Luca's entire world has already tipped on its axis. By now, nothing should be able to shake him.

And yet.

"You should try this one," Rico is saying to the trespasser at their table.

Said trespasser is smiling, puffy eyed, red cheeks and all. 

There’s something very, very strange with this picture.

In truth, Luca hates most people. And he has his reasons, readied lists as to why he finds it increasingly difficult to socialize with others, but none so much as his reasons for hating happy go lucky people who got into everyone else’s business and make ‘friends’ everywhere they go like it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. Like they live and breathe inconveniencing others. People like that are much more than an annoyance to Luca, they are obnoxious.

And he's never before met a person who encapsulates that quite so well until now.

How this kid got his nonna wrapped around his finger so tightly in the span of a few hours, he has no idea. And he won’t admit to being impressed. At least not when it comes to his nonna. But his brother?

Rico is a shy kid—has always been.

More than anything, it’s bizarre to see him acting so familiarly with someone who’s a complete stranger to Luca. Especially a stranger as well-dressed as he is. And he’s apparently been Ciana’s friend, a friend Luca hasn’t heard so much as the name of before, but who Rico and his father seem to know quite well.

He’s sitting at their table, for god’s sake.

The boy—man?—is hard to nail down the age of.

Sporting sleek leather loafers and a custom fit black double breasted suit that appears to be made from wool, he certainly knows how to dress himself well—or knows someone to do that for him. To add to that, a stylish cut to his inky black hair, as well as a glinting golden ring, a rolex watch on his left wrist, and diamond stud earrings are enough to give off the impression that he comes from money—lots of it. 

He looks like someone famous, or someone trying to be.

Further is the mystery of how this sort of person could have ever met Ciana, a girl who spent the vast majority of her life in hospitals.

Luca turns to his dad and gestures for him to lean in, lowering his voice to a whisper, “Who is he?”

Pino blinks. “Ciana’s best friend.”

“No, I mean—well, how do they even know each other?”

“Ahh,” Pino chuckles. “He’s Jisung’s son.”

Puzzle pieces begin to fit together. Jisung Baek was Ciana’s oncologist and PCP, though Luca knows him only sparingly. He didn’t know he had a son.

“They’ve been friends since Ciana started going to UPMC for her appointments,” Pino adds.

Making it that much worse.

Luca pulls back, stunned. “That long?”

Pino smiles, clearly amused by Luca’s ignorance. “He used to babysit Rico.”

At that, Luca makes a face. “You’re kidding.”

“Sono serio.”

“No,” Luca says, refusing to believe that. “Babysitting? I babysat Rico.”

“Not every time, cucciolo.”

Luca swings his gaze back toward the Korean dude that has apparently been co-existing alongside his family for most of his life without the two of them ever meeting. Who’s apparently been his now deceased sister’s best friend.

Which is a definite turn for the weird.

“He has so much energy,” Luca comments, staring as Junho animatedly tells a story to Rico and Sofia. His stare turns into a squint, feeling as if he’s looking at something too bright. “Too much energy.”

“You have no idea. He was worse as a kid. Jisung had trouble getting a nanny to keep up with him while he worked, so he ended up bringing him to the hospital a lot, and well, that’s how Ciana and him got to meeting. They were fast friends,” Pino says, speech turning choked immediately upon saying his daughter’s name.

“And why haven’t I heard of him until today?” Luca asks, feeling like someone is about to come out with cameras to tell him he’s been pranked into believing some random guy is actually this important to his family without him knowing.

Pino’s answer is simple, and one Luca has been growing to suspect, “You never went to the hospital to see your sister.”

Luca looks away, pressing his lips together to keep himself from saying anything. Excuses will just be excuses and he has none. At least not any that will matter in the grand scheme of things.

He could have just... made more of an effort.

“He’s an interesting kid, that Junho,” Pino carries on, bringing the conversation back to safer ground when it becomes clear Luca won’t be adding anything more.

“Oh, yeah?” Luca says, not really caring to know more, but being bored enough not to mind it if his dad goes on.

Pino considers his son for a moment. “If you got to know him, you’d like him.”

Luca doesn’t put too much credit in that statement, given his father isn’t the best at distinguishing what Luca does  and doesn’t like, at least historically speaking. 

Pino is probably doing what he usually does, judging from what Ciana would enjoy or find fun. It isn’t like Pino knows his other kids as well as he did his daughter. Luca isn’t even bitter about it. He just knows that’s the way his father operates.

But still, liking him?

“He’s such a messy eater,” Luca grumbles, spotting the sauce on the corners of Junho’s mouth with dismay and irritation. He’s tempted to throw a napkin at him, or maybe scrap it off his face with a wet wipe. The mess is just staring at him, begging to be cleaned. 

Luca grinds his teeth together.

“It’s what makes him cute,” Pino says with a shrug, taking a drink of his malt scotch and swigging the alcohol in his glass around.

Luca sighs. He just wants the day to be over already. To be home, in bed, reading. He doesn’t want to be here, exposed to hundreds of people, many of whom he doubts ever spoke to Ciana when she was alive.

But hell, how can he know? Luca spies Junho’s laughing face from underneath his lashes and has to admit, if he didn’t even know about him, how much can he say he knew his sister at all?

And cute?

"Definitely not."