Jihyun, who failed to escape, stood in front of the door in an awkward posture.

“Anyway, I don’t like it.”

Seungho, who stood slanted against the door of the dressing room and looked at her for a moment, soon frowned and snapped his fingers.

“Follow me. I need to take out the clothes.”

Unlike the flustered Jihyun, he seemed very skilled at ordering people around.

‘Isn’t it very uncomfortable for both parties to change clothes in front of each other if they are of the opposite sex?’

Jihyun, who had doubts, soon recalled her situation. There was no need to be embarrassed in front of a servant she ordered around like a shadow.

Swallowing a sigh, Jihyun followed Seungho. After walking a few steps, another space appeared right before her eyes. Due to the bright lighting and the different color tone of the space compared to the previous room, Jihyun unknowingly looked around.

‘I’ve only seen places like this in dramas……’

The dressing room was as spacious as his bedroom. The clothes, divided by season, were neatly organized by type, and in the center of the space, the watches he frequently wore were displayed in a showcase.

Scanning the dressing room filled with fancy clothes, he pointed to one place with his left hand.

“That one, take it out.”

On the second-floor hanger he gestured to, a black sweatshirt was hanging. It was a predicament. The hanger was high.

Even when she approached it closely, stood on tiptoe, and stretched out her arm with all her might, the clothes did not reach Jihyun’s hand. Seungho, who watched her flailing her arms in the air as if enjoying the sight, chuckled.

“If there’s something like a long stick when your hand can’t reach……”

Jihyun, who was afraid that he would suddenly change his mind and order her to do something else reckless, hurriedly spoke of another method.

Seungho, who was looking at her, stretched out his left arm without any reaction. It was not a difficult task for him, who was tall. Unlike Jihyun’s struggling efforts, he easily took out the clothes and shook them in front of her eyes as if to show off.

“What can you do properly?”

‘He deliberately ordered me to do it knowing I couldn’t.’

At his words that openly rebuked her, Jihyun bit her lip. Otherwise, the words inside her seemed to come out.

‘Then you should have taken it out yourself from the beginning!’

Seungho, who stared at Jihyun’s face turning red and blue as if it was funny, suddenly held out his right arm.

Not knowing what he meant, Jihyun looked at him blankly, and a thunderous remark fell upon her.

“Take it off.”

What did he say to do?

“What? What did you say?”

As if irritated by Jihyun’s startled and stammering attitude, his eyebrows immediately went up.

“What are you thinking? You need to take this off so I can change into it or not.”

“Ah……”

Jihyun’s lips were completely dry from how tense she was at his words. As she pulled the sleeve as ordered, the neckline rose, and Seungho’s firm, muscular abs were slightly visible.

Seeing a man’s bare skin for the first time in her life, Jihyun felt hot. What was even more unbearable in the midst of that was Shin Seungho looking at her like that.

“What are you looking at?”

“I wasn’t looking……”

Jihyun, who was startled, hurriedly lowered her gaze, but Seungho, who couldn’t miss that, grinned mischievously.

“Now you’re lying too.”

Jihyun felt wronged.

‘Who was the one who insisted I stay here when I tried to open the door to let you change clothes comfortably!’

“You don’t really want to see everything, do you?”

Seungho, who now only needed to take off the clothes with one arm, said to Jihyun, who continued to stand facing him.

“Ah!”

The flustered Jihyun quickly turned her body. The sound of clothes brushing against skin came from behind. Even though she didn’t want to think about it, the bare skin she had briefly seen earlier kept flashing before her eyes.

‘How can his skin be so fair? A white complexion like rice water with firm muscles, this is really like the Northern Grand Duke that Miri praised.’

“I’m done changing.”

‘It seems he can’t take it off by himself, but he can put it on.’

With that sarcastic thought, Jihyun turned her head and saw Seungho wearing a black sweatshirt. Seeing his black hair and astonishingly well-matched white face, Jihyun felt hot again.

“You look like you regret not being able to see till the end?”

There was a faint hint of laughter in Seungho’s voice as he looked at her, which was unlike him.

“N-no way!”

“You’re more lecherous than I thought.”

Jihyun jumped at the word ‘lecherous’, and the corners of his mouth that were looking at her were slightly raised. There was no doubt that teasing the flustered and stammering Jihyun was quite fun for him.

Knock, knock, knock.

At that moment, Mr. Kim appeared with a knocking sound. It was time for him to come up with the visiting tutors. Seungho greeted the guests with his usual cool demeanor.

Why did she think the curriculum progress was the same?

‘Like a fool……’

Jihyun tapped her temples with a pen. The professional tutor, who was said to be difficult to attend to, was a familiar face to Jihyun from TV. The instructor, famous for his star lectures in Gangnam, briefly introduced himself and immediately started the lesson.

As expected from his reputation, the instructor steadily progressed with his flashy eloquence, but the more Jihyun listened to his explanations, the more the color drained from her face.

She clearly remembered learning second-year functions at school, but the teacher was teaching calculus that third-year high school students solve. What was even more shocking was that the unfamiliar terms and concepts to her seemed familiar to Seungho.

Unlike her, who hesitated at the math formulas she saw for the first time, Seungho solved the problems without any hesitation. The only fortunate thing was that this difficult lesson was entirely tailored to him.

The instructor occasionally made eye contact with both Seungho and Jihyun while continuing the lesson, but he only had a Q&A session with Seungho. He also only checked his notes and problem-solving.

Fortunately, Jihyun couldn’t write anything on her notebook……

Seungho also glanced at Jihyun, who was holding a pencil tightly and unable to write anything, but didn’t add any other words.

The lessons of other subjects that followed were not much different. English was conducted with a focus on conversation, far from the entrance exam.

Between the instructor and Seungho, who were fluently conversing in English, Jihyun could do nothing but keep her mouth shut, just like in the first lesson.

When the exhausting lessons were all over and the essay instructor, who was the last subject, left, Jihyun barely suppressed the urge to collapse on the desk.

“Hey.”

Seungho threw a thick bound file in front of the drooping Jihyun.

“Read it.”

Looking through the table of contents, it was a workbook related to the lesson progress. Flipping through the pages, Jihyun realized that the book Seungho gave her was not distributed in the market. Pressing her lips tightly and staring at the workbook, she shook her head.

“…… I don’t need it.”

There was no need to endure this much and take lessons with Seungho. She would endure it for a while. Not only English and essays but especially math, she hadn’t learned it yet at the school she attended, so she could study it in the future.

In particular, she didn’t want to owe a debt to Shin Seungho, who enjoyed tormenting her. Seungho’s eyes, whose kindness was rejected, turned cold.

“It’s nothing much, why don’t you just take it?”

“I think it would be better to give it to someone else who needs it, not me.”

“There’s no one around me who needs this.”

Seungho’s head tilted obliquely as he looked at her stubbornly refusing.

“I guess your petty pride won’t allow it, but you’re the only one who loses out by doing that.”

At Seungho’s sarcasm, Jihyun’s eyelashes trembled, but she didn’t make any particular retort. And in the end, she didn’t accept the workbook.

On a dark night, Seungho, who had finished showering, turned on the audio player for the first time in a while. From the high-quality speakers, a piece played by a young pianist who had just begun to rise was flowing.

Minwoo said that his father was the only one around him who enjoyed classical music, and he disliked it, saying it was a cringe-worthy hobby, but Seungho was different. He enjoyed the melodies of classical music and particularly enjoyed the performances of the rising young pianist who was called a genius.

He liked the new wild feeling interpreted in the familiar piece, and the rough keyboard touch that seemed to break the piano captivated Seungho’s heart.

Taking off the wet bandage and skillfully wrapping a new one around his hand, he suddenly remembered what had happened earlier and frowned without realizing it.

“I don’t need it.”

Jihyun’s appearance, sharpening her blade toward him, was very interesting and at the same time irritating. The gentle eyes with light-colored pupils became fierce when they looked at Seungho, which didn’t suit her.

“Ha, even if she dies soon, she doesn’t want what I give her.”

Jihyun, who gladly accepted the workbooks that some clueless guy had brought her but stubbornly refused the book he handed over, was an unpleasant and annoying existence to him. Seungho also knew well how much Jihyun had looked for the workbook he had taken away.

Whenever he saw her face agonizing over something trivial, he was gripped by an inexplicable subtle feeling. Each time, he had to suppress the urge to tell her that the useless trash had already been thrown away and there was no need to look for it anymore.

As his thoughts reached that point, strength suddenly entered his fist. The people around Seungho were desperate to receive his attention. Many kids considered it a privilege to have a single conversation with him or receive a small favor.

It was no different for the servants. Except for Choi Jihyun……

Taking a deep breath, Seungho tilted his head back. The still-wet hair clung coolly to the back of his neck.

Is she anything? No, not at all.

He, who threw a question at his heart, came up with an answer very easily.

‘Despite being a nobody.’

Seungho, who was appreciating the piano piece that climaxed with splendid technique, was not smiling.