MIM 68

Though the circumstances were sufficiently suspicious, his forthright manner made Jae-seung wonder if perhaps nothing had really happened. If he’d dropped off the car, gotten a haircut, and done some shopping in that time, there wouldn’t have been time for a long conversation with Ye-wook.

Knowing that Ye-wook had recently helped look into his brother’s hospital, maybe he’d gone to warn him not to do unnecessary things. Jae-seung narrowed his eyes and thoroughly examined Shin-woo’s exterior. Perhaps misinterpreting his scrutiny as concern about the haircut rather than checking for blood spatters, Shin-woo awkwardly touched the scratch in his hair.

“Should have just cut it here as usual, instead of going to some supposedly famous salon.”

His face was slightly flushed as he muttered quietly. He seemed genuinely annoyed, suggesting his story about the salon wasn’t a lie. Seeing him grumbling about such things made it hit home again that there wasn’t much age difference between them.

Feeling like teasing him, Jae-seung chewed his lip. Without thinking, he reached out and ran his finger along the scratch.

“Ah, don’t.”

Shin-woo frowned deeply and tilted his head away from the touch. When their eyes met as he glared, an unbelievable thought crossed Jae-seung’s mind.

He seemed a little cute, just a tiny bit.

Of course, this guy couldn’t possibly be cute. It must be the situation of him getting his hair messed up and making a fuss that seemed that way. After quickly rationalizing this, Jae-seung blurted out whatever came to mind.

“You get your hair cut here? By the person who cuts mine?”

“No. The gardener cuts it.”

“…Are tree-trimming skills similar to haircutting skills? What makes you trust a gardener with your hair?”

When Jae-seung asked with wide eyes, Shin-woo raised the corner of his mouth in a grin. His face was full of mischief as he chuckled. Realizing it was a joke, Jae-seung let out a “huh” and a hollow laugh.

His gaze kept being drawn to the guy who had been laughing and joking around more frequently lately. He felt helpless, not even knowing what this guy who’d visited mother and then Ye-wook was plotting. Jae-seung flopped down on the sofa and tried to collect himself.

“Did you meet Ye-wook?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t hide that fact.

“Just stopped by briefly to say hello.”

But the words that followed were clearly a lie.

It bothered him that Shin-woo had met Ye-wook right after meeting his mother. He must have needed to take care of the car and handle yesterday’s violence incident, so why did he make time to see Ye-wook during such a busy period? Jae-seung tried subtly bringing it up.

“You’ve been meeting people around me alone quite often lately.”

“Well, yes.”

“What could you and Ye-wook have to talk about without me?”

“Are you jealous?”

He does something suspicious then tries to deflect by treating it as a personal matter. He’s deliberately doing this, remembering how flustered Jae-seung got last time when he joked about jealousy.

If he got tongue-tied here, he’d get caught up in it again. Jae-seung leaned his head back against the sofa and looked up at Shin-woo. Then, meeting his eyes directly, he asked,

“Did you do something to make me jealous?”

Shin-woo’s expression slowly settled as he looked down. He stared blankly before shaking his head, his facial muscles relaxing into a more composed expression.

“How could I? I belong to Young Master.”

The barcode showed on Shin-woo’s neck as he turned slightly.

Belong. It was distasteful to refer that way to their arrangement to make their relationship exclusive for additional payment. Though he knew that wasn’t what this was about, he strangely turned the conversation in that direction. Even showing his barcode tattoo, whether intentionally or by chance. He guides the conversation where he wants while slipping away like a snake from things he doesn’t want to discuss.

The more he learns about him, the cleverer he seems. It was infuriating how this guy, whose thoughts he couldn’t understand and couldn’t pin down, would claim to belong to him. Jae-seung raised the corner of his mouth in a nervous smile.

“I’ll take my leave now.”

Butler Hwang, whom they’d forgotten about until now, cleared his throat and excused himself. The study door closed quietly as he left. A heavy silence settled in the moment they were left alone.

Jae-seung just stared at Shin-woo for a long while without saying anything. In his mind, he reconstructed the guy’s movements countless times, trying to piece together his possible thoughts and intentions. Shin-woo, who had remained silent throughout, finally spoke long after Butler Hwang had left.

“Yesterday’s incident has been settled well, and they said they’ll take down all articles by this afternoon. Even if related posts appear on SNS or communities, they’ll monitor in real-time and remove them.”

“Mm.”

“Since there were so many people at the lake yesterday, quite a few photos were taken of us on the boat, but I thought those didn’t necessarily need to be taken down. And I bought these things thinking they might be good to take to today’s team project.”

“Team project?”

Jae-seung frowned and sat up. He’d completely forgotten about the schedule while being preoccupied with visiting his brother. He couldn’t be expected to remember team project schedules when his supposedly insane brother turned out to be sane and Shin-woo had allegedly killed Hye-jung. As if reading his thoughts, Shin-woo narrowed his eyes.

“We have a team project meeting today. You’re not planning to skip again, are you?”

“I’ll go.”

Though he’d given up on general education courses, Jae-seung knew he needed decent grades in major courses for an easier path to graduation. His head hurt thinking about the flood of exams and assignments coming up before the break. Time and priority management were even harder than studying. When he was sick in bed, he’d received education tailored to his schedule and condition, but having to personally match agreed-upon times and places was no easy task. Especially with so many mysteries to unravel.

He should meet the will’s witness as soon as possible, and talk with Ye-wook while waiting for news about Hye-jung. Jae-seung silently organized his priorities while scanning Shin-woo with his eyes.

Perhaps because his side hair was neatly trimmed, his round ears were clearly visible. Those reddish ears that moved when he clenched his jaw. The edge of his ear was so soft it might be the roundest part of his body. His gaze moved slowly from the ear to his scabbed lip. Yesterday’s injury remained dark red.

Though not new, he was someone who constantly got injured. Jae-seung crossed his long legs while looking up at the brown eyes staring blankly at him.

“So, what did you buy?”

Shin-woo pulled out a beautifully paper-wrapped box from the shopping bag. Though Jae-seung looked at it listlessly, showing little enthusiasm about the gift itself, Shin-woo couldn’t go empty-handed to someone’s house. He’d chosen simple snacks as a gift, and fortunately there was a department store not far from Ye-wook’s house where he could easily buy them. While he’d found the car center himself, he had indeed gotten Ye-wook’s recommendation for the snacks. Ye-wook wasn’t the type to quickly think of recommending a place with bad taste in such a short time, so they should be good.

The members of Jae-seung’s team were all refined Alphas from respectable families. Not just in terms of family wealth, but they were Alphas with broad knowledge and proper manners from receiving elite education since childhood. Meaning they weren’t troublemaking heirs like those in other wealthy families.

Though now he was more careful after being burned several times, at the start of the semester, Shin-woo had been somewhat overprotective because Jae-seung acted like he’d give his heart and soul to anyone who wanted to be friends. There were many who eyed Jae-seung with ulterior motives, so caution was needed. But for Jae-seung, who grew up confined as a test subject, experience with mentally sound alphas his age was absolutely necessary.

Shin-woo had already investigated the three team members. None of them had any connection to Ma Corporate’s research, and they weren’t the type to eagerly consume gossip online. Two of them had studied abroad during the Ma Corporate incident, making them even less likely to be interested in Jae-seung’s background. Above all, they were too busy with packed schedules from morning to evening to waste time on unnecessary things.

Rather than endlessly talking with him, who had been practically confined in the mansion with him for years, it would be much more helpful for Jae-seung to see and hear about where they went and what interested them in life. He hoped Jae-seung would turn his eyes toward his bright future ahead rather than reliving painful memories.

Shin-woo answered while putting the box back in the shopping bag.

“Snacks. I don’t usually buy things from department stores so I’m not sure if they’re good, but they should be fine given the price.”

“…Why bother bringing such things?”

Jae-seung asked back with a suspicious expression. He looked like he was trying to judge if there might be a bomb in the shopping bag. Shin-woo shrugged.

“It can’t hurt to maintain good relationships with people around you.”

“I thought you said I couldn’t have friends. Weren’t you against me making friends?”

“I meant you should be selective about making friends with good people, not stay alone forever. Young master, you have no eye for people.”

Jae-seung bristled again at being told he had no eye for people.

“So what kind of person is good enough in your eyes?”

“Someone who minds their own business and does their work well. Preferably someone who doesn’t use social media.”

Someone more interested in their own life than others would be less likely to harm Jae-seung, and not using social media would prevent them from spreading unnecessary rumors about him online.

Jae-seung’s face darkened rapidly at the pointed answer. Just as Shin-woo noticed his mood souring and was about to step back, Jae-seung suddenly leaned forward and roughly grabbed Shin-woo’s arm.