ELC | ⁿᶜᵗ ᵃᶠ

Minri | Misunderstanding

Back in 2019.

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Jaemin and Renjun headed towards the SM cafe after dance practice. Jinri was standing at the counter when they arrived.

"Hey, Jin-wang," Renjun said.

She looked up from her phone as they approached.

"Did you see the last episode of Jaemin's drama?" Renjun asked.

Jaemin playfully hit his shoulder. "Injun-ah~ Stop bringing it up."

"Yeah, I saw it," Jinri replied flatly.

Jaemin frowned at her lack of expression. "J-"

"Here's your drink," the barrister cut in, holding a plastic cup towards Jinri.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. Her faced dropped as she turned back to Jaemin. With a brief nod to Renjun, she left the cafe.

Jaemin watched her walk away, frowning. "What's up with her?"

"Did you two have a fight?" Renjun asked.

"No. We never fight."

"There's a first time for everything."

"No," Jaemin insisted. "I saw her yesterday and we were fine."

"What did you do yesterday?" Renjun asked, stepping forward to order a drink.

"Laid in bed and played games on my phone." Jaemin bit his lip, his stomach churning unpleasantly at the thought of Jinri being mad at him.

"Maybe she's upset because you won the games?" Renjun offered.

"But I let her win a bunch of times so we were even."

"Maybe she didn't like that?"

Jaemin sighed. He knew that wasn't the answer: Jinri wouldn't get mad over something small like that. She would have just told him.

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"Is Jinri home?" Jaemin asked when Jihye opened the dorm door.

"Yes."

"Good. Can I come in?"

"Of course."

"Thanks, cutie." Jaemin stepped through the door and kicked his shoes off. "Hey, have you noticed anything weird with Jinri?"

"No," Jihye said. "I've been out all morning so I haven't really talked to her. Why?"

"No reason," Jaemin replied.

He walked into the living room first. Jinri wasn't there, but Yuwon was.

"Yuwon," he said, keeping his voice down.

She was surprised to see him. "Jaemin. What are you doing here?"

"I think Jinri's mad at me," he confessed, sitting on the couch next to Yuwon. "But I don't know why. Would you know anything about it?"

"No, sorry. She did look a bit grumpy this morning, though."

"Okay. Where is she now?"

"In the kitchen washing dishes."

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Jinri placed a now clean plate on the drying rack then reached for the next dirty item. Unexpectedly, a pair of arms snaked around her waist. She knew instantly who it was by the way they held her flush against their front.

"Jinnie," Jaemin said gently, his tone somewhat begging as he placed his chin on her shoulder.

"Go away," she said.

He only held her tighter, nuzzling his face into her neck. "What's wrong?"

His lips tickled her neck and his warm breath sent a shiver down her spine, but she refused to show it. Jaemin already knew his effect on her, though.

"Did I do something to upset you?" he continued to ask, pressing a single kiss on her neck. "I'll make it up to you, I promise. Tell me what I did. Please."

There was a long pause of silence, only the noise of sloshing water in the sink. Jaemin thought she wasn't going to answer, but then, so softly he almost didn't hear it, she said, "You kissed her."

"What?" Jaemin asked, confused.

"You kissed her," Jinri repeated, a little louder.

Jaemin's eyebrows knitted together in thought. What was she talking about? Jaemin hadn't kiss anyone? The last time he kissed someone properly was a long time ago. He had tried to kiss Donghyuck last week but he'd threatened to burn Jaemin's Ryan plushies. And there was the almost kiss on... Oh.

Jaemin let out a breath of relief. "Oh, Jinnie." A smile tugged at his lips as he spun Jinri around to face him. He brushed a few loose strands of hair off her face. "You silly girl."

Jinri scowled. "Excuse you? Don't call me silly. I have every right to be upset. You-you-you..." Tears began to form in her eyes but she held them back. Frustrated, she lashed out, hitting Jaemin's chest once. "Maybe it doesn't matter to you but it matters to me. I know that we're not-"

"Shhh," Jaemin whispered, cupping her face in his hands. "Shhh. Don't cry. Let me explain okay. Calm down."

Jinri glared but did so.

"Okay." Jaemin smiled. "You're upset because of Method To Hate You, right? You think I kissed Jeein-ssi? The girl that played Miri?"

Wiping her eyes, Jinri nodded.

Jaemin chuckled lightly. "Did you watch the episode all the way through?"

Jinri nodded again then paused and reluctantly shook her head. She looked away.

Jaemin let out another breath. "Oh, Han Jinri, you dummy. If you actually watched it you would see that I didn't actually kiss her. The scene cut off before then."

"You didn't kiss?" Jinri asked, a spark of hope lighting in her eyes.

Jaemin shook his head. "I told the director I didn't want to do it so we just pretended to."

Sighing, Jinri dropped her head against his chest. "I'm such an idiot. Jaemin, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I was mad at you."

Jaemin placed his hand on the back of her head. "It's okay, Jinnie. But why didn't you watch the whole episode?"

"I just thought I knew what was about to happen and got upset and turned it off." Jinri nuzzled her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry, Nana."

"It's okay. Let's forget about it." Jaemin pecked the top of her head. "Come on, I'll buy you boba."