Work Text:
Nie Huaisang let out a long groan as he was sitting on the rock beside the river he had caught fish with his two new friends a few weeks prior. He lifted up the crumbled paper in his hand just to come face-to-face with the huge F once again. No matter how hard he glared, the mark didn’t change. Nie Huaisang felt a shiver running down on his spine. The simple thought of his brother finding out about this made his stomach turn into knots.
”What are you doing here?” He heard the gruff voice above him which made him jump.
Nie Huaisang glanced up, and met with Jiang Cheng’s questioning eyes. He didn’t answer, only scooted a bit away, so the other teen could sit down too. Jiang Cheng leaned back, sighing loudly. It was obvious that he was exhausted. He must have been studying for that stupid exam all week-
”How was your test going?” Nie Huaisang asked, wanting to smack himself right afterwards. Jiang Cheng slid a piece of paper in his lap, and Nie Huaisang picked it up with his free hand. ”A! This is great, Jiang-xiong!” He said, but Jiang Cheng still frowned.
”I have to be better,” he mumbled, but Nie Huaisang caught it.
”Why? You obtained a flawless result, Jiang-xiong! You’re amazing!” Nie Huaisang said, voice higher with every word leaving his mouth. Jiang Cheng felt himself blushing hard, and turned away.
”What about your test?” He asked, and reached his hand out for the paper. Nie Huaisang gave it to him with a long-suffering sigh. From the corner of his eyes, Huaisang saw how Jiang Cheng’s eyebrows furrowed. He instinctively flinched. ”Your brother-”
”Don’t remind me, please!” Nie Huaisang all but shirked, hiding his face in his hands.
”I wanted to say that your brother would not know about this till after the retake exam,” Jiang Cheng said, sighing.
”Yes, but-” Nie Huaisang started, but his eyes widened. ”Would you be so kind and tutor me, Jiang-xiong?” He asked whit shining eyes, and Jiang Cheng wondered how someone could have such pretty eyes. However, the question brought him back to life, and he nodded stiffly.
”I know how hard it is when you have to live up to expectations after all,” he muttered, and Nie Huaisang narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like the grim expression on Jiang Cheng’s beautiful face.
”I’ll give my all, Jiang-xiong!” He promised, grabbing both of Jiang Cheng’s hands. ”You won’t regret your choice!”
It turned out Jiang Cheng was even stricter than Lan Qiren. He didn’t hit Nie Huaisang, that was true, but after a certain amount of time his face became purple because of the surpassed anger, and he broke his pen in half with how hard he squeezed it more often than not. At those moments, Nie Huaisang wanted to hide under the table and excuse that he was even existing. Despite all these facts, however, Jiang Cheng had never said he would quit tutoring him – not once.
”How are my favorite lovebirds doing?” Nie Huaisang herd Wei Wuxian’s voice as the other opened the door – and Jiang Cheng’s pen breaking at the same time.
”I’ve already told you, DO NOT interrupt our study sessions,” the younger Yummeng Sect member said, rubbing his temples.
”What do you mean?” Wei Wuxian asked, offended. ”My exam was A+, and yours only A. If Nie-xiong would like someone to tutor him, he would be better coming to me from tomorrow on!”
Nie Huaisang immediately saw how those words effected his teacher. Jiang Cheng’s face turned into a frown as he averted his eyes, and bit into his lips. It seemed like Wei Wuxian hadn’t notice it – or didn’t care. Nie Huaisang slammed his fan down onto the table, surprising everyone with such a bold action.
”With all respect, Wei-xiong, if I had to choose my tutor, I would choose A-Cheng every time!” He said, then blushed so hard he felt his ears burning. ”Jiang-xiong! I meant Jiang-xiong!” He tried to correct himself, but the damage had been done.
”Right” Wei Wuxian cooed, and Jiang Cheng seemed close to break his neck in half. Thankfully, the sound of the door opening saved his life for now – or not.
”Wei Ying!” They heard a strict voice from behind and Wei Wuxian let out on ’eeep!’ before turning around.
”Lan Zhan! What a pleasant surprise!” He giggled, rubbing the back of his neck.
”Come back to the library. You still have rules to copy,” the other said, then left the room with a loudly groaning Wei Wuxian in tow. After the door closed, Nie Huaisang looked at Jiang Cheng.
”Second Child Lan is scary!”
Nie Huaisang were running through Cloud Recesses, his exam paper being clutched to his chest. When he saw the result, he had to hold back his squeal, and wanted nothing more than to show it to Jiang Cheng. He rounded a corner, bowed quickly for Zewu-Jun, who appeared in front of him from nowhere, and with a half-hearted ’no running in the Cloud Recesses’ behind him he finally reached Jiang Cheng’s door.
”Jiang-xiong!” Nie Huaisang yelled, making Jiang Cheng look up from the scroll he was reading.
Nie Huaisang lifted up his paper high, having no idea what else to say. Jiang Cheng walked to him, and took it out of his hands. When he looked at it, his lips quirked up in a small smile, seeing the huge B+ in the left corner.
”Great w-” he started, but gasped as the other man hugged him. Nie Huaisang buried his face in his chest, and Jiang Cheng felt wetness on his robe.
”Thank you so much, Jiang-xiong!” Nie Huaisang sniffed, and Jiang Cheng felt himself blushing a bit.
”I like A-Cheng more,” he mumbled, making Nie Huaisang gasp in surprise. He looked up from his chest with a 200 watt smile.
”It’ll be A-Cheng from now on, then!” He announced, then a sly smirk appeared on his face. ”But you have to call me A-Sang in return”