I had this idea for a while, back when I was considering making Kaisoo genderbent, and I just realized: I do have a girl-guy couple! I can do something with it! So here we go with my Chen X Hyemi pairing and their wonderful adventures. This occurs right before last chapter's events.

Also, it's going to get angsty soon, so I might as well throw in an apology in the form of something funny. And a fabulous GIF.

Your author loves you and appreciates all her readers, critics, and commentors! 

And by the way, do I strike you all as more of a Charmander or Bulbasaur? I feel like I'm not Squirtle-y, but you let me know.

In health class, Chen was that one kid who sat in the back and fell asleep, having no interest in anything that didn't involve musical notation or Shakespeare. His notebook looked more like the script of some play in some forgotten language, scribbled over in a mix of Chinese and English and occasionally just an illegible combination of lines. Ask him what the difference was between a tampon and a pad, and he wouldn't be able to say.

Which proved to be a problem when Hye-mi asked him to buy her pads while she was at work.

Chen stood in the convenience store down the street, staring down a short aisle with the sign "Feminine Care" hanging over it and frozen at the sight of colorful boxes.

Bora and Soyou walked by, giggling. Chen shot them a half-hearted grimace before turning back to the intimidating line before him.

Buying his girlfriend pads wasn't what scared him; he was a performer. It was the fact that he had no idea what a pad was. Or what the different kinds were. Or if it was a tampon or pad that went up a woman's--

"Chen?"

Kyungsoo stood behind his fox hybrid friend, head tilted to one side and a plastic bag hanging from his wrist. "What are you doing...here?"

Chen smiled and scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, Hye-mi...she's on her...you know..."

"Her period."

"Yeah." Chen pursed his lips and chuckled.

Kyungsoo blinked, then grinned. "You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

"Of course I--I just--I was--" Chen stuttered, then sighed. "No, I don't."

"Figures. You're asleep half the time anyways."

"I won't argue with that."

Kyungsoo patted Chen on the shoulder and turned to look down the dreaded feminine care aisle. "Let's see if I can help."

They stood in front of a line of boxes from some brand named Kotex for about five minutes before Kyungsoo cleared his throat. "Chen?"

"What?"

"These are tampons."

"These aren't pads? Where does it say that?"

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow. "It literally has a picture of one."

"That's a tampon?"

Kyungsoo stared at him, then facepalmed. "How do you have a girlfriend?"

Chen smacked him lightly on the head. 

Kyungsoo pulled a pink baggie off from a nearby shelf and held it up. "These are pads. They're literally just...pads. Cotton, I guess."

"Oh."

"This is...uh, ultra thin winged maxi pads..." Kyungsoo squinted at the packaging. "Wait, how can it be maxi and ultra thin at the same time?"

"Those words mean nothing to me."

"I mean, it's ultra thin, but it's maxi. Isn't maxi, like, maximum protection or something?"

Chen took a neighboring package, this time blue and yellow. "What the hell is an infinity pad?"

"That one isn't maxi or ultra thin."

"But it says it's discreetly thin."

Kyungsoo threw his arms up, the plastic bag rattling. "What does that mean?"

Chen pointed down the aisle. "And then there's some kind of active fit one."

"Why do women need so many types of pads? It's like, you're bleeding out of your uterus, can't you just deal?"

"Well, I mean, I guess some people bleed more and some people bleed less and you don't want to waste material..."

"I'm so glad I have a d ."

"I bet Kai is too."

"Oh, shut the f up."

"Should I give that f to you so you and Kai can share it?" Chen winked and nudged Kyungsoo with his elbow.

"You little--"

Someone cleared their throat from the end of the aisle, and Chen and Kyungsoo looked up to see Hye-mi with her arms folded over her Feathers and Fur apron, smothering a laugh behind her pink ponytail.

Chen flushed bright red, and Kyungsoo smirked from the corner of his mouth. "Uh, I--hi, Hye-mi--"

The human barista sighed and pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead, moving to stand beside the two boys. "I didn't realize buying pads was such a difficult task. I got worried, so now Beom-seok is manning the counter by himself."

Chen forced a laugh. "I, uh--"

"He slept through health class," Kyungsoo said.

Hye-mi shook her head. "He's not the only one. College boys do it too." She pointed at a large blue box on the top row. "That's the one I use. Just for future reference."

Chen took it down awkwardly, fully aware of the laugh ready to come out from both Kyungsoo's and Hye-mi's mouths. "I, uh, I'll remember next time."

Hye-mi shook her head, then stretched on her toes to give Chen a kiss on the cheek. "You're paying, okay? I'll be back at the café." She waved at Kyungsoo and left.

Kyungsoo winked at Chen, who rolled his eyes and patted his hot cheeks. 

The line to the register was long, and Kyungsoo stood beside Chen as he waited. Kyungsoo hummed under his breath, and Chen tapped his feet to the tune.

Finally and suddenly, Kyungsoo turned to Chen and grabbed his arm. "Chen."

Chen flinched. "What?"

"We never asked what a maxi pad was."