When there is still something warm enough to fight the cold nature of things.

There was no such thing as life choice in our Society.

Decades ago, it came to an overall agreement. Isn’t it so hard to make choices about something that will follow you for the rest of your life? Isn’t it stressing to have to make a choice at such a young age, not even knowing if it will still suit you in the future?

But worry less, children, others can do it for you.

Others can calculate, measure, do all the work, objectively know what is truly best for you, guaranteed satisfaction, or…

…there can’t be any or, it’s always been a success. It always will. The Society is right and knows what It’s doing. It always found everyone’s perfect love match or perfect job match. No failure was known to Its record.

So everything will be fine for me, too. It will be a sure and usual success.

***

“What are you thinking about, Dayeon-ah?”

I turned my head from the sky to look at the too familiar face of my childhood friend Jungkook. For as much as I knew, he probably was the first human being I met after my family. We had always been together since then, sticking around like a 2 for 1 deal.

His parents and mine knew each other since their younger days. Our mothers were friends since they were kids and so were our fathers. It didn’t come as a surprise when both our mothers announced their pregnancy at the same time, not so long after their respective Matching Ceremonies. We then both grew up on the same playgrounds and were inseparable since then.

That afternoon was one just like any others. We had developed the habit of spending every afternoon together after school. People our age, during their free times, would preferably play sports or games in big groups, but we always preferred the sole company of each other. We usually ended up in a quiet park, laying down on the grass to stare at the clouds and talk or walk around the already familiar scenery.

The grass under me caressed my bare arms and I smiled, watching as the bright sun shone its rays on my best friend’s face. His brown eyes seemed like they sparkled every time I stared at them. I could have forever. His light brown locks hid his forehead, moving along with the rare but present appearances of the wind.

I held onto his hand a bit tighter, the smoothness of his thumb that was caressing my skin relaxing my suddenly beating heart. A flash of worry filled his eyes, but I shook my head. “It’s nothing to worry about,” I reassured him, looking back at the blue sky on top of our heads.

I knew to hold his hand like this was something we could get in trouble for. We had just recently turned 18, and this kind of touches wasn't of our age anymore. As friends, anyways. Any sign of affection was now reserved for our future match, which would soon be assigned to us.

There had always been something about him that made my heart and stomach act funny. Even when we were still children, sometimes he would look at me with those eyes and I would feel like the luckiest person in the world. Whenever he was close, my hand unconsciously reached for his, wanting to touch a part of him, to make sure he was there with me. It’s by reading books at the city’s library, years ago, that I guessed that’s what it feels like to be in love. Something we would feel toward our match, they said.

And I knew Jungkook felt the exact same way.

“I was just thinking about the banquet,” I added after a few minutes of silence. I felt my best friend shift beside me, but I stayed in my position, laying on my back and facing the blue sky.

The banquet was a once in a lifetime, something every girl waited impatiently for. It was the day they would wear their prettiest outfit, arrange their hair in the most beautiful way, only to impress the person that would appear on the other side of the screen.

The person that they would spend the rest of their life with.

It could be as much of a best friend or a complete stranger. The only thing we knew was that this person was who we would unconsciously have chosen. They were the right person for us.

I felt the tip of Jungkook’s fingers run on the skin of my arm and I shivered. I wasn't used to any type of touches. It’s like his fingers were dancing on my skin, drawing random patterns smoothly.

“Thinking about when you would see my face appear on the screen?” He said, a teasing tone filling his voice and I couldn’t help but smile. I even chuckled a bit.

“I see your face every day, it will feel just like usual to see it on a screen, too” I answered and turned my head again to look at him, only to see a frown on his face.

His hand moved to my cheek, caressing it softly. I had a hard time not to push him away. He wasn’t supposed to do this. Showing affection was a no-no, even though I knew I was craving for the feeling of him. He removed his hand shortly after, and it was his turn to look up at the sky.

“Tell me you will be my match, Dayeon. There’s no other way, we’re made for each other.”

“I will, Kookie,” I said in a soft whisper, fighting the urge to hold his hand even tighter than I already was. “They watched us since we’re children. They’ve calculated everything. Of course, we are.”

Jungkook nodded at that, his frown disappearing from his face. “You’re right, they know everything…” He whispered, though he still seemed thoughtful.

I knew he wasn’t totally in agreement with the Society’s choices, unlike me. Since we were kids, I noticed he wanted his own rules. He wanted things to be made his way. He wanted to decide.

He wanted to make his choices.

It was probably one of the only things he thought that didn’t make sense to me. It was one of the things we didn’t have in common and that we used to argue about. I gave up on trying to change his point of view when we got older. It wouldn’t do anything. He was stubborn and he would always be.

All the matches around me, they all looked perfect. My parents loved each other to no end. My brother, who had been matched 3 years ago, always told me how it was love at first sight when he first saw his match. She was an amazing girl and fitted exactly with my brother. There was no mistake, so there was nothing to worry about.

I really wished Jungkook thought the same way.

The sky was starting to become a more reddish color when we finally walked back to our houses. I was lucky that my best friend didn’t live really far away from me. Our parents had made a special request to the Society, wishing to live nearby so their children could have more chances to play together. Finding a suitable property was one of the things we didn’t need to think about either, as the society took the time and patience to find everyone’s perfect home.

We both kept quiet as we walked on the silent street. Most of the people were already home and cooking dinner. We probably were not supposed to stay out this late, but we had never gotten any trouble with it, so we kept our habit of watching the sun until the trees would engulf it in their leaves before heading home. Our arms swung back and forth, our fingers barely brushing, as close as they could be, yet still seeming too far away.

We arrived in front of my house first and Jungkook stopped, turning to look at me. A smile painted his face when our eyes met and my lips curved as well. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said to him and he nodded.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

His words echoed in my ears as silence filled the street again. It wasn’t an uneasy one, but it still felt like something was pending, waiting to be happening. My fingers held onto the fabric of my pants, eyes still lost somewhere deep in my best friend’s.

Nothing.

“Good night..” I whispered, suddenly looking away from him and to my house. I turned around, walking to the porch, almost expecting something to hold me in place, but sooner than I thought I was standing in front of my door.

When I turned again, he was still there, standing still, probably waiting for me to get in first before leaving. I was grateful for it, but there was something in the pit of my stomach that I knew I probably wasn’t supposed to feel.

At least, not before I’d be matched with him.

***

I looked at my reflection in the mirror and smiled, feeling excitement run through my veins. My hair was curved nicely, loosely falling down my shoulders except for one strand that was clipped with a nice shining hairclip on the side of my head. For the special event, I was wearing a navy-blue dress that I had chosen myself. Every girl would rent her dream dress for this special night, to then hand it back, not without keeping a piece of the clothing as a memory of the night.

That night was my matching banquet.

I took a deep breath before exiting my bedroom, walking to the common room to be greeted by my parents, my brother, and his match. I smiled even wider and turned around, making the dress and my hair drift in the air. As my father and brother clapped, my mother stood and took me in her arms. I could feel her intense emotions just by the way she was holding me.

“Oh, Dayeon, you look so gorgeous! I can’t believe tonight is already your banquet, you’ve grown so fast…” She moved back and cupped my cheeks. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at me and I took her hands in mine.

“Thank you, mom,” I said, holding onto her hands tightly before looking at my father. He stood as well and rested a hand on my shoulder. He wasn’t the type to give a lot of physical affection, but his eyes clearly showed how much he was proud of me.

I smiled back at him before finally properly greeting my brother and his match. They seemed in love just as much as before, which warmed my heart and gave me confidence. I would be in love just as much. I couldn’t wait for it.

We left the house around half an hour later. It felt odd to be the only well dressed one. My parents were wearing their normal clothes since it was their child’s night, not theirs. My brother accompanied us to the Banquet’s location, the city hall, but had to go home soon after since he wasn’t invited to the festivities. He gave me a small hug and kissed my forehead, asking me to present my future match to him as soon as possible. I laughed and nodded at his request, waving at his match who sent me a wink.

Once they were gone, I stared up at the city hall and shivered. My mother gave me her hand and I gladly held onto hers. “Are you nervous?” She asked and I nodded. My eyes scanned around as we walked up the stairs to the main building. My heart was pounding in my chest, eyes searching for someone, and when I finally spotted him a bit further up, near the entrance, my heart nearly stopped beating.

Jungkook turned his head, maybe unconsciously feeling my eyes on him. Our eyes met and he immediately lighted up, a soft and confident smile appearing on his lips.

Tonight is our night. That’s what the look in his eyes meant. I smiled back at him, taking a few seconds to admire him in his dark suit. It did fit him really well as if the suit was made exactly for him. When I looked back up at his face, he was staring up at his parents, who were talking to him. Just before looking away, I noticed what seemed like a twitch on the corner of his lips, something flickering on the corner of his right eye, but when I looked again, he was wearing his usual smile.

We reached the doors of the city hall and were brought inside. The room was bigger than anything I’d ever seen before. An immense chandelier was hung on the high ceiling in the middle of the room. Tables were dispersed around, where already a few people were sitting. I quickly noticed the girls’ tables were on one side while the boys’ were on the other. Then, around the soon-to-be matched tables, more were dressed a bit less nicely where the parents were sitting. On the front wall were two large screens occupying most of the place, while a little stage was standing in front of them with a few more tables and a microphone.

I was given my table number and I gave my mother one last hug before her and my father went to sit at their own table. I held onto my dress as I made my way around the large room, feeling like my hands would start shaking if I didn’t.

I was aware that my life would probably take a very sharp turn on the second I would see the face of my match on one of the large screens. I had considered Jungkook as my best friend for so many years, but once we’d leave this place, wouldn’t I see him from a different perspective? We would finally have what we wanted for the past years.

Of course, I wanted him as my match, but for all my life he had been my best friend. Was I ready to let go of what he had been for so long? Was I ready to officially consider him as something else than what he had been for all my life? Would this matching make me see him as a different person?

All the girls I passed by seemed so excited by the upcoming event. They didn’t seem nervous at all. They had big smiles on their pretty faces, laughing with each other, probably trying to imagine what their match looked like.

I sat down at my table, sitting in front of a small box with a sticker and my name on it. My match’s ring. We all were given a box in which were a quick description of our match along with their ring. During the official matching ceremony, which would be in eight or nine months from now, we would finally exchange the rings, a sign of reciprocal love and care. We were not to open it before we would get home later that night, even though it was incredibly tempting to just look inside…

I received a tap on the shoulder and looked up from the box, smiling when I spotted one of my friends who sat beside me, eyeing my box before looking at her own. “This is so exciting, don’t you think? The answer to so many questions is standing right in front of our face but we can’t even touch it.” She said and pouted.

I shrugged and eyed my friend, trying to discern any hint of nervousness or uneasiness, but there was none, only excitement.

I had known Yura since we were in kindergarten. After Jungkook, she was the one I was the closest with, so it was a relief she had been seated right beside me. She was known to be a ball of energy, always smiling. Her happy behavior and laughter were contagious. She was the most kind-hearted person I knew. I stared at her a bit, admiring how beautiful she was.

Her long dark hair was falling straight on her shoulders and back, her bangs nicely cut to cover her forehead. Her brown eyes were sparkling with excitement, contrasting with the pale, porcelain-like skin of her face. She had chosen the light green dress and it suited her perfectly. I noticed not a lot of girls had chosen this color, I didn’t myself, but she did and she looked gorgeous in it. I smiled inwardly.

She deserved the most perfect match.

More people started filling the room and the tables were filled one by one. The chatting slightly increased in volume, but not too loud so we could still speak comfortably with each other. I let Yura speak with our other friends that had been placed beside us and I looked around curiously, again trying to find Jungkook among the crowd.

I knew I wasn’t supposed to search for him so much, but I still needed the comfort of his eyes. I just wanted to make sure he was still there, that he wouldn’t slip away.

“Hey, Dayeon.”

The girl on my right side called me and I quickly turned to face her. She was one of my classmate with who I had once or twice worked on projects. I hummed, smiling at her. She looked just as excited as anyone else at the table.

“What do you think your match will be like?” She asked me with a lower voice, giggling a bit. “I think mine will be tall! With short and curly hair! Hopefully, he will like music…” She thought out loud before looking over at me, waiting for me to share my thoughts about my match as well.

My eyes diverted back to the boys’ side, all of them dressed nicely in their suits, hair finely placed to give their best first impression. “I’d rather not think about it, I don’t want false ideas of him,” I answered absentmindedly.

“Aw! Come on, I’m sure there’s at least one thing you see when you imagine your match, no? There must be something!”

When my eyes finally found Jungkook, he was already staring at me. The other boys at his table, people from our class as well, were all chatting with each other. He was quiet, though, staring right back at me.

I felt a shiver run down my spine as well as a weird but warm feeling inside. He smiled at me after a little while. It was the comforting smile he would give me whenever he felt me being nervous.

“There is something…” I whispered, allowing myself to get lost in Jungkook’s dark orbs in the distance.

“What is it?” The girl asked curiously, noticing I’d been staring at one spot in particular for rather long and she turned her head in that direction. I blinked and looked away, letting her search for a bit before she looked at me, slightly frowning. “What is it!” She repeated her question and I simply smiled at her.

“I’ll tell you after the banquet is over.”

She was about to retort when someone cleared their throat through the microphone on the little platform in front of the screens. Everyone stopped talking all at once, and in a matter of seconds the whole room was completely quiet, every head turned in the direction of the stage.

The tables on the platform were now filled with people from the City’s Council and the banquet’s organization. Standing in the middle, in front of the microphone was the Council’s representative. She always emanated this intimidating yet respectful aura. Her smile and the look in her eyes were like ones of a mother looking at her beloved daughters and sons.

“My dearest children,” Her voice echoed in the room and, as one, everyone in the room bowed their head to the stage, a sign of greeting and respect. “today is a very important day to you all, and I bet everyone is very excited to see what the event will bring them.”

Everyone seemed to nod, looking at each other with a bright smile. Yura turned her head to me and I forced a smile.

“Tonight, you will all go home with the box in front of you. In it, you will find all the information you will need to satisfy your infinite curiosity.” There were a few quiet laughs in the room, and the representative smiled. “You will also find a golden ring, which you will have to keep safe until the day of the matching ceremony. It is your match’s, and at the exact right moment, your match also has yours right in front of them.”

The excitement was palpable, everyone in the room getting more and more impatient. Soon the woman on the stage noticed it and let out a soft chuckle. She was probably teasing us, wanting us to look forward the revealing of the identity of the one we would spend the rest of our life with. If that was her plan, it was working perfectly for everyone, it seemed.

But not me.

“Without further wait, I would invite the waiters to fill the tables. Let’s all eat while everything is being settled perfectly. The ceremony will start in an hour. For now, please enjoy your meal.”

There were a few applaud and the woman bowed before going back to her table. The room filled with chatter and laughter all over again. Trays of food were brought to each table and the waiters gave everyone their plates. It smelled incredibly good and looked delicious, too. It wasn’t the type of food we would normally eat at home, so I made sure to enjoy every bite of it.

It seemed to make the nervousness vanish a bit, and I managed to talk a bit more freely with everyone at the table, though clearly avoiding every question about my future match. Yura was one of the most enthusiastic about it and I envied her for it. How could she be so careless about such a thing? How could everyone be?

I knew deep down that, no matter what would happen, I would f