After being forced to live in the warehouse, Joo Seunghyuk survived on leftovers—half-eaten rice, instant noodles, whatever he could find. Even that wasn’t consistent. Sotis, he barely managed a single al a day. Other tis, he didn’t eat at all.
It was no wonder his body failed to grow. Joo Seunghyuk, though twelve years old, looked pitifully small and underdeveloped.
On top of that, he wore the discarded clothes of the servants. They hung off his fra—so oversized that one shoulder slipped out, and his pants dragged across the ground.
He looked unmistakably like a beggar. And that sight, that wretched appearance, brought Joo Jeonghan imnse satisfaction.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing! Show so respect to the young master!”
Even as Joo Taehan mocked him, Joo Seunghyuk continued scrubbing the floor in silence. Then he slowly lifted his head.
“......”
That was when Joo Taehan went speechless.
Joo Seunghyuk hadn’t bathed properly. His skin was filthy, his hair a tangled ss.
But his face—refined as if sculpted—was beautiful enough to overshadow the gri and rags. His eyes, devoid of emotion, gave off an eerie, otherworldly aura.
Joo Taehan was caught off guard. That presence silenced him.
“Tch. As if a filthy little beggar like that would know anything about manners.”
He raised his voice out of spite, refusing to admit that he had been overpowered by a re glance. But Joo Seunghyuk only gave him a passing look, then quietly resud scrubbing the floor.
It was as if Joo Taehan didn’t even exist.
Joo Taehan’s clenched fist trembled.
He’d co all the way to this boring, remote island just to insult that bastard. The thought of humiliating him had excited him.
And yet, it was like he didn’t even register.
Instead, he was the one trembling with humiliation.
“Fuck!”
Unable to contain his rage, Joo Taehan grabbed the bucket of filthy mop water and dumped it all over Joo Seunghyuk.
The stench from the water—murky from washing rags—was overwhelming.
“Ha! Look at this little beggar! Fucking priceless!”
Joo Taehan burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. But Joo Seunghyuk didn’t blink. He picked up the rolling bucket and quietly made his way downstairs.
He refilled it with water and began mopping again. Though he was drenched head to toe, he didn’t think to dry himself or change clothes. Not that he had anything else to wear anyway.
Joo Taehan, watching him, exploded with rage.
“Fucking little beggar! Bastard! Filthy fake brat!”
He hurled every curse he could think of. But Joo Seunghyuk ignored him completely, as if the words didn’t even reach him. In the end, Joo Taehan walked away—consud by a defeat he couldn’t na.
***
During their stay, Joo Taehan persistently tornted Joo Seunghyuk. The household staff joined in too, eager to curry favor with the second young master.
Unlike his brother, Joo Jeonghan seed largely indifferent to Joo Seunghyuk, but he made no effort to stop the abuse.
“This is so fucking boring! Let’s just go, hyung! That little beggar doesn’t even react. There’s nothing to do on this damn island!”
By the third day, Joo Taehan was whining.
The mansion had once belonged to their biological father, but Joo Jeonghan had no emotional attachnt to the man who died before he was born.
In fact, just thinking about the truth—that his real father was Joo Gyeongchan, a powerless civilian and not Chairman Joo Wonchan—was enough to fill him with disgust.
“...Fine.”
Perhaps tired of his brother’s complaints, Joo Jeonghan agreed to cut the visit short # Nоvеlight # and return imdiately.
As the two prepared to leave, the head servant Park Cheolseop bowed and groveled before them.
“Masters, please have a al before you go. Everyone worked so hard to prepare it for you.”
“I’d like to, but we can’t delay. We have a flight to catch.”
Joo Jeonghan declined politely, then glanced toward Joo Seunghyuk, who was sitting in front of the warehouse.
“Does that thing even know how to read?”
“No, sir. He’s illiterate.”
“Teach him to read Hangul at least.”
With that, Joo Jeonghan turned and left the estate.
***
A few days later, Park Cheolseop threw a black plastic bag into the warehouse. Inside were five books.
“Tch. Telling to educate this fake brat—our young master must be feeling generous.”
He left without another word, grumbling to himself.
By now, Joo Seunghyuk had grown used to Park Cheolseop and could roughly guess what he ant.
He must’ve been told to give him these books.
Since coming to the island, Joo Seunghyuk had learned nothing. He’d never even held a book before.
He opened one. The texture of the paper felt strange—he hadn’t touched a book since he was six.
All five were used.
Three were children’s Hangul workbooks. Soone had already filled them in, every exercise solved.
The remaining two were outdated web novels, riddled with deliberate spelling mistakes and littered with emoticons on every page—not remotely suited for learning.
The selection reeked of spite.
But Joo Seunghyuk showed no anger or resentnt. As if he couldn’t be bothered, he simply imrsed himself in reading.
***
Learning alone, without any foundation, was painfully difficult.
So he asked the staff for help. They normally would’ve ignored him, but with Joo Jeonghan’s command, they grudgingly answered—though never completely.
“What’s this word?”
He pointed at an emoticon in one of the web novels.
By now, he’d finished the children’s books and moved on to the novels—but he kept encountering unfamiliar terms that weren’t in the textbooks.
“Ugh, why are you asking that?”
Annoyed, the staff brushed him off. No one ever explained anything properly.
‘ㅠ_ㅠ, >_
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