Minho found himself getting more and more frustrated the busier it got, getting irritated with the customers who wanted fancy drinks, like the chain stores, or whining that their menu was outdated, or asked why none of the dishes matched. He became short with them and often lost his friendly demeanor until it hit the boiling point in the middle of one particular Thursday.

He had made a huge batch of blueberry muffins, mostly because they were easy enough to bake through out the day if needed, and they always seemed to sell. One girl who was already irritating Minho by talking on her cell phone while she ordered explaining she was in a 'homey' coffee shop that didn't even have foreign sizes available.  She was staring at the case that literally contained a choice of blueberry muffin or blueberry muffin, and taking her time deciding.  Finally, she looked at Minho and moved the phone a little ways from .

"You know, I’ve come here like a few times before class and it’s always blueberry, why don’t you like change it once and a while?"

"Why don't you go somewhere else?" Minho snapped. He watched the dull buzz behind her eyes flicker into annoyance.

"Excuses me?"

"I said, why don’t you go somewhere else? Go somewhere that has stupid sizes and a choice of muffins. Why do you keep coming here if all your going to do is complain about it?"

The girl raised her upper lip in disgust but couldn't think of anything to say after being yelled at.  Minho was about to keep going but her felt Amber's hand on his back pushing him out of the way.

"I think you need to take a break, like right now."

He was going to object due to the line but the whining noise now coming out of the girl made him head for the door.  He huffed in anger as he passed through the crowded line of people all on their phones and finally made it to the door.  He wretched off his apron and pushed through the door almost running right in to someone coming in.  He muttered a quick apology but stopped in his tracks when he saw the mess of light blonde being tossed in the wind.  Taemin stood on the other side of the door, wide eyed and startled.

His faced was wind kissed red, and his hair was tussled, but he wore the same big green coat and fluffy scarf as before.  "Are you okay?" he breathed. 

Minho simply stood there staring down at him.  He knew Taemin had asked him a question and he was also standing in the door way blocking everyone, but it was like his brain had shut down and was taking its time rebooting.  All that he could focus on was how he was several inches taller than Taemin, and he had never noticed before.

"Um, I uh, yeah, kind of, I was going to..." from inside the shop the girl was now making a scene complaining about how it wasn't right to make the customer feel stupid and how she wanted free coffee as an apology. Taemin looked past Minho to see the yelling girl. 

"I may have caused that," Minho muttered.  He saw an amused little smile touch Taemin's lips before he moved to the side and pulled Minho with him.  A moment later the whiny girl walked through the door holding a to-go cup and a little white bag still complaining on her phone.  She dropped the bag on one of the outside tables with a look of disgust before walking down the street.

"I owe Amber big time for dealing with that."

Taemin grabbed the bag the girl had left on the table and looked inside, face brightening immediately. "It's muffin day! And there are two." He told Minho like the barista would have no idea.  Minho couldn't help the smile that spread across his face at the innocence Taemin radiated.

"Do you want a mocha too?"

Taemin looked through the little window and saw the crowded entrance. "I think I can live with out it today."

"I was going to go pout by myself in my car," Minho gestured to the ally way in-between the cafe and the next building, "you are welcome to join me?" He instantly felt butterflies in his stomach in a wave of fluttering nerves as soon as the question left his lips.  But Taemin's genuine smile calmed everything.

"How can you pout with a muffin?" he walked closer to Minho and held out the bag to him, as if to prove there was one in there for him too. 

Minho's car was parked in one of the three spaces behind the building, and nothing special.  A beat up white civic made sometime before he was old enough to drive.  He recently cleaned out all the trash. He was silently thankful for the fact, as Taemin crawled into the passengers side and dropped his heavy bag on the floor in between his legs.  Minho got in the driver's seat and pushed it back away from the wheel. 

Taemin excitedly opened the bag once again and grabbed one of the muffins handing it to Minho before grabbing the other.  He stopped when he noticed Minho staring at him. "Is it okay to eat in here? I promise not to be messy."

Minho let out a small laugh and nodded.  It was amazing how just a moment ago he had been so emerged in his anger but now sitting in his car with this boy, it was like he didn’t even know what anger was.  Taemin took a huge bite of muffin, opening his mouth so wide he had to wink one of his eyes, like it would help.  Only he could make such a gesture look cute and somehow graceful, and as promised he caught the crumbs in his cupped hand under his chin.  He chewed slowly and stared at the muffin like a small animal, only looking at Minho after another large bite.

"Do you not want it?" he nodded at the snack Minho was just holding.  He shook his head, taking the bag off Taemin's lap and replacing the muffin.

"Do you know how many of those I have eaten?" Minho asked rhetorically.  Taemin nodded still chewing.

"I guess you're right. If I could actually cook good food I would it all the time. These are still my favorite by the way."

"Really? They are an original recipe so, I mean as much as you can alter a muffin recipe, anyways, I'm glad." Taemin smiled at him with his mouth full, and Minho saw the redness he had thought was caused by the wind hadn't gone away at all. 

"You're acting like you haven't eaten in days, I thought you said you reviewed food for a living?"

Taemin rolled his eyes dramatically, a few crumbs from his now empty hand. "I do, and I had consultation today at that new Italian place off the boulevard."

"And...?"

"And it was awful. They knew I was coming so they had one of everything made so I could try it all.  I only took like a bite or two of each because it all looked and tasted the same, but they paired each dish with a different wine, so I must have drank like a whole bottle by just taking sips." He leaned back in the car seat reliving his day, and looking exhausted all over again.

"So you're a little hammered right now?"

"Yep."

Minho couldn't help but laugh just a little, "I'm sorry you had a bad day. When will your review be out?"

Taemin pursed his lips and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. The owner of the restaurant is a niece or something of the magazine CEO so it'll have to be good otherwise I'd just get fired."

"Can you review it on your blog then?"

Taemin looked over at Minho with a questioning look. "I only put things I like on my personal page." He looked like he was going to say more, but another thought surfaced in his hazy mind and came out first. "What about you? Why'd you make that noisy girl mad?"

Minho scoffed, "she started it."

"Very mature."

"It's true. She came in there yakking on her phone and complaining about all the stuff that makes this coffee shop so unique. I hate that."

"So what'd you do?"

"I told her to go to a different coffee shop if she didn't like this one."

"Good. Place is too busy, your business is too good." Taemin stated, looking out the window at the brick wall as he spoke, and Minho couldn't tell if he was trying to be funny or just loosing his mind. 

"She told me to make stuff that didn’t always have blueberry for Thursdays." 

The look on Taemin's face was nearly heartbreaking.

"But, you always do, and I….look like stars..."  he started but no more words came out. He looked horribly conflicted and sad. “It’s why…” His eyes were beginning to droop and Minho couldn’t help but watch the adorable train wreck the boy had become.

"I'm not going to listen to her. You don't have to worry. I will keep baking blueberry things on Thursdays."

Taemin was silent, he sat with his hands folded around the paper bag. Tears had formed on his lower lashes and threatened to fall. "Promise?"

"What?"

"Do you promise to keep making blueberry things?"

"Yeah, I promise." Minho kept his voice quiet.

Taemin nodded, and wiped at his face before any of the tears fell. What ever it meant for Minho, be it tradition, hope, or standing his ground, the importance it held for Taemin seemed so much more heavy. 

"Hey, Amber pretty much kicked me out for the day, do you want me to take you home so you don’t have to get home drunk?"

"You sure, she'll be okay?"

"Yeah, she's amazing. I'll come back and do all the closing for her as an apology. But I can totally drive you home first."

Taemin rubbed at his eyes sleepily, belly full of muffin and the warmth of the car had really done him in. "I would really, really, love that."

Minho drove Taemin home needing to prompt him for directions every so often.  His apartment wasn't too far from the coffee shop but it was far enough that he certainly road the train after his coffee stop.  Taemin thanked Minho profusely as he stumbled out of the car, dragging his heavy bag, and even dropping it once before standing up right on the side walk.  He promised to repay Minho some how before starting his journey up the stairs.  Minho stayed parked on the curb until Taemin disappeared behind on of the doors facing the street. 

Smiling like an idiot as he replayed it all over in his head, he drove back to the coffee shop for a late night of closing.  As weird as their little conversation had been, Minho couldn’t help but feel a sense of reassurance. 

(A/N;  People on their cell phones in service lines drive me crazy! Don’t you agree? I actually will walk away from customers at my current job who are on their phones because those are the people who never want anything easy and get annoyed when you ask them questions. Also, the Taemin getting drunk situation is kind of a true story here, I went to an interview for a magazine a while back and I shadowed one of the reporters for the food articles and we went to a restaurant that knew she was coming and they gave us a bunch of alcohol, it was stupid. The food was so weird and so new-age and they paired everything with local brewed beers, which are like Russian roulette, they are amazing or awful. The whole interview was a nightmare lol.)