MIM 55

Shin-woo just stared with a dumbfounded expression without saying anything. His look, as if he had heard something so shocking it was beyond imagination, was amusing. So, he thought he could keep a girlfriend while agreeing to sleep together regularly? That would be unfair to that woman too.

“I did fine today, didn’t I?”

After rolling his eyes and hesitating, that’s all he had to say. Jae-seung snapped in irritation.

“Today I was also affected by pheromones, so it couldn’t be helped. Anyway, end it. Unlike you, I have a conscience.”

“…”

“Are you trying to make me the bad guy? Besides, when bodies grow distant, hearts naturally follow.”

After blurting out those words in excitement, Jae-seung realized his mistake. He shouldn’t have revealed that he knew the ice cream shop owner was traveling to other regions, as that was information obtained through investigation. Jae-seung quickly added that since both Shin-woo and his girlfriend were changing residences, they naturally wouldn’t be able to meet often. Fortunately, Shin-woo was too deep in thought about the breakup request to notice.

“Do I have to break up even if my girlfriend says it’s okay?”

“If she says it’s okay, it’s not true love. Body separate, heart separate – what kind of love is that?”

“I’m not lying, so I’m wondering if I really need to end it.”

“I don’t like sharing. I’ll pay you more, so end it.”

It’s a waste of time to talk about conscience to someone without one. Remembering how Shin-woo had previously demanded extra money for exclusivity, Jae-seung decided to push in that direction instead. While Shin-woo had looked confused at the mention of conscience, he nodded at the statement about not wanting to share.

“…Then give me some time.”

This response was uncharacteristic of someone who usually made decisions quickly and never postponed things. They didn’t seem to have been dating for long, but he must have liked her a lot to not be able to end it immediately. That’s probably why such a ruthless person went as far as setting up a store sign for her. Seeing his noncommittal answer, Jae-seung wondered if he was planning to just drag things out without breaking up.

The effects of spending all day exerting himself without eating seemed to be catching up now. His stomach was starting to hurt again.

“Do as you like.”

Jae-seung replied curtly and left the room.

That very day, Shin-woo returned to the mansion with his modest belongings and the puppy in his car. Following the order not to use the annex, he chose one of the empty guest rooms as his space. As soon as he arrived, he set up toy blocks in one corner of the room, introduced the puppy to the household staff, and then went to take a bath. The series of actions was so efficient, as if pre-planned, that it was irritating.

Because of the stern warning not to bring the dog into the mansion, several employees gathered in the garden surrounding the little mutt. It was white and round like cotton candy, but Jae-seung decided to call it a mutt. As he glared at it from a distance with fierce eyes, Woo-hee, the nutritionist in charge of the mansion’s diet, came running with the dog in her arms to show him. He had been suffering from allergies until relatively recently, so she used to check his condition daily. Perhaps because of this, Woo-hee was a bit less restrained around Jae-seung compared to other employees.

“Look at this. Isn’t it so cute?”

“It’s ugly.”

Jae-seung replied coldly and averted his eyes. The mutt’s eyes were too clear, which made him uncomfortable. It also felt unsettling, as if it could understand everything he said. Like his mother’s dog, the smart ones were really smart. When he had faced his mother’s dog with intense malice, hadn’t that old dog barked with all its might, as if knowing the malice was directed at its owner?

Woo-hee covered the mutt’s ears, saying it shouldn’t hear such mean words. While feeling very displeased, Jae-seung was curious about the name Shin-woo might have given it. If by any chance he had taken one syllable each from his name and his girlfriend’s name…

“What’s its name?”

“I actually asked, but he said it doesn’t have a name and we can call it whatever we want.”

“It doesn’t have a name?”

“That’s right. I was thinking we could come up with a name ourselves. Do you have any good ideas?”

It was strange that someone who even took the dog to get groomed hadn’t given it a name. Not that he cared, since he wouldn’t be calling it anyway.

“What does a mutt need a name for? Don’t give it one.”

After replying spitefully, Jae-seung returned to the mansion.

The cleanup from the rather large party continued for several hours. Amidst everyone’s busy movements, Butler Hwang approached and quietly expressed concern about the men in black suits. After checking the CCTV, it was found that they had entered brazenly through the main gate.

“I don’t know how they got them, but they showed invitations to enter. When I checked, there were two unknown names on the list.”

Except for Butler Hwang, the gardener, and Woo-hee, all the people working here were brought in by Shin-woo. If Shin-woo wanted to, it would have been easy for him to add names to the list and sneak out two more invitations. Seeing that Butler Hwang seemed overly concerned about the mansion’s security, Jae-seung shared some of what he had learned.

“Don’t worry too much, they’re people Shin-woo brought in. He probably got the invitations for them too.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“He staged this to make me hire him back. The power outage too.”

Butler Hwang nodded slowly but didn’t seem entirely convinced. After thinking deeply, he asked again.

“That’s strange. Then why did Shin-woo come in through the back door? If he could get invitations in advance, he could have gotten one for himself too.”

“He probably didn’t think it mattered whether he had an invitation or not since all the household staff knew him. And the annex is closer to the back door, so Shin-woo would be more familiar with that route.”

On the day his father died, the men who were with Shin-woo in the burning mansion came to the mansion again. Then they disappeared as soon as Shin-woo appeared. He had met them at the ice cream shop too. It couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. They were continuously circling around him on Shin-woo’s orders.

After sending Butler Hwang away, Jae-seung wandered around the mansion for a while. Sitting still made him uneasy, and he couldn’t bear the restlessness.

Roaming here and there, Jae-seung headed to the kitchen under the pretext of feeling peckish. There, he found Shin-woo, who had just finished bathing, lingering around.

While his hair was still wet from not being properly dried, his clothes were neat – a shirt and pants. The table was piled high with plates of leftover food from the guests, and Shin-woo picked up a plate that seemed barely touched and started casually eating the leftovers.

Seeing this scene made Jae-seung’s blood boil. Without knowing why, he approached and snatched the plate from Shin-woo.

“Why are you eating food waste?”

Shin-woo blinked, alternating his gaze between the confiscated plate and Jae-seung’s face. His expression showed he didn’t understand why Jae-seung was suddenly acting this way.

“Why bother preparing something new? From what I see, it looks like only one cherry tomato was touched.”

Perhaps because he had just seen those underlings, things he hadn’t noticed before became apparent. Both those guys and Shin-woo had completely different attitudes and gazes compared to the people he met at today’s party. It wasn’t just about being uncouth or eating leftovers without hesitation.

There was an underlying hostility in their eyes. While dealing with them adequately, one could sense their resentment towards the privileged class. Only young masters like you would call this food waste. Shin-woo’s eyes seemed to say.

Why am I so angry? Jae-seung was angry at Shin-woo looking at him like that, angry at him eating garbage, and angry at himself for briefly wondering if this bastard really grew up underfed in Mangwol District. Shin-woo smiled as he looked at Jae-seung glaring at him.

“Even if it’s garbage, I have a good immune system. I won’t die from eating it.”

“I get that you’ve lived off scavenging trash, but refrain from doing it in front of me. It’s disgusting.”

There could be no other reason why seeing the thinner Shin-woo eat leftovers was so unpleasant.

Jae-seung dumped all the food into the trash and ordered a steak to be grilled. Perhaps due to the lighting, Shin-woo’s usually impassive face slightly flushed at whatever Jae-seung said. He stared at the trash can, his lips twitching, and mumbled in a barely audible voice, “There are kids who could be full for a day with that one plate.”

Pretending not to hear, Jae-seung left and shut himself in his bedroom. It had been a confusing day.