She'd never had an evening quite like it. All the elements added up to one wonderful memory-the gorgeous man who seemed fascinated by her every word, glorious Korean food, delicate wine. She wasn't sure how she would ever pay him back for everything that he’s benefitting her with. She began the only way she knew, by planning a special breakfast.

She was humming as she arranged the breakfast tray. Hefting it, she carried it upstairs. His door was closed and made her hesitate. She knocked softly, got no response, and began to gnaw her lip. Perhaps he was ill. Concerned, she knocked again, more loudly, and called his name.

She thought she heard a grunt, and shifting the tray, eased the door open. The bed looked as though it had been the scene of a small war. The sheets and blankets were tangled into knots, the quilt trailing over the footboard onto the floor.

Stepping over the doorway, she saw him, and stared.

He was at the desk, his hair wild, his feet bare. There was a heap of papers piled beside him as his fingers raced over the keys of a small computer. At his elbow was an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts. The air reeked of them.

"Excuse me." No response. The muscles in her arms were beginning to ache from the weight of the tray. "Yong Hwa."

"What?" The word shot out like a bullet, taking her back a step. His head whipped up. It was the devil again, she thought. He looked dangerous and inclined to violence. As his eyes focused on her, without any sign of recognition, she wondered if he might have gone mad during the night.

"Wait," he ordered and attacked the keyboard again. Shin Hye waited, baffled, for nearly five full minutes. He leaned back then, rubbed his hands hard over his face like a man just waking from a dream. Or, she thought, a nightmare. Then he turned to her again, with that quick, familiar smile.

"Is that breakfast?"

"Yes, I ... It's half past ten, and when you didn't come down..."

"Sorry." He rose, took the tray from her, and set it on the bed. He picked up a piece of bacon with his fingers.

"That's all fine, but it's not healthy for you to be sitting here, smoking cigarettes instead of eating a decent meal."

"Smells better than decent." Patient, he crouched down beside her, ran a carelessly friendly hand down her back. "Shin Hye, will you do me a favor?"

"If I can, yes."

"Go away."

Stunned, she turned her head. Even as she gaped at him, he was laughing and taking her hands in his.

"No offence, honey. It's just that I tend to bite if my work's interrupted, and it's cooking for me right now."

"I certainly don't mean to be in your way."

He winced, bit back on annoyance. He was trying to be diplomatic, wasn't he? "I need to hang with it while it's moving, okay? So just forget I'm up here."

"But your room. You need the bed sheets changed, and the bath-"

"Don't worry about it." He raised her to her feet. “I’d appreciate it if you'd drop some food off outside the door now and again, but that's all I'll need."

"All right, but-" He was already guiding her to the door. She huffed. "You don't have to be booting me out, I'm going."

"Thanks for breakfast."

"You're-" He shut the door in her face. "Welcome," she said between her teeth.

For the rest of that day and two more she didn't hear a peep out of him. She tried not to think of the state of the room, if he'd remembered to keep the fire going or if he bothered to sleep. She knew he was eating. Each time she brought up a fresh tray, the old one was outside the door. He rarely left as much as a crumb on a plate.

She might have been alone in the house-if she hadn't been so aware of him. She doubted very much that he gave her a moment's thought.

She'd have been right. He did sleep now and again, catnaps that were ripe with dreams and visions. He ate, fueling his body as music fueled his mind. It was storming through him.

He wrote about sad love, gleeful and sly. He had hopelessness and pain, desperation and lies.

He was in heaven.

When it finally ground to a halt, he crawled into bed, pulled the covers over his head, and slept like the dead.

When he woke, he took a long look at the room and decided a