Chapter Text
Jiang Cheng had to hand it to Wei Wuxian. When there was something he wanted to do, he would most definitely get it done. But why was it that he couldn't apply himself to his studies in the way he applies himself to his pranks?! Jiang Cheng never wanted any of it, but then because it was Wei Wuxian, he got dragged in...
And now he's staring at a set of girl's clothes neatly folded on top of his bed. Jiang Cheng's mouth goes dry and the only thought on his mind is Fuck you Wei Wuxian! Regardless, he sets down his schoolbag and peels off his school uniform.
This all started two weeks ago, when their school was preparing for their midterms. Jiang Cheng always took things like this seriously, so then his father could in some way praise his efforts for doing well in class. But Wei Wuxian on the other hand... he just did whatever the hell he wanted and still passed the exams being first in their class, with Jiang Cheng second.
Jiang Cheng was feeling irritated, yet determined to surpass Wei Wuxian at least once before they graduated high school the next academic year. And the perfect opportunity came to Jiang Cheng when Wei Wuxian made a proposal (read, a bet.)
“Say Jiang Cheng, do you think you'll be able to beat me this time?” Wei Wuxian asks. Jiang Cheng huffs. “Damn straight I will! You're always off playing around with Huaisang, its nothing short of a miracle you do so well in class.”
“Aiyo, don't say it like that A-Cheng~ but if you put it thaaaaat way...” Wei Wuxian laughs and easily dodges the punch Jiang Cheng aimed towards him.
“So, why are you asking me something like this? Knowing you, its nothing good.” Jiang Cheng gets up from his seat and hoists his bag over his shoulder.
The smirk on Wei Wuxian's face is so familiar it leaves a bad taste in Jiang Cheng's mouth. “Lets have a contest of sorts... Winner makes the loser do whatever they want. Deal?”
Jiang Cheng knows in his heart he should not accept this, but he could not resist the temptation of shaming Wei Wuxian. “Fine, you're on.”
…. Which led to this. Of course Wei Wuxian got first place in their class. Jiang Cheng was one question off from Wei Wuxian's score. One. Of course he got the question that he second guessed wrong, and now he has to deal with the shame of doing whatever the hell Wei Wuxian was thinking of.
“Well, looks like I won again A-Cheng. Victory tastes so sweet, you know that~” Wei Wuxian leans against Jiang Cheng, wrapping his arm around his shoulders. Jiang Cheng just about throws Wei Wuxian down to the floor. “Fine! I lost! So, what the hell do you want me to do?!”
Wei Wuxian waves his hand in front of his face, a disapproving expression on it. “Don't say it like that A-Cheng, it's nothing serious, really. I'll let you know when the preparations are done.”
Jiang Cheng stops in his tracks. Preparations? For what exactly?
One week later and Jiang Cheng sees said preparation on his bed. The dress lying so innocently on his purple sheets. Jiang Cheng doesn't know if he wants to kill Wei Wuxian, himself, or both of them right now. Instead of thinking about any of those things, however, he just undresses and prepares his soul for the dress on the bed.
The sooner he gets this done, the sooner he can burn this dress and erase the evidence, Jiang Cheng thinks.
Even if there is a part of his mind that thinks Wei Wuxian chose a nice dress, and they were his colors (shades of purple on black), Jiang Cheng just can't get past the feeling of shame that he has been subjected to performing such an act as crossdressing, and he couldn't really do anything to stop Wei Wuxian otherwise.
The dress is a modest length, going to above his knees, and Wei Wuxian provided a sweater that went over the sleeveless dress. Black knee high socks were put in, as well as a beret and wig. Taking a deep breath Jiang Cheng fits the wig over his head and he feels the itchy material instantly. The funny thing is though... it looked nice. Jiang Cheng tries to flatten the stray hairs as much as possible, and then proceeds to flatten down the skirt of his dress.
Silent moments and racing heart later, Jiang Cheng grabs his phone, keys and wallet, and heads out of his empty house, wearing his black school shoes.
Huaisang and I are hanging out at our usual. Meet us there, and don't think about trying to play hooky!!
Jiang Cheng practically stomps his way over to 'the usual,' which was the nearby McDonald"s. Because their parents work fairly late, the three of them hang out for some hours after school before heading home to a (hopefully not empty) house. The problem was that this McDonald's was smack dab in the middle of the city, and everyone could see inside this McDonald's.
Should Jiang Cheng act like a girl, or just bite Wei Wuxian's head off when he sees them? There are all kinds of things that Jiang Cheng could think of doing to Wei Wuxian, and that fuels his feet, urging him to go faster.
The crosswalk is against him getting there fast, however, and Jiang Cheng is seconds away from jaywalking if it helps him get to Wei Wuxian even a second faster. Just as when he's about to though, the crosswalk has mercy on Jiang Cheng and he practically runs towards the McDonald's. The fast food joint is finally in sight after 15 minutes of walking with people's eyes on him and he sees Wei Wuxian's high ponytail and red ribbon clear as day. Wei Wuxian waves his hands and urges Jiang Cheng to walk faster, and everything stops when he bumps into someone with immense force and falls to the ground.
Jiang Cheng feels disoriented and lost for five seconds, and then he looks around. People are staring at him, worry on their faces. One in particular stands out, coming from the guy who has his hand outstretched for him.
Jiang Cheng recognizes that white uniform anywhere. Lan Private Academy, only for the smartest and the richest. The principal is Lan Qiren, and he is known for having his nephews also enroll into this academy. They were known for their beauty, even within the walls of Lan Academy. The child that is enrolled now is best known for those piercing golden eyes that are neither warm nor cold. Girls and boys alike stare in awe as he passes by, and he has been nicknamed the Jade of Lan, just like his older brother was.
This particular person was holding his hand out towards him. Lan Wangji.
Something cold fills Jiang Cheng's body. Shame, or embarrassment, or maybe even despair... Jiang Cheng can't tell. All he knows is that he's in a dress, on the fucking floor of all places. Now he wants to go home and really burn this dress to erase this day from his life.
Quickly he accepts the hand and he rises from the floor. His knee stings a little, but the scrape is nothing that can't be healed in a day or two.
Jiang Cheng mutters a “Thank you” in an uncharacteristically small voice, and his skin feels hot where his hand touched Lan Wangji's. Jiang Cheng gets a nod in reply, and he's about ready to turn back home. However, when he's turning away, that hand grabs his wrist this time, and Jiang Cheng is pulled around to face him.
Lan Wangji presses a white handkerchief into his hand, stitched with black and white bunnies. “You are injured.” his voice is smooth and soft, and Jiang Cheng really hates himself for wanting to hear more of it already. He wasn't even attending the same school for god's sake! Jiang Cheng tries to push it away. “I am fine, this is nothing but a scratch.” He counters, voice still uncharacteristically soft.
Lan Wangji shakes his hand and further presses the handkerchief into his hand. Jiang Cheng gives in and accepts the handkerchief. Jiang Cheng feels hot all over, and it's conflicting with his shame or whatever it was earlier, giving him nothing more than an unpleasant chill. “Thank you.” he turns around and runs away, away from the McDonald's, away from Lan Wangji.
Wei Wuxian drops his french fries as he sees the ordeal inside the McDonald's. Nie Huaisang hides behind his fan and looks over to Wei Wuxian.
“Wei-xiong... is Jiang-xiong going to be alright?” Wei Wuxian blinks and turns away from Lan Wangji to look at Nie Huaisang. “Um... maybe? I'll call him later tonight. He's probably... pissed or something.” Taking that as an acceptable answer, Nie Huaisang closes his fan and continues to nibble at another french fry. Wei Wuxian decides to talk about random stuff to not think about what they just saw.
But something strange lingers in the back of Wei Wuxian's mind. Just why was Jiang Cheng blushing when he was running away from Lan Wangji?
When Jiang Cheng makes it home, he tries to regulate his heart once again, but it fails. His heart's still racing, his skin feels like it is on fire, and Jiang Cheng refuses to admit the scene replaying in his head, with particular details just solely on Lan Wangji. He sheds the dress and everything else and throws it in some part of his closet. Pulling on house pants and a T-Shirt Jiang Cheng lies down on his bed and screams into the pillow.
After awhile his voice goes hoarse, but the burning touch of Lan Wangji's cold hand remains on Jiang Cheng's skin. It continues to tingle for eternity, not ceasing until Jiang Cheng forgets about it when he falls asleep.
Jiang Cheng doesn't even know that he fell asleep until he opens his eyes and sees that it is dark. It doesn't make a difference, however. The house is as silent as ever, meaning his parents are working until late into the night once more. Jiang Cheng rolls around until his hand reaches his phone and his eyebrows rise at the dozens of messages Wei Wuxian spammed him over the past couple of hours.
Wei Wuxian: A-Cheng, are you alright? That was a nasty fall you had over there.
That was Lan Wangji that helped you up too, wasn't it? C'mon, you gotta give me details here!
Wei Wuxian: A-Cheng, why aren't you responding? Are you mad?
I'm sorry A-Cheng, I didn't mean to make you... angry. Ok, I might be lying there, but you were cute in that
dress! I chose well, didn't I?
Wei Wuxian: Ok you're not reading any of this, so you're either pissed off at me or you're asleep.
Wei Wuxian: I sincerely apologize for forcing you to wear that dress in public. I didn't expect any of those things to happen, yet they did. Um, please respond? Or call me?
Wei Wuxian: Jiang Cheng, why aren't you responding??? (teary emoji face)
Jiang Cheng scrolls down to the bottom of the texts and sits up on his bed. As expected, his knee still stings, but he can live with the pain for a little while. Jiang Cheng pulls up Wei Wuxian's number and calls him as he goes down the stairs to get to the kitchen. Pulling out random leftovers his sister made for him he waits for the microwave to finish heating up his food.
Wei Wuxian sounds worried. “A-Cheng? What happened to you?”
Jiang Cheng sighs. “Pipe it down Wei Wuxian. I'm fine, just fell asleep for a few hours.”
Jiang Cheng hears a sigh of relief coming from the other side. “Well, at least you are safe.”
Jiang Cheng huffs. “Yeah, no thanks to you. I got an unnecessary scrape and an experience I want to burn just like those clothes.”
“I said I was sorry though! Forgive me A-Cheng...” Jiang Cheng stays silent for a long while before he sighs and decides to let it be. The microwave pings and Wei Wuxian of course could hear him take his food out. “Oh, are you eating dinner? Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu aren't home though... You want company?”
Jiang Cheng gets settled in one of the stools. “Do whatever you want.” He hears Wei Wuxian scuffling out and then open his front door. Since they're across the street neighbors he isn't surprised to hear the door open and see him toeing his shoes off. Immediately he sits in the stool next to Jiang Cheng and puts his phone down. “So, what was he like?”
Jiang Cheng can barely get the piece of pork down his throat. “What do you mean?”
Wei Wuxian's look turns more into a devilish grin. “I mean, how was your first encounter with Lan Wangji, the Second Jade of Lan?”
Jiang Cheng turns his head away but Wei Wuxian knows him. They've been as close as brothers for a decade of their life.
“He was... kind.”
Wei Wuxian's ears perk up. “Oh, now that's surprising. People usually don't say anything like that when it comes to Lan Wangji of all people.”
“Well, what else do you expect me to say? He helped me up after I bumped into him, and he even gave me his handkerchief like??? I'm pretty positive he wouldn't have done that if I wasn't in that dress.”
Wei Wuxian tsks. “You never know with people these days.”
Jiang Cheng groans and just continues to stuff his face with his sister's incredible cooking. While he eats, Wei Wuxian goes on and on about the incident, talking about how pretty Jiang Cheng looked (which earned him a punch in the arm), and just the general shock that people had regarding that scene. They didn't seem to know that Jiang Cheng was a male though, and somehow Wei Wuxian proudly mentioned that.
“With your looks, you could possibly fool everyone. Isn't that amazing A-Cheng?”
“If you don't shut up about it I'll burn you along with the clothes.”
“Ah! A-Cheng, don't do that to me! I spent good money on all that, please at least treat them well-”
“Will you just shut up Wei Wuxian! I'm trying to eat here without dying you know!”
Nie Huaisang never mentioned anything about the incident to Jiang Cheng the next day when they all met up in class, which is a relief. At least Nie Huaisang is the more sensible of the duo (his partner being Wei Wuxian). When they headed to the same McDonald's after class, Jiang Cheng puts Wei Wuxian in a headlock for a long time as payback for seeing the incident and not helping Jiang Cheng get out of the situation. The three of them eat their burgers and laugh while they talk about the random things that pop into their mind. To Jiang Cheng, it was like a normal day. What surprises him the most is the sight of the white school uniform right in front of him when he leaves the McDonald's to head home.
Jiang Cheng freezes, and Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang bump their noses into each other's backs when Jiang Cheng freezes.
“Aiyo, what was that for A-Cheng?” Wei Wuxian starts before he looks over and says “Oh.”
“What is the matter Wei-xiong- Ohh...” Nie Huaisang's expression matches Wei Wuxian's expression as they see the student in white.
“Why the hell is Lan Wangji here again?” Jiang Cheng whispers. Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang shake their heads faster than ever, meaning they really don't know why he would be there either.
“Maybe he takes this route home?” Nie Huaisang asks, before letting out a choked sound when he hides behind Wei Wuxian's back. Jiang Cheng freezes up once more.
Lan Wangji's golden eyes that people could stare at for hours zoned in on him.
A cold sweat starts forming around Jiang Cheng's face and neck. Somehow, this expression is an all-knowing expression, as if he knew that Jiang Cheng was the one from yesterday.
He feels a push from Wei Wuxian. Looking back with a betrayed expression Wei Wuxian ushers him forward.
“What the fuck are you doing Wei Wuxian?!” Jiang Cheng angry whispers.
“I'm trying to give you an opportunity to make a friend here! Not many can say that they're friends with people from the Lan Academy you know!” Wei Wuxian whispers back and grasps Nie Huaisang's arm. He waves back before heading the other direction, Nie Huaisang only looking partially sympathetic and mostly confused as he's dragged away.
Jiang Cheng turns away with an irritated sigh and he sees Lan Wangji's eyes are still on him. Heart beating fast for some reason, Jiang Cheng grips his school bag and walks towards Lan Wangji.
“So, I... couldn't help but think you were looking at me. Is there something you want?”
Lan Wangji shakes his head, head bowing in some sort of apology. “My apologies. I was waiting to see someone.”
Jiang Cheng nods. “I see. Is this person a friend?”
Lan Wangji shakes his head again. “I was waiting for someone I encountered yesterday. A female... I was wondering if she was alright.”
And internally, Jiang Cheng can only scream, fuck.