Nobody clapped.
They didn't know what to do yet. The whole hall just stared at the man in the red coat standing in the last of the smoke, his gloved hands still spread wide, the great red heart on his mask catching the lantern light.
Then someone near the front started clapping, and the rest of the room came down like a wave.
The noise was unbelievable. People were on their feet, shouting, stamping, whistling. Kids were screaming without even knowing why. In the box beside Jin, Hyunwoo was clapping so hard it looked like it hurt. Yuna had both hands on the railing and was leaning so far forward that Yerin hadn't let go of her jacket since the cards started falling.
Ho-seok let it go on for a long time. He didn't bow. He didn't wave. He just stood there in the center of the stage and let it wash over him, his head tilted slightly to one side, like he was listening to music.
Then he lowered his hands, and the room went quiet again almost instantly.
