chapter.6  »  you've got everything.

The next day arrived, and I was getting ready to meet up with Kyungsoon about where I could start working next.  She said a bunch yesterday, but I forgot them all because of her poor reception.

“Prince, come here,” I called out and he came running down the hallway to the kitchen.  I brought down his plate and he started eating.  His strange actions yesterday threw me off, but I was glad he was back to his normal self.

While Prince ate, I took the time to change into a nice outfit.  I had my own definition of nice: a shirt, jeans, backpack, and... that was about it.  My hair was tied in a messy bun, and I could careless.  The place where Kyungsoon and I were meeting was not formal anyway.

“I'll be back soon, Prince.  Wait for me, okay?  Don't make a mess here.”  I placed Prince's water next to his food plate.  He stopped eating and looked back up at me.

I turned around and made my way to the door.  Some mysterious force told me to turn around, and so I did, and was presented with Prince's sparkling doggy eyes.  His head was tilted to the left and the tip of his tongue was hanging out, and I knew I had to convince him  that he couldn't come with me.

When Soojin said she'd be back soon, both my human and animal instincts kicked in.  I didn't want her to leave, for some reason.  Or maybe I didn't want her to leave without me.  But either way, I had a feeling I didn't want to be left alone.

I had no idea how to tell a human I didn't want them to go, but my dog instincts said I should act cute.  My head tilted to the left on its own, and my tongue came hanging down from my mouth while I huffed.

Soojin picked me up.  “You really want to come with me?”

I answered her by snuggling her wrist.  She pulled me close to her chest and went back inside to clean up after my plates.  Then, with me still snuggled close to her, we exited the house.

I guessed dogs really did have a natural irresistible cuteness.

I ended up taking Prince with me to the restaurant.

It was a good thing they let pets inside.  I half-expected to have a restaurant staff block the entrance for me and notify me that I couldn't take Prince inside, but nobody did that.  Prince just looked around the restaurant, cradled in my arms, without the desire of jumping out and running around the place.  That was what surprised me.

After a good minute of looking for an empty table, I found one right next to the window and sat down.  I placed Jinki on the cushioned bench and he just kept on sitting there, his head laying on his legs.

A waitress arrived at my table, pulling out a small paper pad and a pen.  “Would you like to order anything, ma'am?  Do you have anyone with you?”

“I'm actually waiting for someone.”  I smiled.  “I might order later.  Thank you, though.”

The waitress nodded her head and bowed a little, walking over to the next table that had one of the customers raising their hand up in the air to get her attention.  I tapped the wooden table with my nails and traced over the pattern on the red tablecloth to keep myself busy.  I checked my phone, but there weren't any texts or missed calls.

Soon, a frantic-looking girl entered the restaurant.  I knew it was Kyungsoon since that was the way she acted every time she was late for something.

She sat down across from me, panting.  “Oh my goodness, how long did I make you wait?  I'm so, so, so sorry—”

I chuckled lightly.  “It's alright, Kyungsoon, don't worry.  I didn't wait that long.”

“Thank goodness.”  Kyungsoon blew air out of , relieved.  “Well, would you like to order something?”

“Oh, sure.  Waitress?”  I tried to regain the attention of the previous waitress, but she was busy arranging the orders of the large group she was serving.

A different waitress came to us, pen and paper ready at hand.  “Would you like to order anything, madams?”

“Can I have raspberry tea, please, iced?  And a medium slice of cheesecake.”  Kyungsoon said expertly, and I had an idea it wasn't her first time at the restaurant.

“Yes, ma'am.”  The waitress turned to me.  “And you, ma'am?”

“Iced raspberry tea, as well, please.  And... do you have any other cake flavors?”

“Yes, ma'am.  We have cheesecake, red velvet, vanilla, chocolate, kiwi, and lemon meringue.”

They all sounded good, but I chose my favorite.  “Lemon meringue, please, medium slice.”

“Be right away, madams.”  The waitress her heel and brought our orders to the counter in the middle of the restaurant and continued serving other customers.

“So, you said you're trying to look for a new job?”  Kyungsoon turned to me, her eyes stating business.

We started talking even before our orders came.  Ten minutes passed and our orders arrived.  She suggested a lot of places for me, but most of them I disagreed with.  Her suggestions were either too far from where I lived, or located at a place where it was normally... disorganized.  Crime capital, as some would say.

“Well, this is the last one I got for you.”  Kyungsoon took a sip of her tea, which was half-empty.  “It's also a small restaurant, almost a café.  It's near where you live, and from what I've heard from my friends, they pay really well.”

Her hand rummaged through her purse and she pulled out a card, sliding it across the table for me to read.  I picked it up, analyzing everything written on it.  ‘Sweet Swirls Café’.  The name rang a bell in my head.  I had heard it was somewhat a rival of the previous café I worked at.

“I'll consider it, starting tomorrow.”  I nodded my head and stuffed it in my backpack.  “Thank you so much for your help, Kyungsoon.  I appreciate it.”

“Oh, no, don't thank me.  Thank the café for having to renovate their place and hire new people.”  She ate the last piece of her cake.  “And you know what else?”

“Hm?”  I took a sip of my tea, looking at Kyungsoon at the same time.  She dabbed the edge of her lips with a napkin and gulped, and I knew whatever she was going to say was something... gossipy.

“I heard a lot of cute guys visit that café,” she said it in almost a whisper, a wide grin spreading across her face.

I shook my head, smiling a little.  “That's none of my business.  I'm going to be there to work and earn money, not to meet ‘cute’ guys.”

“You are such a grandma!”  She slammed the table lightly and I laughed at her, throwing my head back.  “Seriously, Soojin, it's about time you get a boyfriend or you'll end up dying a .”

“That's completely fine with me.”  I laughed before I took another sip of my tea.

Suddenly, Prince started barking.  A few customers turned to look at our table.  I picked him up and rubbed his head, trying to calm him down.  When I had gotten him calmed, he whimpered and nuzzled my chest.

“And I didn't even notice?!”  Kyungsoon shrieked, surprised I had a dog sitting beside me the entire time we were talking.  “He looks cute!  Where'd you get him?”

“It's a long and weird story,” I replied, cradling Prince Jinki to make him feel okay again.

I swore on my mentor's left toe, if anybody ever tried to make a move on Soojin...

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

update!  heehee.  i had this actually checked off as 'hide chapter' in the weekend, but now i'm publishing it!  lol xD so i'm planning for one of the mr. cute guys at the café to be one of the SHINee members, too.  maybe jonghyun?  hmmm.  what do you guys think?  well, thank you for reading!  *heart over head*

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