Semi woke up to Minseok’s hushed voice in the background as he tried to get out of bed without disturbing her.  Disgruntled at the warm covers being shifted about in a manner that reduced the heat, she rolled over and wrapped her arm around his waist to let him know that she was awake and he didn’t need to go anywhere.  He settled back without complaint and continued speaking to whoever was on the other end of the phone.  Semi was too tired to try to make out the conversation.  All that registered were the words before he hung up.

“Yeah, I’ll be there at seven-fifteen.  Thanks, Sungjong.”

Putting the phone aside, he turned back to Semi, who nuzzled drowsily against his shoulder.

“Sorry I woke you.”

“Sleepy,” she mumbled back.

He pulled the covers back over them.

“Time’s it?” Semi mumbled.

“Five-thirty.  I need to go into work early today.”

Semi latched one of her legs around his as if to say he was going nowhere.

“Getting possessive?” he teased with a quiet chuckle.  Closing her eyes, Semi nodded.  She didn’t like it when Minseok had to go into work early.  It meant that his side of the bed would be cold and empty when she got up, and the more pregnant she was, the more it became troublesome to do everything by herself.

“I wouldn’t normally, but we’ve got to help your brother and Weiyi and they’ve run into a problem,” he murmured.

Semi nodded again, but it was obvious to both of them that she was slipping back into the clutches of sleep.

As predicted, Minseok had left the house by the time Semi was getting up.  Jaera was still sound asleep, so Semi decided to leave her be while she prepared breakfast.  The house was silent as she moved through it, heading from the bathroom to the kitchen, and then poking her head into Jaehwan’s room as she waited for the rice to cook.  Jaehwan was sitting crosslegged on his bed with his Gameboy, mashing one of the buttons with his thumb and with the kind of expression that said diediedie! to all the onscreen characters.

“You’re not supposed to have that back until you’ve apologised to your father,” she admonished him.

Jaehwan didn’t even look up from the game.  “I think Dad would like it more if I didn’t apologise because I was bribed or blackmailed.”

“Kim Jaehwan, your father sacrifices an awful lot for you and it’s utterly unfair to repay him by being a stubborn brat.  It’s been three days already, and you are not supposed to take your Gameboy back when it’s been confiscated from you.  If you do it again, I will be throwing it out.”

That got his attention, and he sat bolt upright, clutching the device to his chest.  “Mum!  You can’t!”

“I can and I will.  Put the Gameboy away – it’s not even eight in the morning.  There are plenty of other ways to entertain yourself.”

“But I’m nearly at the end of this level!”

“No, Jaehwan.”  Semi held out her hand.

Pouting, Jaehwan surrendered.  Prior experience had taught him when not to push something unless he wanted the consequences to be dire, and his mother was already being surprisingly lenient.  He got off his bed, clearly reluctant, but came over and gave his mother the Gameboy nonetheless.

“It’s not fair,” he muttered.  “You always make up with Daddy without a problem, and you’re mean to him more than I am.”

“Jaehwan,” Semi snapped, a clear warning in her tone.  He shot her an irritated look and shuffled over to his cupboard, turning his back on her in obvious dismissal.  “Well, I guess I’ll just be keeping this an extra couple of days, then.”

Tutting to herself, Semi left the room to return to the kitchen, wondering where she was going to put the Gameboy this time that was out of Jaehwan’s reach.

A figure turned around with a gleam of metal in its hand as she entered, almost giving her a heart attack.  Clutching at her chest in shock, Semi took a couple of deep breaths to stabilise herself.

Luhan flashed her an apologetic smile.  “Sorry.  The rice cooker was beeping, so I thought I’d turn it off.”

Semi eyed the large chopping knife in his hands apprehensively.  It took Luhan a moment or two to catch on, and he hurriedly set the knife down on the counter, almost dropping it before holding his hands up to show he was no longer armed.  He beamed at her.

Unsettled, Semi glanced from him to the kitchen table, where she saw a large bowl of chopped peppers had been set in the place she normally sat, alongside a bowl of rice and other food.  Come to that, Luhan appeared to have memorised what people ate over the past couple of days and set everything out for them.

Luhan coughed awkwardly.  “I’m no way near your husband’s standards, but…”  He shrugged.

“You shouldn’t have,” Semi responded automatically.

“No, I should,” he countered at once.  “You’ve done a lot and risked a lot having me here.  I should at least help where I’m capable of it, even if I can’t do very much.”

There was an excruciatingly awkward silence as they both just stood there.  Then Luhan coughed again, looking away, and Semi took it as a cue to sit down, her eye on the peppers.  To her surprise, Luhan sat down on the adjacent side of the table.  He cupped his hands around the rice bowl, presumably checking if it was still warm, and then looked up at her.  His brown eyes were incredibly serious.

“Thank you,” he said.  “I mean it.  Not many people would have done what you’ve done for me.”

Semi grunted and munched on one of the peppers