Rhea didn't wait. She ducked under my arm and crashed into my stomach with the full weight of a tiny incoming missile.
"I missed you so much," she said into the fabric of my shirt.
I laughed and folded down over her. "I missed you too." I tipped her chin up. "Has Daniil been taking care of you?"
She pouted. Lower lip out, eyebrows down. "He's been kind of busy."
I kissed the top of her head where the part split her braids. "Well, you've got me now."
Then I looked up.
Over the top of her braids, Daniil's eyes were already waiting for mine. He hadn't moved. He was just standing there in the doorway with that look he gets sometimes, the one that makes me forget there's a building around us.
I didn't think.
I stepped forward and jumped.
He caught me in one motion, one arm hooked under my thighs, the other locked around my back. He laughed, low and surprised, a real one I hadn't heard out of him in days. Then his mouth was on mine, hard and quick and possessive, the kind of kiss that doesn't ask permission because it already has it.
From the front room, grandma coughed. Pointedly.
"You two forget there is a child here," she said, dry as toast, loud enough to carry.
Rhea tipped her head all the way back to look up at us, deadpan, one hand still hugging Beom-Beom to her chest. "They always forget, Grandma."
I laughed into Daniil's mouth and he laughed back into mine. He set me down gently, and his hand stayed at the small of my back. I didn't want him to move it.
"Come in," I said. "Before Mrs. Park down the hall decides we're running a circus."
The apartment shrank around him, the way every room does when Daniil walks in. Rhea was already kicking off her shoes neatly beside mine, toes to the wall.
Grandma muted the TV. That was its own announcement. She sat up straighter, blanket sliding off one knee, hands folded in her lap like a woman about to conduct an interview.
"Grandma," I said, "this is Daniil. And this is Rhea, his sister. Daniil, Rhea, this is my grandma."
Grandma looked Daniil over.
It was the kind of looking I've only ever seen a Korean grandmother do. Top of his head to the toes of his boots and back up. Coat, jaw, hands, eyes, the way he stood. She took her time.
Then her gaze landed on Rhea and her whole face went soft.
"You," grandma said, patting the cushion next to her. "Come sit beside me."
Rhea went, Beom-Beom still tucked under her arm, climbing onto the couch and folding her sock feet under herself.
Grandma let one beat pass, holding Daniil's eyes a second longer than was comfortable. Then she gave a small, considered nod.
"Aigoo. You are tall."
Daniil inclined his head, the slightest formal bow. "It is good to meet you, Halmoni."
Halmoni.
He said it cleanly. With care. With a softness in his mouth around the syllables that told me he'd been turning the word over for days. He'd been practicing. I hadn't known. Something small and warm cracked open in the middle of my chest, and I had to turn my face toward the stove so I wouldn't give myself away.
"Chloe-ya, bring the food. Bring everything."
I brought everything.
