Chapter 6

Sorting Out Priorities

          A day in the life of a member of the matchmaking club consists of waiting, constant bickering and the occasional deliberation for matchmaking, most of the time the requests are easy; some they wouldn’t need to deliberate.

          Lee Seok Min found out that while some people send them request because they don’t have courage to say things that they wanted to say, there are some who doesn’t really take the matchmaking quite seriously.

          They have received requests about getting a date with so and so just because he or she thinks they’re hot. Which is easier to just ignore although most of the time those who made the request are the more insistent ones.

          He needs to tinker with the system again so that they can avoid these petty requests, put more filters perhaps. Trick questions, maybe.

          “Hey Seok Min, you’re here... Early... Again...” Lee Hye Rin, the nameless new recruit from before, barges in and ruining his self-ramblings. She takes her seat by the table near the window, arranging the messy papers on her desk.

          “I’m debugging the system. There are so many useless requests coming in...” Lee Seok Min scans the requests list again, marking the ones he thinks are fairly useless.

          Lee Hye Rin opens her laptop and logged on to the admin access of their website, scanning through the new messages. “Yeah, I saw that...” One of them catches her eye. “There’s one request to date with the club president because they think she’s cool for setting all of this up...”

          “Again? It’s the same person, right? If I found out this person who’s been sending a request for our president, I will hunt him down.”

          “Seok Min, before you actually maim your own computer, have a look at this. The same person has sent the same request to us... It’s the 4^th time this week. This person thinks he’s so privileged. It’s annoying...”

          He stands right next to Hye Rin looking at the request on her laptop. “He’s that person who’s requesting for us to find someone who owns a specific manhwa...”

          “A manga... It’s a Japanese comic.”

          “Whatever, it’s the same thing...”

          She lets out an exasperated sigh. “No it’s not...”

          “I’m not arguing about this with you...”

          “Fine...”

          “It’s an official request; it has more depth than wanting to date our president just because she’s cute. I mean, come on she’s more than cute. She’s dedicated and studious and very very nice.”

          “I’m sorry to interrupt your gushing, Lee Seok Min. But if we’re seriously thinking of pursuing this ambiguous request, I think we need to have this printed out. And there’s another one... It’s anonymous though... asking to be acquainted with Lee Soo Jung, from the Biochemistry Department. Isn’t that—” 

          “That’s...”

          The door to the club room opens, bringing in their club president and Yoo Ji Ah; most likely arguing about something that has nothing to do with the club.

          “I told you it would be better if we have them see this concert instead of that awful candle lit date Seok Min came up with. They’re friends; it would be really awkward if you set them up like that... Best to have them go somewhere they would be able to act like themselves. Confessions should not be forced and it would be obvious it’s a set up since you’ve spoken to both of them about it. I think next time it would be best if we keep the matchmaking a secret so that it would look more naturally done.”

          “Thank you for the vote of confidence, Ji Ah...” said Seok Min, sourly. “And when exactly have you been an expert in match-making?”

          “You should definitely go out sometimes... mingle with real people. It would give you a really good insight on them.” Yoo Ji Ah smiles her winning smile, one Lee Seok Min hates seeing being directed on him.

          “Very funny...” He walks towards the printer to get their requests. “So I guess I’ll have to cancel that restaurant reservation.”

          “Sorry, Seok Min. Maybe we can use that reservation for another request...” Lee Soo Jung suggested, taking the request papers from Seok Min.

          “Good idea, there is one right there...” Lee Hye Rin signals Seok Min to have the printed papers laid on the table ready for the meeting.

          “Where’s Seung Hee?” the club president asks as they sit around the meeting table.

          “I’ve asked her to get some supplies. She’d probably be here any second...”

          “Thanks Seok Min... Oh and would you be able to come with me to the concert Won Woo and Myeong Eun would be attending?”

          “Soo Jung-nim, it would be an honour...”

          The rest of the club members roll their eyes at the fan boy.

          “I’m back with the supplies. I’ve decided to get coffee too.”

          “Ah, have I told you that I love you Hyun Seung Hee. I haven’t had my coffee fix since Introduction to Architecture class...”

          “Let’s start before Ji Ah squeezes the life out of Seung Hee. The print outs lists two new requests from our website. We don’t have specifics for the first one only that the requester is looking for someone who owns a specific manga.” Lee Hye Rin itinerates. “I’m thinking the sender probably sent it accidentally, since we don’t do lost and found here... but seeing that he’s constantly made a request four times in a row, Seok Min and I thought we’d bring it up on the club meeting.”

          “No, it’s... legit. I’ve gotten the request directly. We’ll have to find the person he’s requesting first; then we can do our job.” Lee Soo Jung explains, marking the request as pending. “Have the entire request pulled up, Seung Hee. We’ll have to get details from the one who sent the request, have an interview scheduled for him.”

          “Will do, president.” Seung Hee jots down the instructions and sent a scheduled interview to the requester. “Done, just waiting for a confirmation.”

          “Now that we have that out of the way, what’s the next request?”

          “The second request is for—“ Lee Hye Rin continues.

          “Biochemistry Major, Lee Soo Jung...” Yoo Ji Ah reads, unable to contain her laughter.

          “That’s me...”

          “It’s definitely you...” Ji Ah and the rest of the club members except Lee Seok Min are doubling over in laughter.