Alex: Wait. You mean everyone doesn’t get itching eyes and a scratchy throat when snuggling a ball of fluff? I think I may have a problem.

Me: It’s a clinical obsession. That and the bad puns!

Alex: So what are you doing rn? I’m back in London, it’s 3am, I’m currently scrolling through a bunch of boring reports, eating some Hot Cheetos, and wishing I had someone to share them with.

Alex: Like a cat, I mean.

Me: Gasp! Hot Cheetos are my fave!

Me: It’s morning here. I’m getting my toenails done—basically they are the color of Hot Cheetos.

I giggle and Leah rolls her eyes at the texts, but in a loving way. “You guys are absurd. In the best way, of course.”

Another text pings in from him:

Alex: PS I miss you.

Me: Me too… Any chance you have a favorite shoemaker in Seoul that you’re thinking of visiting soon?

Alex: I’ll find a way. I love having you in my pocket wherever I go, but I want to see you in 3D, not 2D

Leah looks up at me with puppy dog eyes. “Awww,” she says, “he so loves you.” I nudge her gently, careful not to jostle either of us too much and risk smudging our toes. “Appa, I mean!” she recovers. “Appa loves you so much.”

We both try and fail to stifle our giggles.

The director calls cut, telling the camera operator they’ve gotten enough B-roll. As soon as the camera operator starts to pack away his equipment, I turn to Leah and speak a little more freely.

“Hey by the way, look at these late-night texts I keep getting from Appa.” I start scrolling through my messages to show her.

“Ew, Rachel! TMI!” Leah says in a fake-scandalized voice, covering her eyes.

“Real Appa.” I swat her shoulder.

“Oh yeah. He’s pulling late hours at work again.” Leah rolls her eyes. “You know Appa. Once he gets into a project, he doesn’t know how to stop. And with the grand opening next week—”

“Grand opening?”

“Apex,” Leah replies. I blink. “The athletic complex? Appa’s new job?” she adds, seeing my confused face. “I thought he told you about it.”

Wait, what? Appa has a new job? Last I knew, he was working as a lawyer at Choo Corporation, Mina’s dad’s company. As Leah fills me in—Appa was approached to run legal for Apex, a new state-of-the-art gym-meets-spa-meets–sports complex here in Seoul, and jumped on the chance to combine his law experience with his first love, sports—I rack my brain trying to think of how I could have missed this huge development.