<Welcome to the Marriage Introduction Agency> Is Real Marriage Possible? [3]

Wedding Invitations from Friends

Gaining experience in being single? It's easier than you think.

I work hard, go on occasional blind dates, and if they don't work out, I fill my time with various hobbies.

I go on diets and change my style. If I just stumble a couple of times a year, the candles on my birthday cake increase in a flash.

“Guys, I've set a date.”

It was the winter of December, before the year changed.

A friend, who I didn't even know was dating, suddenly announced that she had set a wedding date.

I was so shocked that I even asked if she was pregnant.

She said she got proposed to after 100 days of dating.

“Oh? I got a wedding invitation too.”

“Really? I've set a date for next year too.”

At 29 years old, as if they had made a pact, my friends got married one after another with a few months in between.

Now, out of 8 friends, only 3 of us are single, including me.

I guess I'll get married around 30.

It was a vague but unquestioning certainty.

The anxiety, uneasiness, and pressure of feeling like I'm falling behind everyone else.

But I didn't want anyone to know that I felt this way.

They say there's a lid for every pot. I hated that saying.

Is my match even in Seoul? Is he abroad? Has he even been born?

When I saw couples walking by, I felt resentful that they all had their partners, but why didn't I?

I'm not against being single. I didn't have any desire to live a cool life alone.

I wanted to meet someone I loved, fall in love, get married, have adorable children.

Just like the big lie that you lose weight in college, the idea that you naturally get married as you get older was a lie.

And the fact that I couldn't catch the bridal bouquet.

That spot was taken by another friend who would be getting married next.

The older single women around me cried about being lonely whenever they drank,

but the next day, they went back to their normal lives. We all pretended not to know, avoiding awkward consolation.

My married friends told me that I'd find someone good soon.

That winter night when I received four wedding invitations at once, I cried a lot.

I can't stay in despair forever. What's wrong with me? I just haven't met the right person yet.

I was confident that I was at least presentable enough that no matchmaker would feel apologetic about me.

So I took off the mask of indifference and actively asked people around me to set me up.

To introduce me to someone good if they knew anyone.

The response was positive. Everyone, whether directly or through multiple connections, was eager to set me up on blind dates.