And with a proverbial ‘Poof!’ Wendy was gone.

  Both the room and Seulgi are feeling empty. The nurses chase everyone out of the room to clean it up for the next guest. They were gentle but firm. They didn’t need the room, so they had to get out. No hospital could waste space or time, after all.

  On the way to the car, Seulgi tried to contact Soo-Young again and failed again.

  She called the restaurant that Soo-Young worked at and spoke to the manager. He said that he had not seen her in the st two days, which was not too worrying as they were her days off. Seulgi thanked the manager and hung up.

  “OK, Yeji, is there anything that you need to do before Bhuwakul and I drop you off?”

  “How long do you think we’ll need to do the buddy system? Because if you have the time, I’d like to go to the store and stockpile a bit.” Holding up her damaged hand to show why she’d like to avoid going out if she could avoid it.

  Getting a few days’ worth of dry things to make it easier to cook would be a good idea for the other two is a good idea, as well.

  They trooped down to Seulgi’s car. After checking the surroundings, they buckled up and went to the store. Bhuwakul sat in the front passenger seat. Normally, he would yield the seat to whoever was with them, but these are not normal circumstances. The rapid exit of Wendy and her family showed this. Bhuwakul made a mental note to remind Seulgi to call Katie with this update if she forgets. Seulgi is not an airhead by any means, but there have been too many things going on recently to remember everything.

  As they got to the store, they all three got baskets. Realizing that they would probably get more than a basket's worth, they put the baskets back and got trollies. When Yeji reached for one, Bhuwakul, of all people, spped her hand away and said that he would be her hands.

  Yeji started to bristle at this, then realized the futility of trying to argue with him. Especially when he was right. They split the cart in half so they could both get things. Yeji shyly thanked Bhuwakul for his consideration before they even started.

  Three people, two trollies, and they went aisle by aisle to get things they would want for the next week.

  Seulgi had to get more than the others because a bag of cat kibbles and an extra box of litter could get bulky. That and she had to repce the stores that she had used on the Parents. So, it made it look like she ate more than both of the others combined.

  All three of them got simir things. Mostly dry things, grains in the form of rice, some fresh meats, and even more vegetables. Seulgi went ahead and got a couple of cake mixes and a brownie mix as well. If everyone was going to be eating in, she’d bring some desert things in, too to keep up morale. (It had nothing to do with her sweet tooth, thankyouverymuch.)

  They also stocked up on spices, sauces, and other odds and ends. They got basically everything they thought they might possibly need for the next week. They trooped up to the cashier whose eyes rounded slightly as the sheer amount presented. But, being a veteran clerk, it did not phase him much. Bhuwakul hip bumped Yeji out of the way when she tried to unload things. She gave in with as much grace as she could muster. Which, to be fair, was not too much.

  When he started putting his things on the conveyor belt, he said to the cashier that his was separate from hers. The cashier gave a hum and nod of acknowledgment and kept scanning things.

  Bhuwakul’s things were scanned, bagged, and paid for, then it was Seulgi’s turn. In order to be gracious, Bhuwakul tossed some light things Yeji’s way to let her bag some things, but he did the bulk of things.

  Once everything was organized, they put Yeji’s stuff in the back seat, and Bhuwakul’s and Seulgi’s stuff in the boot, separated by the cat litter and kibbles. Thus, they went to Yeji’s pce first. All three were very aware of the surrounding areas. Once at Yeji’s pce, both of the others grabbed all the bags and had Yeji lead on to her pce. She couldn’t have carried much on her own, so she surrendered to the inevitable. Before leaving her to her own devices, Seulgi hugged the smaller woman and told her she’d see her at work the next day.

  Next, Seulgi asked for directions to Bhuwakul’s pce. He started to object until she pointed out that he had a sizeable amount of things to take up as well. When he asked about how she pnned to get everything up herself, she pointed out that she had a whole hoard of guards who would be willing to help her. At that, he could not disagree, so he gave up and started giving directions.

  Seulgi, upon arrival, had some sadistic glee in watching Bhuwakul squirm between not wanting to let Seulgi carry anything and needing his hands free if something happened. She really should not have been this amused, but she couldn’t help it. It was really was unkind with all the things that he had done for her, but she couldn’t help it.

  In order to help him, she let him grab one handful of bags and she took the rest. They dropped everything off on the counters in the kitchen and he started leaving for the door.

  “Where are you going? Put your things away first.”

  While he complied, she took a look around his pce. Spartan was the first thing to come to mind. It was beyond minimalistic. She was not sure if this was the look of a soldier who was ready to deploy or the cell of a cenobite. She looked a bit harder and it was scrupulously tidy. No dirt or dust anywhere.

  She did not get too much time to look around because he had everything put away in a jiffy. Then he walked her down to her car and saw her off.