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Jiang Cheng freezes in his door when he comes home and is assaulted by a barrage of noises. This shouldn’t happen, because he lives alone and so he should be met with nothing but blissful silence, just like he prefers. And just like he needs, especially today, after his failed exam. Instead he comes home to find a party being in full swing in his apartment and without his knowledge.
The headache that blooms behind his eyes is instant. It certainly does nothing to his already horrible mood.
“Chengcheng!” Wei Wuxian yells as soon as he sees him and he doesn’t even have the decency to look sorry.
“What is this?” Jiang Cheng hisses even as Wei Wuxian throws his arm around him to hang off his side.
Jiang Cheng brushes him off without hesitation and he refuses to feel bad when Wei Wuxian stumbles to the ground.
Clearly he’s already inebriated and it’s not even evening yet.
“You’re always so rude,” Wei Wuxian whines as he picks himself off the ground and then he tries to give Jiang Cheng his most winning smile.
It doesn’t work.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Jiang Cheng demands to know, pinning Wei Wuxian with his glare.
“It’s just a little party,” Wei Wuxian says, punching Jiang Cheng in the shoulder.
It’s probably meant as a friendly bump but clearly Wei Wuxian is already more drunk than Jiang Cheng thought because it connects with full force and it hurts like hell.
“In my apartment?” Jiang Cheng is rubbing his shoulder as he says it and Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes at him, clearly indicating what he thinks of Jiang Cheng’s antics.
“You know that Lan Zhan doesn’t like these things.”
“As opposed to me?” Jiang Cheng dares him but Wei Wuxian doesn’t seem to pick up on Jiang Cheng’s murderous mood at all.
“You always end up having fun,” Wei Wuxian waves him off.
“When we go out and I can return to my own quiet apartment,” Jiang Cheng hisses but he knows he already lost Wei Wuxian when he looks back into the living-room. “Oh, beer pong,” he yells and then runs off, leaving Jiang Cheng in his own hallway, the party going on around him.
Jiang Cheng has two options: leave and hope that things will magically be better when he comes back or call the police and have everyone thrown out.
He knows that the smart move would be the latter, if only so that maybe Wei Wuxian learns that he can’t simply do as he pleases, especially not when it comes to Jiang Cheng and his privacy but Jiang Cheng doesn’t know if he has the strength for the fall-out of that.
So he does the only other thing he can.
He turns around on his heels and leaves again.
Once he’s back on the sidewalk it hits him that he doesn’t really know where to go from here. He doesn’t have a key to Wei Wuxian’s apartment because he was never offered one and he’s a decent person who doesn’t simply duplicate one without asking for permission first and he doesn’t actually want to spend any time in Lan Wangji’s presence, not if he can help it.
Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan are still on their extended honeymoon–and it’s not as if Jiang Cheng has a key to their house, either–and he would rather go back up to the party than show up at his parents’ house.
But that doesn’t really leave him with many options and Jiang Cheng heaves out a big sigh, rubbing his hands together.
It’s too cold to stay out on the sidewalk for too long and so he at least starts walking for now. He’ll probably get some food and by the time he will make his way back to his apartment he hopes to be marginally calmer.
His mind made up like that he makes his way over to his favourite little restaurant and he does have to admit that having something warm and tasty in his belly does help. He feels a little bit better about this whole situation even though that still means he feels like shit and the anger is burning bright in his guts.
Wei Wuxian really went one step too far this time, Jiang Cheng thinks, spooning his dessert into his mouth.
It was already unbearable when he barged in at any time of the day and without any regard for Jiang Cheng’s privacy, but to have a party in Jiang Cheng’s apartment–that’s really too much.
And Jiang Cheng is truly too tired to tolerate his bullshit any longer. His thesis is kicking his ass most of the days, now he has the failed oral exam to worry about and Jiang Cheng desperately needs his own space where he can simply unwind and relax.
Coming home to a party he neither knew about nor invited into his own home is definitely not that and Jiang Cheng sees red just thinking about it again.
And usually Jiang Cheng does cower and give in when it comes to Wei Wuxian, but not anymore.
With that thought he gets up and makes his way back to his apartment. He can see through the windows that the party is still going on and that’s it.
He’s not going to tolerate this bullshit for one moment longer. Jiang Cheng takes out his phone and dials the police.
He tells them that he came home to his apartment where he lives alone to see light from the windows and hear noises through the door and he doesn’t dare to go in by himself.
The operator tells him that he made the right decision and some officers are on the way already and Jiang Cheng settles in for a wait.
It’s not as if the people in his apartment are going anywhere.
It takes the police ten minutes to arrive and of course the party is still going. Jiang Cheng goes back out to meet them outside.
“Are you Jiang Wanyin?” one of the officers asks and Jiang Cheng nods.
“There are people in my apartment, it sounds as if someone is having a party. But I didn’t invite anyone over, I just came back home.”
“Does anyone else have a key?”
“The landlord only gave me one and I didn’t give anyone else one,” Jiang Cheng says and it’s not even a lie. He simply doesn’t mention that Wei Wuxian duplicated a key without asking first and then kept it despite Jiang Cheng asking for the key several times already.
“Stay here,” the officer says and then motions for his colleagues to go up.
Jiang Cheng can’t help the small, vindicated smile that breaks out.
He’s absolutely certain that Wei Wuxian never had to deal with any consequences of his actions before this and he’s honestly looking forward to this. Especially since he’s prepared to see this through.
Jiang Cheng has had enough of Wei Wuxian trampling all over his boundaries and privacy and if this is what it takes for him to finally see reason, then so be it.
Jiang Cheng watches as the colourful light in his apartment changes to the normal yellow one and then he takes note of ever person who leaves the house.
He’s not surprised to see that he doesn’t know a single person who files out and secretly he’s glad. Jiang Cheng doesn’t have many friends, but at least those he has seem to stay clear of parties like this. Or maybe they just simply know better than to barge into an apartment when the inhabitant is not even there.
“Jiang Wanyin, this person says he knows you,” the officers say when they come back down, Wei Wuxian in their middle.
“That is my foster brother,” Jiang Cheng tells them, for once sticking to the official description and Wei Wuxian’s eyes get huge.
“Chengcheng,” he cries out but Jiang Cheng isn’t deterred.
“How did he get in?” he asks even though he damn well knows how and he officers hand him a key.
“It appears he had one made. We would advise you to change your locks, you never know how many copies he has,” one of the officers tells him with a side-eye towards Wei Wuxian.
“Do you want to press charges?”
“Yes.” Jiang Cheng’s answer is instant and comes without hesitation and it shocks even Wei Wuxian into silence if only for one blissful moment.
“Chengcheng, what are you doing? It was just a harmless little joke!”
“You had a key made without my knowledge or consent, you used it to break into my apartment and then you held a party there. That is no harmless little joke and I am not going to budge on this,” Jiang Cheng decides and turns back around to the officers. “What do you need?”
“For now, a way to contact you. We will keep him overnight to do a drug test as well and then we’ll call you for further details on what happened tonight. We cleared everyone out of your apartment but with the party—” the officer trails off with a wince.
“It’s a mess,” Jiang Cheng sighs out.
“Yes. Do you have anywhere else to sleep tonight?”
“No, I will simply have to make do. Thank you, officers,” he then sincerely says and watches with no small amount of satisfaction as Wei Wuxian is ushered into the police car.
A night at the station will hopefully do him some good, Jiang Cheng thinks as he walks up to his apartment after leaving his own phone number with the nice officers.
The apartment truly is a mess; there are bottles and cups everywhere, the food is on the floor rather than on the tables and Jiang Cheng spots more than one puddle, even at first glance.
He’s going to call someone who will deep clean the apartment for him after he got rid of the biggest mess and then he’ll bill that to Wei Wuxian as well. It’s the least he can do.
Jiang Cheng just hopes that his laptop is still in one piece, but to his relieve he finds that his bedroom seems almost untouched. If he had to rewrite his entire thesis, Jiang Cheng would have personally murdered Wei Wuxian.
He feels absolutely ready to simply fall into bed, but he knows himself well enough that he could never rest well with the chaos surrounding him so Jiang Cheng gets out a bag and starts with the cups, before he gathers all the bottles in one place.
With that done for the moment Jiang Cheng decides that he’s done for the day as well.
He gets ready for bed, even though it’s barely past seven but today has been absolutely brutal on him; first he messed up his oral exam and then this entire mess.
Jiang Cheng deserves some proper sleep after this.
~*~*~
He wakes up to a barrage of texts and missed calls, all of them from his family, which he ignores. Jiang Cheng is in no way, shape or form ready to deal with any of them—especially not since he will insist on pressing charges—and so he simply mutes all of the notifications.
The one he can’t mute is the mail from the TA, telling him to come in at eleven.
Jiang Cheng heaves out a sigh when a glance at the time reveals that he has less than an hour and so he hastily gets ready before he leaves for campus.
He can guess what Nie Mingjue wants to talk about but he’s not looking forward to it.
It’s not as if he can simply explain to Nie Mingjue why he failed the oral exam so spectacularly.
“Wanyin, please sit,” Nie Mingjue greets him when he carefully knocks at his door and as soon as his eyes fall on Jiang Cheng, he suffers the same fate as during the exam.
Jiang Cheng simply forgets everything.
“Are you okay?” Nie Mingjue asks, clearly concerned for him and Jiang Cheng doesn’t even know where to begin with that question but in the end he decides that he’s long past giving a fuck and so he answers truthfully.
“If you are asking this question to figure out if there are any reasons for me to have failed so miserably then the answer is yes. I am perfectly alright and there is no special reason. If you’re asking me this to be polite or out of a personal interest then honestly, the answer is no.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Nie Mingjue carefully asks, clearly not knowing what to do with Jiang Cheng at the moment.
“Not really,” Jiang Cheng admits.
“Alright,” Nie Mingjue sighs out with another concerned glance. “Wanyin, you failed your oral exam.”
“I know,” Jiang Cheng replies because that is hardly news to him. He was there when the sight of Nie Mingjue robbed him of every last intelligent thought.
Jiang Cheng had hoped that Lan Qiren would be the one to question him but of course nothing in his life is ever easy for him.
“Wanyin, your written exam and your papers have all been excellent. You scored 100% on your exam, you got A’s on all of your papers.”
“I know,” Jiang Cheng repeats.
“So you understand why this oral exam has us a little worried, right?” Nie Mingjue asks and he leans slightly forward. “What is wrong? Is there something that is bothering you? Is it social anxiety?”
Jiang Cheng is touched by the genuine concern he can see on Nie Mingjue’s face but he’s unsure how to explain this to him without completely embarrassing himself.
“It’s nothing like that. I came prepared and I can confidently say that I know the subject.”
“Then what was the problem? Help me understand,” Nie Mingjue implores him and Jiang Cheng decides to simply fuck it.
What is one more ruined relationship, right? He already broke with his family by insisting on pressing charges. Nie Mingjue is not going to be the TA for Jiang Cheng’s class for much longer anyway and so there is no real reason to hold back anymore.
And in the long run, this doesn’t even mean anything.
“It’s you,” Jiang Cheng says and immediately Nie Mingjue rears back.
“I wasn’t aware you disliked me that much,” Nie Mingjue says and he seems ready to apologize to Jiang Cheng even though this is hardly his fault.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just—whenever I see you, I just—” Jiang Cheng lets out a frustrated sigh, because this is just typical for him once again.
Too tongue-tied in Nie Mingjue’s presence to even form a coherent sentence.
“No thoughts, head empty,” he finally simply says and Nie Mingjue snorts, despite the lingering worry on his face.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that looking at you makes me stupid,” Jiang Cheng huffs out. “I’ve got the worst crush on you and being alone in your presence just—it robs me of every thought I ever had. Of course I know the answer to all the questions you asked me. I just don’t know them when it’s you who is asking them.”
“I see,” Nie Mingjue says, this time with a little smile and if Jiang Cheng had any thoughts left, those would have flown out of his brain now at the latest.
Nie Mingjue is just too damn gorgeous for his own good.
“Lan Qiren took note of your failed exam,” he then tells Jiang Cheng who slumps in his seat.
“Of course he did.”
“Wanyin, you aced everything but this. Of course he would take note. You say you know the topic? Enough to redo the exam?”
“Did you not listen?” Jiang Cheng bites out. “You are the problem, not the subject.”
“Good,” Nie Mingjue nods. “Because you’re retaking your exam in an hour with Lan Qiren.”
“I am what now?” Jiang Cheng breathes out and Nie Mingjue gives him another devastating smile.
Honestly, someone should hand Jiang Cheng a medal for even retaining anything this man ever said in class.
This is simply unfair.
“Re-taking the exam, do try to keep up,” Nie Mingjue tells him with a teasing smile and Jiang Cheng can’t stand this a moment longer.
“Fine. Where?” he asks, standing up even before the words have left his mouth.
“Same room,” Nie Mingjue says and then narrows his eyes at him. “What are you doing?”
“Leaving,” Jiang Cheng bites out.
“So that’s it? You tell me you’re in love with me and then you simply flee?”
“I said I have a crush, do not get ahead of yourself,” Jiang Cheng corrects him, even as he’s unable to properly look at Nie Mingjue. “And I did not tell you that because I am expecting anything. You wanted to know what my problem was and I told you.”
“Pity,” Nie Mingjue says as he leans back in his chair. “Because I am actually expecting coffee.”
It’s said so nonchalantly and with such a blinding smile that it takes Jiang Cheng a moment to understand the words.
“You can’t be serious,” he finally breathes out and Nie Mingjue’s face softens.
“I can’t say that being in your presence makes me stupid but it does give me more butterflies than I know what to do with. So how about you go ace your exam with Lan Qiren and then over coffee you can tell me all about what’s bothering you at the moment. You did say the true answer to me asking if you’re okay is no, after all.”
“It’s all family drama,” Jiang Cheng admits. “I’m not sure you’d want to know.”
“I do, because I want to know you and I think it would do you some good to rant to someone, hm?”
Jiang Cheng hates how right Nie Mingjue is, especially when he remembers all the missed calls and texts that surely have doubled in their number now and so he does the only thing he can think of doing in Nie Mingjue’s presence.
He nods.
(Jiang Cheng of course aces his exam with Lan Qiren, because like he’s not getting tired of saying he does know the subject. Coffee with Nie Mingjue afterwards is also better than Jiang Cheng expected it to be and when they part with a next date already set, Jiang Cheng is happy enough to even forget his family drama for a while. Though when Nie Mingjue leans in to press a chaste kiss to his cheek before he says his goodbyes Jiang Cheng has to admit that he will probably continue to be a bit stupid around Nie Mingjue, even in the future. He just hopes Nie Mingjue won’t mind.)