Clatter.

Ji Hyun, who was placing the snacks sent up by the housekeeper on the table, was startled by the unexpectedly loud noise and unconsciously turned her gaze towards Seung Ho.

However, he didn’t even turn his head once, as if he couldn’t hear any sound, his eyes fixed on the math problem he was solving.

He had been like that lately. Since the day she didn’t accept the textbook he handed her, he had sarcastically asked if she was trying to protect her nonexistent pride, and now he was treating her like an invisible person.

Thanks to that, his gaze noticeably shifted away from Ji Hyun, only looking at the book she had to study or the mounted butterfly, one of the two.

It was definitely something she should have cheered and been happy about, but instead, it was Ji Hyun who found herself glancing at him and being mindful of his reactions now that Seung Ho, who used to find fault with her at every turn and torment her, had become quiet.

Seung Ho, who would make her run errands as if he had been waiting for her even if she arrived at his room just 5 minutes late, did nothing. Not even his usual indifferent gaze followed her.

Knowing his fickle personality, Ji Hyun held her breath, wondering when he would torment her again, but surprisingly, that state lasted quite a long time.

That wasn’t all. He excluded Ji Hyun from the tutoring sessions that were difficult for her to understand and left her floundering.

When Manager Kim came up to the second floor with the tutor, Seung Ho nodded his head towards Ji Hyun. It meant for her to leave.

“Um……”

She opened her mouth to ask if she had misunderstood, but Seung Ho’s reaction confirmed that she was right.

“You don’t understand? I’m telling you to leave because the lesson is starting.”

It was a surprising order to leave that she hadn’t even been warned about. As she stood there blankly, just blinking her eyes, Seung Ho added.

“You study separately.”

“……What?”

“You’re not very smart. You probably won’t understand the lesson anyway, so wouldn’t it be torture for you to be here?”

It was true, but hearing it bluntly didn’t feel good. Seung Ho turned his head towards Ji Hyun, who was about to leave, and waved his right hand wrapped in bandages.

“That doesn’t mean you can go to school though. My hand is still uncomfortable.”

“Okay.”

“Unless your head is a rock, you should be able to study that much on your own.”

Ji Hyun frowned and stared at Seung Ho, who was talking as if he was muttering to himself, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

‘Did he just insult me by saying I’m not very smart?’

She must have been mistaken when she thought he looked a bit sullen for a moment. Receiving Manager Kim’s glaring eyes that seemed to say she was disrupting the lesson and to hurry up and leave, she quickly moved her feet.

“……Making a big deal out of nothing.”

Seung Ho muttered in a low voice after sending Ji Hyun out and spinning the pen with his left hand.

“Huh? What did you say, Seung Ho?”

The teacher who was coaching him while looking at the essay asked, but he simply answered with an indifferent left hand holding the pen. Instead, he brought up a completely different topic.

“……Do you know how butterflies are mounted?”

‘The kid must be a little bored with the lesson.’

It was a question he would never ask normally. The teacher’s gaze, who let out a light laugh, followed Seung Ho’s to the Blue Morpho butterfly, its emerald color harmonizing with its black wings.

“Hmm, how do you do it?”

“The butterfly that first comes into your hands is never soft. It’s so hard that you can’t even spread its wings.”

“……”

“So a softening process is necessary. You have to add a little water to make the body and wings moist.”

From the way Seung Ho explained while tapping the table with his fingers, it was clear how much he had handled butterflies. Still gazing at the butterfly, he continued.

“It definitely takes time. If you rush, the wings can be damaged.”

‘I wonder if adding a hobby of collecting butterflies would help with the essay score.’

After pondering for a moment, the teacher smiled and organized the paper on which the essay was written.

“I didn’t know you liked butterflies that much, Seung Ho.”

Seung Ho, who had taken his eyes off the butterfly, slowly continued.

“……I like the process.”

“The process?”

“The process of those wings that can crumble at the slightest touch becoming soft as if they’re alive.”

Seung Ho’s eyes, staring into the air as if thinking about something, sank deep.

“Because that’s when it feels like it truly becomes mine.”

It took a while for Ji Hyun, who slowly opened her eyes, to realize that the place she had dozed off was the library in the basement of the mansion.

Perhaps because her body temperature had dropped while she was sleeping, Ji Hyun shivered slightly at the chilling cold she felt. Then, a low baritone voice rang in Ji Hyun’s ears.

“Was it that difficult to read the book as I told you to?”

Startled by the presence she couldn’t feel before falling asleep, she looked to the side and saw Seung Ho sitting there.

Still with his eyes on the book……

It was embarrassing to be caught dozing off when she had been reading the book with enthusiasm.

“I just fell asleep for a moment……”

“Lying again.”

“It’s true……”

Ji Hyun mumbled softly with an embarrassed face. She couldn’t remember when she had fallen asleep, but she wanted to think that she had just dozed off for a moment anyway.

“……”

Seung Ho took his eyes off the book and stared at Ji Hyun. Just as she was about to ask why he was looking at her, his words came out a little faster.

“Wipe your drool.”

“……Oh.”

Ji Hyun hurriedly wiped the corner of her mouth with her fingers, her face heating up. He, whose lips had slightly curled up without making a sound, lowered his gaze to the book he was reading.

Shin Seung Ho, whom she glanced at while rubbing her flushed cheeks, was indeed strange.

He, who had been relentlessly exploiting Ji Hyun until recently, now asked for nothing. After openly treating her like an invisible person, now he just told her to stay by his side for no reason.

‘Is it a new punishment?’

Thinking that way, it made sense.

Because just staying still by his side was as agonizing as the busy errands……

It was only for a moment that she turned her head to the book she had been reading before dozing off, and Ji Hyun’s eyes automatically moved towards Shin Seung Ho.

‘Is his skin pale because he doesn’t exercise and only reads books cooped up in the basement?’

‘Why are his eyelashes so long for a boy? A shadow falls every time he blinks.’

‘The skin on his lips must be thin. That’s why the blood vessels are visible, making them look so red.’

‘His eyes are as black as his hair……’

While secretly glancing at Seung Ho, who was immersed in reading, and continuing her thoughts, Ji Hyun suddenly held her breath. The eyes as black as Go stones were directed not at the book, but at her.

She wanted to say something, but Ji Hyun’s startled mouth didn’t move easily. Seung Ho, too, just looked at her, his gaze quite different from the usual mocking one he showed towards Ji Hyun.

“Ahem.”

It was Ji Hyun who broke the awkward and suffocating atmosphere. She awkwardly cleared her throat and buried her face in the book.

Although Seung Ho’s gaze still lingering on her felt intense, Ji Hyun never raised her head, feeling like she shouldn’t look any further.

“Isn’t this a bit over the top?”

Min Woo alternated between looking at the heavily made-up Bo Ra and the bouquet of flowers she was holding with a fed-up expression.

Upon hearing the news that Seung Ho had been injured and wasn’t coming to school, Bo Ra immediately prepared to visit him. After calling out Min Woo, Seung Ho’s closest aide, and finding out that it was true he was hurt, she looked strangely excited despite her worried words.

“I’ll nurse him diligently.”

Min Woo poured cold water on Bo Ra, who was expressing her ambition with sparkling eyes, in a calm voice.

“Aren’t you a klutz who can’t even grow plants?”

“Seung Ho is different. He’s a person.”

“Seung Ho himself probably wants to be alone, though?”

“You really don’t know anything about patients.”

Bo Ra, who was walking ahead, turned her body around to look at Min Woo.

“When you’re sick, you feel lonely. Who else would be around him? So……”

Swallowing the last words, Bo Ra smiled brightly.

‘This is my chance!’

Min Woo’s face turned ashen as he realized her true intentions.