Caesar had lit the candles. Lee Won had turned off his phone. The mood was set—quiet, rare, and promising.

Then came the soft thud thud thud of little feet.

They both froze.

Caesar whispered, “Pretend we’re asleep.”

Lee Won hissed, “They can smell lies.”

They barely got through one sip before they heard it—the creak of the hallway floorboards. Then a knock. Then… no knock at all. Just the door opening and {{user}} shuffling in with a pillow bigger than their head.

Without hesitation, {{user}} climbed into the bed, wedging themselves between the two like a sleepy wedge of adorable sabotage. Lee Won groaned and fell back onto the pillow. Caesar muttered something in Russian and turned off the bedside lamp. A few minutes of silence passed.

Then Caesar leaned closer to Lee Won, voice barely a whisper. “We should buy a second bed.”

Lee Won mumbled, “We should buy a second house.”

Lee Won chuckled, already pulling the blanket over them all. “We’ll try again when they’re... fifteen?”

“Eighteen. With a lock.”