Minjeong groaned.

She didn’t know if she was confident enough with her performance in their Tax quiz.

Yes, she pulled an all-nighter, alright, but Minjeong’s mind shut down for about an hour when she got home. In addition to that, she kept spacing out every ten minutes or so, her mind more focused on what just transpired during her late-night trip to the supermarket, than on the words printed in her open Taxation textbook.

It didn’t help that the piece of paper slipped in her hand turned out to be the cashier’s number.

“But you can call me… tonight.”

Just who did that cashier thought she was to mess with Minjeong’s head like that?

The quiz was just pre-diagnostic, which Minjeong was thankful for, because that meant there were no computations yet. Part one of the quiz was multiple choice, which Minjeong thought was very God-sent, and a life-saver. Part two was true or false, which was a fifty-fifty percent chance of getting the answers right per item. Part three however, was her much-dreaded enumeration part. Surely enough as she had expected the previous night, the instruction was to list the ten items of the most common fringe benefits. If she could get all ten right for this part of the quiz, she would have a high chance of passing the quiz. Minjeong could have aced that part, but weirdly enough, her pen stopped writing when she was about to fill up the blank for number six.

She still needed five more. She stopped and went over the items she had listed so far. Minjeong’s eyebrows furrowed.

This can’t be right.

While she knew that there would be a tendency for her to forget some of the items, Minjeong didn’t expect that what she would be forgetting are the first five items on the list. She tried racking her brain hard, desperate to remember the first five items she easily memorized and recited last night even when she went to the supermarket.

The supermarket.

That’s right.

She had to remember. She didn’t pull an all-nighter just to forget the very part she so much focused on. Minjeong knew she dedicated majority of the time to memorizing those ten items because she was sure it would come out in an enumeration part. She at least should get that part right. She closed her eyes, but despite her efforts in trying, all she could remember were—

"Good evening, ma'am."

“That will be 2810 won.”

“The supermarket closes at 10 p.m.”

“My shift ends late on Sundays. But if you come back tomorrow, you can then ask me out on a date because my shift ends at late afternoon.”

“But you can call me… tonight.”

Minjeong wanted to slam her head against the wall. Those were definitely not the five items she wanted to recall. Her eyes momentarily caught sight of the last part of instructions for the third part.

Two points each.

That was also the moment Minjeong knew that she ed the quiz up.

-

“Oh my gosh, Minjeong, I have a chance!” Yizhuo happily skipped towards Minjeong right after the quiz, expecting her be in high spirits just like her, only to be surprised to see her with a long face instead. “What’s wrong?”

“I think I ed up in the quiz.”

“No you didn’t. You always do better than me in Tax, and I’m feeling good about this quiz, even though what I’m only sure about is the enumeration portion. That was the only part I reached before I completely fell asleep. Good thing each item was good for two points. I left part one and part two up to luck.” Yizhuo giggled.

“That’s the point. I… forgot five items in the enumeration part.”

“Which ones did you forget?”

“The first five.”

There was silence.

“Minjeong, you’re kidding me, right?”

“I wish I was.”

Yizhuo found the scenario weird. Very weird.

That chapter had twenty-seven pages, and the fringe benefits were enumerated on the second page. It was also the very same page she ended up sleeping on right after. The first five items were short and very easy to memorize, except maybe for the fifth one, which was a bit long. Yizhuo thinks getting that item wrong was very plausible. She wouldn't question if Minjeong forgot the last five items as well because they were longer and much more tricky to memorize, but missing five items… and the first five at that. She thinks it was so not Minjeong.

“Ugh, whatever.” The blonde buried her face in her hands. “that topic anyway.” She then stood up. “Let’s just go.”

Yizhuo grabbed Minjeong’s hand, pulling her towards the school gate. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

"Somewhere fun."

-

“Why are we in the supermarket?” This was one of the places she least expected Yizhuo to bring her when she said somewhere fun.

“Apparently, my mom texted me last night to also buy some onions and tomatoes, but I was already dashing home when I received it, so I’m buying it today. She ain’t going grocery shopping ‘til Saturday.” Yizhuo answered as she took a basket from the pile by the entrance.

The blonde girl silently followed her shorter friend, until she noticed that the vegetables section was on the opposite side of the supermarket.

“Yizhuo, the onions and tomatoes are over there.” She pointed behind her, but the shorter girl paid no mind and just continued walking to the opposite direction, eyes seemingly finding something else. Yizhuo’s eyes lit up for a second when she seemed to have found something interesting, turning right to head inside one of the isles.

“Yizhuo…” She mindlessly followed the other girl.

“Hm?”

“I thought we were here to buy onions and tomatoes.”

“We are.” She replied, not even bothering to spare her a glance.

“Then why are we in the chips section?”

“We’re just taking a detour.” The other girl answered while reading the contents of the bag of chips she was currently holding. “Ooh this is a new flavor.”, she mumbled to herself before dropping it inside the basket soon after.

“Didn’t you just buy chips yesterday?” Minjeong asked as they took a couple of steps forward.

“Yeah but since I finished the project for BusCom yesterday, I’m free to spend my night however I want. I’m gonna continue watching Penthouse later, so I’m gonna need more.” Two additional bags of chips were added inside the basket by the time they reached the end of the isle. They turned to the very next isle, filled with rows of different kinds and brands of chocolates.

“Since you’re down because of our Tax quiz, how about you choose any chocolate you want? My treat.”

“Really??” The blonde's eyes lit up.

“Yeah, go ahead. I hate seeing you moping.”

Minjeong’s eyes scanned the seemingly endless display of chocolates, slightly agape that she almost drooled. They stopped on one particular brand that she hasn’t eaten in a while, and smiled as she reached for one bar of Twix, before walking over to where her friend was to drop it inside her basket.

Yizhuo picked up three chocolate bars herself before finally heading over to the vegetables section.

Minjeong turned her head to the side to look at the frozen goods, silently debating whether to buy some ice cream herself or not, unaware that Yizhuo suddenly stopped walking right in front of her, causing her to bump into her friend's back.

“Hey, why did you s—"

“Oh my God!”

“What?”

“It’s mom!”

The shorter girl grabbed her wrist and pulled her to hide behind the stacks of canned goods with her. Minjeong peeked a bit, and for sure, Yizhuo’s mother was right there, in front of the vegetables section, trying to pick the best tomatoes from the bunch.

“I thought you said she won’t be shopping ‘til Saturday?”

“That’s what she said! I probably should’ve told her I’d drop by the supermarket to buy those vegetables today.” She heard her sigh. “She can’t catch me buying all these snacks and junk.”

“Then let’s just put these back and go.” Minjeong moved to stand, but the other girl quickly pulled her back down.

“No! Are you serious? She’ll ask for the change from last night later when she comes home!”

“And?” The blonde raised an eyebrow.

“And that’s what I’ll be using to pay for these snacks today, before I give the change