Chapter 4

                On some days, business would be slow at the cafe and the staff had already gotten used to that. But for some reason, this day seemed slower than all the other days they've been working there.

                "Today's been unusually quiet," Victoria, one of the few female servers of the cafe, pointed out. "Have any of you guys seen Taemin?"

                The staff present in the room shook their heads and Onew replied, "Come to think of it, no one's complained to me at 10 in the morning about how tiring the day has been." Looks of amusement, curiosity and worry dawned on the servers' faces. "Sulli, do you have any idea where he is?"

                The girl in question had been staring off into space, (she was daydreaming about Minho again) and answered her sunbae, "Aniyo…” Onew thought that he saw a look of concern on Sulli’s face, but he wasn’t sure if he was imagining things or not. “When I didn’t see him this morning, I assumed that he’d just slept in again. But at this time of day, he would’ve already texted me if he was still going to work or not.”

                “Well, I can’t possibly imagine him having the energy to text you in the state he’s in right now.” The employees all turned around to see the manager (who has once again suddenly appeared out of nowhere) sitting on one of the corner tables of the room while drinking something that appeared to be a mug of black coffee.

                “What do you mean by ‘the state he’s in right now’?” After she had said this, Onew was now sure that there was a look of unmistakable concern plastered on Choi Jin Ri’s face, as well as in her voice.

                “He came down with a really high fever just last night. One of the maids was trying to call him down for dinner, but he wasn’t answering. So she went to check up on him, and well, you can imagine what happened next.”

                The room was silent.

                “Is… Is he okay? Who’s taking care of him at the moment? Aren’t his parents on some European business trip or something?” Sulli was very much aware of this because for the past weeks, Taemin had been gushing to her about how his parents would be going to Paris and about how they’d be bringing home some very delectable French treats for him to devour.

                The manager nodded her head to confirm that the boy’s parents were indeed currently not in the vicinity. “He didn’t want to stay in a hospital so I had their family doctor come over.” Sulli was also conscious of the fact that Taemin hated hospitals and that he was probably being nursed at his home, but she just had to know and make sure that the boy was being properly taken care of. “The doctor told me that there’d be a personal nurse coming over to attend to him.”

                The girl still wasn’t at ease despite the assurances of the manager that Taemin was in good hands, and Jung Juri noticed this. With a sigh she said, “Take the day off, Sulli.” The wink that came with this statement told Sulli that she was being given permission to visit the ailing pabo.

                With a smile of thankfulness, the girl sped off to Lee Taemin’s house.

               Back at the cafe...

               “Wait just a second. Did I just hear the words European business trip, maid, personal nurse and family doctor in that conversation? Words which are usually associated with rich folk? And in a conversation that was centered around Taemin?” Jo Kwon, who was (miraculously) silent for the whole duration of the exchange between the two women, finally voiced out what he was thinking.

                “Have I forgotten to mention that my nephew is actually the son of one of the leading businessmen in the world? And that he is the son of the most renowned fashion designer in all of Asia?”

                Mouths were agape, and eyes were wide with incredulity. All of the employees had one collective train of thought:

                 That guy, rich?

                The manager answered the question that was supposedly next to come on the employees’ minds: If he was rich, then why would he have to work in a place like this?

                “He only ever goes here to work so that he could spend time with Sulli. His parents would much rather prefer for him to model their designs or be a trainee in their businesses, but he just wouldn’t agree to any of it.”

                 Smirks were abound in the room. Figures.

                “But of course, the dear girl thinks that he just works here because he has nothing better to do.” Jung Juri was very amused as she said this. “Aigoo, what am I going to do with those two?”