Work Text:
Jiang Cheng has just changed out of his work uniform when his phone starts blaring.
He sighs as he picks up the gadget. When he turns it on, he finds an excessive amount of messages from his siblings. Over the past week, he’s already decided to block his parents, but he can’t bring himself to do the same with his siblings. He knows that they’re really just worried about him, as opposed to worrying about the business or whatever the hell his parents care about. He can only hope that his replies, varying from ‘I’m fine’ to ‘don’t worry about me’, are enough for them. Jiang Cheng hates to make his siblings worry, especially his Ah-jie, but he has no choice.
If he tells his siblings where he is and what he’s doing, his parents are bound to find out. There’s no way he’s going to let that happen so soon. Jiang Cheng’s going to enjoy every moment of this like it’s the last thing he’s ever going to do. Work was tiring today, so he really doesn’t want to deal with this now. That’s why he doesn’t even bother reading through the messages from his lock screen. He turns off his phone, gets his bag, and walks out of the staff’s room.
The restaurant is already dark, so unlike the usual glamorous state it’s in.
Jiang Cheng walks through the darkness, ignoring the shiver that runs down his spine. It’s not like he’s afraid of the dark. No, he just would rather be in places with sufficient lighting. That’s all. The large glass windows still allow the light from the surrounding buildings through, so the restaurant isn’t completely dark anyway. Be grateful for the little things, Jiang Cheng reminds himself, you don’t know how long this will last.
The rest of the floor is still relatively well-lit. Well, it is a hotel, so it would be odd otherwise. He makes his way to the elevator and presses the button. Jiang Cheng watches mindlessly as the numbers on the screen go down. Eventually, it reaches his floor. He waits for the elevator to open and walks in when it does. Without thinking, he presses the usual button and watches as the door closes.
One week into this job and he’s already over the elevator music. The air in the elevator is chilly and his only company are his reflections. The sound of the elevator door opening almost startles him. He wasn’t paying enough attention to realize that they’ve stopped. The door opens fully and he is greeted by the sight of a dashing business man. He dresses like a lot of the men he’s seen his parents with, just younger and more attractive. Also, the man is tall. Taller than him, even. When their eyes meet, the man smiles politely. Jiang Cheng mirrors the expression. Or he tries to, at least (there’s no way he looks as charming as the stranger).
The man walks in and stands at the corner opposite from where Jiang Cheng is standing.
The door closes and the shitty elevator music starts to play again. Jiang Cheng tries to not look at the man, but the damn elevator’s walls are all mirrors. So no matter where he looks, he catches sight of the man. The man is wearing an all white formal attire that compliments his figure perfectly. Hell, Jiang Cheng has never seen someone pull off a white suit this well before. Not only that, his face is also one comparable to the actors you see on the cover of magazines. What the fuck are you doing? Jiang Cheng scolds himself, why are you eyeing a stranger in a damn elevator, you idiot?
Then again, maybe a bit of eye candy to end a somewhat shitty day is god’s way of saying sorry to him. So maybe he should enjoy this and-
The elevator suddenly makes a series of strange noises.
Both Jiang Cheng and the businessman make an audibly startled sound. They look at each other and realize, at the same time, that the elevator has stopped moving. Jiang Cheng sighs because getting stuck in an elevator is the last thing he needs after a long day at work. Even if it’s with an attractive man. It’s not fucking worth it, he says to himself.
The business man takes it upon himself to press the emergency button. It makes a sound, but nothing else happens.
“Fuck,” Jiang Cheng mutters subconsciously.
The businessman immediately looks at him. He looks like he’s never heard someone curse before and Jiang Cheng suddenly feels guilty.
“Sorry,” he mutters quietly, not knowing why he’s apologizing for using the word fuck. He’s not a kid for fuck’s sake.
“Oh no, it’s fine,” the man replies, his polite smile already back on his face.
A moment passes and still nothing happens. So Jiang Cheng, ever so impatient, asks, “What do we do now?”
“Wait, I suppose,” the man says, shrugging. As he turns his phone on, he continues, “I’d call my assistant so he can contact the hotel, but it appears that I have no signal at the moment.”
Jiang Cheng follows his actions. He checks his phone for a signal, only to find zero bars on the icon. “There’s no signal on mine either.”
“Well then, I suppose that means we’ll have to wait. I’m sure the staff is already working on it,” the man says with a modulated voice. And, he’s still looking at him with a smile. Does this guy ever stop smiling? Jiang Cheng wonders.
There’s not much he can say to that, so Jiang Cheng just makes a small sound of agreement. Before he can think of anything else, the elevator shakes and makes more noise. Jiang Cheng holds on to the railing by reflex, a move also done by the other man. They look at each other again, starting to question if they should be more worried about this. Getting stuck in an elevator isn’t unheard of. Jiang Cheng just never thought that he’d ever be one of the unlucky people who experiences it. The mortality rate of people in these kinds of accidents are low, he reminds himself, so there’s absolutely no reason to worry.
Right after the thought forms in his head, the elevator makes more mechanical noises and the elevator goes dark.
Holy shit, god really hates me today, is the first thing Jiang Cheng thinks.
The next moment, Jiang Cheng sucks in a breath and tries his absolute best not to panic. The elevator is almost pitch black and he can barely see anything. He feels his hand shake on the railing and all rational thoughts leave his head. He can’t think straight, so he squeezes his eyes shut and tries to regulate his breathing. In an attempt to keep himself grounded, he grips harder on the railing. A voice on the back of his head says, after everything, is this really how you’re going to go?
Jiang Cheng feels a lump form in his throat. It’s like all his fears found home in his esophagus.
Before his panic really settles, a bright light suddenly hits his eyes. He winces, but it pulls him out of his state of panic. The man has turned his phone’s flashlight on. It hurts Jiang Cheng’s eyes. Even worse, the man seems to realize that Jiang Cheng is most definitely not okay with the current situation. Having that phone light, however, does help Jiang Cheng to recollect his thoughts. He’s glad that his breathing quickly becomes even again. Shit, I thought I’ve gotten over this.
(He knows he has never been able to do it, but he pretends like he has to make himself feel better).
“Are you okay?” the man asks with a concerned expression. His forehead creases in worry and somehow he still looks fucking handsome.
“I’m fine,” Jiang Cheng quickly replies, sounding harsher than he intended. He doesn’t need to have a stranger worrying over him. He’s a grown man for fuck’s sake.
It’s quiet for a while after that. Jiang Cheng is looking at the elevator’s floor. However, he can feel that the other man is looking at him. People who can’t mind their own business are the worst, Jiang Cheng thinks. Jiang Cheng wants to tell him to stop looking, but he can’t possibly be rude to someone who just, as much as he hates to admit it, helped him. And not to mention, someone who he has to spend the next however many minutes with. Really, he doesn’t need a fight to add to his already horrible day.
“What’s your name?”
Jiang Cheng’s eyes bolt up towards the man. “What?”
The man doesn’t look concerned anymore, he’s just smiling. Again. Even with the dim lighting, the man still looks dashing. “What’s your name?”
It takes a couple of seconds for his thoughts to catch up with the man’s words. His name is right at the tip of his tongue when he stops himself. Not Jiang Cheng, he reminds himself, it’s Jiang Wanyin.
He’s taken to using his courtesy name for the past week. It’s yet another effort to make sure his parents don’t find him too easily. Nobody uses courtesy names anymore in modern China, but for once, he’s grateful that his family tradition meant that he had one. It was given by his grandmother when he turned twenty. He doubts anybody but him remembers it. He knows it’s not the best as far as pseudonyms go, but he’s always been a terrible liar. Something more familiar is better than a completely made up name.
Also, he’ll be able to get out of trouble easier if he ever gets found out.
Upon realizing that he’s taking too long to answer, he clears his throat. “It’s Jiang Wanyin,” he says as convincingly as he can. “And you?”
Jiang Cheng asks more for the sake of being polite than anything, but he doesn’t mind knowing the man’s name either. There’s an easy smile on the man’s face when he introduces himself. “I’m Lan Huan. Nice to meet you, Jiang Wanyin.”
“Yeah, nice to meet you too. I guess.”
There’s an awkward pause after Jiang Cheng speaks. He doesn’t particularly want to talk to this person, but it helps to have his mind on something that’s not the darkness. Small talk has never been his strong suit, but being the child of a prestigious family or whatever has kind of forced him to be able to do it regardless.
“What were you doing in this hotel?” Lan Huan asks.
Jiang Cheng takes his hand off the railing because his hands are getting clammy. His fingers circle his own wrist, a gesture he doesn’t know how he developed. “I work here.”
Lan Huan looks a bit surprised. “Oh? What do you do?”
“I’m a chef,” Jiang Cheng replies. He leans on the railing, feeling his body relax a bit more. He’s slowly easing into the conversation. It’s happening quicker than he expected.
“That’s nice.”
Before there can be another awkward pause, Jiang Cheng says, “Let me guess, you’re a businessman?”
Lan Huan chuckles. “Is it that obvious?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of impossible to miss,” Jiang Cheng says, nodding. He feels a small smile tugging on his lips.
“Is that so?”
Jiang Cheng was about to say something witty when the elevator suddenly shakes. Fuck, he hates himself so much for not holding on to the railing. Due to the lack of support, he stumbles forward, right into Lan Huan. He feels himself stop before they crash. Not because of himself, but because Lan Huan has (somehow) helped him regain his balance. And just with one arm, nonetheless. What the hell is up with his arm strength? Jiang Cheng can’t help but to think.
He then realizes the awkward position they’re in.
Jiang Cheng immediately pulls his arm back and apologizes. “I’m sorry for that,” he says, bowing his head ever so slightly.
Lan Huan just smiles. “It’s not an issue, but you should probably hold on to the railing, Jiang Wanyin.”
And so Jiang Cheng does, but all he can think of is how his courtesy name sounds coming from the other man. He feels his cheeks heat up a little and he curses himself internally. What is he? A teenage girl? Why would he blush over something like this? Lan Huan either doesn’t notice or he has wisely chosen not to address it.
And thank god, because the light suddenly turns on and he can hear the low buzzing sound of a machine.
Not long after, the door opens. They’re faced with two technicians who look absolutely relieved to find that Jiang Cheng and Lan Huan are still alive and breathing. Or mostly that Lan Huan is, actually. His assumption comes from the fact that there’s a formal-looking man, presumably Lan Huan’s assistant, standing right behind the two technicians. The assistant probably just yelled at the hotel management for letting his oh-so-important boss get stuck in an elevator.
“Are you two okay?” one of the technicians asks.
Both Lan Huan and Jiang Cheng nod. While Lan Huan doesn’t seem like the type who would get mad over something like this (really, the man seems extremely composed), Jiang Cheng could yell at them. Or the hotel management. And he would be well within his rights to, since they’ve somehow made his already bad day worse. Yet looking at Lan Huan’s smiling face gives him a sense of serenity that he has ever only found within his sister. So, he keeps his temper in check for once.
“We’re okay,” Lan Huan says. “Thank you for helping us.”
The two technicians smile. They probably didn’t expect to be treated so nicely after whatever the assistant said about his boss. Lan Huan turns off his phone’s flashlight and walks out of the elevator. Every movement he makes has this sense of poise to it, Jiang Cheng realizes. He must come from a really distinguished family, Jiang Cheng thinks to himself. Yeah, like the one you’re running away from, a mocking voice adds.
Jiang Cheng follows him out of the elevator and mutters his thank you to the two technicians. Lan Huan and his assistant are already talking in hushed tones, so Jiang Cheng takes it as a goodbye. He walks past them and heads towards the hotel’s exit. There’s not a meter between them when he hears Lan Huan’s voice.
“Jiang Wanyin.”
He turns around, a bit startled. “Huh?”
“Let’s talk again someday.”
Jiang Cheng freezes where he stands. Did he hear that right? “Why?”
Lan Huan smiles at him like he’s just said something completely normal. “It was nice.”
His throat suddenly feels dry and he’s scared that he might be gaping like a fish right now. Jiang Cheng can’t wrap his head around the fact that someone just said that talking to him was nice. Nobody has ever said that about him. Well, not sincerely, that is. It’s always been for the sake of being polite. The thing with Lan Huan is; they don’t know each other and there’s nothing between them that makes it so that he has to be polite to him.
“I- Thanks,” Jiang Cheng replies lamely. He doesn’t know what kind of expression he’s making. “I’ll just- go now.”
Lan Huan nods and his mouth curves into yet another smile. “Be careful.”
Jiang Cheng nods back because he doesn’t know what to say to that. His face flushes immediately after he turns away and his grip on the strap of his bag tightens. What the hell was that? Maybe he’s thinking too much into it, but that was beyond his expectations in terms of meeting a stranger in a broken elevator. Jiang Wanyin, Lan Huan’s voice echoes in his head. Holy shit, Jiang Cheng curses, I just met this guy and he’s made me feel more than anyone else has in the last few years. What the fuck is wrong with me?
He groans as he walks out of the hotel. This is a whole other mess to add on to the already messed up life he’s living.
Well, at least I’ll probably never meet him again, Jiang Cheng thinks.
(There’s a sinking feeling in his heart when he thinks about that, but Jiang Cheng pushes it away).
Little does he know, their next meeting will come sooner than later.