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„So...anyone in the mood for boba?“, Mei asks innocently as she sets down her backpack.
“You come back home from school and immediately want to go out for boba. Don't you have something more important to do, like homework?”, Vincent says dryly, his eyes fixed on his laptop screen.
She responds by sticking out her tongue. “Boo! Are you in a bad mood Vin?”
“He's been sitting on that essay for an hour or something, give the old man a break.”, Leon says from his spot on the couch, playing with his switch.
Vincent just sends him an annoyed glare and finally gets up from the coffee table, planning to escape to his room before Mei can manage to annoy him into driving her across half the state just for boba again.
“Wait, Vin! Don't you want to take a break?”, Mei whines and puts her pink-glossed lips into a pout.
“Maybe some boba as a treat...”
“No.”
She huffs and swings herself on the couch next to Leon, who doesn't make the mistake of looking into her pleading eyes. Before Vincent is out of earshot though, he says in the most nonchalant, uninterested voice: “Did you get a message today, Vin? From someone unusual?”
Vincent cocks an eyebrow. “Someone unusual? Did you give someone my number again so they can ask me for homework? I told you not to do that anymore, even when they're hot!”
Leon waves his hand dismissively, eyes still locked on the small screen of the switch. “Nah. I'm talking about Madeleine. Remember, the girl who works at Urban? I gave her your number in micro today, since you seemed quite...charmed by her.”
A cocky smirk appears on his face mid-sentence. Vincent nearly drops his laptop.
“You did what?!”
“Oh my gosh, Leon, I didn't know you were such a matchmaker! I thought that was my job in this family.”, Mei giggles and suddenly her mind seems devoid of boba for once, a much more exciting topic having arisen.
“Don't worry, Vin, I will help with your texts! My lesbian flirting skills won't let you down, I promise.”
Vincent, meanwhile, has taken on the colour of strawberry boba and has half the mind to throw his laptop across the room against Leon's smug head.
“Don't ever do that again, Leon, I swear! I think I will change my number. At least I won't have to worry about her writing me, after you probably came up to her like a creep whose loser of a brother can't talk to a girl.”
As if on cue, his phone vibrates, indicating the arrival of a new message. Mei's eyes nearly bulge out of her head and even Leon seems interested for once.
“Do you think it's her?! Ah, I'm so excited! What does it say?!” Mei shouts through the living room and Vincent closes his laptop with a sigh.
“It's probably just Linh, telling me about the outline of our group presentation. I'm in my room, if you want something.”
“Wait!”
Mei is off the couch in a second, sprinting up the stairs in her heels at a surprising speed.
“Open it right now! What if it's Madeleine? I already thought of a super quirky way to ask her out! You may sound a bit like a lesbian, but I don't think she'll min-”
“Stop it, Mei.” Vincent rubs his eyes under his glasses exasperatedly.
“I will drive you to your favourite boba shop right now if you drop it.”
Mei's mouth takes on an o-shape and she considers the offer for a second.
“...will you pay?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I guess I can take my mind off the topic then, at least for now.”
She bats her dark-painted lashes and makes her way back down, snatching his car keys from the table.
“I'm waiting in the car~”
When the front door shuts with a thud, Vincent sighs and abandons all hopes of finishing his essay today.
“I seriously can't believe you did this. Not cool.”, he says to Leon as he leaves the laptop on the couch and mentally braces himself for Kim Petra's voice coming from the car speakers.
“Chill, Vin. She seemed quite happy about me giving her your number. For real. I told her about all the old-people stuff you like and she appeared to be charmed by that. I don't really see you losing here, dude.”
Leon saves his game and gets up. “Would you mind stopping by at the place that makes those crazy-good ice cream-rolls? I bet Emil will be jealous when I send him a pic.”
Vincent just glares at him and his audacity, when he remembers that his wallet is still in his room.
“Give me a minute, I need to get something.”, he mutters and quickly makes his way up.
After he pockets his wallet, his phone vibrates again. Without Leon and Mei to stick their noses into the screen, he opens the message with a sigh. It's from Linh. About the group project, as expected. When he closes the chat though, another one appears. Unknown number. His heart stops for a second when he recognizes the dark-blonde braid on the profile picture. No way. His finger trembles a bit, when clicks on it. A single message.
While he hears Mei screaming to I Don't Want It At All through the open window, he reads it again and then another time, just for good measure.
Hi Vincent, it's Madeleine :) Your brother told me you lack company on your walks, would you mind me filling that role?
Mei would have to step up her flirting skills for this.