case 143 | minsung

5

it was lunch break, jisung had already informed his friends not to wait for him because he had promised felix to have lunch together.

as jisung tidied up his desk and prepared to leave, minho approached him.

"mr. han, want to have lunch with me?" minho invited, offering a smile.

jisung politely declined, as he didn't want to break his promise to felix. "sorry, sir, i already promised felix that i'll go with him."

minho nodded, showing he understood. "it's alright, maybe next time then?"

"i'll look forward to it," jisung replied before leaving minho and heading to his meet-up place with felix.

-----

felix eagerly pulled jisung to clé café, a nearby café they hadn't visited before, which had recently opened.

"come on, jiji! I've been wanting to try this place for weeks," felix said joyfully, dragging jisung inside.

"okay, lix. but why didn't you come here earlier on your own?" jisung asked, curious about felix's excitement.

"becauseee i wanted to go with someone!" felix replied with a playful grin.

jisung felt honored that felix chose him to visit the café he had been looking forward to trying. they found a vacant table near the window and settled in.

as they approached the table, jisung noticed chan sitting nearby, who waved at him when he saw him.

"hey, ji! didn't know you were coming here for lunch too," chan called out.

jisung greeted chan and realized that seungmin and...minho were also with him.

'what's minho doing with them?' jisung wondered.

when jisung and minho made eye contact, there was no exchange of words, which was unusual since minho typically initiated conversations between them.

felix also recognized the three and went over to greet them.

"hi guys! didn't know you'd be here. say, what if we all have lunch together? wouldn't that be more fun, right, jiji?" felix suggested, playfully holding onto Jisung's arm.

"if it's okay with them..." jisung trailed off, seeking permission from the others to join.

"we don't mind," seungmin replied, making space for them to sit together.

felix sat beside seungmin, and chan vacated his seat for jisung.

"you can sit here, ji. I'll get another chair to put in the middle," chan said, going to fetch an extra chair.

jisung sat next to minho, feeling a bit awkward, especially because minho was not speaking to him, making the atmosphere uncomfortable.

chan returned with the extra chair and took everyone's orders.

"what do you guys want? I'll place the order," chan said, but before jisung could say anything, chan interjected.

"and no, ji, you can't order cheesecake," chan playfully addressed Jisung's thoughts.

"but why?" jisung tried his best puppy eyes, wanting cheesecake badly.

"you can't just eat cheesecake forever if you want to live, ji. order a proper meal first, and you can have cheesecake later," chan scolded.

clé café was distinct from other cafes in the area as they served rice meals, making it an ideal place for a proper lunch with co-workers.

jisung reluctantly accepted he couldn't have cheesecake right away and quickly scanned the menu.