With the final exams looming around the corner, I supposed none of us really had the heart of going out or loosening ourselves anymore. The only forms of condolences we found ourselves indulging in were the small moments when Mingyu came knocking our doors to hand us snacks (mainly to give me one packet of strawberry milk and giving his girlfriend an unrealistic amount of choco pie). The tension between the lovebirds had eased that one night I made her deliver his favourite milk over, and with a simple thank you text from the each of them the next day, I knew I had succeeded in another mission to keep my friends happy. Since then, I would occasionally remind my roommate to go for walks, putting random snacks I knew Mingyu liked into her hands, just so that she would not slip into her regular patterns of isolation again. It brought me memories of when I used to feed Mingyu a lot during test periods, and now I was simply doing it through the person he truly loved. 

That being said, I was not completely carefree myself. With the continuous tutoring sessions I was giving Minghao, I was almost constantly tired and studying in my room became impossible. The bed always seemed too inviting and I simply had to find other places that were brighter and sleep-unfriendly to keep myself motivated. It's a struggle to find the right place, because a quiet place like the library had the same sleep-inducing effects, but an open area like the park was simply too noisy and not conducive. 

That was how I found myself studying at the supermarket together with Vernon day-by-day, hiding at the fresh produce aisle while we read our notes discretely on our phones. He would unpack and pack the fruits several times so that he could stay in the same duty for a while longer, letting us read our notes a little more. Occasionally I helped, and oddly enough we both found it therapeutic to have one of our hands moving in repeated motion (placing fruits into boxes) while our eyes locked on the screen in our other one. The lights in the supermarket were perhaps the brightest on campus, so there was no way either of us would fall asleep. Not Vernon anyway, since he was studying while on duty. Eventually he would have to actually carry on his duty when the manager came by to make his rounds for the day, but he'll let me hide at another aisle where people seldom went (the oats aisle, because no college kid eats healthy during test season). The supermarket was rather quiet, given that nobody really bothered to get groceries during final exams. Students usually stocked up on cup ramen and hid in their rooms to study all the way. With the low supply of cup ramen this week, Vernon and I practically were the only ones in the place most of the time. The manager who came by was an old man who was retiring in a couple of weeks, and Vernon somehow managed to convince him that the reason he saw me so often was because I was a regular customer, which was technically correct. His face told me he wasn't that convinced, and whenever I smiled at him he gave Vernon the knowing look that parents had on their faces when their kids brought an opposite friend home for a movie, but they would just assume otherwise. 

It was the day when Vernon pasted the notice that said the supermarket was officially out of stock on the doors of the supermarket, and by three in the afternoon no single soul entered the place. Under the sheer force of miracles and willpower, I somehow managed to fall asleep while leaning on the shelves, despite how uncomfortable it was. I woke up to find myself staring at an unfamiliar screen in an unfamiliar hand, scrolling through notes that looked nothing like Linguistics. I bolted upright, and beside me Vernon led out a surprised "woah!"

"You're awake," I could hear his smile in his words. 

"How long was I out for?" I said, frantically brushing the hair out of my face. My phone was still displaying the last page of notes I was reading before I dozed off. 

"About an hour. You looked terribly uncomfortable leaning on the shelves so I thought you might prefer a shoulder." He explained casually and returned to his notes, "oh, and Jeonghan was looking for you. Don't worry. He didn't drop by. He sent me a text asking if I knew where you were. I said you'll be free in the evening."

My head was trying very hard to process the load of information. Firstly, I almost numbed my friend's shoulder for sleeping on the floor of a supermarket for an hour. Then, Jeonghan wanted to see me, and I had absolutely no idea why. 

One step at a time. 

"Sorry for borrowing your shoulder. Is it sore or anything?" 

"Nope, perfectly fine. A little numb but yeah." 

Okay, good. "So sorry. Really. Gosh, er, I feel bad and-" 

"There's really no need to. And you're really flustered Sooyoon. Calm down. It's just sleeping. There's really no need to apologise." 

"No please, let me buy you a drink or something." 

That offer certainly raised Vernon's interest. He went to the cashier counter, where from behind he retrieved two bottles of banana flavoured milk I had never seen before. 

"I discovered these two days ago. They'