After spending the entire night awake in darkness, unable to turn on the lights, I sat on the bed, staring blankly into space. I emptied my mind, thinking of nothing, and only when morning arrived did I finally get off the bed.
I adjusted the water temperature to lukewarm and stepped under the stream. Standing motionless under the pouring water for a long while, I eventually finished my shower and stepped out—just in time for the butler to enter the room.
“You’re up early, young master.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep.”
After drying my wet hair, the butler helped me get dressed. As he buttoned up my shirt, I caught a glimpse of his face—his darkened under-eyes revealed his lack of sleep. Well, who could have rested peacefully under these circumstances?
“Have you greeted him yet?”
“…No.”
“Well, I was quite shocked myself, so I can only imagine how you felt.”
Even without a clear subject, our conversation flowed naturally. As the butler adjusted my clothes, I shifted my gaze to the mirror, looking at my reflection. I appeared just as haggard and exhausted as he did.
“But he seemed to be doing well, didn’t he?”
“…Yeah, he did.”
Though our eyes were directed at different places, we were both thinking of the same person. After that, our conversation faded into silence. The butler busied himself tidying the clothes I had taken off, while I stood before the mirror, running my fingers through my disheveled hair.
Just as the heavy silence threatened to completely fill the room, a knock came at the door. A small face peeked in through the slightly open gap—Se-yul, beaming brightly as he called for me.
“Hyung!”
I wiped the gloom from my expression and waved at him, prompting Se-yul to stride into the room and stand before me. Even though it was early in the morning, he was all dressed up, as if he were heading somewhere important.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Se-yul reached out and placed a hand on my forehead. He and Han Jae-hoon had this habit of checking my temperature the day after I got sick, only relaxing once they were sure I was alright.
“You’re all dressed up so nicely this morning.”
“I have a breakfast appointment—”
His words trailed off as he belatedly realized I had been watching him with amusement. His neatly styled curly hair looked unfamiliar yet suited him well, so I had been simply admiring the sight—but my gaze must have been too intense. Se-yul’s ears turned red.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because it suits you.”
“…Really?”
Se-yul’s lips twitched as if he was trying to suppress a smile. Though he quickly masked his expression, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, his body language was filled with pride, making me want to laugh.
“Hold still.”
Se-yul reached out and carefully touched my hair. His hands, now much bigger than mine, moved my hair this way and that, and after a moment, he gripped my shoulders and positioned me in front of the mirror.
“What the hell is this?”
“An old elder’s hairdo.”
I quickly messed up the neatly parted style he’d given me. Se-yul burst out laughing, clutching his stomach, but when I glared at him, he quickly pressed his lips together and looked away, pretending he hadn’t been laughing at all.
“Seriously, what is this? You ruined my hair.”
“You can just fix it again. There’s still plenty of time.”
As I grumbled and started fixing my hair, Se-yul rested his chin on my shoulder, smiling. I waved him off, telling him to get lost, but instead, he hugged me around the waist and clung to me, acting playful.
As we bickered back and forth, the time for breakfast slowly approached. A steward arrived to fetch Se-yul. Se-yul told him to wait a moment before releasing the arms that had been holding my waist.
“Oh, right. Hyung, I have something to ask you…”
He hesitated for a moment, glancing toward the butler who was tidying up the room. The butler, sensing Se-yul’s gaze, paused his hands. Se-yul wordlessly signaled for him to step out.
The butler, sharp as always, set down the sheets he was folding and left the room. Only after the door fully shut did Se-yul turn back to me.
“Hyung, can I ask you a favor?”
“A favor?”
Se-yul nodded seriously, his expression unusually grave. Whatever it was, it was important enough for him to send even the butler away. Curious about what could make him hesitate like this, I decided to hear him out.
“I know it’s a really difficult request, but you’re the only one who can do it.”
“Why are you hyping this up so much?”
Just how difficult was this favor going to be? I nudged Se-yul’s side with my elbow, urging him to spill it already. Se-yul stalled for a moment longer, then finally seemed to make up his mind.
“So, for the next week—”
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, shaking the mansion. Se-yul barely managed to start his sentence before the sudden noise cut him off. Screams followed immediately after. Both of us instinctively turned our heads toward the direction of the sound.
“Young Master Se-yul!”
The butler burst through the door, calling for him urgently. Se-yul, instantly grasping the severity of the situation, bolted out of the room. I didn’t hesitate to follow, sprinting after him without a second thought.
The gunshot and screams had come from the annex where the guest rooms were located. That was also where the people from Sector 1, including him, were staying.
A wave of unease crashed over me.
Please don’t let it be what I think it is.
I rushed to the annex, my heart pounding, only to see a group of people gathered in the distance. Pushing past the anxious onlookers, I stepped forward—only to be met with the sight of a room in complete disarray, and him standing motionless at the center of it all.
“…What the hell…”
Fresh from the shower, he was wearing a loosely tied robe. The undone sash left his pale skin partially exposed, and droplets of water dripped from his damp hair, trickling down the defined lines of his muscles.
In his lowered hand, devoid of emotion, he held a gun. And at the end of its icy barrel, trembling in fear, was a servant.
“Shining!”
Se-yul called out to him, but he didn’t so much as flinch. The metallic click of a hammer being cocked echoed through the silent room. His aim was fixed squarely on the servant’s forehead, his finger poised as if ready to pull the trigger at any second.
“At least put the gun down and let’s talk about what—”
“Shut up.”
A voice as deep as if it had been dragged up from the depths of hell cut through the air. Se-yul immediately fell silent.
Without hesitation, he shifted the barrel of the gun slightly to the side and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The deafening gunshot ripped through the room. The thin wisp of smoke rising from the muzzle coiled in the air as he casually aimed back at the servant. A warning. A clear message: interfere, and the next shot would not miss.
No one in the room knew what the servant had done to warrant such a reaction. But whatever the mistake had been, it surely wasn’t enough to justify taking a life.
His gaze slowly drifted away from the servant, lingering on Se-yul before locking onto me as I stepped forward through the crowd. A flicker of heat ignited in his otherwise cold, crimson eyes.
“Seo-yul hyung.”
A bright smile bloomed across his face, shattering the hardened mask he had worn just seconds ago. The sudden shift in atmosphere sent murmurs rippling through the gathered onlookers.
Someone nudged me forward. I stumbled slightly, only to find myself standing right in front of him. As I lifted my head from where it had instinctively dropped, I was met with his face—his cheeks flushed slightly, his smile radiant.
He placed the gun down on the table without a second thought before spreading his arms wide and pulling me into his embrace.
The overwhelming scent of flowers threatened to suffocate me. His pheromones.
“Did you come because you missed me?”
I needed to say no. I had to say no. But my lips remained firmly shut, refusing to move.
As I attempted to pull away from his damp, clinging embrace, Se-yul subtly signaled me to stay put for just a moment. Taking advantage of his distraction, Se-yul swiftly dragged the shaken servant away.
Only after I confirmed that the servant was safely removed did I shove him off me.
“Whatever unfortunate event has occurred, I apologize on behalf of Sector 1.”
“……”
His expression darkened at my deliberate attempt to draw a line between us. He reached out as if to grab me again, but I quickly stepped back, avoiding his touch.
His hand, suspended in the air, clenched into a tight fist before he exhaled a slow, heavy sigh. He ran a hand through his damp hair, causing the loosely draped robe over his shoulders to slip further down.
I had no idea where to look. My head dropped again, but a firm hand suddenly grasped my chin, forcing me to lift my gaze.
Though his lips were curved in a smile, his smoldering flame-colored eyes burned fiercely, focused solely on me.
“Seo-yul hyung, you should be looking at me.”
“That’s not it. I came because of the gunshot—”
“No, you came to see me.”
My body trembled under the overwhelming pressure of his pheromones, but just then, Se-yul’s arm slipped between us, forcing space between me and him. Se-yul stood in front of me, blocking his view. As soon as I disappeared from his sight, the smile lingering at his lips vanished, turning ice-cold.
“Han Se-yul, move.”
“You’re not in your right mind right now. Just calm down first—”
“I told you to move.”
At the same time that he reached for the gun he had set down, Se-yul drew his own hidden firearm and aimed it at him. Click. The sound of the safety being disengaged made him freeze.
The guards who had arrived late tried to rush in, but the attendants blocking the door refused to step aside. Se-yul, his finger resting on the trigger, spoke with a tensionless ease.
“Any disturbance from this point forward will be considered an attack by Sector 1 on Sector 5.”
At Se-yul’s warning, he let out a scoff. Withdrawing his hand from the gun, he looked at Se-yul and let out a slow, relaxed chuckle. Rather than backing down, he even stepped forward, as if daring him to shoot.
“Go ahead, shoot me.”
His radiant smile was completely out of place for the situation.
