For Ruby – Episode 5: Mind Your Own Business, Sit Down

"Stop gawking. Sit down."

Haeseo swallowed hard and was carefully pulling out the chair across from Ruby when her phone rang. The vibration jolted the phone loose from the loose pocket of her dress, and it dropped straight to the floor.

And unfortunately, the side button was pressed on impact, answering the call.

Baek Yoon-ah's razor-sharp voice instantly filled the private room where only two people sat. The President was never one to make a fuss, no matter how caustically she spoke, yet her anxiety came through loud and clear even through the receiver.

Eyes squeezed shut, Haeseo snatched up the phone and hurriedly reassured her that Ruby was with her, that nothing was wrong.

"Uh—hah. Ah."

The moment she hung up, intermittent scoffs began hammering against her ear.

"Haah, Wi Haeseo……."

Too afraid to look at Ruby's face, Haeseo kept her head bowed low.

"That bullshit about staying chaste until marriage—did Mom feed you that line too?"

"Yes. Though it isn't exactly bullshit……"

"So you're telling me that you have to be the one to keep women away from my chastity."

"That's—"

"Is it true, or isn't it? Answer me precisely."

"It's true……"

Haeseo stole a sideways glance at Ruby. He sat with both hands pressed to his forehead and his head bowed, so she couldn't make out his expression.

She hesitantly lowered herself into the chair, studying him. When she kept peeking at him, her face darting left and right, Ruby simply buried his face entirely in one large hand and let out a long, heavy sigh.

Fuck……. After a while, he roughly rubbed his eyes, lifted his head, and turned his chair completely toward the window.

"Right. Once again, I was the idiot."

She'd expected him to be furious—she had been secretly scheming with the President behind his back, after all. Instead, his sulky expression left Haeseo fidgeting helplessly.

"No, Team Leader, you're not an idio— anyway, you're not."

"Forget it."

"You were really impressive, though."

"Keep talking and I'm going back to Seoul."

"Yes, yes……"

Whatever the strange mood, the food they'd ordered arrived, and Haeseo had no choice but to shut up and eat as Ruby instructed.

Come to think of it……

Where had that bouquet of crimson roses gone, afterward?

In the parking lot of the samgyetang restaurant, Haeseo brushed the thought away as she gazed at roses blooming plump and vivid in the May sunshine.

What did it matter whether he was a little prickly or a lot prickly?

From the moment she'd first resolved to become Ruby's secretary until now, Haeseo had always been a devoted servant. It was a philosophy of life she'd learned watching her grandfather serve the Baek family for so many years.

One thing she hadn't anticipated, though…… was that the heart that had once started racing off beat would only get worse over time.

After that, Ruby grumbled a bit more and kept a slight—well, a very slight, barely perceptible distance from her. It shouldn't have mattered, but somehow she found it disappointing. Whenever that happened, the image of Ruby turning his head away with flushed cheeks, or the Ruby of the past grinning at her without a trace of hesitation, kept floating up before her eyes.

She had never felt this fluttery, this breathless, so at first it was genuinely foreign to her. Her heart pounded fast while her emotions surged dangerously close to overflowing.

It wasn't that she'd never dated. In high school, after transferring to Seoul, she'd gone out with a classmate who clung to her persistently, and she'd also been swept along by the atmosphere around her into a vague sort of relationship with a senior in her department.

But all of it was fleeting, and that last one back in college was the end of it. After graduation she'd had to earn money quickly, and once she began caring for her grandfather, she had even less room in her life.

She'd barely been meeting anyone at all, let alone dating, and then she'd gone straight into meeting Ruby—perhaps that enormous jolt was to blame. Trying to guard a man's chastity, only to fall head over heels for that very man. What was this, a fairy tale? Please. It was laughable.

So setting aside whatever the two of them were to each other, she didn't have the courage to confess shyly, now of all times, that she had actually liked him too.

The love that had been buried the day Ruby's affection for her turned was staggeringly out of step with everything else—but the timing to bring it all to a close arrived like a stroke of luck.

Once Ruby left for the American branch, there would be no more need for a personal secretary in Korea.

"Shall we head back to the office?"

Haeseo asked as she unlocked the car with the remote button.

"Yeah."

"I'll drive you. There's also something I need to tell you once we're back at the office."

"No."

Unbelievable. They had come here together in his car, after all. Haeseo brushed off Ruby's petulance and opened the passenger door for him.

"I said no?"

Then what, was he going to walk? Ruby smirked at the sight of her cheeks slowly puffing up with indignation, then walked around to the driver's side and opened the door.

Before Haeseo could say a word, he plopped himself down in the driver's seat.

"Team Leader."

"Baek Gi-baek is up ahead. I don't feel like greeting him."

"I'm sorry?"

"Get in. Let's just go."

"But——"

When Haeseo instinctively glanced back, Baek Gi-baek was striding toward them with a friendly smile, headed for Ruby's car.

Their eyes met, and Haeseo couldn't bring herself to play dumb the way Ruby had; she gave a small bow of her head.

"Secretary Wi. We meet again."

Gi-baek had inherited his father's tall frame and solid bone structure without question. But the eyes that narrowed softly whenever he smiled, and his skin so pale it looked bloodless, were something you could hardly find anywhere else in the Baek family.

The illegitimate son who had only been entered into the family registry right before Baek Huhan, the eldest son and former Vice Chairman, died of illness.

That was everything Haeseo knew about Gi-baek. And it might well have been the most important piece of information there was.

"Hello, General Manager. I take it you're here for a meal?"

"Hello, my ass. Get lost, and take whatever road you were on with you."

Ruby poked his head out the driver's-side window, waved him off dismissively, and started the engine. A low rumble split the air between Gi-baek and Haeseo.

"And I came all this way to congratulate you on your transfer to the States, you know."

Gi-baek tilted his head at a subtle angle and murmured clearly into Haeseo's ear.

"I'll make sure he gets the message."

"Thank you. But then, I suppose that means you'll be freed up as well, Secretary Wi?"

"Excuse me?"

"Watching my dear cousin here, it strikes me that keeping a personal secretary around really is worth it."

This time, Gi-baek met Haeseo's eyes head-on.

"I was wondering—when Secretary Wi's seat opens up, might I throw my hat in the ring too?"

Though he wasn't smiling, Gi-baek's eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"Uh, I—"

BEEEEEP!!!

The horn's shriek pierced her eardrums, and Haeseo instinctively clapped her hands over her ears.

"Gah!"

Blinded by the headlights blazing directly behind her, Gi-baek raised a hand to shield his eyes and stumbled backward. Blink-blink. With the hazard lights flashing, Ruby stepped out of the driver's seat.

Daring to try something right in front of me. Ruby's jaw was clenched so tight it bulged. Before Haeseo could even grasp what was happening, he brushed past her and planted himself in front of Baek Gi-baek.

"Oh dear, my apologies. Seems I was busier than I thought."

Gi-baek extended a palm forward and retreated another half step, and Ruby stopped. This slimy, two-faced bastard. He wanted nothing more than to run him over with the car entirely—but Haeseo was right there. He stole a glance back and found her watching him, wringing her hands in distress.

"Back off while I'm being civil. And keep your hands off what's mine."

Delivering the warning in a low voice, Ruby gave Gi-baek's shoulder a single thump and turned back to the car. He took hold of Haeseo's shoulder, tucked her protectively against his side as they walked, and opened the passenger door for her.

"Ah, Team Leader has an engagement coming up shortly, so we really must be going. Please enjoy your meal."

Haeseo rattled off the polite excuse, scrambled into the passenger seat, and with a firm thunk the door closed; Ruby climbed back into the driver's seat as well.

Apparently Gi-baek hadn't come alone—a young female employee was hurrying over on quick little steps to attend him. Watching Gi-baek disappear into the restaurant with her, Ruby began pulling the car out slowly.

The inside of the car stayed silent the whole way.

Utterly insufferable, this Wi Haeseo. Three years together and not once had she ever volunteered information, chattering on and on about this or that. Always keeping those small lips of hers pressed firmly shut. Honestly.

He'd heard every single word she'd exchanged with Gi-baek. Struggling to contain his agitation, Ruby spread his fingers wide, then curled them in one by one from the pinky as he readjusted his grip on the wheel.

"You took forever getting in and wasted all that time for nothing."

"Our eyes met. What was I supposed to do?"

"Like you'd know. The only thing you should be listening to is me."

Ruby snapped at her far more iritably than usual, his scowling expression ferocious. She could easily have let it roll off her the way she had earlier, but she'd bitten it back too hard for too long, and now her rebellious spirit sprang out like a coiled spring.

"And how, exactly, am I supposed to listen to only you?"

"Oh, excuse me."

How, how what? This wasn't even something that needed discussing. Bewildered, Ruby's mouth hung wide open as he draped both arms over the wheel and leaned his upper body forward with a long stretch. Until the red light changed, he pressed hard at the corners of his eyes, choosing his words with painstaking care.

He had nothing more to say, really. Which was exactly why the heat kept flaring.

"Judging by that little rebellion of yours, I'm guessing you threw quite the tantrum when I announced I was going to America? Begged me not to go, crying your eyes out, I bet."

"I did not."

"I don't believe you."

"What you believe or don't believe is beyond my control."

"Hah."

A sticky rice cake, talking back like that. Had the Baek Gi-baek scouting offer actually shaken her resolve? No—three whole years together. That time couldn't be outweighed in a mere three seconds.

"No chastity, no sense of ceremony—whose chastity were you planning to guard, exactly?"

While Ruby muttered to himself, Haeseo fished her planner out of her shoulder bag and neatly straightened an envelope tucked inside it, its corners slightly crumpled.

"Fine. Go ahead and quit. Quit, I said."

"Gasp—how did you know that's a resignation letter?"

"……What?"

"You really were born with astonishing instincts……"

Looking down at Haeseo, who tilted her head in pure, sincere admiration, a thick vein bulged furiously at Ruby's temple.