II.

“You know I wasn’t serious when I told you about bidding.”

Chungha gave her boyfriend an eerily menacing glare who merely shrugged his shoulders like he wasn’t the one who planned all of this. Her voice was slightly shaking as her eyes came in sight with the dreaded words written on the huge logo that was so big that even the ones who had a prominently outrageous eye-sight could make out the words.

STARLIGHT’S 1^ST DATING AUCTION

HELP THE LITTLE PATIENTS AT GANGNAM’S CHILDREN HOSPITAL!

She was suspicious enough but someone happened to add a comment under the introductory part which made her blanch.

Because we are all here just because of the kids, aren’t we? ;)

She turned to face Yugyeom who had that innocent smile on his face, the one that never meant any good.

“But I was,” the boy reached out to intertwine their fingers because he saw that she could need some encouragement.

It wasn’t like she was a scaredy-cat, it was quite the opposite. If anything, she was brave, even braver than him because she wasn’t the one who once went through a haunted house while screaming at the top of her lunges, suddenly missing her mother. It was just that she doubted that Yugyeom was serious when he promised to take her to a dating auction to prove that she was attractive and anyone would die to give money to spend some time with her.

“Come on, it’s my time to prove that you were wrong!” he slightly nudged Chungha’s shoulder who looked like she was frozen upon witnessing that she wasn’t dreaming, she was really at an auction (a dating one!) with her boyfriend. He warned her but she couldn’t believe him because he never took anything seriously. Well, apparently, this time was different.

“You will be too sad when it turns out that I was right,” she snapped herself back to real life as she averted her eyes back to the boy. Then, she suddenly looked down at herself, a shriek making its way past her lips. “I’m not even wearing proper clothes!” she frowned at her beige boots, black ripped jeans and slightly oversized shirt – the one that she had stolen from Yugyeom when he was away on holiday. He didn’t intend to talk her out of her choice of outfit when he decided to drag her to the auction because she was his girlfriend after all.

“Who cares? You will be the most wanted girl tonight. Boys fall for girls with such fashion sense!” he tried to perk her up with a buoyant edge to his voice. She snorted and scrunched up her nose like a five-year-old.

“What? Do you want to sell me to random strangers?”

“No, it’s only for tonight,” he pledged but she didn’t seem at ease, so he decided to explain the aim of the event in details. “It’s a charity thing. Both boys and girls introduce themselves and people can bid on the person whom they like. The money they spend on their chosen one will go the children at the hospital we visited last month. You only have to eat a dinner with someone else but that’s all,” he winded up his speech with an exhilarated smile, trying to soothe her nerves a little.

It was for her own sake and he tried to tell himself that she would thank him one day. Not like she was always this insecure because she usually didn’t give a flying crap about what anyone was thinking of her. On the other hand, she was her own worst critic. If there was someone who wasn’t pleased with her splendid moves or flawless performance, that someone would definitely turn out to be Chungha herself.

For that reason, he was certain that the auction would boost her confidence a bit and maybe tighten the bond between them. Or it would turn out to be a total disaster and she would hate him for the rest of his life like his friend – Jackson – had warned him. (Shut up, Jackson! Unlike you, at least I have a girlfriend.)

“I hope you have some money on you. It would be embarrassing if no one wanted to choose me as their date,” she warned him as she pointed at herself with her free hand. Yugyeom just shrugged it off like the unwanted dust from his clothes.

“Of course! You can trust me, my love,” he cooed gleefully, taking a step closer to her, so that he could intimidate her a little. Not like she could easily be intimidated. “Though I’m pretty sure no one would outbid me. I’m Kim Yugyeom after all,” he boasted oh so confidently and only half of it was a lie. His parents were fairly wealthy, not the richest couple in Seoul but they could definitely afford a lot of things that others couldn’t. He particularly didn’t like to broach up the topic and that’s one of the reasons why Chungha liked him. At least, that’s what she told him when they first confessed.

On the other hand, taking her sudden grumpiness into consideration, he wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he would get this time, so he was relieved when a trace of a smile was slowly forming on her beautiful lips.

“You’d better be right.”

“I’m always right,” he grinned as if it wasn’t the biggest fib of his lie but she couldn’t mind his enthusiasm either. When he pulled her closer to plant a kiss on her lips that tasted like honey and coconut (how she loved those coconut oat bars!), hands wrapped around her waist, he could feel her smiling into their kiss.

Damn, he was one really lucky guy.

Yugyeom had made sure that his plan would go smoothly without any obstacles, small wonder why Chungha didn’t even have the chance to protest. He got his bidder card with a white “22” on it and Chungha got her introduction written down.

He had given the organisers a call beforehand, explaining the situation to them (not so accidentally blurting out that she was his little sister because he didn’t want to sound like a weirdo for taking his girlfriend to a dating auction) and they had filled in her application. Additionally, they also took him on the bidders’ list. That said, he only needed to wait for the auction to start and see how men would fight over “his little sister”, only to get rejected because he would be the one who offers the highest price.

The event started straight at 7 PM when the two auctioneers showed up on the podium, both grabbing a microphone and plastering a charming smile onto their face. Chungha was already in the backstage area with the ones who had applied to be bid on (more like forced to) while Yugyeom was sitting in the audience, not too far from the stage, so that he can keep an eye on his girlfriend. Just to make sure that no one would kidnap her.

“Thank you for joining us, ladies and gentleman! If you haven’t already known, I’m Cha Hakyeon,” started the raven-haired guy who looked like he was dragged out of a business meeting since he was wearing a neatly ironed white shirt tucked in his black pants.

“And I’m Lee Jaehwan,” the blondie cut him off and flashed a smile that could be used for toothpaste commercials, resulting in an excessive amount of interest towards the said product.

“We are here today for our company’s − the Starlight’s − first dating auction but if you all help us to bring it to success, we hope to organise more in the future,” Hakyeon announced beamingly while Yugyeom couldn’t help but stifle a yawn. The two guys’ blabbing was already getting boring.

“Remember that the dating auction is for a good cause, all the money that is offered today will be sent to the young patients at the Gangnam Children’s Hospital,” Jaehwan couldn’t miss the opportunity to repeat what everyone had already known, obviously missing out on the audience’s growing disinterest. The other auctioneer seemed to pick on the little whispering and the fidgeting guests’ slightly judging faces, so he let out an embarrassed giggle and moved on.

“Now that everyone is all worked up, let’s start the bidding, shall we?”

“Thank God,” Yugyeom murmured gratefully as he had enough of his daily dose of boredom. He started regretting his life decisions the moment the two guys’ opened their mouth.

“The first candidate is Kim Seokjin,” Jaehwan called a guy out on stage who confidently walked up and started blowing hand kisses. Yugyeom snorted at the sight but couldn’t deny that a spike of jealousy ran through him when he realised that his girlfriend had been spending the last few minutes with that guy in the backstage area.

“Jin is 24 years old, loves cooking and can cook pretty well according to his profile, has a dog named Jjangu, adores pink and oversized sweaters and loves romantic movies. He’s actually a soon-to-be vet but he’s also fond of kids and we can proudly say that he’s in the best place to help them. Sounds like the perfect guy, hah?” the blondie chortled a bit at that part, earning a reprimanding glare from his partner. He cleared his throat as he realised that he probably sounded like a marketing manager who was trying to sell the most outrageous knitted yellow jumpers on Earth. “So who would like to spend a lovely dinner with Mr. Perfect?” he finally asked the question that all ladies in the audience were dying to answer the moment they set their eyes on that so-called Mr. Perfect.

Yugyeom was sending judging faces in Seokjin’s direction, even though he was perfectly aware of the fact that the other male couldn’t see him. He was too busy with smiling at the reaction of the ladies who looked like they were in the Hunger Games as they tried to outbid each other. In the end, after long minutes of cat fighting and Hakyeon’s more and more impatient (but still overly kind) reminders that the auction had to go on, Seokjin was finally sold to a famous radio host for that night. He didn’t even know that celebrities attended the said auction but now that he thought of it, it didn’t seem so weird. After all, Starlight was a company owning multiple beauty brands and lots of celebrities liked to use their products and were dying to be in one of their commercials.

As soon as Yugyeom rolled his eyes, the next participant came on stage who happened to be his precious girlfriend. Unbeknownst to him, his face lit up like a candle on Christmas Eve, his heart suddenly filled with full of pride.

“Kim Chanmi or − as her friends call her − Chungha is 21 years old,” Haekyeon introduced the girl who was constantly nibbling her lower lip and bouncing from one leg to another. She searched for him in the crowd and when their eyes met, something dangerous lit up in her usually glistening orbs. Maybe it wasn’t the most splendid idea of the year to force her to do something so out of her comfort zone but they were already halfway through it. So Yugyeom gave her a thumbs-up and his best attempt at an encouraging smile. She merely shook her head in disbelief.

“She’s studying interior design at university but she has been dancing for 15 years now. She loves drawing and photography and has a great fashion sense. She’s addicted to coffee, cats, cringe-worthy Korean dramas and kids. She was a volunteer at the Gangnam Children’s Hospital, that’s why she’s here,” the auctioneer looked up from his notes and darted his eyes around the room. “So who would like to get to know her a bit? Who would like to give ₩20000 for a dinner with the lovely Miss Chungha?”

“₩20000? That’s cheap!” Yugyeom’s eyes literally sparkled with venom and not until people gave him stares, did he realise that he actually said those words out loud.

“I have ₩20000 over there,” Jaehwan pointed to a guy somewhere in the front row who held his up bidding card while a smug smirk was creeping onto his face. He had such broad shoulders that it was almost impossible looking over them and that was a big thing since he was fairly tall, too.

Yugyeom almost fell off his chair when it dawned on him that he knew the guy. It was Kang Daniel from his economy class and one of the heartthrobs on campus. Only he seemed to know that this kid had a habit of talking to himself and asking questions when no one was flirting with him.

“I have ₩20000 so far but do I hear ₩40000?”

“I’ll give ₩60000,” someone from the crowd yelled and held up his card.

“Oh how wonderful!” the blondie was jumping up and down like an overhyped cheerleader but before he could say anything, Yugyeom cut him off.

“I’ll give ₩100000,” he yelled, his voice rigid and confident. He sounded like he was ready for war but as long as it was something concerning his beloved girlfriend, he was. He didn’t like the interest the men started to develop towards Chungha, although it was his intention in the beginning.

“Magnificent, young man!” Hakyeon clapped enthusiastically. “Would anyone like to give−“

“₩400000,” a thunderstorm-like voice broke the cheering of the room, surprising everyone with the rude interruption. Even the auctioneers needed some seconds to scoop themselves up and regain their calmness.

“What a generous act, young man in the blue shirt!” Hakyeon pointed to the highest bidder and narrowed his eyebrows in the next minute as if he didn’t want to believe his eyes. “Wait! Is our oh so generous guest actually the one and only Kim Jongin?” he surprised everyone with the mention of the handsome actor who just shyly nodded in response.

The crowd started fidgeting, everyone trying to see the celebrity for themselves while the raven-haired auctioneer seemed like his eyes would pop out his skull. Yugyeom couldn’t care less about Kim Jongin, only the fact that his girlfriend was blushing more than ever. He hated that Fortuna wasn’t on his side; even her favourite actor had to show up, make her all blushy and smiley.

“Oh wow, I’ve never thought that−“ Jaehwan joined the squad of the fangirls (despite their genders, they acted just like his girlfriend when she was watching the Bulletproof Boy Scouts on TV. Oh wait, was that their name?) until one voice called out and the room literally froze.

“1 billion won for the young lady!”

Everyone turned to the owner of the voice who happened to be a chic-looking guy not far from Yugyeom. He looked like he was one of those typical exotic strangers from Korean dramas, so anyone could tell that he wasn’t from there. His tiny frame could have made him look childish if he hadn’t worn Gucci clothes and a Graff Diamonds watch. His chicken legs were emphasised thanks to his tight black jeans while his grey hair looked exactly like the colour of the Coke-flavoured ice cream that was so popular these days.

Upon hearing the high price, Hakyeon literally fainted on spot and only a splash of water in his face could wake him up several minutes later. Until then, Jaehwan announced that the guest with number 54 won the bid with 1 billion won (obviously no one could set a higher price) and tried to calm everyone down, including Chungha who couldn’t stop blinking at the fashionista who had just offered one million dollar-worth money for a dinner with her.

Yugyeom was fuming so badly that it was likely he bursts into flames in the next minute. He couldn’t believe his ears, nor his eyes. What was that guy? A heir of a Japanese business man? The son of the owner of the biggest oil company in the world? How on Earth did he have one billion won? And why the hell did he feel the need to spend it on HIS girlfriend?

Despite his initial plans, Yugyeom was sure that a dating auction was the dumbest idea he had ever come up with. He was so utterly, unimaginably, uncharacteristically furious that he couldn’t think straight when the next participant came on – some girl with the name of Sowon – and he bid on her to make sure that he can keep his eyes on his girlfriend and that damn rich dude. He was sure it would be one hell of a night.