Yujin didn’t understand why Sakura and Chaeyeon insisted that she and Minjoo tag along with them to the store. She was sure that they were more than capable of carrying five to eight bags of food by themselves to the van, and she was damn sure that fifty chip bags for Hyewon and Yena couldn’t weigh more than a brick.

“Chaeyeon unnie,” Minjoo called out to the older in the seat in front of her. “Can you remind me why you needed to take us with you?”

“We need your help,” she replied frankly.

Minjoo looked at the back of Chaeyeon’s head with raised eyebrows, “I mean, yes, I know that you need help but what for?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Uh, other than carrying grocery bags that you guys can carry by yourselves?” Yujin in.

Sakura and Chaeyeon comically bumped their heads together in the effort to turn around and stare at the two members of the maknae line.

“Ehhhh? Who said we were going to the grocery store?” Sakura said, scratching her head.

Yujin couldn’t help but facepalm. They must be joking… They’re the ones that dragged them out of the dorm and now they don’t even know what the destination is? Minjoo had to peel Yujin off her bed because the younger girl had participated in a long gaming session with the Master Memers the night before. Of course, Eunbi made sure that they didn’t stay up all night, but it was safe to assume that the Master Memers were lazy the day after.

The puppy groaned, “Are you guys kidding me?”

She wanted to say more, complain just a bit longer, but the main dancer gave her a look.

“We’re being serious, Yujin-ah. No one ever said we were going to the grocery store,” Chaeyeon said.

Minjoo tilted her head, “But when you called me you said we’re going to the store.”

“Yeah, the camping store, silly.” Sakura added, “Jjaeyeon said ‘we’re going to the store to get stuff for the show.’ Or did you just ignore that part?”

The visual gaped at the women in front of her, her eyes wide, “You did?”

“Unnie!” Yujin whined. “How do you just overlook something like that?”

“I don’t know!” Minjoo threw her hands up.

The other three members looked at each other with a knowing smile.

“Minjoo gaddo~,” they said in unison. Even the manager, who was silent unless he had something important to say, was snickering quietly.

The young woman just hung her head sheepishly and gave them an embarrassed smile.

Chaeyeon and Sakura faced the front after a few moments of laughing and began talking amongst themselves. Minjoo turned to Yujin, her face expectant, eyes asking for conversation but Yujin averted her gaze and looked outside the window.

It’s not that she didn’t want to talk to the older girl but she’s still not fully recovered from her and Yena’s sudden outburst of loving a certain member in the group. Even after two days since the faithful incident that occurred in the camp, there are still traces of discomfort and awkwardness. She can’t bring herself to chat with Minjoo when she knows that she’ll just stutter out a poorly made-up excuse to try and escape her way out of a chat. Hell, she can’t even look her in the eyes without turning red from embarrassment.

At the end of Yujin’s internal turmoil, she decided to close her eyes to try and get some more sleep and to rest her brain after the Minecraft session she had with the Master Memers.

Minjoo was glad that the car ride was over. A heavy feeling settled in her chest when Yujin looked away from her, and it stayed there until they reached their destination. The entire journey, her eyes always found their way to the back of the puppy’s head, looking at her longingly. There were many times where she had to stop herself from sighing too loud, otherwise, the older members would get on her case and keep asking what’s wrong. She didn’t want to give them any more things to worry about.

When they got out of the van, they all stretched their legs out. Minjoo had been the last one out so she had the (un)fortunate opportunity of seeing an interesting scene playing out in front of her. Chaeyeon was wearing leggings and a white crop top with some graphic design on it, and her shirt had gone up a bit and Minjoo had a clear view of Sakura eyeing the woman not-so-subtly.

When they looked upon the sign atop the storefront window, they expected to see a sign that said, “Baek’s Outdoors” or someone's last name plus a word related to camping in bold red and white letters. Instead, they were met with an elegant purple script making the words, “Swan’s Survival Surplus.”

The inside was also different from their initial thoughts. Automated front doors lead into a big space filled with shelves, displays, and racks distributed evenly and in an organized manner throughout the expanse. White walls with dark wooden accents, coupled with the lavender signboards above the products made the place brighter. The shop was not small but it wasn’t as big as, say, that one store in the U.S. ’s Sporting Goods, was it?

An employee clad in a purple and yellow vest greeted them at the entrance, “Hello! Welcome to Swan’s!” The girls and their manager bow back to the woman, “So what brings you to our store?”

Their manager, Junghwan, answered, “We’re looking for tools that would help with surviving on a tropical rainforest island.”

The lady looked at him weirdly, “Uh, I’m sorry what?”

“Oh, uh, we’re doing an all-natural hiking/camping trip soon in a different country.” Chaeyeon saved the situation from future awkwardness, “We already know what we’re looking for, we just need to know where to look for them.”

“Well, just look for the signs and if you ever need help, just search for us and ask,” and with that, she left and went to do whatever other duties she had to.

Minjoo read all the signs, “So what are we looking for first?”

“Saku-chan, if you would do the honors?” the main dancer flourished a bow, to which Yujin and Minjoo rolled their eyes at.

Sakura pulled out a cute and dainty notebook with a collection of stickers. There were cherry blossom petals and hearts scattered around the cover and a few words and flowers too. There was a sunflower, rose, a violet with, what Minjoo assumed to be, the song title songs underneath them.

“I wrote down a list of what we needed here. We only need to buy a couple of things like knives, some saws or axes, flashlights, fire starters, paracords or rope, fishing lines, wires, spears, pots and pans, an-”

“Unnie,” Yujin cut her off, “That’s not a ‘couple of things’. That’s, like, an infinite amount of things.”

“Since you guys have a lot to buy, why don’t you guys split up the list and find your items in pairs,” their manager suggested. “I’ll wait for you guys by the front door. Just call me when you’re done so we can pay for it.”

Sakura automatically grabbed Chaeyeon’s hand, meaning the decision was wordlessly made and no further discussion was needed. Minjoo looked at Yujin, who seemed like she wanted to object but ultimately did not, and smiled at her.

“H-hey, Minjoo unnie, you should take a photo of the bottom half of the list,” the puppy said, stuttering in the beginning for some reason. “So we can start looking for them, you know.”

The visual does just that and does a final look through to make sure that the list is correct and set.

Chaeyeon clicked her tongue, “Okay, let’s meet in front of the cashiers when we have everything. See you guys in a few.”

The older duo strolled off to wherever the first item on their list was.

“So… where are we off to?” the puppy asked, eyes flitting around the store.

“First on the list are the flashlights.”

“Right, so- uh- let's go.’

Sakura adjusted her grip on the shopping cart and looped her arms through Chaeyeon’s.

“Why did you specifically ask for Minjoo and Yujin to come with us?”

The dancer didn’t even look at her, perhaps she was already prepared to answer this question if it became present. “You’ve noticed how awkward it is between them, right? I feel bad for Minjoo, you can see how hard she’s trying to get Yujin to talk to her,” Chaeyeon shook her head, sighing at the weird situation her dongsaengs found themselves in.

The visual gave a nod of understanding, “Ah, so you’re giving them time alone to try and work things out.