Dara was so wonderful, but sometimes Jiyong felt like she was holding back, like she only let him skim the surface of who she was. Ironically, it was because he knew her better now, that he could sense there was underlying meaning in things she said, or didn’t say. He knew when she held back, even if he didn’t know what those unsaid things were.

Maybe it was his brain trying to nitpick at their relationship. Everything was going so well, which meant something was due to go wrong, according to his anxiety.

Dara would laugh if he told her. It was superstitious to think that way.

He put the truck in park. Dami pulled in right as they did and hurried over to the passenger side window, looking excited. Dara lowered her window and smiled. Jiyong braced himself for whatever impulsive thing was about to come out of Dami’s mouth.

“Mom said you two had some kind of announcement for us.” Dami rubbed her hands together. “Way to decide to do it on corndog gingerbread house night. That’s gonna be a classy memory to tell your kids about.”

Dara turned and stared at Jiyong, utter confusion on her face. “Wait, what?”

Jiyong cleared his throat. “It’s not that kind of announcement, Dami.”

“Ooh, what then?”

The look Jiyong gave her had Dami putting her hands up in surrender. “Never mind. I’ll wait. Let me take your cake in for you, Dara.”

Dara handed her cake carrier over to Dami, who took it into the house, holding it above her head so the dogs couldn’t reach.

“We’re having gingerbread corndogs for dinner?” Dara asked. “That sounds … festive.”

“I’d forgotten about this tradition. Mom didn’t tell me it was tonight. But it’s not gingerbread corndogs, it’s regular corndogs while we make gingerbread houses. When we were little, she could never get us to stop decorating long enough to eat dinner, so she’d stick a corndog in our hands. And somehow it morphed into this weird family tradition. The corndogs are homemade now, not from the frozen food aisle. So, there’s that.”

Dara’s mouth dropped open a little. “I love your family so much more now.”

“And they love you.” The words he couldn’t say rang out in his head. But it was too soon to say he loved her. Too much risk. Jiyong knew enough about using humor as a shield to know that’s what she’d done with his question earlier. He worried that Dara felt pushed into this, or that they weren’t compatible, or that it was too much too soon. And he worried that he worried too much.

Things were supposed to be easier. They were together now, right?

He took her hand and opened the front door for her. The smell of the fried cornmeal dough brought back familiar childhood memories of making gingerbread houses, some big, some small, all fairly ugly masterpieces.

Mom rushed out of the kitchen with enthusiastic hugs for them both. “I’m so happy you’re here. We’re about to start our gingerbread house contest.”

“Except we use graham crackers because gingerbread is gross,” Soohyuk said from the couch. “And I always win.” He jumped up and followed them into the kitchen.

Jiyong looked at the table covered in bowls of candy and cardboard sheets. They could’ve filled the entire car ride here with explanations about this particular wacky family tradition. He should have prepped her for this. Oh well, it was a nice surprise, and would probably work out better. They could talk to everyone while they built the houses – a discussion, not an announcement. The non-marriage announcement. He couldn’t believe what Dami had said earlier, inferring that he was popping the question tonight. How embarrassing.

“Do you want to build your own or work together?” he asked Dara.

“Work together.” She sat down and pulled up a chair next to his. “How do you win this thing anyway? Who’s judging them?”

“I’m the judge.” Seunghyun, who had been sitting at the end of the table with his arms folded, nodded at them. “I’m totally impartial. Best one wins, no matter who it belongs to.”

YoungHwan looked over from where he was wiping off the counter. “Nope, I’m judging this year. I stink at building them. Might as well try my hand at judging and let Seunghyun give making one a try.”

Seunghyun’s mouth dropped open. “All right, fine.” He pushed his chair closer to the table and began assembling his supplies. He stuck out his elbows, claiming his space and letting Soohyuk and Dami know not to come any closer. “What about you, Mom?”

“I’ll hand out the corn dogs and come sit. But I’d prefer to be on a team.”

Dami waved her over. “Join me.”

Dara had watched the proceedings with wide, curious eyes. Mom handed her a corn dog and put down a paper plate with ketchup and mustard circles. Dara thanked her and took an exploratory bite after swirling hers in mustard.

Jiyong took a bite of his. He loved the crispy breading on the outside. Comfort food at its finest.

His ex-girlfriend, Kiko, would have been appalled at a family dinner like this with the squabbling and paper plates and junk food. He could almost hear her now. But then, Jiyong didn’t want to dwell there anymore. In fact, he realized with some elation that he rarely thought of her at all anymore, and only when thinking how different Dara was, much more the type to go with the flow. Dara didn’t care about formalities, and she didn’t judge.

Her eyes met his right then and he dropped a quick, fierce kiss against her lips.

She smiled. “What was that for?”

“Because …” I love you. He couldn’t say that. “No reason.”

She held up two graham crackers. “How do I turn these into a palace? Guide me, oh wise one.”

“I’ve always used the house of cards method. Basically, a whole bunch of tents stacked on top of one another.”

They got to work, and for a few minutes there was only the sound of working and munching.

And then Dami looked over. “So, what’s the big announcement, you two?”

“There’s an announcement?” Soohyuk asked. “Am I getting fired? It’s like a dream come true.”

Jiyong shook his head. “Nope, you’re still a farmer, Soohyuk. But, um,” he looked over at Dara. “We just wanted to clarify something. Not that it’s really anyone’s business.”

Now he had a lot of blank looks coming his way. Seunghyun stared at Dara’s belly. Nope, Jiyong didn’t want anyone thinking this was a pregnancy announcement.

“Dara and I are dating,” he blurted out.

YoungHwan laughed. “Wow, that’s exciting news.”

“What I mean is…”

Dara squeezed his knee. “You guys remember how Hanbin