At Seung Ho’s call, the others also turned their attention to the two in unison. Ji Hyun, who was not used to the attention, swallowed nervously.

She felt Bo Ra’s particularly sharp gaze on her. Anxiety that she might be humiliated again in front of everyone made her palms sweat. The suffocating silence and focused stares constricted Ji Hyun’s breath.

“If there’s something you need me to do…”

Seung Ho stared intently at her fidgeting for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.

“Don’t clear it yet. I’m not finished eating.”

“Huh? Okay.”

‘Did he notice I was trying to quickly clear things and go back to the kitchen?’

Feeling like her intentions had been exposed, Ji Hyun took a step back with the tray, relieved but also flustered.

Min Woo, who had been anxiously glancing between the two, also noticeably relaxed and continued the conversation he had been having with the others. The instigator of the change in atmosphere was silently staring at the glass in his hand.

‘So annoying.’

Bo Ra downed her juice in one gulp, irritated that things weren’t going her way. She was skilled at hiding her emotions and smiling. After all, it was something she had always done since childhood.

In fact, she had been in a very bad mood from the moment she arrived at this house. It was all because of Seung Ho. She had come to Korea after a long time to see him, but his attention was completely elsewhere.

His bored expression as he stared blankly into space was annoying, but what was even more unbearable was the fact that his idle gaze moved toward only one person. The moment she realized that, Bo Ra’s mood sank into the mud.

At the end of Seung Ho’s gaze was a young servant girl. She seemed to be around the same age, but there was a strange maturity in the way she served calmly and skillfully.

Somehow it made her angry. Towards a pathetic helper who wasn’t even worthy of being her opponent…

So she deliberately brought up the engagement. Just capturing everyone’s attention was a satisfying result.

At the same time, instead of unleashing her anger on Shin Seung Ho, Bo Ra chose someone else.

“I wish there was more of this.”

Glaring at Ji Hyun, Bo Ra expressionlessly raised her hand to point at the empty plate that had held canapés. As Ji Hyun approached at her call and bent to clear the plate, Bo Ra clicked her tongue in displeasure.

“Tsk, how can you hygienically serve guests with stains on an apron that should be clean?”

Taken aback by the unexpected sharp criticism, Ji Hyun’s eyes widened as she examined her apron.

“Pardon?”

The apron was just as it had been when she first put it on. Though upset, Ji Hyun could only nod, having to follow the basic manual an employee must adhere to.

As an employee, Ji Hyun had no right to argue. Well aware of that fact, Bo Ra raised her voice even more, keeping her gaze fixed on Seung Ho.

“Seung Ho, it seems your house doesn’t properly manage the servants, huh?”

Even at the barbed remark, Seung Ho’s expression remained calm. Bo Ra raised her voice further.

“I’ll have to call Manager Kim and tell him. To properly manage the servants, that is.”

“Hey, stop it.”

Min Woo, thinking Bo Ra’s meddling had gone too far, lowered his stance to stop her. Ji Hyun, who had been unilaterally wronged, was now pale to the point of being white rather than ashen.

Having pushed Ji Hyun to the point of almost crying, Bo Ra felt a little better. That’s when it happened. Startled by the situation that unfolded in an instant, Bo Ra’s eyes widened.

“Gasp.”

Along with the sound of liquid pouring, exclamations spilled from people’s mouths. Seung Ho, who had stepped in front of Ji Hyun at some point, had raised his glass and poured it over her head.

The grape juice flowing from the tilted glass slowly dripped down from the top of Ji Hyun’s head, looking like red blood flowing.

The pale eyes that had no choice but to receive the juice without dodging trembled violently. Ji Hyun’s face, reflecting shock and humiliation or some emotion in between, contorted. Having completely emptied the glass, Seung Ho spoke as if nothing had happened.

“You don’t want to stay like that, do you?”

It was a cruel order to leave.

“Oh my, what is this?”

The ajumma in charge of the kitchen approached Ji Hyun, who had come down in a mess, handed her a towel, and fussed.

“What happened upstairs? They may act up among themselves, but they never used to bother the servants…”

Ji Hyun avoided the ajumma’s pitying and curious gaze and silently wiped her wet hair with the towel. Manager Kim, who had been busily moving about the mansion, spotted Ji Hyun and approached.

“You’re…”

As the shocked Manager Kim opened his mouth to say something, the helper ajumma signaled with her eyes not to say anything. Roughly understanding the situation from the atmosphere, Manager Kim sighed softly and brought another towel to wipe Ji Hyun’s wet hair.

“Just endure a little longer. The second young master will be going abroad soon, so this won’t happen again.”

“…”

Hearing words akin to Manager Kim’s consolation, she understood why the servants couldn’t last three months. It was the first time she had experienced such humiliation since birth.

On top of having to serve children around her age, she was criticized and in the end had to silently accept juice being poured over her head.

‘I shouldn’t have taken this job in the first place.’

Sighing, Ji Hyun closed her eyes, not blaming Manager Kim who had sent her to serve, but herself for being swayed by the high hourly wage.

“Ahem, you see…”

After Ji Hyun left, amidst the chilling silence surrounding them, Min Woo cleared his throat and rolled his eyes. He was just as confused.

Seung Ho, whose thoughts were always hard to read, was acting even more stiff than usual today, and Bo Ra, whom they hadn’t seen in a long time, had also frozen the atmosphere with behavior unlike her usual self.

Born at the top of the pyramid, they had nothing to fear since childhood, with abundant, overflowing wealth.

They played recklessly or riskily as if there was no tomorrow, and the only person they had difficulty with was exactly one – the elegantly seated Shin Seung Ho over there.

Somehow, despite being the same age, he had an overwhelming aura that was different from the other kids. Min Woo knew well that the dignity emanating from him came from a thorough disinterest in others.

But for Seung Ho of all people, not someone else, to approach a servant and deliberately pour juice on them… It was something that could never happen according to his common sense. Perhaps everyone had the same thought, as they had difficulty opening their mouths.

A change of atmosphere was needed.

“Shall we talk about Switzerland?”

“Sounds good. Count me in too.”

As Min Woo spoke, the rest of the group chimed in as if they had been waiting, changing the flow of the sharp atmosphere. The topic of conversation quickly shifted to plans for spending the winter break in Switzerland.

Amidst the noisy chatter, Bo Ra stared at Seung Ho with her lips tightly bitten. He seemed to have no interest in the conversation, only looking at the butterfly hanging in the room.

“Shin Seung…”

When she opened her mouth to try to talk to Seung Ho again, Min Woo quietly dissuaded Bo Ra.

“Don’t. Don’t touch that guy.”

“What?”

Bo Ra furrowed her brow as if she had heard an unfunny joke. But Min Woo wasn’t laughing.

“I said leave him be.”

“Why are you acting like this too?”

Min Woo stared at Bo Ra’s face as she tried to suppress her irritation, then shifted his gaze to Seung Ho.

“That jerk Seung Ho is sensitive these days.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard today.”

Bo Ra scoffed. Shin Seung Ho, sensitive? Wasn’t he the one who seemed to have no interest in anything that existed in this world?

“If you want to seduce him, do it in Switzerland. Not now.”

Bo Ra swallowed a hollow laugh. If he was a kid who would give in to seduction, she would have done it ten times, a hundred times. Seung Ho had always been too difficult for her. Maybe that’s why she wanted him more…

Seeing her conflicted, Min Woo’s expression was quite serious.

“I know what you’re thinking, but don’t mess with him.”

Late at night, after the commotion had passed and everyone had left, Seung Ho gazed at his most beautiful blue morpho butterfly for a while.

Admiring the blue glow harmoniously shining against the black wings usually calmed his turbulent mind. But today, even that couldn’t bring him peace.

Recalling what had happened during the day, Seung Ho’s eyes narrowed. The red liquid flowing down the fine strands of hair kept flashing before his eyes.

The sensation at his fingertips from gripping the glass so tightly it might shatter was still vivid. It was he who had assigned the job through Manager Kim.

The entire time she worked in the house, Ji Hyun’s expressionless face was unbearably grating. He didn’t even hope for a smile. Every time he saw her empty eyes showing no interest at all, Seung Ho’s mood sank endlessly.

So he had made up his mind. Even if he couldn’t make her smile in this house, he had the confidence to hurt her.

He thought that if he could see Ji Hyun in a difficult situation, flustered and at a loss, the unpleasantness he felt would go away.

But he had no intention of entrusting the role of pushing her into a pit to someone else. Making her cry or humiliating her was solely his job.

That was why. Why he had impulsively acted…

Watching Bo Ra’s childish act of picking on the staff first when she was upset, as if a few words would make Ji Hyun burst into tears, irritation welled up.

Seung Ho closed his eyes. His memory flowed along with the liquid running down the fine hair.

The juice flowing down her white skin passed by her large eyes and flowed into her thick lips. The soft, plump lips holding the juice became even redder.

In his memory, Ji Hyun’s lips were excessively luscious. Seung Ho averted his gaze from her lips that trembled as she swallowed, unable to argue, and his eyes met directly with Ji Hyun’s juice-soaked brown eyes.

Unlike other times, the brown eyes were clearly speaking.

‘I hate you.’

The moment he met her resentful gaze, the back of his neck tingled with a strange sensation. It was an emotion he had never felt before in his life.