Kim Jinwoo stares blankly at rows of car inching slowly in the busy district of Gangnam. People are rushing in and out of the subway exit, everyone trying to squeeze his way through the tightly packed crowd. At times like this, he is thankful for being couched safely in the plush cushion of his Rolls-Royce, but his sense of gratefulness is slightly dampened by the words piercing through his left ear.

"Kim Jinwoo!" A sharp, high-pitched voice reverberates in the car. Jinwoo can see his chauffeur slightly flinching in his seat. 

He rolls his eyes and replies disinterestedly, "Yes, grandma."

"As I was saying, Mrs. Kang has arranged everything and you are going to meet her son for lunch tomorrow."

"Hmm."

"Be nice to him, alright? I know you dislike meeting new people, but you are already 24. Please take this seriously."

"Okay."

"Wear your new Brioni suit and ask Jinhwan to book a hairstyling appointment at a salon before you go."

"Alright." 

Grandma Kim leans back in her chair and tightened the knot of her silk Hermes scarf in relief. She clearly does not expect her stubborn grandson to easily agree to the blind date. Being the one who prohibits them from attending any social events, sometimes she feels that she is to blame for her grandsons' antisocial tendency, but it is not exactly her fault, isn't it? As part of the richest family in Korea, it will not do her grandsons much good for mingling excessively with the low-class new moneys. Only a select few are worthy of her grandsons, and Kang Seungyoon is one of them.

Meanwhile, Jinwoo fishes out his phone and sends a message to Taehyun. "Are you home?"

His cousin's message pops up a few seconds later. "Yeah, why?"

Jinwoo angles his phone away from his grandmother's prying eyes and replies, “Need to talk to you later."

***

The aquarium at the corner of the vast bedroom is emitting an eerie purplish glow. Nam Taehyun clicks his tongue in annoyance when he spots a tiny speck of dirt in the far left corner of the huge tank. He swiftly grabs the phone and dials his head butler.

"Good evening, Young Master Nam, how can I help - "

"Jinhwan, wasn't my aquarium cleaned this morning?"

"Let me check my notebook - yes, the cleaners came at 11 AM. Is there any problem?"

"Do you think I will call you at midnight if there is no problem?" Taehyun taps his long fingers on the wall. "One corner is still dirty. Call them to clean it again tomorrow morning and I'm gonna supervise them personally."

"No problem, Young Master. I will give them a call first thing in the morning."

"Thanks." Taehyun bangs the phone into the receiver and checks the dirty corner once again. His room doors were suddenly flung open, revealing his similarly annoyed-looking cousin Kim Jinwoo in his velvet sleeping robes. Jinwoo's porcelain skin is glistening in the purple light and Taehyun internally reminds himself to apply the honey moisturizer on his own face tonight before he goes to sleep.

"Taehyun-ah, I'm screwed." Jinwoo throws himself on a beanbag. 

"Why? Grandma scolded you again?" Taehyun sits on the rug beside the beanbag and leans his head on his cousin's shoulder.

Jinwoo sighs. "Worse. She's pimping me and the son of the Kang family."

"What? The fund management Kang family? I heard the son is an ultimate goody two shoes. I think his name is Seung something - wait, let me google - yeah, here, Kang Seungyoon." Taehyun points at one of the pictures from a charity gala, "Eww, what an ugly fedora hat."

His cousin sends a brief glance at the phone screen and goes back moping, "Help! I don't wanna be trapped in an arranged marriage with a stranger!"

"Then you should've found someone! You're already 24, hyung. At least I'm still 22 this year..." Taehyun cackles, visibly amused at Jinwoo's miserable state.

"It's not my fault no one here meets my standard. Actually, it's very hard to find anyone who is up to our level."

This time, Taehyun sighs. Being the pinnacle of the Seoul society indeed comes with its disadvantages. It is one thing to be wealthy, but considering the longstanding legacy of the Kims and the Nams in the construction and automotive business, their bloodline is almost considered royalty. When Jinwoo's aunt (Grandma Kim's daughter) married the son of the Nam family two decades years ago, the two bloodlines of the old moneys fused, leaving Kim Jinwoo and Nam Taehyun as the last remaining heirs of the merged conglomerate empire.

"Hyung, we have no choice but to marry someone of a lesser status. Unless you're thinking of marrying me - "

Jinwoo pushes Taehyun away. "No way! That's so weird!" He smoothens his robe and pouts, "Anyway, accompany me to lunch tomorrow, please?"

"Okay, what time?"

"Twelve at Mikuni."

“Eh? No, I don't think I can make it. My aquarium needs to get cleaned. See, there's some dirt there!" Taehyun points to his aquarium. "My fishes are suffering."

Jinwoo tugs at Taehyun's pyjamas, "I'm suffering too! And Jinhwan or Donghyuk can always watch over the cleaners - "

"No! Sorry hyung, but this time I need to see them clean it with my own eyes. I want my tank to be spotless tomorrow."

Jinwoo gives up and snorts. "Fine!"

Taehyun laughs, "Hahaha have fun in your date with mamaboy Kang Seungyoon tomorrow, hyung, don't forget to give him a kiss before you leave - "

Jinwoo closes the bedroom doors with a loud bang and storms off to his room.

***

Barely 1 km away, in the same luxurious residential district, Lee Seunghoon groans, "Not again! Yah, Song Mino, did you rig the game?"

The other man only smirks, grabs a bowling ball and lands a perfect strike.

"You must be cheating! This is your third strike in a row, dude!" Seunghoon flails around, refusing to continue playing.

"I think today's my lucky day."

"Lucky day, my ! You have always been horrible at bowling!"

Mino replies casually, "I asked my mom to convert my indoor pool into a bowling alley, so I've been practicing for about a week."

Seunghoon shrugs. "You can always go to one of your hotels to swim anyway." He is gulping down his Perrier when his phone vibrates on the table. Glancing at the screen, Seunghoon quickly takes the phone and calls Mino over, "Dude, we're getting free kaiseki lunch tomorrow."

"Where?"

"Mikuni."

“Awesome! Then I just need to go up the lift from my office and I'll get free nice food!"

"Are you not gonna ask who are we eating with?" Seunghoon says in disbelief.

Mino turns around to scan their scoreboard with satisfaction and asks absentmindedly, "Oh, who? Your parents?"

Seunghoon shouts, "No, dude, Seungyoon asked us to crash his blind date!"

Now Mino finally starts to pay attention. “Huh? Why would he want us to do that?"

Seunghoon shifts his cap around nervously before answering. "Uhh, because his date is Kim Jinwoo."

"WHAT? Isn't it the super exclusive first heir of - "

“Kim-Nam Group, yes, that's him. I think Seungyoon is scared."

Mino curls his mouth into a smirk. "Duh, this Kim dude never attended a single dinner or party. I heard his cousin and him are both snobbish brats."

Seunghoon nods. "Yeah, I think they only hang out with their very small and closed inner circle. But the Kim-Nam family is really up there. It's like a frigging empire."

", should we not go tomorrow? I don't wanna become his enemy or something. My parents might kill me - "

"Then are we gonna leave Seungyoon alone to deal with his potentially very y date?" Seunghoon throws a towel at his friend. "Where's your loyalty, Song Mino, huh?"

"Okay! Okay! Tell Seungyoon I'll go and give him moral support, but I'll just sit and eat quietly."

"Me too. By the way, lunch is at 12 and dress code is formal." Lee Seunghoon grabs his phone and starts typing furiously, brows furrowed in concentration.

"What are you doing?"

"Telling Seungyoon what to wear tomorrow. If he wears his embarrassing fedora hat again, Kim Jinwoo is gonna leave before he even has the chance to say hi."