I Didn’t Mean to Pick You Up

A small, unusually white, round stone slipped from Ji-hyun’s hand. It rolled as if alive, spinning until it bumped into the polished toe of a black loafer.Ji-hyun, her eyes following the stone’s frantic tumble, slowly lifted her gaze to see who the loafer belonged to. Dark navy dress pants falling in clean lines, a crisply ironed white shirt above them, a slender neckline, and black eyes looking down at her. A boy, appearing around her age, stood there. His tightly pressed red lips and the cold, unblinking gaze sent an involuntary shiver down her spine.Swallowing a sigh, Ji-hyun hoped he would quietly walk past as she carefully reached toward the white stone resting by her feet. But as soon as her hand touched the smooth, rounded stone, an unfamiliar sensation made her blink in confusion. The black loafer was pressing down on her hand, pinning it along with the stone.As pain and the stark reality sank in, Ji-hyun lifted her head to look up at him—and instinctively, she understood.A cruel collector who gathered beautiful butterflies.This boy standing before her was none other than Shin Seung-ho, the second son of the Shin family, the one who was said to be the only “normal” among them.The dark eyes that had been gazing at a mounted butterfly now turned toward Ji-hyun. Under the moonlight, Seung-ho’s eyes glinted with a bluish tint. “Remember this. I have no intention of showing or sharing what’s mine with anyone else. So don’t even think about running away. If you do, I’ll find you, break your wings, and pin you down forever…” Ji-hyun held her breath. He wasn’t talking about butterflies.