Cora had always known red was a symbol of luck, but she never truly felt the correlation until she saw the color on Farron.

It didn't matter that they were surrounded by red from the gaudy decorations covering every surface in Chinatown. It didn't matter that the literal character for "luck" was boldly stamped on the red signs posted over some storefronts, remnants of decorations from Lunar New Year. In fact, with every low-hanging red lantern that hit Cora's head, the color became more of a misfortune than a blessing.

But amidst the sea of scarlet, the only sight that made Cora truly feel lucky was seeing Farron in the middle of it, their vibrant red shirt brightening their smile as they haggled with a store clerk.

And sure, maybe it also had something to do with the way their fitted short sleeves wrapped around their toned arms and made the black ink of their dragon tattoo seem even bolder. But that was beside the point.

As the clerk finally began bagging Farron's purchases, Farron turned to Cora, grinning and winking. Cora had no idea what just happened, but the sight was enough to make her feel like she was floating.

Were trips to Chinatown always this amazing? Or was that just the burning incense?

"I got a surprise for you!" Farron whispered as they rushed to join her at the storefront, rummaging through their reusable bag.

"Watch your step first," Cora said, holding a hand near their elbow as they neared the uneven floor at the doorway.

Instead of heeding Cora's warning, they looked up at her, their grin wider than before.

"Okay," Farron said once they were safely outside. "Look what they gave me for free!"

From their bag, they pulled out a small, clear pouch of familiar-looking sweets: sesame candy. Bits of peanuts and caramelized sugar peeked out from behind the coating of golden sesame seeds, and Cora could already taste the chewy treat as if it hadn't been a decade since she last had some.

"I love these!" Cora said, already reaching for them before she stopped herself. "Wait, is it really okay? It wasn't too expensive, right? Like, they aren't going to lose a lot of money, are they?"

"It was a few dollars," Farron said, opening the bag themselves. "But my mom loves their dried fruit, so they pretty much know me by now, and that I'll always come back to buy more stuff."

Even as Farron took out a block of candy, Cora held herself back. "If you're sure..."

"I am." Farron held the morsel up and opened their mouth. "Ah."

Cora, still distracted by her inner turmoil, instinctively copied. "Ah."

She didn't realize what she had done until Farron moved the treat closer, and by the time Cora closed her mouth, her lips clamped down on the bumpy sesame surface.

Farron grinned. "Bite down, Cora."

Cora, unable to think of an intelligible response as her cheeks began to flush, grunted.

"With your teeth. You can't fit the whole thing in your mouth."

Somehow, Cora's face grew even warmer. That, plus the sight of the store clerk watching them from the register, were the main reasons Cora obeyed, biting down on the chewy sugar as Farron wriggled the remaining portion free.

"There we go," Farron said when they finally succeeded. "It's good, isn't it?"

As flustered as Cora was, she couldn't deny that Farron was right. The candy was just as delicious as she remembered, and memories of the flavor washed over her with a wave of nostalgia.

But instead of tearing up with sadness or feeling her heart sink with regret, one emotion triumphed over all others: joy.

Cora hummed in agreement as she continued to chew, only struggling to do so because of the smile yearning to stretch across her face. Still, it seemed like her satisfaction was clear enough based on Farron's own grin, just before they popped the remaining morsel in their mouth.

As the two of them continued on their way, Farron checking their shopping list and Cora following along, Cora's attention was split. Half of it was focused on maintaining the perfect position beside Farron: not too far that it would seem like she was avoiding them, but not too close that they would accidentally bump arms. The rest of her mind was in chaos over what she planned to do: ask Farron if they wanted to be an official couple.

In theory, it shouldn't have been difficult. Cora knew Farron was interested in her, at least enough to agree to a third date and invite her to a family gathering. But a casual date and "bringing a good friend home for dinner" was one thing. A committed relationship was another, and no matter how many times Cora had walked through different scenarios with Kevin, she wasn't sure if she was prepared for rejection.

Suddenly, Cora's toes hit something hard, and as she stumbled, her other foot couldn't catch her in time. Her stomach dropped faster than the rest of her did, her body fighting with her mind as she seemed to fall in slow motion. While her hands wanted to release her bags to catch herself, possibly by grabbing onto the nearest sturdy thing (Farron), her mind refused, not wanting to let go of Farron's precious groceries.

A second later, she stopped. A firm force was wrapped around her upper arm, and her pulse thrummed against it. It felt like something was choking her too, judging by how her breath was stuck in her throat, but she didn't care for that as much.

"Are you okay?" Farron exclaimed. Their grip around Cora's arm remained strong and steady. "Are you hurt?"

Cora's gaze was pinned to the ground, her face warming with every second that passed. The chatter around them seemed quieter than usual, but it was hard to hear much over her inner voice screaming unintelligibly in her head. A few pairs of feet around them weren't moving, but she wasn't sure if the owners were spectating her clumsiness or a nearby produce stand.

"Cora?" Farron's voice tightened with their grip around Cora's arm. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Cora said, her name in Farron's voice quelling her own mental yelling. "Sorry, I tripped. I didn't drop anything, did I?"

Farron sighed softly. "The groceries don't matter. Are you sure you're okay? You didn't sprain something, did you?"

Cora's face grew even warmer as she righted herself. "I-I'm fine. Really. I'm just..." Her eyes darted around, and when she determined no one else was paying attention to them, she finally gathered the courage to look at Farron. "Nervous."

After a pause, Farron grinned, and their thumb began to brush back and forth over Cora's arm. "And I thought I was the only one falling head over heels."

When Farron turned back to their grocery list with a chuckle, Cora wanted nothing more than to stop in the middle of Chinatown and scream as loud as she could—or squeal, she wasn't sure yet.

"Alright," Farron said, squinting at their phone. "We got the dried fruit, the noodles, and wonton pi... They were out of siu yuk, but we got char siu..." They gave Cora a mischievous smile. "Ready for something fruitastic?"

Cora forced herself to scowl. Luckily, her lips had already been clamped shut in case she couldn't mentally restrain herself from screaming or squealing.

Farron laughed, bumping their shoulder against Cora's arm—the same place their hand had gripped moments before.

Their next stop was a produce store, and Cora never realized how selecting fruits and vegetables could be so...sensual. Yet Farron managed to do just that, running their hands over the large, round pomelos, carefully weighing one in each of their hands, then bringing a few to their nose to sniff.

Wow. Was Cora really jealous of a fruit? Maybe citruses in general had something against her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Farron asked, rolling a pomelo back and forth between their hands.

Cora blinked at the fruit before raising her gaze. "Oh, yeah, sorry." She cleared the stiffness from her throat. "I'm just...a little tired is all."

That wasn't a lie. Cora had spent the night tossing and turning, mentally running through her lines over and over again.

Farron frowned. "We can call it a day, if you want. I can make the mooncakes myself. You should get some rest."

"No!" Cora blurted out, then hesitated at her own brashness. "I mean...I'll be fine. I'll just go to sleep early tonight."

After studying her for a moment, Farron smiled. "We'll be out of here soon, at least. This should be our last stop, and you can take a nap at my place, if you want."

Even though Cora grinned and nodded, her pulse spiked at Farron's words. It didn't help that when they tucked the winning citrus into the already filled basket hanging at their elbow, their toned arms flexed at the exertion. Cora hadn't realized they were about to leave so soon, and she still hadn't gathered the courage to ask Farron The Question.

Sure, she didn't have to follow the plan and ask before they caught the bus back to Farron's place. But the worst case scenario? Farron would reject her, and things would be too awkward for the both of them. That's when Cora would send an "abort mission" text to Kevin, and he would call her with an exaggerated tale about how Cool Beans was in desperate need of emergency backup. Since it was easier to escape Chinatown than Farron's apartment, Cora had to ask the question now, before it was too late.

Why had Kevin made it seem so easy?