Prologue — For Ruby

"Ruby, you need to calm down. Okay?"

Haeseo held both hands out in front of her, offering up a calming signal.

They had made it inside the house — well, barely past the entryway. Ruby had kept his mouth clamped shut the entire way home, and the moment the front gate closed behind them, his eyes had gone completely feral. Now Haeseo was calmly steering him toward the living room, one gentle step at a time.

"Why don't we sit on the sofa first……? If you keep thrashing around like that, I'm going to end up being mean to you."

Whether he was actually listening to her was anyone's guess, but with a sulky look on his face, Ruby dropped onto the sofa, legs sprawled wide.

"Aww, good boy. Yes, that's right."

Haeseo's face had visibly brightened, and at her over-the-top praise, Ruby let out a little laugh and opened his arms slightly.

"Hm?"

"You listened so well."

"……"

"I saw you watching me chat with that bastard, and you held back."

Right. That genuinely deserved praise. Who would have thought he'd come face-to-face with Gibaek and actually hold his temper? Haeseo's heart had been pounding so hard she thought it might burst.

She had practically begged Ruby — please, just stay still, just stand here quietly, and I'll send Gibaek off nicely.

He had stared Gibaek down the whole time they talked, eyes sharp enough to cut, but thanks to that — thank goodness — Gibaek had come away with the impression that Ruby is still himself.

They had hurried straight home afterward. If they'd run into one of his cronies instead of Gibaek, that would have turned into a far bigger mess.

"Yes, that's it. You did really well."

"Now come here."

Full of himself as ever, Ruby tilted his chin up imperiously and beckoned her over.

She could read exactly what he had in mind — demands far exceeding what merely standing still deserved.

Haah……

No, Wi Haeseo. Calm down. That thing over there is, well, a dog.

Decided to think of it as owning a dog, remember?

After suffering through last night more than enough, her feet felt weighted with lead. The scariest part was knowing that no matter how carefully she guarded herself, she'd be swept up in Ruby's schemes again in no time.

Haeseo shuffled over and let herself be pulled into his lap, and Ruby wrapped his arms around her so tightly her spine arched back. His muscle-corded forearms pressed down against her slender frame.

"Ah, really."

"Haah. Noona."

Burying his face in the nape of her neck, Ruby drew in a deep, shuddering breath. Not content with that, he shook his head side to side, nuzzling roughly against her soft skin.

"I really don't want to go outside anymore. Can't even hold you the way I want. It's fucking miserable, honestly."

"Well, if……"

If you didn't act like this, I wouldn't be stuck at home either.

Haeseo, with the serenity of a saint, placed both hands on Ruby's head and ruffled his fluffy hair. It had grown out a little — he hadn't been to the barber lately.

"So soft……"

"Yeah. Stand up, noona."

"What?"

"Weren't you petting me to make it stand up?"

Haeseo froze, her hand going still, and Ruby lifted his head to meet her eyes with a crooked grin.

Ever since he'd caught on that Haeseo had a particular weakness for his dimples, he'd been making a show of them — deliberately sculpting those pretty little dimples right where she could see.

But they couldn't quite hide the shadows lurking in his dark eyes.

"Okay, hold on. Let's wash up first."

"Since when have we ever just washed up?"

Before Haeseo could put any distance between them, Ruby hurriedly stripped her top off. One thin layer gone, and her round, pearly breasts were instantly bare, fresh as new eggs.

Even before undoing her bra, Ruby buried his nose against her chest and inhaled roughly. His breath alone sent tingles racing across her delicate skin.

"Ah, Ruby."

Haeseo grabbed a fistful of his hair and shook his head, trying to pull him off, but it was no use. Tongue lolling out long, he nudged the cup of her bra aside with the bridge of his nose and lapped at her adorably cherry-red nipple.

"Hah!"

Haeseo hunched her shoulders and recoiled, but Ruby chased her down relentlessly, like a dog that had finally cornered its prey and had no intention of letting go. He flicked her nipple with quick little taps, jostled it, then sharpened the tip of his tongue to attack it head-on.

He committed to memory every moment her moans caught, every moment her pitch climbed, working her over as if his sole purpose in life were to drive her out of her mind with pleasure.

"Hahn! Ah, Ruby — don't bite."

When he sucked her nipple into his mouth, slurping noisily, then ground it gently between his teeth, Haeseo trembled from the waist down and whimpered.

Don't bite? You love it when I bite the most.

"I only do whatever noona tells me to."

"Mmmh, that's why I'm telling you not to bite……. Nngh."

"Right. So tell me to bite you."

Grinning with anticipation in his eyes, Ruby lifted Haeseo up and settled her straddling his thigh. Pushing her skirt aside, his hand slipped boldly between her already soaked legs, scouting the path he was about to take.

She was slick and molten, as if someone had poured honey into her. He licked her arousal from his fingers, then hastily unclasped his trousers and pulled out his cock, swollen huge.

"Ah, wait."

No matter how many times they did this, the sight of it entering her made Haeseo flinch and stop him every time. Knowing full well he wouldn't listen.

Ruby lifted her hips slightly, wedged the head of his cock into her small opening, and drove his hips up with a single thrust.

"Ahk!"

In one stroke, his thick cock speared all the way to the mouth of her womb, deep inside her.

"Haah, noona. That wasn't what I meant when I said bite harder."

Playing innocent, Ruby snapped his hips up in sharp little jolts, making her inner walls tense tighter and tighter around him.

"Hahng, ah. Ruby, you fucking dog……"

At the cute little curse, his cock swelled even harder, shoving her clenching walls apart. Ruby peppered kisses all over her without mercy — her forehead, the bridge of her nose, her cheeks, her lips.

"What am I supposed to do if you get any harder than this?"

"Mmmh."

"You're the one who'd die."

Stretching his mouth into a long, wicked grin, Ruby wrapped around her like a restraint holding her in place and picked up speed in earnest, pounding into her. Ah, hah, hahng. The blunt force of each thrust punched the sounds out of her, one after another, and Haeseo surrendered herself completely to the pleasure he gave her.

"Fuck, noona, you're mine……"

Her whole brain felt shaken loose, and through the hazy blur, Ruby's whisper wormed its way into her ear. Haeseo's wandering hand, scratching near his shoulder, slowly gathered itself and came forward.

She carefully took both of Ruby's cheeks in her hands and pulled them upward, and though he needed no force at all, Ruby followed her wishes and lifted his head.

His pupils dilated, glinting in a strange, unsettling way. He stared straight back at her, refusing to miss a single second of the way she came apart from what he was doing to her.

Of course. Losing his memory wasn't the only problem. Something's clearly broken in there. Haeseo buried her face against the nape of his neck and moved her hips. What am I supposed to do about this?

Still, she had to take responsibility somehow.

Because I'm the one who made Ruby like this.

Oblivious to the tangle of her feelings, Ruby ground his teeth around a curse and bit down on Haeseo's shoulder, chewing gently until red marks bloomed across her skin.

"Hah, nnh. Ruby."

"Yeah. I'm Ruby. Yours. This cock fucking you nice and deep — all mine, but it's yours. Everything I have is yours, noona."

"Ah, hahk! No, mine is, not yours — nngh."

Chewing over that chilling promise, Haeseo resolved that no matter what it took, she would put Ruby back the way he was.

Because the one to strip away everything he had built — it could never, ever be her.