Mark was surprised to see a letter beside his meal this morning. It was not indicated on his portal that he will receive a letter, so he’s not expecting it.

"That..." Mark's mom said when she noticed the curiosity on his son’s face, “… is your banquet invitation. You know that we will let you decide about it, right?”

“Of course mom, I would accept it.” Mark answered in his usual happy toned voice as he joins his family’s breakfast.

The whole matching process is an option, invitations are sent to everyone whose age is between seventeen to twenty but is still up to the person who received the invitation if s/he will accept it. It’s either accept the proposal, meet the arranged match/partner from the Council then marry when they reach the age of twenty-one to twenty-four; or reject it and will not marry anyone at all. The rejection of Match invitation also means that the right to marry someone has already been stripped. It is indicated by the Council that the two-main objective of the Matching System are to assure that each citizen will experience a successful Family life by providing their most compatible partner, and for them to produce the healthiest possible future citizens for their community.

As expected, most of the population will choose to trust the council, believing that the Matching System will never go wrong.

Everything in their society are using technology. Every citizen has their own tablet, in which the society’s portal was downloaded; it’s the only application that the tablet can have. The portal is where the task, duties, announcements, and individual profile can be found. It is also their means of communication. The individual portion in the portal is where the personal information can be found such as, health history and status, violation (if there is), and society status.

The society status is basically similar to occupation. Population below twenty are all classified as student, people who’s still in training and observation. At the age of twenty, the students are now distributed to different field based on their abilities and performance during their training period.

Mark is too engrossed to his invitation that he almost forgets about the time. Being late is considered as a minor offense; he can’t afford to break another rule, now that he slept late last night, which is also a violation. (Sleep pattern was also monitored.)

Fortunately, Mark reached the train terminal on time.

Looking out the window, daydreaming, and planning for the banquet; that’s how Mark during his ride from their town to the City. He wants to prepare everything he needs and look perfect for his match. The City is as usual as always, everything is in place, order, and peace.

As Mark scans his card in the entrance, Jaemin called him, his friend.

“Did you… did you received your invitation too?” Jaemin said while panting. He ran the moment he saw Mark’s figure, he wants to asked the older about the Banquet.

“Yeah. I don’t have it at the moment, I left it in my room.” Mark answered as Jaemin rummaged his own backpack, looking for his card.

They make their way to their room as they speak, talking for random things, catching up for the school works, and announcements. Jaemin really hesitant to ask a question to the older, but he wants to know what is Mark's decision regarding the Banquet and the Matching event.

“Will you accept it?... the invitation for the Banquet, I mean.” Jaemin asked in a faint voice, as if he’s silently praying that Mark won't hear it.

“Yeah? I don’t find any reason to reject it. Why?”

Jaemin answered it so fast, in a panic toned voice, "N-nothing."

It is weird to ask if one person will accept the invitation or not, as it is considered as an important event that no one wants to miss it. Mark is now curious if Jaemin will accept it too. Even though it is a senseless doubt, he can't stop thinking if Jaemin will accept or reject it. He can’t think of any reason why would his friend will decline it, if ever.

Due to their awkward silence, it makes Mark feels like walking from the gate up to their room is taking up too long; maybe it was just him. He is so bothered with his observation with Jaemin awhile ago. Even though he is hesitant, he still wants to ask if Jaemin will attend the Banquet too.

 “Will you accept th- woah!“ Mark question was left hanging because someone just jump and ride his back.

“What the hell Jeno!" Mark said in his irritated tone voice. He is okay with Jeno's playful gesture, he is so used how his friends act, it's just that his question for Jaemin was cut off.

He struggles to remove Jeno’s arm around his neck. Jaemin, on the other hand, was just laughing at his side and teasing Mark that he should carry Jeno all the way to their classroom.

Jeno just let go of Mark when they heard the first bell. As Jeno jump away from the older, he just flashed his eye smile in front of Mark's face, hold Jaemin’s wrist, and run away from the older. Mark chased his friends as he warns that he will punish both of them.

Mark is a year older than Jeno and Jaemin, but he’s taking one similar subject with the two. Since the three of them are classified as students that will be workers in the future, they all decide to take the same orientation class for the different fields they might be assign to.

In the middle of their class, Mark’s portal blinks to notify that he received a message:

Let’s all meet at the school’s fountain, later during the break. I want to announce something.

Mark read Chenle’s message secretly, as using portal during their class hours are not allowed. He looked in Jeno and Jaemin's seats to see if both of them also received a message. And yes, their portals also blinked.

Chenle is their other friend; a year younger than Jeno and Jaemin. Chenle is part of the students that are not classified as workers, sorters, or professionals; since his mom owned a business, he chose to take classes that focused on about business and how to help the society through it. A lot of shops are owned by the government, so it is not usual to find a private owned business in their society, it also requires a lot of money and connections.

The school cafeteria is too crowded during the first minutes of the break time, so they (Mark, Jeno, and Jaemin) decided to meet Chenle first before they will get their assigned meal for that day.

“So, what’s up?” Jaemin asked, trying to sound cool as possible as he puts his arm around Mark’s shoulder.

As they seat in the nearest bench, Chenle explain the reason why he asked to meet his friends.

“My father just told me this morning that Match candidates already received their invitations.” Everyone of them knows that Chenle’s father is an official from the Matching System department. “My mom just suggested… well if you want, she likes to sponsor your outfits for the Banquet. She’s just so excited about it.” Chenle said sounding too excited about it.

“Wait, excited for what? Are you also invited for the Banquet?” Mark asked, he knows that Chenle’s age is not yet acceptable for the Matching System.

“Of course, I’m not! I’m just 16!” Chenle said in his high-pitched voice.

"Okay, okay, calm down," Jeno said, “Well, we will accept it.”

"I would love it too! Lele's mom is so sweet to do it." Jaemin said, patting Chenle's head at the same time.

After talking for another 10 minutes, all of them decided to grab their meals at the cafeteria.

Mark's portal indicates that he's lunch meal for that day will be lesser than the usual served amount, and will replaced by foods with high mono and polyunsaturated fats for him to recover from his sleep deprivation last night. They showed their nutritional data in the server and they finally get their needed food for that lunch.

"I really need to go now. I will send some message on your portal later about the details for your suit, okay?“ Chenle said in a fast way as he walks away from Mark and Jeno. Their classes for that day has ended, they usually all ride the train on the way home but Jaemin is not with them because he was assigned to help in the school department.

As Mark and Jeno walks on their way to the train terminal, Mark remembered Jaemin's question earlier that day.

"Jeno, will you accept the Banquet invitation?"

Jeno answered Mark's rhetorical question with a blank expression, "Yes, I will."

"Right? Everyone will accept it! I don't know if I am just overthinking, but I think Jaemin won't accept it." Mark finally voiced out those words that keeps on bothering him.

Jeno looked to Mark in a disbelief expression.

"He said that? Why would he?" Jeno said as he frowned.

"No. I mean, I just... I think he will refuse to join the Matching System." Mark explained. He wants to make everything clear, and not to cause some misunderstanding.

"Maybe you are just over analyzing things, Mark." Jeno answered, just to stop the older's train of thoughts, and well, doubt. He knows Mark won't stop thinking about it unless someone assured him that everything is okay and he’s just stressing himself for trivial things. Jaemin never mentioned him about his Banquet plans, so maybe he will ask later.

There is nothing much things Mark need to do for the day other than the assigned readings from his class. It was passed six pm, so he just occupies himself from he’s personal work loads while waiting for his dinner meal.

A beep sound coming from the door caught his attention away from the book he's reading; his meal finally arrived.

The delivered meal was just for him, since both of his parents are still at work. He eat in such a hurry manner, badly wants to go back reading as soon as possible. His pile of assignments are enough to make him forget the Banquet that will happen five days from now. He just remembered about it when Chenle sent him a message, one hour before the designated sleeping time.

"I'm sorry I totally forgot about your suits. Please add to your schedule tomorrow that we will visit mom's shop after class. - Lele"

And that makes Mark feel nervous and excited about the Banquet, again. He can't sleep due to anticipation for the event.

"You need to sleep or else you will get another violation." Mark said to himself.

And before he sleeps, Mark added to his task for tomorrow that he will go to the shop and to officially register his entry for the Matching Banquet. This whole Match System excites him so much, and nervous at the same time. He’s so curious about who will be the person that the Council found that can be the perfectly suited for him.

Hi!

I know the chapter 1 is kinda short(?). Well, I just want to introduced some rules about the society and the characters, a little bit, so you won't get too overwhelmed with the informations. I promise that the whole Banquet details and event will be on the Chapter 2 so the story's phase won't be too slow.

Oh! the other members/characters are not yet mentioned here because yeah.. Mark still not met them /smirk/

And... thank youuuu so much for the subcribes that you gave here even tho I only posted the forewords. I do hope that this story can meet your expectations. /pressured/

Have a great day seasonies! Love you all. <3