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It has been years since Jiyong had come into a supermarket. Not since that day when he and Daesung were mobbed by fans while buying rice and ramyun back in 2010 has he stepped into a supermarket.

Yang Hyun Suk practically fell from his chair when they got a notice of complaint from the supermarket’s parent company asking for 30 million won compensation for the broken carts and products that were damaged by the mob of fangirls.

Jiyong nearly had a phobia for supermarkets because of the incident. But he was surprised that he managed to set foot inside one and even volunteered to push the shopping cart for Ellie. Of course, it also helped that he was wearing his hood up and had his face hidden under thick-rimmed glasses. He was smart enough to change into something different from what he was wearing at the airport knowing that his photos from earlier that day have already made the rounds on the Internet by that time.

Jiyong walked behind Ellie who was so engrossed in her shopping and he noted her habit of reading everything on the label and asking about Korean words she wasn’t all too familiar with. Odd as it may sound, Ellie obviously was enjoying herself at the supermarket. And to Jiyong’s surprise, so was he.

It was the most normal that he has felt in Korea in a long time and he was enjoying the lack of attention from other shoppers. He and Ellie blended in with the rest of the crowd. He could already imagine what Sundays would be like when he and Ellie got married. Wait, where did that though come from?!

They stopped by the fresh produce section and Ellie started selecting ingredients.

“You seem to know your way around a supermarket,” Jiyong casually commented.

“Well, I have an inner ajjumma who really likes this kind of things. Sorry if you find it boring,” she said with a short laughter.

“Don’t worry, I’m enjoying myself. I haven’t been inside a supermarket in a while,” Jiyong said.

“Really? Who buys your food?”

“Usually it’s my mom or the managers. But mostly I just eat out. I can’t cook anyway,” he said with a laugh.

“So what’s on the menu?” Jiyong asked.

“Italian,” Ellie said proudly as she placed a bag of fresh anchovies into the cart.

“Italian? Like spaghetti?” Jiyong asked. He wasn’t really fond of European cuisine since he rarely traveled to Europe and he’s only even been to London and Paris. He liked Japanese and Korean food the most.

“Well, we’re having pasta and lamb. I hope you don’t mind. I only know how to cook food that my mom taught me,” Ellie said sheepishly.

“Hey, no worries. I’m a guy. I eat everything,” he joked and Ellie laughed out loud.

Ellie picked out some more stuff from the fresh produce section. There were several stalls giving free taste of various products and Jiyong suddenly grabbed Ellie’s hand and dragged the surprised girl towards where the ajjumma’s were giving out free product samples.

“Oh, cool! Free food!” Jiyong said as he rubbed his hands together as he selected which stall to hit first. Ellie was laughing at him but was also eyeing some samples herself.

“The only reason I would go with my mom grocery shopping when I was a kid was because of the free samples,” Jiyong said happily as he munched on a piece of sweet ham.

“Me, too! My mom always took me out to weekend farmer’s markets when I was younger and I hated it because we always go there really early but there would be this lady who gives free pulled pork sandwiches to kids. It always made the trip well worth it,” Ellie laughed at the childhood memory.

The two of them sampled everything they could get their hands on. From sweet ham, to hot dogs, steamed mandu, rice cakes and everything in between. They even fed each other servings of the samples without them knowing it.

None of the ladies in the mart recognized him and he was more than thankful. His image would be permanently tarnished when the public finds out the YG’s Gold and Diamonds Boy wiped out samples at the grocery store.

After sampling all free food that were available, they finished their shopping and headed to the check-out. Jiyong noticed Ellie had used a Black AmEx card. He’d guessed that Ellie was fairly loaded considering her wardrobe is full of designer stuff and she could afford to buy an Hermes bag. I guess producers in the States are paid a lot, he thought.

They were already on their way out of the parking lot when Jiyong suddenly remembered something.

“Hey, can we just drive somewhere for a while? I need to buy something. It won’t be long, I promise,” he said. Ellie agreed and they stopped by an uppity commercial complex. Jiyong got out and left Ellie waiting in the car with the hazard lights on. Five minutes later, Jiyong was back with a paper bag in hand.

“That was quick. What did you get?” Ellie noted as they drove off.

“Red wine!” Jiyong said as he triumphantly held a bottle in his hand. The red foil cover of another corked bottle peeked through the paper bag that Jiyong was holding.

“Oh, LaFleur Pomerol 2007! You got a really good one. Nice! I didn’t know you were a wine connoisseur,” Ellie said sounding rightly impressed with Jiyong. But in truth, he was more impressed when Ellie was able to pronounce the name of the bottle of vino in his hand.

“Well, I am a man of of worldly taste,” he said smugly. In reality, he just asked the seller what wine was good for an Italian dinner of pasta and lamb and asked for two bottles of the most expensive ones he had. But of course, he would never admit that to Ellie.

They arrived at Ellie’s building and were already in the lift from the third floor basement parking with their purchase in hand. I wouldn’t mind coming home like this every night, Jiyong though as he smiled giddily.

“What are you smiling about?” Ellie asked when she noticed his expression on the the reflection on the elevator’s walls.

“Free food,” he blurted out. He wanted to punch himself on the face for the lame answer he just gave. Totally uncool. Ellie kept eyeing him, looking unconvinced by his response when suddenly, the elevator door opened and standing outside the lift were the boys of Winner.

“Oh, hyung!” Mino blurted out. The Winner members were so surprised to see their sunbae with their pretty producer that it took them a second before they gave proper greetings.

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