Ruben’s day was incredibly busy. The fact that the entire island moved according to his will meant that his businesses were scattered throughout every corner of the island.
In the morning he made rounds to three factories, then stopped by a restaurant for lunch. Ruben, who often settled for common folk food like fish and chips, sandwiches, pie, or loaded baked potatoes for lunch in front of me when I was just his secretary, ate lunch at a rather fancy restaurant with Elbek as his lover. It was when I was standing beside Ruben as he paid the bill.
“Was the meal alright?”
“Yes.”
“Uh… I, it was good.”
Ruben and I both answered the employee at the register. That should have been all. But Ruben, who was putting the receipt and card into his wallet, suddenly turned his gaze toward me.
‘…What?’
It was just a moment, but I clearly felt the anger contained in that gaze. It was a fierce look that couldn’t be called the eyes one looks at a beloved lover with. The problem was that I had absolutely no idea why, so the person in question could only be bewildered.
“Have a nice day.”
“Fuck off.”
And then Ruben snapped at the polite waiter and roughly opened the door and left the restaurant before I could say anything.
‘What the hell?!’
I hurried after Ruben while thinking about whether I had done something wrong. Did I eat something too expensive? But I only ate the same thing Ruben ate. Come to think of it, Ruben had changed his main dish from fish to lamb chop steak. Did he think I was copying him because I changed to that too? Was he upset about that? Or was my outfit not good? Was there a dress code at this restaurant? As I worried incessantly and barely managed to stick close behind him, Ruben firmly grasped my hand.
“Ru, Ruben, is something wrong?”
“No?”
Ruben smiled brightly as if asking when he had glared at me and held my hand, but it was a fabricated smile like the one in the car. Moreover, perhaps because pretending to smile was even harder now, I could see his eyes were slightly bloodshot.
‘Wh… what the hell…’
Watching Ruben roughly drag me to the car without a word, I couldn’t say anything.
*
The afternoon was hell.
Me, no different from usual, and a day no different from usual—but today’s Ruben was ten thousand times harder to endure than usual. I almost thought it would be better if he just told me what his complaint was and hit me… That’s how strange Ruben was all day.
When visiting businesses and meeting with department heads to greet them, Ruben glared at me about once every 3 minutes and didn’t hide his sighs of frustration. It’s not like walking on thin ice but like walking a tightrope. Moreover, that tightrope is made of thorny vines. The problem was that I couldn’t understand what made Ruben so sensitive. I wondered if he was sleep-deprived, but then I remembered that even yesterday after sex I had hypnotized Ruben so he could fall asleep. Then what was the problem? I couldn’t figure it out with my brain.
‘Still, almost quitting time…’
I checked my wristwatch and very, very quietly let out a sigh of relief. I actually wanted to sigh more loudly, but I exhaled very quietly because I didn’t want to touch the nerves of Ruben who was sitting at his desk glaring at the monitor screen with a frown.
Still, after work Ruben would be okay.
I secretly smiled thinking of the heaven I’d tasted for three days. I don’t know why Ruben is like this, but seeing how he changed after coming outside unlike when we were happily spending time at his mansion… He might simply be acting like this because he doesn’t want to work. Even if it’s not that reason, if I ask everything through hypnosis at night and strengthen the suggestion, I can be loved by Ruben again. I can prevent this painful situation. Thinking that, I waited for Ruben to say what he would say.
“…Shall we go home?”
“…! Yes!”
This, I mean.
There were always tourists peering around in front of Ruben’s magnificent house, even if they weren’t neighborhood residents. That’s why there was quite a large garden between Ruben’s house and the gate. The driver parked the car next to the gate, and when we got out of the car, it wasn’t a big deal that a tourist peering into the garden caught my eye.
“This is our private property.”
“Oh my…! I’m sorry. I was walking my dog and…”
However, the dog being held by a middle-aged woman who seemed lost, who seemed like a tourist, was definitely new. I like dogs. Dogs are cute, loyal, soft, and love people unconditionally.
Moreover, the dog she had wasn’t just any dog—it was actually a Welsh Corgi. A Welsh Corgi that I’d barely ever seen on Saint Sophia Island.
“The, the dog is really cute…”
When I said that, the Welsh Corgi smiled at me as if understanding the word ‘cute’. Seeing the dog’s smiling expression naturally made me smile.
“Um, i, if it’s okay, may I, say hello to the puppy?”
“Of course~ Charlie, sit!”
When the clever puppy sat, I also crouched down and started petting the dog. It’s really soft. I buried my hands, which had felt particularly cold because I couldn’t hold Ruben’s hand the whole way here, in the puppy’s soft and warm fur, and when I gently scratched its muzzle and behind its ears, my heart that had been bleak until just before seemed to heal a little.
“…Charlie…? If it’s Charlie, is it short for Charlotte?”
“Oh my, no. Charlie is just Charlie.”
Ruben was also being polite to the dog’s owner. But his voice was excessively businesslike, perhaps still in a bad mood. I came to my senses and stood up.
“Is it male?”
“Yes, our Charlie is a boy.”
There were no strange symptoms yet, but knowing Ruben’s temperament, I knew I needed to get away from this situation.
“Th, thank you for letting me pet him. Let’s go, Ruben.”
“…”
When I pulled on Ruben’s sleeve, he followed me without a word. I was thinking that the day was ending nervously but okay when—
“Wipe.”
In front of the gate, Ruben held out a handkerchief to me.
“…?”
Before I could take it without understanding, Ruben suddenly pulled out a small bottle from his pocket. It was disinfectant. After spraying it on my hands a couple times, he glared at me fiercely.
“I said wipe.”
“Uh… Uh… Yes, um,”
Does Ruben perhaps have a dog hair allergy? As I rubbed my hands with the disinfectant and tried to receive the handkerchief Ruben handed over, he suddenly snatched my hand and began roughly rubbing the handkerchief against my palm. It was a very soft handkerchief with a luxury brand logo.
The handkerchief, which felt delicate compared to my callused hands, was soon wretchedly crumpled because Ruben rubbed it so hard on my hands. Around the time my hand felt sore, Ruben threw away the handkerchief with huffing breaths.
“Do… do you dislike dogs?”
“No.”
“…?”
Ruben opened the door with a bang. He roughly grabbed my wrist, led me to the bathroom, and leaned diagonally against the door while urging me.
“Wash your hands.”
“Uh…”
“Do I have to say everything twice?”
When Ruben’s voice rose, I hurriedly turned on the water. It was really strange. I couldn’t understand it at all. I couldn’t understand him more than when I lived as Ruben’s subordinate.
At least before giving the lover suggestion, I could clearly grasp what Ruben was angry about. In other words, Ruben was never a difficult person to understand. But now I couldn’t know. I couldn’t understand anything.
“Th, then, do you have allergies or…?”
“No!”
Ruben yelled, then put his hand on his forehead and sighed. I looked at Ruben while drying my cleanly washed hands with a towel. When I thought there was nothing else I could do, Ruben raised his head and glared at me.
“Why are you looking for the cause in me?”
“…What?”
“You think I’m acting like this because of some damn dog?!”
“Th, then, then what…”
I had no choice but to think that I had done something wrong. Anyone would have thought that. If not, Ruben wouldn’t have had that truly pained expression he was wearing. Ruben’s face was flushed, and his eyes were now completely bloodshot and glistening with tears. I was flustered. There probably aren’t many people who could get angry at that face that looked pitiful.
“Did I, did I do something wrong…?”
“Fuck!”
When Ruben roughly breathed out and turned around, I approached him closely. Since it looked as if I had greatly hurt him, I really wanted to receive forgiveness if I had done something wrong.
“Pl, please tell me, Ru, Ruben…”
“Kuk…”
“Huh? I, I don’t know a lot of things… Please tell me, I’ll fix it… Okay?”
When I spoke as gently as possible and wrapped my arms around Ruben’s shoulders, his body flinched and trembled. It would be easy to find out if I used suggestion to ask, but he was my lover today. If I could solve the problem through proper communication with my lover, I wanted to solve it that way.
I stood there for a long time trying to soothe him. How much I like you. If you tell me, Ruben, I can fix it. I’m sorry for thinking it was because of the dog. I want to keep getting along well with Ruben…
How many minutes had I been soothing him when his rough breathing gradually subsided, and I thought the strength had left his fiercely raised eyes a little.
“…Really, you’ll fix it?”
“…! Yes!”
It seemed like he had opened his heart through my efforts. Now rather than wanting to reconcile with Ruben, I was more curious about what exactly had made him like this.
“…You’re right. You, you didn’t know, so that’s why…”
“Yes, yes…”
“I’m not being strange. You know that, right?”
“Of course…”
Whatever it was, if it was the cause that drove Ruben this far, it must surely be something with a valid reason. In some way, I must have really severely hurt him. Ruben is a demon, but he’s not a psychopath.
“Please tell me… I’ll listen to everything.”
I saw Ruben swallow. Now the answer is right before my eyes. Not heard through hypnosis, but heard through my efforts, Ruben’s true feelings…
“…Why are you so skilled at fellatio?”
“……What?”
