Gege ai ni! {MDZS Chatfic}

17｜Offline

【Monday, March 19】

The bell rang as the door opened and Lan Xichen stepped inside the small cafe. It was early in the morning and there was no one in the cafe as the shop had just started their day.

"Boss Yanli!" Xichen called out, grinning as he walked up to the counter.

"Loyal customer Xichen!" A voice responded from the kitchen. A moment later, Jiang Yanli came out and they both grinned at each other from across the counter. 

Jiang Yanli, "The usual?"

Lan Xichen nodded and scanned the credit card machine with his phone. "You got it! A mocha with an extra of everything sugary and a black coffee more bitter than the soul of a fiend!"

Jiang Yanli laughed at Lan Xichen's amusing reply and gestured for him to sit down while she went to make his order.

Lan Xichen chose a spot near the window display and sat down. He looked around, admiring the simple yet welcoming layout of the cafe before closing his eyes and humming to the faint song coming from the kitchen.

Lan Xichen and Jiang Yanli were old classmates, having graduated from the same class in high school three years ago. Only, Jiang Yanli chose not to attend a university but opened a small business instead, taking a few community classes on the side. The small cafe became Meng Yao's favorite go-to cafe for his sugary concoction of a drink and Nie Mingjue's favorite for brewed black coffee and Lan Xichen became an errand boy. Lan Xichen didn't particularly like coffee himself- he preferred tea- but he made a note to come here more often as he now pieced together the fact that Wanyin was Yanli's little brother. It does well to have the older sister's approval so Lan Xichen made sure to leave a tip and a warm smile when Yanli handed him his order before leaving the shop.

Next, Lan Xichen stopped by Nie Mingjue's house who was unsurprisingly in the middle of a workout in the basement. The house of the Nies was quite close to the university, close enough that they could see the building in the distance from the window.

Lan Xichen got to the basement and handed the fitness enthusiast his coffee, who in return, insisted for Xichen to drop down and give him twenty. After doing the push-ups, Lan Xichen hastily said goodbye and headed out the door before Nie Mingjue could force him to bench press.

Then, Xichen headed to the university. There were not many students in the hallway when he arrived and he went straight to the student council room.

"Er-ge," Meng Yao, who was the only one in the room, greeted him when he looked up from the table and saw Lan Xichen walking towards him.

"Hello, A-Yao," Xichen handed the coffee to him, "What are you doing?" There was a pile of books stacked taller than the man himself on the table.

Meng Yao gave a quick thanks and took the coffee, "We are planning a book drive for a nearby orphanage, remember? I'm working on that."

"Oh, that's right." Lan Xichen looked up and thought he saw someone who recently became very familiar walking past the doorway. His eyes lit up and without glancing at Meng Yao, he patted him on the back and said distractedly, "Yeah, you do that, A-Yao, I'll be back."

Then he took off, leaving a perplexed Meng Yao sitting there, holding his coffee from Lotus Cafe. Meng Yao shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. Then he immediately spat it out.