The night air was biting, a sharp contrast to the humid exhaust of the city. Ruby pulled her delivery scooter to the curb, her breath blooming in small white clouds. Her eyes caught the warm, amber glow of a high-end cake shop the kind of place where a single slice cost more than three of her delivery runs.
She hesitated, then checked her banking app. With a determined press of her lips, she stepped inside.
"The night is cool," she whispered to herself, clutching the delicate white box as she stepped back out. "Of course it's cool... it's a night to celebrate someone special."
She hopped back onto her motorcycle, the engine's vibration humming through her tired bones. As she reached their cramped apartment building, the exhaustion seemed to vanish for a fleeting moment. She bypassed the elevator and took the stairs two at a time. At the landing of their door, she didn't just walk in she spun like a ballerina, the cake box held high in her hand, a weary but triumphant smile on her face.
"Where is my baby brother?" she chirped, kicking the door open. "Happy birthday!"
The words died in her throat. There, on the small, scratched wooden table, sat a cake. It was already open, a candle flickering beside her brother, Rio. The festive atmosphere she had carried up the stairs deflated instantly.
"Unni," Rio said softly, his eyes shifting between her and the cake on the table.
Ruby's shoulders slumped, her grip on her own box tightening. "I guess... I was late, huh?"
Rio looked at her hands. "What's that? Oh... you bought a cake, too?"
"Yes," Ruby said, trying to recover her cheer. She set the box down with a forced lightness. "Were you waiting for me? I thought for sure you'd be out at some loud party with your university friends."
"I didn't want to," Rio replied, his voice steady but gentle.
Ruby let out a dry laugh, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "Aigoo, you used to be so stubborn. We fight every single day, but guess what? I don't even care that you bully me anymore."
"We bully each other, Unni," Rio corrected with a small, knowing smirk.
"Whatever," she teased, her eyes softening as she looked at his face—the face she had worked sixteen-hour shifts to protect. "Happy birthday. You're finally twenty-four."
They didn't stay inside the cramped room. They took both cakes and a few cheap cans of beer up to the rooftop. The city stretched out below them like a carpet of fallen stars, beautiful and unreachable.
The silence lasted until the beer was half-gone.
"Did you hear anything about Father?" Rio asked suddenly. The question was like a stone dropped into a still pond.
Ruby's breath hitched. She took a long, slow sip of her drink and sighed, the sound heavy with years of resentment. "No. Did you?"
"No," Rio whispered. "Do you think... he's ever coming back?"
Ruby stood up abruptly, her balance swaying slightly from the alcohol and the height. She didn't answer him. Instead, she turned toward the edge of the roof and screamed at the sky.
"EMMA!"
Rio jumped. "Hey! Stop! Are you drunk?"
"EMMA!" Ruby ignored him, shouting the name of their late mother into the wind. "Guess who's twenty-four now? It's your sweet son! We aren't fighting tonight, so keep resting in peace, okay? I'm going to give him the best life! The life he deserves!"
As the echo died down, the bravado vanished. Ruby's knees buckled slightly, and she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, but the tears kept coming.
"Just let it out, Ruby," Rio said, his voice thick with his own hidden pain. He didn't call her 'Unni' this time. He just watched her.
Ruby let out a jagged, rhythmic sob hic, hic, hicher small frame shaking under her oversized delivery jacket.
"Yeah," Rio sighed, walking over to steady her. "You're definitely drunk."
He sat on the edge of his narrow bed, the springs creaking under his slight weight. In his hands, he held a weathered silver photo frame the only "classy" thing they owned. It was a relic from a time before the world had turned gray. In the photo, a young Emma smiled radiantly, her arm around a man whose face was partially obscured by a glare on the glass. Between them stood a five-year-old Ruby, her hair in messy pigtails, clutching a much smaller, chubby-cheeked Rio.
The moonlight caught the dust motes dancing over the glass. Rio's breath hitched as he traced the outline of Ruby's childhood face. She had been protecting him even then.
"Unni..." he whispered, his voice cracking in the hollow room.
pressed down on his chest. A single tear escaped, blurring the image of the family that once was. He didn't put the frame back on the nightstand. Instead, he pulled it close to his chest, tucking it under his chin as he finally succumbed to a fitful sleep, hugging the memory of his parents and the reality of his sister.
The next morning, the peace was shattered by a sharp, rhythmic knocking.
"Rio! Hey..
Ruby pushed the door open, her energy a stark contrast to the gloom of the night before. She stopped at the foot of the bed, her eyes softening as she saw him curled in a ball, still clutching the photo frame against his ribs like a shield. She reached down, gently shaking his shoulder.
Rio bolted upright, his hair a bird's nest of dark strands. He blinked blearily, looking disoriented. "What? I'm up! What do you want? Is something wrong?"
Ruby leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms with a knowing smirk. "Wow. You must have been really drunk last night, huh? You're acting like you've been interrogated."
Rio squinted, his hand flying up to shield his eyes. A sharp, brilliant sliver of white light was cutting across the room, reflecting off a mirror on his wall. "Ugh, turn it off. Why is it so bright? Why did you put a blinding light right outside my window?"
Ruby chuckled, moving toward the curtains. "Why am I acting like a vampire's assistant? I didn't put a light there, Rio."
"Then what is it?" he groaned, burying his face in his pillow. "It's burning my retinas."
"Haaaaa... guess what?" Ruby sang out, her voice trailing off playfully. She waited for him to look up before delivering the punchline. "It's the sun."
Rio snapped. He threw the pillow aside, his eyes wide. "What? What sun? What time is it?!"
He scrambled out of bed, nearly tripping over his own feet as he lunged for the window. He threw the glass open, and the roar of the morning city rushed in—the honking of cars, the distant whistle of the train, and the unmistakable high-noon glare of a sun that had been up for hours.
"Why didn't you wake me up?!" he yelled, frantically scanning the room for his backpack.
"I did!" Ruby shouted back, matching his volume with a grin. "I yelled your name three times, but you just grumbled something about 'five more minutes' . I figured you needed the rest."
"I'm late! I have a lecture in twenty minutes!" Rio was a whirlwind of motion, shoving his feet into socks and grabbing his coat. He paused mid-motion, looking at Ruby. She wasn't in her delivery uniform. She was wearing a simple sweater, her face washed clean, and she was smiling..not the tired, forced smile of a worker, but something softer. "Wait... are you not going to work?"
"I switched," Ruby said easily. "I have a night shift today. I thought I'd take it easy this morning."
Rio narrowed his eyes, his suspicious nature kicking in. "That's weird. Why are you smiling like that? You look... creepy." It's really weird.
Instead of snapping back, Ruby stepped forward and planted a quick, loud peak on his cheek.
"What the….?!" Rio jumped back, wiping his face, his ears turning bright red. "What is wrong with you? Hey, are you going somewhere? Are you sick?"
"No," Ruby laughed, her eyes shimmering with a secret she wasn't ready to share. "Just go to school, Rio. Study hard so you can buy me a house with an elevator one day."
But we have elevato, rio replied
Rio gathered his things, but his feet were heavy. He walked to the front door, opened it, then stopped. He turned around to look at her. She was still standing there, waving. He closed the door, then immediately cracked it open again to peep through the gap.
He did it again. And again. Ten times he checked, his head popping back into the room to make sure she was still there, that she hadn't suddenly vanished or turned into someone else.
"Seriously, go!" she yelled, throwing a couch cushion at the door.
Only then did the sound of his sprinting footsteps echo down the hallway. Ruby's smile faded slowly as the silence returned.