PAST LIFE RETURNER

Side Story 29 – The Day of the Auction - Woo Yeon-Hee

“It is a total surprise!”

Seong-Il did not hide his delighted expression. It was mainly because Woo Yeon-Hee had approached him first with a greeting.

Moreover, Woo Yeon-Hee treated Seong-Il no differently than usual, probably because there wasn’t anyone around who understood Korean, or perhaps he had no intention to hide his identity. Even though she knew that all eyes were on her, she showed no hesitation.

"Is it really you, noona?"

Seong-Il was first struck by Woo Yeon-Hee's beautiful appearance. He had never seen her in a dress like this, a white evening dress, before. The V-neck highlighted her collarbone, and the details of the dress revealed the silhouette of her body lines.

On top of that, her tiara and earrings adorned with diamonds were gorgeous. Seong-Il knew nothing about jewels, but these were not ordinary items.

"They're works by famous designers. What do you think? Do they suit me?" she asked.

"How could they not? They fit you perfectly, noona. You look like an angel today. You're truly stunning!"

Seong-Il gave her a thumbs-up, which Woo Yeon-Hee seemed to agree with. Unlike European women with voluptuous breasts and long legs, her unique beauty was in her back. When she turned around to show off, the muscles of her back were clearly visible through the open design.

"But why don’t you seem surprised, noona?"

"I knew you were here, Seong-Il."

"Really? I was so annoyed, but I had to contain it..."

"It’s not that. I got a call. But even before that, your photos were all over social media. Aren’t you tired of it?"

Seong-Il replied, scratching the back of his neck, "It’s hard to reject all the attention. Seems like my popularity isn't different here. Hehe. The airport was packed with my fans. But you must not have been able to just ignore it either, right?"

Seong-Il could finally sigh in relief.

"But..."

It was right when Seong-Il was looking around.

"He'll arrive soon. Got a bit delayed."

"Anyway, it’s fine. To be honest, I was on the verge of diving in without thinking, but the situation wasn’t favorable. You see those Chinese and Russians? I can crack their heads, but how can I deal with their money?"

"Is that so?"

"What's going to happen now? Are we canceling the auction, or...?"

"The auction will proceed as planned."

"If that's part of the bigger plan, then what can we do? As long as you take care of it, I can be at ease."

"We're not planning to participate."

"What do you mean by that...?"

"This auction. We’re the ones running it."

***

Meanwhile, the concierge Amanda, who had entered with Woo Yeon-Hee, was flustered. The situation where the planners under her were handing over a bundle of approval documents was not a big deal. The scene beyond was what was causing confusion for her.

Ever since she heard the report that Caliber Kwon Seong-Il had appeared, she had been on edge. This could not only make her lose a job but could also endanger her life. It could have been worse if He was the one sending the Caliber!

Thus, Amanda could not take her eyes off him even when she signed the approval documents. Fortunately, everything seemed to be going okay as Ethan and Miss Woo said.

Moreover, Caliber Kwon Seong-Il and Miss Woo appeared to be very close.

Ethan and Miss Woo…

Who exactly were they, who could freely visit the Karjan family, had connections with Gillian Taylor, and were even close friends with Caliber Kwon Seong-Il?

The more she knew, the more they seemed like people from another world.

Maybe...no. What am I thinking?

A sudden thought crossed Amanda's mind, but she dismissed it as absurd.

One of the planners said, "I'm sorry, Amanda. But you have to understand us. It's the Caliber. How can we stop him when he wants to come in? Isn't it fortunate?"

While they had gotten quite familiar with Caliber over the past few hours, it was different for Amanda. This was the first time she had seen Caliber with her own eyes. The sight was undoubtedly surreal.

The Awakened she saw for the first time was the hero, Caliber Kwon Seong-Il, and she couldn’t believe that. Her confusion was momentary, and soon her heart began to race with anticipation of a conversation with him.

Amanda quickly finished signing the documents and fixed her hair. A moment later, the awaited signal dropped from Miss Woo. Amanda started walking.

Wow. It's really... Caliber.

As Amanda got closer to him, her heart pounded uncontrollably.

What should I do?

Just when she felt her heart might burst, her legs began to wobble. It was when she truly stood before Caliber. Miss Woo's lips were moving next to Caliber.

"Greetings... Okay. Here..."

Amanda felt dizzy and couldn't hear anything. All she could perceive was that the Caliber's handsome smile was directed at her. His broad, masculine face exuded a strong masculine beauty, and his warm eyes had a natural relaxation that only a strong male could possess.

When the image of Caliber Kwon Seong-Il from the Day of Victory on November 1st overlapped, he appeared as a blood-streaked warrior.

Amanda realized she had momentarily fainted.

"Are you okay?"

Amanda blinked, lying on the hand Seong-Il had stretched out to her.

"Thank you, Mr. Caliber."

Today, she met a man she could never even dream of. He was one of the final heroes who saved humanity. That powerful male.

***

"Ah, I am still so popular that I really should be careful. How many people nearly fell over at the airport? Someday, I might kill someone."

"Amanda isn't like that. She just had a moment of dizziness. Women have such moments."

"It's not that. Didn't you see? She was completely smitten with me."

"Do you know how professional Amanda is? Do you think she'd fall for you? She is not that crazy. Overconfidence is good, but too much is toxic. Tone it down."

"You're not getting it. Just a wink from me can make people fall, regardless of gender. My popularity is super ultra bombastic."

"Super ultra bombastic..."

Seong-Il scratched his nose. "Pretend that you didn't hear that. I might have gone overboard."

"Before that."

"Yes?"

"You referred to yourself in the third person. It gave me chills. Look at this."

"Well, because you never believe me!"

"You've grown so much, Seong-Il. So, will you charge at me? You must have been curious about my power. Should we set a date to fight now? Mr. Kwon Seong-Il."

“Noona, I have taken down those ox-heads with my bare hands.”

“I have been dungeon raiding since before you had a hard time raising Ki-Cheol.”

“Are you really up for it?”

“You know what my main strength is, right?”

“Mind control.”

“Not skills, weapons. Yours was your fists. What do you think mine is?”

“A dagger. No, noona! Darn, where in the world is it okay to bring a knife with bare hands? That is too cowardly and unfair.”

“What about you?’

Then, both started laughing at the same time. The laughter did not stop easily. Seong-Il even laughed so hard that he teared up. Woo Yeon-Hee couldn’t remember the last time she laughed like this, maybe since she became an adult.

Then, food was brought into their room. It was soondae stew, not in an earthen pot. The soondae in there were frozen ones with glass noodles that were thawed. However, Seong-Il looked satisfied as it was better than nothing abroad. He picked up his spoon.

“It seems they keep their promises. This would not have been easy to get. Why don’t you have a bite, too? Let’s eat it while it’s hot.”

“Glass noodle soondae? I like those.”

“That is what people who can’t eat soondae say.”

“Why are you trying to get on my nerves?”

“As much as I respect you, I can never give in on this. Glass noodle soondae are not real blood sausages.”

“You should open a soondae stew restaurant later when you have nothing to do.”

"To make real blood sausages, you'd need a lot of effort. It's not to be taken lightly. You should apologize to the restaurant owners."

"I'm sorry, boss."

Woo Yeon-Hee said that she felt like crying. The happy trip of the last three days wasn't over yet. The fun encounter with Seong-Il was just a part of the journey, and she was grateful for it.

One of the most thrilling experiences of this trip was the expression on Seon-Hu’s face when doing the new extreme sport, Scad Diving[1]. Although she had spent a long time together with him, she had never seen such a facial expression. His body got stiff as he was nervous, but he pretended he was fine. Yeon-Hee considered that very lovely.

Recalling that moment, a faint smile appeared on Woo Yeon-Hee's lips. Seong-Il was seeing a new expression on Woo Yeon-Hee at that moment.

I am really happy for you, noona. I can't believe this day has come. I hope you're always happy.

Seong-Il held back his tears, and it wasn't because he had just laughed so hard.

He sniffled and said, "By the way, noona."

"Yea?"

"I understand that you placed the collection on auction under the condition that you are putting those paintings to the major auction houses. But why collect famous paintings?"

"It's because of Osiris."

"Why bring up that name here?"

"Osiris is Seon-Hu’s weakness and heartbreaking memory.”

"Weakness?"

"Osiris has lost the will to live. He's achieved everything he could, and now, he can't find any more value in his life."

"...I see."

"On the surface, yes. But there might be more to it. It must have been tough for him at the beginning. Even with some help, losing all his abilities and having to navigate the pillar of light... It must have been very painful."

"I agree. Although it was a short period of time, I have experienced that, too. If it continued for a long time, then I would've given up."

"Seon-Hu thinks that if he could give Osiris any joy in life, he would do anything."

"What's so special about the joy of living? Isn't life just that? What more can there be? Just feed him delicious food."

"That already failed once. But we're still trying that."

"So, you're thinking that by having the world's famous paintings, he might get some motivation to live?"

"It's not that difficult. And Osiris was born into a high-class family. His life is completely different from ours. He might get something more from the artwork. He was educated in them when he was young."

"Hehe, maybe. I'm ignorant, so I don't really know about art."

"Anyway, whatever it is… We're trying to share our happiness with Osiris. But isn't this fun?"

"What is? Share it with me, noona."

Woo Yeon-Hee laughed joyfully.

She said, "Right now, Seon-Hu and Osiris are bungee jumping."

1. Suspended Catch Air Device, a type of free fall thrill sport ☜