Baekhyun was standing in front of an aisle at the supermarket, staring intensely at two seasoning packages he was holding.

“Alright, super spicy it is. Tacos have to be spicy.” The boy nodded to himself with pride.

 As he put the chosen item in the trolley, a looming figure appeared from behind him and a pair of lanky arms put him in a headlock, preventing further action. The shorter boy gasped for air while patting the larger boy’s arms in a sign of defeat.

“Yah— you know very well I can’t handle spic,” huffed the larger boy who then squinted his eyes in suspicion. “You just want to see me suffer don’t you, you little br— ”

“Park Chanyeol, what are you doing to your childhood friend? He’s not gonna make it out of this supermarket alive at this rate.”

The two boys looked up. Or rather, Baekhyun attempted but it proved to be difficult in their current position. Soojung approached them, putting meat in the trolley. She rolled her eyes while sparing them a side glance, however the corners of her lips were quirking upwards in a hidden smile.

“Please don’t kill Baek yet,” Hayoon whispered from behind Soojung, “Or we’ll be haunted by him for life because he died forever alone.”

While saying that, Hayoon allowed her hair to fall in front of her face while she hunched her back and raised her hands in a ghostly manner. The short girl emitted daunting sounds while stepping closer towards Baekhyun and Chanyeol. At the sight of this ridiculous ghost imitation Soojung purposefully turned away, too embarrassed to be associated with such idiots. Meanwhile Chanyeol rolled back in laughter, his voice ever so loud. Finally Baekhyun freed himself from the deadly grasp and after dramatically inhaling some air, he threw himself onto Hayoon, almost knocking the poor girl over as she let out a grunt in response.

“Sunshine! My wonderful sunshine, saving me from the clutches of the evil lanky tree yet again~”

Hearing this, Chanyeol attempted to grab Baekhyun by his collar. The latter though reacted faster and hid behind Soojung who simply crossed her arms in front of her chest as she stared down at Chanyeol, daring him to do anything that could cause her to topple over and embarrass herself in public.

Chanyeol immediately shrunk back, not daring to ignite Soojung’s fury. Realising his bad posture, he straightened himself, only to let out a gasp of betrayal as he caught Hayoon sneaking the super spicy seasoning into the trolley.

“Et tu, Brute?”

Hayoon remained unfazed, pushing her falling glasses up her nose and simply shrugged her shoulders.

“The spicier the better.”

・・・

Finally, the four friends left the supermarket after buying all the groceries needed for tacos night. The tradition of having weekly dinners started back in first year. Coming from different departments, the four friends had virtually no classes in common, thus Soojung declared they needed a weekly commitment for bonding — and for her to vent on her latest poor choices in men. The gathering always took place at Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s place, as the two childhood friends rented a place together off campus, while Soojung and Hayoon lived in student residence. The two boys were more than happy to host the gathering because, well, their cooking skill were simply abysmal. Thus decent home-cooked food was welcomed at any given opportunity.

Soojung was a wild card when it came to her culinary skills. If given a recipe that was not too complicated, she could produce something edible enough. However there was still the incident where she managed to make milk catch on fire. To this day it remains a mystery how that happened.

So by default, Hayoon was the unofficial cook of the group. Baekhyun was weary at first. To his horror, Hayoon had a tendency to go astray from recipes and simply throw things in the pan on a hunch, ignoring measurements.

“Numbers are annoying. Don’t wanna deal with them.”

This was Hayoon’s response to why she never checked her measurements. The others stared at her trying to see any hint of jest, but no, her response was completely serious. Chanyeol blamed it on Hayoon being a Film Studies student, spending too much time reading and analysing theory and philosophy of filmmaking, thus frying her brain. Soojung did not really care since the food Hayoon made always satiated her hunger. Baekhyun on the other hand felt torn on how to even respond to that. What even? His brain going into override trying but failing to decipher the mechanism of Hayoon’s logic.

That was more than two year ago. Now, the four friends were well into their third year, their schedules busier than ever. Their weekly dinners consequently turned into something more sporadic. So when they did manage to all gather, it was simply that much more special. So special that it was even worth facing the cold winter evening air.

“Three more months, and it will be the end of our third year.”

The other three turned their gaze towards Soojung who in turn was looking up at the darkening skies. Indeed, Christmas was soon approaching, and once they returned from the winter holidays, they would be facing end of year exams. Then they would bid goodbye to their lives as third year students, welcoming instead the last door of their undergraduate career. None of them were yet ready to contemplate their next step in life.

The temperature had dropped significantly over the last week. A gentle but sharp breeze blew past, causing Soojung to shiver on the spot. Chanyeol instinctively unwrapped his own scarf and placed it on Soojung instead. The girl took it gratefully, enjoying the soft touch of the wool scarf.

“So not fair you giant, what about me? I’m freezing too! And what about Sunshine here?” Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol indignantly. “Actually, I take that back, Sunshine here already has the core temperature of the Arctic. I  on the other hand, demand to be pampered with love and warmth!”

Hayoon gave Baekhyun her coldest and emptiest stare, a stare which ‘digs right through me and disintegrates my