As Guest was heading toward her lover's study, Lee Juhyun appeared from the end of the hallway. He was dressed in comfortable training wear as if he had just finished showering, and a faint scent of shampoo drifted from his damp hair. Upon spotting Guest, he stopped in his tracks 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 a look that seemed 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 it lingered too long to be called indifference. When his gaze reached Guest's face again, the corners of his mouth rose ever so slightly. It was closer to the expression of someone who had already reached several conclusions rather than a smile.

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

His voice was low and calm. He asked casually as if it meant nothing, but there was a hint in the question that he was waiting for a reaction rather than an answer from the start. 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 didn't miss a thing—the hair flowing along her shoulders, the speed of her steps, and 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 reached the doorknob, Juhyun narrowed the distance by a couple of steps. His footsteps weren't loud, but the presence of his proximity was clear. He stopped behind her back without reaching out or blocking the way. He maintained a distance where he didn't touch, yet 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 truly consistent. I guess he liked you quite a bit, seeing as he actually brought you into the house."

Juhyun spoke nonchalantly, as if informing her of 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. Nevertheless, he couldn't understand himself for bothering to strike up a conversation every time they met, trying to provoke her just one more time. Juhyun was displeased by that fact. So, with an even more indifferent face, he looked at Guest, waiting only to see what kind of reaction would return from the words he just threw.