The house was quiet again.
Not the tense kind.The familiar kind.
I was standing near the table, scrolling through something on my phone, when Ha-rin walked past me toward the kitchen.
She stopped.
Not suddenly.Not deliberately.
Just… stopped.
"…Your hand," she said.
I looked up.
"What about it."
"It's cold," she replied.
Before I could ask why that mattered, she took it.
Just like that.
Her fingers wrapped around mine briefly, warm and firm, like she was checking something.
"…It's fine," she said, letting go almost immediately.
The contact lasted maybe a second.
Maybe less.
I stared at my hand.
"…You didn't need to do that," I said.
She turned around slowly.
"…Why."
"There was no problem."
She tilted her head.
"…I wanted to check."
That explanation made no sense.
She seemed to realize it at the same time.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"…I mean—"
She stepped back.
"…I wasn't thinking."
"That is apparent," I replied.
Her face heated up fast.
"…You're not reacting."
"I am," I said. "Internally."
"…Stop saying that."
"Yes."
She crossed her arms, clearly embarrassed.
"…You didn't pull away."
"There was no reason to."
She looked at me for a moment, like she was trying to figure something out.
"…So if I do things like that—"
"Yes."
"…You won't make it weird."
"No."
She nodded once.
"…Good."
She turned back toward the kitchen, then paused.
Her hand hovered near mine again.
This time, she stopped herself.
"…I'm going to make tea," she muttered.
"That is reasonable."
She walked away quickly.
I looked down at my hand again.
It was warm now.
That was… inefficient.
From the kitchen, she called out:
"…Don't overthink it!"
"I am not," I replied.
That was inaccurate.
But she didn't need to know that.