SOLUM

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My dad hurried to park the car, he'd gotten even more excited as the long ride had gone by and by that point he had a childish giddiness stuck inside his body. It was evident by the way he scrambled to open the door for me, the way he basically couldn't stand still for the life of him, the subtle shift he did whilst weighing on his feet in a restless manner and his arms swinging back and forth, as if he couldn't wait a second longer.

I looked back to my mother who was still situated in the car, although she quickly got out once she took notice of the fact that neither of her family members were left inside. She cleared her throat and I slinked my hand into hers, linking our fingers together and lightly started to swing them back and forth in an effort to make her even the tiniest bit happier, hoping that she'd maybe catch some of dad's relentless goofiness.

The three of us walked hand in hand towards the large building, my heart practically beating out of my chest, my breath getting caught in my throat as my field of vision soon filled up with people the same age as me, waiting by the entrance to commence their new life. A guidance person stood on a small temporary stage, talking to people who wanted to ask any final question before the pairing started.

I looked to my mom, to my dad, another genuine smile forming on my lips before I hugged them both tightly, holding them close to me for the last time.

"I'll miss you, but I'll make sure to call you after the ceremony, they allow that at least" my mother's voice spoke quietly into my ear and I hummed along, of course, understanding that she needed the closure. I'd probably need that as well when my feature child went off and got paired with another human.

It was a great day in many different ways.

I heard of a small creak sounding from behind me and a large chorus of gasps erupted from everyone around me, which I took as a hint to the fact that the doors had finally been opened. I glanced back to my parents one last time, hugging them both tightly, before hurrying off with all the other eighteen year olds flooding towards the entrance.

As I passed the double doors, I was greeted by a girl, smiling largely at me.

"Hello and welcome to the pairing, I'm Moon Byul-yi, what's your name?" the girl asked me, a notepad in hand and I blinked at her once, then twice before opening my mouth, probably looking like a fish while doing so.

"Min Yoongi" I stated and she nodded, writing it down swiftly.

"Nice to meet you, please follow me and I'll see you to an open seat" she mentioned for me to follow behind her and I had to closely stick to her, in fear of getting lost in the already filled up hallway, the sea of people all getting a guide to see them to an available space to sit. She made me venture inside a side door, a bit down another linking corridor and as I came through, I gasped, unable to keep back the amazement filling my eyes, by the mere view of the ballroom.

Chairs were put out in long rows upon rows and my guide toured me to a seat, one that stood on the fourth row, close to the large heightened stage that looked over all the young people in the crowd.

I sat down slowly, my head whipping around every so often because of the new humans filling in the spaces beside, in front and behind me. A person dressed in black came out on the stage, putting out a mic-stand whilst another similarly dressed person came out with the microphone itself, before they both calmly walked off the stage, their presence fading into the background once they got to the stairs, which I guessed lead to a private room for the employees of the government who arranged the whole event.

A wave of nervousness washed over me in a tsunami of emotions, my hand twitching as it laid there rigidly placed on my lap, the other one going up to fix the tie that felt a tad bit too tight at the moment being. I gulped as everyone soon settled down, a certain silence of expectation filled the air and just before it felt like everybody would stand up and say something along the lines of "Ha, you've been fooled this was all just a joke", someone dressed in a cleanly pressed navy suit came out onto the stage. Her polished black shoes clicked as they met and then swiftly left the floor to be put in front of her other foot.

She moved gracefully to the centre-point, where the microphone and accompanying stand stood waiting for her, everyone in the audience sat on the edge of their seats, or at least I bet they did, because I was like everybody else trying to patiently await what the finely dressed woman would say to us.

"It's so great to see so many young minds collected in our humble abode" the woman's voice sounded loudly, so that everyone would be able to hear her words, she took a short moment to glance at all of us again before she opened her mouth again.

"As many of you might know, I'm the major of this beautiful town and I'm here to commence the pairing" she lightly introduced herself and I noticed how some started giving small encouraging claps, although I doubted the fact that she was the sort of woman who felt the need for reassurance.

Either way, a large smile settled on her features by the oddly timed applaud and she waved her hands, to try and stop a full-blown chorus of teenagers clapping from suddenly starting up.

"I'm sure you all know, but I'll go ahead and say the main points right now" she spoke, successfully making everybody shut up again and I listened idly by her entrancing voice.

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