Hajin finished the two-hundredth push-up while morning light crossed the floor of the palace guest room, then he held the position to see whether his arms would complain.
His arms held him above the rug without shaking or complaint.
Seven days ago the same body had quit around fifty.
'Feed a man properly,' he thought, sitting back on his heels, 'and he turns into a different animal inside a week.'
A knock landed on the door, then it opened before he had finished standing up.
"You are awake," Juna said from the hallway with a plate on one palm, "the kitchen gave me two rolls, so one is yours."
He looked at the plate, where a single roll sat in a wide field of crumbs.
"There is one roll on that plate," he said, pulling the towel off the chair back, "so I want to hear about the other one."
"The stairs in this palace are very long," she said, setting the plate on the table, "a roll does not survive a walk like that."
