LOVE:ZERO

The Hamilton and Lafayette families have been linked for generations, with ancestors who shared a battlefield friendship during the tumultuous 18th century during the American Revolutionary War.

Hunter’s father, Jared, and Rex’s father, Andre, were also close friends.

“My Rex is like his grandfather in that he’s usually very playful and fun-loving, but when he’s quiet, his dad’s personality comes out, and I’m worried about how stubborn and rebellious he is, and how I’m going to handle puberty.”

“Really? Rex seems so bright and sweet, just like you, Miran, and it would be so much easier to raise him if he was more like his dad. He takes after his biological father in every way. Blunt, cranky, and has a fiery temper.”

Miran giggled.

“Oh my God, Hunter’s personality is so much like your husband’s. I was genuinely worried that Rex would turn out like his dad, except for one thing. He’s lucky he’s got his dad’s brains, because if he took after me, he’d be in trouble.”

“I don’t blame him, but what does he do with his brains? He uses them to get into trouble.”

“I don’t blame him, either. My Hamilton ancestors were notoriously temperamental, and many of them were shot to death in duels.”

“The Lafayette’s are notoriously temperamental either, which is why the two families are so close!”

But unlike their fathers, Hunter and Rex weren’t exactly best friends; they were both too individualistic.

They hated to lose more than they hated to win, so every little thing turned into a battle for control, and they fought every time they met.

It was only when they got into trouble over such subjects that the porridge went down well.

Lauren and Miran, who had been giggling and gossiping about family gossip, jumped up and ran into the playroom when Nanny came running into the living room, panting, and announced that Hunter and Rex were fighting.

Most of those childhood playdates ended with Rex being grabbed by the ear and dragged out of the penthouse, and Hunter being banned from the playground for three days.

Rex talked loudly to Jiyu as if Hunter could hear him standing next to him.

“I’m glad you came, because I almost got to dance with Triple in a disgusting way because you were late.”

Triple was a nickname for Hunter that Rex had given him a long time ago.

Hunter Hahn Hamilton.

He was called Triple H because he had three H’s in his name, and over time it stuck.

Even at the Alton School, he was called Triple more often by his nickname than by his first name.

“Who cares, you stupid Lafayette bastard.”

Hunter retorted, undeterred.

“Liv. Even you can see his personality is fucking weird, right? Why the hell does Triple look so much like Andre de Lafayette? Maybe it’s time for the two families to grow apart, I’m sick and tired of being stuck together for over two hundred years.”

Rex scowled.

He wasn’t the kind of Hunter to let taunts go unanswered.

“That’s what I’m hoping for, you leech, please get away from me. Oh, by the way. Why don’t you let Maximilian take over the Marquisate of Lafayette instead of a screw-up like you? He’s better than you in every way, and he’s got a great name. Maximilian de Lafayette.”

Hunter sneered. Maximilian was the name of a large samoyed raised by the Lafayette family.

“And.”

Hunter dipped his index finger into the oil and pointed.

“Why is this your partner? You should be with the one next to you.”

One corner of Rex’s mouth quivered, and his eidetic eyes flashed.

Jiyu sagged her shoulders and muttered something like a sigh.

“Here we go again….”

It was always like this when I was younger.

I’d get stuck between two people, no matter how much I wanted to, and I’d be pulled this way and that like a rag doll, and then my sides would explode.

Usually Hunter didn’t even bother to look at her, whether she was there or not, but whenever Rex came around, his eyes lit up and he grabbed her like a mouse.

He wouldn’t let her sit next to him, and when they freaked out together in the playroom, he’d shoo her off to the library, telling her to go read a book.

The more he did that, the more he’d snuggle up next to her, smirking and popping pills.

His gaze fixed on Hunter, Rex suddenly leaned down and whispered in her ear.

“Liv, I’ve told you before, but I think that brat likes you.”

This sounded so ridiculous that Jiyu frowned and said fatly.

“It’s that sound again, stop talking nonsense.”

It’s because he sometimes makes abnormal sounds.

She felt slightly uneasy. Rex’s eyes were strange.

It was the kind of look he gave her right before he was about to make a mistake, a look of anticipation in his eyes.

Rex glanced at Hunter, smirked, and pulled Jiyu closer to him.

She squinted at him, wondering what he was going to do again, but he put one hand to his mouth and tilted his head to her ear.

“Trust me, I’m pretty sure Hunter Hamilton likes you.”

“What the…”

Jiyu opened her mouth to retort, but Rex hissed and brought his index finger to her lips, then whispered in her ear again.

“Look, whenever that brat goes crazy, it always involves you. He never sees you with anyone else, ever. Unless he likes you, why would he?”

“…What?”

Jiyu shook her head vigorously.

“Nonsense. That’s impossible.”

It was clear that Rex was sorely mistaken.

To Hunter, she was like a toy he’d grown tired of.

Someone gave her to him, but she wasn’t interesting, wasn’t his cup of tea.

He had the mentality of a child who forgets something in the corner of the playroom and then gets grumpy and takes it away when a friend comes over to play and finds it and has fun with it.

Hunter has never had the experience of sharing or giving up something that belongs to him.

When they started playing “come here” and “go away” with her, Jiyu would walk away, and it wasn’t like they were playing particularly well without her.

Without an audience to watch their fights, they would push and pull like deflated balloons, and then end the playdate by calling it boring.

But that was because Hunter liked me.

Jiyu shook her head again.

‘Say something that makes sense.’

She tugged at the sleeve of her jacket, and Rex leaned in, lowering one shoulder.

“You’ve got it all wrong, Rex. Hunter hates me.”

He snorted, then bent his head at an angle and brought his lips to her ear.

“If you don’t believe me, why don’t you give it a try?”

“…”

She looked at him suspiciously.

‘What makes you so sure? What are you looking at?’

Jiyu turned her head and glanced up at Hunter, who was staring down at them, his brow furrowed in disapproval.

Her shoulders tensed, and she lowered her eyes like a guilty person to avoid his piercing gaze.

There was no way she’d come out with the cotillion class of her own accord, as Affection had said.

Lauren must have dragged Jill on a leash, holding something as collateral, so it was no wonder he was in a bad mood right now.

Jiyu’s gaze dropped to the floor.

Hunter’s presence, casting a heavy shadow overhead, was uncomfortable and unbearable.

Just then, the assistant moderator brought over an empty chair and placed it next to her.

She sighed in relief and leaned back against the thorny cushion.

As soon as Hunter plopped down next to her, Rex pulled her back in.

“Liv, do as I say, ignore Hunter as much as you can, and do everything with me first, okay?”

“…”

Jiyu squinted at Hunter wordlessly.

She caught sight of his outstretched leg and the large hand that rested on it.

Long fingers tapped, tapped on his thigh.

She knew what that meant: Hunter was getting annoyed.

He was getting annoyed. When he was in a bad mood but couldn’t quite put his finger on it, he had a habit of tapping his fingers unconsciously.

‘I wonder what he saw that made him think he liked me.’

Rex was clearly a little crazy.