"Don't worry, I'll keep this meeting a secret." Mihyun whispered and leaned forward. She tried to smile, but judging from Luhan's shocked expression her smile was more terrible than she thought, so she quickly put on a serious face and looked down to avoid his gaze. At the sound of his voice though, she looked up again. “Thanks.” He muttered and the corners of his lips curled up. Mihyun's eyes widened at the sight. It was a small smile, but it was much more beautiful than his smiles on stage - and the girl wondered why. But the thought quickly got pushed back in a hurry since her maid, Jinri, was still shouting hysterically. Mihyun quickly turned around, as she was worried that her maid would contact her father if she didn't get down soon. And that was the least she wanted.

She closed the door at the ceiling and turned around. Her maid stood there, fury written on her face. “Mistress! What were you doing?!” Jinri shouted at her, grabbing her arm in the process. Mihyun glanced at the maid before quickly lying, “Nothing." This time she deliberately put on an emotionless face since she didn’t want the maid to get suspicious. There was a difference between her emotionless face and her normal facial expression, but people didn't seem to notice it. Whether she was putting on a poker face or just zoning out, looked the same to them. Humans are so easily tricked by what they see because they don't really pay attention to what's right in front of them.

Mihyun's thoughts were interrupted by Jinri's high-pitched yelling while she scolded the young girl. Because her ears hurt from all of the yelling, she decided to silence the maid the way she always did. She apologized. “Jinri, I didn't want to worry you. I'm really sorry...” The girl said, pouring all possible sadness into her voice and looked at the ground. She knew Jinri well, just like she knew every single maid of hers. Some maids were rather weak or just lazy, so she just had to put on her poker face and ignore them in order for them to leave her alone. But Jinri was tough. She pestered the heiress terribly as soon as the former ignored her, and at first the girl thought she would never get to be alone again when Jinri became her maid. But after some time she figured out the maid's weakness: tears. Simple, yet efficient. 

Some people might wonder why it was so bad to have maids around her. In fact, Mihyun wouldn't care about her maids if they didn't report everything she did or didn't allow her to do anything. There was no privacy and mostly, no freedom. When a heavy sigh escaped the maid's lips, Mihyun looked up. She smirked internally, as Jinri's sigh meant the maid admitted defeat. Slowly, the two of them made their way back to the big hall.

Once they arrived, Mihyun sat down and continued to watch the performance. She observed Baekhyun while trying to figure out how to help him. She really wanted to. Not only him, but all of the artists who signed the contract with her father because she somehow pitied them. Their lives were hard, really hard. They barely received proper meals to eat, but mostly she pitied them because it just felt so wrong to be amused with their performances while knowing what was going on behind the curtain.

Growing up as the daughter of the CEO, Lee Mihyun perfectly knew how management in the circus worked. Her father had hired many people to teach her how today's economy worked and how to get to the top.

You have to be cruel in order to be rich. You have to slave-drive your workers, whether they are artists or ordinary factory workers. 

Mihyun was more than well-informed about the principles used in the circus. Her father saved money by giving the artists the cheapest dorms which also meant the worst, and putting as much people as possible into this dorm; by giving them ju