May the love perpetuate even after life has given all it has to offer

I probably cried myself to sleep because when I opened my eyes again, the sun was already up, its rays passing through my thin curtains and filling the room with lights I didn’t want to see. I was a few minutes early, the clock showing there was still a bit of time left before my alarm. By how exhausted I was, I knew I hadn’t slept a lot.

I wasn’t feeling much when I woke up. It was like something up all the mix of emotions I was feeling when I fell asleep. I thought having my mind filled with Jungkook still would bring back the pain of refusing his proposition but there was nothing, no tears, only an incredibly large sense of emptiness.

I had a hard time covering my dark circles and swollen eyes but I managed to look somewhat presentable when I put my day clothes and walked downstairs for the breakfast. My parents were already up, preparing the food and coffees when I walked into the kitchen. My mother immediately lighted up when she saw me and I knew she had gotten some news concerning my match just by the look she was giving me.

“Dayeon! I got a message this morning saying you’ll be having your first meeting with your match scheduled today!”

Any normal girl would have jumped around the house, have her heart pound in her chest out of excitement, but I stayed completely stable, a simple smile forcing its way on my lips. “That’s… That’s awesome.”

I saw how her smile faded with the tone of my voice and I quickly looked away, taking my breakfast and thanking her before sitting next to my dad at the counter. “What time is the meeting scheduled? And, where is it?” I asked before I started eating, giving her one quick glance before looking down at my meal again.

“Since it was decided that you two will be living in the same city as us in the future, your match will be coming here to pick you up and you will be showing him around before having lunch at the central park and spending the afternoon there!” She said, seemingly more excited than I was myself.

Cheer up, Dayeon, this is your future, you can’t ruin it.

I nodded and put a smile on my face again, this one a bit more genuine than the first one. I would need to work on my mind a bit more to convince myself that Jungkook would remain my best friend, and nothing more. Then I could finally accept Jimin as my match. It was what it was supposed to be and it was too late to hope for something else now.

And, from what I knew about the other so far, he seemed like I would get along with him very well. I could only loosen up and give it a try.

I engulfed the rest of my breakfast and left the kitchen back to my bedroom, saying I was going to get ready for the meeting of the day. It was now time to put Jungkook away from my mind and concentrate on nothing more than my match and him only. It was a day I would devote to him and I wanted to make sure to give the best impression possible. I didn’t want to make it seem like something else was on my mind. I couldn’t let him endure it.

It’s only when I sat on my bed and thought about it all that the nervousness hit. And it hit hard. Were my clothes okay? Would my hair be okay? He had only seen me in my most beautiful attires, clothes, and hairstyle that he would probably never see on me again considering there would be no such event again in our lives. This day, he would see me in my most simple self and I had this extreme fear of disappointing him.

But wouldn’t he be in his normal clothes with a more normal hairstyle as well? Wasn’t he just as scared as I was? Probably.

I took a few deep breathes to calm myself and took my tablet. The information key was still inside so I opened the document, once again taking the time to check the boy’s general information.

Park Jimin.

I scrolled down the pictures, read all the texts for a second time, preparing some questions in advance to hopefully not run out of conversation subjects once I’d be with him.

My match.

What was I even supposed to show him in the city? What were the main places people usually went at? The gaming center was one popular place, but we would be grown adults when he would move in the city. Grown adults had jobs and didn’t go to the gaming center, so I probably didn’t need to show it to him.

I sighed and put the tablet beside me, closing my eyes and putting a hand on my chest. My heartbeat was faster than usual, and it surprised me because it usually was Jungkook who was making it beat this way, not any other person.

Jungkook… I hoped I didn’t make him wait under the rain for too long. Hopefully, he hadn’t gone back home too late when he realized I wouldn’t come at all. I wished he would realize that he couldn’t change what was already written down. Why did he have to be so stubborn?

I was taken out of my thoughts when the doorbell rang and I sat up suddenly, startled.

“Dayeon! It’s time! Hurry downstairs, he’s here!” I heard my mother scream from the first floor and my eyes widened. Could he be there this early? I turned my head to look at the clock and groaned, standing up quickly, barely taking the time to check my reflection in the mirror before taking my things and heading downstairs to the door.

Of course, I had to fall asleep instead of making sure I was looking all right for the meeting.

My mother was already in the hallway when I hurried there. She was smiling brightly and I couldn’t help but do just the same. She fixed a strand of hair behind my ear and her eyes wandered up and down before she gave me a thumb up. My father arrived shortly after and gave me a comforting smile. I turned to the door, reached for the knob and, after a deep breath, I straightened myself and opened the door.

Maybe I didn’t pay as much attention as I thought I did when I stared at the screen during the banquet, because the person that was standing in front of me was one of the most handsome boys I’d ever seen before. His hair, clothes, and skin were perfectly clean, his smile was shining and his eyes sparkling.

It was weird seeing him for the first time like this, while I had once seen him on a screen and had read so much about him already. It felt like my mind already knew him, while my body didn’t. I noted that he was a bit taller than me since I didn’t know his height and couldn’t figure it out on the screen.

My eyes continued analyzing him during the few milliseconds I had, memorizing the little details of him that couldn’t be written on documents nor seen from a large screen. Even though I was madly nervous inside, there was this little thing that he emitted that made me immediately at ease being with him.

“Dayeon.”

The way he pronounced my name, how it slid on his tongue, it made me want to hear him say it over and over again.

“Jimin.”

We both bowed our head like we had been taught to do and my father stepped closer. He was smiling, seemingly satisfied with the boy’s first impression. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jimin.” He said, his voice soft and respectful. “I’m Han Yeonil, and here is my wife, Han Dahee.”

Jimin reached for my father’s hand without any doubt, confidently shaking his hand and giving him a warm smile. “I’m very grateful to meet you.” He said, greeting my mother with a small bow of his head and she did the same.

When I looked up from the boy in front of me, I noticed two people with the city’s uniform. They greeted us as well and one of the two, a man, spoke first;

“We will both you during the meeting. You can simply ignore us, we’re just here to make sure everything goes all right.” He explained with a smile. I smiled back, though the idea of being watched during the meeting wasn’t so appealing to me.

My mother hurried me outside and sent me a comforting smile. “Go, now. I hope you two will have fun! Oh, and Jimin, I hope you will like our city. I’ll see you for dinner tonight, Dayeon?”

Both Jimin and I nodded and I waved at my parents before we started walking to the street and I heard the door to my house close behind us. As it did so, it’s like the door to my nervousness got wide open. I wiped my sweaty hands on my pants and went to hold onto the fabric tightly before someone grabbed on one of them.

When I looked up from the street, my eyes met Jimin’s. He was staring back at me, his lips curved and his eyes filled with mixed emotions. I wasn’t able to figure which one was more present.

Care or fear?

I looked down at our intertwined fingers and felt my other hand loosen its grip on my pants. “Hey, you don’t have to feel nervous.” He spoke, his voice soft like velvet in my ears. “Actually, you know what? It’s okay to feel nervous, I am, too. I’m really nervous.”

His chuckle echoed in the street and I smiled inwardly. I looked back at him and saw he was looking in front of him. Not much time had passed, yet I had already forgotten about the two adults’ presence behind us. It was only Jimin and me, walking side by side. It seemed so normal, like a déjà-vu.

“Because being nervous means we’re scared to stumble in front of one another, right? It means we care.”

Jimin nodded to himself after he spoke and I nodded as well, my grip on his hand a bit more confident. “It’s okay to stumble, though,” I added, swinging our hands back and forth slightly. “Stumbling doesn’t always mean failure, especially if you’re with someone who you know won’t simply witness you falling. They’ll catch you in time and put you back on your two feet without a burden.”

I was rather surprised by my own words, and Jimin probably was, too, since he turned his head and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “You’re right.” He said simply. I felt his eyes lingering on me for a bit longer but I kept my own in front of me, suddenly noticing we were getting in the more active area of the city. My touring would be starting very soon.

It was hard to fully push Jungkook away from my mind. Every time my eyes met someone walking on the street, for a mere second I felt like it was my best friend I was looking at. I imagined his eyes filled with betray if he was to see me hands in hands with someone else. I tried not to let any of the negative emotions show as we walked through the main streets.

I showed him all the things I figured would be useful once he’d be moving here. He listened carefully as I told him everything I knew. He seemed interested, which made it easier not to let my mind diverge too much.

All I needed was to enjoy it as much as Jimin seemed to do, then maybe I would stop feeling guilty every time I saw him smile.

***

When we arrived at the central park, there already was a small tablecloth on the grass in a quieter place of the area. On it was a basket that I presumed contained our lunch. We both sat down and I spotted our two chaperones sitting nearby.

“Your city looks very nice. Quite alike to where I live, but still nicely different.” Jimin said while peeking in the basket. He handed me one portion and I thanked him, inspecting my plate before opening it and starting to eat.

The first minutes were quiet. We were both busy eating since the walk made our stomach complain, so I also took the opportunity to search for something to say or ask him while my mouth was full. The tour was over, so the discussion had to take another turn.

“I saw that you’re taking dance classes. What do you do exactly?” I asked him between two bites, smiling to myself when I saw how his cheeks changed colors.

“Dancing is… a very important hobby for me,” He started, wiping his mouth from anything that could have stained his lips while eating. “I worked a few styles, but right now I’m doing contemporary dance.”

I nodded slowly. “You’ll show me, right?”

Jimin looked up at me, his eyes suddenly sparkling. He moved his head up and down, the smile of a child painting his lips. “I will.” He said and I wasn’t able to keep the eye contact. My cheeks started burning just by the look he was giving me.

“There were a lot of pictures on which I saw this other boy with you, who seemed to be our age as well. Is he your brother? Do you have a twin?”

I accidentally choked on my food when Jimin spoke and he immediately frowned, reaching for help but I motioned him I was okay. I coughed a bit awkwardly before freeing whatever was stuck in my throat and smiled at him to reassure him.

“Jungkook is my best friend since we’re both babies,” I explained him and he simply nodded, not seeming any more curious. “My other really close friend, Yura,” I added and he immediately looked up when I mentioned her name. “She’s your friend’s match, isn’t she?”

Jimin nodded again, taking the time to finish his bite before parting his lips to speak. “Hoseok, yeah. You must have seen him in my pictures?” He asked and I nodded. “She seemed familiar when I saw her with you, too. It’s amazing they both ended up being matched like we are, isn’t it?

“Hoseok is a really good guy, and by seeing how he reacted to your friend, I’m pretty sure they’ll make a perfect match.”

I smiled at his words, trying not to make it look gloomy. “They will.”

Just like us, right?

There was a short silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. Soon after, Jimin brought up another subject of conversation and we talked like close friends would until the sun was getting close to the trees. The food was long gone. It was only the two of us on a tablecloth by an empty basket, sharing funny stories of our past.

It was weird how, after a few hours truly knowing each other, it already felt like years. We both discovered we shared a lot in common and our personalities fitted exactly. I would have met him anywhere around, without the Society planning it, and somehow, I knew it would have ended up like this. There weren’t any ways I would have passed by a person like him.

But Jungkook was still there. Creeping in my mind, it seemed like there was nothing strong enough to push him away from my thoughts. He shouldn’t have been there, not at a time like this, yet whenever I heard Jimin laugh, I would see him instead.

Who are you supposed to choose when your mind falls in love someone, but your heart wants someone else?

From the corner of my eyes, I spotted our two chaperones standing up and I knew our time together was over. They motioned us to stand and we did. “It’s time to go back home.” The man spoke and we both nodded, giving one glance to one another before heading back.

Instinctively, I slipped my hand by Jimin’s and he gladly took a hold of it. If I was to close my eyes for a mere second, his hand almost felt like Jun-

No.

We continued our talking as we walked back to my house. During the past hours, never had we ever run out of conversation subjects. There was always something to say, which I was immensely grateful for.

It took around ten minutes for us to turn on my street to have a sight of my house. When we got closer to it, I realized there was something off. Something out of place.

There were too many people gathered around the front yard.

I frowned and suddenly stopped in my track, making Jimin stop as well, both in his steps and words he was speaking when I halted. He looked over at me before following my eyes. “Is it your house?” He asked and I simply nodded. He held onto my hand a bit tighter, but it didn’t fully help to make me feel better.

People gathering in front of someone’s house only meant bad news.

I started taking hesitant steps toward my home, and the closer I got, the more I could see. Many people from our neighborhood were forming a sort of circle. I couldn’t see what was in the middle, but I certainly expected the worse.

My tiny steps became bigger ones until I started running toward the entryway. Jimin barely managed to follow me, startled when I went faster. He tried not to let go of my hand, though, and he probably wouldn’t have been able to let it go anyway, considering how tight I was holding onto it.

The neighbors were talking, but when I was a few meters away I could also distinct cries behind the chatters. I brought Jimin closer with me until people turned to look at me. I spotted our closest neighbor, Miss Kang, and the pain that filled her eyes when she looked at me made me want to hide as quickly as possible.

People stepped aside, letting me and Jimin walk deeper in the crowd. I soon saw my mother, her childhood friend in her arms. Both their shoulders were shaking from the sobs while their husbands, my father and his friend, tried their best to comfort the both of them. My father’s friend had his eyes filled with tears.

When my