Toss, turn, toss… Ria was having trouble falling asleep. Being in another bed than her own didn’t make it any easier. The sheets felt unfamiliar and the mattress was bigger and less soft than those at home. To make matters worse, Ria had never really been the type of person to fall asleep just about anywhere.

If Ria could have avoided a stay at the Park Hotel, she wouldn’t have been here now, but she was obliged to it. She was in her trainee period to become a photographer and was given that great opportunity to accompany South-Korea’s most successful photographer on his job to photograph the models of Seoul’s Fashion Week. It would have been crazy to turn that offer down. However, fashion shows and fancy hotels weren’t really the things Ria was after…

“Think of something nice…” Ria mumbled to herself and tried to find that slow pace of breathing, that state in which you’ll fall asleep. The clock ticked 12 am and Ria felt herself drift off as she counted along with the soft ticking.

However, her sleep got disturbed not long after, because nature was calling her. Badly. Now she had two choices: to hold it in and go back to sleep (which was practically impossible) or to put on her bathrobe and walk to the (unfortunately shared) bathroom. At first, Ria challenged to try the impossible, but being fully awake once again, she decided against it and kicked the sheets off. ‘So much for some good night’s sleep!’ Ria thought as she took her bathrobe from the chair beside the bed.

The hallway had a spooky glow, coming from the small yellow lights on both the walls. Tiptoeing her way to the end of the hallway, Ria found the bathroom empty and sighed in relief. She wouldn’t have liked to encounter someone who’s also in need of a midnight’s pee. No, that would only have been awfully awkward. But luckily, no such thing, as Ria closed the door behind her and found (to her delight) that the light in the bathroom was gloriously bright.

When she opened the door to tiptoe back to her room, her soul almost left her body. If she had not been so shocked into speechlessness, she would have screamed so hard that people in China might have heard.

Before her hung a guy in pajamas. Silent, tall and both his hands gripping the windowsill above the bathroom door. His eyes were closed and his head rested against one of his (rather muscled) upper arms. What the heck was he doing?!

“Yah! Now is not the time to exercise, you know…” Ria whisper-said when she had recovered from shock.

No reaction…

All kinds of thoughts went through Ria’s head. From how handsome he actually was, quickly replaced by irritation because of his bad manners, to worry that he might be dead. She coughed a little before she poked him in the side.

Finally, reaction!

The guy released his grip on the windowsill and fell down with a thud, landing on his , right before Ria’s feet. He didn’t let out so much as a sigh and Ria became more and more convinced that this guy was undeniably and utterly crazy… Within the blink of an eye the guy stood up and towered above her. His eyes were something between open and closed and he was goofily smiling at her. She had to admit, he looked beyond gorgeous and his scent was a masculine intoxication (definitely on a high yummy-level). However his behavior was a total joke…

“Excuse me, can I pass?” Ria asked, after being stared at by eyes that were semi-closed.

“Do you sell… Ddukbokki?” came a sleepy reply.

“Eh, no of course not…” Ria answered.

“No, we don’t… want ketchup… with it…” came another distracted and sleepy reply.

Something about the way the guy was speaking, the way he lacked to show any emotion, told Ria this guy was just sleepwalking. Realizing it all now, she wanted to laugh out loud, send him back to his room and try to catch a few hours of sleep. If only she knew where to send him…

Looking around she realized she couldn’t just leave him behind. There was a stairway at the end of the hallway and if he walked to over there, he might just tumble down the stairs and hurt himself.

“What’s your room number?” Ria asked the guy, already knowing he probably wouldn’t give her the answer she was looking for.

“Dongwoon… that’s me…”

Not his room number, but now she knew his name. A new idea came to mind. There were always receptionists working, right? If she could bring this Dongwoon to a receptionist, they would be able to bring him back to his own hotel room, wouldn’t they?

Reluctantly Ria stood watching the guy as he continued to stare at her through his eye lashes, made a sudden turn and started walking in the direction of the elevators, opposite the side of the stairway. Again the question, whether or not she should take care of him getting back inside his hotel room, troubled her. Sure, it wasn’t her responsibility at all, let alone that she should bring him back to his bed, but it wouldn’t be right to let him walk on, would it? So she made a decision. Quickly she ran to Dongwoon, grabbed one of his wrists and punched the button of the elevator. Ria was going to take him to a receptionist.

Dongwoon hadn’t struggled at all when she took his wrist, but as soon as the elevator beeped, the doors opened and Ria wanted to pull him inside, he stood rigid as stone and wouldn’t step inside. Sighing, Ria gave up and let the elevator doors close again without getting in. What was she even thinking? Walking around with hotel guests like she’s an umma that brings her children to bed. Spending time on a sleepwalker who’d probably go out of his room again, while she actually needed these hours to sleep…

Over thinking all those reasons why she could better go to sleep, she resolutely left Dongwoon for what he was and marched back to her own hotel room. She didn’t notice Dongwoon was following her like a shadow, until he stepped through her opened door just before she did.

“What the…?” before Ria could finish her sentence, Dongwoon had snuggled between the sheets on her king sized bed and let out soft, content snores.

Ria stood for a moment, as she saw the happy sleeping face of Dongwoon and wondered what she should do. She scratched the back of her head. Although the bed was king sized, Dongwoon had taken the liberty to lay in the middle of the bed. Although it was probably the best idea to wake him up and tell him to leave, she just couldn’t. Instead, she took another blanket from the cabinet and went to lay down on the couch herself.

TO BE CONTINUED...