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Zoey drank five cups of coffee trying to figure out a romantic text message that Mystery sent her and now she's bouncing off the walls full of energy. Jinu think this is the perfect time to take Derpy the tiger and Zoey out for a playdate at the park.
The first thing Rumi became aware of that morning was not sunlight, nor the gentle hum of traffic outside their apartment window, nor even Jinu’s steady breathing beneath her cheek. It was chaos. Specifically, caffeinated chaos.
There was a loud thud in the hallway, followed by an exaggerated gasp and the rapid-fire tapping of footsteps against hardwood floors.
“Okay, but what does he mean by that?” Zoey’s voice rang out dramatically.
Rumi groaned softly and burrowed closer into Jinu’s chest. He instinctively tightened his arm around her waist, still half-asleep.
“Is she narrating her life again?” he murmured into her hair.
Another crash. A drawer sliding open. “No, no, no. That comma placement is intentional,” Zoey declared to absolutely no one.
Rumi lifted her head slightly. “It’s too early for commas.”
Jinu cracked one eye open. “What time is it?”
Rumi reached blindly for her phone on the nightstand and squinted. “Seven thirty.”
He closed his eye again. “Unacceptable.”
Zoey’s voice grew closer, pacing just outside their bedroom. “Five cups might have been too much. No. No such thing as too much. Focus.”
Rumi slowly sat up, her hair a soft mess around her shoulders. “Five cups?”
Jinu groaned and rolled onto his back. “We have to investigate.”
Before they could even move, their bedroom door flew open and Zoey stood there, eyes wide, hair slightly frizzed, phone clutched in her hand like a legal document.
“He said, ‘I had a really nice time last night. I can’t stop thinking about you.’” She sucked in a dramatic breath. “What does that mean?”
Rumi blinked at her.
Jinu stared.
“It means he had a nice time,” Jinu said carefully.
Zoey shook her head vigorously. “No. No. There’s subtext.”
Rumi rubbed her eyes. “What subtext?”
Zoey paced into the room. “The ellipses.”
“There are ellipses?” Rumi asked weakly.
“Yes! Three dots. Suspicious.”
Jinu sat up now, hair sticking up in soft disarray. “Zoey.”
“What?”
“How much coffee did you drink?”
She froze.
“…Five.”
Rumi and Jinu exchanged a look.
“That explains the vibrating,” Jinu muttered.
Zoey thrust her phone at them. “I need to respond, but this is important. This is relationship trajectory defining.”
Rumi squinted at the text. “He likes you.”
“That’s obvious.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
Zoey gasped. “What if I respond too casually? Or too intensely? What if I under-emoji?”
Jinu lay back down dramatically. “This is why I don’t text.”
Rumi smiled softly at him before turning back to Zoey. “What do you want to say?”
Zoey froze. “I don’t know. That’s why I’ve consumed half a coffee plantation.”
Jinu blinked. “You drank five cups before eight a.m.?”
Zoey nodded. “Clarity.”
“You need a park,” Jinu said suddenly.
Zoey stopped pacing. “A what?”
“A park,” he repeated, standing up and stretching lazily. “You’re over-caffeinated. You need to run.”
Rumi tilted her head. “That’s not the worst idea.”
Zoey looked scandalized. “I’m not a golden retriever.”
Jinu grinned. “No. But we do have one.”
As if summoned by the word run, Derpy the tiger padded lazily into the doorway, blinking sleepily.
Jinu crouched down dramatically. “Derpy.”
The tiger yawned.
“How do you feel about a playdate?”
Derpy perked up instantly.
Zoey gasped. “A playdate?”
“Yes,” Jinu said. “You and Derpy are going to the park.”
Rumi slipped out of bed and walked over, wrapping her arms around Jinu’s waist from behind. “I’ll go too.”
He smiled without turning around. “Of course you will.”
Zoey looked between them. “You’re making this a supervised caffeine release?”
“Exactly,” Jinu replied.
Rumi pressed a soft kiss between his shoulder blades. “I’ll pack snacks.”
He turned his head slightly. “You’re staying close to me on that bench.”
She smiled. “Obviously.”
By the time they reached the park, the morning had fully awakened. Sunlight filtered through trees in soft golden streaks, and the grass was still damp with dew.
Zoey was already vibrating again.
“Okay,” Jinu said calmly, unclipping Derpy’s leash once they reached an open stretch. “Go.”
Zoey bolted.
Derpy followed immediately.
Within seconds they were racing across the grass, Zoey’s laughter echoing as Derpy tackled her playfully. They rolled together in the grass, limbs and paws and giggles tangling in chaotic joy.
Rumi watched from the park bench, her hand laced through Jinu’s.
“She’s going to crash hard,” she said fondly.
Jinu leaned back, stretching his arm along the back of the bench behind her. “In approximately twenty minutes.”
Rumi shifted closer, her thigh brushing his. “You’re very good at managing chaos.”
“I married into it.”
She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. “You don’t regret that, do you?”
He turned to her immediately, mock offended. “Never.”
He tilted her chin gently and kissed her, slow and warm in the soft morning light.
She melted against him, her earlier sleepiness completely replaced by warmth.
“You’re very distracting,” she murmured against his lips.
“You like it.”
“I do.”
He brushed his thumb along her cheek. “You looked very cute when you were half-asleep.”
“You looked confused.”
“I was confused. There was talk of ellipses.”
She laughed softly.
Out in the grass, Zoey attempted to cartwheel and failed spectacularly, collapsing into laughter as Derpy pounced on her again.
Rumi watched them with a fond smile. “She’s happy.”
“She just needed to burn off overthinking.”
Rumi tilted her head up at him. “Do I overthink?”
He pretended to consider it. “Only when it’s cute.”
She gasped softly and swatted his chest. “That’s not an answer.”
He caught her hand and kissed her knuckles. “You’re thoughtful. There’s a difference.”
She leaned in again, kissing him gently, savoring the quiet.
They sat like that for a while, watching Zoey and Derpy chase each other, tumble, roll, and collapse dramatically into the grass.
“Do you remember when we first came here?” Rumi asked softly.
He smiled. “You tripped over nothing.”
“There was a root.”
“There was not.”
She nudged him with her shoulder. “You caught me.”
“I always will.”
Her expression softened.
He brushed his lips against her forehead this time, slower, more deliberate.
“I like mornings like this,” she admitted.
“Me too.”
Out on the field, Zoey finally slowed down, flopping onto her back with Derpy sprawled across her stomach.
“I can see sounds,” Zoey declared dramatically.
Jinu chuckled. “There it is.”
Rumi giggled. “She’s crashing.”
After another ten minutes of light jogging and dramatic commentary, Zoey trudged toward the bench, grass in her hair and cheeks flushed pink.
“I am one with the earth,” she announced before collapsing onto the grass at their feet.
Derpy curled beside her, equally exhausted.
Rumi leaned forward. “Do you feel better?”
Zoey blinked slowly. “I feel… normal.”
Jinu nodded approvingly. “Good.”
Zoey held up her phone weakly. “What do I text him?”
Rumi smiled gently. “Tell him you had a nice time too.”
Zoey considered it.
“And maybe,” Jinu added casually, “put a smiley face. Not an ellipsis.”
Zoey nodded solemnly and typed.
Sent.
She dropped the phone onto her chest and closed her eyes.
Rumi looked at Jinu and smiled softly.
“You handled that well.”
“I’m good under pressure.”
She leaned in and kissed him again, warm and unhurried, completely content.
Around them, the park felt peaceful. Birds chirped. Leaves rustled.
Zoey and Derpy lay in the grass in matching exhaustion.
And on the bench, Rumi nestled into Jinu’s side, his arm firm around her shoulders, their quiet laughter blending into the calm morning air very romantic, unbothered, and perfectly in sync.