It had been an innocent question. Kai truly had not realized there was a back garden until Khanh mentioned going out there to do their stealth cooking.

Kai had not expected the answer. No, there is not a back garden. There is a back forest. Kai wants to turn to Khanh and give them a stern, exasperated look.

Except Khanh isn’t in the back forest—they aren’t even in the house.

Last visit, Kai had expressed intent to work on the back garden.

“Oh, I’ll be out tomorrow,” Khanh had said.

“Then the next day after—?”

“No need, here’s the spare key!”

And Kai had been too shocked to do anything but accept the set of front and back door keys to Khanh’s house.

Kai had thought maybe he could have gotten Khanh’s number instead to coordinate a time, but no, Khanh just had to give Kai their spare keys.

Which leads to Kai’s current predicament: he is dressed in rugged boots and old clothes, not as ready to tackle the back so-called-garden as he had expected.

Kai gives an exasperated sigh nonetheless, and proverbially rolls up his sleeves. He is not going to betray Khanh’s trust.

First thing is to clear large debris and miscellaneous decrepit outdoor furniture. Then, he’ll attempt to mow the grass…

The sun is warm in the sky, approaching hot as the afternoon sets in. Sweat clings to Kai’s skin, and his binder starts to feel tight and confining instead of comforting. He stops work, surveying the results of his efforts so far: two piles of old outdoor furniture in ‘could be fixed’ and ‘beyond help’, a square-ish patch of open lawn, and the slow uncovering of old flowerbeds along the perimeter of the garden.

Kai isn’t going to assume that Khanh isn’t a flower kind of person, but he would bet that a herb garden would be much more up their alley. He’ll have to buy some fertilizer, and move the old divider stones to expand the herb-garden space. Maybe Kai could plant flowers—the edible ones.

A well of anticipation builds in Kai’s chest, as does a tightness that isn’t related to his binder. The garden could, would, look so nice in the future, once Kai is done with it. It would be so nice to sit back here, facing the greenery instead of the road in the front garden.

For now though, Kai desperately needs a drink. He navigates into the kitchen, aiming for some tap water—

There is a sticky note by the tap.

Dear Kai, I have left sugar cane juice and salad (gỏi) in the fridge. Please help yourself! –Khanh.

Kai blinks, bewildered. He heads to the fridge: there’s another sticky note:

Dear Kai, the jug of sugar cane juice is next to the milk, and the gỏi is on the shelf just behind this door~ –Khanh.

Inside, there’s the jug of pale yellow sugar cane juice: Dear Kai, sugar cane juice! Enjoy –Khanh. On the fridge shelf as promised, there are two containers with sticky notes.

On the larger glass container, the sticky note says:

Dear Kai, this gỏi contains shrimp, peanuts, and đồ chua (mix of pickled carrots and daikon), cabbage and capsicum. There is some rice in the rice cooker, but it can be eaten alone! –Khanh

There’s also a smaller cylindrical container with a note:

Pour this extra dressing on top, toss and enjoy! ♡ –Khanh.

Kai’s heart skips a beat. No way, that can’t be what it says!

His eyes narrow. He rubs his eyes, then looks at the last note again.

No, Kai’s eyes don’t deceive him. There really is a heart there. What did they mean by that?

Kai quickly snaps back into the present, taking out the items and closing the fridge door. He tips the container of salad into a large bowl and tosses the extra dressing as instructed. He pours himself a glass of sugarcane juice. He takes a seat.

He restrains himself from touching that last sticky note again and takes a bite of the gỏi instead.

The shrimp are firm but soft—not that crunchy texture of cheap shrimp. There’s obviously fish sauce, but also the brightness of lemon and pickled vegetables. The capsicum slices are surprisingly juicy, and the peanuts bring a delightful crunch. Overall, the entire dish is refreshing and cooling, perfect for the heat of the day.

Kai takes a sip of the sugarcane juice and tries not to choke up.

How can Khanh be so nice? So selfless? How could they think of Kai so much? In his mind’s eye, he can see Khanh in this kitchen, preparing all of this for Kai, writing those little notes, that smile on their face...

Kai clenches his fist. He’s powered up now. He’s going to tackle that back garden! He’s going to make it the best back garden ever!

*

Bonus scene:

Khanh skips merrily through the forest, dropping breadcrumbs along the way to mark their trail. Kai walks along after them and spray paints large X’s in the grass so they can actually find their way back. Neither of them lose their way and get taken in by a witch who wants to eat them.