"I'm pretty sure I have aged ten years since meeting you" or "I live for a sense of thrill" for Jiang Cheng/Mo Xuanyu, please? <3
kinda inspired by @bloody-bee-tea ‘s AU where jc rescues demonic cultivators because, welp, it’s a good au
Jiang Cheng handed the young woman to Jiang Wanhui who took her toward the carriage. The woman (barely a girl really, Jiang Cheng was almost certain he’d been lied to about her age) didn’t protest, too numb and exhausted for it. Even if she had, Jiang Wanhui knew how to handle this.
The girl hadn’t been their worst case, but she hadn’t been their easiest one either. It was always harder with demonic cultivators who had blood on their hands, because they knew there was no going back once they had killed someone.
Thought there was no going back.
“You take too many risks,” Mo Xuanyu complained next to him, grabbing his arm to inspect it.
Jiang Cheng too checked on it, and grimaced at the deep gash there. He’d had worse of course, and the golden core Wei Wuxian gave him was strong enough that it wouldn’t leave a scar. Still, this was unpleasant, and the attack had slashed right through a set of robes he liked.
“I live for a sense of thrill,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, trying to pull his arm away, in vain.
Mo Xuanyu’s grip on him tightened, and he glared at his sect leader.
“I swear, I’m pretty sure I have aged ten years since meeting you!”
“You have been with us for eight years, so that checks out,” Jiang Cheng retorted, finally managing to free himself. “I didn’t know she had a knife, and I needed to show her I wasn’t going to harm her.”
“So you let her harm you instead.”
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. It was part of the risks, and they both knew it. Mo Xuanyu, the first demonic cultivator he’d taken in, had stabbed him in the stomach when Jiang Cheng had come to investigate the slaughter at Mo Manor. It was almost impossible for these things to happen without some spilled blood, because people who resorted to those methods were always desperate, and rarely caught his attention until they’d already gone too far.
A small wound on his arm wasn’t such a big price to pay, and Jiang Cheng would know to be careful about the sect that had taken in that girl. Demonic cultivators came in clusters sometimes.
“Let’s get that kid home,” Jiang Cheng replied, motioning for the carriage to start moving. They’d fly closeby, in case there were problems. “You can scold me there.”
“It’s not about scolding,” Mo Xuanyu grumbled. “It’s about you taking too many risks when you don’t need to. If you’d just let me…”
“No,” Jiang Cheng cut him, stepping on his sword.
“I’m just saying…”
“No.”
Mo Xuanyu huffed, getting on his own sword, arms crossed against his chest.
“And why not?” he insisted as they took flight. “I can talk to them. I know how these people feel. I’ve been there! If you just let me…”
“I’m not risking you,” Jiang Cheng snapped.
“So we have to watch you risk yourself instead?” Mo Xuanyu retorted hotly. “It’s not just me! We all think you’re going too far! If you’d just let us do this…”
Jiang Cheng clenched his fists.
Sometimes, just sometimes, he missed how shy and quiet Mo Xuanyu had been when he’d joined them, always polite, always careful not to bother anyone, a stark contrast to the assertive and loud mouthed young man he’d become.
Then Jiang Cheng remembered why Mo Xuanyu used to be so demure, the constant fear in his eyes for the first year or two, and…
Being loud mouthed wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
“This is my responsibility,” Jiang Cheng said. “If something goes wrong, it’s my fault, so I might as well be the one taking the risk.”
“That makes sense,” Mo Xuanyu replied, his tone making it clear he found the explanation particularly stupid. “I’m sure when Jin Ling is an orphan again, he’ll be glad to know it’s because you’ve never learned to delegate.”
Jiang Cheng glared at him. Mo Xuanyu looked utterly unimpressed.
“Or maybe it’s just that you don’t trust us,” he went on. “Can’t blame you. You know what it leads to, trusting a demonic cultivator.”
That was a low blow. The accusation was shocking enough that Jiang Cheng almost lost balance.
It wasn’t that he never compared those people he’d taken in to Wei Wuxian. Mo Xuanyu in particular had reminded him of Wei Wuxian at first. The two of them had been equally pathetic upon arriving to the Lotus Piers, terrified to take space, unsure how long their new good luck would last.
But none of those people were a replacement for Wei Wuxian, even if Jiang Cheng had taken them because of Wei Wuxian.
“I trust you,” Jiang Cheng hissed. “All of you.”
“Then show it,” Mo Xuanyu retorted. “Let us help you with this. Let me help you with this,” he begged, flying closer to grab Jiang Cheng’s unharmed arm. “I’ve lost enough. I’m not losing you as well. Let. Me. Help.”
Drama AU [this is just an idea tho, no plot basically]: “Did you find a bitch in me?”
[JC-focus crackships galore baby! title is from a Marina Diamandis’s song (“Hermit the Frog) but that’s probably not important for the non-plot so... yeah]
*
“So... wait a minute.”
“Hit me.”
“I’m still confused.”
“About?”
“Wen Qing... why should I know about your ex’s exes?”
“Because he’s a bisexual menace and I don’t want him to ruin this for me.”
“Jiang Cheng is not going to sleep with me.”
“What do you know tho? He’s that powerful.”
“Babe, I’m a lesbian.”
“And he has dated everyone in our circle of friends and their significant others.”
“Big lesbian energy, you’re absolutely right.”
“Thank you. I taught him well.”
*
or the only au where there’s only drama and no plot and JC went from experimenting to actively turning people gay or straight just because.
[attn: in this au Jin GuangShan is not, I repeat, not a bitch and did not, in fact, have other kids aside from Jin ZiXuan bc I say so. don’t make me complicate this non-existent plot more, please]
[under the cut for more!]
ok. got it. JC knows he’s no saint. hell, he doesn’t even qualify as a decent human being, alright. he’s that socially abominable. but things have escalated to a point where he doesn’t even know what to do. maybe become a hermit, lock his dick and call it a day. yeah, that should do the trick. because he really doesn’t know when it all started... no. that’s a lie. total bullshit. it was Nie HuaiSang.
so, SO, he may have been 16. sweet bush child with no future nor name. a great big sister, a stupid big bro, an overachieving mother, a distant father, the usual. save for fucking Nie HuaiSang and his stash of porn. and JC was straight. and he just wanted to check if the link his high school friend sent him was a jumpscare or not. he closed the tab right after the first moan echoed in his room late at night, he forgot to put the jack in and his earphones were possibly all the way back in his backpack on the kitchen table. fuck his life. and also fuck HuaiSang for being into weirdly sensual artsy porn on top of that. fuck his life. fuck the replay button too.
coincidentally, HuaiSang was his first kiss, first head, first everything only one year later and JC still talks to the jerk to an extent, but not because he wants to, okay? they were experimenting, but JC was still straight. he wanted to do good on his first actual relationship with a woman, whatever that meant for him at the time. HuaiSang was okay with that, the lying bastard. JC may or may not have grown fond of him by the time their graduation came, but they never got around to talk about it because they were stupid and young.
also, HuaiSang’s brother had caught them once and JC had known there and then why his non-boyfriend had decided to cut things loose afterwards. that jock was scary as fuck.
.
then. THEN. university came and Wen Qing was the one reminding JC he was still very much as straight and unbendable as he could get. it took him three years to not yell at her in frustration and ask her out: the sexual tension between them fueled by rivalry over good grades and the scholarship program they both wanted to have access to for their masters.
she had been the one asking him out. JC was lying about having the balls to do it, obviously. the fact that she also discovered to be a lesbian while being with him could have burned less, all things considered, but JC knew he had made love to her and that was enough for him. letting her go had been the right thing to do and they still talk everyday and she loves his nephew and everything is fine.
JC is FINE.
it only took him the two remaining years of his masters to get over her, but. FINE.
.
he’s not gonna talk about her brother. it happened only once. okay maybe once that particular night, at a bar and they were drunk and Wen Ning was nothing like his sister and the boy always had a slight crush on him and he was the one suggesting it, okay?
Wen Ning was kind and gentle and kissed way better than his sister and maybe after two years JC could get over it and move on and they could still be a family after all and that last stall in the staff toilet had been where JC’s bottom cherry was popped and oh gods that felt so good...
“actually, Jiang Cheng, you’re lovely. but I think I’m actually really straight so... I’m sorry. I hope we can still be friends?”
yeah. JC’s not gonna talk about fucking Wen Ning.
.
maybe the fact that his brother Wei Ying got married so soon was the reason why. it has to be.
JC hated, HATED Lan Zhan. he hated how much in love they were. how softly they moved around each other. how much he wanted some of that as well.
and since he was THAT petty he had to flirt with Lan Zhan’s brother (Lan Huan) because of it. the man was terrifyingly good looking and a gentleman. so much he didn’t want to give in to JC’s requests... because he already had a boyfriend.
JC knew nothing about said boyfriend aside from the fact that he was apparently a snake, whatever Wei Ying meant by that.
Lan Huan looked very intrigued, but he’s also very loyal and JC admired him for that. he didn’t want to have that conversation tho, the one where Lan Huan politely asked him to stop being so charming in his periphery, so JC decided to hide for a month or two and maybe extended that period of time and never show his face again while he’s at it.
Lan Zhan would have also had his head on a fucking plate if he dared touching his precious older brother so, there’s that as well.
.
so he dated a bunch of people after swiping them on apps left and right, got the hitch out of his system and felt miserable about it.
Nie HuaiSang came back into his life like, the day before JC started working for a new company and asked him out for a drink. HuaiSang was crushing for a man too young for HuaiSang’s comfort because he usually liked older men and this boy was fresh out of his bachelor and JC’s friend was well in his late twenties and didn’t have a job yet and...
JC shut him up with a kiss and they felt slightly less lonely afterwards, until they actually talked about their issues and decided to stop being messy and grow out of their bad habits.
JC still fells sick at the idea of being someone else’s “bad habit” though.
.
Wen Chao was a mistake.
Wen Chao’s girlfriend was a mistake.
Wen Chao’s brother was a mistake.
Their bloody uncle was a mistake.
Their father was an even more spectacular mistake.
JC has yet to find out how he survived the year of his thirtieth birthday, honestly. that shit had been wild as fuck.
.
YanLi and her husband offered JC to look after Jin Ling more often in order to make him feel some sense of safety, he knew that much. at the time, JC hated the fact that ZiXuan worried over him and that his own sister didn’t know how to help him either.
people at work had started to treat him differently as well, now that they knew how messy he was. he started getting treated for depression soon after being promoted to supervisor, his workaholic tendencies saving him from himself after years of sleeping around and drinking too much for his own good.
A-Su was YanLi’s friend from university and was kind enough to ask him out one day. she stayed with him for a year before apologizing to him, saying she wanted something more: a family, a future, something JC could have not given her anytime soon.
.
his brother and Lan Zhan adopted a boy and JC became an uncle for the second time. A-Yuan was difficult to look after, having survived stressful living conditions in his early childhood, so Wei Ying appreciated the extra hand when JC offered it to him and his husband.
looking after children forced him to be not so angry all the time and now Jin Ling had a cousin he could play with and was very glad his Jiujiu was feeling better.
.
when Lan Huan came back into his life, JC had forgotten about even attempting to win him over in his early twenties. it felt life a lifetime had passed.
they started as friends this time around, but JC felt nothing for him and he was okay with that. they were good uncles to A-Yuan and that was enough.
.
what really caught JC off guard was when Meng Yao stumbled upon him one day in midwinter, crashing on JC and sending his briefcase up in the air. the older man was apologetic and kind and gods forbid JC still needed some of that in his life. even if it was the other who had crashed into him, JC offered to buy him coffee since Meng Yao’s cup was now sadly rolling out frame on the snowy path.
to his utter astonishment, Meng Yao accepted.
JC took his time with him, willing to slow down and really get to know this new man who seemed so welcoming and easily approachable... yet so impossibly far and unreachable.
Meng Yao confessed cheating on his previous partner with his best friend five years prior and how he felt undeserving of another chance with someone as kind as JC. he revealed how therapy helped him work on his tendency of manipulating others and that this was the only reason why he wanted to be honest with JC and tell him the truth. so that the younger man could make up his mind if Meng Yao could be granted a chance with him.
this heartfelt confession startled JC in the beginning, especially bc Meng Yao seemed adamant about not sleeping with him for the foreseeable future, unless they talked it out some more.
on JC’s thirty-fourth birthday, one year after meeting Meng Yao, JC asks him to marry him during a pleasant dinner the older man has planned for him.
to his horror and absolute joy, A-Yao accepts.
JC didn’t mind not having been intimate with him until then, nor he would have minded if A-Yao never happened to change his mind on the matter. JC felt safe with him, even when he saw him reminiscing the past with grief painting his features behind his fake smile. JC knew he could give him happiness and so he asked him to meet the Jiangs for the first time to announce the good news.
all but Wei Ying and his husband have arrived the even JC brought A-Yao home, their car stuck in traffic. they start eating without them, with the couple’s permission. YanLi and ZiXuan didn’t bring A-Ling this time around, not willing to leave too soon and waste a chance to really get to know the new member of their family. JC’s father seemed pleased to meet with A-Yao, exchanging pleasantries and conversing about common interests...but JC’s mother is weirdly cold and distant that night.
once dinner came to a end, finally Wei Ying arrived, apologizing profusely for making the lot of them eat without them. however, nor he or his husband could take their eyes off of A-Yao...and neither could JC’s fiancé.
“if you still have some dignity to spare, I suggest you leave this very moment,” said Lan Zhan, the most he has ever spoken in one breath in front of JC. to which, to JC’s astonishment, A-Yao answered by giving JC one last look and the saddest smile he had ever worn...before leaving the house and never look back.
.
confused, heartbroken, humiliated...JC didn’t know what to feel when Lan Zhan explained to the lot of them what Meng Yao had done to Lan Huan after eight years together. cheating on the kindest man alive with an old acquaintance of his that to that day remained unnamed bc Meng Yao refused to reveal their identity.
JC’s mother didn’t have to tell her son that she had known all along something was off about A-Yao: JC could feel it in the way she was looking at him, sitting next to him on the couch. she had a sixth sense for venomous people.
the following year, JC is pretty sure it passed in a blur. he remembers working less hard than what he was expected to do, been consequently and rightfully demoted in his company. others gossiped about him being so proud for nothing in the end, which aggravated his mood.
to his surprise, his mother was the one suggesting him to take a break somewhere nice. to clear his head for a month or two before deciding what to do with his life. Wei Ying booked him a trip to Taiwan the following day and in less than a week JC is on a plane to take a long vacation there.
.
one night, roughly a week after his arrival at the hotel, JC was staring blankly at the skyline in deep thought. he had done the tourist-y shit, eaten all the foods in the best restaurants, brought presents for his family. and now he was bored out of his mind. the same, old questions swirling in his mind: did A-Yao lie when he said he loved him? did he lie just so he could have a fresh start and forget about the past? did he leave bc he felt guilty for his past with Lan Huan? was he serious when he had accepted JC’s proposal?
that’s when Mo XuanYu came barging into his life like a hurricane.
the younger man, seven years his junior, spotted him from an adjacent balcony and proceeded to talk to him as if...trying to de-escalate a suicide attempt from his part.
“sir, please. I’m sure there’s more to life than this. I don’t know what happened to make you feel this way but...everything will be fine in the end. I promise you. I was there. It’s okay. please don’t jump over the balcony.”
JC had no intention of jumping, just to be clear, but something in his eyes must have caught the kid’s attention and...was that a steward uniform he was wearing? did he work for the hotel? JC was none the wiser but that was the first time someone had reassured him so wholeheartedly without even knowing him and it felt...weird.
he started tearing up and the younger man panicked, promising to keep him company all night if necessary, reaching out with a hand to touch JC and reassure him from the other side. JC grasped it gingerly in his own and let himself be coaxed back to the realm of the living by such gentle soul.
JC hated himself for sleeping with him not even a week after their encounter.
but it just felt so good to let himself be guided by hand to the most hidden and wonderful places. away from the tourist crowd, eating delicious food with someone smiling prettily at him. yet he hated himself more for thinking about someone else in bed with him, at least in the beginning.
Mo XuanYu seemed to know anyway, and even encouraged him to just do whatever he felt like with him. casual hookups didn’t have to be meaningful, the younger man had said, and it wasn’t even the first time someone used him as a rebound either. still, something ugly stirred in JC at that.
so he decided to stop thinking about himself for once and shoved every bad memory away. all to pour his affection into someone else and cater to his lover for the following month and a half. borrowed time of a stolen season, during which JC doted on the younger man and learned to listen.
some of the stories Mo XuanYu told him felt slightly familiar, almost as if they had a friend in common and didn’t know who it might have been. after his shift, the younger man would ask to eat with JC and share his frustrations, repaying him in kindness with sweet kisses and even sweeter smiles that felt a little bit too brittle in the morning, when he was bound to leave.
by the end of JC’s trip it was clear to him that he had grown fond of the other man, too much for his own good. but during a vacation, away from home, surrounded by new and exciting things...anyone would have worn a mask to forget their normal life, that reality they would have eventually been forced to come back to.
by the end of his vacation, JC had figured out who their common friend was and remembered how distant Nie HuaiSang had felt falling in love with Mo XuanYu. how sad the younger man’s emotional unavailability has made him feel.
and when they parted ways at the airport, JC kissed him goodbye and never saw him again. the memory of Mo XuanYu’s brittle smile engraved forever in the back of his mind.
.
back to work. back to his bad bitch persona. it felt good to focus on his job and nothing else for a year or two, keeping others at distance while bossing them from his office as he regained his boss’s trust. being promoted a second time gave him the confidence he needed to move on with his life and by his thirty-seventh birthday he could finally see a future for himself.
therapy was helping a great deal and even his siblings seemed to notice his progress, praising him for his willingness to seek help and his hard work.
A-Yuan and A-Ling included: the kids were growing up too fast, involving their uncle in their school projects and plans for mischief any chance they got to see him.
Lan Huan caught everyone by surprise one day in autumn by confirming YanLi and Wei Ying’s suspicions about his breakup with Nie MingJue, Nie HuaiSang’s older brother.
the older man didn’t tell them why he had stepped back from his engagement with the man, aside from saying that the both of them had found out something concerning about their past and common acquaintances. the discovery making them feel so disheartened to the point of braking their engagement of mutual accord.
JC felt bad for the man, knowing how much it hurt to lose someone so dear. not that they had had been able to discuss over the matter much, not even after A-Yao had left. it would have been awkward to talk about their common ex and his penchant for secrets and hurting other people’s feelings.
but they understood each other well enough and started talking more, out of their common interest in their nephews and their well-being.
.
five years later, JC was forty-two and content with his life. A-Ling was close to thirteen and A-Yuan quickly approaching fifteen. he could see them growing up and out of his reach, but their affection for him never wavered. until one day A-Yuan called him in the middle of the night, startling him awake.
apparently, his best friend JinGyi had called him for help after being beaten up by his foster mother and A-Yuan didn’t know what to do. calling his parents would have only alerted and worried Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, who were probably still asleep and hadn’t even noticed their son had sneaked out in the middle of the night.
panicked and worried, JC called Lan Huan instead and they left for the hospital. and something hurt at the sight of such a young boy lying still on a bed too big for him. something else clicked in JC’s brain at the sight but it would have taken him several months to realize what exactly.
furious and restless, Lan Huan spend months looking for the woman who had hurt the child, eventually destroying her in court until he pried a confession out of her. social services immediately alerted as JC inquired over the possibility of giving the child a permanent home himself.
not even a year later, JC was able to welcome the kid in their new house in the quietest part of town. it took a while for the boy to adjust, worrying over JC eventually changing his mind and letting him go. “who even adopts someone close to be of age?” JinGyi had asked, frustrated and certain JC would grow bored of him.
but JC was there to reassure him every step of the way, telling him family was forever and not something easily dismissible. he repeated it until the boy seemed satisfied and called him “dad” for the first time one inconspicuous evening at dinner. if JC cried on his pizza, well, nobody has to know.
.
Lan Huan was glad to listen to JC gushing over his son, more than supportive and borderline enthusiastic to listen to every little progress and new success.
JC knew this was enough, but he would lie saying he hadn’t felt loved by the other man. yet, he didn’t dare hope he could have another chance at happiness at almost fifty years old. Lan Huan himself close to fifty-five and well settled into his career as a lawyer...too much to consider a valuable partnership with someone like JC.
his therapist had bashed him for ages over such insecurity, but JC could only smile at him and shrug. many people didn’t find their happy ending and he still had JinGyi to look after. which seemed a good way to spend the rest of his life.
so it came as a surprise when, one evening, as JC overlooked at Lan Huan building a piece of furniture with JinGyi in their living room, he started crying with love and affection.
“why are you crying Jiang Cheng?”
“I’m happy.”
he really was.
he still is to this day.
*
[they don’t marry, but they do spend the rest of their life together anyway]
