I Didn't Mean to Pick You - Chapter 22

Tok tok tok.

Facing Ji Hyun, Seung Ho sat with his long legs crossed, tapping his fingers on the side table without saying a word.

A suffocating silence flowed between the two. Ji Hyun recalled the words of Manager Kim, who had immediately grabbed her wrist and headed to the mansion upon seeing her.

“I really don’t know what’s going on. Young Master Seung Ho, who should be in Europe, contacted us saying he arrived in Korea. How flustered I was…”

Manager Kim’s hand gripping Ji Hyun’s wrist was damp with sweat from how nervously he had waited until she arrived.

“As soon as he arrived, he asked for you. But why did you have to go out today of all days? The young master waited for a long time.”

Ji Hyun was just as flustered.

She had to be scolded for no reason because of Shin Seung Ho’s sudden return. It was unfair. Manager Kim, who had hurriedly arrived in front of Seung Ho’s room in one breath, turned around and grabbed Ji Hyun’s shoulders.

“The young master is in a very bad mood right now.”

Manager Kim’s slight trembling was transmitted through the shoulders he gripped.

“Be careful.”

At her warning-like advice, Ji Hyun swallowed a sigh along with words she couldn’t say until the end.

‘Why do I have to be here!’

It was Seung Ho who broke the silence that seemed to go on endlessly. Tilting his head askew, his eyes looking at Ji Hyun shone as sharply as a honed blade.

“Judging by your good complexion, it seems you’ve been doing well while I was gone?”

“…”

The words that came out of his mouth were as sharp as his eyes. She wanted to say that she had been doing well, that she had been comfortable, that it was obvious so why ask, but unfortunately, she didn’t have the courage to talk back. So she chose to keep her mouth shut instead.

As silence fell again, Seung Ho slowly rose from his seat. Wearing a dark brown cashmere cardigan and approaching Ji Hyun with slow steps, his appearance was strangely intimidating.

Seung Ho’s languid eyes, which had come close, slowly scanned Ji Hyun from head to toe.

Under his gaze that flashed like a predator’s, she felt like prey. In the tense air that seemed like it would cut off her breath at any moment, her small shoulders shrank involuntarily, and Manager Kim’s warning to be careful kept ringing in her head.

As she tried to steady her breath, not wanting to show her nervousness, long fingers lightly tapped her white padding jacket.

“It suits you well.”

At the unexpected touch, Ji Hyun flinched as if struck in a vital spot without realizing it.

“No need for thanks.”

The sharp gaze that had been wandering around her settled on the book Ha Jun had given her. At that moment, the curious look in his eyes sank infinitely.

Feeling an indescribable threat, Ji Hyun hugged the books she had been holding with one hand tightly. There was no need for a detailed explanation about the books. Seung Ho’s voice, having grasped the situation at once, was cold.

“You can’t take those damn things to your room. Leave them here.”

“Th-this… I can’t.”

“Hah…”

Seeing Ji Hyun shaking her head in refusal, as if she absolutely couldn’t give up this time, Seung Ho’s expression was icy.

“If you don’t want to see them burned to black ashes, it’d be better to leave them obediently.”

Shin Seung Ho was a born predator. He instinctively knew well what his prey valued most and when they were most afraid. Ji Hyun’s eyes wavered for a moment before finding their place again.

As much as he knew Ji Hyun, she also knew Seung Ho. He was the type of person who didn’t care at all about the other person’s desperation, gaze, or position, and would do what he said he would do.

Ji Hyun gritted her teeth. She couldn’t let Ha Jun’s sincerity turn to ashes.

Even as she put the books down with a thud, Seung Ho chuckled seeing Ji Hyun glaring at him with her gentle eyes. Unlike other times, her light-colored eyes that didn’t hide their hostility were worth seeing.

‘Over something like this…’

He considered crumpling the books in front of Ji Hyun for show, but refrained. The amusement was enough with her provocative gaze directed at him.

An unbearable pain stung and pressed down on his head and the back of his neck. Whether due to jet lag he hadn’t adjusted to yet, fatigue suddenly overwhelmed him. He gestured for Ji Hyun to leave.

“Come here from tomorrow. You are to be by my side.”

Ji Hyun’s pupils shook greatly at the sudden dismissal. Seung Ho knew it was a perfect rejection of his words. For a moment, thorns sprouted deep in his heart.

“Why, don’t you need your books? Or do you want to see them burn before your eyes?”

But the words that came out of Ji Hyun’s mouth were completely different.

“You said you hated it…”

Unlike her inscrutable expression, the voice coming from her small mouth trembled finely. He knew what Ji Hyun’s words meant. No one would want to be with someone who openly says they hate you to death.

“You clearly said before that you hated it.”

“I did.”

Seung Ho calmly admitted it.

At that calm appearance, Ji Hyun’s cheeks turned pink as if she was thoroughly angry again. His gaze, which had been staring at her as if appreciating a painting, moved to the blue morpho butterfly hanging in the room.

A butterfly still beautiful but no longer moving.

“I still hate it now. And I will in the future.”

Along with the languid whisper, his eyes as black as night curved prettily.

In the deep night, despite his tired body, Seung Ho’s mind was clear.

Approaching the table without turning on the lights, he frowned at the book Ji Hyun had left. On the cover was a photo of three people taken intimately.

“Tsk. Really playing around.”

With a displeased face, Seung Ho clicked his tongue and peeled off the photo without hesitation. Then he approached the window and held it up to the moonlight.

In the photo, Ji Hyun was smiling brightly with her friends. It was a smile he had never seen before. His eyes deepened as he stared at the photo for a long time.

“He’s really crazy.”

Ji Hyun muttered to herself as she punched the flour dough with all her might.

After the winter break, trouble arose from the morning in the mansion that had been peaceful until now. The helper auntie working in the kitchen called her. She said to come help with the work as they needed to make hand-cut noodles for lunch.

Thinking it was good timing as she was at a loss having to see Shin Seung Ho again from today, she gladly agreed. This was much better than being in his room like the dead.

“Ji Hyun kneads the dough well. Don’t overdo it though, since your body is weak.”

“Yes. Don’t worry. This is fun and I like it.”

Punching the dough was definitely making the built-up stress fly away. As she was vigorously hitting it, the helper auntie continued talking while making anchovy broth.

“The chef went on vacation not knowing Young Master Seung Ho would return so quickly. Only I ended up in a difficult situation.”

“That’s right.”

Ji Hyun nodded and strongly agreed.

‘Why did he come back early and cause trouble for so many people…’

The biggest victim was Ji Hyun. Her peace was shattered as of yesterday when Shin Seung Ho appeared. No matter how much she thought about it, Shin Seung Ho was a person Ji Hyun couldn’t understand with her mind.

Why tell her to work by his side when he openly says he hates her to death? Is it a declaration of war to keep tormenting her? What did I do to now receive a declaration of war?

“Oh my, Ji Hyun!”

Ji Hyun lifted her head, breaking from her thoughts at Manager Kim’s surprised exclamation.

“What are you doing here?”

“Huh?”

“Oh dear, I really can’t manage.”

As Manager Kim clicked her tongue and quickly approached her, the helper auntie stepped between them.

“Why? I called Ji Hyun…”

She took away the dough Ji Hyun had been touching and pushed her back, waving her hands.

“Ma’am, don’t call Ji Hyun anymore. This child has a position now.”

Ji Hyun opened her eyes wide in surprise at Manager Kim’s words. It was the first time she had heard this. A position was a job held by full-time employees at the mansion, and Ji Hyun, who received hourly wages, didn’t have a separate position. The helper auntie also frowned as if hearing this for the first time.

“What position does a part-timer have?”

“Anyway, that’s how it is. Ji Hyun, hurry and go up.”

As she was forcibly pushed out of the kitchen, Ji Hyun heard Manager Kim and the helper auntie whispering behind her back.

“…What? Really?”

“Now you understand? Why I said that.”

She was very curious about what they were saying about her, but their gazes toward her were so intense that she had a feeling she shouldn’t ask.

“You’re late.”

As she entered the room after knocking, Shin Seung Ho, sitting at the long table with his arms crossed, said grumpily. Ji Hyun, who had come up late on purpose, stood in front of him with an indifferent face.

“I came to get my books…”

Fortunately, the books she had left yesterday were intact right in front of where Seung Ho was sitting.

They were within reach if she extended her hand, but she remembered his threat to use them as kindling. As she hesitated on what to do, he lifted his head and met Ji Hyun’s eyes.

“Sit down.”

“I just need to get the books…”

His voice was even lower and more ominous, apparently irritated that she wasn’t listening easily.

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

Ji Hyun had no choice but to plop down across from Seung Ho. Then he frowned and nodded his head.

“Not there.”

Huh?

“Sit next to me.”

My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)

A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage

Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.

In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.

As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.

Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.

She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.

“Brother, come home with me.”

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