Found my world in a small town | Winrina

Chapter 6- More Days at the Café

"Hello!"

When Minjeong turned up at the café the next morning, she did not bring Winter with her. That morning, Jimin had announced that she would take Winter with her to the town, where she was supposed to meet Jaemin. Apparently, the two of them wanted to spend the day together at his place. Of course, Jimin had not told this to Minjeong, she barely even looked at her the entire morning. But while Baekyun and Taehyung had gone out to collect more plants, their wives had stayed behind, chatting at the kitchen table. Minjeong had joined them, listening to their conversation and sometimes chiming in as she had munched on her cereal. Strangely enough, Jimin had gotten up after her this morning, coming down the stairs when Minejong was already halfway finished. She had eaten her toast standing at the counter, loudly proclaiming what she was about to do that day. Minjeong had ignored her.

"Hi there!" Irene opened the door for Minjeong and let her into the café, "Back to work again?"

"Yes," Minjeong sheepishly rubbed her neck and then started to peel out of her jacket, "I really enjoyed helping you out yesterday and at home, I'd just be alone all day so it was an easy decision."

"Well, I feel honored that you'd rather work with me than have a relaxing day to yourself," Irene chuckled, "I didn't have time to set the tables yet, would you maybe do that?"

"Sure!" Minjeong took the tag from Irene's hand, pinning it to her chest again and then started to fill the mugs on the tables with serviettes. Irene was cleaning some glasses, occasionally going into the kitchen to look at the cakes she had in the oven. There was a delicious smell wafting through the room, of cake and coffee and Minjeong inhaled deeply a few times.

"You're staying with the Yu's, right?" Irene asked all of a sudden and waited until Minjeong nodded, "Don't they have a daughter your age? Why aren't you spending time with her?"

"Um..." Minjeong arranged the mugs on the table she was working on without meeting Irene's eyes, her cheeks turning red, "Jimin and I don't really... we don't really get along."

"Oh, what's the problem between the two of you?" Asked Irene, "I've only met her once or twice but she seemed like a nice girl - and I'd say the same about you, so...?"

"Thanks," Minjeong got even redder in the face, "I don't really know to be honest. She seemed to hate me from the minute she met me. We've kind of been ignoring each other for the past weeks but it's still weird."

Irene put two and two together.

"Is that why you came here yesterday?" She asked, "You didn't want to spend all day with her?"

"Kind of," Minjeong admitted, "she skis the whole day and I... I don't want to be around her too much so I go out a lot as well. I think she's annoyed by my presence."

"Well, I certainly am not," Irene smiled at Minjeong, "so if you'd rather spend all day here at the café, you can always come over."

"Thank you," Minjeong returned the smile and brought the leftover cloths back to the table, "I always have to be back before her, though. She doesn't like when I leave her dog alone - or when I take her with me, for that matter."

"She seems to care about her a lot."

"She does," Minjeong sighed, "about two weeks ago, on my second day here, she snapped at me because I went on a walk and left her at home."

"I'm sure she'll come around," Irene reassured Minjeong, leaning against the counter and running a hand through her long hair, "maybe she's just not used to having someone else around all the time."