The Hamiltons and the Lafayettes shared a bond that had endured for generations, dating back to ancestors who had forged a friendship on the battlefield during the upheaval of the American Revolutionary War in the eighteenth century. Hunter’s father, Gerard, and Rex’s father, Andre, were close friends as well.
“Our Rex is usually good-natured and playful, so I think he takes after his grandfather. But whenever something goes wrong, my husband’s temperament suddenly comes bursting out of him, and it worries me. He’s already so stubborn and rebellious that I dread to think how we’ll survive his teenage years.”
“Really? Rex seems so cheerful and affectionate, just like you, Miran. I wish our Hunter had inherited more of his father’s easygoing nature. No matter how I look at him, he takes after my own father—gruff, finicky, hot-tempered, and utterly incapable of accepting defeat.”
At that, Miran burst out laughing.
“Oh, my! Then Hunter’s personality is exactly like my husband’s. I was genuinely afraid Rex would take after his father too. Except in one respect, thankfully. At least our boy inherited his father’s intelligence. If he had taken after me when it came to studying, it would have been a disaster. But what good is being clever? He only uses that brilliant mind of his to cause trouble.”
“Come to think of it, perhaps I shouldn’t blame my poor, innocent father. The Hamilton ancestors were hardly mild-mannered themselves. Quite a few of them failed to control their tempers and ended up dying from gunshot wounds sustained in duels.”
“The Lafayettes were no better. Perhaps that’s why our two families have remained so close, hoho!”
Unlike their fathers, however, Hunter and Rex were not particularly close friends.
Both possessed personalities far too strong to coexist peacefully. They hated losing more than death itself, so even the most trivial matter became a contest for dominance, and every meeting ended in a fight. Yet whenever mischief was involved, they moved in perfect harmony.
Sure enough, Lauren and Miran, who had been laughing together while exchanging gossip about their families, sprang to their feet and rushed into the playroom when the nanny came running into the living room in a panic, breathlessly reporting that Hunter and Rex were hitting each other.
That was how most of their childhood playdates ended: Rex being dragged out of the penthouse by the ear and Hunter being banned from the playground for three days.
Rex raised his voice as he addressed Jiyu, clearly making sure Hunter, who stood beside him, could hear every word.
“Because you were late, I almost had to become Triple’s dance partner. Disgusting. Thank God you showed up.”
Triple was a nickname Rex had given Hunter long ago.
Hunter Han Hamilton.
Because his name contained three H’s, Rex had started calling him Triple H, which had eventually been shortened to Triple. Even at Alton School, people called him Triple more often than they used his actual name.
“Look who’s talking, you foul-luck Lafayette bastard.”
Hunter fired back without missing a beat.
“Liv, don’t you think this guy’s personality is fucking bizarre too? Why the hell does Triple act like Andre de Lafayette? Do warped personalities spread between families or something? Maybe it’s finally time for the two houses to go their separate ways. After clinging to each other for more than two hundred years, it’s getting seriously tiresome.”
Rex curled his lips into a mocking smirk.
Hunter was not the sort to let a provocation go unanswered.
“That’s exactly what I’ve been hoping for, you parasite. Please, by all means, detach yourself. Oh, and while we’re at it, why doesn’t Maximilian inherit the Lafayette marquessate instead of some loose screw like you? He’s superior to you in every possible way. The name has a nice ring to it too. Maximilian de Lafayette.”
Hunter sneered.
Maximilian was the Lafayette family’s enormous Samoyed.
“And.”
Hunter pointed at Jiyu and prodded her with his index finger.
“Why is she your partner? Dance with whoever’s sitting beside you.”
One corner of Rex’s mouth lifted, and a strange gleam flashed through his mismatched eyes.
Jiyu let her shoulders sag and muttered with a sigh.
“Here we go again….”
It had always been like this, even when they were little.
Without the slightest regard for her own wishes, she would be trapped between the two of them and yanked back and forth like a rag doll until she felt as though her sides might tear apart.
Under ordinary circumstances, Hunter barely spared Jiyu a glance, whether she stood beside him or not. But the moment Rex appeared, his eyes would light up like a hunter spotting prey, and he would seize her as though snatching up a mouse.
He refused to let her sit beside Rex, and whenever the two of them tried to play together in the playroom, Hunter would shove her toward the library and tell her to go read a book or something. The more he behaved that way, the more Rex would cling to Jiyu’s side, grinning wickedly as he deliberately provoked him.
Without taking his eyes off Hunter, Rex suddenly bent toward Jiyu’s ear and whispered,
“Liv, like I told you before, that ill-mannered bastard is completely into you.”
The claim was so absurd that Jiyu frowned and replied flatly,
“You’re saying that again? Stop talking nonsense.”
That was Rex’s problem. Sometimes he said the most unhinged things imaginable.
A faint unease stirred inside her.
There was something peculiar about his expression. His mismatched eyes gleamed with mischievous anticipation, exactly as they always did just before he caused trouble.
Rex glanced at Hunter, grinned, and pulled Jiyu closer.
She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what the hell he was plotting now, just as he raised one hand to shield his mouth and tilted his head toward her ear again.
“Trust me. It’s obvious that Hunter Hamilton likes you.”
“What are you—”
The instant Jiyu opened her mouth to protest, Rex went, “Shh,” and pressed his index finger against her lips. Then he leaned closer and whispered into her ear once more.
“Just think about it. Every time that bastard completely loses his mind, you’re involved somehow. He absolutely can’t stand seeing you play with anyone else. If he didn’t like you, why would he act that way?”
“…What?”
Jiyu shook her head vigorously.
‘No. Absolutely not.’
Rex was clearly suffering from a profound misunderstanding.
To Hunter, she was nothing more than a dull toy he had already grown tired of. Something someone had given him, so he had accepted it, but it was neither entertaining nor suited to his taste—a useless toy.
It was the childish possessiveness of a boy who stuffed a toy into the corner of the playroom and forgot all about it, only to become sulky and snatch it away the moment a visiting friend discovered it and began enjoying it.
Hunter had never learned to share what belonged to him or yield it to anyone else.
Whenever the two of them started ordering her around—“Come here,” “Go over there”—Jiyu quietly removed herself from the situation.
Her departure never inspired them to start playing together peacefully.
Perhaps because there was no longer an audience to witness their struggle, the two boys would deflate like punctured balloons. They would drift around listlessly, complaining of boredom, and before long the playdate would end because it was “lame.”
And Rex claimed that meant Hunter liked her.
Jiyu shook her head again.
‘At least say something that makes sense.’
She gave Rex’s jacket sleeve a small tug. He lowered one shoulder and leaned closer to her.
“You’re the one who’s wrong, Rex. Hunter hates me.”
Rex gave a derisive snort, then tilted his head once more and brought his lips close to her ear.
“If you really don’t believe me, want to test it?”
“……”
She regarded him suspiciously.
‘Why is he so certain? What exactly does he think he sees?’
Jiyu turned her head and glanced up at Hunter.
He was staring down at them from beneath deeply furrowed brows, his gaze slanted with unmistakable displeasure. Her shoulders twitched, and she lowered her eyes like someone caught doing something wrong, avoiding those brilliant blue eyes.
As Aejeong had said, there was no chance Hunter had come to the Cotillion Class willingly. Lauren must have forced him here by holding something over his head, practically dragging him along on a leash.
It was obvious how foul his mood was, even without looking at him.
Jiyu dropped her gaze to the floor.
Hunter’s heavy presence loomed over her like a shadow, and the discomfort was almost unbearable.
Just then, the assistant facilitator arrived with an extra chair and placed it beside Jiyu.
Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief and lean back against the seat that had felt like a cushion stuffed with thorns. The moment Hunter dropped heavily into the chair beside her, Rex pulled her toward himself again.
“Liv, do exactly as I say. Ignore Hunter as much as possible and do everything with me first. Got it?”
“……”
Jiyu silently glanced sideways at Hunter.
His legs were stretched out with casual rudeness, and one large hand rested upon his thigh. His long fingers tapped against it.
Tap. Tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap.
Jiyu was an expert at reading Hunter’s moods, and she knew exactly what that meant.
He was unquestionably irritated.
Whenever he was in a bad mood but not quite angry enough to explode, he unconsciously tapped his fingers like that.
‘What on earth makes Rex think Hunter likes me?’
Rex really was a little crazy after all.