Yeon Joo woke the following morning with her cheek pressed against Lee Yeong's chest and one of his arms still wrapped securely around her waist, as though even in sleep he had decided that leaving enough space for her to disappear again was unacceptable. Pale sunlight had begun slipping through the paper doors, but the room remained quiet enough that she could hear the slow rhythm of his breathing and the faint mountain wind moving somewhere beyond the summer residence. For several comfortable moments she remained where she was, warm beneath the blankets and unwilling to admit that morning had already arrived, until she attempted to stretch one leg and immediately stopped when the muscles along her back and thighs protested.
The memory of the previous evening returned much faster than her ability to move comfortably.
