Work Text:
Jiang Cheng’s head is throbbing. He knows it’s his own fault, knows what a stress induced headache feels like, but he can’t do anything to change it.
He has one test coming up and he still has a paper to hand in. There’s no time for him to relax or even slow down.
Jiang Cheng has to ace those two things, or otherwise his grade will drop and he can’t do that to Nie Mingjue.
He is already paying for Jiang Cheng’s studies. The least Jiang Cheng can do is do well in his courses so that Nie Mingjue isn’t disappointed with him.
When a particularly bad wave of pain hits Jiang Cheng he closes his eyes against it and bows his head, but he forces himself to straighten back up a few moments later.
He has to hand in the paper today, so that he can concentrate on studying for the test. He has a plan and every minute of his day is already occupied.
Jiang Cheng cannot slack off because there is simply no time for that.
He forces his eyes open again, and tries his best to concentrate on his reading. He has most of the information for his paper ready, but he still needs one or two more sources, before he feels like he has enough and so he continues reading.
Retaining the things he’s reading is getting progressively harder, the further down the page he gets, but Jiang Cheng only shakes his head when his thoughts drift off.
It doesn’t help with his headache, but Jiang Cheng grits his teeth against the pain.
When his vision goes black he thinks it might be time for a break—he did pencil in those—but then he realizes that he only has to read two more pages and he thinks it’s stupid to stop before he finished that.
So he goes on, at least right until a crimson spot appears on the page.
Jiang Cheng frowns and blinks his eyes a few times, thinking that it’s just another headache induced vision, but when nothing happens, Jiang Cheng tries to swipe it away.
When it smears over the page, Jiang Cheng realizes that it’s blood.
“Fuck,” Jiang Cheng mutters, as he raises his hand to check his nose and when that comes away red as well, he figures that maybe this isn’t good at all.
He reaches for his phone, his first instinct to call Nie Mingjue, but then he remembers that he is on a work thing this evening. Jiang Cheng debates calling Nie Huaisang or Mo Xuanyu, but they are with Nie Mingjue—Nie Huaisang in whatever capacity he holds at Nie Corps and Mo Xuanyu as his boyfriend—and so those two are not an option either.
Jiang Cheng briefly thinks about calling Jiang Yanli or Wei Wuxian, but he doesn’t want to worry or disturb their evening, so in the end Jiang Cheng calls for a didi.
He can make it to the hospital by himself. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Jiang Cheng makes a detour to the bathroom to get some paper that he can press to his nose, before he walks outside.
It’s taking more time than it really should, because Jiang Cheng is really damn unstable on his feet, but eventually he makes it to the sidewalk.
He blinks when he realizes that he didn’t turn off the light in the house, and he just hopes that he at least closed the front door behind him, but all of a sudden Jiang Cheng is too tired to turn around to check.
Jiang Cheng sinks to the ground, hoping that the driver of the didi will still see him and then he must lose a little bit of time, because suddenly there’s a car in front of him and someone is speaking frantically to him.
“--call the ambulance,” the guy says and that finally jolts Jiang Cheng out of his stupor.
“No,” he whispers and reaches out for the guy. “Just drive me to the hospital, it’ll be fine,” Jiang Cheng says and even though his vision is really blurry and spotty he can tell that the guy doesn’t seem that convinced.
“Promise,” Jiang Cheng tells him and then forces himself to stand up.
He manages it without keeling over so he counts it as a win.
“See?” he then asks and going by the concerned look on the driver’s face, he doesn’t see at all.
But thankfully the driver bundles him up into the car, and then they go off. Jiang Cheng loses a little bit of time yet again, because between one blink and the next they are already at the hospital.
“Thanks, man,” Jiang Cheng whispers as he gets out on unsteady feet, and it’s only the driver who appears suddenly by his side who stops him from face-planting right into the ground.
“Come on,” the driver says and leads Jiang Cheng into the hospital.
Jiang Cheng has just enough time to wonder if he brought his wallet so that the staff can at least identify him, before everything goes black.
~*~*~
When Jiang Cheng wakes up, everything is blurry and cotton-candy soft. He blinks a few times, but his body doesn’t respond like he wants it too and in the end Jiang Cheng figures it’s too much strain anyway.
He is coherent enough to realize that he’s in the hospital and that is enough for him.
Sleep seems like the better alternative anyway.
~*~*~
The next time Jiang Cheng wakes up, his room is golden and bright and Jiang Cheng squints as he looks around.
There’s no one in the room, and Jiang Cheng nods to himself because this is what he expected.
He didn’t think to update his emergency contacts yet and of course his parents wouldn’t bother to come by, not after everything that happened.
Not that they did before, Jiang Cheng bitterly thinks but then he pushes those thoughts far away.
He chides himself for being disappointed that no one else is in the room as well, because how would anyone else even know to visit him when no one has been informed about him being in the hospital, and in the end it’s just easier to fall asleep again than to pretend that he’s not foolishly hurt over this.
~*~*~
The third time Jiang Cheng wakes up, he wakes up to people talking in his room. Jiang Cheng is tempted to ignore them, because he thinks they are doctors talking about his general state of health, but then he recognizes Nie Huaisang’s voice and Mo Xuanyu’s and the hummed answer from right beside his bed is no doubt coming from Nie Mingjue and it’s surprising enough that Jiang Cheng opens his eyes.
Nie Mingjue is sitting on a chair next to his bed, while Nie Huaisang and Mo Xuanyu are lounging around on a couch that Jiang Cheng is pretty sure wasn’t there when he woke up the first two times.
“What’s going on? What are you doing here?” he croaks out and when all eyes turn to him, he wishes he kept quiet.
“You absolute asshole,” Nie Huaisang hisses and Jiang Cheng tries to hide under his blanket at his harsh tone.
“Huaisang,” Nie Mingjue chastises him. “There will be time for that in the room.”
Jiang Cheng presses his lips together when Nie Huaisang nods at that, because he seems honestly excited to yell at Jiang Cheng.
“I’m sorry,” Jiang Cheng gets out. “You don’t have to be here, I know you must be busy.”
Silence follows his words, all three of them simply staring at Jiang Cheng and just when it’s about to become too much for Jiang Cheng Nie Huaisang speaks up again.
“What the actual fuck,” he says. “Do you really think we’re upset over that?” he demands to know and Mo Xuanyu puts a hand to his arm, clearly trying to calm him down.
“We come home to an empty house, lights on everywhere, blood on the ground, you nowhere to be seen and you think we’re upset over having to sit here?”
Jiang Cheng doesn’t know what to say to that, except to apologize yet again, and since that wasn’t appreciated the first time, he opts to stay silent.
“Huaisang, go home for now,” Nie Mingjue says with a meaningful look at Mo Xuanyu, who seems to understand because he gets up and tugs a reluctant Nie Huaisang along.
“Da-ge, he can’t just do that,” Nie Huaisang calls over his shoulder before Mo Xuanyu drags him completely out of the room and Nie Mingjue only hums at that.
“I didn’t realize I was bleeding so much. I’m sorry you had to clean that up,” Jiang Cheng mutters when Nie Mingjue doesn’t say anything once the door closes behind Nie Huaisang and Mo Xuanyu.
“That is really not the problem, Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue says with a sigh and he almost sounds disappointed which only makes Jiang Cheng feel worse.
“I’m so—” Jiang Cheng starts but then cuts himself off. “What is the problem?” he finally dares to ask, because he thinks that he’s not going to figure this one out on his own.
“Wanyin, we came home and you weren’t there, even though there was light on anywhere. We came home and you weren’t there and instead there was blood,” Nie Mingjue says and he finally looks up.
He seems hurt, rather than angry, and Jiang Cheng doesn’t really understand what’s going on anymore.
“We were worried something happened to you,” Nie Mingjue finally says when he seems to understand that Jiang Cheng is not getting what he wants to say.
“Oh,” Jiang Cheng whispers out and then forces a smile on his face. “But I’m fine.”
“You’re in the hospital,” Nie Mingjue says with emphasis. “I fail to see how that equates to being fine.”
“I’m—I mean—it’s not so bad?” Jiang Cheng tries next but he falls silent when Nie Mingjue glares at him.
“You collapsed out of sheer exhaustion,” Nie Mingjue tells him and pinches the bridge of his nose, letting out a long breath. “Why won’t you talk to us?” he then asks, his voice quiet and Jiang Cheng can feel tears prick at his eyes.
“I didn’t mean to worry you,” he admits, fiddling with his blanket and unable to meet Nie Mingjue’s eyes.
“What’s going on, Wanyin?” Nie Mingjue asks and he says it with so much feeling that Jiang Cheng starts to cry.
Nie Mingjue doesn’t say anything to that, but he gathers Jiang Cheng up in his arms, simply holding him until he feels at least a little bit stable.
“I had a test and a paper due this week,” Jiang Cheng finally whispers and he feels close to panicking when he realizes that he probably already missed the deadlines for those.
“Relax,” Nie Mingjue says and puts his hand to Jiang Cheng’s neck. “We called your professor, you got an extension, it’s no problem at all,” he reassures him and Jiang Cheng presses the heels of his hands to his eyes.
“I’m so, so sorry,” he sobs out. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble, and I promise I’ll do well on both the test and the paper, please don’t think I’m ungrateful.”
“I would never think that,” Nie Mingjue softly tells him and moves his hand to cup Jiang Cheng’s cheek in it, forcing Jiang Cheng to take his hands away from his face.
“Wanyin, if I had known that you would put yourself under so much pressure, I would have never agreed to send you back to school,” Nie Mingjue says and Jiang Cheng crumbles under his words.
“I’m not disappointed,” Nie Mingjue carefully goes on. “I just wanted you to enjoy learning something that you are actually interested in. It’s not important to me if you get perfect grades, as long as you enjoy it,” he tells Jiang Cheng who doesn’t completely understand.
“But I have to be among the best,” he weakly says, hoping to convey to Nie Mingjue that he knows what expectations rest on him, that he knows he has to do better.
It’s not that he’s not trying. It’s just that he’s not good enough.
“You don’t,” Nie Mingjue easily tells him. “As long as you pass your classes, I don’t care,” he promises and Jiang Cheng gapes at him.
“What?” he whispers, because this cannot be true.
It was never enough for Jiang Cheng to just pass something.
“I don’t hold the same expectations as your parents,” Nie Mingjue says. “And I don’t hold you to the same standards. All I want for you is to enjoy what you’re learning.” There’s a brief pause. “Are you?” Nie Mingjue then asks and Jiang Cheng nods his head.
“I am,” he immediately says, because he does enjoy his classes, now that he got to choose them on his own, but he never dared to think that, too afraid that he would slack off, simply enjoying his classes.
“Then that’s all I need,” Nie Mingjue promises him and pulls him into another hug. “Please don’t ever scare us like this again,” Nie Mingjue whispers into his hair and Jiang Cheng clings to him.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think,” Jiang Cheng gives back and buries his face in Nie Mingjue’s shoulder. “How did you even find me?” he then thinks to ask, because he didn’t update his emergency contact and no one here at the hospital should have known him or where he’s staying.
“A friend of mine, Wen Qing, she’s a doctor at another hospital,” Nie Mingjue explained. “I wanted to call the police but I wanted to know if you’re in the hospital first. I had her call this hospital as it was closest and pretend to need some information about you.”
“I see,” Jiang Cheng nods, and promises himself to update the emergency contact as soon as he is home.
“Wanyin, why did some of the nurses ask me why you’re here again? With the same symptoms even?” Nie Mingjue suddenly carefully asks and Jiang Cheng freezes.
“I—that was—” he starts, but he doesn’t know how to finish.
“Did it happen when you were still with your parents?” Nie Mingjue wants to know and Jiang Cheng nods miserably, glad that his face is still hidden.
“Last year,” he admits. “I collapsed at home, due to stress and overworking myself. I woke up here as well,” he says but then he lets out a bitter chuckle. “Except that back then, the only visitor was my mother, who brought me my homework.”
Jiang Cheng can feel how Nie Mingjue tenses at those words and then he pushes Jiang Cheng away so that he can look him in the eye.
“Is that why you said we don’t have to be here? Is that why you were so surprised to see us?”
“Yes?” Jiang Cheng gives back, wincing when he sees the thunderous expression on Nie Mingjue’s face.
“Let me guess, then: you also didn’t call us at the function, because you thought it would be a bother.”
“I’m not supposed to disturb my parents during work things,” Jiang Cheng whispers.
“But we are not your parents,” Nie Mingjue gives back and takes Jiang Cheng’s hand in his. “We are your family and we would have absolutely left the function the moment you told us to. We would have come back immediately and we would have cared for you like family should and we would not have been mad,” Nie Mingjue says with emphasis and Jiang Cheng has to swallow against the lump in his throat.
“I see,” he mumbles and Nie Mingjue squeezes his hand.
“Do you really?” he softly asks and Jiang Cheng shrugs.
“I hear you, but it might be a while before I can do it,” Jiang Cheng admits and Nie Mingjue lets out a sigh.
“Fine. But please work on it, Wanyin, I never want to be this scared again.”
“I’m sorry,” Jiang Cheng says when he realizes just what distress he must have caused them, but Nie Mingjue shakes his head before he cups Jiang Cheng’s cheek again.
“Just promise to work on it. Ask if you are unsure. We can always say no, right?”
“Okay,” Jiang Cheng nods, even though he knows himself well enough to know that it will be quite a while before he can even bring himself to do that, but it seems to appease Nie Mingjue.
“How long do I have for the paper?” Jiang Cheng then asks, because the thought has been nagging at the back of his head all this time.
“I will inform your professor when you are well enough again to work on it, and then you’ll have a week,” Nie Mingjue answers and Jiang Cheng frowns.
“That doesn’t seem right.”
“That’s what he agreed to,” Nie Mingjue replies and Jiang Cheng has to smile at his tone.
It probably wasn’t entirely voluntarily, then.
“Thank you,” Jiang Cheng whispers and leans forward to hug Nie Mingjue again.
“That’s what family does, Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue says into his hair and then presses a kiss there, too. “Now you concentrate on getting better and then you’ll take it easy, alright?”
“I’ll try,” Jiang Cheng gives back, because he is so used to having to overwork himself, that it will surely be an adjustment to simply not do that every once in a while.
But if Nie Mingjue, Nie Huaisang and Mo Xuanyu stay by his side, then he’s sure he can manage it.