11

“Are you okay?”

I had been contemplating whether or not I should ask Jongin this for the rest of the school day. It was pretty out of character for him to suggest returning to class earlier rather than later, and that almost-scene between him and Baekhyun did not suit him much better either.

He doesn’t look away from his phone when he answers, “I’m fine.”

I hesitate before deciding to sweep the matter under the rug and leave him to lounging on the couch with his beloved mobile device. Even if I’m friends with his friends now, I doubt I could get away with digging into his problems the same way Baekhyun and Sehun do.

Just before I stalk off to the closest study room, he calls out to me.

“I’m tired of takeout.”

He drops his phone to stare at me. I stare back. We’ve been having pretty frequent staring contests. They usually end in draws.

“So?” I ask.

“Let’s go shopping.”

“You know, we’re really bad at keeping this whole ‘living together’ thing a secret,” I tell Jongin as he grabs two shopping baskets.

He doesn’t respond, handing me the plastic receptacle instead. I furrow my eyebrows at him but take it nevertheless.

“If anyone sees us, they can just assume we’re both here by coincidence,” he explains.

“Would people actually believe you even go to the grocery store?” I ask skeptically.

“My sisters always make me run errands when I visit them.”

I look with interest. “You have sisters?”

He nods, but before I can ask anything more, he nudges my shoulder and says, “Stop chatting and start shopping. You go to the produce.” Then he walks off into the opposite direction, leaving me perplexed, to say the least. I follow what I had been instructed to do, anyway, though I have no idea of what exactly I should buy. It’s not as if we had come here with a list, and I for sure do not know Jongin’s tastes.

But lo and behold! The gods have either blessed or cursed me because I spot Kyungsoo analyzing some pears at the fruits section.

He glimpses to his right before fully turning around in shock. I smile at him, suddenly somewhat regretting my impulse to approach him.

“Jongin and I are shopping for groceries.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes dart to behind me, then to the rest of the vicinity.

“We separated,” I explain, knowing he was searching for my company.

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