Chapter 4 – Small world of acquaintance

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Jinri silently sighed as she was late to go down to the restaurant. After she bought a coffee for herself, she quickly walked out of the Cafe shop only to run into a person, instantly she drenched her coat with the hot coffee she held.

"Omg Miss! I am so sorry!" exclaimed a voice.

Jinri glanced up at the person she had run into for a moment, taking in his horror-stricken face. She then frowned at the loss of her coffee. She didn't even notice the man had continued talking.

"I'll pay to have the coat cleaned. Geez! I'm such a clumsy." Said the man.

"Look it's okay." Said Jinri, waving her hand to decline. "There is no need to have my coat cleaned, I was just as much at fault as you, Mr.?"

"Taemin." replied the man, a concerned look on his face as he continued, "Lee Taemin."

Jinri quickly observed him. "Lee Taemin! You don't mean you are the city's food critic Lee Taemin, do you?!"

"Well yes, I am." Replied Taemin, kind of confused at her reaction.

Jinri's mouth instantly formed a perfect 'o' as what his answer finally sunk in after a few seconds of shock. She bit her lip out of nervousness, eyes were still wide and round.

Taemin cocked his head to the side as he smiled awkwardly. "Umm... your name?"

"Choi Jinri. The owner of Tastila." Whispered Jinri, taking in how his eyes instantly rounded in surprise about as much as hers did a few moments before.

"Wow!" Said Taemin, chuckling as he ran a hand through his hair. "Oh god! I am really, very sorry about your coat. I will personally pay for the dry-cleaning."

Jinri shook her head, smiling. "Not a big deal at all. It's washable. I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't."

"At least let me repay you for your lost coffee then." Said Taemin. "It's freezing out here."

Jinri took note of the cute smile on his face, not hiding those pair of attractive lips stretching more even wider. She glanced at her wristwatch. "Well, why not? But excuse me for a moment, I need to make a call first."

"Absolutely fine." Replied Taemin.

"Krystal!" said Jinri over the phone. "I'm so sorry, but I'm going to be late today."

Jinri heard Krystal chuckle on the other end. "I don't see why you bother coming in every day Jinri. It's not like we're swamped. Why don't you just take a day for yourself?"

Jinri stopped momentarily and took a look around her surroundings, finding Taemin was all smiling at her. She remembered the guy who had just given Tastila the good way of its future. Jinri thought of it was the perfect chance to reciprocate him and just for her, a day off would be really nice but then she thought of her restaurant, what about all of those orders and bills that needed to be taken care of? Sighed Jinri, "Not possible Krystal. There's too much to be done."

"I'll take care of inventory and bills. Go, enjoy yourself girl!" Ordered Krystal, hanging up the phone before Jinri could protest.

Jinri chuckled. "Geez, this girl!"

"So?" Asked Taemin from behind Jinri.

She turned and smiled. "I was just ordered not to come in to work today, so guess I have some extra time."

"Excellent." replied Taemin, full out smiling and leading the way back towards Cafe shop.

- - - -

Minho groaned as he laid his throbbing head on his desk. He would thought that a truck hit him in his sleep last night to cause such a monstrosity of a headache and actually not a petite woman who childishly sledding on a pillow crashing on him. That had been nearly a week ago and he still had a lingering headache. Minho reached into his desk in search of some Excedrin as he swallowed the last two pieces in the bottle.

"What happened to you?" Asked Jinki, letting himself into Minho's office, closing the door behind him, he frowned. "Man, you look terrible."

"I think my head is going to explode." rasped Minho, rubbing his temples furiously. "!"

Raising an eyebrow, Jinki sat down. "Hangover?"

Minho shook his head. "Worse."

"Worse?" repeated John, confused.

"Are you a damned parrot or what?" Snapped Minho.

Throwing his arms up in surrender, Jinki leant back in the chair. "Sorry man, what's worse than a hangover?"

"Your wife knocked you out nearly a week ago and the impact still doesn't go away." Deadpanned Minho, squeezing his eyes shut, hoping the headache would float away. And the raucous laughter coming from his friend wasn't helping his thought process at all.

"Jinri?" laughed Jinki incredulously. He shook his head. "Man, what did you do to piss her off?"

Laying his head on his desk, Minho mumbled, "If only you knew."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing." Covered Minho, sighing he added, "It was an accident."

Jinki just chuckled a bit more before letting whatever the situation was go and changed the topic instead, "By the way, have you asked her about the short trip to Jeju?"

Minho shook his head. "I don't think it would be a wise idea." He remembered back to one evening almost a week ago when he was knocked out. As when he stepped out of the shower, only to find that Jinri hadn't returned to their bed. Instead, he found his boxers that she had been wearing on her side of the bed. It was turning out, Jinri had taken up residence in the guest room down the hall and it had been for almost the entirety of the week already that they slept separately. Not that he minded, but the bed seemed a lot of colder without her body heat besides him.

"Minho, you're my friend." started Jinki with a serious look on his face. "And we've been pretty good friends since secondary school, so I am comfortable in asking you..... Are you and Jinri having problems?"

Sighing, Minho looked away and ran a hand over his face, trying to think of something to tell Jinki. He didn't want to lie to his friend, but he didn't want to explain the whole truth either. "We've just been arguing for a while and not getting along so well." That was partially true anyway.

"Is that why you've been messing around with that secretary?" deadpanned Jinki, a look of hope that his friend wasn't a cheating crossed with a look of knowing that no matter what hope he had, he already knew the answer.

"How did you know about that?" asked Minho quietly, his stomach doing a flip and he felt like he may be sick right away.

Shaking his head, Jinki replied, "I heard my secretary gossiping with Jonghyun's."

"Who all knows?" Groaned Minho, restlessly.

"I don't know." Answered Jinki, honestly, shrugging his shoulders. A moment passed, he continued, "Is it really so bad that you can't work it out with your wife? I mean all women have their nagging problems, but Jinri is a good person."

Minho nodded. "I know she is. I just...I just can't explain what's going on."

"Well." Said Jinki, nodded in understanding. He rose from the chair and heading towards the door, "You know where my office is if you need to talk…or….practice law. Whatever problem that have bothered you, you ar