Ilhoon yawned and stretched his aching back. **Ahh it hurts, I shouldn't have slept on the table** He opened his eyes and they landed on you. The early rays of sunlight beamed down on your face, causing you to crinkle your eyebrows. A smile appeared unconsciously and he quietly began to clean up the dishes. He piled them up and quietly headed out towards the kitchen. Before he could enter, he was stopped.

"Your majesty, what are you doing? Why are you carrying these dirty dishes? Where is Eun Mi?" the maid asked as she pried Ilhoon's hands off the dishes. "Is she slacking off again? Did she fall asleep?"

"Oh no, I just decided to try this out," he said. "I've always been behind the desk. As the Emperor says, 'Always try new things'."

"Oh no your majesty, this is something that you shouldn't be trying," she said as she put them in the bucket of water. "You'll ruin your hands, they will become rough and calloused."

"But-"

"Please your majesty, let us do the work," she said as she ushered Ilhoon out the door. "But-"

"Have a good day," she said as she closed the door. Ilhoon stood there, shocked. He scratched his head as he headed back towards the door. He knew she meant well for him but he wished she would not talk about ranking and status. He wished there was no one there to tell him what to do and what not to do. He was about to head into his dorm when you noticed that you were awake. He stood beside the door and waited.

You groaned and shifted to a more comfortable position. **Ilhoon's going to be very impressed with my cooking skills, I hope he likes it** You snuggled deeper into your arms and realization slammed right into your face; your eyes bulged. **ILHOON. FOOD!** You quickly looked at the table, but it was empty. Panic spread through out your body as your hands desperately searched for something besides the soft fabric of the cloth laid on the table. You then realized your shoulder felt heavy and something was slowly slipping off. You looked around your shoulders and touched the blanket draped. Confusion clouded your brain, **Where did this...I don't remember-**

"Finally, you're awake." Ilhoon stood by the doorway with a smirk on his face. "You know you snore?"

You covered your mouth and furiously shook your head. "Nuh uh."

"What is that? I can't hear you," he said. You glared at him, 'Hmph." He bit back his chuckle, "What are you doing? My stomach as been growling for ages." You sat on the chair, **But what happened to the food, and where did this blanket come from?** You thought about it and  neatly folded the blanket. "I'm waiting," lhoon's voice could be heard outside. "C-Coming," you said as you pushed the chair back in the table and left.

---

Ilhoon wouldn't admit it, but he love your cooking. Unlike the other foods that he had eaten, your cooking had this...homemade kind of feeling. It was as if it was specifically made for his own liking. He grabbed the pork and chewed it, savoring the rich flavor. He downed it with a bowl of soup and wiped his mouth with the napkin. He sighed as he stared back at his desk. His work was piling up on the table, untouched. He got up and cracked his knuckles, regretting it instantly. He winced as pain shot through his hands. His hands still hurt from his first attempt to cook. He sighed **Time to work**

You cleaned up all the dishes and headed towards the kitchen. You dropped them into the bucket of water and began rinsing the dishes.

"Eun Mi," you looked up; it was the same maid who had stopped Ilhoon earlier this morning -but you didn't know that of course- "Where were you this morning?"

"I-I was sleeping, why?" you asked.

"How can you be sleeping? His majesty had to personally bring the dirty dishes," she said with a stern face. "There is no such thing as the royals doing any of these kind of work. Just because you became his majesty's attendant, it doesn't mean you can slack off; it means you have to work harder then before. You were very fortunate to work besides him while the rest of us have to do all the dirty jobs. Don't take this for granted or you will regret it later on in the future." You nodded and kneeled down to continue rinsing the dishes, "My apologies". The maid left, muttering things that are better off unknown.

You rinsed the plate **Dirty dishes? But he said there was no dishes on the table this morning...**  You thought about it while quietly rinsing the dishes. After a few minutes of pondering you finally remembered. **Of course!** You quickly rinsed the rest of the dishes and dried them off with a towel. You headed back towards Ilhoon's dorm.

You cleaned up all the dishes and watched Ilhoon. You made sure he was unaware of your presence before sneaking into the dorm- Ilhoon looked up from his work and grinned when he saw you sneaking into his room quietly- you kneeled down and was about to flip the cloth when his voice startled you.

"What are you doing?" Ilhoon asked. You quickly got off the ground and dusted off your hanbok.

"Nothing, I was just-uh, I dropped something," you said.

"Oh, what did you drop?" he asked, his eyes a bit too curious.

"I-uh I dropped my," your eyes searched around the room for ideas; but none were helpful. **What do girl's love** you racked your brain and the first thing that popped up was... "I dropped my...hair pin."

"Hair pin?" Ilhoon looked at your neat, but empty bun."I don' remember you wearing a hair pin before. Not today, not ever."

"Well then I must have lost it before you came in," you said. "I guess it's not here, I'll go outside to check," you said. "Just call me if you need me."

Ilhoon watched as your figure got smaller and smaller. He smiled and shook his head, he flipped the cloth and took out the basket. He didn't realize the basket was hidden underneath the table, but now that he did he made sure that you wouldn't find it again...not for a while at least.

"Almost got caught," he murmured as he hid the basket in a chest beside his bed. Pain shot through his head as he closed the lid of the chest. He headed towards his desk and looked at the pile of paper and books he had to memorize within 3 days. His head was spinning due to the lack of sleep he was receiving for the past few days. He was exhausted beyond words but he knew he didn't have a choice but to finish everything he was assigned to.  

 He closed his eyes for a minute and rubbed his temples. His eyes were drooping and it required so much energy to keep them open. He sighed as he had a good prediction of the future. However, his prediction wasn't good news and what's worse is that his future prediction was just a breath away. **I have no choice but to just steal her away** he smiled and began to work once more with a little more enthusiasm.