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There was a high—painfully, as Wen Chao had quickly realized—chance it was all his fault. If Wen Chao wasn’t just a tiny bit selfish he would have said that immediately. But, there was some part of Wen Chao that believed he did nothing wrong. It was not his fault Jiang Cheng was hot! How could he resist someone like him? It was a miracle Jiang Cheng was still single. Wen Chao was there to change it—or so he thought, because seducing a literal brick when it came to romantic feelings was harder than Wen Chao thought.

Especially when one was as awkward as Wen Chao and had absolutely no relationship experience beforehand. Knowing how to seduce people in theory was one thing, and in that case Wen Chao was a true scholar, but it was practice he had more problems with. He was awkward, and Jiang Cheng was oblivious. As oblivious as he could get, considering how much he complained about his shixiong’s blindness. Wen Chao guessed it was for the fact that Jiang Cheng was raised with Wei Wuxian and they both turned out partly emotionally unavailable.

Wen Chao seemed to like making his life harder. As if it wasn’t hard enough already, with his fucked up family (he wanted to yell at them during every family gathering they made him attend, despite the fact that he had moved out two years prior), an even worse father favoring Wen Chao’s older brother. Who himself wasn’t all that bad, Wen Chao enjoyed his presence at times, but he was just a little too devoted to Wen Ruohan. Well, Wen Chao would work on it later.

Wen Chao needed help seducing Jiang Cheng or else he was going to go crazy. Or, even worse, crochet him an ‘I love you’ sign. That would be bad. Or, not necessarily, but too extravagant for sure. Not that Wen Chao wasn’t used to that bourgeois bullshit. If he could even call his crochet things that way. It sounded funny. Wen Chao didn’t think he could ever reach that point in his life when he would be laughing at his own, stupid thoughts. Life could indeed take rather surprising turns, much to Wen Chao’s dislike.

Wen Chao needed to have a safe ground to walk on. And his relationship with Jiang Cheng was anything but that. They started off hating each other right off the bat, and Wen Chao didn’t even know when it all turned into that weird type of fondness. They spent more and more time together, people in college began calling them a ‘package deal’ or whatever, Wen Chao pretended he never heard that.

But it was true. Wherever Wen Chao was, Jiang Cheng appeared in no time. He claimed it was because he had to stop Wen Chao from doing something stupid, and that could very easily happen, considering the friend group Wen Chao had. Jiang Cheng had only one word to describe it: questionable.

Xue Yang, A-Qing and Nie Huaisang weren’t what one would call a reasonable group of friends one would like to have. Jiang Cheng knew only Nie Huaisang, all the way back from high school, but he had heard enough rumors about Xue Yang to know he was up to no good. He couldn’t say he was a bad man, but he had a questionable moral compass and it could be problematic.

However, no matter how weird Wen Chao’s friends were, they were the only people he trusted with a matter as delicate as love. Or attraction. Or whatever else that left him unable to sleep, deep in thought. Jiang fucking Cheng was the name of that whatever and Wen Chao was for sure not going to leave it. He could have been awkward, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t confront Jiang Cheng about it.

For that, though, he needed advice. And for advice, he needed his friends. That was for sure going to become a weird loophole from which Wen Chao would never find a way out. He did not see anything else he could do, though. At worst, he would just never actually say anything and end up pining his ass off forever. That sounded truly terrible, and even a loophole of advice looked more appealing to him.

He knew he was making a mistake the moment he had called Xue Yang to meet him in his place as soon as he could. Wen Chao didn’t know what he expected from that man. Xue Yang wasn’t dumb necessarily, he only had some odd views about seducing people. Odd, as in bring him rocks (rocks!) and leaves you find and… oh, I found a bone in the forest the other day! Who was he, a cat to bring something so ridiculous? Wen Chao had a reputation he couldn’t damage with shit Xue Yang wanted him to do.

It was so stupid and Wen Chao wanted to yell at Xue Yang the first time. Now, however, Wen Chao was desperate to confess and he was ready for every piece of advice someone could give him.

At least Xue Yang was getting better. As in, not on his own, because he was still the same messed up man, but he had his friends, a damn sweet couple Wen Chao had met once or twice, Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan. Perhaps they could teach Xue Yang how to start a healthy relationship.

Xue Yang came in with an open bottle of wine in his hand. Where did he even get that in five minutes? He had his ways, he would probably say, and Wen Chao definitely didn’t want to know what these ways were exactly. Xue Yang assured everything was legal, but for him stealing was legal, too, so Wen Chao couldn’t be sure. Xue Yang was, indeed, quite an individual.

There was also something oddly appealing about him, his face, the way he spoke. Wen Chao hated him, but had that weird form of admiration going on. It was mutual, he thought, or perhaps Xue Yang was just an overly cuddly being. Could be true, as Wen Chao had heard A-Qing complain about it a lot.

To say Wen Chao didn’t know what to do would be a huge understatement. Because Wen Chao was lost, as lost as he had never been before. As much as he didn’t want to admit it (his pride be damned, honestly, given how many times he had admitted it already), he was whipped like never before, and he believed he would never be again. Not as much, at least.

Something about Jiang Cheng made Wen Chao go crazy. It was the same kind of thing as with Xue Yang, though the appeal was more… real? Because Wen Chao mostly wanted to yell at Xue Yang, whereas with Jiang Cheng he would rather they yelled together. On a couch. Cuddling. Oh, gods. It was worse than Wen Chao thought.

“What’s your problem this time, Chao-er?” He plopped down on a couch with an exaggerated whine. Only Xue Yang could act that way. Was he shameless? A lot. But could Wen Chao do anything with it? Probably not. That is, Wen Chao was not going to figure anything out.

“You know it.” Because Wen Chao was not admitting it again. Not after Xue Yang had laughed his ass off the other day. “Same shit as always.” As much as it felt wrong to phrase his thoughts that way, it was the only thing Wen Chao could think about. His situation was truly shitty, after all.

“Ah, the Jiang guy.” Xue Yang sipped at his wine. It was half empty already, what the fuck? Xue Yang had an iron alcohol resistance, but even that couldn’t save him if he drank the whole bottle. Or perhaps it would. Wen Chao didn’t know, he was terrible at drinking himself. Almost as terrible as Jiang Cheng. “I thought you’d have slept with him so far.”

Wen Chao gasped. “You did not!” Ah, sometimes he truly wondered why he was even friends with Xue Yang. His mentality was… just questionable and his morality nonexistent. How could Wen Chao think of such things before even confessing? Not that he didn’t, though… but he was not admitting that to anyone.

“Oh, I absolutely did, Chao-er.” Xue Yang’s deep laugh filled the room, only a bit maniacal. He should have learned how to control it a long time ago, but he liked it that way. He was the kind of person who was never bothered by anything anyone would tell him. “It’s about time you stopped being a fucking coward.”

“And you think sleeping with A-Cheng will help me?!” Wen Chao couldn’t say he was furious. He just didn’t know what to do, despite yelling his head off at Xue Yang. Again. Wen Chao started worrying about whether they could even maintain a conversation without arguing.

“A-Cheng?” Xue Yang scoffed, placing his wine on the table rather loudly. His arm looped around Wen Chao’s neck, pulling him closer. Unexpectedly close, what more. Wen Chao begged him not to kiss him like the last time they had both gotten drunk. It should have stayed in their memories only. “Are you that intimate with him already? I thought you were shitty at relationships.”

“Speak for yourself, brat.” Xue Yang was just as bad as Wen Chao, but his confidence and ego as big as his whole body made it possible for him to endlessly tease Wen Chao about his, rather miserable, attempts at courting Jiang Cheng.

“Darling, at least I live with someone and I don’t suck ass, like you.” Xue Yang sounded like he was joking, and perhaps he kind of was. Nothing Xue Yang ever said was fully serious. Normally, it would annoy Wen Chao more than anything, but now he needed advice. Even if it was comically stupid.

“You live with almost a married couple and a feral child.” A feral child that was barely a year younger than them.

Oh, right, her. How could Wen Chao forget? He was truly a terrible friend sometimes.

“Where’s A-Qing?” He asked Xue Yang, who only laughed, lips millimeters away from Wen Chao’s cheek. He wondered how in hell Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan put up with a man like Xue Yang.

“On a date with the husbands.”

Wen Chao almost choked. “Excuse me?” He almost yelled, but restrained himself, knowing his neighbors would get angry if he did that again.

“They bought her food and she is devoted to them now,” Xue Yang explained, drinking his wine and offering a sip to Wen Chao, who declined it somehow politely. He needed to be sober to talk properly about his crush.

“Aren’t you devoted to them then, too? You’d eat these nasty noodles all the time if Xingchen didn’t cook,” Wen Chao reminded him, and watched Xue Yang make an annoyed expression.

“The fuck, Chao-er?” Xue Yang got caught off guard for some time, which barely ever happened, and Wen Chao took it upon himself to cherish every single one of these moments. “You talk like that only because you learned how to cook.”

Wen Chao laughed, possibly in the most sincere way in a while. Oh, how he’d missed it. “So, you admit you’re devoted?”

Xue Yang groaned. “If you ate Xingchen’s food, you wouldn’t make fun of me.” Then, it looked like something clicked in his brain and he smiled viciously. He should have stopped doing that. “I believe I didn’t come here to be speaking about my devotion, did I, Chao-er?” Xue Yang suddenly became a little more serious than normally, which was just comical for Wen Chao. Perhaps calling him wasn’t all that bad of an idea.

“Text Huaisang.” Wen Chao was truly a bossy person at times, today being one of those, definitely. “At least he will give me some actual advice.”

Xue Yang looked offended. And weirdly adorable, with his puffed out cheeks and furrowed brows. “I give you good advice, thank you very much, Chao-er.”

Wen Chao wished he could believe him.

“Bringing him shit I find on walks is not good advice, Xue Yang.”

“I told you to write an I love you on a rock!” It sounded absolutely stupid and made no sense, at least for Wen Chao. Because, for Xue Yang it was fine, he seriously thought it would work.

Wen Chao knew Jiang Cheng just enough to have a clear image of him yelling his head off if he got a rock as a confession gift in his head, and he was sure he wouldn’t necessarily be the cause of that yelling. Xue Yang seemed to ignore the fact how neurotic Jiang Cheng could be sometimes. It was fair, given how little things Xue Yang actually dared about.

“He’ll come in a minute,” Xue Yang announced, pointing at his phone on which Wen Chao could see only a few strings of completely unrecognizable letters that possibly had been words at some point, before Xue Yang and Nie Huaisang had put them through… whatever they did with them. “I still believe the rock is the best idea you can have.” He stood by his point rather desperately, if a man like Xue Yang would even be considered desperate.

For Wen Chao, he was not, as he seemed to be beyond relaxed on the couch, having popped his wine bottle open once again. Wen Chao should have posted a policy about banning alcohol in his flat. Xue Yang was an even worse menace while drunk, Wen Chao was speaking, unfortunately, from experience. Precisely, that one time when Xue Yang had climbed (perhaps he was a cat… Wen Chao was definitely spending too much time with him) a closet and refused to come down unless Wen Chao brought him… something, Wen Chao did not remember and neither did he want to relive this memory. Or, another time, equally disastrous. Xue Yang went into the store, to buy himself a beer, he had told Wen Chao, who followed him there, though Xue Yang had insisted he was fine on his own.

He was, in fact, not. He tried to shoplift the entire shelf and walk away with it as if it was the most ordinary thing to have ever happened in the store. What more, he actually managed to lift it, somehow, and it took Wen Chao, a cashier and a manager to stop him. Thankfully, nobody called the police, as Wen Chao would not survive that.

At least now Xue Yang seemed to be rather devoted to helping his friends (in his own, rather troublesome way, but at least he was doing something) and didn’t look like he planned on robbing other people this time.

“Use that rock on someone yourself, then,” Wen Chao made his voice appear just a little strained, as if to make Xue Yang drop that particular topic. Wen Chao had told him multiple times he was not giving Jiang Cheng anything that had ever laid on the ground for more than ten minutes. A stupid policy, but perhaps it should have been hung on the door as well? Wen Chao was desperate.

The door opened, revealing Nie Huaisang in all his glory, and a very short skirt. Not that Wen Chao looked at him for too long and not that it was the first time he had seen Nie Huaisang like that. Nie Huaisang liked to… experiment, and crossdressing was one of the ways he was expressing it—it was fun, sometimes, when he got mistaken for a girl during parties, and having drunk a little too much decided it would be fun to prank the very straight boys that had been hitting on him.

But, Nie Huaisang’s love life was none of Wen Chao’s business for now. At least Nie Huaisang had any. Wen Chao had to work on his own if he didn’t want to end up completely alone.

“Stop staring, bitch,” Nie Huaisang pointed at Xue Yang and then at his exposed thigh. Though Xue Yang’s gaze was rather flattering, one could even call it tempting, Nie Huaisang had a job to do and nobody was going to distract him from it. “What’s our problem this time?”

Nie Huaisang was just as bad as Xue Yang, save for that Nie Huaisang’s mockery leaned towards a more civilized side. He knew how not to overstep Wen Chao’s bounds, which was rather unknown to Xue Yang, but when did he care about it, anyway?

“You both want to kill me,” Wen Chao deadpanned, defeated. How were his friends able to do this to him without actually saying anything that was a lie. Perhaps it was his problem. Being called out by his friends when he was in complete denial of how miserable he truly was.

“Surely, Chao-er,” Nie Huaisang laughed, his hands grabbing Xue Yang’s wine bottle and bringing it to his lips. Could people please not get drunk in Wen Chao’s flat for once?

“Huaisang,” Xue Yang spoke up, his voice fakely serious, and it was the moment Wen Chao regretted asking them both for help. He could have waited another day and messaged A-Qing, that would save him all those additional problems he now had to face. “Would you like it if someone were to give you a rock with a confession on it?”

Oh, dear Heavens… he was still on about his absolutely disastrous seducing methods. Wen Chao should have known better. These two in the same room, talking about rocks or other shit, that would not go well, no matter how hard Wen Chao would try.

Nie Huaisang clicked his tongue. No, hell, he was considering it, Wen Chao started panicking. “It depends on what kind of a rock that would be.” Nie Huaisang wasn’t joking and that was possibly the worst part of that whole conversation.

Xue Yang ignored Wen Chao’s pleading eyes. They could have worked on A-Qing, but he knew better than to be deceived by them. “Le’s say… that white one I found when I was walking back from work the other day?”

Were they casually talking about rocks in their free time? No, scratch that, Wen Chao didn’t want to know. How he was friends with them was a mystery to Wen Chao, but they were, honestly, the only people whom he could put up with, no matter their antics. They were good company when they weren’t mocking him. So, barely ever. Wen Chao was doomed..

“Oh, that one!” No, it was not happening, Wen Chao whined in his head. Suddenly, his crocheting (which Xue Yang loved to tease him over) didn’t seem as dumb as he thought. “I would accept it and cherish it greatly, then.” Nie Huaisang leaned closer to the table, his skirt running up to reveal his bare, tanned thigh again. He could have done that on purpose, Wen Chao knew he was able to do that.

“See, Chao-er?!” Xue Yang’s voice echoed in the living room, too loud. If Wen Chao’s neighbors didn’t come to complain about the sound earlier, it would be a true miracle. “Some people actually appreciate my concerns, unlike you.”

“It is hardly a concern of any kind, Xue Yang.” Wen Chao had to restrain himself from kicking Xue Yang out. He may have been a menace, yes, but he was of assistance still, and Wen Chao needed him there. No matter if he was going to regret it or not.

Xue Yang snorted, clearly amused by Wen Chao’s misery. Mostly because Xue Yang didn’t know sympathy at all. He did hold some for A-Qing, but it was so deep within him one would simply blink and miss it. Wen Chao was a good man and he wasn’t going to call Xue Yang out. Unless he got annoying again. Then maybe.

“Chao-er,” Nie Huaisang spoke up, his tone making Wen Chao scrap the last bits of hope from the very bottom of his heart and put it back in his head. Perhaps he was not fully doomed. “You really want A-Cheng, don’t you?” Nie Huaisang leaned towards Wen Chao just enough to flutter his eyelashes at him. That way, Wen Chao would straight up agree to anything Nie Huaisang would tell him.

Wen Chao still cringed at the words. They made him sound possessive, as if he only cared about Jiang Cheng for his body and looks. Sure, he was sexy and the idea of sleeping with him was beyond perfect, though it was the last thing Wen Chao was thinking about. He wanted a life with Jiang Cheng, through the good and bad and every other time. He wanted to graduate with him and then go feral, to not think about his future all that much, to save Jiang Cheng, mostly from the mess that was his family.

“You do, alright,” Nie Huaisang stated after a moment, highly influenced by Wen Chao’s fumingly red cheeks. “I gather you invited us over for help. And A-Yang hasn’t necessarily been good at it.” Nie Huaisang may have wanted to try and appear dumb, but he was, in reality, an insanely observing individual. Whatever other people didn’t see, Nie Huaisang was sure to notice immediately.

“Everyone is against me, what the fuck,” Xue Yang said, his statement not even a question. He never asked when it came to swear words, he just used them. Rather excessively, like their whole group—so excessively they had once been kicked out of lecture for cursing too much.

“I’m not against you, A-Yang.” Nie Huaisang crossed his legs and shuffled to face Xue Yang, though it was rather Wen Chao he should have been facing. After all, he was there for a reason. Perhaps there were things that could distract him from his duty. “But you must understand not everyone finds rocks as appealing as you do.” It sounded so wrong, like he was talking to a toddler, not a man in his early twenties. But Xue Yang was sometimes like a baby, so it was fair.

“Bullshit, A-Sang.” Since when were they so intimate with each other? No, nevermind, Nie Huaisang was intimate with anyone he knew more than five seconds and who wasn’t his brother. “Everyone with even a basic taste would want that.”

“A-Cheng is a peculiar person,” Nie Huaisang said, laughing. Being friends with these two bricks that were Jiang Cheng and Wen Chao was truly amusing—both of them were just equally stupid and it took a lot for Nie Huaisang not to do anything with it. It was simply too much fun to stop it. But Wen Chao needed help or he would surely go crazy.

“Set me up with him and I’ll show him.”

That scared Wen Chao like nothing else before had done. Xue Yang had to be joking. He couldn’t just walk around and say these things like they were supposed to mean something! Not on Wen Chao’s watch, at least.

“We’re setting Chao-er up, dumbass!” Nie Huaisang pulled a fan out of his sleeve and hit Xue Yang to the head to prevent any dumber ideas from coming out. “I will help you, Chao-er,” Nie Huaisang added, meeting Wen Chao’s pleading, hopeful eyes. Who knew he could be so adorable? Nie Huaisang certainly wasn’t aware.

“Yes?” Wen Chao blinked rapidly, staring deeply into Nie Huaisang’s eyes.

We would accept anything to finally confess to Jiang Cheng and go past that brick head of his.

For a second, Nie Huaisang looked like he wanted to suggest something… rather unusual, with that peculiar glimpse of light in his eyes. Sparkles of that kind never meant anything good. What if he wanted to persuade Wen Chao to wear one of his skirts?

Wen Chao would accept almost anything to confess to Jiang Cheng.

“You crochet,” Nie Huaisang stated, having picked up the bottle again. There was a slight play and mockery in his gestures, as a drop of wine stained the corner of his mouth and slid down, finding itself a spot on Nie Huaisang’s thigh. Wen Chao knew what that was about, but wished he didn’t.

“I do,” Wen Chao admitted. What was he supposed to say, anyway? Why would he lie? So many questions.

Nie Huaisang wiped the stain off of his thigh with his sleeve, biting his bottom lip. Was he trying to help Wen Chao or himself? “You can crochet something for A-Cheng.” A suggestion felt weird, just a little bit, but there was barely anything Wen Chao wouldn’t accept at this point.

“That’s worse than anything I’ve ever heard you say, A-Sang.” Xue Yang was not going to let their rock bashing go just like that.

“That’s why you’re single,” Nie Huaisang deadpanned, playfully poking Xue Yang’s thigh with his foot. He was supposed to sound annoyed, but it was almost fully impossible now that he was getting slightly tipsy over that wine and found himself relaxing into the couch. “Chao-er, look here.” Nie Huaisang pointed at his phone, on which he had a photo displayed.

Wen Chao almost choked when he saw it. It was truly the dumbest—and yet, somehow, the cutest, too—thing he had ever seen. If it was anyone else who showed him that, Wen Chao would think they were making fun of him. But Nie Huaisang wasn’t. Especially not when he was getting drunk. Then, he was becoming the most serious person to ever step on this Earth.

The photo showed Wen Chao the weirdest beret ever; or perhaps it was not weird, just the thought of making it seemed a little unusual. Wen Chao couldn’t see how that in particular would help him seduce Jiang Cheng.

“What… am I supposed to do with that?” Wen Chao decided to ask, having thought that he wouldn’t figure it out without help.

Nie Huaisang laughed, though it sounded more like a puff of air being exhaled into the room. “Crochet him this. With a dog charm, A-Cheng likes dogs, you’re probably aware,” Nie Huaisang explained, yawning. Drinking meant he would fall asleep in no time, but that wine Xue Yang brought was too tempting not to try it.

“And that’s going to work?”

“It’s either this or rocks, Chao-er.” Xue Yang was still salty about his idea being completely ignored at this point, but what could he do? He was not a fully shitty friend, after all. Wen Chao deserved a fucking boyfriend, right?

“I am going to kick you out, Xue Yang,” Wen Chao announced, knowing he had no intention of making any move to actually try and make Xue Yang leave. Sure, he may have wanted to yell and be annoyed with Xue Yang, but they were friends and they’d both earned something.

Nie Huaisang stood up, putting the—oh, God—empty bottle on the table and heading towards Wen Chao’s guest bedroom. He had to have it organized after his friends began almost living there, and the couch simply wasn’t enough anymore. Wen Chao would rather leave than let both Nie Huaisang and Xue Yang sleep in the same bed with him. There was just not enough space for the three of them.

“If you want,” Nie Huaisang turned around to face Xue Yang. He pointed at him with his fan in a rather comical way, as his abilities to stand upright were rather gone at this point. “You can sleep with me, if you take your own blanket.” With that, he left the living room, not waiting for Xue Yang’s response.

It never would have come, anyway. Xue Yang just made his way right after Nie Huaisang, yelling for him to wait and maybe we could come to an agreement, A-Sang?

Wen Chao was seriously doubting his choice of friends. But at least he had seduction plans.

───────

Wen Chao held the crocheted beret in his hands, careful not to damage it but firmly enough so that he had something to ground himself with if he got too worried. Because he was sure he would feel that way, whether he let his friends know or not. Wen Chao didn’t want them to find out he was being nervous. He knew that, possibly, Nie Huaisang would tell him it was fine, and Xue Yang wouldn’t even care all that much.

Still, Wen Chao had to pretend to be more powerful and less awkward than he was in reality. He knew he wouldn’t necessarily be able to do the same around Jiang Cheng, so trying to hype himself up before he met him was the only way.

He stood in front of Jiang Cheng’s door, still failing to process that he’d driven all the way here just to confess. Jiang Cheng would yell at him for being so dumb, Wen Chao was sure about that. But, rather unsurprisingly, he wouldn’t mind as long as Jiang Cheng listened to him and, hopefully, accepted his confession. Wen Chao had to have it prepared in detail, as he knew Jiang Cheng would never suspect Wen Chao of having romantic feelings towards him. Possibly not even if Wen Chao told him I love you. Gods, why was he in love with such a brick?

Waiting in front of the door wasn’t even considered waiting if Wen Chao didn’t knock. He was just standing there with a package in his hands, going through every possibility in his head once again. Things could go down easily, depending on what he did or didn’t say. He wanted to scream. Why was Jiang Cheng such a complicated person?

They had been friends for a few years now, why was it so stressful? The only thing Wen Chao was supposed to do was tell Jiang Cheng about his feelings and wait, that couldn’t be hard. They had been spending more time with each other than Wen Chao with his friends, forcing Xue Yang and Nie Huaisang to always hang out together. Jiang Cheng was a good company, he was also tutoring Wen Chao, though it hardly worked, considering the only thing Wen Chao could think about was Jiang Cheng’s toned arms, that fucking sharp jaw and his— no, he should stop. If Wen Chao wanted to seduce Jiang Cheng, he couldn’t let Jiang Cheng do so before. Some rules had to be maintained. Wen Chao didn’t know how yet, but he was sure he would figure it out at some point.

Okay, it was about time he entered Jiang Cheng’s apartment. Or knocked on the door and hoped Jiang Cheng would be home. He liked to leave at the most unexpected of times, mostly for Wei Wuxian’s sake. Wen Chao had heard about him quite a lot and he knew Wei Wuxian was quite a handful.

Wen Chao waited for Jiang Cheng to open the door and he found his palms sweaty and breath labored. Who knew confessing would get so… this? Wen Chao didn’t even know what to call it so it showed everything he was feeling. All he tried to do was to make himself appear relaxed, which possibly wouldn’t even work. Jiang Cheng was an oblivious individual, but he knew when something was wrong with his friends. Even the slightest changes were visible to him—unless one was Lan Wangji, but that was Wei Wuxian’s problem to know about his feelings.

Jiang Cheng appeared in front of an open door, looking at Wen Chao in a rather confused manner. Alright, it was a little early, ten in the morning or so, but Wen Chao couldn’t sleep, anyway, and he would go crazy if he waited any longer. He didn’t care what Jiang Cheng was going to say—in the worst scenario, he could just throw him out… no, that wouldn’t be good. Wen Chao should have cared a little more if he wanted to make sure everything would go nicely.

Jiang Cheng folded his arms on his chest—why was he wearing a tank top again? Wen Chao felt like he would sway on his feet and pass out if he stared at Jiang Cheng’s arms a little too long. Did he work out in the morning? What’s worse, did Wen Chao interrupt his workout? That would suck. Why couldn’t he ever do anything right? Fuck being awkward then, Wen Chao had to work better if he didn’t want Jiang Cheng to hate him.

No, Jiang Cheng would never do that. He was secretly too fond of Wen Chao to do so, Wen Chao knew that. It gave him some sense of peace, not a lot, but just enough to calm down.

“What did you do again?” Jiang Cheng asked in a husky voice. Who gave him the right to be so sexy? Wen Chao was slowly losing his mind.

He was also deeply offended by Jiang Cheng’s implication. “I didn’t do anything this time.” He said this time solely because he did, in fact, come to Jiang Cheng a few times when Xue Yang and him had messed something up and needed someone to cover for them. Ah, good old times from their first year of university. But it was not the case this time. Wen Chao needed to save his reputation.

“You don’t sound convincing,” Jiang Cheng said, squinting suspiciously at the package in Wen Chao’s hands. He didn’t comment on it, though, which was a good thing. Wen Chao needed more time.

“Have more faith in me, A-Cheng.” Perhaps spending a lot of time with Xue Yang did some good things for Wen Chao. He was definitely more confident than before, though he was still rather nervous in the back of his mind. He found himself ignoring it, which he didn’t think would be possible a moment ago.

“Shut up.” It was surprisingly weak, or at least weaker than usual. Jiang Cheng was not as fierce as even a few days before, which was a good sign for Wen Chao. The risk of getting yelled at after confessing was steadily going down, and it would be nice if it could reach zero before he actually confessed. “Come in.” Jiang Cheng moved to the side and let Wen Chao in, quietly apologizing for the mess in the room.

Since when was he so awkward? Wen Chao remembered him as the type to never apologize for things as stupid as a few simple clothes thrown on the floor. Wen Chao wouldn’t care about them at all even if Jiang Cheng didn’t say anything. He had to admit, he liked to see Jiang Cheng like that. He seemed to be letting his guard down, not getting angry over the smallest things. Maybe Nie Huaisang had had some influence on him? That was rather likely.

“If this is one of Xue Yang’s stupid jokes, I’m never letting you in again.” Jiang Cheng pointed at the package the moment they both sat down on the couch. Too close to each other. Wen Chao was wondering. Maybe Jiang Cheng was not as emotionally unavailable as Wen Chao thought of him to be, after all?

Wen Chao laughed. It was always so easy to laugh in Jiang Cheng’s presence, even when the latter was angry. Especially when he was. “I’ll never let him near you again.” Wen Chao reminded himself of all the times Xue Yang had met with Jiang Cheng. All of them were pure disasters and Wen Chao decided it would be best if they were not meeting. Xue Yang was too careless and Jiang Cheng too angry for them to ever get along.

“Thank God,” Jiang Cheng groaned. He had never looked as relieved as before, which was a miracle for Wen Chao. “Now, what did you come here for? I assume you didn’t want to hang out at ten just like that.” For an insanely oblivious person, Jiang Cheng was rather an observing individual. There were just too many layers of his character Wen Chao had yet to uncover, or to properly explore, but what he’d found out about Jiang Cheng up to this point was just enough for Wen Chao to fall in love with him.

“What if that was exactly what I wanted to do?”

“Did someone ever tell you you’re a terrible liar, Chao-er?”

Wen Chao snorted. “Many times, A-Cheng.” Surprisingly, he was not as scared as before. Jiang Cheng seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood. Perhaps it was his workout that made him feel like that. Then Wen Chao had to make sure to make Jiang Cheng work out every day so he wouldn’t have to be so angry all the time.

“Stop fucking around and tell me, then.” Jiang Cheng sounded like he was just a little worried. In his own, odd, slightly awkward way. He looked more unavailable than ever, but that didn’t stop Wen Chao. He had gone too far to back out now. “We’re friends, after all, right?” Jiang Cheng asked, unsure. Of course they were friends, Wen Chao wanted to yell. And scold Jiang Cheng for ever doubting that.

Wen Chao exhaled sharply. All the anxiety and worry came back, crashing into his chest full force. He couldn’t just tell him, Jiang Cheng was too good. Oh, God. Wen Chao was surely becoming a mess. But he couldn’t just say it was nothing and leave, not after seeing Jiang Cheng after his workout. Wen Chao felt like a dumb teenager in love. Which was true, well, mostly, except for that he was not a teenager anymore. Not that it would have changed anything.

“For you,” he said instead of doing anything else, handing Jiang Cheng the package. “Not a joke, I promise,” he reassured one more time when he saw Jiang Cheng looking at the present suspiciously. Of course he couldn’t fully trust it. After all, Wen Chao was still friends with Xue Yang.

He watched Jiang Cheng carefully remove the paper from the package, dropping it on the floor. He shuffled with his foot to put it under the couch, looking like he was promising himself he would throw it into the trashcan later. He probably would not. He could never suspect what he could see, as he was rather not used to getting presents. Apart from those from Wei Wuxian, but they were friends since their childhood, so it was just a little bit different than it was with Wen Chao.

Jiang Cheng examined the hat carefully, as if he was scared he would damage it if he put a firmer hold on it. “I already had my birthday, Chao-er.” Jiang Cheng looked adorably confused when his eyes met Wen Chao’s.

Oh, alright. It was easier than he thought. Jiang Cheng was so unavailable he became available. Which barely made any sense, let alone was not coherent at all, but all that mattered for Wen Chao was that Jiang Cheng, out of both of them, was now becoming the awkward one. Perhaps he was just not used to having someone’s full attention on him. Either way, Wen Chao felt a new wave of confidence running through his body and he knew he was going to make it. The only thing that could be an inconvenience anymore was Jiang Cheng’s absolutely hot looks. The ones Wen Chao couldn’t stop staring at, though he possibly should have if he didn’t want to appear thirsty.

Even though he was. Perhaps Xue Yang wasn’t all that wrong when he said all those things about Wen Chao sleeping with Jiang Cheng. Wen Chao wasn’t sure, but what he knew was that he needed to do something if he wanted to, potentially, be able to be in the same bed as Jiang Cheng.

“It’s not for your birthday.” Just the moment he was about to say something else, perhaps confess already, Jiang Cheng made a surprising sound, almost like a squeal.

“It looks like Fairy!” He grabbed the hat and brought it closer to Wen Chao’s face for him to see, as if Wen Chao wasn’t the one who had spent half of the previous night crocheting it.

It was the moment Wen Chao found out he was an ugly blusher. He felt the heat go up from his neck to the very top of his head, and he knew it was the ugliest shade of red. He tried to smile it away, awkward as ever—perhaps it was not only Jiang Cheng who was confused at this point.

“It does,” Wen Chao deadpanned and he wanted to leave immediately. Ah, he could have predicted it would have gone so badly. They were both emotional disasters.

“Seriously, Chao-er,” Jiang Cheng started, trying the hat on. It looked so ridiculous, yet he was so proud and sexy wearing it. Wen Chao had to fight an urge to kiss him. Confession first, kissing later, he reminded himself. “What is this about?”

“I like you,” Wen Chao blurted out, staring at Jiang Cheng wide-eyed. It happened so quickly he barely realized it. “Like—I like you a lot. Love you, if you will. And I want to be with you. Romantically. In a relationship.” He broke the sentence into many pieces so that he would be sure that Jiang Cheng got the message. Wen Chao couldn’t survive saying it again. Not today, at least.

“And that’s it?”

What?!

“Excuse me?”

Jiang Cheng didn’t stop staring at him. “You spent God knows how many hours crocheting this,” he pointed at the hat still on his head, “instead of just telling me like any other person?”

“I tried many times, but you were too thick to notice.”

“I expect direct messages, Chao-er!”

Wen Chao snorted. “Fine,” he said, not feeling like arguing would do him any good now. Even though he knew it wouldn’t be serious at all.

“Now that it’s over,” Jiang Cheng started, pulling at the front of Wen Chao’s t-shirt (who knew he could tease like that?), “I believe you wouldn’t want to stop at only telling me that, right?”

Wen Chao blushed even harder. “What are you trying to imply?!” He yelped, but didn’t move an inch. Jiang Cheng was right.

“My clothes are a liiittle sweaty,” Jiang Cheng announced, carefully placing the hat on the coffee table and taking Wen Chao by the hand. “And I think I’d be glad if someone helped me take them off.” Okay, so Jiang Cheng was not all that oblivious and dumb when it came to relationships. It made Wen Chao blush while he followed Jiang Cheng to his bedroom. 

“Oh, right. Yeah. Sweaty. Take them off.” Wen Chao blinked a few times, a smile forming on his face. It was a flustered one, but he didn’t mind. He was a little fazed by what Jiang Cheng kept telling him, though that didn’t mean Wen Chao didn’t find it pleasing.

“Do you want to do that, Chao-er?” Jiang Cheng’s voice was low, lips close to Wen Chao’s ear. “Completely fine if you want to take it slow,” he reassured.

“I want to. Yes.” Because Wen Chao thought his tongue was betraying him, he nodded vigorously to let Jiang Cheng know that he meant it.

“Good, Chao-er. Let’s go.” Jiang Cheng pecked Wen Chao’s cheek right before closing the door to his bedroom.

Wen Chao promised himself he would buy Xue Yang the biggest bottle of wine as soon as he could.