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When the elevator door opens, the first thing Wei Wuxian sees is a dog. Scratch that, what he sees is huge fucking wolf with it’s big mouth open ready to bite a chunk out of his leg. It sends a shiver down his spine, but as he tries his best to not freak out, he looks over and sees the most beautiful man his eyes have ever seen.
Wearing a black tank top and joggers, Wei Wuxian is pretty sure this man just got out of the gym ㅡ or maybe from heaven, you never know ㅡ because damn , those arms. The man’s hair is pretty long and is in a ponytail, which somehow makes him look even prettier, dark strands of his side fringe meeting his perfect jawline.
At this point Wei Wuxian almost forgets about the menace that is entering the elevator, almost being the key word because, seconds later, the dog is jumping around him and is enough to make him whimper.
Here’s the thing: Wei Wuxian loves animals. He’s good with almost all of them, especially cats and rabbits, those are his favorites. Yet, even since Wei Wuxian was a little kid he couldn’t bear being near dogs. He doesn’t know how to explain it or why he felt that way, but his cynophobia was a known fact to everyone who knew him.
So now, as that huge ass Husky is trying to sniff his shoes inside that small elevator, Wei Wuxian kinda wants to die. Especially now that the pretty boy is entering the elevator too, a gentle smile on his lips as he greets Wei Wuxian with a small nod, which he tries to reply but the only thing that leaves out of his mouth is a strangled noise.
Of course he must have a phobia attack right in front of the most beautiful man in his apartment complex, God must be laughing so much right now.
The man looks at him with a frown and then blinks slowly, noticing how his dog is all over Wei Wuxian. In silent panic, he watches while the other pulls the dog’s collar until the animal is closer to him, ㅡ at this point, Wei Wuxian is almost one with the opposite wall, trying to get as far away as possible from the dog (even if it means getting far away from its beautiful owner too).
With a firm voice, the man says: “Sit down and obey.”
And something must be wrong with Wei Wuxian’s mind, probably from all the panic and how fast his heart is beating inside of his chest, anxiety overflowing his senses in those few seconds that feels like hours. Because there’s not a single explanation to why, upon hearing those words from such a handsome stranger, Wei Wuxian bends down and sits on the cold elevator floor.
Wei Wuxian really wants a hole to open up in the floor and make him fall into the elevator shaft.
He looks up and meets his neighbor, perfect face and body sculpted by Michelangelo looking down at him in complete disbelief. There’s no horror in his eyes, though, only pure shock as he stares at Wei Wuxian and his dog ㅡ the one he was probably talking to in the first place, because what kind of person would say something like that to someone else? God, Wei Wuxian was an idiot.
And as Wei Wuxian opens his mouth to say something, anything to make him look less pathetic, the only thing he says is a single word, to be more specific, a sound.
“Woof?”
‘Great, Wei Wuxian! Why don’t you give him your paw too?’ ㅡ He thinks, shame painting his cheeks red as he looks at the eyes of the man in front of him, heart racing not only because of his phobia, but because Wei Wuxian is the most stupid person in the whole world.
What kind of person gets on his knees and barks at the first meeting? God, Wei Wuxian really wants to die right now.
Before Wei Wuxian can embarrass himself any further, the elevator door opens again and he sees the man leaving with confusion all over his face, body shaking as he pulls his terrible wolf with him.
As the door closes once more, Wei Wuxian can’t help but throw himself on the ground hoping it would consume him.
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
“You did what ?”
Wei Wuxian can hear Nie Huaisang’s loud laugh from across the room, the place he had left his cell phone on speaker as soon as his friend answered the call. After embarrassing himself in front of the most beautiful person in this whole building, Wei Wuxian walked into his house with burning cheeks and shame enough to move out from his apartment. That’s why he decided he needed some help, and that’s when Nie Huaisang entered the picture.
They have been friends since they were fifteen, Wei Wuxian was always a little bit too much to everyone around him, too adventurous and reckless to properly care about things besides his games and swimming classes. He was a free spirit kind of person and, as much as this charmed people around him, they weren’t really preoccupied to get to know him for real. Strangers only liked being his friend because this way you can have a story to tell, you can make yourself sound more interesting as a friend of someone as daring as Wei Wuxian.
It didn’t bother him that much, to be honest, Wei Wuxian couldn’t care less about being treated as an accessory instead of a real person with feelings. That’s it, until he finally found someone just as reckless as him.
Nie Huaisang was younger than him, but not by much. They met in the middle of summer, when Wei Wuxian’s life was divided between causing trouble around their small town and going to his summer camp to train. In one of those swimming training sessions, the small boy approached him with a sly smile and innocent eyes and invited him to pull a prank on the whole swim team.
Later, as they both ran from the fury of the team’s captain, he learned that Nie Huaisang hated swimming as much as Wei Wuxian loved it. And when he asked the boy why did he invite him to this prank, Nie Huaisang only smiled and motioned a zip locking his lips in secret.
They became inseparable after that.
“Stop laughing!” Wei Wuxian finally says, whining as he starts to chop some vegetables to make a soup. “I panicked, ok?”
“I’ve seen you panicking before, but getting on your knees is a whole different matter.” It’s Nie Huaisang’s reply, making Wei Wuxian roll his eyes while he tries to focus on the carrot before him. “You said the man was handsome, right? How handsome are we talking about?”
Wei Wuxian thinks for a moment before answering. The beautiful neighbor was tall, at least a head taller than him and, God , those muscles he could only dreamed of were definitely something else. He also had a perfect face, red lips stretched in a smile so sweet that made his insides twist because no one was supposed to look that pretty in gym clothes. Wei Wuxian couldn’t see his eyes very well, but if he remembers it well, they were in a distinct tone of grayish. Really, that man was straight out of a comic book.
“Like visual novels handsome, with pretty long hair in a ponytail, huge arms and everything.” He finally replies, sighing right after. “What should I do now? It’s my first time seeing a neighbor so hot and I messed everything up!”
“Please stop crying, it’s not too late for you to make a good impression.”
“Really?” Wei Wuxian questions, grabbing his lotus seeds as if they were a ribbon of hope that his hot neighbor will forget he went on his knees and barked at him.
“I mean, you probably will have to work a lot for him to forget that woof thing and everything,” He hears Nie Huaisang chuckles at that, making him whine once again. “Sorry, it’s just too funny! I never thought you were into pet play, Wei-xiong!”
“Fuck you, Huaisang!”
His friend only laughs, or better saying, he cackles. And if this wasn’t an emergency, Wei Wuxian would’ve already turned off the call on his face.
“Ok, but seriously,” Nie Huaisang says, but there’s still a hint of playfulness in his voice. “Just be a good neighbor and prepare something for him, make one of those fancy desserts we eat at the restaurant when Lan-xiong takes us to dinner!”
“Not so bad, I can do this.” He answers, smiling to himself. “Thanks, Huaisang, see you later!”
Wei Wuxian turns off the call before his friend can reply, sighing to himself at the mess he made. Honestly, he’s used to being good at dealing with others most of the time, always reading people perfectly and learning fast how to respond to them. Perhaps that’s why this whole situation feels new to him, making Wei Wuxian feel like he lost his balance or something. Would he be in this mess if he’s neighbor wasn’t so hot? Probably not, because Wei Wuxian is not the kind of man who makes a fool of himself in front of ugly people. But, definitely, he wouldn’t behave so badly if it wasn’t for that hell dog either.
Stupid dog.
After finishing his dinner, Wei Wuxian opens his laptop to search for recipes, getting lost in the infinite options of what others consider ‘fancy dessert’ and taking notes of the ones he liked the most.
Unlike him and Nie Huaisang, Lan Wangji ㅡ the one his friend mentioned on call ㅡ was a really refined man of a wealthy family in Suzhou. They met in college and, for some strange reason, the three of them clicked together easier than anyone around them would believe they did. A part of him felt bad though that, at least once per week, Lan Wangji invites them both to dinner in places that even the water costs more than Wei Wuxian could afford. Yet the boy didn’t do it in bad faith, actually, spending money on his friends and giving them small gifts was just his love language. It was cute enough for Wei Wuxian to stop worrying about taking advantage of him.
Of all the desserts he tried in those dinners, one of his favorites was the flambé bananas. Sweet with a hint of alcohol? Perfect. So, when Wei Wuxian finds a recipe that says ‘easy’ in big letters he gets excited. Of course there’s a moment when you need to flame the alcohol or something, but Wei Wuxian is a big boy he knows what he’s doing, there’s no way he can fuck this up.
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
Wei Wuxian definitely fucked this up.
When the flames started to rise he felt like a chef of one of those fancy restaurants he went with Lan Wangji, so he ㅡ being the reckless idiot he is ㅡ decided to take a few risks. Spicing up the recipe a little as he poured more alcohol into his already flaming pan.
He honestly should have seen it coming.
The fire alarm went off as soon as he started to panic and burned a towel trying to stop the flames, holding his frying pan in despair as he ran outside of his house screaming for help. It takes less than a minute for the sprinkle to go off and shower him wet.
“What the fuck is happening here?”
He recognizes the voice from two days before, when Wei Wuxian made a fool of himself because of that stupid dog and his lack of hability to think when he’s talking to hot strangers. However, Wei Wuxian doesn’t want to turn over and look at the man who he is pretty sure is his handsome neighbor because, shit , he’s wearing a Monsters S.A. pajamas right now and this couldn’t be more humiliating.
“Hey, are you ok?” His hot neighbor asks him, voice low and concerned, what makes Wei Wuxian’s knees go jelly. He really wants to disappear right now.
Taking a deep breath, he tries his best to pull his best smile and hope that at least he doesn’t look too bad. Wei Wuxian is still a twenty three years old guy wearing a kids pajamas ㅡ also wet because, mind you, he just almost burned the entire building ㅡ but a man needs to try his best, you know?
“Yeah, I’m… Fine.” He says, turning around and finally looking at him.
Big mistake of his fucking life.
This time, instead of wearing a tank top, his neighbor was fucking shirtless. Probably because Wei Wuxian set off the fire alarm, he didn't have time to change, leaving the house the way he was in a hurry. Honestly, he didn’t know if he should cry or thank God for his own stupidity.
If Wei Wuxian couldn’t stop staring at the man back then at the elevator, shifting his gaze right now was an even harder task. Before Wei Wuxian suspected that the man in front of him was one of Michelangelo's works, but now he was sure of it, because it's simply the only explanation for someone having such defined muscles. And thanks to all the fuss he'd caused, his hot neighbor was wet.
Shining wet six pack abs right before Wei Wuxian’s eyes.
Is this God giving him a second chance?
“Oh, I know you.” The man says and Wei Wuxian can’t help but think that those three words never sounded so beautiful, and also terrifying at the same time. “You’re the elevator guy.”
Elevator guy.
‘Ok, this could be so much worse.’ ㅡ Wei Wuxian thinks, trying his best to smile and look at the man’s eyes. Yet he’s stupid, bisexual and there’s a really hot guy before him with waterdroplets running down his abs, how can he focus on his eyes when all his body looks so… inviting. God, he must look like a pervert right now, staring at his neighbor as if he is Wei Wuxian’s favorite dish.
“I don't think we introduced ourselves, my name is Jiang Cheng, I'm your neighbor from 906.” The man ㅡ Jiang Cheng ㅡ says, face shining with a toothpaste commercial smile.
By his apartment number, Wei Wuxian could guess he lived one floor below, which means that everytime that Wei Wuxian decides to jump around his house singing songs out of tune, Jiang Cheng hears it all. Great.
He notices the man is still looking at him, expecting Wei Wuxian to properly introduce himself even though he’s soaking wet wearing Monsters S.A. pajamas, while holding a frying pan full of something that it was supposed to be bananas. So he takes a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves and avoid looking at a particular drop of water that is running down Jiang Cheng's chest, dripping from his nipple in an extremely eye-catching way. He can do this, Wei Wuxian only needs to say his name and this will be done.
So he puts on his best smile and offers his hand in a handshake, confidence overflowing as he opens his mouth to say: “Titties!”
Wei Wuxian wishes for lightning to strike him dead right now.
Before Jiang Cheng, who is clearly flushed and confused looking at him, says anything, Wei Wuxian is already running back to his apartment and closing the door with a loud whimper. How many times can someone embarrass themselves in front of their hot neighbor?
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
In the span of two weeks, Wei Wuxian got the answer to his question: a lot.
As if he was cursed or something, everytime Wei Wuxian meets with Jiang Cheng something stupid happens. Whether it's because he's too busy trying not to drool every time he sees Jiang Cheng, or because something happens and Wei Wuxian says the worst possible words to deal with the situation, none of their interactions have been peaceful. At this point, he’s close to believing that God is playing a game with his life.
Before meeting Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian was confident and always so sure of himself, everyone around his university campus knew him as the biggest flirt of China. That’s how much Wei Wuxian believed in his powers of seduction, and yet when he sees Jiang Cheng something inside of him shifts. He feels like a silly little boy with a crush, tongue tied and flushed just because the man smiled at him.
Truth is, he doesn’t know much about Jiang Cheng, but the small parts of him that Wei Wuxian discovers day by day are enough to make him infatuated with the guy.
Still, as he sits on his couch with his laptop open, Wei Wuxian starts a list of all their terrible encounters to keep track of all the times he failed to be a normal person. Perhaps if he puts it all down, Wei Wuxian can finally see what’s his problem and the next time they see each other, he will charm Jiang Cheng enough to ask him out.
He writes the third casualty, right after the flambé disaster, when Wei Wuxian accidently told him ‘I love you’ .
(They’re both side by side in the elevator, this time, Jiang Cheng’s dog is close to him and far away from Wei Wuxian who is trying his best to avoid having an anxiety attack. At the same time, he feels ready to collapse on the floor, not only because there’s a fucking dog in the room with him, but because Wei Wuxian isn’t over his last disaster yet.
Right now, he can’t even looking at Jiang Cheng without blushing, his stupid mouth had to say ‘titties’ that time and ruin it all for him, huh?
The man beside him doesn’t try to make small talk either, too focused on something on his phone as the elevator goes up. And Wei Wuxian can’t help but steal a few glances at him, today he’s wearing a black leather jacket and dark jeans, Jiang Cheng looks amazing and he probably doesn’t even notice how Wei Wuxian’s heart skips a beat at the view. His long dark hair is, as always, tightly tied in a ponytail and honestly he looks straight out of a shoujo manga.
When the lift stops, Jiang Cheng locks his phone and puts it back in his pocket. Pulling his menace of a dog with him, he steps out of the elevator, and for a few seconds, Wei Wuxian feels his heart jumping inside of his ribcage.
The man turns to look at him and, when their eyes meet, he says a ‘bye’ in a low voice.
Wei Wuxian can’t help but smile, hand waving him goodbye as he replies: “Goodbye, I love you!”
And then he notices what he just said.
Eyes widening and a scream escaping his mouth as Jiang Cheng stares at him in surprise, eyebrows raised in confusion as the elevator door closes separating the two. Wei Wuxian screamed until he entered his house, running all the way to his bed wishing he was never born).
The next time they see each other after the ‘I love you episode’, Wei Wuxian is taking out the trash wearing fluffy slippers and another one of his favorite pajamas sets (Sailor Moon is a great anime).
(For someone who lives alone, Wei Wuxian sure has a lot of trash. So, as he grabs the five trash bags to take out, he knows it’s probably a mistake not only because they’re all heavy as hell, but also because he can see one of them opening a small hole in the black plastic.
That’s why he runs his way to get rid of them as fast as he can, cursing himself for being lazy and gathering garbage for days just because Wei Wuxian doesn’t want to leave his couch. As he runs, not paying attention to his surroundings, too busy worrying about the weight he’s carrying, Wei Wuxian’s head hits something and for a second he almost screams.
One of the trash bags he was carrying, the one with the hole, was completely torn apart when Wei Wuxian hit his head and pulled his garbage with him. Now, as he looks down, the floor is covered with food scraps of two days ago. Just great.
“Hey, you should look where you’re going! Shit, now I need to clean this mess and-” Wei Wuxian starts cursing, wrinkling his nose as the smell of old food hits him. And then he looks up.
Wearing one of his joggers and a tight white T-shirt, Jiang Cheng is staring at him with a raised eyebrow. It’s him, again . Of course it is.
“Excuse me, but you were the one who came running in my direction not even looking up.” He replies, voice sounding almost defensive as he crosses his arms close to his chest. This way Wei Wuxian can’t help but stare at his muscles once more, memories of them both wet days before making him shake and bite his lower lip.
God, this is not the time for being horny, there’s trash right in the middle of them ㅡ worse , as Wei Wuxian looks down again, he notices his garbage is littering Jiang Cheng’s expensive shoes.
“Oh my God.”
Without thinking, Wei Wuxian get’s down on his knees and starts to grab the trash the best way he can with the rest of his plastic bag. He can only imagine Jiang Cheng’s vision of him right now: messy hair falling on his face, cute pajamas and hands filthy of garbage. Amazing how Wei Wuxian can always strike the worst impression ever for the only person he wants to impress.
“Funny.” He hears the man chuckling, feeling his eyes staring at him with amusement. “This is the second time you get on your knees in front of me, and I still don’t know your name.”
Can somebody kill Wei Wuxian right now?
“My name?”
The voice that left his mouth is strange and doesn’t sound like his own, Wei Wuxian can feel his cheeks heating up from embarrassment as he looks up and his eyes meet with Jiang Cheng’s. This time he can finally pay attention to them, dark irises with a hint of gray so distinct, Wei Wuxian can’t help but get lost in it for a few seconds.
On his hot neighbor’s face, however, he can see the corner of his lips curving up, a small smile that shows Wei Wuxian that Jiang Cheng is somehow entertained with this situation. One that makes him conscious that the man knows Wei Wuxian is staring, very much aware of how flushed he is at the moment.
“So,” He starts saying, crouching down to be at Wei Wuxian’s eyes level. “Your name?”
Jiang Cheng is close enough to Wei Wuxian to notice his little freckles, and the way his lips are inviting him to close the proximity between them. Moments before, the only thing he could see and smell was trash, but now Wei Wuxian is being surrounded by Jiang Cheng’s perfume and he really needs to go right now or he’ll embarrass himself even further.
“Wei Wuxian, my name is Wei Wuxian.” He replies, eyes betraying him as he stares at the man’s lips once more. Why did his lips have to be so red?
He sees Jiang Cheng opening his mouth to say something else, but Wei Wuxian can’t stay in his presence anymore or he will try to kiss him and that’s a line he shouldn’t cross, because 1) Jiang Cheng doesn’t even know him yet; 2) that’s probably harassment; 3) if Wei Wuxian kissed him, he would probably have trouble trying to stop. So, yes, he needs to go right now even if it means interrupting the most beautiful man in the world ㅡ that you just that you just dumped garbage on.
Not one of his best moments, if Wei Wuxian could say so.
“I… uh… Need to go!” He finally tells him after what it feels like an eternity, grabbing the last food scraps and holding his trash bags ㅡ even the one which caused all this mess ㅡ in his arms as if it’s a baby. “Trash.”
A hint of confusion sparkles in Jiang Cheng’s eyes once again as Wei Wuxian runs to, finally, take out his trash. He only notices he had said ‘trash’ without any context hours later, laying down on his bed watching a silly movie on his laptop).
The memory makes Wei Wuxian stop typing to hide his face in his hands, too ashamed of his past self ㅡ read: one week ago self ㅡ to continue. Why is he so cringe? Something must be really wrong since that first day when he saw Jiang Cheng, it’s probably that dog’s fault. Yeah, that sounds more like it. That stupid dog gave him the creeps and fucked with his mind, turning Wei Wuxian into a blushing anxious mess who can’t even have a normal talk with his crush.
Thinking about the dog makes him remember the last time he saw Jiang Cheng with it, a few days after the garbage incident.
(When the elevator’s doors open and Wei Wuxian sees Jiang Cheng, he promises himself to try to be casual. Nice. So he greets him with a nod and a smile, trying to calm down his poor heart and nervousness.
Jiang Cheng says a low ‘hi’ and pulls his dog with him, but making it stay close to him and away from Wei Wuxian, who’s glad at the small gesture. If he was a better man, he would tell Jiang Cheng about his cynophobia, however doing so would cut in half his chances of meeting the guy almost everyday for twenty seconds. Why would he risk that?
So he tries to avoid visual contact with the dog as much as possible, breathing exercises and all. How do you tell your crush ㅡ who you don’t even have a friendship ㅡ that you hate their dog? This would be a terrible impression, another one for his huge pile of failures. Better stay in silence.
The doors close slowly and by the corner of his eyes Wei Wuxian catches a few glimpses of the man of his dreams, today he’s not wearing gym clothes, just a loose T-shirt and jeans, but he looks as beautiful as ever.
“How are you doing?”
The question makes Wei Wuxian jump a little, he wasn’t expecting Jiang Cheng to talk to him, but the chance of small talk brings a smile to his lips before he can help it.
“I’m fine.” Wei Wuxian tells him, brushing a lock of hair out of his face and trying to look charming.
“No more running and picking up trash?”
He opens his mouth to reply, but no sound leaves his lips. Wei Wuxian can feel his cheeks turning red as he gasps looking at Jiang Cheng, who only laughs at him and, God, this is the most beautiful sound Wei Wuxian has ever heard. If someone ever decides to encapsulate Jiang Cheng's laughter and sell, Wei Wuxian would definitely be the first one to buy because the sound makes butterflies fly in his stomach and weak on his knees. It’s lovely.
“God, no!” He says instead, laughing a little because ㅡ finally ㅡ they’re talking like normal people do. Finally Wei Wuxian is not making a fool of himself.
The elevator stops again and it’s time to part ways, however, Wei Wuxian feels like floating after this successful chance of small talk. He can’t wait to call Nie Huaisang and brag about it.
When the door opens, Jiang Cheng’s dog tries to run away pulling him with it. Still, the man just tugs the leash, making the dog sit almost instantly in complete obedience. For a moment, Wei Wuxian stares at this in awe, Jiang Cheng must be a God of dogs or something, because he never saw someone this powerful before.
In silence, he exits the elevator and watches the man proudly smirk and say in a low voice: “Good boy.”
And it happens before Wei Wuxian can stop it, because really how can he survive this? This must be a trial of heaven’s to test his patience, there’s no other explanation. How can someone expect Wei Wuxian to hear his crush saying something so suggestive in a low voice, smirking in all his beautiful glory and long hair and don’t react to it?
“Thank you, sir.”
The words leave his mouth with a whine, and there’s nothing else Wei Wuxian wants more right now than to swallow it all back. But before Jiang Cheng can have a chance to reply, he’s already running outside the building, covering his face as if he’s a teenage girl with a crush).
He really needs to stop this list for a few minutes ㅡ or hours, to be honest ㅡ because Wei Wuxian is too ashamed at the moment to even think. Red cheeks burning in the safety of his own house, even though there’s no one else besides him and half a dozen of half-dead succulents.
Sighing, Wei Wuxian stands up from his couch and walks towards his small kitchen to grab a glass of water and make some tea. Just remembering all those moments with Jiang Cheng makes his heart beat faster inside his chest, a funny sensation running through his veins that makes Wei Wuxian’s mind fuzzy. At some point, his crush on Jiang Cheng slipped through his fingers and out of his control. It's been almost a month since their first meeting, yet Wei Wuxian started to look forward to their casual encounters more each day.
He drinks a glass of water slowly while looking at his herbs, trying to decide which one to make. Somehow even something as silly as that makes Wei Wuxian think about Jiang Cheng, wanting to know which flavor of tea is his favorite. Truth is that he doesn’t know his neighbor at all, and the more Wei Wuxian thinks about it the more he feels small and insecure about this whole thing. After all, he’s been making a fool of himself for almost a whole month, crushing hard on Jiang Cheng even though the other doesn’t even talk that much with him.
Wei Wuxian didn’t know him at all, and somehow that made it all more frustrating because it shouldn’t be that hard to ask someone out. At least not for him.
And yet, everytime Wei Wuxian sees Jiang Cheng he gets tongue tied, too mesmerized to speak or say the right things. He wants to impress his neighbor with funny jokes, but in the end he’s only a clown.
(When the elevator stops on the ninth floor, Wei Wuxian prepares himself to avoid the Husky of his nightmares, however, as the door opens, there’s only a really tired looking Jiang Cheng staring at him.
It’s the first time he sees the man looking so… Human. Wearing a dark purple hoodie and jeans, long hair falling down his shoulders freely for the first time since Wei Wuxian first saw him. Jiang Cheng looked exhausted, bags under his eyes and a lost gaze that made him look like a child whose parents forgot in the mall alone.
Somehow it makes Wei Wuxian’s heart ache, fingers trembling yearning to touch him and embrace Jiang Cheng to caress his hair. The feeling is so intense that Wei Wuxian needs to put his hands on his pockets to avoid invading the man’s space with an unwanted touch, because he can be a fool, but Wei Wuxian is not someone who would caress people without their consent.
So he watches in silence as Jiang Cheng enters the elevator, eyes staring at nothing and tiredness making him look smaller than he really is. The view is too depressing to Wei Wuxian, especially when Jiang Cheng owns a smile as bright as the sun, perhaps that’s why he decides to make small talk. Even if he makes a fool of himself, if Jiang Cheng smiles in the end, it would be worth it.
“No dogs today to sniff around my shoes, huh?” He asks lightly, trying to sound playful and smiling when the other man looks at him.
“Yeah…” Jiang Cheng replies, forcing a smile that makes Wei Wuxian’s heart ache because there’s no light in him today, just dark clouds. “He’s not here anymore.”
And then it hits him. The gloomy face, the sadness in Jiang Cheng’s eyes… His dog was dead. God, Wei Wuxian hated the animal, but even so he never wished for it to be gone that way, it’s always painful to watch those who are precious to us die, leaving us behind. Even if Wei Wuxian couldn’t care less about the dog, he knew how much Jiang Cheng seemed to treasure his pet, always bringing it with him everywhere he went and smiling his best smile in it’s company. It must hurt a lot.
That’s why Wei Wuxian tries to give him a sympathetic smile, feeling courageous enough to put a hand on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder and offer him a small pat, just a minor comfort. He watches as the man looks back at him in silence, biting his lower lip in a way that makes him look like a child, fragile enough to break at any form of contact.
“I’m sorry,” Wei Wuxian says, voice full of sincerity. “This is awful, I didn’t know dogs died so fast.”
Jiang Cheng stares at him in confusion, there’s only a few more floors until the elevator stops, so Wei Wuxian tries his best to tell him all of his feelings.
“Try to remember how good it was when you had him by your side, you know? Once I had a rabbit for a few months and then one day, it was gone.” He says, remembering how devastating it was to find his cute little bunny dead after only seven months. “But memories are forever, you should always remember this.”
When the elevator stops again, Wei Wuxian offers Jiang Cheng a kind smile which he hopes will show him that no, he’s not only a clown, he also knows how to console others. But then the man just kept looking at him, face unreadable as the door opened.
“My dog isn’t dead,” Jiang Cheng mutters, taking a deep breath and pinching the bridge of his nose. “He’s just with my nephew for the next week or so because I have a lot on my plate right now, I can’t take care of him as I should.”
Oh.
‘Well, that changes things doesn’t it?’ ㅡ Wei Wuxian thinks, feeling his face heating up with embarrassment. Again. For what feels like the thirtieth time this month. If his fucking dog is alright and alive why would he answer him that way? At this point it even feels like Jiang Cheng is setting him up to fail at every interaction they have.
“I thought-” He tries to reply, watching as the man steps out of the elevator. “I was trying to be nice, I’m sorry I-”
The words seem to get tangled up in his mouth, in his despair and anxiety to fix it again, Wei Wuxian can only stare at the beautiful man who is now looking at him while a small smile dances on his lips.
“I know. It was nice of you.” Jiang Cheng tells him, disheveled hair falling over his eyes which prompts him to take a strand to put behind his ear. He’s cute in a way that Wei Wuxian never imagined, too pretty for human eyes to see. “Thank you, Wei Wuxian.”
Before Wei Wuxian can reply, the door is closing again and the lift is going up even though he needed to get out to go to the convenience store. However, he can’t move an inch inside that elevator because his heart is beating like crazy inside of his chest, butterflies flying around his body like it doesn’t belong to him anymore, but to them.
Wei Wuxian can’t think of anything else besides Jiang Cheng’s shy smile, the way he looked genuinely grateful for his words even when they didn’t apply to him at all. That day Wei Wuxian couldn’t get out of his mind the way Jiang Cheng was so full of surprises, so… Beautiful in more ways than he could imagine. More than that, Wei Wuxian couldn’t forget how he saw a hint of happiness when the boy stared at him as the door closed).
The memory makes a smile appear on Wei Wuxian’s lips as he starts to prepare his green tea, fondness making his chest warm. Remembering all those times made him realize two things, the first is that whatever he feels for Jiang Cheng is growing inside of him more each day, making his heart too weak at the mere thought of the man. Somehow he doesn’t know if this is only infatuation, which is crazy because what does Wei Wuxian know about his neighbor? That he’s hot, has a dog and probably spends half of his days at the gym getting ripped?
But he cannot lie to himself. Wei Wuxian is getting whipped and pretty fast.
The second thing he notices is that whenever they are together, the one who always blows everything up is Wei Wuxian and his stupid tongue. So, because he can’t keep his thoughts to himself, perhaps the best is to say nothing at all.
It doesn’t matter how ridiculous it sounds, but that’s his decision. Wei Wuxian won’t try to impress him anymore, he won’t try to make a smart comment, he will just… Keep his thoughts to himself.
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
In the end, Wei Wuxian’s plan is working better than he first thought it would. Better than Nie Huaisang expected too ㅡ ‘This is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard, which says a lot since I’ve been friends with you for years.’ He said when Wei Wuxian called to tell him his idea, sighing in defeat and mumbling a ‘serves you right’ when he noticed that nothing would changed his mind ㅡ so, honestly, Wei Wuxian is satisfied.
Of course he would like to try and make small talk everytime Jiang Cheng enters the elevator, or when they meet in the corridor taking out the trash. Yet, Wei Wuxian knows better than that, if he can’t make a good impression it’s better to not make a bad one. That’s why he only answers Jiang Cheng’s ‘hello’s’ and ‘how are you?’ politely, without trying to ask him about the weather or his dog (which, for some reason, he’s not seeing that much anymore).
Today, however, is not one of those days.
As soon as Wei Wuxian enters the elevator, he sees the huge Husky ㅡ source of all his problems and biggest enemy ㅡ excitedly trying to run around the small space that Wei Wuxian was supposed to enter.
“Fairy, stop that!” He hears Jiang Cheng saying, voice exasperated in a way that Wei Wuxian has never seen before. It almost makes him not register the words the man said, but then it hits him.
Fairy.
His crush has a dog named Fairy. Wei Wuxian has been trembling in fear for the last two months because of a dog named Fairy.
Not only a dog, but a fucking Husky that looks like a wolf ready to kill someone with it’s pointed teeth and claws, and it’s called Fairy .
Nie Huaisang must never know this or he won’t let Wei Wuxian live for the next decade.
“Uh, can I?” He asks instead, trying to process the scene before him. It’s probably the first time Wei Wuxian sees Jiang Cheng so hopeless with his pet, it’s kind of endearing.
His neighbor looks at him for the first time since he arrived, cheeks with a tint of red that makes him look cute and Wei Wuxian’s heart takes a jump inside of his ribcage. Today Jiang Cheng’s hair is down, which is a rare occasion, but one he appreciates a lot because the boy looks handsome. On the contrary of that day when Jiang Cheng looked clearly depressed, this time he tied up a few strands of his hair in a high bun. Wei Wuxian thought he looked adorable.
“Oh, sure!” The man replies, an embarrassed smile on his face as he tugs the leash of his dog. “I’m sorry, since Fairy came back from my nephew he’s been a rebellious child.”
The wording makes Wei Wuxian laugh in reply. “It’s ok, I can take the next elevator, don’t mind me.”
Jiang Cheng arches an eyebrow at that, commanding the dog with more authority than before and repeating the same words from their first meeting. This time Fairy seems to remember the rule, finally sitting down quietly and staring at Wei Wuxian with it’s fierce eyes.
“Please don’t, it would hurt my pride as a good trainer.” He says, smiling at him as Wei Wuxian enters the elevator and tries his best to go as far away from the dog as he possibly can.
They don’t talk as the lift goes up, Wei Wuxian is too focused on pretending he doesn’t want to caress Jiang Cheng’s hair for that. He knows that if he tries to say anything, the only thing his stupid mouth would say would be something about how silky his hair looks, as beautiful as the dark night sky and just as inviting. So Wei Wuxian keeps his silence, biting the inside of his cheeks and checking his phone, even though there’s not a single message to reply.
And then, before he knows it, the elevator’s doors are opening up again and it’s time for Jiang Cheng to leave. A sting of something Wei Wuxian can’t quite define makes his heart hurt, a strange kind of longing that sends a shiver down his spine.
In silence, he watches as Jiang Cheng exits in slow steps, Fairy following right behind while wagging his tail happily. Honestly, Wei Wuxian would also be happy if he lived with the most handsome man to ever exist. Stupid lucky dog.
Before he can go back to look at his phone, though, something happens. Jiang Cheng stops for a moment, turning around and looking down as Wei Wuxian just stares at him.
“You’re lucky you’re cute.”
The words make Wei Wuxian’s ears buzz, it’s too good to be true. Is he talking about him? Is he-
The dog.
He’s looking down, Jiang Cheng is probably talking to his dog.
This time he won’t make a fool of himself, reading too much into it would definitely be his downfall so Wei Wuxian refuses to commit the same mistake. He grew too tired of this game, but thank God he’s now so much smarter than before.
“Yeah, Fairy is really cute.” He tells Jiang Cheng, smiling softly as he pushes the button that keeps the door open, trying to get a few more seconds of this.
However, as soon as the words leave his mouth, Wei Wuxian watches Jiang Cheng frown, his own smile turning into pursed lips instead.
“I’m not talking about him,” Jiang Cheng replies, a smirk brightening up his face. “I’m talking about you.”
Without another word, the man bids him farewell and turns around, leaving Wei Wuxian alone with flaming red cheeks and a heart beating so fast that it’s almost ripping his chest apart.
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
“... And then he looked at me as if he was a male lead of a drama and said ‘I’m talking about you’,” Wei Wuxian imitated Jiang Cheng’s voice, or better saying, tried to. “He called me cute! Can you believe this?”
Nie Huaisang only stared at him in mockery, taking a sip of his bubble tea and rolling his eyes afterwards. “Honestly, I really can’t, especially after you spent the last two months being a fulltime clown whenever you two met.”
“Why can’t you be happy for me?” Wei Wuxian replied while pouting, using his free hand to poke Nie Huaisang’s arms.
It's just after two in the afternoon, and the sun is shining brighter than Wei Wuxian expected, especially considering that autumn was approaching. Still, it was a beautiful day and he had a break from the magazine he worked as a copywriter, which meant a perfect excuse to spend the day tormenting Nie Huaisang with his love issues. That is, if he could call the whole relationship fiasco he was trying to have with Jiang Cheng that way.
So now, as they walked down the street after having lunch, Wei Wuxian couldn't help but spend the whole walk talking about Jiang Cheng and how he had called him cute. Him. Wei Wuxian. Cute. His heart was too close to explode at any second now.
“For the record, I’m happy for you-” His friend started saying, chuckling afterwards.
“But…?” Encouraged Wei Wuxian, because he knew that tone too well. They both knew each other too much at this point to be able to notice when there’s more underneath the surface.
His friend sighed, stopping in the middle of the street and finally looking at Wei Wuxian’s eyes.
“But you didn’t make a single progress!” Nie Huaisang tells him, sounding even more frustrated than Wei Wuxian himself. “You’ve been drooling over this guy for two months, he calls you cute and that’s it? Not even an invitation to dinner?”
And this time it’s Wei Wuxian’s turn to stop walking, head spinning so fast that people around them looked at him scared.
“Dinner?! ”
Nie Huaisang stares at him in something that looks a lot like disbelief, then clicks his tongue and takes a deep breath. Somehow it makes Wei Wuxian feel like a kid whose big brother had to look over when their parents went out for a dinner date, which, honestly, it’s ridiculous because Wei Wuxian is the older one here. Yet here they were.
“Why are you acting like this now?” Nie Huaisang asks him between sips of his bubble tea. “Don’t you wanna ask him out?”
“Yes, of course I do!” He replies while trying to calm down his heart, the mere thought of a date with Jiang Cheng is enough to make it go crazy. It beats going faster and faster. “However I only succeeded in making a fool of myself for the past two months, now that for some strange reason he’s interested in me I can’t blow it up.”
He starts walking again, drinking his own bubble tea and sighing. Truth is that Wei Wuxian, the biggest flirt in China, was afraid.
Even though he’s normally a very confident person who knows exactly what he wants and how to get it, when Jiang Cheng enters the picture Wei Wuxian turns into a hot mess. He doesn’t know how to act, the words leave his mouth before he can think them through and there’s also his stupid heart that can’t seem to calm down just because Jiang Cheng is wearing a sweater or something. His crush makes him unbelievably clumsy. Wei Wuxian wants to ask the man out, he really does, but what if he ruins it? What if he’s reading too much and Jiang Cheng is not even interested?
Suddenly Wei Wuxian feels a flick on his forehead. He was so distracted by his own thoughts that he didn’t even notice when Nie Huaisang walked in front of him, flicking his face to bring him back to earth.
“Stop with the self deprecating thoughts.” He says, his tone is serious but there’s also a hint of gentleness, one that Nie Huaisang reserves just for times like this when Wei Wuxian’s mind is too busy overthinking. “You’re the Mr. Confident and he called you cute, remember?”
“Yeah, but what if-”
“Don’t.” Nie Huaisang tells him, eyes scanning his face attentively. “Wei-xiong, he saw you on your knees barking at him, you dropped your garbage on his shoes for God’s sake! And even after all of this, he still called you cute.”
Wei Wuxian can feel his cheeks turning red at this, for some reason it feels different listening to Nie Huaisang saying his memories to him. It feels real, almost close to his reach.
“I just… I think I’m really liking this guy, Huaisang.” He finally answers, surprised by his own sincerity. It’s the first time he admits it out loud for someone else, but somehow Wei Wuxian feels happier now, as if accepting his own feelings makes him less anxious and more confident.
Nie Huaisang smirks at him, something in his eyes tells Wei Wuxian he knows how he feels even though he’s not saying anything.
“So what are you waiting for, Wei-xiong?”
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
For some reason, now that Wei Wuxian finally decided to do something, meeting Jiang Cheng around their apartment complex was an impossible mission.
Even though Wei Wuxian knew parts of Jiang Cheng’s schedule ㅡ ‘Stalker.’ Nie Huaisang said with a grin, but it’s not like he learned his neighbor's schedule on purpose, Wei Wuxian was just a very perceptive kind of person, that’s all. ㅡ, seeing the other man was turning into a rare occasion. Sometimes he would see Jiang Cheng arriving just when Wei Wuxian had to leave to take his afternoon college classes, or just because his boss decided that really needed his copywriter in the office today (even when they both knew very well he could work from home just fine).
In the end, a week had passed since his conversation with Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian was starting to get nervous. After all the shame he went through just to amuse God, why couldn’t he be nice and let them meet? He only needed one chance, just a single one, to finally ask the man of his dreams out and live happily ever after.
All his cries for a miracle were heard on a Friday night, when Wei Wuxian was going out to meet some friends from college for a drink and distract himself from the miserable life without Jiang Cheng’s soft smile and huge arms.
When the elevator door opened on the ninth floor, the first thing he saw was Jiang Cheng’s beautiful smile and a gaze so soft that Wei Wuxian almost melted in a puddle because he was whipped just like that. Then he saw the man was talking to someone else, a boy that looked a bit over thirteen wearing a yellow hoodie and worned out jeans.
“Oh, it’s you, hello!” Jiang Cheng greets him with a bright smile and Wei Wuxian notices he’s particularly happy tonight, he’s also wearing a black overcoat and a turtleneck which makes Wei Wuxian almost drool. Almost because he has self control.
“Hey! Are you partying tonight?” Wei Wuxian asks him, trying to sound casual as both Jiang Cheng and the boy enter the elevator.
Jiang Cheng snorts at that, crossing his arms close to his chest and looking at the boy next to him. “I’m babysitting tonight.”
“I’m not a baby!” The boy next to him protests in a way that, indeed, sounds a lot like a baby.
Wei Wuxian looks at the boy trying no to laugh, paying attention to him next to Jiang Cheng. They look a lot like each other, both have long hair ㅡ different colors, but still the same length and haircut ㅡ and nose, and a penetrating gaze that can make you feel exposed. He remembers that Jiang Cheng told him once he had a nephew, and looking at that boy now, Wei Wuxian is pretty sure he is the one the man told him about.
“Don’t worry about it, babies are cute, people like to take care of them.” Wei Wuxian tells him, winking at Jiang Cheng and almost choking when he saw the man smirking at that.
The young boy doesn’t appear to be happy about the comment though, because he crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at Wei Wuxian in a way that would be menacing if he wasn’t thirteen years old or younger.
“Jiu-jiu doesn’t need to take care of me, I’m old enough to look after myself!” He replies, a ‘humpf’ leaving his lips as he decides to turn his face away.
Jiang Cheng seems to find the interaction funny for the way he’s smiling, softly and gently as if the last few seconds were precious to him somehow. It made Wei Wuxian’s heart flip inside his chest, beating faster than before and leaving his whole body warm. He really enjoyed the idea of being the reason why Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but smile so sweetly.
Before he knows it, the elevator stops and the doors open for them to leave. In silence, Wei Wuxian watches as the man of his dreams bids him a small farewell, his free hand ㅡ the one he wasn’t using to hold his nephew’s shoulder ㅡ waving goodbye. It should make him frustrated, angry, that Jiang Cheng left before Wei Wuxian got the chance to ask him out for a dinner sometime, yet he’s left with an indescribable feeling. One that curves the corner of his lips up and makes him feel fuzzy, brain recording every piece of this new side of Jiang Cheng as something precious.
“Well, I can always ask him another time.” He mutters by himself, alone in the hall watching the other’s back as they start to disappear.
“Ask what?” Someone says, but Wei Wuxian isn’t paying attention enough to it. He’s too busy looking at Jiang Cheng’s hair swinging at each step he takes, the voice sounds more like something inside of head anyway.
“Well,” He replies, a smile brightening his face when he remembers Jiang Cheng’s soft gaze minutes before. “Do you want to go out with me?”
The words sounded more terrifying inside his head, but now that Wei Wuxian had said them out loud, they were fragile. Something delicate and so sweet he could almost taste the honey in his mouth, a shiver running down his spine as he swirls his tongue inside his inner cheeks to prove it.
What Wei Wuxian didn’t expect though was an answer.
“Uh, I don’t know you but… Sure, why not?”
“What?”
It makes him turn around to find a man who looks like he’s in his mid 40’s looking at him, short brown hair slowly turning gray and huge black eyes staring at him in confusion. Wei Wuxian had never seen this man before.
“Wait, who are you?!” He asks, suddenly feeling exposed wearing his crop top and tight jeans. This can’t be happening to him, Wei Wuxian was having a sweet longing moment why it turned out like this? “I wasn’t-”
“Well, I’m free this Sunday if it’s ok with you?” The man replies, apparently not giving a damn about what Wei Wuxian was trying to say. “My name is Jun, I live in apartment 380 and you are…?”
“Wei Wuxian from 1006” He tells the man automatically, trying to process whatever is happening to him.
Jun smiles at him, taking his phone out of his pocket and offering it to Wei Wuxian. “Give me your number so we can talk about the details later.”
And honestly, at this point, Wei Wuxian’s brain is completely black out. He sees himself grabbing the man’s phone and typing his number, too anxious to do otherwise when Jun is looking at him attentively. After what it feels like forever, he sees the man smile and turn around to take the elevator, leaving Wei Wuxian behind in disarray with his thoughts.
Why the fuck did he give the man his number?!
Wei Wuxian feels like crying and melting in a puddle of shame when his own cell phone rings, when he picks it up, Nie Huaisang's voice is full of teasing as he asks him if he was late because of his elevator date.
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
When Wei Wuxian finally gets home, he throws himself on the couch and lets out a sigh so tired and loud, that he questions if Jiang Cheng could hear it from downstairs.
If someone told Wei Wuxian that he would spend Sunday with a complete stranger eating wonton soup and talking about silly things, he would probably laugh nonstop for quite a while. However, that's exactly how Wei Wuxian spent the day in Jun's company, and honestly, it could have been worse.
The first thing Wei Wuxian did when the man texted him was apologize and explain the situation, which honestly was kind of dumb and he really sounded stupid even through text messages, but Jun only laughed. He was in fact a man in his mid 40’s and was afraid that Wei Wuxian was one of those university students who wanted a sugar daddy ㅡ which he totally wasn’t, just to be clear, of course he could appreciate the beauty of older men, but his heart was too busy at the moment with Jiang Cheng. Also if he wanted a sugar daddy, there’s smarter ways to get one than asking a random guy from his apartment complex.
After explaining the truth, however, Jun still invited him for lunch ㅡ ‘I think you could use some advice, young man’ He said, and honestly, he wasn’t wrong ㅡ and what Wei Wuxian thought it would turned out to be an awkward day, in fact, turned out to be a pretty nice day.
Growing up without parents, living only with an uncle who he wasn’t close to at all, Wei Wuxian missed having a father figure his whole life, which was kind of embarrassing so he didn’t talk about it. Yet, in those few hours with Jun he felt something close enough of having a dad and, honestly, Wei Wuxian couldn’t even start to think about it without feeling overwhelmed.
He learned a few things in his lunch with the man, who smiled at him and showed pictures of his wife and small daughter. Jun was kind and listened to his stupid problem attentively, seriousness shining in his dark big eyes as Wei Wuxian talked about his feelings for Jiang Cheng, feeling confused about why he was doing so in the first place. Still, the other man made him feel safe and the smile he gave him was full of reassurance. Wei Wuxian was sure Jun is a great dad.
The conversation they had kept replaying in his mind now that Wei Wuxian was surrounded by the silence and comfort of his home, lately he had so much on his mind that he forgot how much calmer days were nice too. Hugging a cushion, he stared at the ceiling trying to think of a new plan to ask Jiang Cheng out, after spending the Sunday with a stranger talking about how much he was pining after his neighbor, Wei Wuxian was more than sure of his feelings for him.
(They were walking home together when Wei Wuxian saw him.
Jiang Cheng was pulling the leash of his dog and smiling when he saw Fairy jumping around, playing a little before following him. The sun was still shining and it made Jiang Cheng look ethereal, long hair flying in the wind and an aura of warmth surrounding him, inviting Wei Wuxian to run towards him.
“Is this him?” He heard Jun asking, bringing his attention back to him.
Wei Wuxian only nods in silence, too mesmerized by the man before him to say anything for a few seconds. When he finds his voice again, it’s almost a whisper.
“How did you know?”
He sees Jun smirking, then his smile turns soft and he looks back at Wei Wuxian with something different in his eyes. Something that only time gives you.
“You look at him the same way I looked at my wife the first time I saw her.”
Wei Wuxian can’t help the heat that turns his cheeks red, but he also can’t avoid the happiness that fills his chest when Jiang Cheng starts running towards the building pulling Fairy with him, a soft smile on his lips and the sun shining bright above him).
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
The next time Wei Wuxian tries to ask Jiang Cheng out, it’s an impulsive act.
He’s reckless, people have told him that many times before since he was a little boy running around pulling pranks, yet it never felt as true as it feels now. When Wei Wuxian entered the elevator he didn’t have any expectations to see Jiang Cheng today, but somehow he was hopeful and a voice in the back of his head told him: ‘As soon as you see him, ask him out’ . So when the elevator stopped on the ninth floor, Wei Wuxian didn’t think. He acted.
“Do you wanna go out with me this Friday?”
The words left his mouth in a hurry and he closed his eyes in embarrassment, only hearing the sound of the door fully opening. Wei Wuxian can feel his heart beating loudly and suddenly he’s afraid Jiang Cheng can hear it too, he must look like a fool at this moment with his eyes closed and cheeks burning red.
A few seconds pass without a reply and Wei Wuxian starts to think he read it all wrong, he never had any chances have he? When Jiang Cheng called him cute he wasn’t saying the type of cute to date, he was talking about cute as in ‘wow this little pet is so cute!’ and now he exposed his crush to the other man in such a ridiculous way. Again.
“Please, say something.” Wei Wuxian mumbles in humiliation, even if Jiang Cheng rejects him he needs to hear an answer. Anything.
Yet, when he hears a reply, it’s not Jiang Cheng’s voice he hears it, but a woman’s.
“Sorry, but do I know you?”
Opening his eyes, Wei Wuxian watches as an old woman enters the elevator with some difficulty, which prompts him to help her. She’s probably older than seventy by her winkles and white hair, yet he can see traces of beauty that time couldn’t erase. There’s a soft smile on her lips when she thanks Wei Wuxian, a tender gaze watching him carefully behind her glasses.
“Thank you, young man,” She says, laughing a little in a way that he finds endearing. This grandma reminds him a lot of an old woman who used to babysit him when his uncle was away, always putting up with his pranks and jokes. “You remind me of my son when he was your age.”
Wei Wuxian smiles at that, yet realization falls on his back seconds after. Another fiasco for his collection, just great. He sighs in defeat before he can help it, a frustrated whine leaving his lips because honestly, anyone could see this coming, but Wei Wuxian needed to be impatient didn't he?
“Oh, this looks like a love problem.”
He hears the old lady saying, voice full of nostalgia and acknowledgment. God, Wei Wuxian must look hopeless right now because the grandma stares at him for a few minutes before laughing a little, her head low as she puts a hand on Wei Wuxian’s shoulder.
“If you ever need someone to talk to, go to apartment 902.” She tells him sweetly, a warm smile brightening her face. “There’s nothing in the world that can’t be cured with a cup of tea and candies.”
The elevator’s doors open again and, before he knows it, Wei Wuxian is helping the old lady once more. In silence he watches her go, a strange feeling making him smile in confusion. Turns out that instead of going out with Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian will go out with their whole apartment complex.
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
“God, you’re a lost cause,” Nie Huaisang tells him, raising his hands in defeat and sighing. “I’m done, there’s nothing else I can do at this point.”
Wei Wuxian only pouts at his friend, then sips on his iced Americano miserably. Honestly he can’t blame Nie Huaisang for that, not after he went out on six dates over the past two weeks and none of them were with Jiang Cheng. At this point, even Wei Wuxian considers himself a lost cause.
“I really tried my best!” He exclaims, swinging his legs out of the bench they are in as if he was a child. “I’m just unlucky.”
Nie Huaisang snorts at this, raising an eyebrow. “Sure, it's really your luck’s fault that you asked an old lady out, or rather it was just bad luck that you ended up asking a twelve year old to go to the movies and afterwards had to explain to his mother that you weren't a pervert.”
“God, please, don’t say anything else or I’ll cry.”
He hears his friend laughing loudly at that, which makes Wei Wuxian punch him lightly in the shoulder. Can he blame him though? Wei Wuxian would probably do the same if he was in Nie Huaisang’s shoes.
Yet hearing his past failures once more brings him back memories of the beginning of it all, the doom’s day when Wei Wuxian got on his knees before Jiang Cheng and signed his downfall. It’s been three months now, however, he didn’t make a single progress in the “getting out with his hot neighbor” plan. To be honest, nowadays it feels like Wei Wuxian is seeing him less than before, which sucks big time for both his heart and plan.
So now, as the sun shines brightly above them and birds sing flying around the trees in the park they are in, Wei Wuxian couldn’t care less. The day is beautiful, but he feels miserable because he’s been daydreaming of Jiang Cheng’s arms and beautiful lips for months, and the closest he got of both was when Wei Wuxian dropped his fucking garbage on him. Honestly, he’s on the worst type of strike.
“I’ve been thinking…”
“Oh no, terrible words,” Nie Huaisang replies, receiving another punch in the shoulder from Wei Wuxian, who glares at him.
“Shut up!” He coughs two times, cleaning his throat and sipping on his iced Americano. After a few seconds, Wei Wuxian starts to talk again. “What if I try something bold? Like writing a letter with all my feelings for him and put it on his door.”
Nie Huaisang stares at him for a few minutes in disbelief, the corner of his lips twitching like he wants to cackle but is trying his best not to. "That's lame.”
“Don’t say that! Someone really gentle and sweet gave me this idea.” Wei Wuxian groaned.
“Who?”
“The nainai who lives in my apartment complex,” He replied proudly, smiling when he saw Nie Huaisang taking a deep breath. “We’ve been meeting each other for tea since that day on the elevator, her biscuits are really good and she’s been helping me understand my feelings.”
At this point Wei Wuxian can almost see the gears in Nie Huaisang’s head going crazy, his gaze a mix of amusement and something that says ‘my friend is going nuts, he really needs to get laid’ . But honestly, the old lady has been nothing but lovely with Wei Wuxian, giving him a sincere smile every time he starts talking about his stupid crush between sips of chamomille tea. He feels like he’s been adopted once again, first with Jun and now with granny.
“I can’t believe you’re really having dates with an old lady,” Nie Huaisang finally says, sighing afterwards. “Well, considering everything you did wrong in the past few months, writing a letter is by far your best idea.”
Wei Wuxian can’t help but pout at that, it's not like he wasn't trying the best he could, but the universe decided he deserved to go through some challenges first. Perhaps from saying so much that Jiang Cheng looks like a shoujo character, God really decided that Wei Wuxian should experience one, which explains the terrible encounters they had.
“I’m a writer, my sweetest friend,” Wei Wuxian tells him, closing his eyes and feeling the sun on his skin. It’s cold today, so even the smallest amount of sunlight is welcomed. “Writing is what I do for a living, what could go wrong?”
Wei Wuxian should’ve known better than to say those words.
When he finally got home after his lunch with Nie Huaisang, Wei Wuxian sat comfortably on his couch with his laptop on his lap ready to write the most beautiful love letter in the word. But then, when he finally opened a new file document, he couldn’t write a single word and just stared at the blank page for two hours and a half, the ticking clock on his white wall laughing at him while his mind searched around for something. Anything.
As a copywriter, Wei Wuxian was used to crazy deadlines that challenged his creativity, yet he always delivered all his articles masterfully, each piece better than the latter. Now, as he stares at the blank document opened on his laptop, Wei Wuxian is starting to believe he doesn’t even know how to write ‘I love you’ . Did he even want to write those three words in the first place? God, he was wrong, this was a terrible idea.
How can you write your feelings for someone you’re not even friends with?
At least, that’s how Wei Wuxian thinks Jiang Cheng sees them. Acquaintances. Neighbors and nothing more. And it shouldn’t hurt, because it’s the truth, especially when the few things Wei Wuxian knows about the other it’s fruit of his careful observation, bits of information he noticed in the past three months pining for him. Yet, as he sits there like a fool, he can feel a sting on his heart that draws a deep sigh out of him. Is this too much? What if Jiang Cheng thinks he’s being creepy?
Scratching his head in frustration, Wei Wuxian closes his laptop and grabs his phone to play some silly game, anything to get his mind out of this stupid place is in.
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
When the door opens and he sees Jiang Cheng in all his glory and sport shorts, Wei Wuxian doesn’t know if he should smile or laugh.
It’s a really cold day, cold enough that Wei Wuxian is wearing three layers of clothing to feel warm and stop shivering, however his neighbor doesn’t seem bothered at all by it. Jiang Cheng is wearing black sport shorts that ends above his knees, showing a bit of thighs and Wei Wuxian needs to take a deep breath and purse his lips to avoid saying something inappropriate. The man is also wearing his purple hoodie, the one that Wei Wuxian thinks it’s comfy and makes Jiang Cheng look cuddleable.
Honestly, Wei Wuxian is torn between horny and soft just looking at him.
“Hello.” Jiang Cheng greets him with a small smile, entering the elevator and making the room smell like lotus flowers, a perfume that Wei Wuxian started to yearn for in the past few months.
He doesn’t reply, he can’t.
Not when Wei Wuxian’s heart is beating faster inside of his chest, his palms sweaty with nervousness that makes him act like a teenager in love. So he just nods once, trying to smile but feeling his mouth twisting in something that looks more like a grin.
Jiang Cheng stares at him with a raised brow but doesn’t say anything, quietly waiting for their elevator trip to be over by his side. This time, however, the silence between them feels heavy enough that Wei Wuxian starts to feel like he can’t breathe, a shiver making him tremble because he doesn’t understand what shifted in their relationship. Since that day Jiang Cheng called him cute, Wei Wuxian tried his best to meet him and ask him out, still he hadn't seen the man for quite a while. Perhaps that’s why he feels so nervous right now, anxiety making his body hair stand up.
He wants to say something, break the silence with a joke even though there’s a high chance Wei Wuxian is going to make a fool of himself, yet he can’t.
The words are trapped inside of his mouth because he’s too afraid of rejection to say anything. Too afraid of making things between them awkward to be sincere, which is honestly is stupid because Wei Wuxian already did everything wrong he could. He embarrassed himself in front of Jiang Cheng too many times now to be a coward, however his mouth stays shut as his heart tries to escape the security of his ribcage.
When the elevator stops, Wei Wuxian feels a bittersweet taste on his mouth which he swirls with his tongue, biting his inner cheeks afterwards. Another day, another chance lost because he can’t find the right words. He’s a writer who can’t write, a flirt who doesn’t know how to flirt anymore.
He can hear Jiang Cheng sighing as he steps out of the elevator, but then he hesitates and stops to turn around and look at Wei Wuxian. There’s a glint in his eyes of something and, even though he doesn’t want to be too hopeful, it looks like Jiang Cheng is disappointed with the silence between them as much as him.
“Uh…” It’s all Wei Wuxian can mumble while his mind searches around for something, as if it’s trying to teach him again how to form sentences.
Jiang Cheng scratches his head, biting his lower lip in a way that it’s both sexy and endearing. It makes Wei Wuxian’s insides melt, he wants to close the space between them and take the man on his arms, finally savoring what his mouth tastes like. But he doesn’t move, hands grabbing the end of his red sweater tightly to avoid doing something he’s going to regret later.
“Should I be worried?”
The question makes Wei Wuxian snap back to reality, looking at Jiang Cheng in confusion as he notices the man is not only talking to him, but also looking around awkwardly.
“Worried about what?” He chooses to ask instead of saying anything else, too distracted by the loud sound of his heart beating. Thump-bump. Thump-bump. Thump-bump.
He watches as Jiang Cheng takes a deep breath, his cheeks slowly turning red even though there’s a hint of a smirk on his lips.
“Should I be worried that you’re going around asking everyone out for dinner but me?”
And Wei Wuxian can’t help the strangled noise that leaves his mouth when he hears it, blinking a few times to be sure he’s not hallucinating and hearing what his heart wants to hear. At this point he’s pretty sure Jiang Cheng can see his cheeks turning red or how loud his heart beating is, but he doesn’t care. Not when God is giving him another chance to make this right, sending him a sign that no, Jiang Cheng doesn’t find you creepy and he’s probably thinking the same thing as you .
This is the chance he was waiting for, he can see Jiang Cheng is waiting for him to say something so he does his best to smile and calm down his nerves.
“Jiang-xiong, do you-”
Before he can finish it, the elevator door closes and he can see the numbers going up. Taking him away from Jiang Cheng and all the things he left unsaid.
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
It’s past two in the afternoon when Wei Wuxian arrives at his apartment complex, he spent the whole morning in a boring meeting with clients who talked too much and understood too little about his work, but still tried to convince him they knew better than him how to sell an article. While he drags his feet to the elevator, Wei Wuxian can feel the weight of his fatigue with each step, his body begging for a really hot shower and a nap.
Entering the elevator makes Wei Wuxian groan frustrated. It’s been a week since the last time he saw Jiang Cheng, but he still hasn’t recovered from the meeting and the way he was so close to finally asking him out, only to have fate playing with him once more. He’s pretty sure this fucking elevator is planning against him since the very beginning, it was here Wei Wuxian made a fool of himself the first time he met Jiang Cheng, and it was also in here he failed to invite the man for dinner. Why did the elevator hate him so much? He never threw trash on the ground or did obscene things inside of it, so why him?
Honestly, Wei Wuxian was tired and miserable he really wanted nothing more than a nap and maybe ice cream to help him deal with his stupid heart.
So when the elevator stopped on the ninth floor, he was really close to falling down on his knees, screaming in despair and asking God why the good ones must suffer. However, Wei Wuxian remained still because when the door opened it wasn’t Jiang Cheng he saw, but a uniformed man holding what appeared to be a small closet.
“Going down?” He asked, holding the door with his feet while Wei Wuxian blinked at him.
“Uh… No, up.”
The man nodded once, stepping back. Wei Wuxian could see a lot of furnitures behind him ㅡ some carefully covered in bubble wrap ㅡ, and a few labeled boxes. Somehow, the vision made him uneasy, a shiver running down his spine and a voice in the back of his mind telling him to get out of the elevator to check it. When he does, the first thing Wei Wuxian sees is the door numbered 906 opened and the moving crew lifting boxes empting the apartment, as if they weren’t kicking Wei Wuxian’s heart in the process.
He can feel his legs trembling, turning into jelly as the realization settles down. Jiang Cheng is moving out before he could have a chance. He will be gone.
The panic makes him run towards the apartment that Wei Wuxian spent the last months thinking about, entering it before he can think this through and gasping when he sees how empty it was. Where a couch and a TV should’ve been, there’s only a void of white walls and carpet, nothing that says someone lives in there.
In the past few months, Wei Wuxian dreamed a lot of visiting Jiang Cheng, curious about what his house looks like. If he has gym equipment, a cozy space or even flowers decorating the room, yet the only thing he sees right now are boxes and missing chances. A lot of what ifs floating around him, laughing at all the possibilities Wei Wuxian missed being a coward and stupid. It makes his heart ache as his stomach twists. This is his last chance.
He runs around the apartment that looks a lot like his own, the beating of his heart too loud for his own ears. There’s so much Wei Wuxian wants to say, so much he wants to do before Jiang Cheng goes away. He wants to know him, not only through small talks but through long walks around the city and late night messages that would make them both blush, covering their faces with blankets before falling asleep feeling warm. Wei Wuxian wants to know the answer to all of his ‘what ifs’ so much that he feels his skin prickling, a strange feeling making his chest so full it almost feels like it’s going to explode.
Wei Wuxian loves Jiang Cheng and he can’t let him go away before he knows it.
He finds his neighbor in one of the rooms, closing a big box labeled as ‘comics collections’. Jiang Cheng has his back at Wei Wuxian, so he doesn’t notice when he enters the room and stands next to the door frame watching him for a few minutes, trying to breath and organize his thoughts enough to confess. Jiang Cheng looks as beautiful as always, his long hair is loose and falls to the middle of his back, a silky dark curtain that Wei Wuxian wants to feel with the tip of his fingers.
Before he can say anything, Jiang Cheng turns around and jumps when he sees Wei Wuxian staring at him, a flush painting his cheeks pink.
“Uh… Hi.” Wei Wuxian says, feeling strangely shy for the first time in his life. “What is going on?”
Jiang Cheng looks at him for a few seconds before answering, probably asking himself what the hell Wei Wuxian is doing there. “I’m moving out.”
“Oh.”
Wei Wuxian already knew that, yet it still feels as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on him. Jiang Cheng is going away, they are not going to see each other around anymore, no more casualties in elevators and corridors. No more pretending he can share a space with a dog just to spend a few seconds in Jiang Cheng’s company.
“Are you really moving out right now?” He asks instead, his palms are sweating and shaking.
Jiang Cheng takes a moment to look around at the boxes piled up, smiling a bit in confusion. “Yeah, I am.”
Perhaps it’s the anxiety taking charge of his body, or perhaps it’s something else that makes Wei Wuxian lose control of his tongue. The same thing that made him talk bullshit every time that he’s in Jiang Cheng’s presence, honesty flowing through his body and leaving his mouth in a river of words that he can’t control. It overflows him.
“You can’t leave right now!” He says desperate, voice trembling because there’s so much that he needs to fix. So much he wants to confess. “I’ve been making a fool of myself for months trying to finally get a chance to behave like a normal being, trying to feel confident enough to say how beautiful you’re. You can’t leave before I finally do it!”
Wei Wuxian watches as Jiang Cheng opens his mouth to reply, but he’s faster. This time he will say everything before his chance is over.
“God I was so afraid of your dog the first time I met you, but you looked so hot that I couldn’t ask you to wait for another elevator to ride because I really wanted to spend time with you.” He tells him, laughing as his cheeks burn red. “I’m terrified of dogs, but I know you love them so I couldn’t say anything and, to be honest, you do look adorable playing with Fairy.”
The words make Jiang Cheng turn all the shades of red, bulging eyes staring at Wei Wuxian in shock.
“Wei Wu-” The man tries to say, but Wei Wuxian doesn’t let him.
“Every time I saw you with your arms out I couldn’t even think, too afraid of speaking because you look like a God,” He continues, hands covering his face in shame. “You’re so hot and you don’t even notice! My confidence is ruined because I can’t flirt with you without turning into a mess, and I’ve always flirted with anyone!”
That makes Jiang Cheng raise his brow, but he doesn’t say anything.
“You’re cute and hot at the same time, it makes my head dizzy and I get speechless because you confuse me.” Wei Wuxian confesses, chuckling because his mind is a mess and his heart is going crazy. “I know it’s probably ridiculous because we don’t know each other very well, but I think I’m in love with you? Also I really hate dogs-”
“Wei Wuxian-”
“... But you look so cute with them! Also the first time I saw you with your nephew it made my heart warm, you looked soft so I’m pretty sure you’ll be a great father in the future-”
“Wei Wux-”
“So please please please if you could give me your phone or something, I don’t want to lose another chance and-”
“WEI WUXIAN!”
Jiang Cheng’s scream almost makes him bite his tongue, he knows he’s been rambling in the last few minutes but come on! Wei Wuxian is a fool in love, he doesn’t control his emotions, especially when they’re all over the place looking at his crush moving away from him.
So he only replies exasperated: “WHAT?”
His neighbor takes a deep breath and sighs, staring at him with a bright red face. Jiang Cheng takes a minute to clean his throat before continuing.
“I’m really thankful for all of… this.” He says and then he gestures around the room to all of the boxes. “But I don’t think this is the right time to do that.”
“Oh… Right, I’m sorry.”
Wei Wuxian feels a twinge of disappointment in his chest, but what did he expect? Go there and dump all your disconnected feelings and thoughts on Jiang Cheng, take him in his arms and run into the sunset with him? Of course it won’t happen.
Silently, he turns around to leave. Wei Wuxian doesn’t even look at Jiang Cheng’s eyes, he’s too ashamed to do so, there’s a burning inside of him that warns him he’s about to cry.
“Besides, I’m only moving two floors down. So grab a few boxes and help me, the sooner I'm done, the sooner we can discuss what to have for dinner tonight.”
Jiang Cheng’s voice is sweet and Wei Wuxian can almost smell honey in the air, his feet turning around so fast that he almost loses balance trying to look at the man. When he does, there’s a smug smile on his face and his eyes are shining bright, making Wei Wuxian get lost in them for a few minutes.
“So… You’re not going away?” He asks him, a smile turning the end of his lips up.
“Nope.” Jiang Cheng replies, grabbing the box he was closing when Wei Wuxian entered the room. “I will still live in this building for a very long time.”
“Does that mean I didn't need to confess everything I confessed in the last few minutes like a fool?” Wei Wuxian pouts at him, feeling his heart warming when he notices Jiang Cheng is smiling.
“Yep, but I’m glad you did.” Jiang Cheng says, walking towards him. “Also, I think being a fool is part of who you’re, but it’s kind of endearing.”
Wei Wuxian must be dreaming because there’s not a chance he’s listening to Jiang Cheng calling him endearing . He’s about to pass out when the man winks at him, leaving the room carrying the box in his arms.
There is no coherent thought in Wei Wuxian's mind, all he can feel is the euphoria of the last few minutes running through his body like an electric shock. Who knew his panic and big mouth would do him any good? Wei Wuxian would love to see Nie Huaisang's face if he could see him now. He stands there for a few more minutes in that empty room, happiness making his cheeks ache because Wei Wuxian just can't stop smiling. And then he hears Jiang Cheng’s voice from the living room:
“If you don’t help me, I don’t think we can have that dinner date tonight!”
Dinner date.
The words make him smile even wider, Wei Wuxian’s heart is singing when he grabs a box and walks to the front door.
━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━
When the elevator door opens, Wei Wuxian can’t help but smile.
Wearing dark jeans and a leather jacket, Jiang Cheng looks handsome as hell. His hair is, as usual, in a high ponytail but this time he has his fringe in both sides of his face. There’s a smile on his pretty pink lips, when their eyes meet, which makes Wei Wuxian’s heart close to explode inside of his chest.
He’s not with Fairy this time ㅡ after knowing about Wei Wuxian’s cynophobia, Jiang Cheng tried his best to avoid meeting him with his dog. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but they’re finding ways to cope and Wei Wuxian loves him even more because of it ㅡ, however, instead of occupying his hand with a leash, as soon as he enters the elevator Jiang Cheng occupies himself holding Wei Wuxian's hand.
“Are you free tonight, neighbor?” His voice is as soft as his gaze, their fingers intertwining in a perfect fit.
Wei Wuxian takes a minute before answering, too busy paying attention to all the details in his face because now he can finally do so. He can stare as much as he wants because Jiang Cheng is not only his hot neighbor, he is his hot boyfriend.
“For you I’m always free,” Wei Wuxian replies with a wink that makes Jiang Cheng laugh. “But everything comes with a price, so...”
“Where is the man that got down on his knees when I was talking to my dog?” Jiang Cheng interrupts him, flicking his forehead. “The one who listened when I said sit down and obey.”
A flush makes Wei Wuxian’s cheeks burn, yet, this time, he’s confident enough to not break visual contact with the man beside him. Slowly he turns to Jiang Cheng enough to whisper in his ear with a smirk.
“You can always find new ways to make me obey, sweetie.”
When Jiang Cheng looks back at him, he’s as red as a tomato. He starts to stutter something, but Wei Wuxian grabs both sides of his face and kisses him before he can make sense of what it is, licking his lips softly and breaking apart after a few seconds.
“Let’s go, handsome!” Wei Wuxian said with a smirk when the elevator stopped, stepping out of it with an exaggerated swing of his hips.
In doing so, however, Wei Wuxian paid no attention to where he was stepping and tripped over his own feet, almost falling face down if not for the hand that grabbed his waist. The action was sudden and turned him to face Jiang Cheng, their chests touching and shock causing a small gasp to leave Wei Wuxian's lips.
“Are you alright?” He heard Jiang Cheng asking him, worry covering his eyes like a shadow.
Wei Wuxian takes a deep breath, looking at him as if he was trembling. “Oh no, Jiang Cheng…”
“What?” The man asks, voice now slightly panicking as his eyes search for an answer in Wei Wuxian’s face. “What are you feeling? Is your vision ok? Is your-”
“Jiang Cheng…” He whispers quietly, hands grasping the front of the man’s jacket to bring them both closer. “Look… I think I’ve fallen for you.”
The groan that leaves Jiang Cheng’s mouth is enough to make him laugh loudly. Wei Wuxian won’t ever stop being clumsy, however, he knows Jiang Cheng will always be there from now on.