It feels like summer’s about to end, Kai thinks as he strides briskly down the road under an umbrella that leaves the bottom half of him wet. At least the plastic bag he’s hugging to his chest has kept its contents dry.

It’s still raining as he arrives at Khánh’s place. He’s barely knocked on the door before it opens.

Khánh immediately gives a look of concern. “Come in, come in!” they say. “You’re all wet. Ah, do you want a change of clothes? I can put your clothes in the dryer…”

“...Your clothes won’t fit me,” Kai says, looking down on the shorter Khanh.

Redness spreads on Khánh’s cheeks. “Oh. Yes. Right! I’ll turn on the radiator, you can stand in front of it and dry off, is that alright?”

“I don’t want to impose. In fact.” Kai holds out the plastic bag. “I came here to give you this. I’m sorry I didn’t package it nicely. But. Yeah.”

Khánh’s eyes light up. “What? What is it?” They take the plastic bag and immediately clear some table space and start rummaging inside.

Kai shifts nervously. Truthfully, Kai hadn’t known what more to do in Khánh’s house, so he had googled “how to show affection”, and one of the most popular methods was gifts.

The first item Khánh pulls out is an umbrella. They open it partially, to reveal the cute food designs dancing across the fabric.

“I love it!” Khánh immediately says. “Thank you so much, Kai.”

Kai’s heart skips a beat. “No, it’s nothing. I saw it and thought of you.”

Khánh’s smile is a little shy. “Thank you.”

“Wait, there’s more.”

“Oh?” Khánh rummages through the bag and pulls out a slim set of food stickers. “I do love food,” they enthuse. “And these are so cute!” The final thing they pull out is a medium-sized turtle plush. Khánh bites their bottom lip.

“I thought, since teddy bears are common, but turtles are cute, and that you would like a turtle and…”

“Thank you so much,” Khánh interrupts, eyes shining. “You’re so thoughtful. Turtles are one of the animals I loved best on that show we were talking about.”

Kai scuffs his feet. “I’m glad you like it.” His anxiousness fades away, replaced with relief. “Well, that was all I—”

“This must have cost a lot. Let me pay you back—”

“What, no!”

“How about I make you lunch every day as well?” Their eyes brighten. “I could make the Vietnamese version of bentos!”

Kai quickly shakes his head. “No, it’s fine. You’ve made me lunch almost everyday, this is to pay you back.”

Khánh pouts. “But…”

“In fact, you’re cooking for two people now, is carrying all your groceries heavy? Next time, let me come with you, I can carry everything. Or I can go shopping for you? But I guess I can’t pick out ingredients as well as you can….But I can drive! I can drive you wherever you want to go!”

Khánh pauses. “It would be nice to go shopping with another person…”

Kai nods very quickly.

“I’m thinking of making bún bò Huế. I already have the stock, but I’m missing some of the fresh ingredients.”

“Alright, is there anything we need to bring?”

“Some grocery bags…”

Kai quickly familiarises himself with Khánh’s small car and happily drives them to all the various grocers and butchers and food shops. He feels out of place when they visit a large Asian supermarket—a proper one, not an Asian aisle in the supermarket. While there are short english descriptions, there are much more words in Chinese and Vietnamese which suggests the food item is more complicated than the English name implies.

But Kai takes his job as a carry-boy seriously, even carrying the shopping basket for Khánh. He watches with wide eyes at the force of nature that is Khánh in a grocery store.

“...And this can be cooked with chicken to make a medicinal soup,” Khánh says quietly. “Oh, and this is supposed to be good for your eyes...Oh! This is on sale? I should buy it, it lasts for a long time…Kai, if there’s anything you like the look of, please tell me so I can buy it, okay?”

“Okay,” Kai says helplessly.

When they return home—to Khánh’s home—Kai helps unload the car and put away the things not needed for the dish Khánh’s going to make. And Kai realises now how Khánh’s cupboards and fridge are so full—they buy whatever catches their fancy! Their kitchen is basically a mini shop at this rate.

“Now, go sit down and watch some TV,” Khánh insists, steering Kai out.

But… Kai protests in his heart. He turns on the TV under Khánh’s watchful gaze and waits till Khánh leaves.

Then he starts tidying up the living room. He heads to the bathroom, where there are some cleaning supplies, and ends up deep cleaning the bathroom until it shines.

“...Kai? Where are you?”

—The TV sound turns off.

“...” Kai guiltily heads back to the living room. “Here I am! I was just in the bathroom!”

“Oh. Are you hungry yet?”

“For anything you made, yes!”

The tiniest blush grows on Khánh’s face. “I hope I’ll never disappoint you.”

“I hope I don’t disappoint you.”

The two of them smile at each other.

In Kai’s heart, he’s screaming, Khánh looks so cute! So adorable! That smile makes me want to hug them tight!

“Well. The bún bò Huế is done. Come try.”

“Yes, yes,” Kai dutifully follows Khánh into the kitchen/dining area.

“Bún bò Huế, translating literally to Huế beef noodles, is made with a rich beef broth and a lot of spices and chilli and eaten with large, cylindrical rice noodles,” Khánh announces.

Kai gazes at the steaming pot of deep red broth and immediately agrees to all the possible toppings when Khánh asks: the Vietnamese pork sausage, tender slices of beef, blood cubes, pork trotter, and all the fresh greens and banana blossom and herbs. A squeeze of lime goes on top and a bowl of nuoc cham to taste complete the meal.

The broth is hot and flavourful, warming on a raining day like today. Kai slurps up the noodles, bites into the super-tender meats, while the greens and herbs bring freshness and soothe the spice.

“So good,” Kai says. “How do you get the broth to taste so nice?”

“Hours and hours of cooking,” Khánh says with a smile. “And using beef bones.”

“From the butchers,” Kai nods thoughtfully, recalling the diverse range of ingredients on sale when he went shopping with Khánh earlier.

“Is there anything you want for lunch tomorrow?”

“Khánh.”

Khánh grabs the soft turtle plush sitting at the far end of the table and hugs it. “Isn’t this so cute?”

You’re the cute one! Kai’s cheeks heat up. He’s glad he didn’t tell Khánh about how he cleaned the bathroom, because then Khánh might be even more insistent!

“I really don’t need—”

“But I want to!”

“...Then any leftovers…?”

“Good, good! I have too much food anyway, you’re doing me a favour to eat it,” Khánh says happily.

Kai’s completely unable to resist.

When he leaves, not only does he have lunch, but Khánh’s also given him food for breakfast and snacks as well.

Kai leaves with a new resolution. Gifts given to Khánh can only be done in secret!

*

Bonus scene:

Kai: *gives Khánh some small gifts*

Khánh: *watery eyes* 🥺 !!!! PLEASE take my couch. Or at least an armchair. Maybe the deed to the house?? I don’t know how to respond to gifts???