POKER CHIP | myg sb!au (18+)

[PART 26]

"Did he say bidding?" You whispered to Yoongi, still somehow afraid that your voice, high above everyone else, would carry around the whole room.

"I told you'd I'd buy you anything you want tonight if you won your race, didn't I?" He raised a brow with a small smile playing on his lips.

He had, but you hadn't realized this is where the gift would come from.

"If you don't feel comfortable, we can leave," he told you seriously, and you chewed on the inside of your lip. But before you could answer the stage lit up again, catching your attention like a moth to a flame.

You didn't want to be curious, you knew whatever was about to come out could only be bad, or ill-gotten. Somehow this felt wrong.

You'd heard rumors of things like this but you never thought it real, mere urban legend.

But once light flooded the stage, it wasn't a human or body parts like you'd feared from online stories. It was a glass box, no bigger than that of an old fashioned television, free of any amenities with a small fuzzy creature inside. A glance to the screen above your booth window showed the enhanced mage of a muddled tan cheetah cub. It stood up with its paws against the glass, crying silently with black tear-like smudges extending from its dark eyes to its downturned mouth.

You gasped instantly, hand unconsciously tightening around Yoongi's.

"It's a baby," you whispered to Yoongi, leaning closer to the screen when the Mad Hatter finished tapping the glass fascinatedly.

"Well, what a cutie, I'm sure she'd made a lovely coat one day," he propped his head up on the top of the box, cheek resting against his fist while the audience below laughed. Or a rug? It's really up to you!"

A coat? A rug? Your stomach dropped at the thought.

"Who'd like to make the first bid?" He snapped his bright eyes back to the crowd and your heart began to race.

"Would you like her?" You did a double-take to look at Yoongi, feeling deeply conflicted.

"This is wrong," you whispered frantically, dragging your attention back to the already bidding crowd.

"More wrong than what might happen if someone else wins?" He challenged.

That was a great point.

"No," you shook your head quickly.

"Finish your drink, we're about to leave," he looked towards the table on your other side, using the distraction to remove his hand from your leg and type something into the device from the table.

You couldn't take your eyes off of the stage, feeling sickened by the audience, the Mad Hatter, and how they could possibly talk so frivolously about harming such a sweet and innocent creature.

"Well ladies and gentlemen, what an intriguing turn of events. We have our winner, at five million we indeed have our winner! Your prize will be ready shortly," he bowed before the lights went dark. Suddenly, Yoongi took your hand, leading you out of the balcony and into the corridor again.

He seemed in a hurry, but you didn't miss the callous look on his face. Like he was thinking too hard. He didn't say a word on the way to the elevators, and it was starting to bother you. But not for the reason you'd expected.

You would accept your fate if he was upset you didn't like the idea of black market auctions, but that didn't look like the case. His sharp eyes, emotions highlighted by the mask that framed them, were misted in a look of failure.