hah.....fine."
April reluctantly got out of her bed and turned the lights back on. She took out her phone from her bag and handed it to Steph.
"Just download it yourself. You know my passcode."
Steph showed a complicated expression before unlocking the phone and downloading the same dating app that she had. After the app had finished downloading she opened it up and gave it back to April.
"Hm? 'Let's Meet!'....? This sounds more like a social media app than a dating app." April asked as she looked at the name.
"Yeah. Apparently the creators meant for it to just be some texting app but it somehow turned into a dating one." She shrugged. "The name doesn't really matter. Hurry and make an account!"
"Alright. I'll make it later but it's literally already midnight, can you just let me sleep? I've already downloaded the app."
Steph pouted but had no choice but to head towards the door. After all, she had already promised that after April downloaded the app she would leave her alone.
Before she stepped out of the apartment she turned around and sadly smiled at her friend.
"Don't forget to make that account okay? I really just want to help."
April tiredly nodded before chasing her out and closing the door. Lying back down on her bed with a yawn, she held up her phone and stared at the brand new app on the screen.
"Hm…..a dating app huh..."