Baram pushed around the trolley through the fresh produce aisle of the supermarket, contemplating between choosing broccoli or zucchini. Weighting the two vegetables in her hands, she chewed on her lower lip, wracking through her brain looking for different recipes she could make with them.

“Broccoli is a good source of fibre.” A male voice interrupted her.

Without turning back to look at the owner of the voice, Baram put down the broccoli and threw the zucchini into her trolley instead.

“I feel like spicy pork and zucchini stew.”

Then shifting towards the meat section, Baram scrutinised the selection of pork, wondering which would be the ideal cut of meat. Sensing a body leaning closer towards her, Baram tightened her grip on her trolley and kept her face directed towards the meat display. Meanwhile, an arm extended forward, picking a package of sliced pork and threw it in Baram’s trolley.

“Did Mark tell you to babysit me or something Jinyoung?” Baram stated in a flat tone while pushing her trolley forward.

“Always good to be nice to a neighbour,” Jinyoung replied, pushing his trolley next to Baram's.

"Are you shopping for yourself or for work?”

“A bit of both,” Jinyoung sighed, grabbing a box of eggs along the way.

Baram motioned for the eggs as well and Jinyoung wordlessly passed her one.

“Do you guys all live around the neighbourhood?” Baram kept asking.

“Yeah pretty much. Jaebum has a fancy flat in Gangnam, though he often crashes at Mark’s when he can’t be bothered to go home.”

“Gangnam huh?” Baram hummed. “Rich boy.”

“Mark’s quite well off himself,” Jinyoung countered. “You can tell from his car.”

“I’ll make sure to ask him for a ride one of these days then.”

They were now in the fruit section and Baram was picking random items without paying much attention. Jinyoung kept his gaze on her, scrutinising her every action and the way she spoke. Despite how open she had been that evening at the speakeasy, Jinyoung knew that he had barely scraped the surface. Something told him that she was not going to share her full story any time soon; and that simply heightened his weariness towards the girl who Mark seemed to have allowed into his life all too easily.

“Do you guys get much trouble from drunk customers?” Baram suddenly asked, turning to face Jinyoung for the first time.

“Not really. Why, you worried?”

“Not me,” Baram quipped. “But my cop friend was not happy with my neighbourhood choice.”

Purposely mentioning having a cop friend, Baram lifted her head to look at the shelf of snacks behind Jinyoung, gauging his reaction. The male however maintained a pleasant pokerface, no hint of being perturbed or worried by her comment.

The buzzing of Baram’s phone however took them both by surprise.

“What is it Seulgi?” Baram answered her phone, a bad premonition rumbling in her gut. “They what? Do they seriously think we have no life outside of work goddamnit. Fine, I’ll be there in half an hour or so.”

Hanging up her phone, Baram gave Jinyoung tight smile.

“Work calls.”

Giving him a small wave, she quickly paid for her groceries and left. Jinyoung remained rooted in place, his mind still wondering about the cop friend that Baram had mentioned.

・・・