"Hey Stranger, you finally coming in to redeem a free drink?" Taemin teased as he looked up from the register. 

Rochelle ducked her head and muttered that she had kind of forgotten about the free drinks Taemin promised her after defending Jimin. This earned a look from the assistant manager, who lightly scolded her as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"How could you forget about me and this amazing cafe? I thought we were best friends here!" he protested. 

The young woman held her hands up in defense and explained that she had been busy. "I mean, I had midterms, I helped Jimin solve his mystery bank deposits..."

Taemin nodded grabbed a cup and a pen. "The usual or are you changing things up? By the way, I was just teasing you. I've been having trouble trying to manage the shop and my course load. My aunt actually had to run the cafe for a while when most of the staff were doing midterms."

Rochelle scanned the menu overhead and asked how the strawberry hot chocolate was. Taemin nodded and flashed her a thumbs-up. "Actually that was originally a Valentine's Day special, but everyone loved it and my aunt said, why not make it a thing?"

"Then I'll take one of those," Rochelle said. "I'll let you dictate the size, since I don't know what's a popular amount to buy."

"Medium – it's not too much and you're not getting three sips," Taemin replied. He scribbled her name on the cup and rung up Rochelle, holding one hand out for the free drink card. 

Rochelle passed one over and thanked him with a slight nod of her head. "So are things going well, otherwise?"

He nodded and closed the cash drawer firmly. "I think my tests went well," he mused. "Chim told me he finally talked to his uncle in...wow, ages. So he was really shelling out money to help Chim out, huh?"

She nodded and walked over to the pick-up window. Her eyes stayed on Taemin, who was mixing equal parts of milk, melted dark chocolate syrup, and strawberry powder together. "It turns out my sister's friend worked for his bank and a lot of them gossip about their clients without using names. I guess Jimin's uncle was making deposits at different branches to avoid suspicion from his wife."

The barista tilted his head and put the steamer nozzle into the cup. He let it run for a bit, then stopped it. He poured the contents into Rochelle's cup and secured it with a lid. He slid the cup across the counter and Rochelle accepted it with a thank you. 

Taemin nodded and told her to let him know if it needed adjustments. He retrieved a clean rag to clean off the steamer nozzle and he placed the steamer pitcher in the sink to wash. 

"Also heard you're no longer trying to strangle one of the neighbors in your apartment," he murmured, glancing over at the young woman. 

Rochelle paused from taking a sip and threw him a confused look. Before she could ask how he knew about that, the barista draped the rag over the edge of the sink and turned to face her.

"Let's say I've known the guy since we were kids," Taemin shared. He allowed a faint grin to cross his lips and he teased Rochelle about her earlier opinion of the dancer. "So, you thought he was the player type, huh?"

She scowled at the barista and put her cup down. "In my defense, I ran into him when he was holding auditions and his comments did not use any dance terminology. Simple mistake, now can we get over it?"

The barista held his hands up in defense. "Okay point taken. But Kai was telling me this annoying new girl was always chewing him out and he never gave a name. You never talked about the issue, but a couple of days ago, he was saying he finally talked to you and got an apology, plus your name. So, I asked if we were talking the same girl and I mentioned you were always a bit headstrong. Which I mean in a nice way! You saved Chim and got those two losers to stay away from my cafe."

The young woman picked up her cup and sighed. "In the off chance you ever meet my mom or anyone in my family, please do not bring up the cafe incident. As the youngest in my family, I get enough people worrying about me over other things."

Taemin saluted and told her to take care. Rochelle raised a hand and bid him goodbye as she headed for her next class with her drink in hand. 

"No curve this time people," the professor announced as he passed back the tests. He carelessly tossed them onto the tables in front of their respective owners, face down. 

Rochelle watched Jungkook pick up his test from her seat, the younger student slowly lifting the stapled exam to reveal an A at the top. She snapped her attention to the front as the professor tossed her test in front of her, then walked to the front. 

She lifted her exam and saw a B+ on the front. Okay fine, she could live with this. Mom would be proud and she could always study harder for the final. She looked up and noticed Jungkook glancing over at her. She nodded up at the front, telling him to focus now and she'd tell him after the class. 

The professor discussed the correct answers for the test and reminded everyone that they still had one more test, then the final exam. "If you're not happy with your results on this last test, there is still time to get your grades up without extra credit." He checked his watch and informed the class that he was going to let them out a couple of minutes early. 

"Make sure to read Chapters 20 and 21 before the next class," he advised. "We are going to be discussing some examples of the 20th Century graphic design art and I'd like people to participate in dissecting the messaging."

The students packed up and left, some rushing to get to their next class, others eager to get out and enjoy the rest of their day. Jungkook walked over to Rochelle's table and waited for her to finish packing up. 

"How did you do?"

"B+," she responded. "You probably got that A you were wishing for."

He nodded and murmured that her grade was good too. 

Rochelle agreed and she slung her bag over her shoulder. "Well, it's better than a C, and my parents will be happy with it for the most part," she explained.

Jungkook gestured for her to exit the classroom door first and she thanked him before walking through it. He shoved the door open wider so the last student could get through after he left and jogged to catch up to Rochelle. 

"I forget, are you done now or do you have more classes?" he asked. 

"Why ask?"

"It's one of the last games of the semester," he explained. "You promised to show up to at least one soccer game, as long as it was a home one. If you don't have anything better to do tonight, maybe you could cheer on your school?"

Rochelle walked alongside him and replied that she could come. "What time is it at?"

Jungkook checked his phone and replied that it started at 18:00 PM. "I need to stop back at home to change into my uniform and eat, but I'll see you there? By the way, tickets are free for students so there's no excuse for you to skip."

"Okay noted, I'll come Kook, especially since you're making it impossible for me to say no," she said with a smile and a shake of her head. "Should I make an embarrassing poster to cheer you on? Actually scratch that – you have a lot of fangirls already. Don't want any of them ripping me apart."

The soccer player ducked his head and shook his head violently as he insisted he wasn't that popular. "There's this one guy, Chris," Jungkook said, "I swear like he's got so many fans! Not just girls, but boys too – I blame the accent, it's kind of nice. I mean, if you're into that sort of thing."

"Got it, come to root you on and maybe see this popular Chris guy that everyone swoons over," Rochelle joked. Remembering that her neighbor played for the soccer team too, she turned and asked Jungkook about Lucas. "How's he been doing? I know he told me he plays soccer too, but I haven't run into him a lot this semester."

Jungkook frowned as he tried to remember if he had chatted with Lucas recently. "Ummmm...well he's coming to practices and I'll admit he's been going hard lately. Coach sometimes has to tell him to take it down a notch and to save his energy for the games. But he seems to be okay I guess."

That made sense. Maybe she was worrying for no reason at all. The guy did come here on a soccer scholarship, so it made sense he would want to play well to ensure he maintained it. In addition, she guessed he was probably busy with his studies and keeping his grades up. Still, she couldn't help but think back to the times when they talked about his family. He didn't say much about them and was quick to change the subject after a while. 

Jungkook tapped her on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of the student parking lot. "I need to run, but see you at the game."

Rochelle nodded and waved goodbye, before heading in the opposite direction to her apartment building. 

Once she got back to her apartment, Rochelle called her mom and shared the test results, along with small updates about how the semester was going. 

"Is the plan to stay up there for a summer course or are you looking to come home?" her mom asked. 

Rochelle bit her lip as she dug through her bag and found a folder. She opened it, and thumbed through the pages of her credits, a print out she received from her counselor who mentioned that she was on track to graduate next spring. 

"Ummm...my counselor said I don't have to do a summer class," she said. Her finger traced over the columns that showed where she was missing credits. "As long as I take 5 classes for both semesters or a 5 class semester, a January term class, and 4 classes in the spring, I should be all set."

"So coming home is an option?"

"Yes, but would you like me to try to help around the house? Ask my old workplace if they would let me come back for the summer?" Rochelle asked. 

Her mom paused for a moment and looked at a calendar hanging off the side of the fridge. "Actually honey, your dad and I were talking and we were thinking of planning a trip to see Nana. She's not doing well and we'd like to have you and your sister see her one last time before she passes. Bri is looking into getting time off from work, but she thinks her office would be flexible."

Rochelle swallowed hard and changed the phone to her other ear. "Of...of course I'd want to see Nana again. I think that's a great idea." 

"I'm sorry to spring the bad news on you honey, but I thought I should bring it up to you," her mom replied. "Do you have any fun plans for the rest of the week?"

The young woman looked at the clock on her microwave and she relaxed when she saw she had some time before the game started. "Funny you mention that, one of my classmates plays on the soccer team and he made me swear that I attend one of the home games before the semester is over. There's one tonight, so I'm going to support him and my neighbor."

"Oh that sounds like fun! Well, I won't keep you," her mom said. "Text me when you get home safely."

"Will do," Rochelle promised. She hung up and put her phone in her back pocket. She debated if she wanted to do dinner now, or snack lightly to ensure she got to the stadium to find a good seat. She walked to the cabinet and found a bag of trail mix to munch on. She carried the trail mix to the closet, using her free hand to open the door. She picked out a jacket and slid her arms through it. 

The trail mix was put into her bag, along with her wallet, student ID, and keys. She locked her front door and turned to see a familiar figure leaning against the staircase handrail.