When I was a younger child in the 1970's, I saw this icon in the front windows of several houses. It was a sign to children that if they felt unsafe, they could go to that house for help.
I extend this symbol to anyone, whether a known family member, a casual friend, or a complete stranger, as a sign that, with me, you are safe. I will help you within the best of my abilities. With me you will find comfort, understanding, and as much aid as I can give. I will also try my best to help you find others who may be better able to help you.
Shuangjie | Mo Dao Zu Shi
Modern AU + cw: implied child neglect
03-06-2021
[Jiang cheng, wei wuxian, lan qiren, modern]
What if the perfect family™ jiangs? Everyone thinks everything is perfect. Successful parents with good company. Good and kind daughters. Two brilliant sons who keep besting everyone in their classes. When people meet up with the family, nothing ever seems out of place, it's to such a point sometimes it feels surreal in a way. How can a family be this perfect?
It's all a facade. That's how.
jyl is the lucky one to be a daughter in a way. She is not as pressured as her brothers to do good in everything (mostly learning to be a good wife). She is well-loved by their parents and she knows it. Of course, being the daughter has its own negative traits, but she is sure this is common to every daughter around China. Plus, she is slowly building her relationship with jzx and is often out in the most recent months, so she is away from problems.
jc knows he is not enough for jfm and he is slowly starting to give up on being enough for him (though it never stops to hurt when anything good he does is being dismissed easily). He doesn't have a bad relationship with his father perse, but not having one isn't that much better either. yzy is something else but on another extreme. He /knows/ she loves him and only wants the best for him, but most of the time her demand for him to always do better is overwhelming and draining. Even with her, he doesn't do good enough, since it doesn't surpass wwx.
wwx relationship with yzy is more than bad, he knows that if he could just disappear she would be more than delighted to see that. around her he's always walking on eggshells, not wanting to anger her (which leads sometimes to jc also being brought into it). He makes sure to always be polite and knows better than to provoke her. With jfm if finds it complicated. He has a good relationship, the man seems to absolutely love him (which sometimes does make him uncomfortable because he sees how jfm doesn't treat jc that way).
But in a way, he feels something missing. wwx sometimes feels jfm loves him only because of his mother, not because of /him/. Plus, he doesn't like how he is used to comparing jc's grades (which are also great!).
Thankfully, over the years the two of them managed not to be broken apart by these treatments. when jc needs to vent, he knows wwx will listen and reassure his insecurities and never with lies, wwx always tells him what he really thinks in those more fragile moments they have.
wwx is less inclined to vent his frustration, as he doesn't want it to sound like he's not thankful for the jiang family to take him in. His memory of who was taking care of him before that is not good and he wouldn't be as well today if it wasn't for them (doesn't stop jc from pulling out of him his frustration sometimes, because holding all in his bad.)
But they don't always say everything and toe the line between keeping this good relationship and being torn apart by the little crack their parents managed to create with years of pitting them together. jc is scared to hurt wwx with his jealousy and small resentment by moment, while wwx is afraid to break apart the family even more than he did by being brought in by jfm.
of course, lqr is like everyone else, thinking the jiang family must be as good and loving as they look. both sons are doing very well in school (though he does have his dislike and frustration with how disruptive and loud wwx can be in his classes).
but with time he does notice small detail. Like how jc seems to be starving for the small praises he gives him, or the way jfm seems a bit too detached when they have some parent-teacher meeting. even wwx seems a bit off when he sees him at those meetings. He is /too/ well-behaved and polite, he even caught his little sideglance to yzy when lqr talk about the problem he caused, looking apprehensive.
The first brother lqr really starts to take care of his jc. He notices how often the young man seems to be waiting until late to go back home, even after school club. Sure, the area is safe, but it's still no good for a young teen to stay out so late. at least wwx seems to be with him all these times, waiting for jc's club to be over when he doesn't have his own club to go to that evening.
they sometimes simply give up and go back by bus together, greeting their teacher when they notice him. but the night when wwx cannot stay after school with jc seems to always be the one where the young man has to wait for the most until someone finally picks him up.
but this time it is more later than usual, lqr had to stay behind to help other teachers and he knew lxc and lwj would probably not mind practising some more even once their music lesson was over (the teacher trust them to place everything back correctly and lock the door).
this is when he noticed jc still waiting at the school entry, looking a bit anxious outside in the rain. "Jiang Cheng", lqr calls, making the youth jump and turn towards him to greet him politely. "Your parents haven't picked you up yet?" he asks as he looks around, "Your brother isn't here?".
"His club activities were cancelled for today and he went to nhs house to help him with some theory he did not understand in math" replied jc with a small smile. The news surprised lqr a bit, as he did not expect wwx to be this kind of student.
but despite how disrupting the young man could be, he had to study /at some point/, he and jc wouldn't always be at the top of the list if neither of them was studying. It was just a bit hard to put studying hard on the list of things wwx does.
"Then why aren't your parents here yet?" he asks, a bit worried. The young man had never stayed until this late.
"I think they had to do overtime" jc replies as he looks back at his phone. "I was waiting for the rain to go down a bit so I can take the bus". lqr frowns at this. Over time or not, shouldn't they at least find someone to pick up their son? he is sure he has already seen their assistant in the past being the one picking up jc, so why not now?
lqr takes a look at the heavy rain, then at his nephew who seems to understand want he wants to do, lxc offering him a small smile.
"Then I'll take you back home" lqr offers, before cutting jc off when he wants to decline, "I couldn't let one of my students go back home under such weather, I do not want anything happening to you".
jc ends up accepting, clearly looking relieved that he won't have to walk all the way to the bus stop without an umbrella (lqr notice he doesn't have one, sharing his with his student). The ride is filled with lxc trying to make jc feel a bit more at ease and make it clear it's not a bother (even lwj tries his best despite clearly not being sure what to say).
lqr isn't sure about letting jc go, as everything in the house seems dark. clearly, no one is home. "No need to worry lan-laoshi, I am sure jiejie will be back soon too," he says, although it doesn't sound really sure. lqr doesn't want to force him, so he lets him go, going away only once he's sure jc is inside his house.
This same scenario starts to occur more often than not, which does concern lqr, even more, when jc as to wait alone without wwx. "nhs brother asked if wwx minded tutoring to help raise nhs grades, so now he goes over after their club activities" (learning this, lqr doesn't miss telling wwx how well it is of him for doing so, since he believes in encouraging good behaviour, especially in more troublesome students).
at some point jc finally accepts to be taken to the lan's house, knowing his parents won't be home that night (he only learned that over the phone, as lqr was standing next to him, frowning a bit).
like this, it became a rather usual occurrence for jc to be over at their house, lwj clearly warming up to him slowly. the guest room even unofficially became jc's room when both his parents are away for business, as if believing their kids were now old enough to take care of themselves. (they are, but lqr simply cannot let himself feel comfortable at the idea of his student having to always be left alone like this).
one night jc especially looks anxious, looking back at his bag on the floor often until his phone finally rings. he hesitates, until lqr signs him he can pick it up.
"Did you find somewhere... Wen Ning?... no no I found somewhere too... yeah I know jiejie is at the jin house... okay see you at school tomorrow and don't get in trouble!" they can hear from where jc was talking in the living room, clearly trying to be quiet.
lwj is frowning at this, clearly understanding that wwx is also not home. lqr is a bit concerned at this. why does it sound like the brothers are used to needing to find somewhere to stay temporarily? but when jc comes back he doesn't comment, not wanting to intrude either.
jc apologies while he simply says it's alright, it's good to take care of your family.
The first time he brings wwx in (other than when lwj would bring him over to study, though he never stayed over) was when the boys were 16 and he had already been taking care of jc on and off for two years.
He had his share of worrying about wwx a bit, yet the young man never showed signs of emotional neglect the way his brother does and jfm always seems to shower him with praise when he meets the man.
The thing seemed off, but he had been too focused on jc to really notice how things had changed a bit. all he could see was how wwx seemed as disruptive as ever and rumours were going around that he was fighting outside of school too (which jc did admit worrying about wwx on that front since he refused to tell him).
that evening wwx showed up at the house unannounced, really close to 9 p.m. (despite knowing of their strict schedules). wwx seems surprised that he's the one opening, "It's 8.45 wy, a-zhan cannot play with you" he says, something in him still not wanting for him to influence his nephew badly.
the young man gives an awkward laugh, clearly cutting himself as he was going to say something "I get it, sorry for disturbing lan-laoshi this late" he says with an anxious smile, backing away to look down at his phone while biting his thumb.
only when lqr was about to close the door does he realise something isn't right and look back up. he doesn't remember any car dropping wwx by and the teen clearly didn't take a bike here. Did he take the bus and walk? no, at this time there aren't as many buses close to their house.
He also notices the small bag wwx is carrying, probably enough clothing for at least a night he assumes.
He did not come here to play around with lwj, he came for the night. A bad feeling settles in and he has a vague idea of why he is here. "Wei Ying" he calls back before the young man can call someone else (at least, he assumes this is what he was about to do). he moves aside, showing inside the house. the teen quickly understands, quickly jogging back inside the house, and taking off his shoes.
"Sorry for the intrusion" he hears the young man say before following him to the kitchen. Under the soft light, he can now see that wwx seems tired, a bruise forming on the side of his left eye.
This makes lqr frown a bit. he did not remember seeing this bruise when he saw the youth that day. had he fought through after school again? yet he felt like this wasn't it, if it was the case, why would he seek out somewhere to go?
He sits him down, preparing some tea as he wants for the young man to relax since wwx is still fidgeting anxiously. he also has some questions to ask him. As he was about to ask what happened, the phone on the table started ringing, "Chengcheng🐶" appeared on the screen and lqr can guess who it is.
wwx quickly answer when he sees lqr nods (he cannot stop him from reassuring jc after all).
"Are you alright?" jc asks, the sound loud enough in the quiet house to be heard clearly.
"Yes don't worry"
"Did you find somewhere, are you at nhs place?"
"Yes I found somewhere" wwx reassure softly
"He's at my place" lqr clarifies, a sigh of relief clearly heard through the phone. "Okay, good, perfect, I will come see you in the morning so don't run off before I come!".
lqr doesn't miss the warm smile on wwx smile as he hears his brother saying he will pick him up next morning, agree. He only manages to hang up when he has reassured him some more.
nearly at the same time lwj arrived, attracted by the sudden commotion downstairs, but also because it was wy voice this time. He frowns when he sees his bruise, looking up at lqr with a questioning look.
"Wei Ying will be staying tonight, please prepare the room for him" lwj immediately nods, getting back up to prepare the room.
"Thank you for letting me in" wwx thanks again. he wanted to ask for help from lwj and he had also heard jc say that lqr was really nice, he had been scared that maybe the man wouldn't be as generous, he /did/ bothered the man quite a lot in class before. Sure, he was enduring him hanging out with lwj, but he had the impression the man didn't really appreciate him.
lqr did try to pry some answer out of him, but wwx was a bit stubborn in his lie and it was too quick before lwj was back, first aid kit in hand to help his friend. before going wwx thanked him again, following lwj upstairs.
the next morning jc is here early (knowing when the lan eats breakfast) and enters with his key (lqr is happy, he gave it to him a couple of weeks ago so he can enter when he needs it but it took a while before he was really comfortable doing so).
he greets everyone before checking in on wwx immediately, clearly anxious at the signs of his bruise. "Did you fight again?" he asks worriedly.
"Wc was saying bullshit about you again, he was looking for it" wwx replies with a smile, clearly feeling better than the day before. "Language wei ying" he receives, making him apologise a bit.
he was clearly about to add more to tell the truth to jc, but after taking a glance at lxc and lqr he simply smiled. "I will be alright".
later lqr ask lwj what happened (believing wwx might have told him). he had most likely promised not to tell since he seemed to hesitate. "Did he got kick out because of the fight".
"... half of it" he simply receives before his nephew left for his classes when lqr nods.
after that, it also became a recurring thing that either of both brothers would come to the house, whether it was because the parents were both away, doing late hours, not picking them up or wwx was kicked out again.
the guest room that had slowly become jc's room became their conjoint room at the lan house, clearly not minding being in the same room. the time when lqr needed to get up in the night he would sometimes hear them whisper (he couldn't blame them for not being able to sleep at 9) by then, lqr opinion of the parents at sank really low, clearly understanding that they didn't really care (or at least not anymore) unless it was about grades (he heard once the brother talks about the company succession and how much pressure jc had over this).
got to go to work soon, but here are points I might try to write if I can:
=lqr slowly warming up to wwx and seeing he's not just the disruptive kid he thought he was
=shuangjie basically has a stack of clothing and all needed at their house because of how often they are here
=shuangjie feelings really safe and appreciated at the lan's house, feeling more like home there than when they are "home"
=feeling comfortable enough to talk about child neglect (although neither thought it was that)
=shuangjie having a place where they can finally tell each other everything without the fear of yzy and jfm hearing/barging into the discussion (leading to wwx understanding more about jc)
=wwx finally talking about the slightly more important child neglect he went through before being picked up by jfm
=wwx also finally opening up about some physical and verbal abuse from yzy ("It was just some slap and thing thrown at me" he tries to downgrade the importance)
=just overall shuangjie finally talks sincerely about everything even if it hurt because they know they will be there to catch the other and the lan's will also be there. having somewhere to slowly heal and work the issue caused by all this neglect
=lqr becoming more protective of them because he decided if the jiang don't want to raise them correctly, he will. He can easily take care of 4 kid, he don't mind it
=yzy and jfm pride hurt when they see jc and wwx much more at ease around lqr than the,
=just overall a newfound family for shuangjie
=supportive uncle lqr when maybe wangxian and xicheng become a thing? Also being the first one shuangjie felt comfortable about telling they might not be straight (after telling each other)
sorry for those who are not comfortable/triggered with neglect/abuse (if I wrote those, cw will be in place)
