The only natural light that illuminated the small, dingy office space came from the windows high above the wall, one of which was slated open. Yoona looked around again as she knocked a bit more loudly on the door she had just opened. She glanced quickly around the room, because it was literally the size of her small bedroom. However there was another door at the opposite side of the room, with a red light above it, shining brightly, and giving off a pinkish hue to the room.

She entered hesitantly and called aloud: "Hello? Excuse me?"

When she didn't hear a response she closed the door behind her and slowly walked toward the opposite door. As she glanced at her surroundings she noticed an array of devices she wasn't familiar with… one on the wall looked like a backlight that doctors used to view x-rays, but another on a long table against the wall looked like a microscope, only it had a huge, flat, white base. There were large empty plastic trays stacked up close to the door, and what looked like a clothes line with strange sized clips which held on to several different sized photos. She walked up to the line, and tiptoed for a closer look. She tilted her head sideways so she could get a better view.

Her back was now facing the door with the red light above it, and she was so immersed in the photo she was staring at, that she hadn't even realized she reached up to touch it. Surely this was indeed the same photographer's handiwork. She recognized his style immediately. The Dean had directed her to this student's lab, and she was trying to remember his name as she extended her hand upwards to the photograph.

She had not even heard the door open behind her.

"Don't touch that!" ordered the commanding voice.

The roughness of his voice had startled her, and she literally jumped, and lost balance on her tip toes. She waivered, and instinctively threw her hands forward, dropping her purse, and letting out a loud gasp of surprise.

After a few stumbled steps, she spun around and faced him.

His head was now cocked to one side, watching her curiously, but still obviously perturbed at the violation of his sanctuary.

"So .. sorry!" she apologized, "I didn't mean to intrude, but Professor Park said I would find you here."

The tall young man nodded but didn't say anything.

Yoona bent down nervously and began to stuff the fallen contents of her purse back in the bag when she came across the photo that her boss had given her.

"This," she held it up from her squatting position, "This is why I'm here."

He recognized the photograph immediately. His professors and the Dean of the College of Photography had all begged him to enter it into an award contest, but he refused. And now for some reason this young woman was holding it.

"My name is Yoona Im," she explained as she stood up and extended the hand that did not hold the photograph.

Changmin walked up to her and snatched the photograph from the opposite hand and glanced down at her face.

"Did I ask you?" he said curtly. "And do you make it habit of stealing someone else's belongings?"

As he stood closer to her, he recognized her. He glanced down at her legs, and smirked. She wore jeans today. Skinny jeans.

Her face drained, and she looked even paler than her naturally milk colored self. He could see her embarrassed reaction and almost regretted what he had said. Almost.

She didn't give him much time to regret, because the color immediately flooded back into her face, starting from her neck. It wasn't the pink reflection of the light, since he had turned that off when he exited the darkroom.

Her face was definitely red as she took one step forward and snatched the photo back, but in the process a small corner of it tore, has he attempted to clutch on to it.

She looked up at him defiantly, "You might have been the photographer that snapped it, but this is not YOUR copy."

When she saw him instinctively reach for it again, she quickly pushed it into her jeans back pocket. She lifted her head high.

When Changmin did not lower his hand, she considered whether or not he would dare come at her and try and forcibly remove the photo. His facial expression darkened and she wasn't sure what he was going to do.

She tightened her hold on her purse as she thought about swinging it against his head. She sized him up quickly, estimating how high she would have to swing it.

The action didn't go unnoticed by him and he immediately wanted to burst out laughing at this skinny, frail looking female, ready to take him on with her purse as her weapon.

As he swallowed down his suppressed laughter, he turned his back to her and walked over to one of the x-ray type backlights, and switched it on.

"What do you want?" he asked without facing her, "Besides coming in here, taking over and making a mess of my lab?"

She softened her features since she no longer considered him a threat, and bowed slightly in an apologetic greeting.

"I'm sorry. Again, my name is Yoona Im. I was sent by my boss, Mr. JiHoon Jung of Rain Agency Inc. He would like to meet you."

He didn't turn around but started placing slides on to the backlight, one at a time.

"And why should I care about that?"

Yoona exhaled loudly, her frustration building. He was not making this easy in the slightest degree.

"Can you not be so defensively stubborn from the get go, and just consider this a possible golden opportunity?"

He blew out a sarcastic tut, and didn't bother to respond. He continued placing the slides against the backlight carefully.

"Look…" she struggled to remember his name, "Look, Changmin Shim," she walked up behind him placed her purse on the counter next to him. "I'm not asking you for your first born child here, I'm just asking you to please meet the man, and then you can go on your merry way back to this…. " she waved her hands at the dinginess of the room, "…this 'lab' of yours."

He glanced side ways at her for a moment.

She was actually a very young looking woman. She couldn't be over 18 or 19 years old. She had long black hair, and a naturally appealing face. Her forehead was wide, and he knew that meant she was a deep thinker, or so they say. Her eyes were certainly her strongest feature, large, black, and very alert. She was pretty.

His features softened as he reviewed her, and she could sense she was being measured, somehow.

"It's my haven," he explained in a cordial tone, "This…." He waved his arms as she had done, "… is my haven. I can create anything here. I can see the world from here. I can see something turn from a pitch black piece of paper, into a beautiful sunset, or majestic oceanside."

Yoona reached back into her jeans rear pocket and removed the photo and reached for his hand. She placed it in his palm and looked at him earnestly.

"You know how to capture magic." She smiled and he felt his heart skip a beat as she looked directly into his eyes. She turned to her gather up her purse. She took a few steps toward the door before turning and bowing.

"I think that's why he wants to talk to you."

As she reached the door, Changmin called out to her, "Wait!"

Yoona looked over her shoulder and she paused.

"Show me," he challenged her.

"Show you?" He had her full attention as she turned back to face him.

"Show me magic."

It was her turn to cock her head to one side in question.

He smiled knowingly at her, and held up something in his opposite hand that wasn't holding the photo. It looked like a round lens of some sort.

With his palm displayed open, and his fingers extended, he waggled them at her, beckoning her to him.

She responded by moving toward him, drawn to the object.

It looked like the monocle that gem appraisers use, and as she reached for it, he closed his large hand, capturing her slender fingers, causing her to jerk her head up to face him.

"You get three chances," he explained. "I don't let just anyone touch my stuff, you might have surmised by now. So you should consider this 'your' golden opportunity." He threw her words back at her.

As she lifted the device from his hand, he pointed to the dozen slides he had placed up against the backlight.

"Call off the numbers of the three best shots."

She smiled in response to the challenge, and again, he felt a thrill from it.

As she approached the backlight she could tell that they were placed at his eye level and she tiptoed, and still could not reach them.

He chuckled as he kicked over a footstool to her, and she alighted it immediately.

He watched her lean in against the backlight and her nose and lips were inches away from it. He observed the form of her lips, they way she smiled and a few times he noticed them shape into an "O" and once, he noticed, she even licked them.

Changmin realized that he had been staring at her, when he pulled away and walked back to the dark room door.

"How much time should I give you?"

She extended her hand at him, waving him away and he shook his head as he re-entered his dark room.

He sat down in the dark and he ran his hand through his long hair. It was partially tied back in a ponytail, and the back part hung free. He removed the rubber band and gathered it all up into a lower ponytail.

What was he doing? How did he let this young woman march in here, is his private territory and not only interrupt him, but now he was allowing her to view proofs that no one else but him had ever laid eyes on.

She wasn't one of those fake model type of beauties that he detested. He wasn't drawn to women easily, as he had always focused on his work first… it always came first. But this young woman, Yoona, was different. He remembered seeing her defend herself against the three buffoons in the bookstore. He couldn't help but remember her long, slender legs that seemed to go on forever.

But oddly it wasn't even her looks that had him open up his lab to her. No, it was her defiance, her honesty and her ability to grab him by the collar and challenge him, metaphorically speaking. She was smart, and something about her made him want her to stay.

He smacked his own cheeks playfully and told himself to snap out of it.

He walked back to the door and took a deep breath and exhaled before opening it.

"Well time's up!"

She didn't respond but kept bobbing her head from one frame to the next.

He walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. When she attempted to brush his hand off he playfully lifted her by the waist and kicked away the footstool. She let out a yelp as he placed her back on the ground and before she had time to object, he placed his finger against her mouth, silencing her.

"Show me," he said a bit softer than they both expected.

Yoona's eyes widened and he was enjoying this far too much for his own good.

He forced himself to remove his finger and he bent lower, so that he was now eye level to her.

"You can't do it, can you?"

Yoona paused and observed his facial features closely for the first time. His skin was much tanner than hers, a soft bronze color. His hair looked like it was just above his shoulders but it was tied back, yet a few loose strands escaped. His eyes squinted a bit unevenly as he smiled at her. He had high cheekbones, but his cheeks were still rounded and his lips were equally full on the top and bottom. He had to bend because he was so much taller than her.

She swallowed.

She took a step back, and realized her back was against the counter, giving her no where to go.

As he unconsciously took a step forward she reached out her arm and hand and closed her eyes. With the other hand she covered her eyes, and licked her lips. She was recalling all of the images flying behind her closed eyelids.

Changmin bit his lower lip as he watched her.

"She's never going to get this," he thought but deeply hoped she would get at least one right.

He looked at her hand that was extended and he raised his own just inches away, with his palm open. He knew she couldn't see him which made the action even more forbidden. He stared at both of their hands, and he closed his own eyes, imagining his finger tips brushing softly against hers, and then wrapping them around her own.

His eyes flew open and he quickly stuffed his hand in his pants pocket. Had he lost his mind? He had no idea what had compelled him to act this way.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat loudly and she smiled then removed her hand from her eyes and then folded her arms.

She beamed as if she knew something he didn't, and he liked it, despite himself.

"What do I get, if I get one right?"

He lifted the photo back up, and waved it.

"And if I get two right?"

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself here?" he asked.

"Just answer."

"I'll go meet Mr. Jung."

"And if I get three right?" she squealed like a kid that was going to Disneyland.

"Don't be over ambitious or greedy," he chided.

"Come on! Just saying… what if?"

"What do you want?" he found himself asking her sincerely.

"That's for me to know!" Yoona teased him back.

"Ok ok, well there's no way you'll get all three, so whatever you want, within reason."

"So I guess that means we're on!" She pointed to his desk and told him to go and write down the numbers he thought were the top three and hide it so she couldn't see it, but also, that way he couldn't change his mind after she named them off.

"Not very trusting, are we?" Changmin asked her as he wrote down the third number.

"Stakes are high!"

He tapped the pen against the paper and motioned her to start.

"Image 00027," Yoona called out confidently and rocked herself on her heels as she looked to him for confirmation.

He looked at her with his mouth wide open and she held out her hand and it was her turn to waggle her fingers at him.

"Photo please."

He looked down at the list, but knew she had nailed it without needing to confirm. He walked over and handed her the photo, and then walked back to his desk, faced her and folded his arms in a challenging standoff.

"Image 00033," she almost hummed.

When he didn't respond she walked over to him and he slammed his hand down covering the list of numbers. She shrugged.

"I'll take that as a yes." She dug through her purse and removed one of her new business cards. "This is our address, you can call for an appointment, but he wants to see you soon, don't keep him waiting."

"How did you know?" he asked her in shock.

"You probably have underestimated me, Mr Changmin Shim. I didn't need the full ten minutes you gave me, but I couldn't take my eyes off of those images. I used every second to memorize them."

She walked toward the door and bowed, then opened it.

"Giving up?" he asked.

"Oh I got what I came for," she grinned at him. "Beyond that, it would just be torture for you, wouldn't it? I am sure you can't wait to be rid of me."

He unfolded his arms. Did she have any idea what she was doing to him? How dare she just leave like this, without guessing the third one! No, guessing wasn't the right term. She had not guessed. She knew. She confidently KNEW the right ones.

Yoona waved and exited the office walking down the hallway humming to herself.

He had to know. He couldn't leave it like this. He had to know!

He chased after her, and quickly caught up with her in a matter of seconds, spinning her around to face him.

"Tell me!" he commanded similarly to when she first heard him speak today.

"Is it that important to you?"

"Tell me," he said again, but this time it was almost a plea.

He watched her eyes closely and she squinted at him, deciding whether or not to reveal the third answer.

"You don't know what I want…" she threatened.

"Anything." He promised a bit too quickly, "Just tell me!"

Never in his 24 years had he met anyone like her. No one knew his work or understood it the way she seemed to. She had 'the eye.' The same eye that he had when he viewed the world. Not many others had it. Now she became suddenly very important to him.

When she saw the earnestness in his eyes, she caved in.

"00081," she confided.

She saw his shoulder slump forward, almost in relief, or was it in disappointment?

She didn't wait for an answer but turned and continued walking.

"You're wrong," he called out to her.

She reached the end of the dark hallway before she turned to him.

"You're probably going to say it was image 00275, but I disagree."

When he raised his head up again in a snapping motion she knew she hit the mark.

"I think you should reconsider 00081. Look at the background closely, how it blends in with the clouds, and how the sole ray of sunlight shines down on to the field. I would agree that 00275 is pretty magnificent. They all are, but as a woman, I stand by my choice."

She bowed to him yet again and disappeared around the corner.

He turned and walked slowly to his lab and then picked up the pace, almost sprinting to the backlight again.

He raised the lens to the frames and reviewed her choice. In the foreground, a mother and child were holding hands, walking down a narrow path. Their backs faced the camera and the child was looking up into his mother's face as she spoke to him. He looked at the background again, more closely this time and saw it. He gulped as he took in a breath.

He shook his head in disbelief at himself as he walked slowly back to his desk and sat down.

He fingered the card she had given him, and called the office number to make an appointment for the following day.

Then he quickly dialed the cell number listed at the bottom of the card and impatiently waited as it rang.

When she picked up the phone she barely had time to say hello.

"Name what you want from me," the familiar voice rushed.

"Just remember, it was you who said ANYTHING!" she said playfully.

"Just…" he closed his eyes and squeezed the phone a bit tighter. She already had him. He didn't know how she managed to do this to him after one brief encounter, but she had him. "Just, name it."

He could hear her playfully humming into the phone.

"YAH!" he fired off his temper at her.

"Don't throw your anger out at me, your sore loser!"

When he didn't respond she decided to keep him at his word.

"When are you meeting Mr. Jung?" she asked

"Tomorrow at 10:00 am," he answered immediately.

"I'll tell you after that," she promised.

"TELL ME NOW!" he raised his voice again.

"It's BIG!" she hinted. "Bigger and more than you'd think I'd ever ask of you… so be prepared to give it up."

"You're not some sort of bad woman, in disguise are you?" he asked almost too hopefully.

"Tomorrow!" she said and then quickly closed her phone.