Work Text:
Jiang Cheng is pinching the bridge of his nose before he even dials Nie Huaisang’s phone.
He just knows this phone call is going to be unpleasant, simply because Nie Huaisang cannot understand that Jiang Cheng still did not ask his brother out.
Well, Nie Huaisang can suck it, because right now there’s a dozen different things Jiang Cheng has to worry about, and his crush on Nie Mingjue is like the very least of it.
“Jiang Cheng, what a pleasure!” Nie Huaisang greets him with much more cheer than Jiang Cheng can take at that moment.
“Not today,” Jiang Cheng bites out and Nie Huaisang falls silent on the other end of the line. “Sorry, Huaisang, but not today,” Jiang Cheng repeats, much softer this time and Nie Huaisang sighs.
“What happened?”
“I need a meeting with your brother,” Jiang Cheng says and there’s a very long silence from Nie Huaisang.
“A meeting,” he finally repeats. “A business meeting?”
“A job interview,” Jiang Cheng admits and he knows that got Nie Huaisang’s attention.
“You did it,” Nie Huaisang breathes and he sounds totally excited. “Did you do it? Did it really happen?” Nie Huaisang goes on and Jiang Cheng sighs.
“Yes, yes, I did it,” Jiang Cheng tells him and then takes the phone from his ear when Nie Huaisang starts to cheer. “Would you calm down, fuck,” Jiang Cheng hisses out but it barely does anything to calm Nie Huaisang down.
“I cannot believe you really did it. Tell me everything. How did it happen? What did Wei Wuxian say? What did your father say?” he asks and Jiang Cheng feels very, very tired.
“I don’t know,” he honestly says. “I handed in my notice, but he didn’t have the time to accept it personally so I gave it to his assistant. I doubt my father already read it.”
“Oh, boo, that’s so lame,” Nie Huaisang whines. “What about Wei Wuxian?”
“Doesn’t yet know about it,” Jiang Cheng gives back. “I’ll tell him when he comes home. Father is bound to gush to him about today, about what amazing work he did and with how it’s been going recently, Wei Wuxian is not going to take it well.”
“Good,” Nie Huaisang says with vehemence and Jiang Cheng can almost see him nod vigorously, his hair flying around.
“So, a meeting with your brother?” Jiang Cheng asks again and Nie Huaisang snaps back to attention.
“You really want to work for him?” he wants to know and Jiang Cheng shrugs even though Nie Huaisang can’t see it.
“It’s not like I have much choice,” Jiang Cheng says, even though that’s not the reason at all. “Lan Qiren will sell me out to my father the second I ask him for help and I would rather kill myself than work for Jin Guangshan,” he says.
“And?” Nie Huaisang prompts.
“And I really admire the work you all do at Nie Corps and it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to work for your brother.”
“Mh, sure,” Nie Huaisang says, clearly not believing Jiang Cheng at all. “Give me five minutes,” he then says and hangs up on Jiang Cheng without waiting for a reply.
“Unbelievable,” Jiang Cheng mutters but he keeps his phone close.
If Nie Huaisang says he needs five minutes then he’ll probably call back in four.
And just like Jiang Cheng predicted, his phone rings again exactly four minutes later.
“So?” Jiang Cheng asks without greeting, and Nie Huaisang lets out a put out huff.
“You could at least greet me like a normal person,” Nie Huaisang whines, but when he’s only met with silence, he goes on. “I talked to da-ge, he can squeeze you in for a meeting in an hour.”
There’s a special emphasis on squeeze, and Jiang Cheng wants to strangle Nie Huaisang, because he just knows he’s wriggling his eyebrows.
“Shut up,” Jiang Cheng snaps out, but before Nie Huaisang can complain he goes on. “And thank you. Seriously.”
“No need to thank me,” Nie Huaisang says. “Just finally put da-ge and yourself out of your misery.”
“There is no—” Jiang Cheng starts, but he’s only met with the beeping tone, telling him that Nie Huaisang has yet again hung up on him.
Fine, whatever. He’s not going to pass an opportunity like this up, that much is clear, and so he gets ready to meet with Nie Mingjue.
Jiang Cheng can’t deny that he’s nervous, because he didn’t have to go to a job interview so far—it was always clear he’d get an intern position at Jiang Corps—and he curses that fact now.
And he very resolutely refuses to think about the fact that half of his nervousness is coming from seeing Nie Mingjue.
“Fuck,” Jiang Cheng mutters, because maybe Nie Huaisang is right and there is some pining and misery—at least on his side—and it’s the worst time now to think of this. He needs to be calm and serious and he needs to blow Nie Mingjue away if he wants to have a chance in his company.
Jiang Cheng takes a few deeps breaths before he enters through the main entrance of Nie Corps. It seems like he’s been expected, because he is immediately led to an office.
“If you would wait here for a moment,” Nie Zonghui tells him and Jiang Cheng can only nod before Nie Zonghui disappears in the office, where no doubt Nie Mingjue is sitting.
It’s not long before Nie Zonghui comes back out again, and he motions for Jiang Cheng to enter, which he does.
He’s glad no one can see that his knees are slightly shaking because for all that Nie Mingjue is a friend, he’s also the guy who gets to decide if Jiang Cheng is out of a job or not.
“Jiang Cheng,” Nie Mingjue greets him and points at the chair right in front of him.
“Nie Mingjue” Jiang Cheng politely gives back and he wishes this was over already.
For all that he can wrangle the most difficult deals out of anyone, he’s not good at being charming and selling his own strengths.
“I hear you are out of a job,” Nie Mingjue says and Jiang Cheng shrugs as nonchalantly as he can.
“I handed in my resignation just today,” he gives back. “But I have proof I did it, and since I’m just an intern, it’s effective immediately.”
“Please tell me how your father reacted,” Nie Mingjue says and he leans forward in clear anticipation.
“Sorry to disappoint,” Jiang Cheng answers. “I doubt he realized it yet. I handed it in to my father’s assistant, since he didn’t have time to see me.”
“But you would have given it to him personally?” Nie Mingjue wants to know and Jiang Cheng nods.
“Oh yeah,” he breathes out, because he really would have.
He was actually looking forward to it, and he was strangely disappointed when he didn’t get that chance.
“What happened?” Nie Mingjue questions and Jiang Cheng is reminded yet again, that Nie Huaisang might not make a secret out of the fact that he loves gossip, but Nie Mingjue is hardly any better.
He just hides it better.
“We are launching the new phone,” Jiang Cheng tells him and he sees the frown on Nie Mingjue’s face, and it makes him wince.
It’s a heavy blow against the competition, that they get the phone out there, and now Jiang Cheng almost regrets bringing it on its way.
“So I have heard,” Nie Mingjue grumbles and Jiang Cheng gives him his most winning smile.
“If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have pressed so hard,” he promises him and is surprised when Nie Mingjue shakes his head.
“But then you wouldn’t have quit and we wouldn’t get to employ you. So it’s alright,” he says and Jiang Cheng is honestly surprised to see that he means it.
“Ah, okay,” he breathes out and then he forces himself to shake the surprise off. “Anyway, Wei Wuxian did all of the crazy inventing, but it’s a rather ambitious project. And it wouldn’t have worked, if I didn’t manage to get as many good deals as I did, if I dare say so myself,” Jiang Cheng says and Nie Mingjue nods.
“You absolutely should dare,” he tells him. “I heard about a few of the deals, they were work of wonders,” Nie Mingjue praises him and Jiang Cheng flushes lightly.
“But my father only saw Wei Wuxian’s work. Again. And I am just tired of it. I know that I am capable and I think I deserve some recognition for my work.”
“Absolutely,” Nie Mingjue agrees yet again, and Jiang Cheng’s flush only deepens at that. “And now you’re here,” Nie Mingjue says with a very meaningful look and Jiang Cheng can’t hold his gaze a second longer.
“And now I’m here,” he agrees, but he mumbles it towards his hands, rather than at Nie Mingjue, and when Nie Mingjue chuckles, Jiang Cheng’s stomach flips.
“And you want to work for me,” Nie Mingjue goes on and Jiang Cheng nods.
“If you could find it in yourself to take me in,” he says, because he knows that it might bring some repercussions with it if Nie Mingjue employs him.
When his father finds out that Nie Corps stole him away—and that will no doubt be how Jiang Fengmian will see it—then it could possibly damage their work relationship.
“Oh, I would have taken you in ages ago, if only you would have been ready to leave Jiang Corps,” Nie Mingjue says and Jiang Cheng looks up again.
Nie Mingjue seems entirely serious about this even though Jiang Cheng finds it hard to believe that anyone should want to employ him.
But he recognizes that it’s the mindset his father instilled in him, and that it’s utterly and completely wrong.
“So I don’t have to go beg Lan Qiren to give me a chance?” Jiang Cheng dares to ask and he’s entirely unprepared to see the serious look on Nie Mingjue’s face.
“Jiang Cheng, if you think you have to beg Lan Qiren for that, you’re mistaken. He would gladly take you in.”
Jiang Cheng frowns at that, because he seriously doubts it, but then Nie Mingjue goes on.
“There’s a position in the branch that Nie Zonghui handles that has a position for you,” he tells him and now Jiang Cheng frowns for real.
He had hoped to work under Nie Mingjue directly, if only so that he would see more of the other man.
“I see,” he hesitantly says, not happy at all with his, but he doesn’t know if he can ask for another position.
“That would mean that Zonghui is your direct superior,” Nie Mingjue goes on, just driving the point home by now, but it doesn’t make Jiang Cheng any happier.
“Understood.”
“You would not be working with me in any capacity and I actually don’t have any bearing on your success here,” Nie Mingjue finally says and this time Jiang Cheng kind of snaps.
“Okay, I get you, you don’t want me to work directly for you or have me associated to your name, understood!”
He expected Nie Mingjue to get angry at that, but instead he can only see amusement on his face and Jiang Cheng flushes bright red when a smile finally shows up on Nie Mingjue’s face and his dimples come out.
“Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue says and that makes Jiang Cheng feel hot for entirely different reasons. “I am just saying that if you start here and you and I were to go out for, let’s say dinner, no one would be able to accuse you of anything.”
“Dinner,” Jiang Cheng repeats, because his brain is a little bit slow right now. “Business dinner?” he asks, just to make sure, but he can already tell by the soft look on Nie Mingjue’s face that business dinner is definitely not what he meant.
“Date dinner,” Nie Mingjue immediately corrects him and Jiang Cheng’s eyes go big.
“Oh,” he breathes out. “So your brother wasn’t wrong when he implied some mutual pining and misery?” he blurts out and is rewarded when Nie Mingjue laughs out loud.
“Oh no, he definitely wasn’t wrong with that,” Nie Mingjue says and he looks so amused Jiang Cheng wants to kiss the smile right off his face.
“When?” he dares to ask and Nie Mingjue doesn’t even pretend to check his no doubt busy schedule.
“Tomorrow. Let me take you out on a date,” Nie Mingjue says, probably just to make it absolutely clear that that is what it is and Jiang Cheng nods eagerly.
“Please,” he gives back and has to sit on his hands so that he doesn’t do something stupid.
“You’ll start in the company on Monday,” Nie Mingjue informs him. “All the paperwork will be done then as well.”
“Okay,” Jiang Cheng nods.
“That means you can kiss me today, if you want,” Nie Mingjue tells him after a beat, because clearly Jiang Cheng is not taking up well on all of his hints.
“Fuck, yes,” Jiang Cheng breathes out and immediately stands up.
He leans over the table, absolutely gratified when Nie Mingjue meets him halfway, and the kiss goes on for longer than it probably should, given that they didn’t have their first proper date, yet.
“I am so looking forward to tomorrow,” Jiang Cheng mutters when they part and freezes when Nie Mingjue presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth, and then his cheek before he finally sits back down.
“Not as much as I am,” Nie Mingjue promises him, and going by the heat in his eyes, Jiang Cheng even believes him.
When he leaves Nie Mingjue’s office after that, still a little but unsteady on his feet, but this time for entirely different reasons, Jiang Cheng decides that Wei Wuxian can never know about how dense Jiang Cheng was.
That is just for Nie Mingjue to know. And hopefully cherish for a long, long time.