How (not) to buy a couch

DAY 3

Lan Wangji got up even earlier than he usually would the next morning. He looked at Wei Wuxian and was relieved that his lover was still fast asleep. He got out of the bed carefully and gathered his clothes. He wanted to get dressed only when he would be out of the bedroom. He did not want to wake Wei Wuxian up.

He had decided last evening that since his lover was thinking about him way too much and was giving up on his dream of buying a couch, he would make the decision process easier for him. He managed to get out of the room without disturbing the other's sleep and quickly went to the living room to greet the bunnies. He could not play with them just yet since he had work to do.

He placed the two bunnies into a cardboard box and quickly proceeded to dismantle their enclosure. If Wei Wuxian did not want to move the bunnies to the hall because of him, then Lan Wangji would move them instead. It did not take too long and the enclosure was reassembled in the hall. Lan Wangji had to change its shape slightly because the hall could not fit the previous shape, but it was fine in the end. C&C cages were so easy to reassemble in any size and shape you could like, so convenient.

He made sure that the floor size stayed still the same, he did not want for Wei Wuxian to start feeling guilty about limiting the free space for their bunnies to run on because of getting a couch. Once he was finished, he placed the bunnies back inside their new enclosure and was watching them explore and play with each other. They were comfortable in the new environment and he was glad for that, he had not wanted to stress them too much.

He then went to the kitchen and started preparing pancakes for breakfast. He was done by the time Wei Wuxian had apparently gotten up. The first tell was a surprised yelp coming from the hall and then Wei Wuxian was already hanging off Lan Wangji's neck and kissing him almost desperately. Lan Wangji did not protest and he returned the sentiment.

***

It was the afternoon when they both sat down in front of the laptop screen and looked at the chosen couch. They once again contemplated whether this was really the one they both wanted and how it would fit their living room. After almost a half hour of going through all the advantages and disadvantages of it, they decided it was perfect. It was large enough for the both of them to comfortably lay down on. It had a convenient storage space and it could be rearranged into a bed for their friends and family to sleep over. It was just what they had wanted.

"Alright Lan Zhan, I think we can go for it. We have made sure we both wanted this. You even moved the bunnies so there would be enough space for the installation. And there is the guarantee to be able to send the couch back in case it really does not fit or if we discover anything wrong with it. I think now is as good time as any to actually buy it."

Lan Wangji only nodded and took out their shared credit card to be able to pay. They went smoothly through all the steps of the order until they arrived to their shopping cart and were checking once again all the data if they were correct. They did not want to find themselves in a situation where they would give an incorrect address by mistake and would have to deal with the consequences. Everything seemed fine on this front.

When they however were checking the possibilities or delivery, there was a small problem. The online store was not offering anything resembling a service where the store would deliver the couch and someone would carry it into the second floor where they lived and actually install it in the living room.

Since this was Lan Wangji's and Wei Wuxian's first time buying a couch, they did not know how to transport it up the stairs and put it together. And even if they knew, they would not want to do it themselves. They would gladly pay for someone to do it for them so they would not have to take care of anything but opening the door for the delivery people.

But there was the catch; the online store did not list this option between the delivery possibilities.

Wei Wuxian watched the page and tried to refresh it several times, hoping that the option would magically appear. His happiness from buying the couch was slowly starting to dim when he imagined how he and Lan Wangji would have to somehow carry the furniture to the second floor and would be completely exhausted because of it. Even worse, what if they would damage the wall of the staircase? They would have to pay for that.

"Lan Zhan, what should we do?" he asked his lover with a dejected expression.

Lan Wangji only scrolled down the page to the section where he could find the number of the customer helpline. Without saying anything, he took out his phone and dialled the number. Wei Wuxian moved closer to be able to hear. Seeing this, Lan Wangji put his phone on a loud speaker and they both waited for someone on the other side to pick up.

The phone was ringing but there was no one picking up for a long time. And then, the ringing stopped and a voice announced: "Welcome to the customer helpline. Please insert your order ID so we can help you."

Lan Wangji looked at Wei Wuxian who seemed stunned just like him. He had not expected an automatic system to reply to them and in no way had he been prepared for the fact that the helpline was apparently only open to customers who had already paid their purchase and had their order ID.

There was a long silence between them before the recorded voice repeated its demand. Wei Wuxian seemed to have snapped out of his stunned trance and picked up the phone now. He started pushing all the button in a desperate hope that he would be able to somehow get through the automat and get to speak with a living and rational person on the order side. However, the only thing which he got for all his trouble was a beeping sound and the recorded voice's repeated demand:

"You have entered an incorrect order ID, please verify your ID and insert it again."

Wei Wuxian seemed enraged now. They just wanted to check if the store offered the full service delivery or not and they could not do even that because the stupid automat would not let them talk to anyone. He finished the call and put the phone away, disheartened. He had not expected that a happy occasion which getting new furniture for their home was could turned into something like this.

Lan Wangji put a hand on Wei Wuxian's shoulder and tried to sooth him: "Wei Ying, we can still pay and get our order ID. If need be, we can always cancel the order afterwards."

Wei Wuxian turned to him and the anger and displeasure were slowly dissipating form his eyes. He smiled at his lover and nodded. Lan Wangji gave a nod of his own and proceeded to pay for the purchase to get an order ID. It all went well at least in this aspect and the payment was done without any problems. This seemed to have lifted Wei Wuxian's spirit again.

Once they got their order ID, Lan Wangji tried to call the customer helpline again. This time, they got through the automat easily and they both gave out a sigh of relief. They were however celebrating way too soon.

The recorded voice on the phone spoke again: "Thank you for calling our customer helpline. The business hours are over for the day, please try calling again later."

It was not only after their usual business hours! The webpage stated that the helpline was available all week including weekends from 9AM to 6PM. There should have still been someone there. If it had been either Wei Wuxian or Lan Wangji working, they would still have an hour to their shift.

Wei Wuxian did not seemed enraged anymore after this, just resigned. He sighed again, no relief in it this time, only eternal resignation, and he stood up: "Lan Zhan, let us go have dinner. We will try calling again tomorrow morning."