She smiled at the thought, appreciating the optimism contained in it, the optimism always so foreign to her in the past.
At the other end of the house, in the living room, a floorboard creaked.
She rolled over on her side and listened. She heard another creak, then another.
Footsteps.
Lee Bareun was awake. Apparently he couldn't sleep either.
Slowly she raised herself to a sitting position. Since he was up anyway, she decided there was no reason not to seek his company. Maybe he would fix her a cup of that hot chocolate he'd offered earlier. She could picture the two of them seated at his kitchen table, earthenware mugs steaming in their hands, talking in hushed voices till the sky was glassy with dawn. The scene was vivid in her mind, like a clip from a movie.
