Chapter Text
Shit.
That was the only thought passing Wei Wuxian’s mind on that tragic, horrible, worth of the god’s pity moment.
Shit shit shit shit shit.
He sat on the old, frayed chair of the director’s office. This time not even uncle Jiang would be able to save his ass from Madam Yu’s rage.
It had seemed like a fun idea at the beginning! Nie Huaisang had agreed with him! It would be the prank of the year, they would be legends on the mouth of all other students! He couldn’t have known that facial hair was so flammable… neither that Lan Qiren would be standing so close to the little, tiny, harmless explosion.
The image of their old, insufferable teacher spluttering in rage with half of a beard was almost worth it, though. That, and the absolute outraged look Lan Wangji had shot him with, of course.
It wasn’t his fault, Lan Zhan was just too fun to mess with. And it was almost a favor Wei Wuxian was doing the other, if you thought about it. No one should spend so much time wearing that boring, jade-like expression. That couldn’t be healthy. So, Lan Wangji should be thanking him for helping with learning how to exercise his facial muscles. Even if so far, the only way the slightly older one had looked at him was with hatred.
He sank into the chair.
God he was so screwed.
Usually, a stunt like that would earn a lot of yelling from Madam Yu, a financial cut from his allowance for sure. Once, he covered for Jiang Cheng when the other broke a pretty expensive vase that used to stay on the hall of their house. It was a family inheritance, a symbol of the Jiang’s strength and success. His brother had been so desperately afraid of what his parents would think that Wei Wuxian took the blame for him.
It had been easier that way. Jiang Cheng was expected to be the perfect child, he needed to be the successor of the family business. Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, was just the child they had been forced to take in because of an old friendship. Madam Yu already hated him so much that there wasn’t a lot he could do to disappoint her.
Still, she had completely cut out his money at the time, saying he should learn to value the expensive things in life, and he ended up eating the left overs from Nie Huaisang’s lunch and having to walk all the way from home to school everyday for two whole months.
But things were different right now. Uncle Jiang, who used to fight back his wife a lot when the siblings were still kids, was getting older. And as an old man, who had spent half his life battling competing firms at day and his own wife at night, he was getting tired. Worn out. His health wasn’t doing great either. Nowadays he usually just ignored whatever was happening inside the house, agreed half-hearty to whatever Madam Yu said and went to bed.
Wei Wuxian knew Jiang Cheng resented his father for that.
Besides, their wonderful, kind, intelligent sister had gone away to college. She only came back on holidays, with a handmade soup or whatever the knew dish she had learned to make was, a warm smile on her face when the two brothers ran straight to her. God, he missed her.
That leaved, basically, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng to deal alone with the second’s mother. Madam Yu didn’t seem happy with the situation either. She had been… meaner, to Wei Wuxian lately.
The front door burst open.
“What did you do this time?!” An annoyed, slightly disheveled Jiang Cheng appeared at the door.
Ops.
“Jiang Cheng!!” Wei Wuxian smiled from where he was sprawled on the chair. “What are you doing here?”
His brother huffed, a frown in his face.
“What I’m doing here, you idiot, is that I had to hear from juniors students that some Wei Wuxian had exploded a fucking science project on the face of a teacher!”
Well, Jiang Cheng didn’t know about the part where said teacher was Lan Qiren, apparently, or that he managed to destroy more than a half of the man’s adored beard. That was a bonus.
“…Humm, glad I made a good impression on the youth?” He tried.
Jiang Cheng groaned in frustration.
“Wei Wuxian! What the hell is wrong with you?? Don’t you know how angry mom is gonna be? Are you actually seeking your own death?!”
If Wei Wuxian’s smile wobbled for a moment, no one noticed.
“Aiya Jiang Cheng! You’re just jealous that you weren’t there to share the glory with me! My name is already being recognized by the new generation, you see? I’m being a good influence on them, teaching the juniors how to really enjoy high school!” He perked up where he was sitting, gesticulating dramatically at himself.
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes at him.
“Suit yourself, just don’t call me to collect your dead body next time you decide to be stupid like that again.”
Wei Wuxian got up, passing his arms through the other’s shoulders.
“No no no, you’re my didi, it’s your job to collect my dead, smelly body!”
Jiang Cheng’s disgusted face was worth it.
“Who’s a didi?!” He pushed Wei Wuxian away. “You are barely older than me, fuck off!” Wei Wuxian burst out laughing. Jiang Cheng pushed him again, although he seemed less angry this time. “Anyway, what did the director say? Are you getting suspended?”
Wei Wuxian took his bag from where it was thrown in the floor. He had planned to sulk in the chair for a few moments more, but now he had an excuse to get away from that place before the director changed his mind.
“Nop, only for the rest of the day. I have great acting skills, you know? May have convinced him that it had only been an innocent accident, from an innocent student. Besides, my grades are great, he can’t expel me or something like that!” All true, despite the fact that the director had called his legal guardians. That being Madam Yu. That being: something way worse than a suspension.
They started walking towards the canteen.
He wasn’t going to miss a lot of classes, actually. The director had been considerably nice having in mind what had happened. The day was almost finishing, they had a math class and a PE later, nothing that Wei Wuxian needed points in. In fact, his performance at school would be brilliant if not for the amount of trouble he always got himself into.
His brother used to mess around a lot too when they were younger, but the pressure made by his father and his mother’s expectations didn’t let him do this kind of thing anymore.
So it was just Wei Wuxian, now. And Huaisang, when his older brother wasn’t around to make him scared.
A tall figure at the distance caught Wei Wuxian’s attention.
The boy had his back to the brothers, the long, black hair in contrast with the white woolen shirt he wore. Standing still like that, he almost looked like one of those fancy statues. It wasn’t fair that in the middle of so many sweaty, acned teenagers, he could look like that, Wei Wuxian thought.
“Lan Zhan!!”
His scream resonated loudly around the place, a few heads turned in his direction. Lan Wangji, though, didn’t. His posture seemed to tense a little.
Wei Wuxian marched his way to the other, hearing his brother curse at his back. Something just seemed to itch on his bones, sometimes. A subtle need to mess up the other a bit, ruin that perfect, composed image.
He stopped beside Lan Wangji, on the line to get food.
“Heyy Lan Zhan, I survived the director’s wrath! Isn’t that awesome? I know you were secretly praying for me!” Wei Wuxian said cheaply.
Not only did Lan Wangji not give him an answer, but he ignored his presence completely too. It was as if Wei Wuxian wasn’t even there.
He pouted.
“Come onnn, Lan Zhan! Look at me, is it because I put fire on your uncle? Don’t take it personally, you know? I’m sure Lan Qiren, with all of his kind heart, have already forgiven me. Will you be stubborn enough not to?” Nothing. Lan Wangji looked at the salad in front of him as if it was the only thing existing in the world. Wei Wuxian put his face right in front of the other’s camp of vision, then, smiling mischievously and forcing the taller to stare at him. “Hey, that’s rude! I’m sure there must be something on those rules of your family against ignoring people. Lan Zhan! Does that means you are breaking your rules?!”
Something fierce seemed to shift in Lan Wangji’s eyes, then. Wei Wuxian thought he could almost see his maxilar clenching.
A second passed, and then Lan Wangji was heading out, food forgotten in the apparent need to get away from Wei Wuxian’s obnoxious presence.
He burst out laughing for the second time that morning.
An annoyed voice broke through his laughing.
“Why are you like this? Leave the guy alone.” Jiang Cheng was dragging him away now. “Honestly, I don’t know why you insist on messing with him. He is probably a robot made by Lan Qiren to be the perfect student.” He huffed one last time. “Let’s go, mom is here to pick you up.”