Chapitre Cinq

>Baby, we're too far gone<

MinNeul

One late evening, MinNeul got off early from her work, thanks to her head chef’s generosity. She’d been working so hard lately that he thought it wouldn’t hurt to let her go back a tad bit earlier. MinNeul thanked him excitedly, bid the other cooks goodbye before rushing out of the restaurant from the back door, and hurried to the one place she was dying to go.

It was none other than JongIn’s place.

He felt bad for not showing up at the movie the other day, and after apologizing so many times, he decided to make up for it by having another movie night at his place, and in exchange MinNeul promised him a home cooked dinner, since JongIn often ate outside or just instant food latterly.

She already had the ingredients sent to his home, and by the time she got there, JongIn was home too, much to her relief. He was getting busier by the day, which made it harder for them to see each other. Every now and then, MinNeul thought, that they communicated a whole lot more when she was at the States compared to when she was home right now.

But she wouldn’t complain. What mattered most was that she was with JongIn, and as far as work was concerned, she had to give and take a little. JongIn’s company was a huge one, and a growing one at that, so it was only natural that it needed most of JongIn’s attention.

“Hi, MinNeul!” JongIn greeted her excitedly as she took off her shoes and gave him a hug. “Again, I am so sorry for missing that movie the other day. I know how much you’ve been looking forward to it and that we had planned it for a few weeks but I really couldn’t afford to miss the meeting.”

He apologized for the thousandth time, MinNeul thought, and she just patted his shoulder with a warm smile. “And again, I’ve told you that it’s okay. It’s just a movie, JongIn; we can always get a DVD and watch it together some other day.”

Ruffling her hair, JongIn flashed a wide grin before MinNeul head to the kitchen to start preparing their dinner. She asked him what he wanted to eat and he said anything was fine. Considering the time, MinNeul decided to make a quick Coq au Vin, which according to her own recipe would only take 45 minutes, the original one be damned.

The normal Coq au Vin would take about four hours, and MinNeul improvised it in her own way, resulting it to take only 45 minutes. She prayed so hard that her French head chef won’t find out about this, otherwise he’ll definitely scream at her or chase her around with a knife.

As she was cooking, she looked back at the living room once in a while, since JongIn was so quiet, to see whether he was sleeping. Back then, JongIn used to mess around with her in the kitchen, usually not helping like MinHyuk.

He would ask what and why and how about everything she was doing in the kitchen, and as much as it was annoying at first, she found it amusing then. It seemed that he had nothing to do and was so bored that he just had to disturb MinNeul even though that will cause their meal to be done rather late.

However, he hadn’t stepped in the kitchen at all that entire evening, which was quite few and far between, as it was one of his hobbies to distract MinNeul in the kitchen. She peeked back and discerned that he was occupied with his phone on the couch, ignoring the tele completely.

It must be his work again, MinNeul thought, hurrying up with her cooking. She began to wonder whether it was a good decision to come that day, but JongIn himself said that it was okay, so she shouldn’t feel like she was bothering him.

Miraculously, the Coq au Vin was done just about the time MinNeul expected it to be finished. She carried the pot to the dining table, feeling a bit proud of herself to manage this in within an hour. She’d never worked that fast before but oh well, things happen.

“JongIn, dinner’s ready! Sorry it took so long.” MinNeul called from the dining table, but no answer was forthcoming from her boyfriend. “JongIn?” She called again, and finally after the third time, JongIn heard her and scrambled to his feet with a flustered expression.

“Sorry, MinNeul. I got a little distracted. Oh, dinner is ready!” He sat at the dining table across from MinNeul, and smelled the aroma coming out from the hot pot. “This smells so good! What is this?” He asked, curious about how it was going to taste. “I can just leave it to you when it comes to surprising me with food.”

“It’s called Coq au Vin ala MinNeul.” She said, scooping some chicken and brown butter sage mashed potato onto a plate and handed it to JongIn. “It’s supposed to take hours but I rushed it into 45 minutes. Don’t worry; it will still taste as good.”

“I know it will, and I don’t think I even want to try pronouncing the name.” JongIn said and started eating. A look of delight plastered all over his face as he made the yummy sound, making MinNeul feel extremely pleased when someone enjoyed her cooking. There was nothing more that a chef could’ve asked for other than seeing people loved your food, and savored every bite of it.

A lot of love, care and respect were put into each and every meal that MinNeul made, and she always hoped that those three things were always visible on the plate. Her principal was simple: treat the ingredients with respect, pour a lot of love into it and people could see the reflection of herself in every meal that she served.

MinNeul had been watching JongIn ate for a good five minutes before she picked up her own spoon. And just as she was about to eat, a phone jingled, and at first MinNeul thought it was hers when JongIn said it was his phone receiving a text message.

MinNeul just nodded and tried to make some conversations but the damned phone was always interrupting, dinging every few minutes, and JongIn just had to answer the texts while he was eating. She groaned inwardly and glared at JongIn’s iPhone 6. I feel like I am the third wheel right now.

Instead of getting frustrated, MinNeul took a deep breath, put on an oh-so sweet smile, and asked, “Is it your secretary, JongIn?” She asked, cursing herself for trying to sound nice and sweet. But she cannot let her irritation show.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, it is. He needs an advice on something. We’ve been working on a project, a big one, so yeah everyone’s head is just full of it lately.” He said, not even lifting his eyes from the phone. MinNeul only nodded and simply ate her dinner, since she was actually starving at the moment. She couldn’t help but hope that the phone won’t ring anymore, and just let JongIn eat his own dinner and let the two of them communicate. There hadn’t been a lot of communications going on between the two of them lately, and MinNeul wanted to improve that.

After dinner, MinNeul cleared the table, with the help of JongIn before he got distracted with his phone again. But at least JongIn ate all of his dinner and even had seconds too.

Once she’d washed the last plate, she walked back to the living room, only to see JongIn’s depressed face. Concern started to conceal MinNeul upon seeing his sad face, hence she asked, “What’s wrong? Is anything wrong?”

JongIn sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I need to go to the company right now. I’m sorry, MinNeul, I know I promised that we’d watch something tonight but I really need to be there.” He explained dejectedly, and despite her disappointment, MinNeul couldn’t help but to pity him. This new project must’ve been driving him crazy.

She just nodded her head with a small smile that didn’t quite reach her ears. “It’s okay, JongIn. I understand. It’s work anyway, right. It isn’t your fault that you need to give all your attention to it.” She said, trying not to sound as sad as to not make JongIn feel bad.

JongIn only looked at her apologetically. “I’m truly sorry. You got off early from work and made me dinner and now I have to leave you again for work. Do you need me to send you home?” He asked, and MinNeul shook her head as an answer.

“I’ll be fine. You just go get changed.  I’ll wipe the table and see myself out.” She said, and JongIn smiled at her gratefully. After apologizing again and thanking her for being so understanding, JongIn rushed to his bedroom to take a quick shower and change clothes, while MinNeul quickly wiped the table.

By the time she was done, JongIn was still in the bathroom and since she said that she could see herself out, she grabbed her bag and walked to the front door, when JongIn’s phone dinged again. She stopped on her tracks and wondered whether she should tell JongIn that a new message just came in, and in the end decided to give the phone to JongIn, worried that it might be important or perhaps JongIn didn’t need to go to the office after all.

She picked up the phone and was about to knock on JongIn’s bedroom door when it jingled again, and a preview of the text was displayed in the front screen. MinNeul unintentionally read what was on the screen, as it was quite natural that JongIn allowed her to read his texts before, and now she really wished that she didn’t.

MinNeul froze like a statue with her one hand in mid-air, which meant to knock JongIn’s door. Her eyes were glued to the phone screen even after it went black, and everything around her seemed to stop. Her hand that was holding the phone was trembling, and instead of feeling scared that the expensive phone might fall onto the floor, she just wished to chuck it across the room and let it be broken into pieces.

She knew the phone had been irritating her since the minute she arrived, and she hated it even, and now, she had all the more reason to loath it even more.

She took a few steps back from the door and listened as JongIn’s shower had stopped, and she waited until JongIn got out of his bedroom to know what was really happening. She could’ve walked away, and erase him from her life forever, but it wasn’t that simple.

They had been together for five years, and she couldn’t let all those things they shared be lightly forsaken.

JongIn then got out of his room, freshly showered and nicely dressed. Had she been a fool, she wouldn’t have thought that JongIn’s attire at the moment was definitely not for going to the office.

JongIn was stunned to see MinNeul standing in front of his bedroom door, as he’d expected her to be on her way home already. And the look on her face suggested that something was wrong too.

“MinNeul? Why are you still here? Do you want me to drive you home now?” He asked, putting on a jacket. MinNeul didn’t say anything and unlocked his phone, which had no password or code and whatnot. Idiot should’ve at least set some privacy on his phone.

JongIn’s eyes widened when he saw his phone in MinNeul’s hand, especially when she showed the latest message that came in. He looked flustered almost instantly while MinNeul still had a cold look on her face, which didn’t show how much she was hurting right now.

She didn’t want to cry in front of this man. She didn’t want him to see her getting weak. He was the one who did wrong, not her, and the lea