Work Text:
Stay cool, Jiang Cheng thought fiercely to himself. He tried to keep his focus on his computer screen. Be professional.
A deep laugh rang out and Jiang Cheng couldn’t stop himself from glancing up. The office had an open plan, with privacy between desks provided by large computer monitors and various desk accessories rather than cubicle walls. Jiang Cheng’s view to the far end of the room, where Nie Mingjue stood, was therefore obstructed only by a few leaves from a plant on a nearby desk.
His heart clenched at the sight of dimples in Nie Mingjue’s cheeks and he hurriedly returned his attention to his screen. Nie Mingjue laughing! It was a rare sight, and Jiang Cheng had to throttle down the stab of jealousy at whoever or whatever had coaxed that laugh out of him. Focus. There was a spreadsheet. An important spreadsheet, probably. He couldn’t quite remember what the spreadsheet was about, because his traitorous mind was pretty sure there had been a drop of sweat making its way down from Nie Mingjue’s temple to his jaw, and why did it have to be so hot outside, anyway?
Jiang Cheng took a deep breath in through his nose. Spreadsheet. Everything was fine. He knew how to process the data. In fact, he already had a template set up, so really all he had to do was make sure he was entering the data correctly and then make the output look nice for the meeting at the end of the week. It was a piece of cake.
Nie Mingjue sure has some cake, that horrible horny voice in his head whispered.
“Shut up,” Jiang Cheng muttered to himself, glaring at the monitor.
“What was that?”
Jiang Cheng froze. Heart in his mouth, he slowly turned to look up. There he was, Nie Mingjue, all 191 cm of him. He wasn’t smiling any more, usual stern countenance firmly in place, but Jiang Cheng had been here long enough to tell that it was just resting-Nie-Mingjue face, not anger. Meanwhile, the droplet of sweat had now made its way down to the edge of Nie Mingjue’s jaw.
“Uh. Nothing,” Jiang Cheng said, feeling horribly awkward. His spine straightened defensively, trying to convey a confidence he absolutely did not feel next to the senior employee of the department that literally everyone looked up to.
“Hm,” Nie Mingjue hummed. He leaned against Jiang Cheng’s desk, drawing Jiang Cheng’s attention downward. Nie Mingjue’s ass was on Jiang Cheng’s desk. He could see how Nie Mingjue’s trousers pulled tight across his muscles. Everyone knew that Nie Mingjue never skipped leg day, and it was painfully obvious with the way the fabric strained over his quads. “Run into any problems?”
“Oh, no,” Jiang Cheng was quick to assure him. “Everything’s fine. I’ve got it under control.”
Nie Mingjue smiled again, but now it was so much closer, and Jiang Cheng’s mouth went dry. “I’m sure you do. I’ve noticed how hard you’ve been working lately.”
“You— you have?” Jiang Cheng’s voice came out a little high and breathy, so he quickly cleared his throat.
“I have,” Nie Mingjue said. “In fact—“ Nie Mingjue lifted up the drink he had in his hand. “—I’m a little concerned you’re not taking enough breaks. It’s important not to burn out. So I got you a bubble tea. It’s tiger milk.”
Jiang Cheng blinked stupidly as Nie Mingjue set the cup down on the desk and then pulled a straw from his shirt pocket. “Um. Thank you, Senior Nie.”
“You’re welcome,” Nie Mingjue rumbled. His mouth quirked in a small smile. “I hope the flavor’s okay. I didn’t know what you liked best, but I thought tiger suited you.”
“Why?” Jiang Cheng asked, keeping his attention on punching the straw through the lid so he didn’t just stare at Nie Mingjue’s face.
“Well, you’re fierce. And you have cat energy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jiang Cheng snapped reflexively. But when he looked up, Nie Mingjue was smiling another one of his rare smiles. Twice in one day! And this time it was up close, directed at Jiang Cheng! Hopefully the sheer force of Jiang Cheng’s will kept the heat out of his cheeks, even as he felt the blush trying to crawl up his neck.
“See? Cat,” Nie Mingjue said. “Standoffish. But you still like when someone does something nice for you,” Nie Mingjue added, nodding at the tiger milk bubble tea in Jiang Cheng’s hand.
Despite Jiang Cheng’s best efforts, the heat seemed to be inexorably rising into his cheeks. He quickly stuck the straw in his mouth and took a sip of the bubble tea.
It was sweet, sweeter than he’d expected, but he couldn’t help a low hum of approval.
“You like it?”
“Mn,” Jiang Cheng grunted, not trusting his voice.
“Good. But in all seriousness, you’ve been doing good work lately. You deserve some recognition for that,” Nie Mingjue said. He put one large, warm hand on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder, leaned in closer, and lowered his voice. “Don’t spread it around that I said this, but I think you’re the most promising junior in the office.”
There was absolutely no way that Jiang Cheng’s face wasn’t red by now. Every cell of his body was aware of Nie Mingjue’s hand on his shoulder, even though it was obviously just a friendly interaction between colleagues. Still, it was easier to think about Nie Mingjue touching him than the way Nie Mingjue had just complimented him.
“I— uh— thank you,” Jiang Cheng somehow managed to choke out when he realized he’d been sitting in frozen silence for just a beat too long. Not knowing what else to do, he took another pull of his drink. This time he got some of the tapioca balls and he took the opportunity to chew thoroughly so he wouldn’t have to speak.
Nie Mingjue leaned away again and his hand left Jiang Cheng’s shoulder. Jiang Cheng tried not to feel too bereft, but his shoulder was definitely colder now, all too aware of the absence. “Well, I’ll let you get back to it,” Nie Mingjue said, standing up from his lean. “Remember to take breaks, okay? If you like that bubble tea I can show you the place I got it sometime.”
“Yeah, sure,” Jiang Cheng said, trying not to think about how Nie Mingjue’s butt had been touching his desk.
“Great. I’ll see you later, then,” Nie Mingjue said. He walked away with all the confidence that Jiang Cheng admired so much and hoped he managed to emulate.
It wasn’t until Jiang Cheng’s heart had slowed again that he realized what Nie Mingjue had actually asked him. His eyes went wide.
Did Nie Mingjue just invite me out for bubble tea!?