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Everything began when his father brought home the skinny, scared kid covered in dirt. That day he had to give up his puppies - his only friends and also the gifts he got from his father. It was also the day he finally realized that his father didn´t love him ad a parent should. When he saw how his father looked at the kid - eyes full of love and adoration - and how gently he holds him, he knew, this kid was who he wanted him to be. It was the first time he felt as if he was caught in a cage without a way out.
But it got better, he may have lost his dogs and his father, but he gained a brother, someone who spends his time with Jiang Cheng and someone who cares. They were together almost all day. They studied together, trained together, dined together and even slept together. Sure Wei Wuxian had his own bed next to his but it felt better to sleep next to each other.
After a few years, brotherly affection only grew into something more. Jiang Cheng thought his feelings would stay unrequited, after all, Wei Wuxian was an amazing person, he could have anyone he wanted and that person would be the happiest, he was sure of it. Imagine the surprise he felt when Wei Wuxian confessed to him.
He could still remember that night. It was mid-summer in Lotus pier. The nights were warm and perfect for a swim under the moon. They were there in the middle of the lake surrounded by lotus flowers in bloom. Both breathless from swimming underwater for too long.
It was at the moment when their eyes met. The moment felt magical, Wei Wuxian eyes shinning with unspoken words, full of happiness and mischief, those king of eyes one could easily drown in.
Without even registering what was happening he felt soft lips on his. It wasn´t long but it wasn´t short either. It was just perfect.
That night they confessed their feelings to each other, promising their forever to each other. They decided to keep their relationship to themselves not even Jiang Yanli knew.
He was bursting with happiness. He could feel free again as if the cage opened and he could walk everywhere his heart told him to.
A few weeks after they went to Cloud recesses. He had a bad feeling from going there but he let it slide as long as Wei Wuxian was here, nothing could go wrong.
Everything was wrong, Wei Wuxian became friends with the stone-faced Lan Wangji, the second Jade, a perfect young master respected and loved by many. Jiang Cheng wasn´t jealous, he believed in what he had with Wei Wuxian, it would be selfish of him to deprive Wei Wuxian of pursuing a friendship with Lan Wangji, so he just stood in the background waiting for Wei Wuxian to notice him, even when he could feel his heart breaking each day. He started to feel suffocated, his paths became numbered once again until the only one stayed.
It wasn´t that long until Wei Wuxian got expelled. Was it wrong to be a little happy about it? Yes, yes it was, but he couldn´t help himself, he just felt relieved with the fact Wei Wuxian couldn´t spend more time with Lan Wangji.
A year of boring lessons came to end and he returned home to his love once again. They could spend their day swimming, training, exploring and just being together again. And they did for a while but then the Wen´s came.
After days of work without proper food and rest, they got stuck in a cave with a monster. But then hope came in the form of a passage in the wall. Most of them made it out but he didn´t care, he had to go for help. Any second could result in Wei Wuxian´s death, only the thought of it made him shiver in cold. He couldn´t lose him, he was his everything, without him he felt lost. He prayed for his safety all the time hoping that his prayers would be answered.
They made it. Wei Wuxian was alive, relief flooded his body and he could finally rest after days on the run and so he did, he knew his father would do everything to ensure Wei Wuxian was okay.
Then the Wen´s attacked. Everyone was dead. They had to hide, be careful everywhere they went. It came to a point where he had to choose between him and Wei Wuxian. He didn´t even have to think about it he knew the answer right away. When you love someone you would do everything for them.
He lost his core but it didn´t matter, he was glad Wei Wuxian was alive, that was what mattered.
He couldn´t find him. He waited and waited but he wasn´t there, he never came. Did something happen? They had agreed to meet right after he got his core back but Wei Ying never came.
It took him and Lan Wangji 3 months to find him. Three long months of anxiety and desperation. Not having him by his side hurt him. Was he okay? Was he suffering? Was he alive? All these questions were eating him alive. After his suffering they finally found him, he could let himself feel happy again. He believed this time everything would turn to better.
He should learn not to hope for better times. Just when everything started to look bright again Wei Wuxian deserted the sect and ran off with the Wen prisoners. He had to think of something.
He found the answer. If he married him he could take him back home, together with the Wens, not that he wanted them here, but for Wei Wuxian, he would do it.
The wedding was beautiful, sure it was a small, modest wedding but it was everything he ever wanted. That day they became one for the first time, that day they fulfilled their promise of forever. He had everything he wanted.
Because of his mood swings, they asked Lan Wangji to play clarity for Wei Wuxian. His moods were getting better and better every day. Jiang Cheng got curious once and peeked into the room designed for their sessions. What he found did break his heart into tiny pieces but strangely he wasn´t surprised. He straightened his back and with tears sliding his cheek and a smile on his face he went back as if he saw nothing.
His wishes were all fulfiled. He was a sect leader to once again a successful sect. He watched his sister getting married and having a son. He got married to the love of his life, even when the said love was cheating on him with other behind closed doors.
He got everything he wanted, so why couldn´t he be happy?
No matter how beautifully it looked a cage was still a cage.