"Funny thing, Justin just texted me saying he was at the ice cream parlor down the street," ZhengTing remarked as he watched a stray cat leap across the sidewalk.
Meirong nodded with a light hum, too immersed in her thoughts to wonder why was the boy in their neighborhood. For some reason, walking together under the moonlight created a whole different vibe. It was like a scene from one of those generic dramas she watched; except she was the main lead, going for a walk under the gentle starlight with who may or may not be her love interest.
A hit for sure.
The faint jingle of bells sounded as the duo entered the store, immediately enveloped by the sweet aroma of freshly baked waffles and newly mixed ice cream. As if drawn to a magnet, ZhengTing instantly spotted his friend sitting by himself at one of the booths by the window. He nudged Meirong to catch her attention, "Justin is sitting there, should we join him?"
"Sure," Meirong replied when she noticed the younger boy. There was no harm in having a small hangout.
"Let's go get ice cream first," she skipped ahead of ZhengTing towards the huge display of various flavors of ice cream, some she was familiar with, and some she has never seen before. After a couple of different samples, ZhengTing and Meirong had their ice cream cups in hand as they sneaked up on Justin to scare him; an opportunity they couldn't miss.
"Is that mint chocolate?" ZhengTing said, rather loudly, as he looked over Justin's shoulder. Meirong stood next to him, ready to burst out laughing any second. Which she did when the younger boy yelped and dropped his spoon in surprise.
"Haha, very funny," Justin deadpanned, rolling his eyes as he stood up to face them.
"It is," Meirong snickered as she handed him a spare spoon and sat across of him. ZhengTing slid to the seat next to her, the ghost of a laugh still evident on his face, "So, what brings you to our beautiful neighborhood?"
"Nothing. Just suddenly craved ice cream and the only good parlor happens to be here," Justin answered, still bitter over the silly prank his friends pulled, "Also, no, it isn't mint chocolate."
"Yeah, anyways, what flavor did you pick?" ZhengTing shifted his attention towards Meirong who was enjoying small spoons of the treat between her hands.
"I forgot its name," Meirong grinned sheepishly, "But it's the flavor of the month, wanna try?"
Meirong held her cup towards him and ZhengTing spooned up a bit of ice cream, much to Justin's disgust.
"Ooh, it's sweet," ZhengTing commented and Meirong rolled her eyes jokingly, "You didn't expect salty ice cream or something."
"In my defense, there are sour ice creams."
"Those are usually sorbets! Not ice cream," Meirong tutted, "You're uncultured."
"They are both sold in ice cream parlors, your point?" ZhengTing retorted, matching his neighbor's sass.
"Pancakes and waffles are usually sold in the same restaurants, but you don't see me mixing them up."
"Now, now, that's extreme, you don't mix up waffles and pancakes. You just simply don't," ZhengTing shook his head, the idea of mixing up these two breakfast foods disappointing him greatly.
Justin watched the duo silently, an eyebrow raised at their behavior. He couldn't figure out why did they decide to join him if they were going to let him third wheel like that. He concluded he needed better friends.
"Gosh, you two bicker like some old married couple," Justin broke the small but heated discussion that began over absolutely nothing. The 'old married couple' glared at Justin, both ready and equipped with comebacks and retorts.
"At least I have someone to bicker with," ZhengTing and Meirong said at the same time then fell silent in realization of what happened.
"Wow," Justin muttered, unimpressed as he watched the awkward glances they exchanged.
"Anyways," Meirong coughed in attempt of changing the topic but she had nothing to bring up.
"Anyways, I'll be leaving you two oblivious lovebirds," Justin grinned mischievously as he stood up, "Goodbye and good night!"
"But you didn't finish your ice cream yet-" Meirong was about to call after him but he was quick to exit the shop, leaving an almost empty ice cream cup behind.
"He always leaves in situations like these," ZhengTing murmured, and Meirong heard him accidentally, "Situations like what?"
ZhengTing flinched, that wasn't supposed to be audible!
"Uh, nothing," he brushed it off and looked at Meirong, meeting her eyes for a second before looking away shyly, "You better finish your ice cream before it melts."
But somewhere outside the ice cream shop, Justin held his phone to capture moments of the to-be couple.
While he was filming them, he noticed a figure from the corner of his eye. The all too familiar girl sat at a booth not far from ZhengTing and Meirong, and from Justin's perspective, it appeared as if she was stalking them.
With a plan brewing in his head, Justin focused his camera on the girl and took a few photos for clear evidence. He grinned to himself smugly when the results showed up as he wanted, an exposing party today.
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