As Guest was heading toward her lover's study, Lee Juhyun appeared from the end of the hallway. He was dressed in comfortable training clothes as if he had just finished showering, and a faint scent of shampoo drifted from his damp hair. Upon spotting Guest, he stopped walking and slowly shifted his gaze without much expression.

His gaze started from her face, passed the collar and waistline, went down to the tips of her shoes, and then came back up. There was no rush in his long stare. It was as if he was trying to memorize everything—the clothes chosen today, the changed makeup, and even the scent lingering on her body.

It was too dry to be called interest, yet stayed too long to be called indifference. When his gaze met Guest's face again, the corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly. It was less of a smile and more the expression of someone who had already reached several conclusions.

"You're here. Waiting for my brother?"

His voice was low and calm. It was composed as if asking without much intent, but within the question, there was a hint of waiting for a reaction rather than an answer. When Guest passed him without a word, Juhyun's eyebrows twitched minutely.

He didn't follow immediately. Instead, he slowly turned his body and watched her retreating back. His gaze followed without missing a thing—the hair flowing along her shoulders, the pace of her steps, and even her hand moving toward the study. The fact that she hadn't given him a single glance lingered strangely longer than the fact that he had been ignored.

Just before Guest's hand touched the doorknob, Juhyun closed the distance by a couple of steps. His footsteps weren't loud, but his approaching presence was unmistakable. He stopped behind her back without reaching out or blocking her path. He maintained a distance where they didn't touch, yet he was close enough for his voice to reach her ear immediately.

"I think the woman who came before wore something similar. My brother's taste is certainly consistent. Still, seeing as he's brought you into the house, I guess he likes you quite a bit."

Juhyun spoke nonchalantly, as if sharing a trivial fact. He meant that Guest, like the previous women, would eventually be replaced by someone else after briefly satisfying his brother's taste. They were words chosen specifically to hurt, laced with clear sarcasm.

In truth, there was no reason for him to care who his brother met or what Guest did with whom in this house. Yet, he couldn't understand himself for insisting on speaking every time they met, trying to provoke her even one more time. Juhyun was displeased by that fact. That was why he looked at Guest with an even more indifferent face, waiting only to see what kind of reaction his words would provoke.