Chapter Text
University was going to kill Lien inside and out.
Her major, nursing, was extremely demanding and sucked every ounce of energy from her like a starving vampire. It had her run on Cà Phê for nearly 2 weeks straight! Class after class after class, she’d have mountain loads of homework to do with tight deadlines. And its not like she had anyone helping, as all of her other friends had gone off to different majors.
Ironically, nursing was not her first choice. It was actually culinary, but her parents had no faith that she would be able to earn a living in that career path. Worried for their dearest daughters future, they persuaded her to major nursing; that was one of Liens biggest regrets. If only she had the guts to say “No, this is what I want and you have no say” like they do on American television. But the thought of not abiding to her parents wishes was something she feared more than death. After all, her parents went through so much struggle and hardship to get them out of a poor, post war rural Vietnam. Becoming a nurse was the least she could do to thank them.
After a long day of lectures, Lien decided to treat herself to a drink. She took a long walk to the nearest boba shop. By the time she arrived, she was dripping sweat because of the pure august heat. The boba shop was decorated with many cute mascots, items, and trinkets. It was decked out in anything and everything cute. “Hello!” a cheerful girl greeted her. That girl looked…oddly familiar. Where had she seen that face before…
“Ah… May I take your order?”
The girls voice pulled her out of her head, and she realized she hadn’t even looked at the menu on the screens above.
“Er.. give me a moment, please.”
She frantically looked up at the menu, forgetting the order she had set in her mind. “Uh.. strawberry milk tea. And 50% less sugar.”
“Will that be all?” The girl smiled. “Uh.. yes, thank you.” Lien struggled to find the right words, even for simple statements.
“Name on the order?”
“Lien.”
The girl looked slightly puzzled for a moment. She started to look more hardly at Lien, like she was trying to dig a distant memory that was buried long ago.
“Oh, Lien! Do you remember me?” Her face lit up in excitement. Sparkles formed in her eyes, while her hands clasped together. “You do look familiar.” Lien said, trying to figure out where she knows this girl.
“I’m Mei! Xiao Mei! Don’t you remember, you, me, and my brother used to hang out all the time! When we were like, 10.” Ah, how could she forget?
When Lien first came to America, Her parents had met Mei’s parents and became good friends. During summer, when her parents went to work, Lien would always stay at Mei’s house with her older brother Yao. One of her core memories was learning how to cook with Yao, and Mei purposely trying to ruin the meal. But most of the time, the two girls and Mei’s little brother Li would be sat watching cable TV while Yao did his summer work and courses. Admittedly, Lien did not enjoy Mei’s presence very much as a young child. It was quite the contrary. Mei was carefree and silly, and Lien had a hard time understanding her view. She would often make snappy and witty remarks, but Mei always though she meant them in good fun. When Lien was 12, Mei and Yao moved away somewhere in Canada. Their parents called each other here and there and sometimes let the 3 of them call on the phone, but by the time they were 13, they had grown apart. Other than cooking with Yao, Lien did not recall much of the family as a whole. Though, she did feel a little mad at herself for not remembering Mei’s name.
“Oh yeah, I remember you. You’re Yao’s little sister.” She stated blankly. Honestly, she half expected Mei to be the same carefree girl with no worries in life. But in a way, she envied her. Being able to go about life without worrying about much… it sounds like something straight out of a utopia.
“Ehehe! It’s so nice seeing you again, Lien! You still have that stubborn expression after all these years, hehe! Times really don’t change, huh?” Mei teased. Back when they were kids, Mei would do all sorts of things to make Lien laugh. Sometimes it worked, but 90% of the time she’d tell her to be quiet and stop interrupting the television. around. “So?” Lien rhetorically asked, trying to rid of any room for teasing. “I didn’t say there was anything wrong with that! Just saying, I thought you’d sweeten up by now. Anyways, how’ve you been?”
“Good. You?”
“Also good! Uni has been giving me…” She kept talking, but Lien couldn’t help but notice where was looking. Rather than her eyes, she was looking at... her chest?! Lien could feel her ears heat up. Mei didn’t even have a perverse or pleasured face; she just looked like her default. Was… she doing this unintentionally?
“Stop doing that.” Lien interrupted, in the middle of Mei’s talking.
“Stop what?”
“…Looking at my chest. Seriously, you need to learn some proper manners—”
Mei’s face turned beat red as she yelped in embarrassment. “OHMYGOD IM SO SORRY!!!” She started to say something in Mandarin, which she couldn’t understand. “I’LL—GIVE YOU A DRINK ON THE HOUSE! SPEAKING OF THAT I HAVEN’T EVEN PUT IN YOUR ORDER!” She frantically started to make her drink, repeating apologies so quick her mouth could out-pace a train.
“I forgive you. Just don’t do it again in the future.” Lien once again interrupted her. Mei stopped, but the red lingered on her face like hair dye. She put down the drink, attached with the receipt. She didn’t want the receipt, but she was too embarrassed for Mei to say anything.
“Thank you.”
“Y-YES! COME AGAIN!”
Lien took a sip out of the boba. Oh god, she even forgot to mix the strawberry in all the way. Lien walked in slightly annoyed from the sweat, and a lot more annoyed from that whole fiasco.
It was late at night, and Lien was scrolling on her phone after doing her homework. She got a new notification.
New follow request: xiao_mei1025