Cho Kyuhyun noticed the woman from the moment she first stepped into the entry of the dockside club. Not that he could see much of her at first.

A sweeping, hooded black cape encompassed her from head to toe. He was only certain that it was a woman who arrived because of the graceful twirl of her body when the owner of the place, Park Jungsu but most called Leeteuk, accosted her at the doorway. A new serving maid? Had she joined the ranks of the lovely and available ladies of Seoul nights? Was she late reporting for work? Kyuhyun wondered and he found himself intrigued. If she was working here at the Sapphire Blue Sea fine dining establishment and parlor, then the class of the place is improving.

 Not that the Sapphire’s a total den of iniquity. For the front view, it could be boast being a respectable one. Most men came here for their businesses. There was always good food to be had, pretty girls singing, liquor from around the world and a woman if you wanted one.

But from his very first sight of the woman enveloped in a black cape, Kyuhyun was convinced she didn’t belong here.

“I fold.” Lee Hyukjae, his friend and associate sitting to his left, said with a sigh. Hyukjae threw his cards down on the playing table.

Kyuhyun stared at his own hand. He looked at the bills and gold pieces on the table. Smiling Heechul, a son of one of the most influential company in the Korea, sat across from him with a broad grin on his face.

Kyuhyun took the time to drop gold piece on the table, and looked over the top of his card again, watching the woman he saw earlier. She was still trying to explain something to Leeteuk. She was slim, at least an inch shorter than Leeteuk. Kyuhyun wondered with some amusement if the innkeeper, whoremaster --- entrepreneur, as he liked to call himself --- didn’t feel just a little bit intimidated by the woman.

Shin Dong Hee, a fat guy from a wealthy family, threw a wad of money down. “I raise you, gentlemen. A hundred thousand won.”

“Damned good thing I’ve folded!” Hyukjae muttered.

“Hundred Thou?” Smiling Heechul offered the fat guy a broad smile. “Pocket change. I’ll see you, sir.”

Kyuhyun was still watching the woman. Hyukjae gave him a nudge. “Hundred Thou, Kyuhyun.”

“Right.” He said absently. He curled his finger around the stack of coins in front of him, pushing out the correct amount. Hyukjae stared at him with a frown, lowering his voce.

“Are you paying attention to this game?”

“….”

“Cho! Are you listening to me?” A guy beside him who looked like exactly a confused monkey, a little bit angry shouted.

Kyuhyun leaned back and shook his head. No need to listen. His cards are good. His attention was caught by the woman again. He watched her while he replied confidently to Heechul and ShinDong, “Shoot.”

ShinDong lifted his hand, summoning one of the dark-haired girls working in the place. “Whiskey!”

Kyuhyun looked at ShinDong. “I see your raise also, sir.” He took a moment to offer Heechul a dry smirk. “I see your raise and I raise it again.” He pushed out a second stack of coins. Another hundred thou won.

ShinDong swore something guttural, staring at his hand. Apparently his cards weren’t good enough to afford another raise. He was a careful player. He threw his hand down. It was between Kyuhyun and Heechul.

Heechul’s smile faded a little bit. Where ShinDong was a careful player, Heechul was a reckless player. He could bluff most of the man he played with frequently and he made his income off the game. Not tonight, Kyuhyun thought wryly.

In some things, Kyuhyun was lucky. And tonight he was getting damned good cards.

Heechul his coins. Then he swore in a colorful manner and pushed out a stacked of them.

Smiling Heechul wasn’t smiling at all. The glistening pile of coins that had once sat before him was dwindling.

“You don’t care to fold on this one, eh?” Kyuhyun asked politely.

“The gold is on the table, Mister.”

Kyuhyun shrugged, “As you wish.”

“You’re bluffing Cho! And we will see!”

But at that moment Kyuhyun didn’t really see anything. Just the figure in the cape.

When the hood fell back, he saw her hair. It was a fascinating hair, rich, pale blond touched here and there. Even in the muted candlelit gleam of the gaming parlor, that hair was something like the glow of flame against the deepest darkness of the night.

He closed his eyes suddenly, tightly, nearly groaning aloud with the pain that stirred in his heart and the anger he felt against him. He could see this woman. And ever since the hood had fallen away from her face, maybe before it had done so, he had wanted her. Wanted to touch her. Wanted to have her. Her.

It might have been the way she moved, the way her lips curve and pout as she talk or might have been that hair with its extraordinary odor.

Now, beneath the lantern light in the entry way, he could study her face.