open starter for NAEUN
to: anyone (m/f/nb)
plot: Anyone not married by age 25 gets a spouse assigned to them by the government. You are fine with that: most matches are a success and it’s less effort for you. But it’s your wedding day and you’ve just met your match. You cannot imagine how this was the person they chose for you…..!
It was her wedding day. Well, not exactly her wedding day. There were about four more girls waiting in the same room until they were assigned to their spouse, chosen by the government and legally bonding the couple for life. There was a time where weddings were joyful days that celebrated the love between two persons; Naeun had seen the documentaries from a hundred years ago, when weddings meant white dresses and flowers and vows exchanged in front of the family and friends.
It all changed gradually, the documentary explained, when society began to ask too much of people and most of them chose work over finding love. Eventually, upon witnessing the alarmingly low rate of weddings and, consequently, of births, the government stepped in and created a special minister where they would themselves match people based on the data they’d been gathering over the years. For the past fifty years, loveless weddings were “celebrated” and against all odds, it worked. Not only the birth rate had been on the rise, but most couples considered themselves to feel happy with their match and didn’t consider a divorce.
And, at the age of 27 years old, it was now Naeun’s turn. She was two years late, but she had supposed that it was because the government had not found the “right” person to marry her off to. Needless to say that her uncle and aunt were more than delighted when they’d received the letter asking for the young woman to present herself at the wedding hall on this day: they wouldn’t have to take care of her anymore. She would not be a nuisance to them any longer. Her thoughts came to an abrupt stop when her name was called through the speakers. There was no turning back, now. Inhaling deeply, she stood up and headed towards the door where she would meet her match, her spouse. Whoever it was, she was pretty sure that they’d be better than the two people who had been raising her.
Naeun opened the door, heart hammering against her chest. It was the day life would change for plain, invisible Naeun. But, how did she end up with someone like them?!
