Chapter Text
Jiang Cheng dropped two full shopping bags as he tried to fish his keys out of his pocket. Groceries cascaded down his front steps, frozen pizzas sliding down the concrete while a bottle of soda dropped directly onto his toe. With a groan, he scooped everything back up and performed the awkward maneuvers needed to get his door open without dropping everything again. Somehow, he managed to stumble into his house – and then stumbled again in the entryway that had definitely been clear when he left that morning.
But no longer. Now two dirty, smelly, teenager-sized sneakers were strewn across the hallway, strategically placed to make him trip.
“A-Ling!”
An annoyed voice called down from upstairs, “What?”
“Move your sneakers!”
Jiang Cheng threw his keys on a table and stormed to the kitchen, where he dropped the bags on the table with a thud.
“What?” Jin Ling shouted again.
“Move! Your! Sneakers!”
With a deep sigh, Jiang Cheng started unpacking the groceries. It had been a long day capped with a long shopping trip, and he felt weighted with exhaustion in a way he never had before the past year. Even putting away groceries felt like an insurmountable task. It was amazing how much more food he had to buy now that he had a teenage boy to feed.
Minutes passed, and Jiang Cheng realized that he hadn’t heard Jin Ling come downstairs. He could faintly hear the sounds of a video game coming from his room.
“A-Ling! Now!” he shouted.
The video game noises stopped, and Jiang Cheng heard a groan. Then Jin Ling stomped down the stairs, reluctance weighing down every step. Why did teenagers have to be so dramatic?
Jiang Cheng glanced out the kitchen doorway to make sure Jin Ling was actually putting his shoes away, instead of just nudging them two inches to the right like he had the last time they had this argument. To his surprise, his nephew was actually slipping his shoes on.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
“Out.”
“Out where?”
“Just out.”
“No you’re not. You have homework.”
“I’ll do it out.”
“No you won’t. Hey.” Jiang Cheng marched down the hall and grabbed Jin Ling by the back of his collar to keep him from going out the door. “You’re staying right here and doing your homework. And we’re eating together. I’m cooking tonight.” As opposed to most nights when they ate a frozen dinner or ordered pizza.
Jin Ling rolled his eyes. “Like I want to eat your cooking anyway.”
“Oh, like you can do any better?”
“Probably.”
“Good. Stay in and cook for us, then.”
“I can’t, I have homework.”
Jiang Cheng grit his teeth. “You are so f-” He stopped the f-bomb from leaving his lips through immense force of will.
That’s when his phone started to buzz. Yet another thing to bother him. Jiang Cheng let go of Jin Ling and took it out of his pocket. He sighed again when he saw that it was Wei Wuxian calling.
“Are you gonna get that or what?” Jin Ling asked.
Jiang Cheng was tempted not to. There were few people who grated his nerves like his adopted brother, and he had few nerves to spare tonight.
Theoretically, he and Wei Wuxian were not currently fighting, having made up when Wei Wuxian finally came home after having spent over a decade in China working for Wen Corp. In reality? Jiang Cheng wasn’t sure he’d ever forgive him for abandoning his family.
He didn’t want Jin Ling to know that, though – Jin Ling had more than enough of his own family angst without dealing with Jiang Cheng’s shit. So he answered the call and snapped, “What?”
“Jiang Cheng! I have an announcement!” Wei Wuxian’s excited voice was so loud Jiang Cheng flinched away from the phone.
“Okay.”
“Soooo Lan Zhan and I went on vacation over the weekend. It was this gorgeous place with mountains and waterfalls and …”
“Just spit it out.” Jiang Cheng did not need to hear how perfect their little romance was.
“We’re engaged!”
Jiang Cheng froze. He’d known for a while this day would come, knew Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were as in love as any two people could be. But to hear the news in the middle of what was for Jiang Cheng an average night felt like a slap in the face. A normal person would have been happy for their brother, but Jiang Cheng’s first feeling was bitterness.
“Oh. Huh. Well, it’s not really a surprise-”
“It was sooo romantic,” Wei Wuxian gushed. “I’m gonna send you a picture of the ring. It’s gorgeous. Lan Zhan got himself a matching one. He played our song for me alone on a mountaintop, and then at the end of it-”
Jiang Cheng zoned out. He didn’t care to hear the details of Wei Wuxian’s beautiful love story. It was just one more thing Wei Wuxian had that Jiang Cheng would never get.
While Wei Wuxian prattled on, Jiang Cheng saw Jin Ling slip his shoes off again – leaving them splayed in the middle of the hallway, of course. Jin Ling wandered into the kitchen, and Jiang Cheng watched through the doorway as he started snacking on an apple and examining the rest of the groceries, likely trying to figure out what he’d be subjected to eating that night.
Jin Ling pulled a bag of lotus roots out of one bag and stared at them, turning them this way and that to try to figure out what they were. Jiang Cheng’s heart leapt to his throat. He had been hoping to have a chance to explain what those were and why he bought them.
“Jiang Cheng? What do you say?” Wei Wuxian was asked.
“Huh?”
“Do you want to be my best man or not?”
“You … want me to be your best man?”
“Duh. Who else would I ask?”
“I don’t know.” Wei Wuxian had tons of friends, and he saw them all twice as often as he saw Jiang Cheng. “Wen Ning?”
“You're my brother,” Wei Wuxian said, exasperated. “But if you don’t want to, you don’t have-”
“No, I’ll do it,” Jiang Cheng said.
“Great! I can’t wait. Lan Zhan’s brother is going to be his best man too. You’ll like him, he’s the greatest. Ahhh, this is going to be so much fun! We’re thinking some time in summer, maybe June.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Anyway, how are you doing? How’s Jin Ling?”
“Fine. He’s right here, you can ask him yourself.”
“Oh! I think I will. I can tell him the big news! But Jiang Cheng?”
“Mm?”
“Just … if you ever need a break, we’re happy to take him for a while. We both love him, and so does Sizhui.”
Jiang Cheng bristled. He knew it was no secret that he was having trouble with Jin Ling; Wei Wuxian could tell he was exhausted and worn down every day. But that didn’t mean he had to accept pity. “If you want that, invite him yourself. He’s old enough to make his own plans. And uh … congratulations.”
Jiang Cheng held the phone out to Jin Ling, who was now watching him with interest. “Wei Wuxian wants to talk to you.”
Jin Ling took the phone, leaving the half-eaten apple just sitting on the kitchen table. “Hi da-jiu!” His voice had about ten times the enthusiasm it had when talking to Jiang Cheng.
With a sigh, Jiang Cheng went back to unloading the groceries. He wondered what the hell was wrong with him, that he couldn’t feel happy for his brother. He wondered how the hell he was going to survive family gatherings now that Lan Wangji, who was not his biggest fan, was going to be at all of them. He wondered why Jin Ling liked Wei Wuxian so much better - no, actually he didn’t. He knew the answer to that one.
Jiang Cheng glanced out of the kitchen and saw Jin Ling in the living room, feet up on the coffee table. Jin Ling’s dog, Fairy, had woken up from his nap on the couch and was trying to crawl onto his lap. He laughed at something Wei Wuxian said on the phone, desire to leave apparently forgotten now that he was talking to his preferred uncle.
Jiang Cheng wondered if he had done the right thing by asking to have custody over Jin Ling. For most of his life, Jin Ling had been raised by Meng Yao and Qin Su. Jiang Cheng had begged for custody after Yanli passed, desperate to hold onto what little family he had left, but the court ruled in Meng Yao’s favor. He had been married and much more financially stable, making him the natural choice. Jiang Cheng had to settle for scraps, the occasional weekend or school vacation.
But a little over a year ago, Meng Yao had been arrested for some complicated white collar crime scheme. The shock sent Qin Su into a nervous breakdown, and Jiang Cheng had stepped up to take care of Jin Ling. Wei Wuxian had been home by then, but Jiang Cheng had insisted that he be the one to get custody, and Wei Wuxian didn’t fight him. After all, Jiang Cheng was the one who had been present all throughout Jin Ling’s childhood. Jin Ling belonged with him. Or so he had thought.
For the first few weeks, Jin Ling seemed grateful to be with Jiang Cheng. But then he had grown distant. That was understandable; he had more than enough reasons to be a little moody. Jiang Cheng could forgive him for it. But he didn’t know what to do about it.
It didn’t take long for Jiang Cheng to realize he had no idea how to raise a teenager. He had no idea what to do when, for example, chores and homework went unfinished, and all reminders about them were met with resistant eyerolls. He didn’t know how to help when Jin Ling shut himself in his room for hours on end, or how to stop small disagreements from devolving into arguments.
The more arguing that occurred, the more Jiang Cheng hated himself for letting it occur; the more he hated himself, the more likely he was to snap when something went wrong. And on it went, Jiang Cheng single-handedly digging the grave of their relationship.
Now, custody papers were moving through the courts, and Jiang Cheng was so close to officially becoming Jin Ling’s guardian. But the past year had demonstrated that he wasn’t cut out for the job. Jin Ling deserved more than what Jiang Cheng could give to him.
While Jin Ling and Wei Wuxian talked, Jiang Cheng started chopping vegetables for dinner. They say families should eat together, so they were going to eat together, even though meals together were usually painful affairs characterized by drawn-out silences punctuated by bickering. He had to at least try. Even if the past year had proved again and again that trying was fruitless.
He had to keep trying, or he might lose Jin Ling for good.
*
The next morning – like most other mornings – was greeted with the unholy screech of Jin Ling’s alarm. After a mad scramble to get ready that involved three rounds of Jin Ling hitting the snooze button on that horrible alarm, two arguments, and one scalding coffee spill, they managed to just barely get in the car on time.
Jiang Cheng pulled up to the high school ten minutes later. Out of habit, he said, “Have a good day.” Usually, Jin Ling didn’t respond, but this particular morning he took the time to say, “I won’t,” before slamming the car door.
Jiang Cheng stared at his retreating back and muttered, “Fine then. Don’t.” With a sigh and an eye roll, he drove to the dreary strip mall that was home to his shop.
Lotus Pier, the Jiang family shop, was the best florist in town. It was a title Jiang Cheng could confidently claim because it was the only florist in town.
When Jiang Cheng was young, he had absolutely no interest in being a florist. Sure, he had worked in his father’s shop on weekends out of obligation. But he always planned to open a business of his own when he grew up. He was going to go to business school and become a rich entrepreneur, and Jiang Yanli could inherit the shop.
But his parents passed before he could make it to business school. Lotus Pier had been the only source of income for him and his siblings, so Jiang Cheng had delayed starting college to help Jiang Yanli manage it. That one-year delay turned into two years, then three.
Jiang Cheng never did make it to business school. By the time the shop was starting to do well enough that Jiang Cheng could consider leaving, Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan lost their lives in a car crash.
Jiang Cheng found himself saddled with managing Lotus Pier, locked in a career he hadn’t chosen. The shop in turn tied him to the town he had grown up in, where he lived in the house left to him by his parents. Everyone else had left him behind, and he was tasked with keeping the scraps afloat.
The truth was, he didn’t hate the work. He liked owning and managing a business. And while floral arranging wasn’t his ideal hobby, a lifetime in the business meant he could do it really well. On good days, Lotus Pier was a source of pride. On bad days, it was a prison.
That morning had all the makings of a bad day, though the work of opening the shop helped distract him a little. Jiang Cheng watched the hours tick by as customers trickled in and out. As he always did, he mentally noted the time Jin Ling got out of school. Jiang Cheng hated that he had to leave Jin Ling to take the bus home and look after himself until the shop closed in the evening, but he couldn’t justify leaving the shop in the middle of the day.
The bell over the door tinkled, announcing a new customer. It was a remarkably handsome man wearing a pale blue dress shirt and carrying a worn leather satchel that screamed “teacher.” Jiang Cheng did not make a habit of paying close attention to customers – they were generally irritating and best quickly forgotten – but something about this guy drew the eye. He was tall and moved with a kind of grace that made even basic movements refined and elegant. And his face was striking – strong jaw, high cheekbones, warm, dark eyes.
Jiang Cheng realized he was staring and pulled his gaze away. Thankfully, the man hadn’t noticed. He was busy examining the available bouquets, picking each one up for inspection with long, elegant fingers, his smile soft and gentle and snap out of it dumbass.
This guy was probably insufferably nice, Jiang Cheng thought to himself. He had the air of someone who was perfectly polite at all times. Jiang Cheng hated people like that. And if he really was a teacher, god, that was all he needed to know to be certain that they would not get along.
The handsome man approached the counter. “Just this, please,” he said, handing Jiang Cheng a small bouquet of white and purple chrysanthemums.
Jiang Cheng began wrapping it, avoiding eye contact. He usually didn’t make small talk with customers, but the awkwardness between him and the handsome man felt palpable, and he could feel the man’s eyes on him. So he asked in a tone that he hoped was off-hand, “Special occasion?”
“Part of an engagement gift. My brother just got engaged.”
“Huh. Congrats to him. My brother just got engaged, too.”
“What a coincidence. Congratulations to your brother as well.”
The handsome man handed over his credit card. Jiang Cheng didn’t make a habit of reading the names on his customers’ credit cards, but a completely improbable possibility had occurred to him, and he needed to make sure that possibility was not a reality. So he quickly glanced down at the card. And nearly dropped it.
“Is something wrong?” the handsome man asked, handsome concern on his handsome face.
“Lan?”
“Yes?”
“Huh. I think your brother just got engaged to my brother.”
“Really? Your brother is Wei Wuxian?” His face lit up, apparently delighted by this discovery, which was the opposite of how Jiang Cheng felt about it.
“Yup.”
“What a small world.” His pleased smile was no less warm than the soft, little one he had when looking at the flowers, not a full grin but just a curving of the lips and a sparkle in those deep eyes and get a fucking grip. This guy was going to be his brother’s brother-in-law. (Did that make him his own brother-in-law? Was that how this worked?) That should be enough to damper any burgeoning crush.
“Lan Xichen,” the handsome man said, extending his hand across the counter. Jiang Cheng took it. It was large and soft and fuck.
“Jiang Wanyin.”
“It’s so nice to meet you. I hear we’ll be best men together.”
Jiang Cheng’s stomach dropped. He hadn’t thought about that. How much time would he have to spend with his fellow best man? Because if he had to stare at this guy’s perfect face much longer he would either punch him or kiss him, and he wasn’t sure which would be more disastrous. “Oh, yeah. That’ll be, uh. Good.”
“You know, I’m having dinner with the couple tonight to celebrate the engagement,” Lan Xichen said. “You should join us.”
Something in Jiang Cheng’s chest constricted. He hadn’t even considered doing something to celebrate with Wei Wuxian. Had barely managed to say congratulations. Meanwhile this guy was buying Lan Wangji flowers. He could just imagine the happy family sitting around the table—the loving couple, their well-adjusted adopted son, and the kind, supportive uncle.
Jiang Cheng definitely did not belong in that gathering.
“Oh, I can’t. I can’t leave the shop. Don’t have any other help tonight,” he said.
“That’s too bad. Another time.”
“Yeah, another time,” Jiang Cheng lied.
“Well, I’ll see you soon, I’m sure.”
“Yeah. See you, uh … then.”
The handsome man left after quickly gifting him with yet another lovely smile. Jiang Cheng waited until he was well out of view before putting his head in his hands and groaning.