It was the sharp rap on the door that prevented Jinsu from going into a total panic.  Somehow, she managed to let the person in and they flicked on the lights.

“Oh, good God,” said Jongdae.  “Which -up did this?”

Jinsu just shook her head, trying to swallow against the lump in that was making it difficult to breathe.  It was just so messy and it felt like she was drowning in a swamp of clothes, and it was all disordered and nothing looked right and everything was irregular and—

Jongdae grabbed her shoulders.  “Hey,” he said gently.  “Look at my ugly face instead.”

Taking a deep breath and holding it, Jinsu attempted to look up at him.  Jongdae placed his hands to either side of her face, blocking her eyes from looking anywhere except forward, and leant closer so that his head filled her entire vision.

“It’s okay,” he told her.  “It’s okay.  I’m going to help you tidy this all up and then I’ll take anything you want down to the laundry.  If you want, you can sit in the bathroom while I get this place into a reasonable state.”

Jinsu let out the breath she’d been holding and nodded, her shoulders deflating with her lungs.  Jongdae slipped one of his hands behind her head and pulled her close, giving her a hug that she really needed at that particular point.

In the end, Jongdae plonked her on her bed and wrapped her up in her duvet before setting about clearing the place up.  He did it mostly by reassembling the furniture that had been taken to pieces and folding all the clothes as neatly as possible, and then asking Jinsu to tell him where she wanted everything to be put away.

“Why are you so good at this?” she asked him as he poked his nose into the bathroom to make sure that was okay.  He walked in and Jinsu saw him putting things back into her wash bag.

“Don’t kill me,” he responded, replacing the last couple of things before he came back out, “but your brother gave me a briefing the morning we boarded this thing and told me some of the things he does to help you, and I looked it up on the internet.”

Jinsu surveyed him for a few moments.

“You’re nice,” she told him.

He grinned bashfully.  “So are you.”

It was enough to make Jinsu smile.  “Thanks,” she said softly.

He just gave her another bashful grin and headed for the door.  “Sleep well.  The sooner you sleep, the sooner you get another of those mystery breakfasts.”

That reminded Jinsu about writing to whoever was leaving those breakfasts.  She waited until Jongdae was gone before climbing out of bed and rummaging through the desk drawers for paper and a pen, which she chewed absently as she wondered about the best way to phrase things.  It had been twice now that the wrong people had seen her coming out and getting the breakfast, and if Minhwan and his goons were as bad as they seemed to be, it was only a matter of time before they decided to find out who it was.  Given the way they treated Jinsu, she had no doubt that this person would receive the short end of the stick too for being nice to her.  She didn’t want anybody going through that.  Not even Baekhyun.

Well, okay, maybe it wouldn’t bother her too much if Baekhyun got one session of it in karma.

She tried various different messages, and eventually settled on one to write out neatly.

Dear Mystery Chef,

I want to apologise for wasting a spoon of your hard work yesterday morning to throw at Minhwan.  I also want to thank you for treating me to such wonderful food every day so far.  I don’t know who you are or why you’re doing it, but it is one of the kindest things anybody’s ever done for me.  A friend also told me that some of the food you have been giving me is imported and consequently expensive, and I am truly honoured that you have been using your personal supply of food on me.

That said – and I don’t know how to say this without coming off as rude, even though that is the opposite of my intentions – it really isn’t something you have to do for me, and I’m worried Minhwan or somebody might find out who you are and target you for it.  It would be awful for such an act of generosity on your part to be used against you like that.  I also feel bad since I know this is your personal food, and you cook so beautifully and give me so much, even though I’m not really a breakfast eater.

God bless you, whoever you are.

Jinsu

P.S. I don’t know if it was intentional, but when I want a large breakfast, English breakfasts are my favourite.

She folded the paper over, wrote To the fabulous breakfast chef on one blank side of it, and went out to stick it prominently on her door with the other pieces of paper that were already there.  She knew there was a good chance the wrong person would see it and read it, but it was better than nothing, unless she wanted to lie in wait for this person, which she was almost positive he would not appreciate.

Job done, she went to sleep.

She had half expected the mystery chef to read her note and then take breakfast away to eat it himself or share among friends, or just to ignore it, but when she discovered the tray of piping hot food that morning, Jinsu was definitely not expecting a letter back.  As with the previous time, she had no idea whose handwriting it was, and Chanyeol and Jongdae had been unable to identify it either, which left her in the dark.

We both know you’re uncomfortable enough around most people on this machine to avoid eating with us where you can.

Your shelf in the fridge is empty, which means you brought no food of your own, which means you’re living off communal supplies or you’re skipping meals when you don’t want to eat with us, and that’s unhealthy.

I don’t care about Minhwan.  If he has a problem with me cooking you breakfast, he can get lost.

Don’t turn down good food, especially if you like it.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and you should eat a good-sized one daily whether you like it or not.  Numerous scientific studies concur that it has long-term health implications, good and bad, and in women especially can help regulate or prevent heart disease, diabetes and obesity (whereas skipping promotes them).  Dinner until breakfast is also the longest period that the body goes without food, so not eating it or not eating adequately makes you an idiot.  The typical person will go between ten and twelve hours between dinner and breakfast, which is about half a day.  You may not be as active during the night as you are during the day, but the night is the time when the body heals and restores itself (assuming you sleep) and that depletes your blood sugar levels because it’s working with slow-burn carbohydrates, meaning if you don’t eat properly, you are attempting to function when your body does not have energy levels that are functionable (which can lead to developing type II diabetes).  This