The Top Prize (3)
The Top Prize (3)
He lifted the glasses from his face, letting them slide away.
Unruly bangs fell softly, settling over his brow. Even with his eyes closed, the sharp lines of his features were strong—fierce contours now laid bare.
Clack. Clack.
Baek Woo-jin folded the glasses and tucked them away inside his jacket. Then he swept his disheveled hair back and looked.
Within those fierce, harsh eyes, a pair of golden irises glowed softly.
Like the exalted ones above the sky, his gaze shone. The moment they glimpsed their own reflections in those world-weary, greed-tinged eyes, everyone who met his gaze bowed their heads and lowered their own eyes. Their bodies simply obeyed. It was only natural—except for the very few who had been granted permission.
Slide.
"......?!"
A large, warm hand gently cradled her palm, and Baek Ha-na flinched despite herself.
She had imagined this moment dozens, hundreds, thousands of times. She had steeled herself. But now, facing him again—facing his eyes again—her heart began to pound as if it might burst.
In a hall so quiet that even breathing had fallen silent, her heart thundered absurdly loud.
The thought that its deafening beat might travel through their lightly touching hands mortified her. Yet what Baek Woo-jin did next bleached Baek Ha-na's mind so completely white that even that fear vanished.
Slowly, very slowly, he bent at the waist and brought his face close above her hand—then pressed his lips to her already burning skin.
Fwoosh─!!
Above Baek Ha-na's head, now flushed an impossible red, a pair of pure white beast ears revealed themselves.
Baek Woo-jin, lips still brushing the back of her hand, tilted his head up just enough to meet her eyes.
"I gladly accept your proposal."
His rich voice rippled softly through the entire hall.
"Ah, uh......."
Baek Ha-na's body temperature spiked sharply. But Baek Woo-jin did not stop there.
Softly.
His large hand closed carefully around the small hand it had lifted.
Thump─!! Thump─!! Thump─!!
It was just holding hands.
She had slept beside him. She had been held in his arms. And yet this—just the clasp of his hand—sent a kind of electric thrill through Baek Ha-na that she had never once felt before.
"Shall we go."
"...Y-yes......."
Baek Ha-na matched her steps to Baek Woo-jin's as he stood beside her, and together they moved forward.
Click-clack─ Click-clack─
The sound of her heels, charged with tension, spread throughout the hall: a strong, yet bashful resonance.
The students who had kept their heads bowed now parted instinctively, clearing a path for them.
Tap.
Once they reached the center of the hall, Baek Woo-jin flicked his fingers lightly. The musicians, who had also kept their heads down, raised them.
No words were needed.
The moment they saw the man and woman standing at the heart of the hall, the musicians began to play as if entranced.
A bright, gentle melody filled the silent hall.
Slide.
"Hyat......?!"
Dazed, Baek Ha-na jerked again at the sudden pressure of Baek Woo-jin's hand against the small of her back.
'I-I think I'm going to die......!!'
Was it because the dress was so thin?
She could feel the heat of his hand against her back with excruciating clarity, as though he were touching bare skin.
"Baek Ha-na."
"......?!"
Head bowed, completely lost, Baek Ha-na's gaze shot up reflexively at his call.
Blue eyes swirling with tangled emotion met softly glowing gold.
"Relax your body."
"R-relax......."
How was she supposed to do that again...?
Her mind had practically stopped.
But she could not even hold that thought for long.
Firm.
"......?!"
His large hand grasped her waist and drew her into him. Like iron pulled to a magnet, Baek Ha-na settled into his embrace.
"Just entrust yourself to me. Slowly."
"...Y-yes."
She ducked her head shyly, her face blazing crimson.
If she looked at his face any longer, she truly felt her heart would burst.
"Your eyes should be on me."
"Th-that......."
But his smooth voice forced her chin back up.
'What do I do...... I'm so happy... I feel like I might die.......'
She loved the way he looked at her, and only her.
The fact that he had reached for her first—that he was holding her first—made her heart feel as though it would shatter. The joy was so sharp it was almost painful. But she could endure this kind of pain for eternity. In truth, she wished this moment would last exactly that long.
"Baek Ha-na."
"......."
Contrary to her fervent wish, her instincts recognized the melody was nearing its end. She gazed up at him intently, desperate to remember this moment—the way he looked only at her.
"You are beautiful."
"......!!"
That single phrase pierced her heart and sent her emotions soaring to their peak.
Slip.
The hand that had held Baek Ha-na's waist gently released her. At the same moment, she realized the music that had filled her ears had stopped.
"However."
"......?"
Still dazed with deep regret and simmering emotion, Baek Ha-na's eyes wavered as she looked up at Baek Woo-jin.
"Do not show this to too many others."
He removed his own coat and draped it over her shoulders.
"Answer."
"...Y-yeah."
Not even registering her own lapse, Baek Ha-na clutched the coat around her shoulders and nodded bashfully.
Tap.
Baek Woo-jin retrieved his glasses from inside his jacket and put them back on.
At once, the bangs that had been swept up and neatly arranged fell limp, transforming back into their usual disheveled state as if by magic.
"I'll escort you back. Hold on."
"......Yeah."
One hand clutching Baek Woo-jin's coat, her tail swaying beneath her dress, Baek Ha-na gazed at him with dreamy eyes and took his hand.
Click-clack─ Click-clack─
Unlike before, the sound of her now-relaxed heels drifted through the hall.
**
Considerable time passed after Baek Woo-jin delivered Baek Ha-na to Nam Seo-hee's side and then slipped among the professors in search of Jaden. Soft music still played, yet not a single student had paired off. None of them had even thought to.
Because in that fleeting instant,
the image of one man had been seared too intensely into their minds.
Because of him, most of the female students simply stared blankly toward where the professors stood. The male students kept their heads down, sighing endlessly, and First Prince Arthur had fled the party long ago as though making an escape.
'Ahh... is this what they call love at first sight...?'
Yuzuki Mio pressed a hand against her pounding chest and let out a heated breath. It was hardly proper behavior to display in public, but if she didn't do at least this much, the feelings that had welled up so suddenly threatened to overflow.
Not that anyone around her noticed. No—no one had the presence of mind to notice.
'Damn it...... what the hell, why is my heart racing like this......!!'
Ekaterina, the representative of Russia known as the Blood-Soaked Bear, was shaken by her own heart hammering wildly even though this was not a combat situation.
'Professor Baek Woo-jin.......'
Those golden eyes that glowed faintly, like gods descended upon the mortal world.
The moment Yoon I-seul met that mysterious gaze, a chilling sensation shot through her—as though everything she was might be stolen away. And she, who pursued strength above all else, found herself captivated by the thrill of that fleeting instant.
'Insane...... how can a person look like that...?'
Na Ju-hee was simply and utterly infatuated with his appearance.
While everyone else stood half-entranced.
Sway-sway─
Baek Ha-na nuzzled her cheek against the black coat and wagged her tail.
Watching her, Nam Seo-hee thought:
'I can understand Ha-na's feelings.'
At first, she had found it puzzling—how could someone harbor romantic feelings for the person who had raised them, almost like a parent? But now she saw it differently.
He hadn't taken her in when she was a tiny child. He didn't age. He possessed looks that defied all reason. Under those conditions, wouldn't it actually be stranger not to develop such feelings?
...That was the thought that crossed her mind. His appearance really was that excessive.
Nam Seo-hee had once fallen for Baek Woo-jin at first sound—just his voice—when Ha-na had invited her to the manor.
But unlike everyone else, the moment she had seen his face, she had been able to let go of those feelings with remarkable finality.
More precisely, it was watching him dance with Baek Ha-na that made her understand.
'...The way he looked at her was completely different from how he looks at us.'
Nam Seo-hee had been among the very few permitted to witness Baek Ha-na and Baek Woo-jin's dance. She had seen with crystal clarity the gulf between the gaze he fixed on Baek Ha-na, and the gaze he turned upon everything else.
Sway-sway─
'She's utterly smitten.'
Anyone could tell from her expression that she was a girl in love—wrapped tightly in that black coat.
'Ha-na will be happy if I send her the video of their dance.'
Nam Seo-hee had captured every moment on her smartphone, from start to finish, without missing a single scene.
She had no intention of leaking it to anyone outside. She had recorded it only to share with the friends who couldn't be here.
But Nam Seo-hee did not know.
Inside her pocket, her smartphone's screen was flickering on its own.