Work Text:
Jiang Cheng glares at Wei Wuxian over the paper in his hands.
“What is this?” he demands to know, shaking the paper a little in emphasis.
“My monthly report? You said you want to have a progress report on the first of every month,” Wei Wuxian gives back as if Jiang Cheng would ever forget that.
But that’s not the point.
“These,” he says and turns the paper around to Wei Wuxian, “are scribbled notes.”
“It’s my report,” Wei Wuxian confidently says and Jiang Cheng pinches the bridge of his nose.
“This is bullshit,” he sighs out, already feeling a headache forming when he thinks about the extra work he’ll have to do to get this into a presentable form.
“Hey,” Wei Wuxian complains but before he can go on, there’s a knock at Jiang Cheng’s door.
“What,” he snaps out, and cringes slightly when Nie Mingjue sticks his head in.
He is still Jiang Cheng’s superior and Jiang Cheng should really remember to be more polite to him.
“You good?” Nie Mingjue asks into the room, but his eyes are mostly on Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng pretends like that doesn’t sting.
“Everything is fine,” Jiang Cheng answers when Wei Wuxian takes too long to find his voice.
When Nie Mingjue only raises an eyebrow at him, Wei Wuxian flops over the table.
“Mingjue-ge, A-Cheng is mean to me. He says my report is not a real report,” he whines, clearly looking for sympathy.
“Because it isn’t,” Jiang Cheng repeats, shaking the paper in his hand again. “It’s scribbled notes. Illegible notes, I might add,” he tacks on, trying to decipher a random section.
Nie Mingjue chuckles at that but when he steps into the room to look at the report, he winces which makes Jiang Cheng smirk at Wei Wuxian.
“That—really doesn’t seem like a proper report,” Nie Mingjue admits. “Maybe you should do it over. Don’t let Jiang Cheng do all the work,” Nie Mingjue chastises Wei Wuxian, who groans in defeat.
“There, there,” Nie Mingjue says and pats Wei Wuxian’s head.
“You’re both so mean to me,” Wei Wuxian complains and Jiang Cheng laughs.
“If you would do your job properly we wouldn’t have to be,” he gives back, looking at Nie Mingjue for his agreement, but Nie Mingjue is not looking at him, keeping his eyes fixed on Wei Wuxian.
Jiang Cheng refuses to let that hurt. There have been a few instances in the past where Nie Mingjue couldn’t quite look at him, but Jiang Cheng refuses to let it mean more than it probably does.
It’s likely that he’s just overreacting.
Wei Wuxian waits until Nie Mingjue has left the room again before he turns towards Jiang Cheng with pleading eyes, but Jiang Cheng shakes his head immediately.
“No. Our superior gave you an order, so you will do your goddamn work for once,” he tells him and Wei Wuxian flops over again as if he had been mortally injured.
“Fine,” he mutters, more into the table than towards Jiang Cheng, but he will take it for now.
~*~*~
The most recent interaction with Nie Mingjue forced Jiang Cheng to face the fact that something might be wrong.
He noticed it sometimes before, the way Nie Mingjue couldn’t quite meet his eyes, or would purposefully look away from him, but he didn’t pay it much mind back then. A lot of people find it hard to directly look at Jiang Cheng, especially when he’s angry, so he brushed it off.
But Jiang Cheng is reasonably sure that he wasn’t angry or overly snappy the last time and now there’s a seed of doubt in his mind.
What if Nie Mingjue simply cannot stand him? As a person?
That would be a devastating blow, if Jiang Cheng is being honest with himself, and his gut churns uneasily at just the thought. He—likes Nie Mingjue and even though he knows that Nie Mingjue is never going to reciprocate, knowing that he might dislike him—or worse, hate him—hits hard.
Jiang Cheng is not going to confront Nie Mingjue about it, though, and instead decides to observe for a little while longer. Maybe he just caught Nie Mingjue in bad moments. Maybe it’s nothing at all and he’s simply overreacting.
He really wants to make sure he understands the situation correctly before he confronts Nie Mingjue and so Jiang Cheng settles in for a little bit of waiting.
Hopefully it won’t take too long.
~*~*~
Jiang Cheng finds himself back in his office, Wei Wuxian slumped over his table a mere week later and he has to fight the strong sense of déjà vu.
“Please say that again,” Jiang Cheng sighs out and rubs his temples.
“I said that the blackout yesterday deleted all of my files and I have to start from scratch with the latest project,” Wei Wuxian repeats and he seems heartbroken. “It won’t take quite as long as before, seeing as I already did it once, but—yeah,” he trails off with a shrug and Jiang Cheng works his jaw.
“Why did you not save the files?” he asks, because surely an inventor like Wei Wuxian knows better than this.
“Because I was working on them!” he almost yells and slams his hands on the table. “No need to accuse me like that.”
“I am not accusing you, I am merely asking why you didn’t take precautions against something like this,” Jiang Cheng corrects him but Wei Wuxian shakes his head.
“Gods, you’re so fucking angry. Look, it’s not my fault that the electricity went out, alright? I’ll get it done, but it won’t be on time, so don’t even snap at me for being late with the report,” he hisses at Jiang Cheng before he jumps up and storms out of his office.
Jiang Cheng can do nothing but look after him, completely taken off guard. He doesn’t think he snapped at Wei Wuxian just now. He even tried his best to keep his voice as tightly controlled as he could but it seems like he failed even that.
There’s an unpleasant thought at the back of his head, telling Jiang Cheng that this is not the first time he has been accused of snapping or being angry even though he felt he wasn’t and the thought makes Jiang Cheng’s heart heavy.
Maybe—maybe there is something wrong with him, if he doesn’t even notice his own anger anymore.
~*~*~
“Mingjue?” Jiang Cheng asks as he knocks on Nie Mingjue’s office door. “I have the reports here.”
“All of them?” Nie Mingjue wants to know as he winks him in and Jiang Cheng makes a face at him.
“All except Wei Wuxian’s. The blackout—”
“Deleted his files, yes, I heard. So he’s not ready yet?” Nie Mingjue asks and takes the reports from Jiang Cheng’s hands, all without meeting his eyes even once.
Jiang Cheng wonders what it would take to make Nie Mingjue look at him, but he’s probably not going to like the answer to that.
“Not yet,” Jiang Cheng confirms with a wince. “But he promised me he would hand his report in by the end of the week.”
“You put the fear of the gods in him, no doubt,” Nie Mingjue says with a small smile and Jiang Cheng freezes at his words.
Is this—how Nie Mingjue sees him? Scaring his friends and co-workers into doing their job?
Jiang Cheng is about to open his mouth and ask, when Nie Mingjue nods decisively.
“Very well, thank you. I have a meeting now, so if you would excuse me,” he dismisses him and Jiang Cheng pretends that his chest doesn’t hurt at the words.
“Sure,” he easily gives back and leaves without a look back.
Jiang Cheng checked Nie Mingjue’s calendar before he came over, so that in case Nie Mingjue wanted to go over the reports they would have the time to do so. There were no appointments or meetings scheduled.
Jiang Cheng doesn’t know what to think about this at all.
~*~*~
In the following weeks Jiang Cheng notices a pattern.
Nie Mingjue will take time to check in on almost all of them at least once a day, or at the very least once a week.
Except Jiang Cheng.
He sees Nie Mingjue walk past his office numerous times a day, hears him laugh with Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian from their offices but he never, not once, comes into Jiang Cheng’s office.
If there’s something official to talk about he’ll send a mail or it’s Jiang Cheng who searches him out and even those instances are brief and very far in between.
Nie Mingjue doesn’t even join them for lunch anymore, and while it’s probably presumptuous of Jiang Cheng to assume that it is because of him, he can’t help the thought. Of course, Nie Mingjue could simply be busy but with everything else Jiang Cheng is noticing lately, it’s highly unlikely.
And isn’t that a punch to the gut.
~*~*~
Jiang Cheng took his coffee over to Nie Huaisang’s office, hoping to drink it there in peace and Nie Huaisang had waved him in easily enough, even though he now keeps furiously typing away at his keyboard.
“Is everything alright?” Jiang Cheng wants to know after five minutes and Nie Huaisang nods even as he chews away on his lower lip, a clear sign that something is wrong.
“What is it?” Jiang Cheng asks, rolling his eyes at Nie Huaisang’s tendency to stress himself out over things that could either be solved easily enough or are not even his fault to begin with.
Jiang Cheng did not expect Nie Huaisang to flinch.
“It’s nothing, there’s no reason to get mad,” he snaps at Jiang Cheng who is completely taken aback by his reaction.
“I am not mad,” he tries but falls silent when Nie Huaisang scoffs at him.
“Yeah, right,” he bitterly mutters and then finally looks at Jiang Cheng. “Look, I get that you want us all to perform at our very best, but sometimes things just happen and the time tables don’t work out,” Nie Huaisang tells him and Jiang Cheng nods.
He knows that.
“We are well within our time limit for now, so you don’t need to get all angry,” Nie Huaisang finishes and Jiang Cheng goes cold all over.
He doesn’t even know what the problem is, and he doesn’t feel angry at all. What he does feel, though, is hurt.
“I see,” he presses out and takes his coffee and his presence elsewhere.
He has a lot to think about anyway.
~*~*~
Jiang Cheng turns the last few incidents over and over in his head. They have been piling up lately, the moments where people tell him he’s angry or to stop snapping when he isn’t even aware of doing it and now that Jiang Cheng thinks about it, it happened in the past too, all the way back to his school days.
He thinks about his most recent situation with Nie Huaisang, but he really can’t remember himself being angry or snapping with malice at him but that is what Nie Huaisang had said.
What Wei Wuxian had said. What Nie Mingjue insinuated the last time they actually spoke.
It—would explain Nie Mingjue’s continued absence, if Jiang Cheng is being honest. Of course he doesn’t want to get snapped at by Jiang Cheng all day long, especially given that he’s his superior.
It’s just—Jiang Cheng doesn’t think he’s snapping all the time; certainly not as often as everyone else accuses him of and he doesn’t know what to do with this at all. It’s not like he can change if he doesn’t even realize he does it in the first place and that leaves him at a loss.
Jiang Cheng ponders over this an entire afternoon and when he goes home he is resolved to do better.
And if that has to be by talking less, or making extra sure that he keeps his voice low and as un-accusing as he can, then so be it.
~*~*~
Jiang Cheng is scrolling through the adoptable dogs page of the local shelter—a guilty pleasure he allows himself once a week—when Wei Wuxian sticks his head into his office.
“What are you glaring at?” Wei Wuxian asks with a wince and then laughs. “Don’t tell me someone already fucked up, it’s not even time for lunch yet,” he then says and shakes his head.
“I’m not glaring,” Jiang Cheng says, pretty sure that for once he really wasn’t because he was looking at picture of dogs, of all things, but Wei Wuxian snorts at that.
“Sure. You were just trying to melt a hole into your screen,” he easily gives back and Jiang Cheng fights the childish urge to cry.
He is so tired of being only seen as angry and snappish and it’s not like it’s even a deserved reputation. He was not glaring at the screen.
“Right,” he mumbles instead of saying what he really wants to because that could be counted as snapping then and he doesn’t want to give Wei Wuxian even more reason to say it.
“I’ll leave you to eviscerate who ever managed to get your ire then,” Wei Wuxian easily says sand Jiang Cheng hears him skipping down the hall, and shortly after talking to Nie Huaisang and then their laughter.
Jiang Cheng has no proof but he is reasonably sure they are laughing about him.
It doesn’t help with the pain in his chest at all.
~*~*~
Jiang Cheng hasn’t seen a lot of Nie Mingjue ever since he started to notice the pattern and he didn’t try to seek Nie Mingjue out either.
If he wants to avoid him, then Jiang Cheng will let him, no matter how it makes him feel. If Nie Mingjue doesn’t want to be around Jiang Cheng then he’s not going to force himself onto him.
But today there’s a team meeting and Jiang Cheng vows to be on his best behaviour. He tries to school his face into something pleasant and he repeats in his head again and again that he is not going to snap at anyone and instead will be pleasant and soft no matter what’s going to happen.
His resolve holds for as long as it takes Wei Wuxian to get a good look at him.
“A-Cheng, are you alright?” he asks and Jiang Cheng can see trepidation in his entire body.
“Of course I am,” he gives back, making sure to keep his voice low so that it doesn’t come of as snapping but it only makes Wei Wuxian flinch.
“Are you sure?” Nie Huaisang now asks as well and Jiang Cheng fights the urge to roll his eyes at him.
It’s a habit he has a lot of trouble breaking, but it’s for the greater good, he reminds himself.
“Yes, I am,” he replies. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?” He’s genuinely curious now even though deep down he already knows that he’s not going to like the answer.
“Because it seems like you’re this close to exploding,” Wei Wuxian says. “Did we do something horribly wrong? Are you going to tear us down once Mingjue-ge gives you the word?”
“I am not,” Jiang Cheng shortly says and is met with equally disbelieving looks from Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang.
“Wanyin, are you truly alright? You don’t seem like yourself,” Nie Mingjue now chimes in as well and Jiang Cheng clenches his hands into fists.
“Yes, I am,” he repeats, desperately trying to sound as unaffected as possible but it doesn’t look like Nie Mingjue believes him, even though he doesn’t say anything else.
Instead he calls for order and starts the team meeting and everyone makes sure to not speak to Jiang Cheng directly, clearly in fear of provoking his anger again.
Jiang Cheng keeps his eyes on his notes the entire time, hating how they burn and how he feels sick to his stomach.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, he bitterly thinks and wonders what on earth he’ll have to do to make the others like him again that does not require him to fundamentally change who he is as a person.
But it’s not as if there’s an answer to that.
~*~*~
Jiang Cheng has taken to leaving the kitchen as soon as he’s done with his lunch. He tries to convince himself that it doesn’t sting when no one asks where he’s going or what he’s doing, but he can’t even properly fool himself anymore.
It’s way too obvious that they enjoy their time without him, and he’s not going to ruin it any more than he clearly already is even though he continues to be hurt over it.
Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian continue to regard him like a ticking time bomb every time Jiang Cheng tries to be pleasant and he hasn’t actually seen Nie Mingjue the entire week yet, which only makes matters worse.
Especially when one day he leaves his office to go to the toilet and hears Nie Mingjue’s voice coming out of the kitchen which makes Jiang Cheng freeze.
Nie Mingjue hasn’t joined them for lunch in weeks now, but now Jiang Cheng has to face the fact that he probably only avoids the kitchen because of him.
It’s a thoroughly unpleasant thought and it makes Jiang Cheng’s breath hitch in his throat.
He vows to himself not to jump to conclusions—maybe Nie Mingjue just stopped by to ask about something work related and doesn’t intend on staying at all, but just at that moment he hears Nie Mingjue laugh his wonderful booming laugh and Jiang Cheng is hit over the head with it.
It’s been weeks since Nie Mingjue stayed in his presence for longer than absolutely necessary and now that Jiang Cheng thinks about it, it has been even longer since he saw him laugh like this.
It’s a stupid, foolish thought, but Jiang Cheng misses Nie Mingjue’s dimples. He immediately scolds himself for it, because if he’s being honest, that is the least of his problems and instead of loitering around the hallway any longer he briskly walks to the toilet.
Still, the thought of Nie Mingjue joining them for lunch when Jiang Cheng is not there accompanies him through the day, and the insecurity is killing Jiang Cheng. He has to know for sure if Nie Mingjue is avoiding him so badly that he would even skip out on lunch just to not run into him, and Jiang Cheng guesses that Nie Huaisang is the best bet for this.
He waits until Nie Huaisang is pretty engrossed in his own work, because like this he tends to simply answer any question thrown his way without giving it too much thought and the wait has him more nervous than anything else.
Jiang Cheng doesn’t get his chance until the next day but once it presents itself to him, he jumps on it.
“Hey Huaisang,” he says, hesitating in the doorway to Nie Huaisang’s office.
Nie Huaisang only grunts in acknowledgement, not even taking his eyes off his screen and Jiang Cheng knows that there will be no better opportunity than this.
“Has Mingjue been to lunch lately?” Jiang Cheng asks, counting on the fact that Nie Huaisang is too preoccupied with whatever it is he’s doing to read anything deeper into the question.
“Mh, da-ge? Yeah, he usually drops by once you left,” Nie Huaisang mutters, furiously clicking his mouse and Jiang Cheng feels like someone pulled the rug out from under his feet.
“I see,” he whispers, turning around and leaving as quickly as he can to hide himself away in his office.
So it’s him. It’s him everyone has a problem with and Jiang Cheng heavily sits down in his chair.
He is the problem.
~*~*~
When Lan Qiren asks him for a meeting, Jiang Cheng is not even surprised. Surely someone complained to Lan Qiren about him and now he’s in for a scolding.
Well, it comes at a perfect time because Jiang Cheng has something to ask Lan Qiren so he doesn’t even hesitate to walk into his office.
“Wanyin,” Lan Qiren greets him and points at the chair in front of his desk.
“Lan Qiren,” Jiang Cheng replies. “What is this about?”
Lan Qiren regards him for a few moments before he sighs.
“It came to my attention that you no longer join your friends for lunch,” he finally says and Jiang Cheng shrugs.
“I am busy,” he says, not specifying what keeps him this busy—nothing, to be honest—but Lan Qiren doesn’t seem to buy it anyway.
“Wanyin, is everything alright?” he wants to know and Jiang Cheng fights the urge to scoff.
“I actually wanted to ask you something,” he says instead of answering Lan Qiren’s question and Lan Qiren nods encouragingly at him.
“Of course, go ahead.”
“I wanted to ask if it’s possible to be transferred to another department,” Jiang Cheng rushes out, anxiously waiting for Lan Qiren’s reply once the question is out there.
It’s the only solution he could think of during the last week, and Jiang Cheng knows it doesn’t change who he is as a person, but maybe it will make work for his friends—and Nie Mingjue—easier if he isn’t here anymore.
And surely Jiang Cheng will stop caring about what people say about him when it’s not his friends saying these things.
“I thought you were happy here,” Lan Qiren says instead of answering him and Jiang Cheng shrugs.
“It’s alright, I guess.”
“But you’re working with your friends here,” Lan Qiren goes on, clearly aiming for something but Jiang Cheng is too tired to try and figure it out.
“Yes. So, is a transferral possible?”
“Is something wrong?”
Jiang Cheng is aware that normally he would be pleased that Lan Qiren was trying to figure out if everything is alright, but right now, he only feels impatient.
And despite that, he still can’t bring himself to lie to Lan Qiren so he has to evade the question.
“I would just like to transfer to another department,” Jiang Cheng says, almost stubbornly and he refuses to squirm under Lan Qiren’s searching glance.
“If there is a problem in this department, I trust you to tell me.”
Jiang Cheng is the problem in this department, but he can’t bring himself to say that, so he stays quiet.
“I see,” Lan Qiren lowly says. “You are aware that I will have to inform Nie Mingjue of your request?”
“Yes,” Jiang Cheng shortly says, which makes Lan Qiren frown.
“You don’t think he’ll stop you.” It’s not even a question but a statement and Jiang Cheng bites back his reply.
He doubts telling Lan Qiren that Nie Mingjue will probably congratulate Lan Qiren for his wise decision would go over well.
“Very well,” Lan Qiren says after a long pause and Jiang Cheng gets up, taking the hint.
“Thank you for your time,” he stiffly says, hoping that it doesn’t come out snappish and rude like it seems to do so often and leaves Lan Qiren’s office without a look back.
Now the only thing he can do is wait for Lan Qiren’s decision.
~*~*
~
Jiang Cheng is staring at his screen, wondering when he’ll hear back from Lan Qiren when his office is invaded by Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian.
“What are you doing?” Jiang Cheng asks and he knows that he sounds snappish, but he hopes that soon enough it won’t matter anymore.
Soon enough he won’t have to watch his every word and action, won’t have to fret about every single interaction with his friends and he’s honestly looking forward to it, because it means he can breathe again.
“What are we doing?” Nie Huaisang cries out. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Working?” Jiang Cheng slowly says, glancing at his screen. “As we should, seeing as we are at work?”
“Don’t you love us anymore?” Wei Wuxian whines and Jiang Cheng can’t help the bitter twist of his mouth.
If anything, it’s them who don’t love him anymore, but he’s not about to say that.
“You can’t just leave us,” Nie Huaisang says, honest to god tears in his eyes as he comes around to clutch at Jiang Cheng’s hand. “What would we even do without you?”
“Be happier?” Jiang Cheng says without thinking and he only realizes his mistake when both Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian freeze.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” Jiang Cheng tries but of course it doesn’t work.
“Have we done anything? Are you mad at us?” Wei Wuxian frantically asks and Jiang Cheng can do nothing but stare at him.
“I am not mad,” he finally says, because he truly isn’t. He’s hurt and tired and sad, but he’s not mad.
“Then why are you leaving us?” Nie Huaisang says, his grip on Jiang Cheng’s hand tightening.
“Who says I’m leaving?” Jiang Cheng wants to know because he hasn’t heard back from Lan Qiren yet.
“I overheard da-ge and Lan Qiren talk,” Nie Huaisang says, a little wobble to his voice. “You want to be transferred to another department.”
“It’s because I’m not doing my work, right?” Wei Wuxian chimes in and then throws himself at Jiang Cheng. “I promise to work harder, to do better! But you can’t just leave, alright, just—I’ll do better, you won’t ever have to wait on my reports ever again!”
“That’s not it, your work is fine,” Jiang Cheng says, almost on reflex, trying to soothe Wei Wuxian.
“Then what? Tell us, so we can change,” Nie Huaisang prods him and Jiang Cheng sighs, completely deflating.
“It’s not you who have to change,” he mutters, and takes his hand back from Nie Huaisang, turning away from them so he doesn’t have to see their faces as he speaks. “I know I’m too angry; you say it often enough but I—I barely even notice it, I’m not aware of when I snap at you and I can’t—I don’t know how to change myself enough to stop it,” he haltingly explains, hoping that they understand. “I don’t want you to always feel bad at work or to fret about when I’m going to snap at you again, so I thought it would be best if I just work somewhere else.”
He is met with silence once he’s done talking, but it’s not enough to get him to look at them. Jiang Cheng can imagine the look of relieve on their faces and he doesn’t want to see it.
“Is that why you don’t join us for lunch anymore?”
“Is that why you are so creepily polite all the time lately?”
Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian speak at the same time and Jiang Cheng simply nods to both questions.
“You think that we think you’re too angry?” Wei Wuxian asks at that and Jiang Cheng scoffs.
“Please. I don’t have to think that. You both say it often enough,” he bitterly mumbles and then almost falls off his chair when both of them tackle him at the same time.
“Get off me,” Jiang Cheng wheezes, but Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian hold on even tighter.
“Never. You’re not too angry. We’re just teasing you!”
“Right.”
“No, seriously!” Nie Huaisang says and pulls away enough to look at Jiang Cheng. “We didn’t think you’d take it to heart.”
“Huaisang, both of you do nothing but complain whenever I am in the room. I can look at puppy pictures on the screen and Wei Wuxian accuses me of glaring. You flinched when I talked to you. Mingjue can’t even stand to be in my presence anymore. Wen Ning hasn’t spoken to me since we all started working here. I am stupid, I know, but I’m not that stupid.”
“I don’t think—” Nie Huaisang starts but is interrupted by Wei Wuxian.
“You just have resting bitch face,” Wei Wuxian says and pokes at Jiang Cheng’s face. “You always look angry but I know that you’re not. I thought—it was all just a little bit of teasing,” Wei Wuxian repeats and he sounds serious enough that Jiang Cheng considers it for a moment.
“I flinched when we were late for that one project, right?” Nie Huaisang suddenly asks and Jiang Cheng nods. “I was so stressed out, Wanyin, it wasn’t because of you. I know you were just concerned, but everything was not working like it was supposed to and I was just stressed.”
“And I was so angry at myself when all the files were lost that I let it out on you,” Wei Wuxian adds, a thoughtful look on his face. “Seriously, you are not too angry or whatever it is you think. I always thought—it was meant to be in good faith, the teasing, I never meant to hurt you with it. You used to laugh along.”
“When it was just you saying it every once in a while,” Jiang Cheng gives back, thinking back to all the instances where this happened over the past month. “But it’s no longer just you and at one point everyone would begin to question it.”
“Because we all did the same,” Nie Huaisang whispers. “Oh, Wanyin, no! You’re kind of intimidating at first—just ask Wen Ning he has more respect for you than Lan Qiren—and when Wei Wuxian teased you like this we just all followed along to engage with you, we didn’t think—” he trails off, biting his lip. “We didn’t think we were hurting you with it.”
At that, Jiang Cheng can only blink.
“So you are not afraid of me?” he asks and almost gets hit with Wei Wuxian’s hair when they both shake their head immediately.
“You don’t—dislike me for my snappishness and my—what did you call it—resting bitch face?”
“Of course not!” Nie Huaisang cries out and throws his arms around Jiang Cheng’s neck again. “We love you just like you are! We miss you at lunch every day and we miss your sharp remarks and your eye-rolling, and we just miss you!”
“Please, A-Cheng, don’t ever think we don’t love you,” Wei Wuxian adds more sedately. “I am sorry my teasing hurt you and I promise I will do better from now on.”
“Me, too, I promise,” Nie Huaisang adds and Jiang Cheng is left speechless when he realizes that all of this—these months of worrying—were almost nothing more than a misunderstanding.
“That doesn’t explain why Mingjue can’t stand to be in the same room with me,” he mutters, because this is the last thing that’s still niggling at his brain and just then there’s a knock on the door.
Nie Mingjue is standing in the doorway, a sheepish expression on his face.
“About that,” he starts and then comes in without waiting to be invited. “Can I talk to Wanyin for a moment?” he then asks with a pointed look at Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian who immediately scramble away and run out of the office without so much as a goodbye.
“So, I am sure you already heard that Lan Qiren talked to me,” Nie Mingjue says and sits down. “And I am afraid this is kind of my fault.”
“It’s not,” Jiang Cheng rushes to reassure Nie Mingjue. “It’s your prerogative to not like me, and that’s fine,” he says, even though it’s not fine and it hurts Jiang Cheng every day.
“Wanyin, I like you,” Nie Mingjue says and it’s a bold enough lie that Jiang Cheng laughs right in his face.
“We are all grown-ups here. You can tell me the truth,” he bitterly mutters once he calmed down, but Nie Mingjue doesn’t seem to take offence and simply regards him calmly.
“I don’t know if you have noticed it yet, but you make a bumbling fool out of me,” Nie Mingjue says, effectively making Jiang Cheng freeze in his chair. “I walked into a wall once, because of you,” he admits with a sheepish grin. “And I can barely string together a functional sentence when you look at me.”
“You’re doing fine right now,” Jiang Cheng mumbles under his breath and Nie Mingjue smiles sadly at him.
“Because I realized my unexplained behaviour is hurting you. So I am sucking it up right now, but rest assured, I am screaming inside.” Nie Mingjue takes a deep breath. “You make me nervous. You make me feel like a school boy with a crush, except that I am a grown-ass man who is in love. I promised myself that my feelings would not impact our work relationship and I am so sorry that my solution still hurt you.”
Jiang Cheng can only blink at him.
“Did I lose you somewhere?” Nie Mingjue asks when Jiang Cheng continues to blink foolishly at him and Jiang Cheng nods.
“Around the time you said you like me,” he admits and Nie Mingjue leans forward.
“I like you, Wanyin. I’m in love with you. And I am so, so sorry for my behaviour.”
Jiang Cheng blinks again, completely confused by the events of this afternoon.
First Nie Huaisang’s and Wei Wuxian’s reassurances that they are not scared of him and like him like he is, and now Nie Mingjue with a love confession. It’s honestly all a bit much right now.
“I understand if after this you still want to be transferred to another department,” Nie Mingjue says with a wince. “Though I promise to never mention it again.”
“No, I—” Jiang Cheng stops to bring his thoughts in order, even though that’s barely possible at the moment.
He takes a deep breath.
“I still want to be transferred to another department,” he then decisively says and looks up just in time to see Nie Mingjue’s face fall, so he rushes to explain. “Because I—we can’t be dating if I stay here, with you being my supervisor, right?” he dares to ask and is rewarded by Nie Mingjue smiling at him.
“Right,” he whispers and leans closer to take Jiang Cheng’s hand in his. “That would probably be against some company rules,” he agrees and Jiang Cheng can see how relieved he is.
It matches how relieved Jiang Cheng himself feels.
“I also think it would be good for me,” Jiang Cheng slowly goes on, testing the words out. “I mean—I won’t always work together with people I can call my friends, and I think—I think I’d like to see how it is to work together with strangers.”
“You’re growing,” Nie Mingjue says and Jiang Cheng is unprepared for the fondness in his voice. “You will learn a lot from this, I’m sure of it.”
Jiang Cheng already learned a lot this afternoon, but he simply nods.
“I truly am sorry for making you think I don’t like you,” Nie Mingjue says after a moment and Jiang Cheng shakes his head.
“No, it’s—I should have said something earlier. I’ve been fretting over this—this thing for weeks now,” he admits. “It’s my fault, too, for not asking.”
His mind is still spinning with all the revelations today, and his body feels strangely weightless now that all of these worries are taken off him and it feels like Nie Mingjue’s hand is the only anchor right now.
“I worried for nothing.”
“We made you worry with our callous actions,” Nie Mingjue shoots back and Jiang Cheng nods, because he has to admit that they might all be at fault here. “We’re all going to do better now,” Nie Mingjue promises him.
“Me, too,” Jiang Cheng agrees. “If I worry, I’ll ask next time.”
“I hope there won’t be a next time, but yes. Please,” Nie Mingjue says and lifts their hands to press a kiss to the back of Jiang Cheng’s. 
“What are we—what does this mean for us?” Jiang Cheng dares to ask, because he doesn’t know what dating anyone entails and just the prospect seems daunting all of a sudden.
“It means I’ll go tell Lan Qiren that we cleared the misunderstanding up, but that you still want to be transferred and then I’ll take you out to dinner. How does that sound?”
“That sounds—yeah, I would like that,” Jiang Cheng says, aware of the blush on his face.
“Alright,” Nie Mingjue decisively says and kisses Jiang Cheng’s hand again before he gets up. “I’ll get going then. Meet you here in twenty?”
“Isn’t it too early for dinner?” Jiang Cheng cautiously asks with a glance at the clock, but Nie Mingjue simply shrugs.
“Coffee first then,” he says, seemingly completely unbothered and Jiang Cheng goes warm when he realizes that Nie Mingjue wants to spend the entire rest of the day with him.
“Okay, coffee first,” he agrees with a small smile and just like that, Nie Mingjue is gone again.
He leaves Jiang Cheng with a very warm feeling and now that Jiang Cheng has time to process everything that happened in the last hour his eyes start to burn again.
But this time, he doesn’t fight it when a few tears escape, because for once, they are happy tears.