Stigma Love's Algorithm [ A BTS x Reader Poly ]

Chapter 15: Romantic Connection

I glanced at my phone, the LoveMap icon glaring back at me. "Still haven't activated it," I muttered.

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Well, you're one of the only few. Almost everyone in this office is already in there. Even my dog has an activated profile now."

I looked at him with a raised brow. "Your dog?"

"Not really. But you get the point." Juseo dropped into the chair beside me, leaning back with a dramatic sigh. "Seriously though, you're not that old-school. It's 2025. Everyone's using it. It's even been good for some people, man."

I half-laughed, half-grimaced. "I'm not into all that soulmate nonsense, Juseo. It just doesn't feel right to me."

He grinned wider. "Oh, I get it. You think it's all a scam. The app's just a way for the government to track us, right?" He mocked a shifty look, rubbing his hands together like a villain in a cartoon.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help a chuckle. "You do know it's perfectly normal to question it especially with what we do. Aren't you a security engineer yourself?"

Juseo leaned in, his tone suddenly turning serious but still with that underlying playfulness. "Well, ofcourse I did but" he pauses for a few seconds before leaning back to his chair, "Listen, man, if you're so against it, you should talk to Nicole."

"Nicole?" I asked, glancing over at him. "Who's that?"

"My soulmate," he said, practically bursting with pride. "We met through LoveMap."

I blinked. "Wait, what? You activated your profile?"

"Yep. Took me a while to admit it, but once I did, I was matched with her. We've been together ever since." Juseo's eyes softened as he pulled out his phone, scrolling to a picture of a woman with long brown hair, sitting at a café in Italy, smiling brightly. "This is Nicole. She lives in Italy, and I'm over here in Korea."

"That's... that's kind of crazy, Juseo," I said, not entirely sure how to react. "So you're telling me you're soulmates, now?"

The corner of his lips slightly lifting up as he stares at the ceiling before he snorts and responds with a thoughtful tone "Look man, I do not know. I have no fucking clue if the app with all it's wonders is really matching us with soulmates.. Hell, I don't even know if soulmates are real. Or any of this cosmic universe shit has any truth in it"

He laughs as he shakes his head before continuing "But I do believe in what I feel, I believe in what I see. And whenever I see Nicole, and realize how she makes me feel, I think I can believe in anything as long as she's with me."

I stare at him understanding the depth of his words "that's great man but, isn't it weird trusting a stranger just because the app tells you you were meant to be together"

"Everyone's a stranger at first, man. No one really knows anyone, we just do our best to get to know them if we choose to do so" he continued, his tone shifting.

"And no thing's ever easy. It wasn't all rainbows and unicorns when we started. I mean, long-distance relationships are tough, man. But after a while, we figured things out. Video calls, late-night chats, and planning trips back and forth. It wasn't easy. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. I never would have met her if it wasn't for LoveMap."

I looked at the picture of Nicole and then back at Juseo. There was a sincerity in his voice, an honesty that struck me.

It wasn't like he was just some guy selling the idea of the app. He was speaking from experience, from a place where LoveMap had actually changed his life.

"So... you're saying the app really works?" I asked, hesitant.

Juseo leaned in again, lowering his voice like he was about to spill a secret. "I'll tell you something, Suga. The app doesn't do the work for you. In my opinion, as far as experience it first hand, I feel like It just helps you find the right person. You still have to put in the effort, you still have to make it work. But the connection? I can't deny it. You just feel it. And you know what? I've never been happier."