After the snow, the sky was clear. The snow that had made the world white was melting and slushy underfoot, but Ha Jun ran without minding.

“Ha Jun, it’s me. Ji Hyun.”

For the first time, Ji Hyun called Ha Jun. His heart pounded wildly at the shy voice calling his name.

Ji Hyun told him she wanted to meet and would wait at the cafe they had gone to before.

There was still plenty of time until their agreed meeting time, but he couldn’t sit still. So he ran. Cold air rushed into his lungs making him short of breath, but he kept smiling.

Arriving early, Ha Jun ordered a pink lemonade and gazed at Ji Hyun entering through the door right on time.

Long, fine brown hair, fair skin, clear round eyes like glass beads. With her overall light coloring, Ji Hyun seemed to shine on her own. Ha Jun licked his dry lips as he watched Ji Hyun walk towards him.

As he had felt before, the white padded jacket really suited her perfectly.

“Ha Jun.”

Her gentle voice calling softly was so pleasant to hear, though she likely didn’t realize it herself. However, Ha Jun quickly noticed that she was different from usual. The expression on Ji Hyun’s face as she looked at him was not good.

Her eyes trembled as she received the pink drink Ha Jun handed her. Her white face looked desolate even when smiling. Before the surprised Ha Jun could ask what was wrong, Ji Hyun spoke first.

“Ha Jun, I’m… moving far away.”

At those softly sobbed words, his wildly beating heart suddenly stopped. Like the snowy path he had walked, Ji Hyun’s eyes gradually became wet.

The students of Cheongmyeong High were busy gawking out the wide open windows at the unfamiliar uniform of the person standing at the school gate.

Some of the bolder female students wandered back and forth near the gate in small groups, hovering around the outsider from another school, but couldn’t quite bring themselves to speak to him. They couldn’t easily approach him due to his uniquely arrogant aura.

As if unconcerned with the stares directed at him, Seung Ho, wearing a dark blue coat over a black jacket, leisurely watched Ha Jun slowly walking towards him with his arms crossed.

“What brings you here?”

Ha Jun spoke first in an unfriendly tone, his face not at all pleased. Seung Ho was equally displeased.

‘A righteous idiot who’s been irritating from the start.’

Seung Ho raised one eyebrow and ran his tongue along the roof of his mouth.

“You should know better than I do why I’m here.”

His languid voice, so smooth it was almost gentle, properly provoked Ha Jun’s already uncomfortable mood. Looking at Seung Ho’s neat and handsome appearance made Ha Jun want to curse, so he turned his head away.

To him, Shin Seung Ho was a shameless and heartless bastard without a speck of decency.

“Ji Hyun’s not here.”

“……”

“So get lost already.”

It was a harsh dismissal uncharacteristic of Ha Jun. Even more surprising was Seung Ho’s reaction. Instead of being shocked or angered by Ha Jun’s words, he burst into low laughter.

‘What’s so funny? Has he finally gone mad?’

Ha Jun stared blankly as Seung Ho laughed. After laughing out loud for a while, Seung Ho abruptly stopped.

“So you knew?”

With the laughter gone from his face, Seung Ho’s expression was so chilly that Ha Jun rubbed his goosebump-covered nape awkwardly.

“…Speak so I can understand what you mean.”

“You knew that Ji Hyun quit working at our house.”

‘Ah….’

Caught off guard for a moment, Ha Jun swallowed dryly. Seung Ho hadn’t come here to meet Ji Hyun who had disappeared. Nor had he come to rage, demanding to know where she had gone and if Ha Jun knew.

Seung Ho had come to confirm. Whether Ha Jun knew Ji Hyun’s whereabouts or not was the answer he wanted. Sensing Seung Ho’s lingering obsession with Ji Hyun, Ha Jun denied it.

“I don’t know where she is either.”

At that, the corner of Seung Ho’s mouth lifted on one side.

“I didn’t ask that far yet….”

“Don’t try to find out either.”

“…That’s up to me.”

Seeing Seung Ho smiling leisurely despite knowing nothing about Ji Hyun made anger boil up from deep inside Ha Jun. Until their final parting moment, Ji Hyun hadn’t said a single word about Seung Ho, but Ha Jun knew. The reason Ji Hyun left was because of Shin Seung Ho standing before him now.

‘Because of you, if you hadn’t shown interest, Ji Hyun could have lived just fine without any problems!’

Seung Ho calmly observed Ha Jun glaring at him with hostility, still the predator in the superior position. Somehow it felt miserable. The more time spent with him, the more it felt like sinking into a quagmire. So Ha Jun chose to be honest rather than put on a brave front.

“Don’t try to find her. That’s what’s best for Ji Hyun.”

“……”

Ignoring Ha Jun’s plea, Seung Ho turned away without lingering, as if his business was finished, his footsteps light.

“Hoo-ah, hoo-ah, relax.”

Standing at the entrance to the stairs leading to the second floor, Manager Kim took a deep breath.

It was one of her rituals before meeting Seung Ho. After reassuring herself, she carefully ascended the stairs. Each step she climbed felt like treading on knife blades.

From some point, Seung Ho’s temperament had become unrecognizably sensitive and sharp, causing trouble for the servants.

And not just the servants – his older brother Myung Ho had clashed with Seung Ho a few times before fleeing, refusing to come home, and even the madam had been unable to hide her discomfort, hurriedly departing for America as if running away.

It hadn’t been like this from the start. To be precise, he changed exactly one week after Ji Hyun left the mansion. It would have been easier if he had shouted to find Ji Hyun, to bring her back here. But Seung Ho never once looked for Ji Hyun.

Instead…..

Having climbed the stairs, Manager Kim carefully looked around. The clean, empty white walls still felt unfamiliar. Until recently, it had been a space exhibiting all sorts of rare butterflies.

“Clear it all out. Make sure I never see them in front of me again.”

Seung Ho had removed all the butterflies from his space. The last remaining butterfly was the snow globe he had brought from America.

“Young master, what should we do with this?”

Seung Ho’s eyes grew fierce as he received the snow globe handed to him by the housekeeper who was tidying the room.

“This damn thing….”

His hand roughly lifted the snow globe as if about to throw it immediately, muttering as if chewing the words. After holding his arm outstretched in the air for a long while, he ultimately couldn’t bring himself to smash it and weakly set it down.

“What’s so special about this damn thing….”

The startled housekeeper quickly picked up the snow globe that had fallen to the floor and placed it on the table. The dark eyes, unreadable in their thoughts, turned away. His gaze was directed towards the path leading to the annex.

After that, what came to Seung Ho were sleepless nights. On dark nights, more than one or two servants were startled to see him standing still in the unlit garden, mistaking him for a ghost. When they offered to leave the lights on since it was so dark outside, Seung Ho adamantly refused.

He ignored both calls to bring in his personal physician and suggestions to receive psychological counseling. His eyes grew sharper and his expression increasingly severe. Something had clearly become twisted within him.

‘You need to return to your original self soon.’

Shaking off her thoughts, Manager Kim carefully knocked on the door.

“Young Master Seung Ho, your friend has arrived.”

Click, the door opened. Manager Kim’s shoulders stiffened with tension as she faced Seung Ho. He had grown even taller. Having shed his boyish appearance, he now possessed both a captivating and overwhelming presence.

“Please show them to the living room.”

“Understood.”

The person Manager Kim guided was none other than Min Woo. Coming to visit the reclusive Seung Ho, he whistled at his slightly changed appearance.

“You bastard, you’ve gotten even more handsome.”

It had been a while since Min Woo had seen Seung Ho as well. As winter break began and he officially started preparing for college entrance exams, he was told his current grades made studying abroad impossible. That was a wake-up call. Clinging to his tutors, he had focused entirely on raising his IELTS score and hadn’t set foot in Seung Ho’s house for some time.

“It’s clean.”

Min Woo glanced at the walls as he downed the juice set before him. Seung Ho simply stared at the garden without any particular response.

“Hey, are you really not going to London?”

Rumors were circulating that Shin Seung Ho had given up on studying abroad and would apply to domestic universities instead. While some were racking their brains studying just to go together, choosing to stay in Korea? Min Woo was exasperated.

“You idiot, you think this is all there is to life? If you go to England, you’ll meet other good women, no, good people, and then it’ll just be a matter of time before you forget….”

There were also widespread rumors that he had gone crazy over some unremarkable girl. Seung Ho’s gaze slowly turned from the window towards Min Woo.

“Who says that?”

“Huh?”

“Who’s spouting such nonsense……”

“Well, you know, people who like to gossip… Anyway, you’re going to London, right? You’re definitely going?”

Feeling a chill from the sneering Seung Ho, Min Woo fumbled his words and hurriedly changed the subject.

“But are you really not collecting butterflies anymore?”

Seung Ho’s face was starkly shadowed in the light as he looked at the white, wide walls. His answer to the question came after a long pause.

“…I’m going to try something else.”

“What are you going to do?”

His characteristically emotionless gaze turned to the snow globe on the table. Seung Ho’s lips curved up elegantly, but his eyes looking at the blue butterfly inside the snow globe were not smiling.