They turned around the block and saw the familiar shop with its loaf-shaped plate with the golden words in cursive writing, Nana’s Bakery. Just the sight of it made Jinah crack a smile. This was one of the most enjoyable shops at the markets and gave a pacifying, “homey” aura. Like a shop you’d find in a town where nobody locks their doors and has a picnic together every Sunday – girls wearing pink checkered dresses and boys wearing dark knee-length pants and light dress shirts, women in hats resembling a bird’s nests and feathers, dresses reaching just above the ground and men in longer dark pants but similar light-coloured dress shirts.

          When they opened the door, they were immediately welcomed with warmth and the smell of neither leather nor animal hide, but sweet, crisp baked goods.

            Jinah swerved around to the free sample desk and took a piece of a muffin. “I can never get enough of freshly baked muffins,” Jinah murmured, inhaling the warm blueberries and then eating it. She nodded in bliss, as if confirming the authentic goodness of it. She took another one and gave it to Luhan, who suddenly had a genius idea. He put his hands behind his back, bent down a little, and opened his mouth.

          Jinah gave him a warning frown, but he insisted by opening his mouth wider. She debated whether to shove it in his mouth or politely pop it in. The former was very tempting, but she chose neither. She forcefully took his hand so that his palm was facing up, and placed it in his hand. He blinked at her, dumbfounded. She patted his shoulder twice and walked past him. Luhan let something like a reverse-gasp out.

          Jinah went up to the bakery boy, and when she did, Luhan heard something that surprised him quite unpleasantly. “Hi, Taehyuk-oppa!” Jinah greeted him brightly.

          Taehyuk, who had seemed ultimately intimidated by Luhan when it was Jinah’s first at the markets, gave Luhan a polite bow before bravely grinning at Jinah. “Hey, Jinah. I’m guessing the usual?”

          “Yes, please.”

          Taehyuk gave her his friendly eye smile before he disappeared behind the curtain to relay the order. A few minutes later, with Luhan in silence and Jinah humming happily in thought of baked goods, Taehyuk came out with a white package with Nana Bakery’s symbol at the top. He then put a smaller white package on top. “Fourteen dollars, excluding the free dozen muffins,” Taehyuk simpered.

         Jinah put down twenty. “Fourteen dollars, including a generous donation.” She gave him a bright smile before picking up the two packages and leaving the shop.

         Taehyuk chuckled to himself. What an adorable girl. No wonder why she’s so fond of Jinah.

         “What? Oppa?” Luhan frowned when they were outside. “Taehyuk? The usual? What usual?” Luhan sounded calm, but it was pretty obvious that he was feeling irritated.

         “He’s older, his name is Taehyuk, and the usual order. Not that you would know what the usual order is since you never help out with the groceries,” Jinah stated firmly, although there was a hint of playfulness in her voice. His irritation bugged her, too, but she learned to be patient with Luhan. He must have a lot on his mind, being a Top Leader and everything. “Plus, Taehyuk’s nice. He wouldn’t do those gross things that Fang would do, so you can stop talking to me as if I did something bad.”

         However, it seemed as if Luhan didn’t catch onto the sarcasm, for his frown deepened and he sounded as if he was really scolding her. “Baekhyun and D.O already goes with you! What’s the point of me going too?”

         “What’s the point of you yelling at me like this?” Jinah retorted, feeling irked.

         “Hey, Luhan!”

         Jinah blinked several times at the female voice. Before she turned around, she glanced at Luhan who closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and when she finally looked to see where the voice came from, she saw two people that he wasn’t very happy to see – Xiumin and Tao – but with them was a really pretty girl in a beige mini-dress with her black hair in light curls and side bangs that were neater than Jinah’s. She had fairer skin, skinnier legs, and bigger eyes with full double eyelids. Holy she’s pretty, Jinah thought in her head.

          “Didn’t I tell you not to follow us?” Luhan said with his eyes closed, pinching his nose bridge and turning around, too.

          “The market’s a very wide area, Luhan,” Xiumin snapped. “Trust me, I didn’t want to meet you guys here.”

          “You must be the Pure Prix of Wolf,” the girl said to Jinah, an affable smile glowing her face. She stuck her hand out politely. “I’m Kim Aheun. Nice to meet you, sunbae!”

          Jinah choked on her own saliva. S-Sunbae? “I’m Shin Jinah,” she said, hesitant to take Aheun’s hand. Aheun blinked innocently in confusion. Not wanting to be rude, Jinah took Aheun’s hand awkwardly, but took it out rather quickly. Aheun seemed a little hurt by this rash action, but said nothing about it. “You can just call me Jinah,” Jinah said. “Not sunbae.”

          “Yeah, Aheun, you lack absolutely nothing compared to that girl, so there’s no need to call her ‘sunbae’ or to feel pressured,” Xiumin said.

          Aheun’s eyebrows furrowed slightly on her still-smiling face. “I have lots to learn from sun – Jinah. She’s a Pure Prix, isn’t she?”

          “I don’t really know what Pure Prix really even means,” Jinah said, scratching her cheek, mentally flinching at how she used “really” twice in the awkward sentence. “It means nothing to me so… yeah, you have nothing to learn from me. Don’t worry about it.”

          “More like she has to learn from you, Aheun,” Xiumin said with a smile.

          “Xiumin – !” Aheun squeaked, but was interrupted.

          “Xiumin you’re a jackass,” Luhan said. “Let’s go, Jinah,” he took Jinah’s wrist and walked away first.

          “Luhan!” Xiumin barked and then growled in frustration. “That bastard…”

          Aheun smiled, but she looked sad. “It’s okay, Luhan’s probably just shocked to see me. You didn’t tell him that I got accepted, right?”

          “I didn’t tell him… but not because you’re not important,” Xiumin said firmly. “I was just hoping it’d be a nice surprise to the gang. I didn’t know we’d meet him here… and her…”

          “He seems close with Jinah,” Aheun added, as if it was an afterthought, but both Xiumin and Tao knew that it wasn’t. “They kind of look like a couple, don’t you think?”

          “No!” Xiumin exclaimed. “No, no, no. They’re not a couple, don’t worry. I swear that’s not the case.”

          “I hope not,” Aheun replied honestly. She took a deep breath. “It’s going to be a long journey for me to get accepted by Wolf, right? I mean, Jinah seems wonderful… she’s really pretty and Luhan even –”

          “No it won’t be long,” Tao reassured her. “Aheun, you’re the most ideal Prix of DE. They’ll accept you in no time. Just be confident.”

          “Confident,” Aheun repeated. “Right. I just need to be confident.” She inhaled deeply and nodded to herself. “I can do this. Hey, does the gang like vegetable pancake and mackerel? I took extra cooking lessons during my extra training time of traditional Korean foods. Hopefully they’ll like it.”

          “We’ve been eating Jinah’s dog food this whole time. Your meal will be like heaven,” Xiumin encouraged.

          “Is Jinah bad at cooking?” Aheun asked genuinely. It was rare for her brother to insult someone so harshly. “You said ‘dog food.’”

          “She . I want to vomit every time I even see it,” Xiumin exaggerated, making Tao frown a little, but Tao couldn’t say anything. Not when he saw Xiumin looking down at his sister lovingly. It took them several years to be reunited like this, and Tao wasn’t going to selfishly break it. Not to defend someone who already had plenty of knights. Right now, Aheun and Xiumin needed support, and he’d play that role. “So don’t worry about it, sis,” Xiumin said, patting Aheun’s head and pulling her into a gentle hug. “You’ll be fine, I promise.”

          She smiled into his shoulder. “Thanks, Xiumin-oppa.”