Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Good evening, Mr. Nam. Good evening, Miss Ryuk,” Haru greeted as soon as we stepped out of the building.
“Good evening, Haru. Take Miss Ryuk home as quickly and safely as possible,” Mr. Nam instructed.
“Yes, sir,” he bowed. Haru turned to me and gestured towards the backseat door. I nodded at him and he headed to the driver’s seat.
I turned around and faced Mr. Nam. “Really, Mr. Nam, you didn’t have to. You still need to go home yourself,” I protested once more.
He chuckled before he replied, “Don’t worry about me, Miss Ryuk. I can return home at any time that I choose. What’s important is that you get home to your family. As you mentioned, your mother needs you urgently. You mustn’t keep her waiting.”
I glanced at the car and hesitated to accept his offer. This was his private service. As his employee, I shouldn’t be allowed to use it personally. Even if it was Mr. Nam himself who insisted on me using it, I still shouldn’t do it.
After a bit of silence, Mr. Nam suddenly walked towards the backseat door and opened it. “In you go, Miss Ryuk.”
I stared at him for a bit as I hoped that he would change his mind. But he showed no signs that he would change his decision. I sighed and hesitantly entered the backseat. As soon as I settled within my seat, Mr. Nam carefully closed the door. Haru honked twice before we slowly drove away.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Rain poured mildly once as we crossed the bridge from the city to the suburbs. Faint jazz music played all throughout the car as raindrops glided slowly down the window. As we drove away from the dazzling lights of the city, the only thing that enlightened our way were lit streetlights.
“Have a lot on your mind, Miss Ryuk?” Haru suddenly spoke.
I turned to his direction and saw his eyes through the rearview mirror. I smiled gently and sighed. “I always have a lot on my mind, Haru. It’s like I never get any time to rest my brain,” I replied.
“Well, if you need someone to talk to, I’m here to listen,” he said. He continued, “And by the looks of it, I think you can also open up to Mr. Nam as well.”
“What makes you think that?” I asked after a chuckle.
“Maybe it’s just me overthinking things, but I see that change in Mr. Nam after you joined his company,” he answered. “I don’t know if it’s just something with the weather today. But around you, he carried a different aura around him.”
My brows furrowed. “I just don’t understand, Haru.”
“Usually, when we go to business meetings, Mr. Nam wears his ‘businessman mask’. Anyone who has worked closely with him usually knows the difference between when Mr. Nam is in the comfort of his office and when he has business meetings,” he continued. “Today, he has that mask on but somehow, his aura wasn’t in alignment with that mask. And that only happened today when you accompanied him.”
I remained silent for a few seconds before I replied, “Perhaps, he just didn’t want to put pressure on me. Today was the first time I accompanied him to meetings. Maybe he just wants to make sure that I was comfortable around him and during those kinds of situations.”
“Mm,” he nodded, “You have a point there. But I still believe that Mr. Nam treats you differently than his other employees. He never lets his employees – not even his previous secretaries – use his personal car as an emergency shuttle.”
My eyes widened as I looked back to the rearview mirror. There, Haru’s eyes smiled as he playfully raised his brows.
I sighed and countered his remarks, “Maybe it just so happens that I’m the only secretary who encountered delays with their shuttle service. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“His previous secretaries had moments like yours and he never called me to drive him safely. You, only you, for some reason, became the exception,” he answered. “Heck, even Mr. Kim needs permission to use Mr. Nam’s personal car. In your situation, Mr. Nam called me for you. If you don’t find that odd, then I do.”
I did find it odd. Everything about Mr. Nam today was strange. But I tried not to think about it because it would only consume my thoughts. And what Haru just said didn’t make things any easier for me. During the whole day, I battled with my own thoughts in regards to Mr. Nam. But after I asked Mr. Nam, and now with Haru’s thoughts, I became even more confused.
Haru then added, “If you’re thinking about Mr. Nam’s actions, I suggest that you talk to him about it. Just to make everything clear for you. If you don’t want to, then it’s best not to think about it. Keep yourself occupied with other things, especially when you’re at home.”
I smiled as I looked back to the rearview mirror. "Thanks for the advice, Haru. I really appreciate it."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Hesitant, I slowly turned the knob of the back door and prepared for the mess that I was about to see. However, as soon as I entered, I was in awe. The whole kitchen was clean.
‘Am I in the right house?’ I asked myself.
The table was clear of clutter. The floor wasn’t dirty. And there were no screaming children. All I could hear was distant laughter from the living room. I heard the laughter of my two sisters. But I also heard the voices of other men.
With caution, I slowly made my way to the living room and there, I found Narae and Jaeyun with three guys. They were all dolled up as they got comfortable with their male friends. There were multitudes of beer and food around them.
One of the guys noticed me and called my sisters’ attention. Both Narae and Jaeyun turned to my direction and for a brief second, they scowled. They then put their smiley faces back on and returned to their friends.
Jaeyun pointed at me and said, “Guys, meet Mingyu, our sister.”
One of the guys turned to them and said, “I didn’t know you had another sister.”
“Yeah, well, she values her privacy so as much as possible, we don’t talk about her with other people,” Narae replied sweetly.
I could barf as they played all sweet and nice to the guys around them. If the guys wore tuxedos, I could understand the act. But they all wore leather jackets, ripped pants and all three of them smoked in our house.
A house that had children in it.
The only dude without a partner walked up to me and asked, “Hey, there. You seem tired from work. Why don’t you join us for a bit? You know, blow off some steam?”
I glared at him before I rolled my eyes and turned to my sisters. “Where’s Mama?” I asked.
“She already left a while ago,” Jaeyun replied as she drank some of her beer.
“And the kids?” I asked again.
“They’re in their room,” Jaeyun replied, absolutely uninterested about their kids.
I sighed and turned around. Suddenly, a hand grabbed me by the wrist. Out of impulse, I twisted my arm and shook off the dude’s arm.
“Whoa, chill, girl. I just wanted to talk to you more,” he smirked as he walked towards me.
With all of my strength, I pushed him away from me and caused him to stumble. I said, “If you haven’t heard of personal space, then I suggest you do a quick search online about it. You have no right to hold my wrist without my permission. And you have no right to step closer to me without my permission.”
The whole room went silent after I spoke. I shot a brief glare over to my sisters before I headed upstairs.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

“Kids? It’s Aunt Mingyu,” I spoke onto the wooden door as I knocked. After a few seconds, the door finally opened and I entered as quickly as possible. The moment I locked the door, the kids ran up to me and I giggled as they towered over me.
“Aunt Mingyu! You’re home! You’re finally home!”
“We missed you today!”
“Finally, we’re safe!”
“Okay, okay, everybody, calm down. Let Aunt Mingyu breathe,” I giggled. Slowly, they helped me sit back up and they knelt around me. “How’s everybody today?”
“Today was fun, especially at school. Everything only went wrong when Mommy returned with Aunt Narae,” Yeonseok replied.
My brows furrowed. “Why? What happened?”