What had Cha Seonwoo meant when he told me to be careful?

Even after I gave him the answer he wanted without resistance, Cha Taewoo’s face remained dark.

As I tutored and took care of my brother whenever I had a chance, time passed in a flash.

At first I had been on full guard against Cha Seonwoo, but after not running into him for a while, I must have let my guard down completely, because that night I ran into Cha Seonwoo again. It was because I had not been able to fall asleep until late.

I had lain in the dark from 9 p.m. while putting my brother to bed until late in the night, close to dawn, but there was still no sign of sleep. My insomnia, which had always been bad, only worsened after Cha Seonwoo arrived. It was because his attitude, which was clearly not friendly toward me, kept my nerves unconsciously on edge.

To fall asleep, I would have needed sleeping pills, but I could not do that because of tutoring. If I took them, I would still be foggy-headed the next day.

In the end, I got up from my uselessly tossing and turning body, and, careful not to wake my brother, rose from bed and headed to the dining room.

"Did you need something?"

But the moment I stepped into the dining room, I stopped short in surprise at the voice that reached me.

I had not expected a servant to be here at this hour.

Her face was stiff and formal as she asked me the question, and it only made things more awkward.

"No... I was just going to head back in soon."

I had thought drinking some warm water might help me sleep, but instead it woke me completely.

Thinking I had come out for nothing, I took a cup and headed toward the purifier. I was planning to drink water quickly and go back to my room.

That was when it happened. I faintly heard the front door of the main house open.

Who was it?

Not recognizing the visitor at once, I glanced toward the door. But unlike me, who was confused, the servant quickly walked toward the entrance as if she had been waiting for this.

"You’re here, Young Master?"

This was a disaster.

Only then did I realize the owner of the sound was Cha Seonwoo, and I furrowed my brows faintly as I stopped pouring water into the cup. For some reason, Cha Seonwoo had not gone straight to the annex, but had come to the main house instead.

I tried to leave the dining room right then to avoid meeting him, but I was soon blocked by a broad chest and had no choice but to stop.

"..."

From the brown coat came a blast of cold air mixed with a harsh perfume that did not suit Cha Seonwoo at all, along with alcohol, cigarettes, and another strange scent I could not identify. All the things I hated most, all together, were right in front of me, carrying a messy, disordered feeling.

I tried to smooth out my distorted expression and looked up. Then our gazes collided.

"Young Master, would you like some honey water?"

Cha Seonwoo did not seem to hear the servant’s concerned question at all, and merely kept his eyes raised, staring at me. He looked just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. For a moment I wondered whether I should at least greet him, but I did not have any positive feelings toward Cha Seonwoo, so I simply looked straight back at him.

Even so, after a long silence, I was the one who finally gave up.

"Did you have something to say?"

I had been about to say that if not, I would be going, but Cha Seonwoo gave a low hum in response to my question. His large body, with one hand shoved carelessly into his coat pocket, looked looser than usual.

"I didn’t think you’d still be awake at this hour."

That made two of us. I had not expected Cha Seonwoo to come to the main house at this hour, of all times.

But I did not immediately understand the meaning behind his words, so my answer was slow.

Was he annoyed that I was wandering around his mansion so late?

"I was just about to go in."

At my answer, clearly meant to get him to leave, Cha Seonwoo nodded absently. Then his gaze, which had briefly slipped behind me, soon fixed on me again. That penetrating look, as if he had something to say, made all the hairs on my body stand on end. But I no longer had any desire to have a trivial conversation with Cha Seonwoo.

"If you have nothing to say, I’ll be going now."

The moment I moved to leave, Cha Seonwoo blocked my way.

"I never said you could go."

My brows tightened without me meaning to at his deliberate obstruction. But unlike me, Cha Seonwoo still looked relaxed, even arrogant. It was as if he did not think his behavior would be rude to me at all. Or perhaps he knew, and simply thought I was too insignificant for it to matter.

I had seen many alphas since I was young, but this was the first time I had encountered one whose very existence could overwhelm everyone else. It was not just because of his face, height, or build. Because he was a dominant, the atmosphere he gave off itself was threatening, and the word unmatched suited him better than anything else.

"Come to think of it, we haven’t introduced ourselves properly yet. I’m Cha Seonwoo."

"..."

I already knew that. There was no way I did not.

When I did not answer, Cha Seonwoo slowly tilted his head.

Then he lowered his voice and asked, "Are you going to keep your mouth shut like that?"

His oppressive tone, which looked down on others, did not feel strange at all. He must have treated people like this his whole life. But Cha Seonwoo’s unthinking behavior shattered the self-respect of someone like me, who was already full of inferiority. Whether he knew my age or not, his careless switching between casual speech and honorifics was uncomfortable. It almost felt like he was mocking me.

"...I’m Song Haemin."

But I did not want to keep up this pointless battle of wills any longer. I had no intention of exchanging long words with an alpha who made me uncomfortable just by standing in front of me.

So I answered briefly, thinking only of leaving this place as fast as possible, and Cha Seonwoo curled one corner of his mouth upward.

"Luckily, we don’t have the same surname. At least not yet."

"..."

"I hope it stays that way. I don’t want to be tied to you as family."

What was that supposed to mean? At the same time, the expression I had been barely maintaining cracked. There was an edge to his words. The hostility was something anyone could feel.

I looked up at Cha Seonwoo, biting the inside of my cheek hard.

I knew I should just pretend I had not heard that. But once I realized he was openly looking down on me and dismissing me, the words of sarcasm slipped out before I could stop them.

"Can I go now? I have no reason, and no intention, to sit here and let some drunk bully me."

Cha Seonwoo let out a short laugh. His lips curved as if he had heard a joke. But I could not even manage a brief smile.

"I did drink, yes... but not enough to let words like that slide from you."

His eyes were not smiling, even if his mouth was. His fierce gaze fixed on me straight on.

"I’ll be going now."

My impression of Cha Seonwoo kept sinking lower and lower. And the instinctive fear I felt toward an alpha rose higher, making my guard even sharper. It was getting harder to face him any longer.

But just as I tried to brush past Cha Seonwoo, I froze at what came out of his mouth.

"There’s a strange scent in the annex."

"..."

"What were you doing in a room with no owner?"

I looked at him, holding my breath.

"I can’t even stand to be in the annex because it feels so unpleasant."

My mind went blank.

How did he know I had been going to the annex? There was no way I, a beta, could have left pheromones behind, so what scent was he even talking about? I searched my memory, but nothing came to mind. Had someone seen me going there? If so, why had they stayed quiet until now? And if Cha Seonwoo’s father found out about this...?

I opened and closed my lips, unable to find a single thing to say.

But no matter how I thought about it, I had left no trace there. He must have only had suspicion. If he had concrete evidence, he would have kicked me out of this house long ago instead of testing me like this.

In the end, instead of admitting anything, I shook my head.

"...I think you’ve misunderstood."

My heart was pounding so hard I was afraid Cha Seonwoo would notice. It had been a long time since I had felt this way, except when I was very young. As I grew older, my fear of alphas lessened while my disgust grew stronger, and I suppressed fear with that disgust.

But Cha Seonwoo said nothing, only kept looking at me. That attitude of his made me choose to be brazen with hope.

"If you’re just trying to pick a fight and make things difficult for me, it won’t work. And you keep using casual speech, so please be careful. I thought you were younger than me."

Cha Seonwoo still looked down at me with a faintly mocking expression. As if nothing I barked at him could affect him at all.

I put on a irritated expression and brushed past him. Fortunately, this time he did not stop me.

The moment I entered my room after crossing the long hallway and closing the door, I let out the breath I had been holding.

"Hah..."

The water in the cup I was holding had already gone cold and lost all warmth.