Summer Festival (5)
Summer Festival (5)
"Alright~ 100, we have 100! From here on, bidding goes up by 10!"
Onstage, Kang Han-na clutched the mic in one hand and the script in the other, forcing a bright smile as she pushed the auction along.
"110, 120, 130...... 200. Now going up by 50!"
Even as the increments jumped to half a million won per bid, a cluster of students still stubbornly held their number cards aloft. Kang Han-na clicked her tongue at the sight.
'Silver-spoon brats....'
She was so jealous it hurt.
Born with ability, born into a top family. Or maybe the family came first and the ability followed.
Now that she thought about it, ever since she was a student herself, the Magic Department kids had always been on a whole different level of wealth.
"1,000!! From here it goes up by 100!!"
The professor seated languidly onstage right now, waving at the crowd. The golden-haired, handsome middle-aged man: Jaden Martel.
Kang Han-na's stomach churned as she announced his price rocketing upward like a spaceship punching through the atmosphere.
'This is exactly the kind of thing I refused to attend festivals for back when I was an assistant....'
But a stroke of luck had made her a professor, her income was respectable now, and in her drive to personally confirm that human greed knows no bounds, she had gone and taken the stage to emcee.
"3,400!! Any more bids?"
That was four months of her own salary a student was casually throwing away. Swallowing burning envy, she called out to the students and staff gathered below.
"3,400! 3,400! 3,400! Yes~ Bidder number 109 has won our Magic Department's pride and face of the faculty, Head Professor Jaden Martel, for 3,400! Professor, a word, please."
She extended the microphone toward Jaden, who was seated on a rose-patterned chair she had no clue where they had even dug up.
"I'll endeavor to make it time worth the price."
"Oh dear, does that mean you'll be slipping them a hint about next semester's exam questions?"
Jaden laughed soundlessly and rose from his seat. The students beneath the dais snickered and played along.
"Yes~ Well then, I hope you enjoy your time with Bidder 109. Although, it's still raining outside."
"I think that makes it all the more romantic."
"Bleh...... Please go on down, sir."
"Haha~"
Just as the script dictated, Kang Han-na shooed Jaden off the dais with a nudge to his back. Alone on stage again, she took advantage of the students' briefly diverted attention and pressed the in-ear piece nestled in her ear.
"What about Professor Baek?"
-Ah, he hasn't arrived yet!!
The student who had helped prep the stage answered, and Kang Han-na squeezed her eyes shut.
She had worked so hard to pump up the atmosphere, and now the person who was basically today's main event was a no-show. The mood would sour in an instant. People were already on edge thanks to the rain that had started at dawn. The backlash from the students would be monstrous.
Things had felt wrong from the moment the Chairman started squirming....
'Aghhh!! You crazy bitch!! I should've just thrown myself into a Rift!!'
Her assistant years had been so grueling a compensation mentality had kicked in. She had schemed to make some easy money this time, and now it looked like she would be paying in blood again.
'Knowing how he normally is, there's no way....'
The upperclassmen might not know better, but any first-year who had experienced Baek Woo-jin would not dare open their mouth even if he never showed up today. Not that he was the type to care what anyone thought anyway.
'Better stop clowning around and wrap this up fast......?'
Just as Kang Han-na prepared to clear the stage quickly, she flinched.
She realized the murmur of paired-off voices had fallen silent.
...Clack.
Echoing through the now-quiet auditorium, a sound both plain and not so plain at all: the click of dress shoes.
Her gaze turned naturally toward the source.
'He really....'
Watching Baek Woo-jin ascend the stage in an attire utterly unchanged from eight years ago when she had met him in the maze, Kang Han-na sighed to herself. A twisted man with a truly nasty hobby of startling people.
"Your entrance alone is something else!!"
"You're noisy."
The deep voice that had always been heart-fluttering in its own right now struck her ears laced with a faint annoyance.
"Ha, haha~ Please, have a seat here."
It was not anything outward, but Kang Han-na sensed immediately that Baek Woo-jin was in a deeply foul mood. She shed as much of her flighty manner as possible and got the show moving.
"Yes~ The professor who'll close out the festival has taken the stage!! Everyone, a round of applause!!"
Clap clap clap—!!
The auditorium shook as the thunderous applause mixed with intermittent shrieks of "Kyaa~!" from the female students.
Kang Han-na let out a dry laugh at the stage floor practically vibrating under her feet and raised the mic.
"Yes, yes~!! That was an excellent demonstration of just how long you've been waiting for this turn. The professors who went earlier must be so disappointed?"
-Ahaha!!
The students and staff laughed quietly. Kang Han-na went on, stealing a glance at Baek Woo-jin, whose sunglasses still obscured half his face, leaving his expression unreadable.
"Since this is the stage you've been waiting and waiting for, dragging it out isn't something any of you want. Let's begin the auction right away!!"
The script had actually instructed her to ask a few simple questions and invite him to pitch himself to the students. For the sake of her own survival, Kang Han-na ignored it completely and pressed on.
"Yes~ As the final item, the starting bid is something special. Bidding for Professor Baek Woo-jin opens at 200!! Moving up in increments of 10 immediately. If you'd like to bid, please raise your number card."
In an instant, the floor below filled with numbered placards.
"Now moving up in 50s. 550, 600......."
The bid blew past 1,000 in a flash.
"Now moving up in 100s. 1,400......."
It shot past 2,000 and hit 3,000 in no time at all.
That part was not too surprising—Professor Jaden had reached 3,400, after all. But what truly stunned Kang Han-na was that even after breaching 4,000, dozens of placards still hovered in the air.
'Ugh......!! You silver-spoon brats!!'
At most it would be an hour, maybe three at the very longest. And they were throwing this kind of obscene money at a fleeting moment of time?!
What irritated her even more was that the bidders still going strong were mostly upperclassmen. Kids who had never even sat through a single one of his lectures...!!
"1, 100 million!! Now moving up in 1,000s......!!"
The price climbed with no end in sight, and Kang Han-na began to feel a strange sense of dread creeping in.
'These kids...... they're completely insane!!'
The price kept climbing even now.
Shouting the fast-updating figures, Kang Han-na examined the faces of those still in the running.
'Na Ju-hee...... three upperclassmen, and....'
Bweeee—!!
A grating screech blasted from the speakers. It came from the mic crumpling in Kang Han-na's hand.
'Chairman?!'
Standing off in one corner, wearing a kindly smile as he joined the bidding, was An Hyeon-do.
She hastily cut the mic's power and drew up her mana.
"Ha, haha!! Apologies. The mic is malfunctioning, so I'll continue like this!!"
She poured strength into keeping the corners of her mouth from trembling and forged ahead with the auction. Before long, Baek Woo-jin's price reached 1 billion.
-Wait, why is the Chairman bidding?!
-Shh!! Ju-hee!! Staff can participate too!!
-Shut up!!
A few contenders fell away, and Na Ju-hee, finally registering who she was actually up against, set her placard ablaze and ground her teeth.
"Uh, 1 billion!! Any further bids?"
Hoping this godforsaken auction would end as fast as possible, Kang Han-na scanned the crowd.
"1 billion!! 1 billion!! One......."
Swish.
Just before she called the final count, a new placard rose near the entrance. Kang Han-na flinched and checked the bidder's face.
"Pfft!!"
A cool-faced beauty with cascading golden hair that seemed to glow like a small sun, widely known to be Baek Woo-jin's lover.
"1, 1.1 billion has been bid......!!"
Forcing down a cough, Kang Han-na looked toward the Chairman.
'Th-that crazy old man......?!'
The sight of him standing there with his placard raised and a smile plastered on his face sent a single, dreadful suspicion flashing through her mind.
Namely, that he had entered the bidding purely to squeeze more money out of Professor Baek's lover.......
Kang Han-na wet her bone-dry lips with her tongue and opened her mouth.
"1.2 billion...... 1.3 billion...... Going up in 200 million increments...."
In a matter of seconds, Baek Woo-jin's price hit 3 billion.
At this point, Kang Han-na decided she might as well just enjoy the ride. It was not her who would get murdered anyway—it would be the Chairman over yonder.
"5 billion!! We have 5 billion!!"
A sum that could outright purchase a top-tier Artifact was being tossed around at a festival students had thrown together just for fun.
Kang Han-na shifted her gaze to the Chairman, who was frowning and fiddling with his placard as if deliberating. She fixed him with eyes that screamed Please, don't you dare back out of this damned game of chicken.
"5 billion!! Any more? Are you giving up here? Seriously?!"
Maybe the provocation landed.
The Chairman, who had been play-acting at hesitation, smiled and raised his placard again.
"5.5 billion!! We have 5.5 billion!! Now, how about...."
Shouting with glee, Kang Han-na turned her head—and her eyes went wide.
Claire, who had been standing beside the door just moments ago, had vanished.
"Huh...?"
A completely dazed sound. Startlingly, it had not come from Kang Han-na's mouth.
It came from the Chairman—the man who had just updated Baek Woo-jin's bid.
"Kang Han-na."
"......Yes?"
Jolted out of her daze by the voice that tickled her ear, Kang Han-na spun her head around.
"The count."
"Ah...... uh, 5, 5.5 billion!!"
And Kang Han-na understood.
"5.5 billion!!"
That the saying "there's always a sky above the sky" exists precisely for moments like this.
"5.5 billion!!"
The Chairman had succeeded in winning the time with Baek Woo-jin he had so desperately craved.
**
......Pitter-pat.
With hollow eyes, the Chairman watched the raindrops run down the curve of his umbrella.
"You black-hearted......."
"You're noisy."
Standing beside him, Baek Woo-jin snapped a curt reproach as the Chairman covered his eyelids with thick fingers.
"How can a man do something so vile......!!"
"I've no idea what you mean. If someone shows up after I said no, you ought to bow your head in thanks—and even that wouldn't be enough."
"Grnngghh......!!"
The Chairman clawed at his hair before finally letting out a deep sigh and hanging his head.
"......Forget it. Go on with your business. Much as it galls me, a promise is a promise, so I won't be late. Don't you fret."
"I planned to, even if you hadn't said so."
Before the maze, where few footsteps ever ventured. Baek Woo-jin and the Chairman stood right in front of it, holding their conversation.
"But you, listen."
"What."
Baek Woo-jin, umbrella open, glanced back.
"Didn't you tell that Kim Seong-won fellow the rain would stop and have him prepare the fireworks? Yet far from stopping, the clouds look even darker."
An Hyeon-do was right. Clouds that had been almost gray until midday had deepened to a murky, ink-black hue. What was odd, though, was that the droplets coming down still made for nothing more than a quiet drizzle.
"Even you get things wrong sometimes, eh?"
The gloomy An Hyeon-do pulled up the corner of his mouth, just a little, in something needling. Baek Woo-jin stared at him for a beat, then spoke.
"It'll stop."
He turned and walked away.
Watching him leave, An Hyeon-do lifted his head once more and gazed up at the sky.
A night sky thick with dark clouds.
Barring direct intervention from the gods above, the rain ceasing anytime soon looked impossible.
But those last, parting words had been heavier than anything else.
'It'll stop...... he said.'
An Hyeon-do's gaze lingered a long while on the dim night sky.