"Remember to stand up straight! And don't forget to smile! But don't smile too much! You'll ruin your makeup."

"Got it," you struggled to breathe as you pulled at the sash that was tightly wrapped around your waist.

You trailed after your mother as she effortlessly wove through the sea of people that crowded the busy street towards the matchmaker's house.

After catching up with her, you started to fan yourself with one hand, hoping that the makeup on your face wouldn't smudge.

"Don't do that!" your mother scolded.

"I'm sorry, mom, but I'm dying right now!" you continued to fan your face.

Your mother let out a huff and continued to lead you through the crowd. She continued to give you instructions on how to act "proper" in front of the town's matchmaker and potential husbands.

But you would roll your eyes behind her back and twirled the umbrella you were holding. You knew how important this was to her. You knew that she was just looking out for your future. But you didn't understand why you had to be married off this way.

You never had an interest in any of those rich heirs. They were nothing but a bunch of stuck up brats anyways.

"Oh, they're already lining up!"

You looked over your mother's shoulder to see a few other girls dressed in a similar fashion, with the exception of having much more makeup on their faces, as yourself lining up in a single file line in front of a fancy gate.

Your mother took you by the shoulders and looked into your eyes, "Good luck. Make our family proud."

You gave her a nod before turning around and opening the umbrella. You quickly fell into line behind the girls and rested the umbrella on your shoulder. You looked back at your mom and gave her a small smile before following the girls into the gate.

---

"So I hear the girls are pretty hot."

"Well, they better be. There's no way I'm going to marry one of them if they're not."

Jeongmin rolled his eyes as he the two males next to him laughed.

"And this is why people call us brats," he mumbled to himself as he brushed off the sleeve of his jeogori.

"They're about to come in," the matchmaker called, as she walked out onto the porch.

All the boys fell into a line next to her, still having their own little conversations.

They fell silent when the gate opened and four girls, all in a single file line, walked over to him and the other men standing next to him.

The girls silently walked towards them and made a line mirroring the boys and the matchmaker.

Jeongmin's eyes swept over the girls in front of him. But his eyes stopped at one of the girls that had a noticeably less amount of makeup on compared to the other three.

She wasn't batting her eyes at him or making cute expressions. She was simply biting he bottom lip and glancing around, obviously nervous about this whole situation.

'Don't worry. I'm nervous too,' Jeongmin thought to himself.

---

'Stay calm. Remember everything that mom said,' you chanted in your head.

You snuck a glance to the side to see the other girls trying to act as desirable as possible. Even though their acts were totally fake and obvious, it appeared to be working since a few of the boys sent them the same looks in return.

"Hwang ______," the matchmaker called out.

You quickly raised her head, "Yes?"

"You will be paired up with Jeongmin-sshi of the Lee family."

A smile formed on the face of who you were guessing to be Jeongmin and he took a step forward.

You took a hesitant step towards him but ended up tripping a little on the end of your dress.

You lowered your head and bit your lip as you heard a few snickers but continued to walk towards the waiting boy.

"Good luck with that one," you heard one of the boys murmur to Jeongmin.

You looked up at Jeongmin to see him giving you a gentle smile, totally ignoring the comment that was just made.

"Shall we?" he asked.

You shyly nodded your head and followed him away from the crowd and around the house.

---

You had your jaw dropped as you took in the scenery behind the matchmaker's home. The trees, the beautiful pond, and all of the flowers that lined the edge of the house. It was just breathtaking.

Jeongmin smiled to himself as he watched you look around in awe.

You continued to take everything in as you walked with Jeongmin around the edge of the pond, forgetting that you were supposed to be talking to the young heir.

"You don't seem like the type to want to be set up by a matchmaker," Jeongmin said, breaking the silence.

You turned to look at him to see him stare across the pond.

"Umm, I'm not," you said quietly, "But my mom is."

Jeongmin nodded in understanding.

"Why are you here?" you asked.

"It's the only way that my parents can officially pass me the family fortune," he said with a light tone.

"Of course," you muttered to yourself. Of course it was about money.

"And, I've always wanted to find the girl that I would want to spend the rest of my life with."

You looked up at Jeongmin to see him looking back at you.

Flushed, you turned forward and focused on the path in front of the two of you.

A blanket of silence fell on the both of you, the only sounds coming from the birds chirping in the trees and the water hitting the bank of the pond.

"So why are you here?" Jeongmin asked, trying to keep the conversation going, "Besides your mom wanting you to do this."

"For my family," you said quietly.

"I don't understand," Jeongmin said with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Doesn't every family want to marry their daughter into wealthy family?" you looked up at the boy walking besides you.

"Oh," Jeongmin mouthed and starred at his feet.

The two of you walked on.

"Did you have a say in it?" he asked.

You shook your head, "But it doesn't matter. I would do it anyways for my family."

Jeongmin stared at you for a while.

"You're different," he finally said.

You turned your head and gave him a questioning look.

"A good different," he smiled, "I like that."

"Oh, thank you," you gave him a small smile.

"Could we, maybe, see each other again?" Jeongmin asked nervously.

"Huh?"

"Could we see each other again?" he asked again, "Outside of that gate and not in these fancy clothes."

You searched his face for any sign of insincerity and found none.

You slowly nodded your head with a small grin, "Sure."

Jeongmin smiled back at you and the two of you continued your walk around the pond.