Chapter Text
Jiang Cheng is pissed!
It’s been three weeks since that new business across the street opened. He could see how successful it had been since their opening; customers were lining up, and it was bustling. Now Jiang Cheng would have congratulated them and probably visited it as well to see what the fuss was all about. It would have been fine, really!
But why does it have to be a café as well!?
Of all the businesses to open, the owner decided on a café right across from his own café!
Jiang Cheng is losing customers, and it’s only been three weeks!
He could understand the hype since it’s a new place and it looks very elegant, painted in white and blue with some gentian flowers decorated outside. It had a mix of modern and traditional elements. He understood why people gravitated towards it, but he was losing income! It’s not even helping that the owner of that café pisses him off the most.
He heard his name was Lan Xichen.
A handsome man who caters so brightly to his customers as he welcomes them inside, and every time their eyes meet, he will smile as he ushers his customers inside. Jiang Cheng decided that he did not like him, and Lan Xichen seems to be purposely pissing him off, smiling like that! Ha! They haven’t officially met, and Jiang Cheng refuses to do so because every time they saw each other, sometimes when they opened their café, Lan Xichen would keep on smiling at him, and he would chuckle and shake his head when Jiang Cheng huffed as he swept the front door grumpily. He knew that he was already judging the man without even meeting him, but he just could not help it. When he first saw him, it just felt off, and he did not like it. He smiles too much!
The smug bastard is enjoying his torture of him, just like now. He could see his tall frame leaning against the door of his café, named Hanshi. Lan Xichen waved at him, smirking as he gestured at their busy business, and laughed when Jiang Cheng glared at him before he finally returned back inside.
Jiang Cheng slammed his palm on the counter, startling a few customers.
"I fucking hate him and his stupid smile!"
Wei Wuxian returned to the counter just in time, glancing at the café across from them and back to his brother. "Just ignore him, A-Cheng. He is teasing you."
"He is stealing our customers!"
"Well, because the owner doesn’t look like he breathes fire," Wei Wuxian teased, placing a fresh batch of cookies inside the pastry display counter.
Jiang Cheng frowned at that as he glanced at the remaining customers. Wei Wuxian had a point though. He does not have a very welcoming face, which is why Wei Wuxian is in charge of welcoming their customers. He looked around once again; Lotus Pier had grown into this cozy and beautiful café. Jiang Cheng is quite proud of what he achieved; despite his parents protest, he was able to build this up to what it is now. But of course, without his brother and sister’s support, he probably would have lost the battle too.
"Hello? Earth to Jiang Cheng!?" Wei Wuxian waved in front of him, and Jiang Cheng blinked.
"What?"
"Damn, you are really out of focus today. Don’t think too much about the Lan guy, alright? You should focus on other important and positive things!"
"Like what?"
"Your soulmate!" Wei Wuxian grabbed his wrist, showing him the imprinted numbers that were marked on his skin: "120621, That’s December 6! Tomorrow you will finally meet your soulmate!"
Jiang Cheng glanced at his wrist with a frown on his face. He’s not really a big fan of this whole soulmate thing. The mark on his right wrist indicates the date when he would meet his soulmate, and underneath it, where only he alone could see them, were also sets of numbers that gradually changes, they said it was a timer. Once a person gets in contact with their soulmate on the date that was on his wrist, the timer will stop, indicating that they have already met their soulmate.
Unfortunately, for people who were unable to get in contact with their soulmate on the stated date, the soulmate mark would vanish, severing their connection. Not that it happens a lot; there are only rare circumstances when it does, but Jiang Cheng doesn't really have a strong feeling about the whole soulmate stuff.
"I'm not really looking forward to that," He grumbled.
"Don’t be like that! You should go out tomorrow. If you stayed here holed up in the café, you might miss the opportunity of meeting them." Wei Wuxian shrugged before leaving the counter and walking towards the door to welcome their customers.
Jiang Cheng sighed as he glanced at his wrists. Is it really worth it? After he had seen some stories about how even when they met their soulmates, it still did not work out.. well even though that was a minority report, it’s still a possibility. And for those people, their soulmate marks would slowly disappear. Jiang Cheng had seen it happen to his parents, so he knew it was possible.
With a sigh, Jiang Cheng glanced at the café across from him once again before trying to greet the customer approaching his counter.
He would just think about his plans for tomorrow later.
.
.
.
The next day, Jiang Cheng reluctantly went out; he convinced himself he just needed to go out to buy more ingredients for their pastries, that’s all!
Despite saying that he spent a very slow time shopping, He tried to say some small greetings to some people he met—a little bump here or a handshake—to get in contact with them, but his timer did not stop. The longer he was doing this, the more he felt like an idiot.
He should not have entertained the idea of actually going out there and wasting his entire afternoon!
Frustrated that he even hoped to meet this person despite his denial, he decided to channel these feelings into baking. He was thankful that he and his sister shared the same passion for baking, especially now that she is already married and expecting a child soon. Jiang Cheng was able to run the kitchen on his own during times like this.
He is excited to meet his nephew!
Jiang Cheng chuckled as he was tidying up the counter. He had already stored the batches for tomorrow. The task certainly made him forget about his dilemma this afternoon, and thinking about his nephew certainly made his mood brighter.
He just flipped the close sign on the door earlier, so he could only sigh as he heard the bell ring.
"We are closed already."
"I know"
Jiang Cheng immediately looked up and paused as he saw the owner of the café across from him marching towards the counter with that annoying smile of his. He was a little stunned because, despite all his snide comments, he had never seen Lan Xichen this close before. And it made all sense why people flock to his café, especially women. The man is handsome; Jiang Cheng can already tell that from the distance, but seeing it up close is visually surprising.
BUT handsome or not, Jiang Cheng’s ire rose up when Lan Xichen started looking around, his eyes scanning the café and nodding before giving a small hum. "It’s cozy here."
The comment made Jiang Cheng cross his arms as he glared. "What do you want?"
"I actually wanted to visit for some time now, but I was .. busy as you can see," He said, placing his hand on the counter and smiling at Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng’s eyebrow twitched at that. "By stealing my customers?"
"Oh dear no! That is definitely not my intention. They visit on their own. I did not force them." He made an apologetic smile, and Jiang Cheng huffed.
"Go away; if you can't read my sign says, we are close"
Lan Xichen stared at him for a while and chuckled. "You aren’t very welcoming; I just wanted to get to know the owner of Lotus Pier."
"No one invited you in!" Jiang Cheng hissed, pressing his palm against the counter to lean in closer, trying to scare the guy off as he glared.
However, this did not faze Lan Xichen; instead, it made him smile even more. "Perhaps more customers will drop by if you would smile and lessen that scary frown," He said with a teasing tone before reaching out to try and press his index finger between Jiang Cheng’s brow. But Jiang Cheng grabbed his wrist instead as he moved his head away.
"Do not touch me!"
"You are touching me, though."
"Ugh! You are annoying!" Jiang Cheng let go of his wrist, and Lan Xichen took a step back, raising both his arms.
"Alright, alright, I will leave now. Nice to meet you," He said while taking a few steps back, still looking at Jiang Cheng until he reached the door. "My name is Lan Xichen, by the way."
"No one asked!"
Lan Xichen chuckled, shaking his head as he left the café. When Jiang Cheng was certain that the man would not come back anymore, he sighed and dropped his head as he gripped the counter.
That asshole! He really needs to step up his game!
Glancing at the clock, it was already 10:16 in the evening. He should finish up here so he could leave early. Gods, he needed to pull himself together. With a loud sigh, he happened to glance at his wrist and saw that the timer under the dates had stopped moving.
"1015…"
His eyes widened as he brought his wrist closer to his face, as if it would change if he saw it clearer, but it didn’t change.. he slowly glanced at the window and saw Lan Xichen standing at the doorway of his café glancing at his own wrist.
Wait! That’s impossible! Holy shit! No way!
When their gazes met, Jiang Cheng dropped down to hide behind the counter as he held his wrist and lamented his cruel fate.
"I REFUSE THIS!"
.
.
The next day, Jiang Cheng’s mood is between sulking and getting angry. His mood definitely did not go unnoticed by Wei Wuxian, and being as annoying as he is, he started asking Jiang Cheng what happened, but he would avoid answering it and would pretend he was busy. However, it did not take too long for Wei Wuxian to corner him.
"You met your soulmate, didn’t you?"
Jiang Cheng froze and shook his head. "No."
"Your mark is still literally there, A-Cheng! Who is it?" Wei Wuxian followed him behind the counter.
"I’m not telling you; besides, it’s not going to work out between us."
"Huh?! Why? Did you even speak to this person at all? Maybe give them a chance, you know?"
Jiang Cheng glared at him; he hated how Wei Wuxian could already guess that he did not even give his soulmate a chance, but it’s because it’s Lam Xichen, so there’s that. He stole a glance across the street and saw Lan Xichen outside talking to someone on the phone. He immediately looked away before their gazes met.
"You know what, just focus on our work, yes? That girl kept glancing here; she probably needs something." Jiang Cheng gestured at the students who were staring at them, and sure enough, she slowly raised her hand. Wei Wuxian looked at Jiang Cheng before turning to smile at her.
"Yes, do you need anything?"
Jiang Cheng sighed, thankful that he got Wei Wuxian off his back for now. He was sure that he would have to tell him that Lan Xichen was his soulmate, but that can wait because Jiang Cheng can’t even process it himself.
When their shift ended, Wei Wuxian went home early, leaving Jiang Cheng, who usually remains in the café to double check if everything is in order even though Wei Wuxian already checked it. It's not that he did not trust his brother, but there had been several instances where Wei Wuxian forgot a few things, like leaving the kitchen lights on, some pastries still on the display, and worst of all, not locking the shutters. He knew his brother gets distracted easily, so Jiang Cheng had to double check one last time. Once he was satisfied, he left the café and shut the shutters, locking it for good.
"Good evening"
"Fucking!—what the hell! Why are you suddenly creeping out of nowhere?
Lan Xichen chuckled and nodded at him. "Ah, I didn’t mean to surprise you; I just wanted to talk to you; I wouldn’t come here if it wasn't important. Lan Xichen gave him that apologetic smile and raised his other hand, showing the mark on his wrist.
"Ugh.." Jiang Cheng sighed.
"So.. soulmate?"
"No. I refuse," Jiang Cheng immediately said. His refusal must have stunned Lan Xichen because he looked so surprised and the lights in his eyes dimmed a little, as if he were a little disappointed to hear that, but that's probably just the lights playing.
Well, it serves him right.
"Oh, a blatant refusal.. That’s the first." He murmured the last few words before slowly shoving his hands on his pockets, and Jiang Cheng huffed.
"You know, I don’t really believe in this kind of stuff, and no matter how you look at it, we aren’t compatible," Jiang Cheng shrugged.
Lan Xichen stared at him for a while and then smiled as he replied, "I suppose you are right.. You aren’t my type."
"You aren’t my type either!"
"I like someone who is gentle and very caring," Lan Xichen said, still looking at Jiang Cheng. "Not someone that looks like they will shoot laser beams at their eyes." There was a teasing lilt in his voice as he tilted his head to the side.
Jiang Cheng scoffed at this, he knew that Lan Xichen is just trying to gouge a reaction from him but he cold not help replying to him. "I don’t like smug bastards."
"I’m not a smug bastard."
"Yeah? After all the taunting you are doing every time I look over to your shop?"
Lan Xichen chuckled, shaking his head. "Why do you keep looking over my shop anyways? Besides, have you not considered that perhaps I wanted to be friends with you?"
"No, it doesn’t look like that to me."
"Perhaps you just could not see because of the distance? I am very friendly, you know; my brother, on the other hand, is not much."
Jiang Cheng scowled harder after hearing his words "Are you saying my eyesight is bad?"
"You said that, not me"
"Okay! Enough!" Jiang Cheng raised both hands and sighed. "This whole soulmate thing is not going to work out apparently, so we should go our merry ways and ignore this"
There was a shift in Lan Xichen’s expression—a quick frown that was immediately replaced by his practiced smile. Jiang Cheng found that shift odd but ignored it.
"Alright then."
Lan Xichen shrugged before turning and walking back towards his café.
.
.
The next few days, he did not have any run-ins with Lan Xichen anymore, which was good, so Jiang Cheng focused on improving his café and thought of some strategies to attract more people. He put up some promotions, posting them up in front of the store, and he glanced across the street only to see Lan Xichen doing the same thing.
Are you fucking kidding me?!
Lan Xichen saw him and waved at him, but Jiang Cheng only glared and stomped back inside his shop.
"This man!" he hissed, stomping back inside and walking behind the counter. Wei Wuxian looked at him, then at the café in front of them.
He was already used to this; it’s practically like a ritual now. Wei Wuxian just decided not to mention to his brother how much he keeps talking about Lan Xichen because he knew he would just snap at him and get moodier, but Wei Wuxian is already at his wits end here, so it’s probably time to drop the bomb.
"He is definitely doing this on purpose!"
"You know what, there has been no day since the café opened that you did not mention Lan Xichen; do you perhaps have a crush on him, A-Cheng?" Okay, the last part is unnecessary, but he could not help but tease his brother, especially seeing the redness on his cheeks.
Oh, that’s interesting.
"What the fuck, Wei Wuxian, don’t say something like that! And I certainly don’t have a crush!"
"But all you talk about all the time is him! How am I supposed to think otherwise?" Wei Wuxian shrugged, leaning against the counter.
"Because he is pissing me off! I know he is riling me up and doing this on purpose! Ha! He’s probably getting back at me since I rejected him; who does he think he is the prince of—"
"Hold on!" Wei Wuxian suddenly stood up, facing Jiang Cheng, as he raised his hand. "What did you say?"
"He is doing this on purpose?"
"No.. forward it!"
Jiang Cheng finally realized what he just said and immediately looked away, but Wei Wuxian had already caught on to it, and there was no turning back now when he started putting things together as he gasped.
"Oh my god! Is.. is Lan Xichen your soulma—mff!"
Jiang Cheng immediately covered his mouth with his hands; the blush on his cheeks became more evident as he looked around, making sure no one heard it.
"Can you shut the fuck up!" He hissed before Wei Wuxian tapped his hand, and he finally let go of him. This is why he did not want Wei Wuxian to know about this.
No one spoke for a while; his brother was probably waiting for him to initiate the conversation, but he could not even bring it up, so after the awkward silence, Wei Wuxian finally spoke.
Alright, I will not tease you about it.. Serious question though: what are your plans now?"
"Nothing.."
"What do you mean by nothing? That’s your soulmate." Wei Wuxian whispered the last words before he sighed.
Jiang Cheng only rolled his eyes and shook his head, glancing at the café across them. "You know that I don’t believe in such things. We already talked and agreed we are not each other’s type, so we dropped it like that."
"Just like that?!"
"Just like that! So shut it already and help me with some ideas on how to promote our café instead." Jiang Cheng huffed, turning to face a customer that approached the counter. It was a good distraction, and he tried the friendliest smile he could muster. Once he was done taking the orders and Wei Wuxian was preparing them, they returned to their conversation.
Actually, A-Cheng, I have an idea." Wei Wuxian smirked.
Jiang Cheng did not like that smirk, not one bit.
"What is it?"
"You are going to love it."
He sure as hell won't love it.