[Chapter 162]
[Belonging Nowhere (4)]
In the end, Noh Eun-ha was sold to Han Seo-hyun for the maximum 30 million plus a 170 million donation to the academy.
Though officials who were aiming for any contact with Eun-ha using Nodongso as an opportunity voiced complaints.
Those who couldn't pay the large sum of 200 million had to let Eun-ha go.
"If you were coming, you should have said so."
"Originally I was going to meet you next time since you were busy with the competition and I was busy helping my sister. But today work ended early for some reason."
"Then you should have contacted me then."
"I was going to... But I heard from Ha-yang that you were coming out as an auction item today. So I came to participate in the auction and surprise you."
Though Ariel threw a tantrum and clung to Eun-ha crying in the middle.
Somehow the handover of Noh Eun-ha went smoothly.
Currently Eun-ha was being dragged around by Han Seo-hyun to look at the cultural festival.
"Still, isn't 200 million too much? Is it okay to spend money like that?"
"I have a lot of money, you know."
"I know you have a lot of money, noona, but this time is a bit..."
"I don't think it's too much."
He wasted money.
Eun-ha was going to say that to Han Seo-hyun.
Then, Han Seo-hyun interrupted him and asserted bluntly.
She stopped walking when they entered a secluded forest.
"Rather, even now I'm regretting if 200 million wasn't enough."
She looked up at him.
Her face was full of conviction.
"In the future, when you graduate from the academy and start receiving requests in society, the price set at today's auction will also be reflected in your value."
"..."
"You'll probably be priced the highest among students who graduated from the academy. But isn't that just the highest level among you guys? Will it be higher than the value of people who entered society before you?"
Han Seo-hyun's point.
Eun-ha couldn't refute.
Her words had a point.
In the end, no matter how great Noh Eun-ha was, when he enters society as a player next year, he'll be behind players who entered society first in both age and experience.
"Probably until you build up experience, your value will be underestimated. Of course, it's obvious that people who look down on you without any experience will appear. So we need to raise it when we can, and use it as an indicator that will be reflected in your value later."
"..."
"Don't you need to create evidence that Noh Eun-ha is someone who received 200 million just to be hired for 6 hours even as a student?"
"...Yeah, you're right. You're right."
Han Seo-hyun's words were reasonable.
Eun-ha finally nodded.
Of course, nevertheless, Eun-ha couldn't shake the thought that it was excessive.
200 million for 6 hours of employment...
Even S-rank players might barely receive that much...
But Eun-ha resolved not to say anything more to her.
Anyway, Han Seo-hyun spent 200 million for his sake.
On the other hand─.
─Anyway, this noona thinks I'm worth that much.
Eun-ha felt secretly pleased.
It felt like he was being acknowledged.
Just then, Han Seo-hyun suddenly─.
"─But I did use a large sum. Now shouldn't you pay back the value of that money from now on?"
"..."
"Papa..."
Han Seo-hyun instantly dropping Eun-ha's mood from heaven to hell.
She said giggling.
To this, Eun-ha decided to correct himself.
It wasn't a feeling of being acknowledged, but a feeling of being subordinated.
☆
Han Seo-hyun ordered.
To unconditionally obey her words for the 6 hours she hired him.
Noh Eun-ha who was sold for 200 million had no right to refuse her.
"─First order. Hold my hand for the whole day today."
"Even when going to the bathroom?"
"Second order. Don't talk back to my words from now on."
"Ugh..."
Han Seo-hyun seemed to find this situation quite amusing.
On the other hand, Eun-ha made a sullen face. Still, he followed her words and interlocked fingers to walk down the street.
"Since it's the academy, it seems a lot of people recognize you."
"Quite a lot, right? Since I'm graduating next year, even industry people trying to talk to me somehow have gathered. After the cultural festival ends, it'll be less than this..."
"Won't it become even more after the cultural festival ends since they can officially recruit from then?"
"I'll have to hole up in the dormitory unable to leave the academy for a while. Sigh, not being able to go home on weekends either, what am I doing?"
"That's right, if you don't want to receive recruitment offers, why don't you decide quickly? I heard you've already received a lot of offers."
Rumors that Eun-ha was sold for 200 million had already spread in the academy.
Because of that, even ordinary people were looking for Noh Eun-ha who would be somewhere in the academy with interest.
It was one of the reasons crowds gathered wherever Eun-ha and Han Seo-hyun went.
Moreover, people who looked like industry officials even tried to approach him by pushing through the crowd.
Each time, the bodyguards protecting her blocked their approach.
"Offers have come in a lot. Too many have come in, that's the problem."
"What's there to be a problem? If you're going to be active with a base in Seoul anyway, you just need to narrow it down to S-rank clans active in Seoul, right?"
"That's right. All 6 clans except KK Clan have sent offers, so I just need to choose from there."
"And then you just need to enter the clan with the best prospects among them, right? The offers will probably be the same since S-rank clans coordinated with each other."
Han Seo-hyun's insight was accurate.
He nodded at her words and told her about the offers he had received so far.
Her evaluation was brief.
"─Anywhere is fine. But why haven't you decided yet?"
"It's not that I haven't decided. I just... have been putting it off until now. I kept thinking I lacked confidence."
There are too many people.
In the end, Eun-ha and Han Seo-hyun headed to a secluded path.
Leaving the area where the cultural festival was in full swing, there were fewer people following.
The two kept walking aimlessly while looking at the distant lake.
"What kind of confidence?"
"There are too many people I want to recruit for the party. It's too many people to call a party, and since there are many people, considerable administrative processing ability is needed so I thought it might be better to enter a clan. If I establish one, there will be so many annoying things."
"That's why I said before that I would help, didn't I?"
"I remember. But the clan leader can't do nothing. It's a position that has to take responsibility in the end, and unlike a party leader who can create and disband anytime, the responsibility of a clan leader seems heavier."
"So you thought you didn't want to take responsibility and would enter someone else's clan?"
"...Thinking about it, that's how it was."
"So now you have confidence?"
Eun-ha opened up about how he recently started worrying after receiving recruitment from clans.
Han Seo-hyun asked questions in between while listening to his story.
She organized his story by grasping the key points to make it easier for him to tell.
Then she asked.
If he now had confidence.
Eun-ha smiled bitterly.
"─Now I have confidence."
Eun-ha nodded.
Actually, there was nothing to worry about.
The answer was there from the beginning.
He had just been running away from taking responsibility.
"─I'm going to create a clan that doesn't belong anywhere with my own hands."
Eun-ha knew too.
That he could no longer create a party with the number of people he was thinking of.
He had no choice but to create a clan.
Nevertheless, the reason he insisted on a party was because he had experience leading a party in his previous life and─.
─I didn't want to take responsibility for other kids too.
Above all, Eun-ha didn't want to take responsibility for the people entering the party.
To be precise, he got scared as graduation time approached.
So he tried to create a party that would be easy to disband if necessary.
"But you know... As I fought with the kids in the competition this time, I could tell how much they've grown."
"And?"
"And when I thought about how much they've worked to receive my acknowledgement, it felt stupid to try to enter someone else's clan no matter how good the conditions."
"They worked hard for you, not for the head of the clan you're entering."
"That's right. They followed me, but if I end up following some random person, what kind of appearance would that be."
"There would be other problems too. You and those kids would have been restricted in various ways by the clan you joined."
"That's right too. Even if they guaranteed autonomy, they would have tried to interfere in some way."
It was nonsense from the beginning.
It wasn't even worth worrying about.
Eun-ha turned to her with a relieved face now.
"So─."
"Yeah."
He decided to create a clan.
It was an unwavering heart.
Eun-ha opened his mouth towards her while strengthening his resolve.
"─Seo-hyun, I'd like you to join as the administrator of the clan I'll create. I'll take all responsibility. So I hope you can manage the clan's administration without worrying."
"You're making an obvious request. Why do you think I'm studying about clan administrators in university?"
Noh Eun-ha burst out laughing.
Soon even Han Seo-hyun who had been making a serious face burst out laughing.
The two laughed loudly.
☆
It was approaching midnight.
The number of cultural festival booths still operating had noticeably decreased.
Booths run by high school academy students remained here and there, and most were booths selling alcohol.
Even those were set to close after 3 AM.
Of course, there weren't that many people enjoying the cultural festival until that time when midnight approached.
"Shouldn't we go in now? The date will change soon, you should go home and rest."
"Even if I'm tired, I can't do that. I spent 200 million saying I'd hire you until 3 AM, wouldn't it be a loss to go home like this?"
The two walked around until their legs hurt.
In between, they drank a few glasses at a brightly lit bar.
Then Eun-ha noticed that Han Seo-hyun was starting to feel fatigue.
He casually suggested to her to return home.
Then she glared at him and said such words.
"I spent 100 million. So now I need to use the value of the remaining 100 million, don't I?"
"Noona, though the regulations say until 3, everyone has various circumstances so they end before the day changes, you know?"
"Various circumstances?"
"It's dangerous because of the time. Especially in cases where the genders are different..."
Wondering if he really had to say this.
Eun-ha explained the circumstances to Han Seo-hyun whose face was red from alcohol.
Then she snorted.
"That's their circumstances, isn't it? You and I are in an engagement relationship, yet you're saying strange things."
"This noona really..."
Noh Eun-ha finally realized.
Han Seo-hyun was clearly drunk.
Regardless, Han Seo-hyun suddenly spoke.
"But I'm tired too... We've seen everything there is to see now. There aren't many open stores left either..."
"Yeah, so let's go home now. The people watching noona over there will be worried."
"Then for the remaining time, won't you show me your dormitory?"
"What?"
"I think it would be better to rest there until the remaining time and then leave."
Han Seo-hyun's statement.
Eun-ha doubted his ears.
He opened his mouth blankly.
Regardless, Han Seo-hyun seemed quite pleased with the suggestion she made.
"If we came to the academy, shouldn't we look around where you live before leaving?"
"Women aren't allowed in our dormitory. Noona can't come in, I'm telling you."
"Didn't you say before that girls come to play in your room through the veranda? I think I heard from Ha-yang too..."
"No, that's..."
"Then spit out 100 million."
"Ugh..."
"I'm just going to go in and rest. You're not thinking anything strange, are you?"
He lost.
Noh Eun-ha raised both hands and feet.
Since Han Seo-hyun spoke so directly, Eun-ha couldn't affirm it so he had no choice.
In the end, Eun-ha decided to take her to the dormitory.
"You're really leaving at 3, right? Promise me?"
"Yeah, I'll just hold your hand until 3. Why are you making such a fuss."
"Ugh..."
"Papa!"
Why was he being so cautious?
Eun-ha groaned.
Even Buldak comforted him as if feeling his emotions.
No, Buldak was happy thinking Han Seo-hyun was coming to see its nest.
"Then we have no choice but to go through the veranda..."
The dormitory prohibited entry of the opposite sex.
Eun-ha headed to the back of the dormitory where his room's veranda was.
He asked Han Seo-hyun's understanding and picked her up.
Then he walked on the wall to move to his room.
He had a faint hope that the bodyguards might stop them, but they just waved their hands.
"─Is this your room?"
"...Yeah."
Wondering if he was the strange one.
Noh Eun-ha who brought Han Seo-hyun to his room couldn't hide his bewilderment.
Unlike Eun-ha, Han Seo-hyun leisurely looked around the room.
"Pipi pipi papa papa pupu pupu!"
"Yes, it's nice."
"Papa!"
She looked at Buldak's nest too.
It didn't take long for her to look around the room.
After confirming that Eun-ha surprisingly lived neatly, she plopped down on his bed.
"...Cold."
She lay down flat and.
Immediately went under the blanket while wriggling her body.
Eun-ha was dumbfounded seeing her use his bed so naturally.
"What are you doing now?"
"I want to lie down because we walked a lot today. I'm tired so I want to close my eyes on the bed until time is up."
"..."
Soon Han Seo-hyun poked her face out from under the blanket.
Eun-ha sighed seeing her speak softly while lying down with her head on the pillow sideways.
Then she suddenly stuck her hand out from under the blanket.
"─Hand."
"Why hand?"
"We agreed to hold hands until time is up. Are you not going to follow my order?"
"...Okay."
Eun-ha approached her.
He didn't sit on the bed.
He sat on the floor, afraid of getting swept up in the situation or atmosphere.
Instead, he had to sit facing her according to Han Seo-hyun's order.
As a result, his back hurt.
Still, Eun-ha endured firmly.
"I'm bored."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I told you not to talk back."
She spoke with a tired look.
Eun-ha retorted grumpily.
Then she put strength in her eyes.
The slave couldn't defy.
"Until 3 AM..."
"Yeah."
"Tell me any story."
"What kind of story?"
"Just any story. It's fine to tell me about how you've lived, or what kind of life you'll live in the future..."
"Then I'll tell you about meeting Kim Min-ji before entering kindergarten."
Just like a little child.
He smiled seeing her acting cute towards him.
Then he brushed her hair aside with his other hand and began telling the story of how he lived.
It was nothing special.
The small everyday moments he experienced.
Even though it should have been a boring story, Han Seo-hyun listened attentively to his tale.
Soon it became 3 AM.
By then, she had fallen asleep.
"I can't send a sleeping child away..."
It's the championship match today.
It seems I won't be able to sleep comfortably either.
Eun-ha gazed steadily at Han Seo-hyun sleeping in his bed.
☆
Morning of the 4th day of the academy cultural festival.
Han Do-young, chairman of Sirius Group, was seated at his office desk just as the sun was rising.
"Haah..."
He let out a long sigh.
Of course his hair was a mess since he hadn't washed it.
His eyes were bloodshot.
"─So where is Seo-hyun now?"
[She just left the dormitory and is heading to the mansion, sir.]
"Hah..."
His daughter stayed out overnight for the first time since she was born.
Han Do-young kept running his hands through his hair as he received the secretary's report.
"Does she like Eun-ha that much? Do I need to marry her off already..."
I wanted to keep her with me a bit longer.
Han Do-young's shoulders shook.
He didn't know how his daughter could make her father's eyes bleed tears like this.
☆
Rewinding time a few hours.
Midnight of the 4th day of the academy cultural festival.
That day too, Jung Ha-yang who had worked late into the night directing the cultural festival took out her artifact before lying in bed.
─Witch's Model Garden
One of Jung Ha-yang's daily routines.
She activated the crystal ball's magic and quickly found Noh Eun-ha's dormitory with now familiar hand movements.
Then she enlarged the 3D map and found the room where Noh Eun-ha was.
Inside Noh Eun-ha's room─.
"─Why are there three people?"
Three life signs.
Jung Ha-yang furrowed her brow.
She identified that two of the dots in the room were Eun-ha and Buldak.
But the remaining dot was someone she didn't know at all.
"Come to think of it, I heard Seo-hyun unni bought Eun-ha at Nodongso today, could it be..."
Then as she thought about it, she figured out the identity of the remaining dot.
Her face hardened.
"..."
After that, it's said she stared intently at the map with wide open eyes until dawn broke.