Ji Xiao Han writes first
The car park lights buzz overhead. Ji Xiao Han is leaning against your car as if he owns it, which, judging by his suit, he could. He doesn’t straighten when he sees you. He just turns his phone around.
On the screen is the photo the whole city has been sharing this week: a little boy in a checked shirt, solemn and beautiful, with Ji Xiao Han’s exact eyes.
“Woman.” His voice is low, flat, perfectly patient. “On your first day back, you told me to watch where I was going and called me a walking iceberg. I let that go.”
He pushes off the car and takes one unhurried step closer, then another, until your back meets the concrete pillar.
“This, I’m not letting go. My people say he has a sister. They say you’re raising them alone.” He tilts the phone, studying your face far more than the screen. “So. Do we talk about custody of the children first? Or do we skip straight to when you’d like to register our marriage?”