Work Text:
Nie Huaisang was well-known for hosting giant parties at his home in Qinghe. He was a natural at bringing people together for a good time. But the event he hosted tonight, together with his friend Wei Wuxian, was not a party but a game. The ‘Kiss or Not’ game. More than thirty people were gathered in a large room taking turns drawing straws. The two people who got the short straws were chosen as the participants. Everyone else would then close their eyes and listen as the two participants either kissed, or just pretended to do so, after which they would all make a guess whether they did or not. Points were allotted to those who guessed correctly.
The catch: This whole thing was just a setup to get his friend Jiang Cheng an excuse to get his first kiss out of the way after he accidentally, in a very mortifying way, had whined about wanting to kiss someone – anyone – during their last bender. He had been very drunk at the time and had not meant what he said. Yet, Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian organized this whole thing anyway.
Jiang Cheng was sitting down in the crowd, not really paying attention to the other couples and making his guesses at random as he nervously waited for his turn to participate. He pulled long straw after long straw until about ten goes in he finally got a short one.
Trying to hide his excitement he pretended to be calm as he gazed around the room looking for who had gotten the second short straw. It was held by a pretty girl in white flowy robes.
A Lan.
Jiang Cheng flushed. He’d always had a soft spot for Lans. He really liked their classic style of elegant beauty, and this girl was the epitome of a Lan. Jade-like perfect skin, dark ink-black long straight hair, a soft gentle smile on her thin delectable lips. Wanyin swallowed hard. The thought that his lips might soon be pressed against hers consuming his mind.
And then she shook her head.
Wanyin’s heart dropped, but he pretended it didn’t as he faked what he believed a real kiss might sound like. Smacking his lips together he thought he made a convincing enough attempt, but both Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang easily guessed that the kiss had been faked. Laughing all the while.
Oh well, for as much as getting rejected from sharing a kiss hurt, it wasn’t like there wouldn’t be other times, Jiang Cheng thought hopefully as he sat back down in his spot and waited to pull another short straw. And another. And another.
Each time the woman who pulled the second one shook her head.
His eyes were starting to sting. To get rejected once wasn’t that big of a deal. Two times he could handle, but five in a row? He was starting to feel pathetic. Unkissable. The only thought that kept him from melting through the floor was the thought that neither his brother – whose turns kept getting suspiciously interrupted – and the number one bachelor Lan Xichen had also remained kiss-less.
He wasn’t alone, so he couldn’t be too upset.
As time passed, he tried to lower his expectations. To assume he wouldn’t get kissed whenever he was chosen. To not get so excited. And yet his heart jumped each time he pulled the shorter straw. It was foolish, he told himself because this time the person chosen alongside him wasn’t even a woman. It was Zewu-jun.
Waiting for everyone to close their eyes Jiang Cheng barely paid attention to Lan Xichen as he moved his head. Except, out of the corner of his eye he spotted something strange. Jiang Cheng blinks. He must’ve seen it wrong. There was no way Lan Xichen just nodded.
Then Lan Xichen moved his head again. Up and down. Not from side to side. Up and down.
A nod.
Jiang Cheng was stunned. And then, before he had thought it through, he had nodded too. Lan Xichen’s smile grew wide. It sent a flutter through Jiang Cheng’s stomach. He liked the way Zewu-jun smiled. Always had. And Lan Xichen was a true Lan beauty too. The most good-looking out of all the Lans.
Jiang Cheng couldn’t believe it as Lan Xichen moved closer to him. Was this really happening? Was he finally going to get his first kiss? He hoped so, so much. He swore if Lan Xichen backed out last second he would actually start to cry, embarrassing himself in front of everyone present. But thankfully that didn’t happen.
Lan Xichen sat down right in front of him, his hot breath mingling with Jiang Cheng’s own as he leaned closer. Their personal spaces become one. And then, leaning forward, Jiang Cheng’s lips met the soft ones of Lan Xichen. His stomach flips. Lan Xichen moves as hesitantly as he does. It feels like magic. Wanyin leaned in closer, his hands ending up on a strong firm chest to stabilize himself. Long slender fingers caress his jaw. It tingles. Jiang Cheng gasps at the sensation.
Wei Wuxian ruins the moment with a loud snort. “Good try A-Cheng.”
“Yeah, this was probably your best attempt yet” Nie Huaisang agreed teasingly.
“But still no.” “Absolutely not.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t need to look to know that they held both up the small red colored papers to indicate they believed their kiss to be a lie. His cheeks burned hot. Embarrassed to be made fun of when he had actually succeeded in receiving his first kiss. His hand clenched around white fabric.
Lan Xichen pulled him closer, his arms wrapping around his lower back as he continued the kiss for longer than was necessary. Everyone should’ve already made their guesses by now, but Lan Xichen didn’t let him go for at least another dozen seconds. His lips massaging Jiang Cheng’s until his embarrassment was replaced by a reassuring warmth.
He wishes the feeling could’ve lasted longer. Because no sooner had Lan Xichen let go of Wanyin when he spoke up, “Yeah you’re right. Points to everyone.”
Jiang Cheng blinked as he looked around at all the red papers. Wrong guesses. He looked back at Lan Xichen. But the warmth and want that had previously been in his eyes was gone in an instant. Jiang Cheng reached for his lips where he could still feel the ghost of Lan Xichen’s lips against his own. Had he been so desperate for his first kiss that he’d imagined it all?
Wei Wuxian slapped a hand over his back, laughing as he wished him better luck next time. He thought he could hear Haisang’s voice. Probably some teasing remark. Jiang Cheng wasn’t sure as he had tuned them both out.
A streak of warmth ran down his face.
FUCK.
Feeling attacked by all the gazes suddenly burrowing into him, Jiang Cheng made his escape muttering something about needing to use the bathroom. He was sure people had seen him cry. How humiliating. Locking himself in one of Husaisang’s many bathrooms, he had no intention of returning to the game. He was planning on waiting in the bathroom until everyone else had left. Including Wuxian.
Alone and feeling safe to do so, Jiang Cheng began to sob pathetically. The tears rolling down his face like matching waterfalls. He wanted to go home. To have A-Jie pull him into a hug and tell him everything would be alright even though it wouldn’t be. He wanted her to comb her fingers through his hair, gently caressing his scalp to calm him. The thought made Jiang Cheng cry even harder as the comfort he desired wasn’t available to him. Because he wasn’t at home with Yanli, he was stuck in fucking Huaisang’s bathroom as everyone else who had been invited to Qinghe were making fun of how sad and pathetic the Jiang sect heir was.
“Jiang Wanyin?” There was a gentle knock on the door.
“Go away!” He roared at the voice he immediately recognized as the one belonging to the person who had just humiliated him in front of several dozens of his peers.
But the Lan did not comply, “Could we please talk? I promise I didn’t mean to hurt you. I actually like you a lot and have done for a long time now.”
“Suuure, you must reeeally like me. You being too afraid to ruin your perfect reputation to tell everyone the truth that we kissed really proves that.” Jiang Cheng spat out. The justified anger coursing through his veins felt nice. He much preferred it to the sadness from before. “Was I the only one you kissed out there, or was I just the only one you felt needed to get talked into silence so that people wouldn’t find out that you’ve been kissing every single person you’ve gotten matched with?” It was a completely baseless accusation, but whether true or not the hurt pause that followed gave Jiang Cheng great satisfaction in knowing that his insult hit its target.
“Jiang Wanyin, that’s not what happened. Not at all. I promise on my mother’s grave that I only kissed you. I’ve only ever kissed you. It’s just... Wangji is here.”
“So?”
“If he found out I kissed someone he’d immediately run to tell Shufu. Lans aren’t allowed to kiss outside of marriage. It is strictly forbidden, and if anyone finds out I will be considered completely ruined. It wouldn’t matter that I agreed to it, because no one will believe I did and in the end you’d be forced to take responsibility by marrying me so as to not cause a full on war between our sects. I-” He sighed. “please understand. I didn’t want to put you in that hard of a position just because of a kiss.”
Jiang Cheng unlocked the door with a clack, and peered outside. “Holy hell, your rules are even more archaic than I thought.”
“But you believe me? You understand?” Lan Xichen’s eyes were wide and pleading.
Jiang Cheng nodded his head as he made his way outside. “You like me enough to want to kiss me, but not enough to get stuck in marriage with someone like me, so we can’t tell anyone about the kiss. Makes perfect sense.”
Lan Xichen opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out as just then they could hear footsteps walking down the hall towards them. A loud annoyed voice could be heard bouncing down the hall. “Lan Wangji, what the fuck is wrong with you!?”
“There is nothing wrong with me. You’re the one who’s wrong.”
“Me? You’re ruining the game.”
“You’re ruining yourself.”
“Excuse me? Lan Zhan, just because you’re jealous I’m able to get more girls to kiss me than you doesn’t-”
“I’m not jealous.” Lan Wangji interrupted.
“No? Then why are you doing all of this??”
“Wei Ying shouldn’t kiss someone so thoughtlessly. Kisses should be reserved for your future cultivation partner. The rules say so.”
“Well, we’re not in Gusu and I’m not a Lan, so I don’t care what your rules say.”
Lan Wangji gasps. “If Wei Ying does not heed the rules, he will no longer be considered pure.”
“So? Why do you care so much about me ‘staying pure’?”
“I don’t.”
“Clearly you do. You didn’t stop anyone else from kissing. Only me.”
The silence was telling.
After another moment, Wei Wuxian spoke up. Testing the waters.
“Lan Zhan, if we had gotten paired together. What would you have done?”
“It would be irresponsible to do anything.”
“Mn, but would you have acted irresponsible?” Wei Wuxian’s words were slowing down, turning flirtatious and taunting.
“I have never been irresponsible before.”
“I’m sure you haven’t, but what about now? Do you want to be irresponsible with me Er-gege? Because I reeeally want to be irresponsible and if not with you I might have to go do it with someone-elsmghff”
Jiang Cheng had spent more than enough time playing the Kiss or Not game to know that what was accosting his ears right now was not pretend. Disgusted, he glanced over at Lan Xichen to confirm that he felt the same thing only to find the Lan completely unaffected by what was going on down the hall as he was too busy paying attention to something else.
While Jiang Cheng had been busy listening to their brothers, Lan Xichen had moved closer until he was very much back within his personal space. His normally golden eyes had turned dark by impure emotions as they were zeroed in on a single spot of interest.
Jiang Cheng’s lips.
A wave of pure excitement went through Wanyin at the sight. Whispering, as to not get heard by their brothers, Jiang Cheng grumbled, “If you didn’t mind getting stuck with me forever, we could be irresponsible too.”
And to his surprise, mere moments later Lan Xichen’s lips came crashing into his own, sealing their fates forever. They, much like the fools down the hall, would be bound together for the rest of their lives in order to preserve the dignity of the two “pure” jades of Gusu.
