“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, tonight is the start of the all new season of ‘Are you the one?’ Twenty singles will be put in a luxurious villa and get challenged to find their perfect match. If they all find their perfect match in ten weeks, they will win a million dollars. My name is Kim Junmyeon and I’ll be your host. Now let’s meet our candidates!”

One by one, the candidates walked onto the platform Junmyeon was standing on. Ten girls and ten boys. All there to play the game, find their perfect match and win a lot of money. They hadn’t seen each other before, this was their first meeting and they all spend some time looking at each other. Would they be able to recognize their perfect match right away? Suddenly, one of the girls gasped.

“Hee-Jin? Why are you here?” A short girl stated, clearly shocked. Only now did the girl named Hee-Jin look at her and she instantly placed her hands over in surprise.

“Hyun Mi? Wait, why are you here? Are you participating too?”

Hyun Mi nodded. Like a good host, Junmyeon quickly broke the following silence.

“Well, this is a surprise. It seems like two of our candidates already know each other. Jang Hyun Mi and Song Hee-Jin. How do you know each other? We actually have no record of that, as far as I know.”

“She’s my cousin,” Hyun Mi explained. “I never expected her to participate in a game like this.”

“I didn’t expect you here either.”

“A surprising encounter, then. Let’s start the introductions from the two of you then. Please state your name, age and why you are here.”

“I’m Jang Hyun Mi, 24 years old, here to find the perfect match. So let's commit the perfect crime: I'll steal your heart, and you'll steal mine.” The girl threw several hearts to the camera with a big smile.

“I’m Song Hee-Jin, 22 and here to find love. Actually, my friends entered me, so I don’t really have a good reason to be here,” Hee-jin spoke hesitantly, she never liked speaking in front of crowds.

“Alright, now that we’ve met the cousins, let’s move on to the other contestants.” One by one Junmyeon pointed to the contestants, giving them the time to introduce themselves.

“I’m Dia. I’m here for the money. Oh, and I’m twenty-two,” a redheaded girl spoke simply. Her face remained rather cold, not quite showing how nervous she really was to be there.

“Byun Baekhyun, here for the games. It’s gonna be fun!” The boy smiled happily as he introduced himself. He clearly was comfortable being in front of cameras and happy to be there.

“I’m Jaelyn, 24 years old and here to steal everyone away.”

“Steal everyone away?” Junmyeon said surprised and the girl nodded with a smile.

“My friends said I always go after their crushes and that this would be the perfect game for me,” she explained with a grin.

“That certainly does seem to be the case. But make sure to also try and find your perfect match, or you’ll just be sabotaging yourself.”

“I’m JB, I’m 23 and here to get some money and have some fun as well. The games seem like fun, like this other guy also said.” He nodded to Baekhyun once as he spoke. The small boy was right, the games were definitely a good enough reason to participate in this show.

“I’m Sungyeol, and I’m here to find my perfect match. I thought it would be a good way to meet new people and have an amazing holiday as well~” A tall boy introduced himself, smiling at the other contestants as he did.

“Nothing beats a holiday at a tropical island,” A boy with dyed red hair agreed. “I’m Mark, 22 and here for fun. I doubt I’ll find a perfect match, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try!”

“So many reason for joining our show and so many different people. I’m sure you guys at home are already having trouble remembering everyone’s names, but don’t worry, we will make sure to put name-tags with them every once in a while. On the other hand, our contestants will have to remember everyone by themselves. Nineteen names to remember is going to be quite the task. Are you confident?” Junmyeon pointed to the next boy to introduce himself.

“Of course I am. I’m Hoya, I’m 24 and here to win this game.” The boy looked quite sure of himself staring straight at the host as he spoke. Junmyeon just smiled.

“That’s good to hear, and the best of luck,” he replied before pointing to the next contestant.

“I’m Hye, I’m 20 and here to find the perfect match in this sunny beach house,” the girl smiled as she introduced herself.

“I’m Elea, also 20 and here to make new friends. I don’t believe in perfect matches, but it seems like fun to try.”

“My name is Chanyeol and although everyone seems to be rather skeptical about the perfect matches, I’m sure it will work out. I’m looking forward to meeting my perfect match,” He winked at the camera, before looking down rather embarrassed.

“Hi everyone, I’m Kimmi, I’m 21 and here to have a great time, and find the perfect match as well. Getting the money is a nice bonus. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone.”

“I’m Kim Sunggyu, I’m probably the oldest here, but I feel like getting to meet your perfect match is a great chance and doing it in this way is a nice challenge as well.”

“I’m Yerin, I’m 25 and here to have a blast.”

“My name is Seulyi, I’m 21 and I’m here for my perfect match.” The girl was already looking at one of the boys, clearly interested in the handsome man.

“I’m Nam Woohyun, and I’m here to meet lots and lots of pretty girls. Which I’m sure is gonna happen, with so many pretty ones in front of me right now,” he chuckled as he spoke, his words causing quite a few of the girls to frown.

“I’m Myungsoo, here for the money,” the next boy stated. Seulyi was watching his every move, but she wasn’t the only one who seemed to be interested in the handsome boy.

“I’m Park Seong Yeon, I’m here because my friends said it would be good for me. And I would like to win the money.” The girl stepped back in line quickly.

“I guess I’m the last one then,” A small, smiley boy said. “I’m Xiumin, I’m 25, yes, I know, I look younger, because I’m tiny. I’m here to meet my perfect match.”

“So, will our contestants be able to find their perfect matches? In each of the ten weeks, they’ll have a challenge. One week, the boys have a challenge, the next, it’s up to the girls. The top three performers get to choose one person to take on a date. The remaining contestant can choose one couple to go into the truth booth, where they will find out if they are a perfect match. If they are a perfect match, they’ll go to another villa, were they can get to know each other better in privacy, only coming back here for the match ups. These match ups are at the end of the week, and you will find out how many perfect matches you have found. Everyone chooses a partner and we will reveal how many of them are perfect matches. But it is up to you guys to find out which are and which aren’t perfect matches. Good luck and try to get to know each other. I’ll see you again on Wednesday for our first challenge.”

With that, Junmyeon left, leaving the twenty contestants standing there rather awkwardly in front of each other.

“How about we go explore the villa?” Kimmi suggested and they all walked towards it. From the garden, they passed a large pool before reaching the villa.

“So extravagant,” Seong Yeon muttered.

“This is gonna be good,” Chanyeol said with a smile.

“How come this villa is so large, and we don’t even have private bedrooms?” Hoya complained. He had already passed the others, and now found himself in one of the upstairs bedrooms, five beds arranged next to each other.

“We have to share?” Mark asked, only now reaching the door.

“It’s gonna be fun, like a slumber party!” Xiumin stated.

“Five beds. Are all bedrooms like that?” Dia asked.

“Let’s check?” Seulyi suggested and the girl nodded. Together they scouted the halls, opening door after door.

“There are four bedrooms with five beds each. There are also four bathrooms, so that’s something,” Dia told the others when they returned, Seulyi nodding.

“I guess we should decide who sleeps where, then,” Sunggyu stated.

“It doesn’t really matter, right?” Sungyeol said with a shrug.

“Right, we can just sleep wherever,” Woohyun agreed.

“Let’s make the first two boy bedrooms and the second two for the girls?” Hyun Mi suggested.

“I don’t get to sleep with you?” Woohyun asked with a pout, making the girl blush a little.

“Of course not!” she quickly replied.

“Alright let’s just draw straws or something to decide. It’s not like we know each other,” Elea suggested, before quickly adding: “But if you rather do it another way, that’s fine too.”

“No, it sounds good,” Kimmi agreed.

“Alright, I’ll make some,” Yerin said. She got a piece of paper, writing A and B on it, then tearing it into ten pieces. Five with an A and five with a B.

Soon it was decided. The first boy room was now occupied by Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Sungyeol, Sunggyu and Hoya. The remaining five, Xiumin, Myungsoo, Woohyun, Mark and JB shared the room across the hall. The cousins were divided over the two rooms; Hee-Jin sharing with Dia, Hye, Jaelyn and Kimmi while Hyun mi shared with Seulyi, Elea, Yerin and Seong Yeon.

“So what to do next?” Woohyun asked his roommates once they had finished putting their stuff in their room.

“He said we should get to know each other, right? So we could play a game or something?” Xiumin suggested.

“How about truth or dare?” Mark suggested.

“Oh that sounds like a great idea!” Woohyun exclaimed excitedly.

“Let’s go ask the others if they are done unpacking, so they can join,” JB suggested and Xiumin had already left the room, excitedly knocking on the door of the room next to theirs.

“We’re going to play truth or dare, are you joining?”

It was Hee-Jin who opened the door.

“You’re gonna play a game?” she asked the boy, who nodded happily.

“I’ll join,” she then stated. “How about you guys?”

“I don’t feel like it,” Jaelyn commented simply.

“Why not? It sounds like fun. I’m in!” Kimmi replied, already getting up, Hye following her example.

“How about you… Dia?” Hee-Jin asked carefully. She was pretty sure she had remembered everyone’s name, but was still a bit nervous to use them in case she was wrong.

“I don’t like the game, so I’ll pass. Have fun.”

“They are no fun,” Xiumin pouted and softly poked the girl at the door.

“Come on, let’s go get the others.”

Together, Xiumin and Hee-Jin went knocking on the other doors, making all of them follow them to the living room for the game of truth or dare. In the end,  thirteen of them had gathered for the game.

“They’re boring. Why are four of the girls missing?” Woohyun complained.

“If they don’t want to play, they don’t want to play,” Hyun Mi retorted.

“Let’s just have fun with all of us,” Seulyi agreed.

“It will definitely be fun!” Sungyeol stated.

“Everyone is talking through one another, I can barely keep up,” Hye muttered quietly, and decided to get some drinks and snacks from the kitchen, before the game would start.

“Who’s gonna start?” Baekhyun asked once Hye had returned.

“Let Mark start, since he thought of this game,” JB suggested.

“Alright, so Mark, truth or dare?” Chanyeol instantly fired the question at the redhead.

“Let’s start off easy with truth,” the boy replied with a smile.

“Out of the girls currently playing truth or dare with us, who do you like the most?” Chanyeol then asked.

“The most? She has to be playing, right?” When the boy nodded, Mark seemed to be thinking for a while.

“Alright, but since I barely know you this is just based on looks. Wait, maybe saying that is even more rude. Anyway, out of everyone here, I guess it’s you.” He pointed his finger at a girl at the other end of the table. The girl looked shocked at first, then pouted.

“You say that, but you already forgot my name, didn’t you?” Kimmi complained.

“Eh? Of course not. I wouldn’t forget that,” Mark tried, looking to his left and right for help.

“It’s hard to remember everyone’s name at once, Kimmi,” Hye stated, and Mark smiled at her in thanks.

“I know it’s hard, but shouldn’t he at least know the names of the ones he is interested in,” the girl muttered.

“I agree. You would definitely know them if you like them,” Seulyi agreed.

“Which means you don’t know any of the girls’ names?” Baekhyun asked.

“What does that have to do with anything?” JB asked.

“Well, since there’s no way someone is interested in the same … If they were, this game would become ten times more difficult,” Chanyeol explained and he and Baekhyun high fived.

“Interesting. So if they know my name, they are interested in me?” Sungyeol asked.

“Or just have a good memory,” JB commented.

“That’s boring! Let’s keep it at interested,” Woohyun interrupted.

“Are we going to continue playing or what?” Xiumin asked.

“Then let’s go to you, truth or dare?” Mark instantly asked. The boys eyes widened, then he seemed to think for a while.

“I’ll do dare. Truth is too boring.”

“Dare it is, then. Alright, let’s see… Kiss the girl on your right?” Mark suggested. The small boy blushed a little then nodded before softly pecking Seulyi on her cheek.

“You never said it needed to be ,” Xiumin said with a smile.

“You should still ask me about this too,” Seulyi complained softly.

“So, who’s next?” Yerin asked.

“How about you?” Xiumin pointed at Hyun Mi. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“Ohh, you’re doing dare Hyun Mi? So brave!” Hee-Jin muttered.

“Sing us a song?” Xiumin suggested. Thinking of dares was the hardest part to this game, at least to him.

“A song? Right here? I couldn’t… I’d ruin your ears,” Hyun Mi said softly.

“But you can sing well,” Hee-Jin retorted.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Hye agreed.

“Besides, it’s not like you have a choice, since it’s a dare and all,” JB added.

“If it’s really bad, I’ll join in,” Baekhyun joked.

“Alright, alright, I’ll sing. But you better join in, Baekhyun.”

“Oh, she knows your name! She must like you,” Chanyeol teased.

“That’s not it at all. It’s polite to remember people’s names!” Hyun Mi retorted.

“That’s what they all say,” Mark laughed.

To distract everyone Hyun Mi started a simple song, and like he had promised Baekhyun joined in as soon as he recognized it. Kimmi, Hye and Xiumin also joined in, happily singing the song together.

“You shouldn’t have joined in, since she’s interested in Baekhyun,” Chanyeol scolded them once the song was over. Hyun Mi sighed.

“I already said that wasn’t it. Alright, Hee-Jin truth or dare?”

“Me?” Hee-Jin gasped as she suddenly heard her name. Who would have expected that her own cousin would turn on her.

“Truth,” she then said, without hesitation. That was likely to be less bad than any dare she could get. She definitely didn’t want to sing in front of all of these people she didn’t know.

“Alright. Of how many people in the villa do you know the name?”

“What kind of question is that?” Woohyun asked.

“You’re trying to find out how many people she likes?” Yerin asked.

“I’m trying to prove a point,” was all Hyun Mi said.

“I think I know everyone’s… I tried to remember them all right away.” In her head, she went through the people at the table. Of course, her cousin Hyun Mi, then JB, Kimmi, Xiumin, Hye, Woohyun, Yerin, Mark, Seulyi, Chanyeol, Sungyeol and Baekhyun.

“Yes, I think I know everyone’s,” she concluded, this time more confident.

“So, you like us all?” Sungyeol asked.

“It just proves she’s a nice person. And good people remember other people’s name,” Hyun Mi stated. “As did I.”

“So you know everyone’s name as well?” Hye asked.

“I… well.. Most of them.. I guess,” Hyun Mi mumbled, making the others laugh.

“Apparently, not as good a person as Hee-Jin is, then,” Xiumin commented.

“Oh well, remembering names is difficult,” Mark stated simply. He barely remembered anyone’s name. There were way too many.

“So Hee-Jin can choose the next person,” Chanyeol commented.

“Uhm… Is there anyone who wants to go?” the girl asked. “How about you, Yerin?”

“Sure, I don’t mind. Give me a dare.”

“A dare? Dares are difficult… Give… Give everyone a hug?”

“Everyone, as in, everyone in the house or everyone here?” Yerin asked.

“Here of course,” Hee-Jin quickly clarified.

“Oh good, it would have been awkward going around hugging the others. They wouldn’t know why I was suddenly doing that,” Yerin said with a relieved smile as she got up, going around the table to hug everyone.

“Alright, now that I’ve hugged everyone, Hye, truth or dare?”

“Me? I’ll take truth,” Hye replied.

“Truth it is. What do you think about your roommates?”

“My roommates? Well, I’ve only talked with the ones at this table and they are nice. The other two might be a bit, I don’t know, unsociable? Since they didn’t want to play a game and rather stay in the room?”

“If you don’t want to play games, then why are you here?” Baekhyun muttered.

“To meet their perfect match?” Woohyun suggested.

“But that’s so unlikely.”

“Let’s just continue the game~” Xiumin stated.

“Yes, Hye, who is next?” Kimmi asked.

“Uhm, how about you?” She pointed to Chanyeol. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare of course,” the tall boy said smiling.

“Alright. How about a dance with your favourite girl?”

He smiled widely and got up, bowing in front of Hee-Jin and with a cheeky grin said: “How about a dance?”

“M-me?” Hee-jin stuttered, but when he nodded and held out his hand, she shyly took it.

Chanyeol pulled her closer to him, and they danced a slightly awkward dance, since there was no music. Hee-Jin could only follow Chanyeol’s lead, which was quite unusual. He seemed to go in whichever direction he felt like, without much thought and Hee-Jin had a bit of trouble, occasionally bumping into the tall boy.

“I bet he’s doing it on purpose,” Hyun Mi teased. “But they look good together.”

---

When Jaelyn was done unpacking, she decided to go check out the villa some more. She didn’t feel like playing a game with so many people. It would probably only turn into chaos anyway. She walked around the first floor, but nothing stood out to her. Sure, the villa was pretty big, with luxurious bathrooms and such, but well, it’s not like there was anything to do.

She entered one of the rooms, finding Sunggyu and Hoya there, sitting on their beds.

“What are you doing?” Jaelyn asked.

“Nothing much,” Hoya replied.

“Mostly unpacking,” Sunggyu added.

“You didn’t feel like playing the game either?” she asked.

“Truth or dare is not even a real game. You can never win and everyone loses.” Hoya shrugged.

“I guess you could say that. It’s always silly dares and useless truths anyway. Besides, you’d never know if someone lied,” Jaelyn agreed. She sat down on one of the empty beds. “So you’re just going to stay in your room like boring people?”

“Maybe we are boring,” Sunggyu commented with a shrug.

“Speak for yourself.” Hoya commented. “Besides, you’re not playing the game either, are you?”

“Nah, I didn’t feel like it.”

“Then why are you calling us boring?” Hoya asked with a frown.

“I was just hoping you had something more fun to do than stupid games.”

“This whole thing is a stupid game though,” Hoya muttered.

“Then why are you here?” Sunggyu asked the boy.

“To win, of course.”

“I bet he wanted to find his perfect match,” Jaelyn teased and to her surprise, the boy actually blushed a little.

“So what? Isn’t that why we are all here?” he muttered.

“Or for the money. Or for the games. Didn’t you listen to the introductions?” Sunggyu asked him.

“I can’t remember every little thing…”

“So who do you like so far?” Jaelyn asked, looking at both boys.

“None of your business,” Hoya stated.

“We hardly know anyone right now, so no one I guess,” Sunggyu answered.

“So sensible,” Jaelyn sighed. “Just pick on looks, it’s just a game anyway.”

“Who do you like then?” Sunggyu returned the question.

“Everyone~ I’ll start disliking people later, I’m sure, but right now, I like everyone.”

“That is just as little an answer as ours,” Hoya complained.

“So what?” the girl shrugged.

 “You sure have a better view from your room than we from ours.” She pointed out of the window, a clear view of the pool. “We can only see the front yard, and there isn’t even anything there.”

“Maybe that will turn out to be the most interesting spot, since people will assume they have privacy there,” Hoya commented.

“It’s a good thing we now know there’s no privacy,” Sunggyu replied dryly.

---

“Why am I even here?” Seong Yeon sighed, sitting on her bed. She was already regretting her decision to join this silly show.

“Because you thought it would be fun?” Her roommate said.

“Is that why you joined the show?”

“I guess,” Elea said with a shrug. “But I don’t know… I’m sure everyone is nice…”

“They better be, or this is gonna be hell. I mean, finding a perfect match will be challenging enough as it is. Especially for me, since I’m meant to be forever alone.”

“I’m sure you are not. If anyone is I am…”

“Who do you like so far, El?”

“Hmm… I don’t know. It’s early to tell. JB is kind of hot.”

“I agree. That Sungyeol guy had a nice smile as well. So I guess those would be my favourites right now…” Seong Yeon stated. A soft knock on the door made the girls look up.

“Yes?” Seong Yeon called and instantly the door opened, revealing Dia.

“I was wondering if I could join in? My roommates are playing the game downstairs.”

“Of course,” Elea stated, patting on her bed, and Dia joined the two girls.

“What were you talking about?”

“Who our favourites are. We like JB,” Elea explained.

“JB? I don’t think I remember… I’m really bad with names.”

“You are? What’s mine?” Seong Yeon asked the girl.

“Something.. Yeon?” Dia tried. “And you are… El…. El… No sorry.”

“You’re close though. I’m Elea, and that’s Seong Yeon.”

“You can just call me Yeon, since that’s easier?”

“Alright, I’ll try and remember it this time!”

“You better, Dia!” Seong Yeon said strictly, causing the other two girls to laugh.

“I’ll do my best!” Dia replied with a giggle. “No promises though.”

---

Myungsoo was walking around the garden with a camera. The garden was large and well kept, but not really all that interesting. It was all so standard. Of course it would be, they probably used this villa for a dozen shows.

He was there for the money, but already did he regret his decision of joining this bunch of idiots. Who would start of by playing truth or dare? Everyone was so rowdy, he could hear them playing the game, even though he was outside. He sighed, they were so childish. He looked up when he heard the door open, seeing two girls walking towards him.

“Oh there’s already someone here,” Seong Yeon said as they reached Myungsoo.

“Did you want to see the stars as well?” Dia asked him.

“I was just looking around the garden.”

“Making pictures?” Seong Yeon asked.

“Nah, it wasn’t interesting enough.”

“Maybe we should have stayed inside then, like Elea,” Dia remarked.

“You were the one who said you wanted to see the stars in the first place,” Seong Yeon laughed.

“Since we’re far from home, I figured they would be pretty,” the girl muttered.

“I’m sure they will be, but there aren’t many yet.” The boy stated simply.

“So, are you guys excited about the first game?” Seong Yeon asked them, when they had all sat in silence for a while.

“Not really,” both Myungsoo and Dia replied at the same time.

“So in sync. Why not?”

“Because we won’t get the perfect matches all in one week.. And I’m only here for the money,” the girl explained. Myungsoo nodded.

“The games are just the means, but I’m here for the money.”

“Aren’t there better ways to get money though?” Seong Yeon pondered.

“Probably,” Dia had to admit.

“But it is fun to figure out the matches,” Myungsoo added, making Dia look at him in surprise. Were they both here to figure out the game? She wanted to figure out the matches as soon as possible, because that was fun. She didn’t care about the games and not even really about the money. But in ten weeks, it was almost impossible to not figure out the ten matches, and she would definitely find them.