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Once they pulled up to her apartment, Jun thought that would be it: she’d be able to dash out, away from the close quarters of the car, where it seemed as if she could almost hear Kai’s heartbeat. But Po had fallen asleep, his head against the window. She hesitated, dreading waking him, wondering if he’d ever get back to sleep once they were inside if she roused him now. Even a ten-minute nap could wreak havoc on a toddler’s sleep patterns. She knew that firsthand.
“Can I help?” Kai asked, brown eyes studying her cautiously. She didn’t miss the fact that he’d asked first, just as she’d requested. “I could carry him in.”
Jun could’ve tried but Po’s recent growth spurts meant he was big and lanky in her arms. Jun fought with not wanting to accept Kai’s help on the one hand and then worry about waking Po on the other.
“Okay,” she said reluctantly. Kai nodded swiftly and ducked out into the rain, holding an umbrella as he swung around to the passenger side. Jun got out, too, and took the umbrella, positioning it high over her head and his as he leaned into the backseat, gently undoing Po’s seat belt. Watching him, Jun thought it was as if he were a pro at extracting sleeping toddlers from car seats. He easily picked the boy up into his arms, and Po hardly even shifted. The rain thumped hard on the umbrella, but Kai held him steadily until they reached the apartment building’s awning. Kai followed Jun up the outside staircase, and she walked to her apartment, unlocked the dark wooden door and pushed it open. She felt relieved that she’d tidied up that morning before they’d headed over to Kai’s. Normally, there’d have been a discarded juice box on the coffee table or a pile of Po’s toys. She’d tucked everything away, though as she looked at her simple living room, she knew it was below the standard Kai was used to. She didn’t have expensive modern furniture or an ocean view. Her windows opened out to the apartment parking lot.
Kai still carried Po, and Jun led him down the hall and to the left. With tender care, he laid the boy down on the bed. Jun held her breath, ready for her son to wake up and start crying, but he didn’t open his eyes once. Jun slipped off his sandals and tucked the covers up over his tired little body. He sighed, shivered and rolled over. Jun and Kai tiptoed out, and Jun snugly shut the door. A bright flash of lightning shot across her window, followed shortly by a huge crack of thunder that rattled the ceiling, making Jun jump. Before she could make it to the front door, the lights flickered and went out.
“This is some storm,” Kai said. “Do you have a flashlight?”
Jun racked her brain. “Drawer in the kitchen, I think.” In the dark room, Jun could barely make out even the outlines of her furniture in the mess of black-and-gray blobs. She moved to the kitchen and Kai followed, and somewhere in the middle of the living room, they collided. Kai’s strong arms went around her, steadying her, as her eyes adjusted to the pitch.
“Whoa,” he said, but Jun just froze there, realizing that since Po was sleeping soundly in the next room, this was the very moment she’d dreaded. Being so close to Kai, she could practically feel his body heat radiating outward. She had to crane her neck to look up at his face, but in the dark, she couldn’t read his expression. They stood there, hardly breathing, for what seemed like forever. Jun’s heart sped up.
“I’ll get it,” she managed, unable to stand the silence anymore. She wiggled by him, brushing against him as she went. His hard body sent shivers down her spine and she suddenly felt disappointed she’d escaped. She dug around in her junk drawer until she found a flashlight. She clicked it on but found the beam weak and hardly worth much, the batteries running low.
“Do you have a fuse box?” Kai asked, and Jun nodded, pointing the flashlight to the gray panel at the back of the kitchen. She hadn’t even thought of the fuse box. Usually, when the power went out, she just waited for it to come back on. It happened now and again with the big storms. “May I?” he asked, gesturing. He was being so careful to ask permission for every little thing that Jun wished she’d never made an issue of it. He opened the panel and clicked a few switches.
