4. Your Maid
“This is unbelievable…”
Jihyun, walking down the alley, stopped in her tracks. The foolish words she had heard a few days ago kept replaying in her mind, and without realizing it, her brows furrowed.
In the space filled with the reddish light of the setting sun, the two faced each other for a while. In the strange silence, Jihyun thought Seungho’s eyes also looked dyed red by the sunset.
“Wherever you go, don’t go around selling my name. Don’t even say you know me.”
So she didn’t understand. She was just staring blankly into his eyes.
“Huh? I don’t really understand what you mean…”
“……”
It was a rather absurd statement, so Jihyun asked again, but Seungho just kept staring deeply into her eyes. Wanting to say something back but suddenly losing her words, Jihyun blinked.
‘Is this some kind of overthinking?’
What came next was even more ridiculous.
“At school, don’t even think about hanging around with some lame guys. Our family cares about the dignity of our employees.”
“W-what did you say?”
Jihyun’s voice rose at such an extremely rude remark, but Seungho, having looked away from her, opened a book and waved his hand in the air.
“If you got it, then leave.”
Jihyun wanted to argue who he thought he was to say that, but her throat was so tight she couldn’t utter a word and left the mansion. It was her burden that she couldn’t sleep, unable to suppress her anger.
‘Who cares about someone like me? And am I crazy? To even say that damn name…’
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, grinding her teeth. Suddenly, an arm draped over her neck.
“Hey, Choi Jihyun!”
“Uh?”
Miri, a friend she quickly became close with on the first day of school while going to the cafeteria, smiled at her.
“What were you thinking about? You didn’t even answer when I called.”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Miri shook her head as if it didn’t matter.
“Did you talk to your parents about it?”
“Ah…”
Jihyun smiled awkwardly. Yesterday, Miri had invited her to attend the academy together, convincing her it would boost their study efficiency.
But Miri’s academy wasn’t cheap, and Jihyun had neither the money nor the time to pay for it.
“They say it’s expensive but really effective.”
At that moment, a shadow fell to Jihyun’s left. Hajun, who had appeared without her noticing, came over and shook his head disdainfully at Miri.
“Stop nagging. Are you talking about Jihyun?”
Miri’s eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. You’re the one who needs to go to the academy. She doesn’t.”
“Kim Hajun, you’re seriously… too blunt.”
Miri sighed deeply looking at Hajun. Standing about 180 cm tall with a gentle appearance and warm personality, Hajun was popular at school.
He was the first friend who kindly approached Jihyun when she got lost on her first day, not knowing where the cafeteria was.
From that day on, Hajun had lunch with Jihyun and introduced Miri, his childhood friend. The three became friends.
“Ah, I really don’t want to go alone.”
“It’s a famous place, right?”
“Yeah. There aren’t many kids from our school there. Mostly from Seomungo High. Just looking at them makes me feel intimidated.”
“If Jihyun’s there, you won’t feel intimidated?”
“Yeah, Jihyun’s pretty.”
At Hajun’s sarcastic question, Miri answered as if it was obvious.
“If you’re not confident in grades, you have to be superior in looks.”
It was a strange statement, but the constant mention of that name made Jihyun’s face flush.
“Ha, it’s because you study with that attitude that your grades don’t improve.”
Hajun clicked his tongue. Regardless, Miri continued.
“Ah, if only that amazing Shin Seungho came, going to the academy would be fun…”
Shin Seungho.
The unpleasant name coming out of Miri’s mouth made Jihyun’s eyes widen in surprise.
“Shin Seungho?”
“Yeah. The super famous guy from Seomungo. His dad is some group chairman or something?”
Hajun added to Miri’s words.
“It’s harder to find kids who are regular employees’ children at Seomungo.”
“That’s true. But Shin Seungho is just on a different level.”
“What’s different? What is?”
“His looks are otherworldly.”
“That’s a bit much…”
Jihyun hesitated, and Miri’s eyes went wide.
“You know Shin Seungho too?”
“No, I don’t! Absolutely not!”
Remembering that guy who told her not to sell his name, Jihyun firmly denied it.
“Well, it makes sense. You just transferred. He’s super famous.”
Hajun laughed lightly and teased Miri.
“If Hajun knows him by name, that says it all. Shin Seungho is known for being incredibly rich and ridiculously handsome.”
“Uh… okay.”
Though Miri enthusiastically explained with hand gestures, Jihyun barely reacted. Hajun glanced at her and asked gently.
“How’s his personality?”
‘His personality is terrible,’ Jihyun thought silently. But Miri’s answer was different.
“Nice.”
“What?”
Miri murmured with sparkling eyes and a dreamy voice.
“If you’re handsome, you’re nice, right? Someone like Shin Seungho is an angel.”
Hajun was shocked.
“Anyway, Imiri’s nonsense is something to appreciate.”
“I don’t know. They say he looks like an actor and is famous, but since he’s rich, he probably won’t come to academies.”
Watching Miri groan, Jihyun smiled bitterly. Unlike Seungho, who sneered at her on the first day, their school was also in a wealthy area, so there were many rich kids.
Although he didn’t show it, Hajun naturally gave off the vibe of being from a well-off family, and Miri was no different.
So Jihyun was the only one who was different.
She had to carefully wear her only school uniform clean every day. She washed her shirt every night and diligently ironed it every morning.
Her sneakers, with peeling soles, were barely kept alive with superglue. It was always Jihyun who struggled.
“Jihyun, don’t forget what I said. Try talking to your mom one more time.”
Miri hadn’t given up yet and offered once more. Hajun casually responded on Jihyun’s behalf, who couldn’t say she had no money.
“You have to raise your grades for Jihyun to get interested.”
“This guy’s always telling the truth. What a pain.”
Jihyun silently smiled watching the two bicker.
Even though she must have clearly seemed poor and lacking, Miri and Hajun accepted her without hesitation as one of the group. Just being with them made going to high school worth it.
“Well, I’m off to the academy.”
Miri’s shoulders slumped.
“Don’t just read web novels there, study hard.”
“You’re the worst!”
Hajun coldly gave advice and walked with Jihyun to see her off.
Thud.
Watching Miri walk briskly away, a weight fell on Jihyun’s head. Hajun had gently placed an English workbook on her head.
“I accidentally bought two.”
A lie.
Jihyun swallowed the words she was about to spit out. Though she hadn’t told them the reason she transferred, Hajun seemed to understand her difficult situation and took care of her studies within reason.
Getting help from friends might hurt her pride, but Jihyun had no choice. Her situation was too dire to care about pride.
“Take it. The English teacher likes this workbook.”
That meant the final exam would likely have questions from it.
“…Thanks.”
Unable to refuse, Jihyun spoke with a choked voice. Hajun smirked as if it was nothing and shrugged.
“It’s nothing.”
“Who’s that? She looks pretty good.”
Minwoo, pressing his face against the window, whistled.
“Who?”
Seungho, deeply engrossed in a shooting game, asked carelessly without looking from the monitor.
“The girl in the gray uniform coming in.”
Seungho frowned. The only people who would wear a uniform in this house besides him were one other person.
“She’s the one working here.”
“Ah, then she’s the maid. The maid.”
Though Seungho was annoyed by Minwoo’s playful use of the word “maid,” he let it slide. Minwoo’s interests rarely interested him.
At least until Minwoo started acting like he knew everything…
“She seems to go to Cheongmyeong High. Ah, is she that girl?”
Minwoo tilted his head, trying to remember. Seungho’s eyes sharpened.
“That girl?”
“Yeah, my friend at Cheongmyeong said a really pretty girl transferred there recently.”
Seungho threw his game controller down and stood by the window where Minwoo was. He saw Jihyun walking tiredly.
“She doesn’t seem to know, but she’s quite popular behind her back. Well, with that kind of looks, it’s strange if she’s not.”
“Could it be…”
Minwoo, busy looking at Jihyun, clicked his tongue and continued.
“It’s true. Look at her. That workbook in her hand isn’t just any workbook. It’s hard to get at our school, and she’s just carrying it around. Some idiot must’ve given it to her.”
Indeed, Jihyun was holding a workbook compiled by a top instructor focusing on the essentials.
The expensive workbook, which she could never buy with the wages she earned doing chores, dangled carelessly in the owner’s indifferent hands.
Seungho, staring at the back of her as she walked to the annex, took a deep breath instead of replying to Minwoo. Hearing news he didn’t want to know put him in a very bad mood.
“Go home now.”
“Why? This is starting to get interesting…”
Minwoo licked his lips regretfully, but Seungho’s gaze was sharp.
“I just remembered something important.”
“Again.”
Jihyun blinked as she put down the tray with coffee. Seungho’s eyes were still on the game monitor. Before she even took off her uniform after arriving at the dorm, Manager Kim came panting and urgently sought Jihyun.
“Master Seungho is looking for you. Hurry and go.”
Hurrying to change clothes and follow him, Manager Kim added a word.
“I don’t know what it is, but he seems very upset, so be careful.”
As expected, Seungho, whose eyes were so cold they felt like ice, was waiting with his arms crossed at the door.
“Bring me some tea.”
With help from the kitchen lady, Jihyun brought the Earl Grey he liked.
“Here’s your Earl Grey.”
The moment she placed the steaming cup on the table, Seungho’s face twisted.
“When did I say to bring Earl Grey?”
“Huh? Then what…”
“Milk tea.”
Jihyun obediently went back downstairs to get milk tea. But Seungho’s moodiness didn’t end there.
“On second thought, coffee is better than milk tea. Bring coffee.”
At his whimsical order, Jihyun felt exhausted but had no choice. Then, before she even put the coffee cup down, Seungho told her to remake it.
That’s when she realized he wasn’t ordering coffee, but just trying to torment her. Her hands holding the cup trembled.
“Why are you going to drink it?”
Not getting an answer right away, his eyes shifted from the monitor to her. Looking between the cup and her face, Seungho sneered.
“Throw it away and make it again.”
Suppressing the urge to pour coffee on his head, Jihyun gritted her teeth.
‘Annoying bastard.’
“Wait.”
Seungho’s eyes gleamed even more mischievously as he called her just as she was about to go to the kitchen.
“I’m mad, so who knows what I’ll put in the cup. Better if you go buy it yourself.”
Jihyun swallowed a sigh escaping her teeth. His spite wasn’t over yet.
