The Paradis Marriage Pact
Author: taomyou Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Reader Summary: Do you believe in soulmates? No. Do you believe that Jean's coding project can introduce you to someone special? Not really, but your mind can be changed. Word Count: 6.1k Tags: modern au, university au, strangers to lovers, fluff, meet-cute, matchmaking, one-shot
The Paradis Marriage Pact
"Hey, do you think Levi believes in soulmates?" Hange asks, looking up from their laptop at Erwin. The two friends are in a study lounge reviewing for midterms, but it seems that Hange's taking a break since they're asking weird questions.
"I'm not sure. Why do you ask?"
To that, Hange angles their screen towards Erwin so he can see what they're looking at. The website they're on looks simple enough: it seems just like any other standard testing site. "This second-year in my biotech lecture sent out the link to everyone! It's a matchmaking form for students here!"
Looking closer at the screen, he sees "PARADIS MARRIAGE PACT" in big, bold letters at the top of the page. What's this got to do with whether or not Levi believes in soulmates?
"You didn't answer my question, Hange. What are you planning?"
Hange dramatically leans back into the sofa, arms crossed and a sinister grin on their face. "I'm filling this out on our dear friend's behalf!"
"And does our dear friend know about this?"
"Of course not!" Hange laughs, "he'd skin me alive if he knew!"
"Well, you're right about that," says Erwin.
Hange nods at him before moving back to their earlier position closer to the table in front of them. "Wanna help me fill it out?"
With a laugh, Erwin shakes his head but starts putting away his own laptop and books. Once his bag is zipped, he scoots over to sit closer to Hange. "Sure, why not?"
"Really? I'll text Levi and ask about the whole soulmates thing, but we can just skip that for now!"
♡
"I don't wanna take it!"
"You can't not take it! The rest of us just did it!"
"Yeah, Connie's right," Sasha says, poking at your shoulder.
You groan and swat her hand away.
You and your friends have spent the last several hours in one of the library study rooms. Connie organized it as a "group study session," but you're sure you and Jean are the only ones actually being productive. You're not sure about Connie since you can't see his screen from where you're sitting, but Sasha's spent this entire time playing Overcooked! 2 in multiplayer mode with who you assume is him. Then, about 30 minutes ago, Connie started complaining about his engineering midterm, which prompted Sasha to complain about her physics midterm, which then prompted Jean to talk about his semester-long coding project.
"Could you guys fill this out? I need at least a thousand participants by the end of next week to get an A on this, and I already sent it to everyone I could," Jean asked, forwarding the link to the group chat.
You click on it and are brought to the website.
PARADIS MARRIAGE PACT: Fall in love today!
Leave it to Jean to choose to make a matchmaking website for his final project. Sasha and Connie found the premise to be quite fun, whereas you rolled your eyes at the page.
"Love calculators already exist," you criticized, exiting out of the tab immediately. Jean flipped you off from across the table, not appreciating your comment.
Which brings you to now, where Connie, Sasha, and Jean have been trying to pressure you into filling out the Paradis Marriage Pact. You don't really get why they want you specifically to do it, since you know Jean's popular and he could probably get enough responses, but it's probably more about annoying you than it is them actually wanting you to find the love of your life.
"If you need responses so bad, I can use my extra emails to spam random answers," you offer.
Jean shakes his head, tutting loudly. "You have to input your school email. Besides, if those answers paired you with someone who made the Pact honestly, they'd be heartbroken."
"So? Serves them right for taking some random sophomore's mandatory coding project seriously."
Connie and Sasha burst into laughter, which earns them a glare from Jean. You sigh dramatically and rest your head on your hand.
"Don't be mean! I put a lot of effort into this project!"
You never doubted that he did, him being a CS major, but it was still entertaining to poke fun at him.
"I have an idea! Why don't we fill it out for her?" Sasha suggests, and you see her open the link to start typing in your name. You immediately perk up and try to get her to stop, but she hurriedly picks up her laptop and rushes over to the other side of the table where Jean and Connie huddle closer to her. "Do either of you know her school email?"
"She forwarded me something a while ago, I can check," Connie says, opening his own laptop to find your information.
It's then that you know that you can either do it yourself or let these fools try to guess how you'd answer, and one of those possibilities is infinitely worse than the other.
"Okay, fine! I'll do it!"
All of them smile and immediately get up to crowd you, the sound of their rolling chairs filling the room as they push them to your side of the table. Sasha offers her laptop to you, and you place it on top of one of your textbooks. You type in your school email and some other information, and then you're brought to your first prompt.
It's okay that my partner drinks.
□ Agree □ Disagree
You check off the box for 'agree' and move on. The next couple of questions are easy enough, just asking what activities you're okay with, but your friends are still watching you intensely, and it unnerves you slightly.
After confirming that you are, in fact, not okay with your partner doing hard drugs, you're faced with the next question.
Do you believe in soulmates?
□ Yes □ No
You click on 'no,' but before you're able to tap the button to move on, Jean speaks up.
"What do you mean, 'no?'"
You turn to face him, completely deadpan and unamused. "You made this quiz, why would you even ask if you're gonna get butthurt about people not agreeing with you?"
"It's not about that! You just seem like you'd be into that sort of thing."
You hum, looking back at your screen. "Nah, I think soulmates are kinda stupid."
♡
Midterms came and went, but that "end of next week" deadline came even quicker for Jean. He managed to get the thousand answers he needed for the chance at an A, but he was stressed as all hell up until the very last day when he finally got enough participants. Unfortunately, it didn't get easier for him since he's been stressing about the next part of the assignment, so you, Sasha, and Connie decided to invite him out to dinner to try and help him destress. It's probably not working if all he's doing is complaining about his professor.
"Seriously, what kind of professor requires a thousand participants in that amount of time? This is a lower-division coding class, for fuck's sake, not Advanced Media Advertising!" He complains, taking a long sip of his soda.
"He sounds terrible, but, hey, at least you got enough answers," says Connie.
You and Sasha nod along while Jean takes another sip before speaking again.
"You guys don't get it! He's the actual devil! You guys are so lucky you'll never have to take his class!"
"What's left for you to do, anyway?" You ask.
"There's a report I have to write. I have to prove my project was successful, too, so I gotta find a couple that the program matched."
"And how exactly are you going to do that?"
"The program should've sent everyone an email with their match's name and contact information by now. I just need a couple to reply to it and agree to get interviewed."
"Man, good luck with that, nobody checks their email," Connie winces.
Jean buries his face in his hands, groaning in agony. "I know! That's why I'm still so worried!"
"Couldn't you just lie?" Sasha inquires.
Jean shakes his head. "The professor wants the audio from the interview and a picture of the couple together. It's so fucking stupid, what do either of those things even have to do with the class?" Suddenly, his face brightens, and now he's looking between you, Sasha, and Connie. "Can't one of you guys just go out with your match? Oh, I'm a fucking genius!"
The three of you awkwardly make eye contact with one another, mostly to avoid looking at Jean himself.
"Uh, dude, I don't really think any of us are up for that," Connie says.
"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, the questionnaire was fun to do as, like, a personality quiz, but I'm not down," Sasha adds.
Jean's face falls, and he turns to look at you.
By now, his hands are in a prayer position.
The likelihood of anyone getting back to the email Jean sent is slim-to-none, nevermind the likelihood of a couple replying.
You know how hard he works—the two of you study together practically every other day in the library—and despite his popularity, he's not one to go out often, instead staying in to work on projects or research. He really is adamant about doing well on this project and you know he could somehow make it out with a decent grade, but maybe you could do this tiny favor to help him out. It's not like it'd be all that hard, right? Meeting with your match and getting interviewed doesn't sound like too much of a hassle, especially since you're already close with Jean.
You can't really believe that you're choosing to help him, considering how much of a fight you put up when you were asked to take the Pact in the first place, but whatever. You smile at Jean and give him a thumbs-up.
"Sure, I got you."
Jean practically jumps out of his seat to give you a hug, laughing and smiling brightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
You give him a firm pat on the back before prying him away from you so he can go back to his seat. "Really, thank you so much! This makes everything so much easier!"
You blush in embarrassment, not really used to affection from Jean, but hey. He looks like a weight's been lifted off his chest, and that's why you're all out tonight anyway. "Yeah, yeah, let me check my email for a name, though."
Jean eagerly nods, a smile still on his face. Sasha and Connie don't look like they have anything to say, but they pay attention to you, probably also excited to know who your match is.
You don't have any sort of hopes for who it could be, not having your eye on anyone anyway, but you just hope they're understanding enough to agree to an interview. You open your mail app and tap on the "Search mail" prompt to type in "Paradis Marriage Pact." There's only one email related to your search, so you click on it to find your match's name in big, dark letters.
"Any of you guys know somebody named Levi Ackerman?"
♡
Somewhere in an empty lecture hall across campus, Hange, Levi, and Erwin are all lazing around after their last class. Levi's laptop is connected to the projector, and he's just scrolling through different streaming sites.
"Why the fuck are we even in here? We can just watch something at home."
"Because, Levi, tuition's too expensive to not make use of the grand halls at our disposal!"
"Imagine not being a scholarship student."
Erwin and Hange laugh, and the latter gets up from their seat to go over to Levi to help him choose something to watch. He refuses them at first, but they just shove him around enough to get him to give up and go sit where they just were. In the middle of some more aimless scrolling, they notice that there's a tab opened to Levi's email.
Hange did overhear someone last week telling that second-year that they got their results back from the Paradis Marriage Pact, so they get the stupid genius idea to try and look through Levi's email for his match. Switching tabs, they type in "Paradis Marriage Pact" into the "Search mail" prompt.
"Oi! What the fuck are you doing?" Levi exclaims.
Hange waves him off, not looking up from the screen. Erwin just has to sit back and watch it all unfold in front of him, the projector magnifying everything that Hange's doing. Finding the unopened email, they click on it and see a name printed in the same font as the initial title for the questionnaire page. Next to the name is a phone number.
Levi still doesn't really understand what Hange's doing, but whatever it is can't be good. He gets up again and rushes for his laptop, disconnecting it from the projector and closing it before Hange can try anything else.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Nothing!" Hange nervously laughs and looks past Levi's shoulder at Erwin for back up.
Levi follows their eyes over to the man as well. Erwin gets up from his seat, joining the other two at the front of the hall.
"Just forget it, Hange. It was already wrong of us to submit answers for Levi."
"Again, what the fuck are you guys talking about? And what the fuck is the 'Paradis Marriage Pact?' Did you sign me up for a mail-order bride or something?"
Hange extends out both their arms, frantically waving off the accusations and shaking their head. "No, no! This kid in my biotech programed some matchmaking site, so I thought it'd be neat to submit something for you," Hange explains.
Levi exhales deeply, pinching his nose between his fingers. "So you think I need help from a fucking website to find a girlfriend? Just how pathetic do you think I am?"
"You literally have not dated since, like, high school!"
"And? That's a problem how?"
Erwin puts a hand on Levi's shoulder, though it gets swatted away just as quickly. "It isn't, we just thought it'd be fun. We're sorry," Erwin says.
It's certainly frustrating that Hange acts this way, interfering with his personal life, but he knows they mean well (emphasis on "mean.")
Erwin does too, so as much as he hates this, he'll let this one slide. It's a Friday, and the week has been exhausting enough. Erwin and Hange look at one another while Levi reaches into his back pocket to take out his phone. He felt a buzz, so he probably got a text from someone. When he turns on his phone, however, he sees that the notification is a text from a number he doesn't have saved.
Unknown Number - 6:27 PM
is this levi ackerman? this is your match from the paradis marriage pact
He frowns at the text but doesn't say anything. He'll deal with it later.
"Just don't do this again, so help me, God."
Hange's eyes bug out of their head. "You're not mad at us?"
Levi scoffs. "I'm mad, but I'm too tired of your shit to beat you into the ground right now."
"Let's go back home now, yeah?" Erwin suggests, his body facing the door.
After Levi wordlessly puts his laptop in his backpack, the three head back to their shared apartment. Erwin occasionally greets people that recognize him on the walk over, but other than that, they travel in complete silence to avoid pissing off Levi any further.
Once Levi's in his room, he shrugs off his backpack to put near his door and takes out his phone, walking over to the chair he has at his desk. He sits down, turns on his phone, and stares at the message he got.
In the first place, he has no idea what the fuck this Paradis Marriage Pact shit is.
Yeah, sure, Hange described it as a matchmaking program, but it's not like that's much to go off of. He switches over to his mail app to find the email sent from the site.
There still isn't much information—just the match's name, phone number, and a message at the bottom: Please reply to this email if your match is successful and you'd like to be interviewed! He rolls his eyes—the email looks formal enough, but there's no way anyone's going to actually reply to it. He also compares the number that texted him earlier and the number listed on the email.
They match, so he replies to the text.
Levi - 7:33 PM
Yes, this is Levi
Unknown Number - 7:39 PM
sorry if this is weird but i need a favor
Levi - 7:40 PM
Sorry, not interested in dating
Unknown Number - 7:40 PM
me neither
...Doesn't make much sense to text a match from something called a "marriage pact" if you're not interested, but alright. Levi isn't going to question it; he's doing the same thing replying to this person.
Unknown Number - 7:41 PM
could we meet up?
Levi - 7:42 PM
I said I'm not interested You literally just agreed with me
Unknown Number - 7:42 PM
no its not like that!!
Levi - 7:43 PM
Ok, then what's the favor?
Unknown Number - 7:43 PM
my friend is the guy who made the paradis marriage pact program and he needs help getting data from a successful match
Levi - 7:45 PM
And you want me to help because the email asking for it was so pathetic that he needed to get help from someone he knows personally?
Unknown Number - 7:46 PM
exactly! so are you up for it?
Levi - 7:46 PM
No
Unknown Number - 7:47 PM
we'd just have to answer some interview questions together
Levi - 7:47 PM
I said no already
Unknown Number - 7:48 PM
i already told my friend that i'd help him :( please?? i can buy you a drink
Levi - 7:50 PM
Why not just make up the data?
Unknown Number - 7:50 PM
... they need a recorded audio file of the couple talking and a picture
Levi - 7:51 PM
That's an awful lot for just a project
Unknown Number - 7:51 PM
if it means anything, he has dr pixis
Levi frowns.
He had Pixis for Intro to Python in his first year, and it's the only class he's gotten a B in since enrolling at Paradis University. Pixis is notorious for being a harsh grader, but there's only one other professor that offers lower-division technology course requirements for CS majors, so everyone has to take him at some point. It makes sense now that whoever made the Paradis Marriage Pact is scrambling for data. It's stupid that whoever made this decided to reach out for information over email, nevermind over school email, but Levi knows it's too late in the semester to try something else.
Unknown Number - 7:55 PM
ik its asking a lot and i have no idea who you are but if we matched then maybe it wont be so bad
Levi - 7:56 PM
I didn't take it My roommates did it for me and they probably answered it differently than I would've
Unknown Number - 7:57 PM
even better!! we already know we arent a match so theres no expectations
God, she isn't going to stop asking, is she? Levi can't judge their dedication to the cause, though; it's admirable that she's willing to reach out to a complete stranger just to help her friend.
Levi - 7:57 PM
If we aren't a real match, doesn't that make your friend's project a failure?
Unknown Number - 7:58 PM
technically, that isn't his fault
Levi - 8:00 PM
You're not giving up, are you?
Unknown Number - 8:01 PM
i will if you say no again
Great, she's a good friend, and she's respectful.
Levi himself can't believe that he's seriously about to go along with this.
For all he knows, this girl could be a fucking axe-murderer, but, at the same time, he knows how fucking miserable it is to have Pixis for any class ever. She can't be that bad if she hasn't prodded him for any actual information, and she sincerely seems to not be interested in getting to know him.
Just an interview, some pictures, and he'd never have to cross paths with her again?
Yeah, he can do that.
Levi - 8:03 PM
Okay, but you're still buying me a drink
Unknown Number - 8:04 PM
deal!! thank you so much!! let me ask my friend when we can do the interview
♡
"What do you mean you can't come? You're literally supposed to interview us in," you pull your phone away from your ear to check the time, 1:55 PM, "5 minutes!"
"I'm so sorry! I forgot I had a midterm today, and I can't get to you guys and make it back in time!" Jean says.
You groan and change the hand your phone is in. "What the fuck, man, midterm season was over, like, a month ago."
"I know! But Shadis kept pushing it back because people kept asking for more time to study!"
"So what do you want me to do? He already didn't want to do this, and I don't want to inconvenience him even more by changing the date this late."
"I can text you the questions, and you can go through them together."
"What about the audio file?"
"Just record it on your phone, and I'll edit in my voice so it sounds like I'm actually there."
You roll your eyes. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I don't really have a choice."
"Well, you're right about that. Let's just hope this Levi guy is okay with this."
"Okay with what, exactly?"
Looking towards the voice, you see a raven-haired guy around your age dressed in a neat black shirt and dark jeans. Before this, you texted each other the details of your outfits so you could find each other in the café Jean picked out for the three of you to meet, so you know that it's Levi. He seems to have a frown on his face, but you just hope that it's not directed towards you.
Despite that, though, he's.. really attractive.
You try not to dwell on that as you motion him to sit in the booth with you. He does so wordlessly and takes out his own phone to busy himself.
"I'll owe you forever, okay?"
You sigh, putting your elbow on the table. "Damn right you will. I get it, though. I'll try to make it work." You can hear him sigh in relief on the other end of the line.
"Thank you! I gotta go now, but send me the audio after! Don't forget the picture too!"
"It's no problem, Jean. Good luck on your midterm, you got this," you say, then bringing your phone away from your ear to end the call.
Levi clears his throat from across you to get your attention. "Is your friend on the way?" he asks.
You nervously laugh. "Yeah.. so about him, he can't make it."
"Is he who you were just on the phone with?"
You nod, looking away from him. "He called me and said he has a midterm today," you say.
He nods in what you want to interpret as understanding, but he's probably just confused. "Bit late for midterms, no?"
You nod, anxiously laughing again. "I told him the same thing, but he said his professor pushed it back."
"Pushing back a test that far sounds like a fucking terrible idea, but okay."
You hear a buzz come from your phone, so you pick it up to see a text from Jean. Opening it, you see that it's the questions Jean's supposed to be asking you and Levi. You put your phone back on the table and slide it over to Levi to look at.
"He sent me the questions, if you wanted to look at them."
"Just send them to me," he says, ignoring your device. You nod and take your phone back, quickly copying the text and forwarding it to Levi. "I assume we're still going to do this without him?"
You smile sheepishly at him, bringing your hands together in front of your face. "If it's okay with you. I understand if it isn't, but let me at least pay for you to get a drink before you leave. I've bothered you enough asking you to come here in the first place."
He looks up at you for a second before looking back at his phone to skim the questions.
"I don't care."
Tough crowd, huh.
Before you start, a waitress comes to your table asking what you and Levi would like to drink. You tell her you'll have a grapefruit green tea while Levi orders a cup of black tea.
"I'm gonna record the audio on my phone, and then we'll take turns answering, yeah? Jean said he'd edit in his own voice." He hums in understanding, and so you go to open your voice-recorder app and tap the "record" icon before placing your phone between the two of you. "I can answer first, since you have the questions."
He sighs.
"'What's your name?'"
You answer, and he does the same. Easy enough to start.
"'What's your major?'"
"I'm a public health major. You?"
"I'm in CS," he replies. "'How did you find out about the Paradis Marriage Pact?'"
"You forced me to take it," you say, voice wavering as you're unsure if you're supposed to pretend Jean is there or not. Levi looks up at you, his frown now replaced with a neutral expression.
"Are we going to pretend your friend is here?" He asks.
You groan and put your head down. "You're right, it's probably stupid."
He shakes his head. "No, it isn't. It'll help trick Pixis into thinking he's actually here."
You bring your head up and nod slowly, bobbing your head.
For someone who said he didn't care, he sure is nice. Well, as nice as you can be to a complete stranger.
The waitress comes back with your drinks, and you both thank her.
Levi glances back down at his phone. "'Did you know each other before the Paradis Marriage Pact?'"
"You didn't answer the last question."
Levi rolls his eyes. "I mentioned it to you before. My roommates took it for me, so I didn't even know what this thing was until one of them brought it up to me."
After reaching for your cup to take a sip, you speak up.
"Well, we gotta make something up. You could say they showed it to you, and you decided to take it," you reason. He sighs.
"Okay, then. My roommate showed it to me, and I thought it was worth taking," he says, taking a sip of his own drink. "This is good."
Having never been at this café before, you can't agree or disagree, so you just smile. You notice that he's holding his cup by the rim, which is a bit odd, but it feels fitting for him.
"And no, we didn't know each other before this. It's kind of late now, but it's nice to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to come."
"It's nice to meet you, too."
The two of you continue like this: answering questions, slowly making your way down the list. They're all pretty general—just asking about things like what careers you're aiming for and what hobbies you have. You find out that he's interested in tea tasting, and he finds out that you're interested in gardening. Quite a bit of time passes, and soon enough, it feels like you're just having a conversation with a friend and not recording an interview.
You notice that he hasn't taken a drink in a while, so you speak up to ask him about it.
"Are you out of tea?" You ask.
He nods, scrolling down to the next question. Looking around for the waitress, you call her over to your table.
"What can I help you with?" She asks.
"Could we get two more cups of black tea, please?" At the mention of the drink, Levi looks up at you and the waitress.
"Of course! Let me get that for you," and with that, she's headed off for the drink bar.
"You didn't have to get more, you know." Levi says. "Why'd you get two cups?"
You smile, bringing your cup back up to finish the last of your grapefruit tea. "If you like it, it's probably worth trying. You said you try teas a lot, so I trust that it's good." He rolls his eyes, but you can see the corner of his mouth twitch upwards into a sort of half smile. "Anyway, next question?"
"'Are you happy with your match?'"
"Well, since Jean's supposed to be interviewing a successful match, I'll go along with that. You've been good company too, so yes, I'm happy with my match."
"I feel the same, then." You're glad he goes along with your answer, so you smile over at him. "'Why do you think you were paired together?'" He reads.
"Could you answer this one first? I don't really know how we could lie about this one."
He hums, looking up at you again. "I don't know what kind of questions were on the Pact, but from our conversation so far, you seem like a good person."
You're taken off guard, so you avoid his gaze, looking down at your empty teacup. "You think so?" You can feel your ears start to get red, so you feign fixing your hair to try and cover them. You didn't expect any answer like that from him even with all the talking you've been doing, so you're flustered.
"You didn't know who I was, and you went this far to help your friend with his project. Even after I told you I'm not actually your match, you still wanted to get the data for him. I think most people in your situation would've let him figure it out on his own."
You laugh good-naturedly, putting your hands in your lap. You look up to see him still focused on you, and the blush on your face feels a little hotter.
You want to thank him and try to answer Jean's question, but before you can say anything, the waitress comes back with two new cups of black tea and takes away yours and Levi's empty cups. The two of you reach for the cups set in front of you, and you take a sip together.
"You're right, this is good," you say. He nods in agreement, and the two of you put your cups down.
"Alright, this is the last question. 'Both of you selected 'no' when asked if you believed in soulmates. Why do you believe that?'" Levi recites from Jean's questions. He pauses, a new frown forming on his face. "One of my roommates texted me to ask this a while ago. No wonder."
You laugh at that, covering your smile with your hand. "At least we don't have to come up with another lie."
He nods. "Yeah."
"Well, there's not really much to say. I think the idea that there's only one person destined to love you is pretty limiting, and then the chances of meeting them would be slim-to-none," you answer. You see Levi nod from the corner of your eye, so you continue. "Falling in love with them would be even harder. It's not really worth believing in soulmates, in my opinion."
"I feel the same way, more or less," he adds. "The idea is there, though."
"Yeah, it'd be nice if there was a way to know someone's perfect for you. Ever heard of the Paradis Marriage Pact? I've heard it's worked wonders," you joke.
He looks pretty unamused, though.
"Yeah, sure. It's so successful that the person who made it has to ask his friend to pretend they've found the love of their life," Levi says.
You laugh, nearly spitting out your tea. "Well, at least we agree that soulmates aren't real! Besides, anyone can fall in love if you spend enough time together."
"I suppose you're right."
Levi did say that the question about soulmates was the last one, so you get your phone from the middle of the table and tap the "stop recording" icon. The two of you don't initiate any further conversation, so you both sit in silence and finish your teas.
The quiet isn't awkward. It's... nice.
You flag the waitress over when you're finished, and after you pay for everything, she asks if you need anything else.
"Actually, could you take our picture for us?" You ask.
She nods, taking your phone from you to snap a quick picture. You smile, and you thank her as she hands the device back to you.
"You guys are so cute!" She coos, waving goodbye to you both. You and Levi both make eye contact, but neither of you say anything.
You check the time on your phone: 3:45 PM. You have a class at 4, so you get up from your seat to start heading over. You look down at Levi who's still sitting and wave goodbye to him.
"It really was nice meeting you, Levi. Really, thank you for agreeing to get interviewed, even if my friend couldn't make it. I hope it wasn't awkward for you."
"It wasn't."
You smile at him, tucking a piece of hair behind your still-red ear.
"Well, that's a relief," you say. You turn to leave the café, but before you can take any steps, you hear Levi clear his throat. You look at him, but he doesn't meet your gaze.
"Did you mean it when you said you were happy we matched, or did you only say that because of your friend?" He asks, looking down at his cup. You see a bit of red at the tops of his ears, so you giggle. "What's so funny?"
Even though he can't see it, you smile at him before answering, ignoring the latter question.
"I think I meant it."
You walk away before you can see his face, but you feel a buzz from your phone as soon as you're out the door. When you look at it, your smile gets even bigger.
Levi - 3:50 PM
I think I meant it too
♡
Jean yawns, stretching his arms above his head. He's finally back home for winter break, the semester having ended a week or so ago.
Despite that, though, Pixis hasn't released his grade yet, and he's getting worried.
Did Pixis somehow figure out that he messed with the audio file? Jean swears he did everything else perfectly, so it's gotta be that if he hasn't gotten his score back. As far as he knew, everyone else in the class got theirs back already. He's been sweating it all winter break.
For the hundredth time that night, Jean goes to refresh his school email. In addition to an email from the university's gradebook, however, there's an email from Dr. Pixis himself.
"Dear lord, please let this be good." He takes a deep breath before opening it. Realizing what it says, he screams out in joy. "Holy shit!"
"Jean-boy, what's the matter?" His mom asks, opening his door to see what all the noise is about. He excitedly motions her over to his desk, a big, bright smile on his face.
"Mom, look!"
Hello Jean, I am very pleased with your project. What an inventive idea—a program to match up students. Easy A. Thank you for not turning in the same boring project as everyone else. This may be a bit out of the blue, but I would also like to extend you a position as one of my TAs for next year's fall semester. You have proven yourself to be highly proficient in the course material. Attached to this email is the paperwork to formally accept. I hope you consider it. Also, good job finding a couple to interview. I seriously doubted that you could when you sent in your first round of data. Actually, I saw them the other day at the ice skating rink downtown holding hands. They look cute together, makes me believe in love again. Consider launching a similar program for professors, will you? I look forward to hearing from you. Best, Professor Dot Pixis.