TAEYEON - I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFEU_lY58p4

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Around the evening, after dinner time, the restaurant cooled down and went back to its normal hustle and bustle. There were no longer any line ups at the door of hungry customers, and you were finally able to go on your fifteen minute break. You were planning to ask more questions to Mingyu, but remembered during the busy fuss that your phone had been vibrating in your apron.

You pulled it out and saw that you had several missed calls from Kai.

*OHHH YOUU!* You glared at the name in betrayal.

You were so invested in your problematic situation with Mingyu that you had forgotten that Kai had ditched you last night. Instantly, the anger that you had felt yesterday has now returned. You clicked call on his contact name, and your phone started ringing. As you left the store to have a quick chat with Kai, you saw Mingyu look at you with hopeful eyes.

Instead of saying anything to him, you just mouthed the words ‘I’ll be back, so be good’ in warning. You can sense the confusion in his eyes as he watched you exit through the doors.

After a couple of rings, the call went through.

“Thanks for picking up my phone call so quick,” said Kai sarcastically. His voice sounded husky, as if he had just woken up from a nap. “For all you know I could’ve died in these four hours!”

“Yeah okay, says the ditcher,” you replied with a thick tone of anger. Kai knew right away that you were upset by the way you emphasized the word ditcher.

“I’m sorrrrry, Hari! You know I am. I tried to call you at the club but I didn’t get any service up at the booth, and Hayoung had to go or else we would have been kicked out. And you already know painstakingly hard I am trying to keep Hayoung’s image perfect.” explained Kai.

You tapped your foot absentmindedly as you listened to him. Annoyance was etched all over your face at the mention of Hayoung. What you wanted to say was, “Listen here buddy, why do you have to take care of her image for? Are you getting paid to take care of her like a slave? ON YOUR BIRTHDAY, TOO? Are you getting satisfaction from watching her pounce between you and her boyfriend, Youngjae? Give it up, Kai. Just ing give her up.”

But what you actually managed to say, or get out of your throat was something that was between a groan and a hrrrmpph! You didn’t need to translate that to Kai to let him know that you did NOT forgive him at all.

“I know, I know! I deserve your silent treatment for ignoring you all night, but let me make it up to you tonight, yeah?” asked Kai. You hesitated for a second, tempted by the idea of having some one on one time with Kai, but quickly let the thought diminish and shook your head in refusal. As much as you wanted to spend time with Kai, you already told Mingyu that you would listen to his explaination. Not many keep their words, but you were a strong believer in keeping yours. “No, no, no. Not tonight, maybe tomorrow.”

There was a pause on the other line.

“Are you that mad at me, that you don’t even want to see your favourite person in the world?” He was frowning and you just knew it. Part of having best friend instinct is knowing when exactly your best friend was smiling and frowning, even when you weren’t physically in front of them. You could just hear it in their voice and know.

“We will hang tomorrow and you may beg for my forgiveness, alright?” You suggested.

“Why not tonight? You usually never refuse my apologetic offerings.”

“I…” You looked behind your shoulder and saw that Mingyu was staring back at you with his palm in his cheeks. When he caught your eyes, he smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. You grimaced at the action and glanced away. “…I’ve just got some things to do.”

After thinking it through and knowing that you usually never refuse him unless you were really busy, Kai finally said, “Alright, fine. Tomorrow I will pick you up from class and have our much needed best friend date, okay?”

You couldn’t help but crack a small smile. “All on you though!”

Kai laughed in agreement, “All on me. See you tomorrow beautiful!”

“Yaya, see ya loser!” You hung up on him first. Despite trying to be cool about it, once you hung up on him, you spun around in excitement and clapped your hands against your cheeks. It had been awhile since it had been just you two. With college and work in the way, hanging out with friends just wasn’t like how it was back in high school.

There was a knock coming from the glass window. You opened your eyes to see Mingyu with his palms against the glass, staring at you with a tilted head.

The smile vanished off from your face and a frown soon replaced it. *Keep it cool, Shin Hari. This kid must not know your weakness.* You rubbed your arms for warmth and coolly walked back into the Noodle Bar, clearing your throat as you passed by Mingyu. 

About a couple of hours later, the store was finally closing for the day. You and Rijin mopped up the floors and wiped every table and counter in the store, while the cooks cleaned the kitchen. Usually everyone left on time, but your Boss usually ushered all of you out of the store whenever he count