Chapter Text
Jiang Cheng won't call himself that observant. He misses certain cues and sometimes can be oblivious to simple things as Wei Wuxian tends to claim he can be.
But he isn't stupid either.
He notices weird things happening around him since middle school. It's nothing too drastic really, but it started on the day where he began to realize he's surrounded by a lot of cliches.
What kind of cliché exactly?
The romance novel cliché that tends to make him nauseous every time he reads them. Not that he loves to read stupid romantic shit, it's just that his mother has a whole collection of romance novel and his sister has another collection of shoujo mangas and…
...a lot of BL ones.
And he was a bored boy, a bored, curious one and he happens to be able to read.
That's how he began to notice more of his surroundings.
Couples everywhere holding hands. Being all mushy and lovey dovey.
Normal, but all of them are good looking.
Too good looking.
Jiang Cheng quirks an eyebrow.
Huh.
And then another day as he walks back from school, he'd somehow stumble upon two good handsome men (is this world really full of them?) bumping into each other in the most cliché manner. Files scattered to the floor and as the men tries to collect them, their hands touched, eyes beginning to bore into each other with intense passion—
Barf.
There's also sparkles and flowers surrounding them and no one bats an eye to that. No one notices.
No one except Jiang Cheng.
That is exactly how the scene in one of sister's BL manga happened. Flower panel and all.
He looks away.
Maybe it is a coincidence, right?
Or he’s hallucinating. Maybe the soup he’d ate last supper is laced with drugs so he’s seeing all those stupid sparkles for no reason.
There's no way he's living in a novel, manga or whatever. Maybe Wei Wuxian's conspiracy theory brain is getting to him.
Then he make a mistake to look at those men direction again (because somehow they really looks good to the eyes, totally not because they're supposed to be some main characters in a love novel or something) and witness the two men eyeing each other with a shy look and as one of them left, sudden gust of wind blows (where did the wind come from!?), the standing man looking forlornly at the retreating figure.
"I hope we'll meet again…" The man whispers.
'Just ask for their number idiot.' Jiang Cheng scowls. ‘Is it that hard?’
That is the beginning where he realizes he's probably living in a stupid romance novel. And he realizes that the main characters always stand out. In which sometimes a damsel in distress will suddenly faint while a man catches her and it feels like the world stops as they both stare at each other in awe. And where that delinquent dude falls in love with the weak nerd and they had to spend time in the library together and their surroundings are filled with roses as they spoke to each other.
Jiang Cheng doesn't mind romance.
'Why the fuck are you tripping on nothing!?'
'Didn't that dude bully the nerd? Why is he fucking blushing?'
'What the fuck why are there roses everywhere!?'
But god does he hate being subjected by this.
Especially when he begins to notice that some people's faces tend to be blurry almost like they’re unimportant and not for any audience to remember them by.
Jiang Cheng looks at himself in the mirror.
So what is he?
He stares at his reflection and then decides to do some research.
He’s probably the mob character.
The ignored best friend of a main character (cue: Wei Wuxian or his lovely sister Jiang Yanli). Well, he’s used to being the left out sibling after all. So does that mean he is safe from all the cheesy, buttery, annoying scenes? He probably just has to be a witness right? He sighs in relief. Relief?
Well, if anything he is glad he’s not throwing and involving himself in a cheesy scene like making pottery while someone guides him from behind or something.
Gag.
He pours some more effort in his research.
But some side characters can also have spin offs in other manga!
He reads the statement from an obscure website he manages to find about romance novel tropes, shoujo, BL and anything that is similar to that.
What?
So if he’s not careful. He’s gonna end up being like the main characters in oh la la land?
Hell no.
Jiang Cheng has too much pride for this.
It doesn’t matter, he just has to notice the flags of romance blossoming or something. Besides, he wants to live a quiet life, maybe one day he’ll end up with a normal girl, having a normal obscured life away from any spectacle.
So Jiang Cheng dedicates his life to avoid being in these kind of stupid situations and trying not to strangle himself when he is forced to witness his sister being the main character as that stupid peacock was being an asshole to her.
Tsundere: love interest who is usually stern, cold, and sometimes hostile to the person they like and others.
Fuck this trope.
That peacock is not worthy to be with his sister. Yet, this stupid world disagrees and they fell in love with each other. He resists the urge to shake his fist as he’d witness they profess their love to each other after a series of stupid, stupid misunderstandings (one also involving Jin Zixuan falling in the arms of his sister — that he approves. Because the damsel in distress should be the peacock.)
But at least he is still safe. Safe from his IQ getting infected by this romance novel world.
He'd tried his best to ignore the spotlight (from where?) landing over Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli as sparkles and roses surrounded them.
Ridiculous.
In the present, Jiang Cheng is a college student, trying to get by as he watches Wei Wuxian getting whisked away by a stoic dude by the name of Lan Wangji in the cafeteria.
“A-Ah, Lan Zhan~ where are you taking me?”
Jiang Cheng sips his juice.
“...Wei Ying. Don't hang around other guys.”
“He’s my brother!”
Jiang Cheng sips his juice harder.
Well, now, it’s all him versus the world.
If only he noticed a certain older Lan is staring at him with longing, maybe he'd put up more defense systems in the future.
Doki!
Love at first sight: experience of starting to be in love with someone as soon as you see them for the first time.