NEO NIGHTS * huang renjun

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"Mei~"
Her mother squealed as she got home, wrapping her in a warm hug.
"She's back already?" Her dad came out of the kitchen, wearing an apron, "Wow, Yang, you must have driven pretty fast."
The girl rolled her eyes before heading to her room to place her bags down.
"Don't take to long, darling," Her mother called after her, "Dinner will be ready soon."

She nodded, and continued up the stairs.
Her room had changed since she had last seen it.
The shade of the paint on her bedroom walls had faded a bit, the lilac growing ever lighter and lighter. Her dad had told her when she was painting it last year that the paint was of very good quality, but she was stubborn. Maybe she should have listened. She glanced at the clock besides her bed before dropping her bags in the middle of the room. Closing the curtain so that the draught from outside wouldn't make her room any colder, she left and shut the door behind her. 

It felt weird to be back at home. She knew she hadn't grown a lot in height but everything seemed a lot smaller. The banister that wrapped around the staircase seemed much more tinier than it had ever been, and she felt herself leaning forward to reach it: her hand not quite managing to grab it at her full height. 

Meihua could already smell the food from and hurried to the dining room, helping Yangyang to finish setting the table. 
Dinner was fun. They all talked and talked for what seemed like ages. Her mother complained about how her father had been nagging a lot recently, which eventually ended up being a nag battle between the two of them. 

"How're you and the boys? The gang? Y'all still friends?" Meihua asked her brother, forming gang signs with her hands and throwing in random english words which made him visibly cringe.
"We're good."
She looked disatisfied with his answer but moved on, asking about how his dancing and rapping was going. 

"Can I meet up with Ningning tomorrow?" She asked her mother eagerly, not having seen her best friend in over a year and a half. 
"You can see her the day after. Tomorrow's Friday." Her mother said, giving Meihua an incredulous look.
"And so? Is Friday important?"
"Yes, of course, it's a weekday, that means you can help out at the shop. It'll give you some money and something to do this summer."

"Ugh- but I don't want to," The girl whined, "You see I'm really tired from the trip and I think I'll just pass on the money, I can get it another time. I'm sure Yang would love to help."
Yangyang shook his head in disbelief, surprised his sister would throw him under the bus like that. He turned away and snickered as their mother began to further insist.
"Yang already has a job though and he's old enough decide whether he wants to help at the shop or not, come on Mei. I'm getting too old to run it these days."

"See, I told you she nags more." Her father said as he sat back and watched the lighthearted argument play out before him.
"But I agree, just a few days a week won't hurt will it, Mei?"

Meihua softened a bit at her father's tone, her stubbornness partially slipping away from her,
"Ok ok, I'll do it but it will hurt. I can feel my soul bruising already. When I faint from being so overworked."
An audible sigh left her lips and she folded her arms, slightly cross that she was being forced but not extremely angry.

They finished dinner at that, and Yangyang offered to help her wash the dishes and clean the table, which she accepted without hesitance.
Her brother washed the plates with soapy water and she rinsed and placed them on the dish drying rack.
They went on like this for a few minutes, all the while talking and playing loudly until their dad came in and complained that he couldn't hear himself sleep. Which didn't quite make sense but they complied anyway and made an effort to make less noise.

Meihua slept earlier than she usually would, having to reluctantly cut scrolling endlessly on YouTube and following random tiktok accounts out of her daily routine. She would have to get up quite early tomorrow and she knew she would be in trouble if not. She didn't want trouble.

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meihua's character so far reminds me of someone, im just not sure who.