Author's Note: I can't believe Christmas break is almost here. This year shouldn't have gone by as quickly as it did! Don't get me wrong! I don't want to relieve half of the things I went through, but I found an awesome online family that make it all worth the heartache and pain. I can write it with these characters and you completely understand! You guys don't realize how much I really love my readers!

I figured I might as well say thanks for not murdering me when you read chapter two. I always give my heroine something to work against because they say a man is supposed to be the strong one in a relationship. I like to poop all over that statement. Women are just as strong as much as they are sassy. That's why my females are always boisterous and crazy.

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Won looked over the outrageous budget Hyun Joon had handed him only moments before. The coward had run away immediately. Won hadn't really thought anything about it. Usually the younger man did so when something crazy came up that he knew Won would hate. This time was completely different.

He had given him the budget for the birthday party. He had better be glad he had run. The budget was way over what they had planned, nearly three times as much. And none of it was because of the food. The food was usually the item on the list that killed him, but it wasn't in this case. The most expensive thing was the flowers. He didn't even like flowers.

He tossed the folder onto his desk and tried his best to control the tic in his jaw. His employees were trying to get him killed or tossed in jail for killing them. They spent more money than he ever did on company parties.

Normally his company parties cost about a million Won. He did his best to keep it as low key as much as possible. They had them at an intimate bar where they could be in a small place. The rental of the space was usually the most expensive. That was it. He couldn't understand why his employees wanted to go all out on his birthday.

There was a knock at his door. It took him a few moments to welcome his guest because he was trying to get his temper in check.

When he finally answered, he was pleasantly surprised when Soohyun walked in. She carried a big box and a bag at her side. She placed both on his conference table as he got up from his seat.

He came up beside her and looked over her shoulder as she pulled items from the box. There were an assortment of desserts in colorful containers and marked by their contents. She unloaded the bag with random food items. This time it was normal food, and no sweets. She had common sense sometimes.

"What's all this?" he asked as he looked it over.

"The boxes are the samples of desserts obviously. These," she pointed to the other containers, "are food I made last night. You hadn't had any lunch according to Oppa so I brought this as well."

"What is it?"

"A simple fried rice recipe I came up with in culinary school. I make it when I don't have time to come up with anything for dinner. Last night I worked on those so I didn't have time." She passed her hand over the desserts as she spoke.

"Would you join me?"

Soohyun sat down and watched as he dug into the box lunch. He ate like he had never eaten before. He was so excited he was cute.

Won looked up when he noticed Soohyun wasn't eating. She was staring out into the space behind his head as she picked at her fingernails absentmindedly. He watched her with a slight smile. Many people were intimidated by him as he sat across the table from them.

"Soohyun-ssi," he said. She looked at him and he watched her contacts slide into place. "You're not going to eat?" he asked.

Soohyun shook her head. "I sampled the desserts before I arrived. I'm not really hungry."

He sat back. "You're making me feel like a gluttonous pig. I could eat all of this."

"Go ahead," she urged. "It's less I have to take back home. My fridge is full of food I haven't finished eating from the last week. I have a habit of making things that I want but never end up finishing them."

"Feel free to bring whatever leftovers you have to my house or office any time."

She laughed. "Glad to know you like my food."

"If the birthday party goes well, I may have you cater my wedding."

He didn't miss the fact that she raised a shocked eyebrow at him. "You're getting married?"

"At the Zeus Hotel. It's been in the works for the better part of a year, and in two months it will happen. I'm in charge of the food and rings. I have the rings, but food is not my forte."

"Luckily for you it's mine. I will gladly cater your wedding. Just give me the date."

Won finished the lunch and looked at the beautifully decorated desserts sitting in the boxes. He read the cards on each of them and decided to sample one of each just to be sure he wasn't missing out on anything.

Hyun Joon hadn't been kidding when he said his sister was a genius with sweets. Whatever he tasted came alive on his mouth. The spiciness from the fried rice was overpowered by the sweetness of the cupcake and sweet bread. She had made enough for him and someone else to eat on for a day. He figured she had made them for his office.

He sampled the cheesecake cupcakes and realized he had found his favorite dessert. He picked up the card she had included with each one. It was a lemon zinger cheesecake. There was the same amount of cheesecake mix but she had added a little more lemon juice to give it the zip.

He pointed at it. "I want this one."

Soohyun smiled as he took another bite. He stopped at her slow smile. "I'll make it just like I do for my dad," she said.

"Your dad likes this one?"

She nodded. "It's his favorite dessert I make."

"I would be honored to have this as my birthday dessert."

She nodded and started packing things up. Suddenly she stopped and turned on him. It happened so fast they were nearly chest to chest. Won sucked in a breath as the smell of cinnamon wafted up from the bare skin on her neck.

"Why are you getting married to someone you don't even love?" she asked. He opened his mouth to answer but she continued. "Didn't you have a girlfriend you were crazy about?"

He licked his finger in the most undignified manner. "Did your brother tell you about it?"

"He's got a big mouth remember." She tilted her head at him. "Why are you getting married when you don't even love the woman?"

Won sat on the table and picked up another cupcake. "What makes you think I don't?"

"First, there are no pictures of the two of you together anywhere. In fact there are none of your family at all. Second, I have never seen here around. And third, you don't look like a man in love. They say women are always bright and bubbly right before their weddings and when they are expecting a child. The same could be said about men."

"It's a marriage based on wealth. I need her family money and she needs mine. We agree that it's not based on love."

"And what about your children? What will they say when they find out their mother and father don't like each other?"

"We like each other just fine. We just don't love each other. There's nothing wrong with that."

"So you're just going to grow old with fondness? Does that even sound fun to you?"

Won was confused. He had only known this woman for a maximum of two weeks. They had talked on multiple occasions about what he would like at the party. The food food had already been taken care of. He had just been waiting on her to get back to him about the desserts. Now she was worried about him when she barely knew him personally. It didn't make any sense to him.

Soohyun didn't think she was being overly nosy. From what Hyun Joon had said, Won wasn't thrilled about getting married. He had had a girlfriend for nearly two years but she had left when he had shown more interest in his company. It could be skewed a bit, but that was how her brother told it. Knowing Won the little she did, she knew he didn't tolerate subpar methods. He had to truly love that woman enough to let her go.

But it still didn't answer why he was willing to throw his happiness away on an arranged marriage. She had been lucky that her family hadn't demanded she marry to someone she didn't know or like. She was a chef with bad health. No one wanted to touch that with a six foot pole, but she was okay with that. Won was a healthy man who could do whatever he wanted. So why wasn't he?

They stared at each other for the longest. One was legitimately curious and the other was wondering where the curiosity came from. But the latter (Won) was instantly smitten with the way she cared about him when she didn't even know him. She had her brother's charm when it came to caring about people. She was genuinely kind.

"I think I may have overstayed my welcome," she muttered.

Soohyun finished packing the lunch boxes and zipped the bag. She bowed to Won then started for the door.

Won wrapped his hand around her elbow and pulled her to a stop. He stepped into her personal bubble as he spun her around to face him. Once again he was enveloped in a light smell of cinnamon.

"Don't ever be embarrassed for asking the tough questions. The only person who ever questions my choices is my brother. Now you. Feel free to bombard me with things when you think I'm being stupid," he said. He searched her face as his eyes were drawn back to the small teeth tugging on her bottom lip. "I hope you will consider me your friend from now on."

She looked up at him. "Does that mean I can say whatever I want to you?"

He smiled. "Haven't you already? There's a big difference from you and your brother though. You don't say it to make yourself look better. You're just genuinely curious and you have a good heart."

She mirrored his smile, eyes lighting up as she tilted her head to the side. "I have to get back to the hotel. Call me if you get bored."

"What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow is my night off. Why?"

"Come to my place and teach me how to cook that fried rice."

"All right. I'll be going."

Won let her arm go and she disappeared out his door. Not too long after she did, her brother graced his office with his presence. As soon as he saw the very colorful boxes, he flounced over to the table and pulled a cupcake from the box.

"Soohyun's been here hasn't she?" he asked as he stuffed his face.

"I'm surprised you didn't meet her on your way out. She just left," Won said as he closed the boxes.

"She's surprisingly good at hiding in plain sight. When she returned home from France, she was standing right in front of me as I looked for her. I'm used to it by now." He looked at the boxes as his boss closed them. "Which one did you choose?"

"The lemon zinger cheesecake cupcakes."

"I'm surprised she put that one in there. Usually it's only saved for our family." He made a face. "Oh well."

Won looked up. "What's so special about it?"

"Our mom use to make it for us. Soohyun just adds a little more lemon juice than she did, but Dad eats it either way. He says it reminds him of happy times. He's lucid every time she makes it."

"She's very gifted."

"Don't tell her that. I'll never hear the end of it. It's not like she has a bloated ego. She'll just nag me for telling you so much."

The boss man laughed. "Trust me. She's already nagging me."

Hyun Joon made a childish stomp in the floor that made Won laugh even harder. "Don't let her do that. She's bad about doing things she really shouldn't."

"She's a good friend though isn't she?"

The younger man looked at his boss with mouth gaping wide open. "No, no, no. You can't do that. You can't be friends with my sister."

Won frowned. "Why not?"

"Because I come to work to get away from her. If you're her friend, that won't happen. She'll yap about you more than make me food."

"You don't want your sister to have friends with your co-workers because you might lose food?" His underling nodded. "Are you an idiot or something?"

"Or something. By the way, you have a meeting shortly. You might want to head on."

"Take the rest of those sweets to the others, but leave the cheesecake. Those are mine."

Hyun Joon watched the door close to the office. The dumb smile on his face fell as he stared at the wooden structure. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"It's not that I don't want you to be friends with her. I just don't want her to get hurt when you get married, and I don't want you to take on the burden of her illness when you fall for her. Let's face it, Won. There's no doubt that you have already fallen for my sister. It's hard not to."

With another sigh, he stacked the boxes one on top of the other and left the office to do as he had been told.