My brows furrowed. I asked, "Aren't we going to Jeju Island together, Mr. Nam?"
"Yes, that was the original plan. However, something came up and I need to take care of it before I leave the office to Hyeongu. There are some matters that he can't handle and I don't want for him to have a hard time without me," said Mr. Nam.
"I understand," I replied.
"Will you be needing any help with your luggage? It's best that you tell me now so I can assist you," he said. He continued, "Do you have your own luggage bag? I can have Hyeongu buy one for you."
I shook my head and answered, "That won't be necessary, sir. I can easily use a backpack for my personal belongings. I'll use a separate handbag for my work materials. It's only for a weekend, anyways. I won't need that much stuff."
He looked at me, confused. "Miss Ryuk, have you forgotten that you can also have some time for yourself when we get to Jeju?" Mr. Nam asked, leaning onto his desk with his arms folded. "Yes, our main purpose of visit is a business trip. However, meetings don't last the whole day so you'll have the rest of the days all to yourself. And for that reason, I don't think your regular backpack will do the trick."
Eyes widened, I stared at him, shocked. I then replied, "But, sir, I never intended to have a good time on the island. My sole purpose there is to accompany you in your meetings."
"Yes, and I trust that you'll do your best in being my secretary. However, you'll die of boredom if I just let you stay in your hotel room. I'm not going to do that to you," he replied after a brief chuckle. He explained, "You have to keep in mind, Miss Ryuk, that you're my employee - my secretary - not my slave. You're required to accompany me in meetings. But once the work day is over, you're not obligated to keep yourself cooped up in your room."
He added, "You have a life of your own. You deserve to go out and have fun. Do you understand?"
I opened my mouth, attempting to answer. But all I could do was close my mouth and nod again. I was helpless against Mr. Nam. He would never allow me to win an argument against him. There was no sense in being assertive with him.
"Anyways," he said, pushing himself away from his desk. He grabbed his pen and a sticky note before returning to me. "I'll have your new luggage delivered to Nekobe. Bring as much things as you want. Don't overthink. Just bring everything that you know you'll need. Alright?"
I nodded, my lips pressed firmly together.
"Awesome," he smiled, giving his pen a click. "I'll have Hyeongu take care of this. You don't have to rush anything. You can go out and have fun. Relax, okay?" he said, looking straight at me.
"Yes, sir."
He nodded, "You may go," he smiled before he proceeded to write something on the sticky note.
I stood and left the room.
—*---*---*---
I opened the door and Soyoung was standing in the middle of the production floor. Right as I closed the door, she approached me with wide eyes. I froze for a bit before asking, "What?"
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
She sighed as she approached me. She stared at me before she asked, "Well, what did Mr. Nam say?"
—*---*---*---
"Uh, Haru?" I called from the backseat. Haru looked through the rearview mirror, brows raised. "Do you have any idea where Mr. Nam is? I'll be going to Jeju first and I don't know what I'm supposed to do," I continued.
Making a right turn, Haru then explained, "To be honest, Miss Ryuk, I have no idea. He only told me to fetch you and to drive you to the airport as soon as possible. However, according from the phone call I heard yesterday, it seems like you will pose as his representative until he arrives._
My eyes widened as my hands gripped onto the backseat. Mr. Nam's representative?! I wasn't told of such a thing when I was with him yesterday. How come Haru knew of this and I didn't?
"What– How– When did Mr. Nam say that? And to whom did he say that to? Why didn't he inform me before anybody else?" I stuttered, panicking for my very life.
"Hm, I never caught who it was. But I have the biggest hunch that he was talking with a client. During the call, he mentioned that his secretary will be arriving before him. And Mr. Nam has no other secretaries now but you," he explained.
He then made another right turn and up ahead, the airport was visible. An airplane took off as we drove closer. A little later, another airplane landed.
"Here we are. Are you excited, Miss Ryuk?" Hari broke the silence with his enthusiasm.
"I'm actually a bit nervous. This is the first time I'll be boarding a plane and it's for work purposes," I said, putting my hands in between my thighs.
"Don't worry, Miss Ryuk, I'm sure you'll do just fine."
I kept looking out the window as we slowly arrived at the departure area. It was early in the morning but the line for departure was already a blockbuster. Taxis and cars arrived without stopping.
Sooner, we slowed down as we got stuck in a bit of traffic. I expected that we were near to where I would board my plane. However, as Hari drove further, I was baffled that he didn't stop at any of the entrances.
"Haru? Aren't we supposed to park?" I asked, moving away from the window. I looked to the rearview mirror and he looked through it as well.
"You won't be boarding a plane through the main gates, Miss Ryuk," he replied, smiling. He added, "Have you forgotten that you're working for Nam Corporations?"
My brows furrowed, not removing my eyes from the rearview mirror. With grinning eyes, he returned to the rearview mirror and winked at me.
After quite some time, Haru stopped in front of a closed gate. He rolled down his window as a guard slowly approached him. "Good morning, Mr. Haru," the guard greeted.
My eyes widened. Even the guard here knew who Haru was?!
Haru replied with his usual cheerful tone, "Good morning. Mr. Nam has a scheduled flight today. His secretary, Miss Ryuk, will be boarding first."
"Ah, yes, I was informed by Mr. Kim yesterday," the guard answered. He turned around and nodded towards his fellow guard. The gates were opened and both Haru and the guard saluted at each other.
Slowly, as we drove past them, the guard looked through the window and nodded at me. Not far ahead, a lone airplane in the middle of the runway was visible. Unlike the airport that we just drove past, there were no other planes within the area.
"This is Mr. Nam's private runway," Haru suddenly said. I quickly turned to the rearview mirror and he continued, "Mr. Nam once requested for a private runway before but the airport never agreed to that. So, he built one for himself. Even the staff here were personally chosen by him."
Not knowing what or how to react, I simply replied, "Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know, Haru."
He chuckled. He added, "I saw how shocked you were when we approached the gate. Since you'll be working closely to Mr. Nam, I figured I'd tell you so you'll know how to free them the next time you'll be flying first."
Finally, we stopped by the airplane. Haru honked twice before stepping out of the car. I removed my seatbelt and right away, three men came out from the airplane. Haru approached them and shook hands with them, exchanging friendly smiles and nods. They talked for a moment before Haru turned back to the car. He gestured for me to come to them.
My grip on my handbag tightened. I wasn't used to meeting new people, especially when the kind of people that I would meet were people of a higher state in life or with a position. I knew I had to carry myself with class and professionalism. But I wasn't properly trained in that area. From my previous work experiences up to now, I never handled the sort of people within Mr. Nam's network.
This was the kind of situation that I wished he trained me first for. Because I never been in an extravagant circle of people like Mr. Nam's. I might be his secretary but I had never been a secretary in my whole life. I had absolutely no clue in these sorts of situations.
My thoughts were then interrupted when someone knocked on my window. I jolted a bit before I looked. It was Haru. Slowly, I opened the door but remained in my seat.