Work Text:
1.
Jiang Cheng didn't particularly think he was the cutest person in the world. In fact, if someone said they thought he was cute, Jiang Cheng would probably end up getting annoyed—unless it was his sister, Yanli had rights. It turns out that even though he thought of himself in such a way, other people saw him with different eyes. Jiang Cheng might hate the way his hair looked in the morning in that cliche and messy bun, but his brother found him adorable. He might hate how the cold made him blush so easily, but Huaisang would always smile tenderly as he helped him with the scarf. He could scream every day about how he hated all the people in the whole world, but Xichen would always offer him coffee with a little smile and a kiss on the cheek saying "good morning to you too".
Anyway, he was kind of spoiled despite having a grumpy attitude at times, but that wasn't his fault! His friends were just... Masochists.
He could also deny that alcohol made him more charming — with the edges of his face flushed in a just irresistible way, a loose smile and gentler mannerisms — yet it was obvious that no one at that table felt the same way. Even those who weren't very close to him, like Wangji, Jin Guangyao, and even Mingjue, who always retorted what Jiang Cheng said just to annoy him, couldn't help spying out of the corner of their eye just for the benefit of subtly admiring the adorable expression on Jiang Cheng's face, who was already slightly drunk.
"A-Cheng, I think you should stop drinking for the night…" Wuxian muttered, trying to move his glass away from his brother.
"Oh no! N-Not at all…" he chuckled, controlling a sob. "I've barely started."
None of those present knew what it was, but there was something almost magical about Jiang Cheng's aura. While it was sensible to get him to stop drinking before he ended up falling asleep right there, none of them could fight the bleary little eyes and that little look of sadness when the bottle was moved away. In fact, the only one who could at least keep him away from alcohol was Xichen, who seemed strangely immune to the youngest's pleading expression. Not that the others were paying attention to this detail, much less Jiang Cheng, who honestly probably wouldn't remember almost anything the next day.
And even so, he seemed to make a point of making everyone there aware that they would remember everything.
"Gege!" Jiang Cheng said suddenly, grinning just as silly with his red cheeks and neck.
"Yes?" Wei Wuxian, Nie Huaisang, Jin Guangyao and Wen Ning said, along with muttered responses from Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji and Nie Mingjue, the typical murmurs.
An awkward silence fell between them, broken only by Jiang Cheng's silly giggle, who seemed to have just witnessed the funniest thing in the entire world. If he was sober maybe he'd end up laughing too, only in a much meaner way — his friends' faces were priceless. Even Nie Mingjue, who was never embarrassed, had his cheeks slightly flecked with red, denoting how silly he felt for having responded to a call like that. Not just him, actually. Wangji's pale skin looked unhealthy with that shade of embarrassment sweeping through him.
"Why did you all respond? I'm his only gege!" Wei Wuxian, indignant, got to his feet. He stared at Lan Wangji looking even more surprised "Even you Lan Zhan!"
Lan Wangji could evaporate in any second from the way his face heated up. It turns out that Lan Zhan never showed the slightest interest in even being friends with Jiang Cheng, so seeing him respond unnaturally and quickly to the other's unassuming “gege” was really shocking.
It was no surprise that Wuxian was jealous of his younger brother, everyone there had seen his not-so-subtle ways of showing that he was very protective of Jiang Cheng—which Jiang Cheng pretended not to like, but deep down he found it strangely comforting to know that Wei Wuxian cared about him that much.
"Wei Wuxian, you can sit down now." Nie Huaisang grumbled, pulling him by his clothes to calm down.
"I can't believe you all responded!" grumbling, Wei Wuxian glared at them. "I'm the only one he calls a gege!"
"The hell you are!" Nie Mingjue grimaced, annoyed. "I've never heard Jiang Cheng call you anything other than those stupid curses he makes up."
The discussion started that way, eventually involving everyone present, even Wen Ning, who did his best to stay away. Taking advantage of their distraction, Lan Xichen turned to Jiang Cheng and checked his condition, concluding that they should leave soon because of the way he was rocking back and forth with a sleepy smile.
"I'm taking Wanyin home." he rose to his feet, helping Jiang Cheng do the same.
At that very moment, the entire table fell silent, but everyone was staring at Lan Xichen as if he were a predator. With a sigh, Lan Xichen looked at Jiang Cheng, still smiling in his arms, and had to repress the smile that almost escaped him.
Look at the mess you're causing, A-Cheng.
When he woke up the other day, Jiang Cheng had a terrible headache. Grumpy, he sat up in bed and wiped his eyes, smiling slightly when he saw the glass of water and the hangover medicine on the headboard of his bed, next to the small note:
When you wake up, send me a message. I ran out of battery, couldn't tell you about it so I left this message.
I have a few things to tell you.
Xichen
Despite his curiosity, Jiang Cheng decided to wake up with dignity first. He swallowed the medicine, ate something, and then showered, happy to get that dirty feeling out of his body — since he couldn't remember anything, he'd probably passed out on the way home, and Lan Xichen was too polite to just throw him in the bathtub. Finally feeling better, he sat back down on the bed and finally texted Xichen, distracting himself with his bottle of water while he awaited the older man's reply. Jiang Cheng also had some other messages from Wei Wuxian, Nie Huaisang and, surprisingly, Nie Mingjue, but he would reply to them later.
As expected, Lan Xichen took less than five minutes to reply. As they talked about the night before, Jiang Cheng became aware of the commotion he accidentally caused because of the amount of alcohol he decided to drink to put the stress aside. Initially he didn't buy the story, after all it was really hard to believe that everyone got that way because of him, especially with Wangji and Mingjue in the middle, however he knew better than anyone that Xichen wasn't a person who lied. Still, it was really hard to swallow that a single word he had said made even Nie Mingjue and Lan Wangji react to him that way.
Xichen
You should try calling them that more often. I have a feeling it will be fun.
Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes at Xichen's message. His intentions were generally good with everything, but suggesting it to him… It felt slightly mean.
Wanyin
And I get the impression you like chaos.
Xichen
Huh, I'm just suggesting something fun, A-Cheng.
"A-Cheng…" he mumbled, slightly embarrassed but happy.
Well, if the very personification of goodness that was Lan Xichen was suggesting that he give it a try, then clearly Jiang Cheng would not miss this opportunity.
2.
Jiang Cheng spent a lot of time in the library, if not always for studying—because he was always silent, he liked to spend time reading anything to calm his often irritable mood in the mornings. Sometimes Huaisang and Wei Wuxian would accompany him, although most of the time that was not good because they always ended up disturbing Jiang Cheng or managing to evict him from the place because of the noise. That day, glad that the library was slightly empty, Jiang Cheng sat down at a vacant table and began pulling out his materials.
He needed to finish some research and unfortunately a lot of what he was looking for was far better answered in that gigantic book he had borrowed, so he was sure to be there for a while.
As expected, four hours later Jiang Cheng was squinting to read the little words in the book due to mental fatigue. At least none of his friends or his brother had shown up there to bother him, it would certainly make his headache worse. With a tired sigh, Jiang Cheng allowed himself to lay his head down for a minute on the table, suddenly feeling much better at not having to stare at a bunch of words.
These minutes became approximately half an hour until, miraculously far away from Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji appeared and woke him up with his ungentle movements by accidentally dropping the books on the table.
"May I sit here?" he muttered, looking strangely embarrassed.
Jiang Cheng nodded, adjusting his posture. He stretched lazily, staring at the page of his book, damp from his drool. Excellent. Lan Wangji didn't seem to mind, sitting comfortably in the opposite chair and opening his material. It surprised Jiang Cheng that he didn't have Wei Wuxian clinging to his body like a sloth to a tree, they both didn't like to be away from each other even though they were two jerks who never suspected each other's feelings before and were always lying to themselves. Anyway, now that he was awake again, Jiang Cheng went back to trying to concentrate on what he needed to do. At least with Wangji there, he felt he wouldn't just be able to relax to the point of tipping over on top of his studies.
Twenty more minutes passed by him reading texts and more texts failing to understand anything. Jiang Cheng scratched his forehead, staring at those words and trying to connect them the way he needed to. He thought about researching what he wanted online, but he knew that his teacher would prefer that he get all the necessary information from that book—his teacher was a very old-fashioned gentleman in Jiang Cheng's opinion, but he still needed a good grade on that paper. With some hesitation, he looked up at Lan Wangji, who was stoically writing something, no longer looking uncomfortable in his presence.
He immediately thought of asking him for help, aware that Lan Wangji was probably smart enough to help him interpret what was written there, but Jiang Cheng refrained for a moment. Not that they had any sort of intrigue between them, in fact they had both talked before they started college about the jealousy they felt about their respective brothers. Still, it wasn't like they were best friends. Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng chatted briefly when necessary, were silent in each other's company, and didn't care much for such forced pleasantries. If they respected each other, there was no need for there to be anything else. Even though it was no big deal, Jiang Cheng didn't know what Lan Wangji would end up thinking about his request.
Lan Xichen's words suddenly came to his mind.
You should try calling them that more often.
From what Lan Xichen had said, Wangji was also one of those affected by his idiotic and unintended charm. Perhaps, if Jiang Cheng took the risk, Lan Wangji would end up helping him if he treated him differently? Jiang Cheng sighed, deciding it was okay to try. It wasn't like the other was going to throw a book in his face or anything like that.
"Gege…" he muttered, still not confident.
Lan Wangji widened his eyes slightly, looking at him with equal uncertainty. His ears quickly took on a certain color.
Okay, thought Jiang Cheng, this is new.
"Um… I'm having difficulties with this part of the text, could you help me, ge?"
He had a feeling that if he could, Wangji would have exploded with embarrassment at that moment. He looked completely fragile, his face full of surprise and the skin on his neck, face and ear slightly reddened. Still, he took a deep breath and nodded, getting up immediately and going to the other side of the table, taking the chair next to Jiang Cheng. Those golden eyes looked at him slightly innocently, which almost made Jiang Cheng laugh. He was probably not at all used to receiving this kind of treatment when it wasn't coming from Xichen and Wei Wuxian, which explained his cute reactions.
"Thank you, Wangji-ge!"
"Hm."
That's all he heard before Lan Wangji started helping him, looking ready to finish the research for Jiang Cheng, focused on helping at all costs.
3.
Nie Mingjue had a personality very similar to Jiang Cheng's. Jin Guangyao, by contrast, was diplomatic and calm for both of them. When Lan Xichen asked him to go out in a group with them, Jiang Cheng thought that maybe that night would end with him and Mingjue yelling at each other while the other two tried to separate them. To his surprise, however, things were going very well. Yes, he had exchanged some rudeness with Nie Mingjue, but that was common for both of them because they were both so surprisingly alike. Such teasing was part of their relationship, so nothing really was off that night.
Jiang Cheng liked them both. Well, at first he thought that he would end up physically fighting with Nie Mingjue because of his sometimes too rude answers and he also thought Jin Guangyao was an evil snake for his double meaning smiles, but upon meeting them Jiang Cheng realized that his initial judgment wasn't really wrong, but it wasn't quite right either.
Despite being as impatient as himself, Mingjue was a very empathetic and helpful person, always following what he felt was right and defending people from any injustice. Jin Guangyao, on the other hand, was a more restrained yet extremely loyal person, able to move mountains to ensure that his loved ones were protected and well.
And they both liked Xichen, and Xichen liked them—so for Jiang Cheng, it was fine.
"You shouldn't drink too much." Nie Mingjue advised, albeit in an accusatory tone.
"Sorry Dad, I didn't know you were coming today." Jiang Cheng snapped, reaching for the bottle of liquor across the table.
Jin Guangyao took the bottle out of range, smiling sweetly. They were always like that to you, even before Jiang Cheng even decided he liked them both. He suspected that Lan Xichen was influencing them to be nice to him.
"Da-ge is right, Jiang Cheng. You are a danger when drunk."
Narrowing his eyes, he glared at Xichen for his word about it, but the older one just chuckled, drinking some more of his juice. The minutes passed and since Jiang Cheng was no longer drinking, Mingjue and Jin Guangyao were responsible for finishing the bottle. While their behavior itself wasn't all that different, Jiang Cheng noted that the air of sobriety had long since faded, giving them slightly opaque eyes and less nimble senses. Xichen didn't drink, so of all those present he was the only one who was really sane. Not that Jiang Cheng thought he was drunk like the other two older ones, though he was still a little dizzy.
While Mingjue complained loudly about the heat, his body leaning toward Jin Guangyao's, Xichen briefly touched Jiang Cheng's arm and gave him a look that might seem amused to others, but Jiang Cheng saw the evil there. With an expression of mock offense, Jiang Cheng stared at him in disbelief, which made Xichen laugh.
When he finally got tired of finding the whole situation very funny, Lan Xichen subtly sighed "It's going to be funny, their reaction, you'll see." Ah, if Jiang Cheng didn't know him better, he would say that Lan Xichen was the precedent of all the chaos in his life, but he knew well that he would join the other's jokes because he was equally evil.
"What are you two laughing at?" muttered Nie Mingjue, looking annoyed that they were apparently hiding something.
"Me and Xichen were just talking about you treating me like a kid, gege, but don't be jealous." Jiang Cheng teased, smirking. "Yao gege too, you always try to police me like I'm innocent and unprepared!" he added, looking pleased to see them wide-eyed, slightly embarrassed.
"I-I don't…" Jin Guangyao whispered, embarrassed.
"You are a baby, Jiang Cheng!" Nie Mingjue cut him off, slamming the newly finished mug of beer onto the table. "Of course me and A-Yao will take care of you! When it's A-Huan, you never complain."
Ah, Jiang Cheng could barely contain his laughter. Mingjue looked terribly adorable flushed that way, with a pout on his lips. For a man that big and strong, being considered cute should be a crime.
"Yes gege, I'm a baby." he allowed himself to say it, laughing. "Which means you two should take better care of me… I don't eat properly in the morning, you know? And yet neither of you prepare anything for me!"
Although he said it in jest, the next week, every day, Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue would corner him at some point in college and force him to eat what they brought. After Xichen blurted out that Jiang Cheng liked sweets, it just became more frequent. Everyone was confused by this sudden treatment, but the truth is, Jiang Cheng didn't mind calling them gege if he was going to get chocolate every day.
4.
Wen Ning and Huaisang were both strangely alike in some ways. Well, if you ignored the fact that one of them, despite not looking at all threatening, could stick a knife in your neck without hesitation and the other, despite looking slightly creepy at first, was a lovely and shy—which in that respect made them complete opposites, but anyway—of course, they were alike. Jiang Cheng had known Huaisang since he was little, when his parents thought it made sense to take him to some kind of dinner at the Nie house, but Wen Ning was a recent addition to their group of friends. Jiang Cheng couldn't say that he was foreign to him, but because they were both quite introverted, they didn't talk much. It was a more restrained friendship, that's all.
However, despite these clear differences, they both had one thing in common about Jiang Cheng: they always ended up giving him everything he asked for, no exceptions. Not even Lan Xichen, in all his glory and goodness, indulged his tastes as easily as these two. Huaisang was naturally attached to Jiang Cheng, they were best friends and Nie Huaisang always made it clear that his love language was gifts and favors. Wen Ning, on the other hand, just liked him enough not to stall and always ended up doing whatever Jiang Cheng asked. Also, Jiang Cheng clearly didn't ask him for absurd things, too enthralled by his cuteness to suggest silly things like dyeing their hair together (which he did to Wei Wuxian after a lot of begging).
To this day his brother had a red streak on the back of his neck. Jiang Cheng went back to black after the urge to be a little rebellious passed.
That's why Jiang Cheng was extremely surprised when he got a no from both of them when he said he wanted company to see a new horror movie on Friday. It wasn't a really bad request or anything like that, and they both loved spending time with A-Cheng, however horror movies were off-limits territory. Wen Ning simply hated being startled, the sensation made him weak in his legs. Nie Huaisang, on the other hand, couldn't sleep well at night and he was past the stage of climbing into Mingjue's bed and snuggling into his brother's embrace — although, even if he didn't admit it, the other would love it if it still happened, because, really, it was a lovely sign.
So no, they weren't going to accompany Jiang Cheng on Friday.
"Not a chance, A-Cheng! I'm old enough to not be putting myself in trouble anymore." Huaisang said, crossing his arms.
Jiang Cheng stared at him with those dead eyes before dropping the biggest bomb on the older one.
"But gege…" he muttered, in a sad tone.
Ah, but the terrible little creature that was Jiang Cheng wasn't going to give up so easily.
"Y-You won't convince me using this!" despite his words, Huaisang's heart was already preparing for Friday. Jiang Cheng edged closer, ready for another attack, when, sighing, Nie Huaisang surrendered. "Alright, alright! But I'll only go if Wen Ning goes too."
The younger one smirked, planting a quick kiss on her cheek.
"I love you. See you Friday at the movies?"
"Y-You haven't even talked to A-Ning yet!" he yelled, watching Jiang Cheng run across the campus.
"I'll text you the time!" Jiang Cheng yelled back, waving.
Huaisang sighed, sure that if Mingjue found out, he would laugh a lot. Well, not that he could really laugh at his situation, after all he had fallen for the same blow.
"Ning-Ning!" Jiang Cheng approaches the shy man, hugging him sideways with a big smile.
Wen Ning was more nervous than a person with heart problems. Despite that, he was very cute. Cute enough for everyone to protect him. If someone said something mean to Wen Ning, he would probably die in the next few minutes because no one could mistreat their muffin. Jang Cheng would never admit it, but the eldest was probably one of his favorite people in the entire world. Not only because he knew the limits of others and never irritated them, but because he had a lovely way of returning affection, curling up into his arms and sighing in a relaxed way.
"A-Cheng." he smiled, slightly flushed.
"About that movie on Friday…"
"Haisang and I have already said it won't happen." Wen Ning grimaced.
"But Ning-Ning, Huaisang accepted!" Jiang Cheng stopped in front of him, pouting. "Please?"
"A-Sang accepted?" he narrowed his eyes doubtfully.
Jiang Cheng nodded without hesitation, smiling.
"It's just a matter of you accepting too…"
"You know I don't get along with horror movies." he crossed his arms, looking firm in his decision. "I don't even know what you did to make Huaisang accept, he's just as scared as I am!"
"Why, I asked with love, as I'm doing to you!" he exclaimed, trying to use a smile to convince him. Wen Ning seemed to hesitate for a moment, but soon returned to his determined stance. Jiang Cheng would have to appeal. "Come on, Ning-gege… I really wanted to see this movie with you."
His fingers gently traced Wen Ning's strong arms, who blushed up to her ears at his charm. Even though it was all fake and they both knew it, it was really hard when Jiang Cheng acted like that. Clearing his throat awkwardly and his face burning with embarrassment, the other just nodded.
"A-Alright, I will go." he murmured, his tone as adorable as ever.
Jiang Cheng grinned, hugging him by the neck excitedly.
"Thank you. I love you gege!"
5.
Wei Wuxian was weak to his family, that was true. But with Jiang Cheng he made an extra effort not to do things right away, just because he enjoyed seeing the youngest annoyed. Afterwards he always ended up doing what was asked and a little more, but it was still worth it. It turns out that despite not appearing, Wei Wuxian had its limits. They were quite long and actually absurd, but they existed. One of them was clear to all of his friends, acquaintances, and even random people he followed on Twitter: his bedroom was his personal space and no one could stay in it for long.
He honestly didn't know why he got so anxious at the thought of someone staying there, but sometimes it was a rather irritating feeling. Not even Lan Wangji could stay for long, eventually getting kicked away by a smiling and apologetic Wei Wuxian. He felt it had to do with the freedom he could feel there, so with other people present it was like an invasion. Only two people could actually go in there whenever they wanted and stay a while longer: Yanli and Jiang Cheng. Of course, Wei Wuxian could never keep them away, nor did he want to; his older sister took care of him all his life and his younger brother literally allowed him into his room screaming out of fear of the neighbor's dog to sleep together, they both had more than their permission to stay there.
But then again, he had his limits and on certain days they got even tighter. On that day, Wei Wuxian was trying to kick out Jiang Cheng from his room.
"A-Cheng, be serious!" he grunted, seeing the youngest complain equally sullenly.
"Just for a few minutes…" he muttered, clutching the doorpost as if his life depended on it.
"You always leave when I ask, but today you're being difficult!" Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes, annoyed.
Jiang Cheng shrugged, sighing.
"Right. Sorry, gege." he whispered, ready to leave, but Wei Wuxian grunted and pulled him by the wrist into the room again.
He couldn't use this gege against him! It was dirty, it was low! It made Wei Wuxian want to beat him up and then fill him with love, after all his brother rarely behaved like that in front of others.
"Okay, you can stay." he grunted, seeing how Jiang Cheng looked happy, smiling slightly. It was only then that Wei Wuxian noticed his tired face, frowning. "A-Cheng… Is everything alright?"
"Um… I think so?" he laughed, albeit dejectedly. "Just a bad day I guess."
Wei Wuxian suddenly understood why the naturally grumpy Jiang Cheng looked so needy: he was sad about something. Well, it wasn't like the older one was in a much better mood, so he wanted to be alone initially, but now, seeing that they were both equally stressed and as his brother looked about to break down, he considered that they were better together. Wei Wuxian opened his arms, smiling at Jiang Cheng.
"Come on, I'm the best gege, aren't I? The real gege, not those jerks you got to spoil you." he teased, seeing the other roll his eyes, though his smile widened.
Jiang Cheng hugged his waist, relaxing.
"Thank you, Xian-ge."
"You're welcome, A-Cheng."
+1.
Despite loving all of his friends and constantly teasing them, there was one person Jiang Cheng wanted to call a 'gege' and actually mean it: Lan Xichen, the very demon who encouraged him to keep irritating others with this charming honorific that guaranteed you anything. What Jiang Cheng felt for him was no longer a drop in feelings at this point, it was a whole cliff, an abyss whose bottom might not even exist. Despite this, it was really difficult for Jiang Cheng to tease him like he did to others or even play any jokes in general—Lan Xichen was too much for his heart! If he played with Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng was afraid he would fight back and kill him to the heart.
Everyone said it was obvious that Xichen liked him too, as obvious as the sun rising at six in the morning and irritating him in his sleep, yet Jiang Cheng was quite insecure when he wanted to and the subject at hand was his heart, the weakest part of his being. It could be obvious to everyone that the feeling was mutual, that it only took a spark for the two of them to collide once and for all, however Jiang Cheng would not believe such things so easily.
It didn't help that Lan Xichen was extremely full of ulterior motives. He was naturally clingy, but with Jiang Cheng it was even more than that, almost like a cat with his favorite human—and Jiang Cheng didn't know if that was just his mind playing tricks on him and making him see things differently or if it was reality and his self-esteem just wouldn't let him process things normally.
One day he would still have a heart attack because of Xichen, that was a fact.
"Wanyin!" Lan Xichen threw himself into his arms, nearly making them both fall in the middle of the campus.
"X-Xichen! One of these days we're still going to fall and hurt badly because of your pranks, I can't carry you if I get scared." he complained, cheeks burning with embarrassment at having him so close.
"Ah, but I feel so safe in your arms, Wanyin!" he muttered, his face against Jiang Cheng's neck in a hug, making the younger one need to hold back a sigh.
Close. Very Close. Lan Xichen is too close.
"Yeah, yeah, got it." he said, pretending to be annoyed. "What are you doing here? I thought your classes ended early on Wednesdays."
"And they're done, but I came to get you. Do you want to go to my house for dinner?" he let go of Jiang Cheng, smiling.
"T-Today?"
"Now." Xichen laughed at his surprised expression. "Why the surprise? We always go out together."
"I know, it's just…" It's just that they went out to coffee shops or something, not dinner at each other's houses. That was… That was something else! "I don't know. I was just caught off guard, that's all."
"Hm, ok." Xichen smirked, nodding his head shortly thereafter. "But do you accept?"
"O-Of course. I just need to warn my siblings, one moment Xichen." he muttered nervously, fumbling for his cell phone in his pocket.
When he finally found the device, Jiang Cheng looked up quickly to check on the older one and noticed that he had an adorable pout on his lips. Confused, Jiang Cheng internalized his cries about “he's tremendously cute” and “if I could I'd bite his cheek off,” deciding to ask if something was wrong. As incredible as he might seem to the rest of the people, the beloved Lan Xichen was extremely stubborn and cantankerous when he wanted to, totally contradicting the image of the perfect saint that he passed. In those moments he was like this: pouting, crossing his arms, turning his face away. A five-year-old child in a twenty-seven-year-old man's body (a very big man still, just to add).
"Lan Xichen, is there a problem?" he muttered.
"Oh, you know… I heard a few things these weeks." he caught a strand of his hair, fidgeting nervously between his fingers. "About you and our friends."
Jiang Cheng, if it were possible, would have made his eyebrows go so deep into his face that they would have reached his lips.
"Heard about what?"
"About you actually calling them gege."
"I did it in front of you." he muttered, confused.
"Yes, but with the rest too…"
"You were the one who suggested it." Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes as he saw him sigh dramatically. "What's wrong with that?"
"You never called me gege." He finally said, the pout on his lips growing wider.
You see, Jiang Cheng wasn't a machine, so he couldn't short-circuit, but at that moment, as soon as those words came out of Lan Xichen's mouth, the man suddenly thought he had crashed badly, his motherboard burned because of the heat of shame that invaded his face. How could this man just act like that! He didn't seem to have any idea what he was doing to Jiang Cheng when he said such things, when he behaved in this extremely adorable yet evil way!
"H-Ha! Why would you want to be called that, I-I…" Jiang Cheng didn't even know what to say, he was passing away internally.
Xichen approached him with a wicked little smile, his face so close to his that Jiang Cheng almost passed out right there from sudden exhaustion.
"Huh, why wouldn't I? A-Cheng called everyone but me… Don't you like me, A-Cheng?" he said in a hushed tone, the glint in his eyes indicating he was about to snag his prey well.
"I-I… I-It's not that… Y-You…"
And the prey, as you can see, was poor Jiang Cheng, who didn't really understand how dual Lan Xichen's personality could be.
"You even called Wangji gege… And not me…" he sighed, pretending to be sad. "And I've waited this whole time, you know?"
The problem was, Jiang Cheng didn't know if he could do that. He had a feeling that if he opened his mouth and called Xichen 'gege', he would probably have one more reason to stay awake in bed at night. This was something far beyond the teasing he did with his friends to see them give in to his charms, that was something serious!
"A-Cheng?" Lan Xichen shook his head, feigning innocence.
"I-I'm sorry… G-Gege…" Jiang Cheng whispered the last part, as red as a tomato.
The gigantic smile that opened on Lan Xichen's face could be considered the sun itself. He quickly hugged his waist, pulling Jiang Cheng into his arms, still smiling like a real idiot. He touched his nose to the younger one, then kissed his cheek, forehead and, very shamelessly, just the corner of his mouth.
"You're much cuter than you think." Lan Xichen said, releasing him. "Shall we go? I parked my car right out front." he continued as if he hadn't just destroyed all of Jiang Cheng's personalities at once.
"X-Xichen… You…!" Jiang Cheng complained, embarrassed to the last strand of hair.
"Hm? I didn't hear you, A-Cheng!"
"Lan Xichen!"
"Haven't heard you yet…" he smiled as he saw Jiang Cheng collapse again, only to give up and accept that he had gotten himself into a new kind of problem.
"Lan-gege… You are very mean." he muttered, accepting the hand that was extended to him.
Xichen laced their fingers together, laughing.
"A-Cheng, you are adorable."