“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the tenth annual Adopt-A-Pet Foundation’s charity date auction!” The emcee held his arm away and pointed flamboyantly at the curtains as they began to rise. There was a hum of anticipation as each of the participants slowly came into view, each sitting at a table, with signs lying on them.

            “The rules of this auction will go as follows: Each participant is going to be announced along with a short biography. After, we will present the option of dates that they offer and we will have fun bidding. This is different, however, as each bidder not only has to have the highest bid but also must have a satisfactory enough reason for the participant to accept. Are you ready?”

            A slow, jazz music began to play and a soft pink spotlight shone on the first participant. “This is Lee Eunah, a veterinarian school senior. She specializes in equestrians and is also a figure skater. She owns a German Shepard as well as a husky. Her favorite foods include salads and chocolate cake. Her fellow med school friends have described her as an angel; someone who is always willing to help the group when studying. She enjoys karaoke and if you go on a date with her, you’ll be able to have a romantic dinner at an Italian restaurant and a movie of your choice afterwards.”

            Youngjae eyed the girl and leaned back into his seat. She was pretty, but seemed boring. Besides, he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about horses, so he decided to save his bid. His eyes went through every participant and fell on one. He had a long way to wait.

            Eunah stood up and bowed to the audience as bids started to come in. “Kim Joohyun, fifty!”

            “A reason?”

            “I just graduated medical school!”

            Eunah thought for a second and picked up a giant paddle that said, “Too cheap.” The audience laughed and this prompted the same bidder to increase his amount by nearly ten folds. “Four hundred and eighty!” Youngjae snorted into his hand as he watched. There was no way he would dish out that much for a date. That was just screaming desperate.

            When she finally relented, the jazzy music stopped and switched to a well-known pop song and Eunah, blushing all the while, started to dance to it when her newly bought date came up to receive his ticket.

            The auction continued in much of the same manner, with the bids increasingly getting higher and the reasons more expensive. When they came to the final person, there was a fierce competition.

            “Let me introduce to you Kira. She is a sophomore at vet school and is interested in general practice. She owns two adorable bunnies and plays volleyball in her free time. She sings well and her friends have described her as having a quirky sense of humor and always a necessity during study periods. She comes with a full day date including lunch and dinner, as well as a day at the petting zoo and ending with karaoke.”

            Kira stood up at this time and fidgeted with her dress. Judging from the slight scowl on her face, she did not sign up for this because of the date, but more for the cause. She looked at the crowd and that was when the numbers began to come.

            “Kim Himchan! Three hundred. I was a former ulzzang in high school.”

            Youngjae held his breath. Why had he hesitated for even a second? He had waited all this time, only to lose to an ulzzang who decided to set the bar high? No way.

            Kira’s face twisted for a moment as she thought and then she raised an “Any others?”

            Yes. This was his chance. Youngjae raised his paddle when, “Jung Daehyun! Three hundred and fifty. I trained at a vocal academy!”

            Her eyebrows raised and she picked up, “Nice try, bud,” paddle. Youngjae snickered to himself and threw his arm into the air. They would let him go for sure now, right?

            “Bang Yongguk, four hundred. I have a dog I name Tiggy.” The man seemed almost embarrassed to admit it. Even Youngjae cringed at his confession. But Yongguk seemed attractive enough and for a second, Kira smiled and there went Youngjae’s soul.

            But she raised a paddle, “A little higher?”

            He had a chance and he was going to seize it. “Moon Jongup! Five hundred.” This came from a shy-looking male who must be younger than he was. “It’s my dream to be able to pet a snake.” This answer caused laughter from the crowd and Youngjae felt a twinge of annoyance. So he thought he was going to win by being cute, wasn’t he?

            Much to his dismay, Kira was smiling and he felt his insides twist. There was zero chance she was a er for gummy smiles and cute little boys, right? Everyone anticipated her response but another hand was already waving in the air. “So close!”

            Before Jongup (or Youngjae for that matter) could launch a counterattack, a tall baby-faced bidder stood up. “Noona! Five hundred and fifty! My spirit animal is a bunny.”

            Chaos ensued and an earlier bidder, the ulzzang popped out of his seat. “You’re a baby, get out!”

            But noen of their protests mattered; it was up to Kira at the end. She grabbed a pen and flipped over a paddle and her response made everyone laugh, including the rejected man-child. “Sorry, too young for a date.”

            “Bang Yongguk, six hundred! I want to overcome my fear of certain animals and I trust you to do it!”

            Youngjae wanted to cry from frustration. What did a guy have to do to get her attention? She raised the “So close!” paddle again and this time, he went for it.

            He jumped out of his seat, ignoring the painful stab in his knee as he bumped into the table, and waved his arms furiously in the air. “Yoo Youngjae! Seven hundred! Because I actually really like you,” he shouted. This was not his actual chosen reason. He had wanted to say because he was also a vet student and they could bond, but this came out instead and now there was no going back.

            Kira’s mouth dropped open and she didn’t move. Youngjae’s eye twitched. He sat down, completely aware of how quiet the auditorium was. The participant next to Kira grabbed the paddle furthest on the right and shoved it into her hand.

            She raised it, without really looking at it, and Youngjae felt a small sigh of relief. “Let’s date!” was what the paddle said.

            “Looks like Ms. Kira has decided. Yoo Youngjae wins with seven hundred dollars, going once. Going twice?” There was a pause and then, “Sold!”

            His legs were like jelly as he got onto the stand and he smiled shyly at Kira who still looked completely dumbstruck. They stood next to each other for the obligatory picture and that was when she finally came to her senses enough to hiss, “Why did you think that was even a good reason?”

            Youngjae’s mouth opened and closed again, unsure of what to say. He didn’t even think. She smiled sweetly at him before whispering, “I hope you like snakes because we’ll be doing the reptile room pet tour quite thoroughly.” But even though it was meant to be a threat, the fact that she didn’t refuse the bid was still good enough for him. She was just embarrassed. She’ll come around. And with that thought, Youngjae followed her backstage.

this is for shadowkitsune13 and Haruka0905

I... can't help trolling him even JUST a little bit