Author's Note: When I was writing the Eri series, a few of you asked me where I got the emotional aspect to talk about a deaf person. You don't have to be deaf to understand how someone feels when they don't feel emotions or when they have a hard time expressing emotions. Most of my female characters are based off things that I or someone close to me have gone through. I was always taught write what I know, and writing about feeling alone when in crowded room is something I know very well. So sometimes these are just ramblings but most of the time when I write something like this with a lacking character it means I'm going through something similar to my character. In this case it's Jimin.

Sometimes I think we're too scared as human beings to admit that we have issues when it comes to emotions. I know that I feel alone in a crowded room, and I know I have no issues writing about my issues.

Oh, and this story place in December.

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He was right. Jimin wanted to kill Woo Bin as they sat across from them at a restaurant. She was chewing on her lower lip as everyone chatted comfortably. Young Do sat across from her and watched the emotions play across her eyes. She was irritated, annoyed, angry, concerned, and cautious all at the same time. She didn't know what to do because there were so many of them.

Kim Tan and Cha Eun Sang sat beside Yoon Chan Young and Lee Bo Na. Jo Myeong Su was picking on Rachel Lee who was obviously flirting with Yi Jeong. Woo Bin was having a fun conversation with Kim Won and Lee Hyo Shin who sat beside Jimin. Everyone was having a fun time, except Jimin. She looked so closed off from the world that it was amazing she was even paying attention.

She stared out the window like there was nothing better to do. Wedged between Hyo Shin and the wall, she had nowhere to go. She stared out the window to give her something to do in crowd of people she could care less about.

Young Do wondered how long her temper would stay intact. She was kind of notorious for letting that temper out of unsuspecting people. It wasn't often that it happened, but when it did, everyone was shocked. But at the moment that wasn't the case. She was so zoned out that no one seemed to notice but him.

"Hey." Hyo Shin got her attention. She rolled her head to look at him, chin resting on her shoulder attractively. Hyo Shin seemed to realize it as well because he looked shocked. He cleared his throat when she started to glower at him. "Do you like this?" He held up a piece of cheesecake.

"I like the blueberry better," she replied and started to turn away. Hyo Shin turned away for a moment then tapped her shoulder. She looked at him again and the look on her face was priceless. "This is a sampler. It has a little bit of every kind of cheesecake."

Jimin tugged her lower lip between her teeth and fidgeted. This was new. Young Do had never seen her react that way. Usually she was so on point that it made it hard to pull her off guard.

Without a word she turned and climbed over the back of the booth, surprising everyone. Woo Bin and Yi Jeong had never seen her move that quickly, but Won was a little more prepared than everyone else. He spun off the end of the booth and grabbed her arm as she stepped off the booth. Without coats or anything to fend off the chill of the night, they disappeared outside.

The conversation picked back up and Young Do knew that the girls were going to be running their mouths. Jimin couldn't handle social events very well, especially when she was boxed in like she had been just then. Hyo Shin showing interest had surprised her when she had already been annoyed, and that had annoyed her even more. So she had done the only thing she knew how to do. She had escaped.

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"You can't hide out here all night," Won said.

Jimin looked up at him. "I'm so happy you can have fun with all those people. I should have smacked him when he said he wanted to get together for the night."

"They just want you to make friends. You've been alone too long. All you do is sit in that office with no one but your secretary around. Every few hours you go out and meet with people, but you have maybe four friends."

"Has it ever occurred to you that I don't want that many friends? That I'm happy being by myself instead of being in a crowd of people I don't know or like? I'm pretty sure that it hasn't because if it had you wouldn't have forced me to come to this thing."

Won had been the one to tell her that she was expected to be at this dinner. She had flat out refused but he had shown up at the office and dragged her to the dinner. She really hadn't wanted to be there. She hadn't wanted to see the good nature between the kids and Won. She hadn't wanted to see Woo Bin and Yi Jeong because she was still slightly mad at them. Young Do was the only exception. She didn't care if he was there because she could just ignore him.

She twisted her hands together just as a chill went through her. She couldn't stay outside without a coat but if she went inside she was going to snap at Woo Bin. Thinking again, that actually sounded appealing.

Turning around immediately she went inside and strode straight up to their booth. Woo Bin looked like he was going to say something to him, but she cut her eyes at him. She didn't want to deal with him, but if he opened his mouth she was going to lash out. If any of them opened their mouths, it was the end.

She grabbed her coat and tossed it over her shoulder. She dropped some money onto the table and started away. A hand snaked out and caught her wrist. By the look on Won's face she knew it was Tan. Turning her wrist sharply, she broke the contact.

"Don't ever grab me again," she warned before striding out the door. There was no chance of looking back because that would only anger her more.

Woo Bin rubbed his eyes then propped his face in his hand. "Well that was a bust."

"I warned you that she wouldn't be too accepting of it," Won replied. "Jimin has always been very hands off. Cornering her wasn't going to make anything better."

"We were just hoping we could push her in the right direction," Yi Jeong said.

Won looked over his shoulder at the door. "Does that look like the right direction? She's not a doll you can toss around. Even if you try to push her towards Young Do, she's going to fight back and she's going to win. There's nothing you can do about it. You're going too far."

Young Do realized what they were doing about the same time Hyo Shin did. So it seemed their tactic had been to push her towards him but in the process Hyo Shin had taken an interest. The anger that ignited in him was lethal. He couldn't lose another person to his friends. Jimin knew how he was and knew how to calm him on certain things. She had just met Hyo Shin. If they got together simply because they shared cheesecake, he was going to be livid.

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Later that evening, Hyo Shin was walking up to his apartment. He was still thinking about a few hours before. The dinner had been a ploy to fix Jimin and Young Do. Her reaction had been far worse than his. He wasn't sure if she knew what her friends had been trying to do or that Kim Won had defended her, but he knew the thought about her being with Young Do hurt. He didn't know why because he had literally just met her.

The dinner had concluded a little bit after she had left, but no one had gone home. The couples ended up going their separate ways and the three older men went another direction while bickering. Young Do had looked at Hyo Shin and nodded. They both knew what it meant to like the same girl. Hyo Shin had seen what had happened in high school when Kim Tan and Young Do had fought over Cha Eun Sang. If the guy had to go through it again, he was probably going to have a fit.

But Hyo Shin couldn't help it. There was something about the woman that was severely appealing. It could be the way she ignored everyone around her. He didn't think she meant to, but her personality was such that if she was bored she zoned out. It didn't matter who she was around. If things were uninteresting, she wasn't going to pay a lick of attention.

He wondered how she ran Zeus Hotel Company. It couldn't be easy because she had to deal with so many different people on a daily basis. She wasn't serious about everything. She couldn't be hanging out with Woo Bin and Yi Jeong, but there was this sense of detachment from her even with them.

He was about to punch in the code to his house when the elevator dinged. Jimin stepped off with a plastic bag. She looked up and saw him, but no emotion registered at the sight. Hyo Shin felt a little annoyed that she didn't have anything to say to him, but then again they had just met.

She was about to walk past him, but he took a chance and caught her elbow. She spun around, and he realized that she could easily break out of his grip if she wanted to. The tendons and muscles in her arms were corded and taut as she readied to break away from him. He dropped his hand immediately.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't know your friends were trying to fix you up," he said.

It took a moment, but it seemed that a light bulb just flashed on. She looked him. "I didn't either, but thanks for the heads up." He wanted to kick himself for that. "You should come in and see what real cheesecake tastes like."

That caught him off guard. Hyo Shin looked up and stared at her. She stared back nonchalantly, like it hadn't mattered that she had just invited him into her house.

Jimin watched him think it over and felt annoyed. Turning, she punched in the code to her apartment and went in. When she didn't hear the door beep behind her, she turned. Hyo Shin stood behind her with a smile. Laughing inwardly, she motioned him in then continued kicking off her shoes.

She moved into her house and went straight to the kitchen. She heard Hyo Shin right behind. He was looking around at the place she called home. It was smaller than he thought she should be living, but she didn't care. She didn't want a big house anyway. It would mean she had settled instead of being truly happy.

"Where is this real cheesecake?" he asked as he took a seat on the island.

"One of Woo Bin Oppa's friends is a patissier. He makes all sorts of desserts and breads and what not. He sent a cheesecake to me because my birthday was last week," she replied.

Hyo Shin's mouth dropped open. "Your birthday was last week? How old are you?"

"I'm thirty-one. I'm a year younger than Oppa, ten months younger than Woo Bin Oppa, and three months younger than Yi Jeong Oppa. Woo Bin's wife and I have the same birthday, but she's a year old."

"Did you do anything to celebrate?"

She shook her head. "Not with anyone else. I went to a movie by myself like I always do on my birthday. My mom called me, but I didn't go out with anyone."

"That seems like a waste."

She shrugged as she cut a piece of cheesecake. "Not really. I don't have many friends and I don't care to have many."

Hyo Shin was dumbfounded at the response. "What about a boyfriend? You have to have one of them."

Again she shook her head. "I work too much and everyone is intimidated by a successful woman. Plus I don't have time for bull and I don't tolerate lying very well."

"Is there anyone you're interested in?" She shook her head to that too, and he was stumped. "Forgive me for asking this, but are you interested in women?"

That elicited a response. She laughed and dropped her forehead to her fist that was holding the fork. Her shoulders shook and he could see the defined muscle underneath the fabric of her shirt.

When she sobered, she pierced the cake. "I have never been asked that question before. Everyone just assumes I'm too stuck up."

"Well assuming only gets you one of two places. Either you're right and that earns you nothing, or you're wrong and you get jailed for sexual harassment or you're knocked out." He finally took a bit of cheesecake and the flavor hit him hard. "Who made this?"

"His name is Kim Junho. He owns his own bakery and everything."

"Tell him he's my hero."

They ate in silence for a few minutes before the conversation gradually picked up. Hyo Shin found out that Jimin was highly intelligent. She could keep pace with him in a conversation.

They didn't just talk about business and politics, but sports and entertainment came up as well. He found out she was a national competitor, ranking third in judo. No woman had ranked that high ever. She was something of an inspirational person in the eyes of women. Her name was all over sports channels and now business channels. He remembered his father talking about her when she had won the gold against all the women in her division and came in third during the men's division. He had said she would be an excellent wife. How his dad would be completely surprised to know he was sitting here with her.

They moved further into the house, settling on the couch. Jimin hit play on her remote and Bangtan Boys filtered through the room. He looked through her playlist on her tablet.

"Why aren't there any girl groups?" he asked.

"I don't particularly like them because I can't look at them. They're not as appealing as guy groups. Give me Super Junior or 2PM and I'm set," she answered.

"You are a typical woman."

"What did you expect? A terminator?"

He laughed at her pop culture reference. "Do you always talk in references?"

"I do with Oppa. He hates it, so I do it. He understands them all though because I made him watch all the movies with me when we were in high school. He hated that I was a first year when he was a third year. It kind of cramped his style I guess, but no one would hang out with him because he looked like he had sat on a metal rod."

"I thought you were a year younger than him?"

"I am, but I'm two years younger than him in school. I don't know why, and my parents never explained. I just know that I was the oldest in my class because of it."

"And let me guess. You were the top of your class too." She smiled but didn't show her teeth. "How does a smart woman like you end up alone?"

"Emotional detachment. The only people I am emotionally attached two are F3 and Oppa. If I don't talk to you, I'm emotionally detached from you. I don't care about what you say or feel. None of it matters to me."

He stared at her for a moment. It really didn't make sense. "You're serious." She leaned back into the corner of the couch and tilted her head back slightly. "How can you live like that? Isn't it boring?"

She raised her shoulders slightly. "Not really. I have Woo Bin Oppa I can make fun of at any given day. That's enough entertainment for me. We went to college together so I have plenty of stories."

"You're a little on the mean side aren't you?" She raised her thumb and pointer finger to show they were only inches apart.

They sat and talked like that for hours. Hyo Shin really wasn't sure how long it lasted because it was such an easy moment compared to earlier. Jimin wasn't lively, but she was actively participating in the conversation. He figured that she couldn't be in a large group of people even if she knew most of them. She had to have one on one contact for anything to be meaningful. If it was any way else, she shut down and ignored everyone.

The most interesting thing happened though. Jimin fell asleep in the middle of the conversation. She was talking one minute and then the next she was out. Hyo Shin rooted around until he found a blanket in the hall closet. Carefully so not to wake her up, he draped it across her and watched her for a moment. If she was beautiful awake, she was breathtaking asleep. One hand was fisted by her face and the other was tucked under her chin. She clutched the blanket covering and buried her nose in the fabric. She reminded him of a child finally settled for the night.

Quietly he got up and headed for the door. Grabbing his shoes, he cast one last look at the couch and woman occupying it before he slipped out the front door and closed it gently behind him.