Chapter Text
Three different things are steaming, frying, and boiling in the kitchen, filling the apartment with delicious aromas. Half a year earlier, the stove was collecting dust, but Lan Jingyi's arrival changed everything and she doesn't complain to see her functions diminished.
It’s a joy to see Lan Xichen move through the kitchen, an environment that previously scared him, as naturally as a fish in water. His focused face when he chops something, stirs the stew, or tastes food for salt makes him look like a professional chef.
Mrs. Nang doesn’t know that Lan Xichen was just hiding all his nervousness under a calm facade. In fact, Lan Xichen is the most nervous he has ever been his entire life, preparing for a special occasion that has been planned several weeks in advance.
Jiang Cheng has finally accepted Lan Xichen's invitation for dinner—a triumph in itself considering all he had to do to make it possible.
First, Lan Xichen had to shift his work schedule to pick up Lan Jingyi from school (it wasn't easy, even being the boss). Then he had spoken to Mrs. Nang to inform her that he was going to relieve her of the task (thankfully, the woman hadn't asked any questions about it), and finally, he had to get close to Jiang Cheng as they waited for their children outside the school.
After several weeks of casually dropping the invitation in their everyday conversations, Jiang Cheng finally accepted. So Lan Xichen must prepare a meal worthy of a five-star restaurant in order not to lose face.
When the doorbell rings at six o'clock, Lan Xichen gives such a start that he almost spills the pot of lotus root soup on himself. But since he's alone in the kitchen, he's lucky no one notices how his hands tremble when he hears Jiang Cheng's voice greeting Mrs. Nang at the entrance. She will entertain them while Lan Xichen calms down and finishes plating.
“Hey.”
Or so he believed until he heard Jiang Cheng behind him.
“Good afternoon,” Lan Xichen says, wiping his hands on his apron. It’s almost surreal that the man who has accompanied him on all his culinary adventures is actually there, standing in the middle of his kitchen. Lan Xichen could almost believe that Jiang Cheng came out of his phone (still leaning on the blender with a video of Jiujiu and A-Ling paused) to materialize next to him.
“Smells good,” Jiang Cheng says, moving closer to see what's on the stove. Lan Xichen feels that he is going to faint. The kitchen is so small that he doesn't know which way he should move to avoid getting in the expert's way, and the tight space makes him hyper-aware of Jiang Cheng's every move.
“Thank you. I owe it all to you.”
Jiang Cheng snorts and shakes his head, but Lan Xichen can see that his lips are trembling.
"I hope it tastes as good as it smells."
“Me too,” Lan Xichen confesses, even though it's not the first time he's made soup and he already has months of cooking experience on his resume. “Where is A-Ling?”
“Your cousin invited him to play with his Nintendo Switch. They must be in his room.”
“Oh.”
Lan Xichen takes another bowl to fill it with soup. There are five bowls in all, three large ones for the adults (Mrs. Nang is invited to dinner as a thank-you for staying overtime that day), and two for the children. Three large and two small. It’s easy. Why is Jiang Cheng so close?
“Need help?”
Jiang Cheng makes as if to take the soup spoon from Lan Xichen's hands, so his fingers brush against Lan Xichen's skin. Consequently, Lan Xichen drops the spoon, letting it sink into the bubbling broth.
God, if Jiang Cheng already thought that Lan Xichen was clumsy enough to need help, now he must think it was a miracle that Lan Xichen could chop something without slicing his fingers in the process.
Lan Xichen's face matches the color of a tomato, and even turning his face to the window doesn't prevent Jiang Cheng from noticing it. Lan Xichen hears him chuckle, a sound that makes his heart flip, before saying, “Don't worry. I'll take care of it, go tell the children to wash their hands,” Jiang Cheng puts his hand on Lan Xichen’s shoulder, making him feel calm instantly. But not enough to avoid his cousin’s eyes.
"Are you alright, cousin?" Lan Jingyi asks after Lan Xichen pokes his head into his room with a flushed face.
Of course, Lan Xichen can't tell his cousin the truth and mumbles something about the hot weather as the cause.
However, Lan Xichen cannot lie to himself. Seeing Jiang Cheng moving in front of the stove before leaving the kitchen, coupled with his instructions to call the children (said as if they are their children), has painted an impossible image in his head. An image he'd better forget.
.
“I hope the food was to your liking,” Lan Xichen says once they finish eating, but his gaze keeps drifting to Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling. Especially since the latter has a reputation for being very picky.
"It's not bad, but I like the food jiujiu prepares better," the boy says, crossing his arms.
"A-Ling!"
“You're right, I still have a long way to go to reach your jujiu’s level,” Lan Xichen waves his hand to dismiss the matter. Besides, he doesn't want anything to spoil that night, when everything is perfect and his stomach is pleasantly full. “Still, do you want some dessert?”
Jin Ling's eyes light up hearing this, so Lan Xichen doesn't need to hear his answer and he stands up to serve them.
"Yay, ice cream!" Lan Jingyi jumps around the table. “Cousin, can we eat it in the living room? Please?”
Lan Xichen nods. That night he feels magnanimous, so magnanimous that if Mrs. Nang asked him for a raise, he would grant it without thinking. No, in fact, he will give it to her even if she didn't ask for it.
"I'm leaving, Mr. Lan," the woman says after the children have left and the distant sound of the television fills the house. “Thank you for the food, it was delicious. See you later, Mr. Jiang. It was nice meeting you.” Mrs. Nang says goodbye so quickly that Lan Xichen could almost think there’s something wrong and he only realizes her intentions when Jiang Cheng and himself are alone in the dining room.
"Would you like some ice cream?" Lan Xichen asks to break the silence.
“How about a drink?” Jiang Cheng is slouched in the chair with his ankle over his knee, so his pants rise slightly, showing his ankle. He looks like he came out of a gangster movie.
“Oh. I'll see what I can find.”
Lan Xichen rushes to search the cupboard and after finding nothing, he goes to his room. Luckily, he hasn't thrown away the cognac his coworkers gave him at the last company party and can present it to Jiang Cheng as if it were a trophy.
“You don’t drink?” Jiang Cheng asks as he sees Lan Xichen sit across from him with a cup of tea. The shadows have thickened as night fell, but the lamps in the corners of the dining room allow them to see each other.
“I have no alcohol tolerance. Sorry.”
Jiang Cheng shakes his head before taking the glass Lan Xichen offers him, making the ice cubes inside tinkle. The lamp to Jiang Cheng’s left illuminates his face with a warm light that emphasizes his high cheekbones and tightly pressed thin lips, more like a movie villain than someone who prepares delicious food to share with the world.
“What is it?” Jiang Cheng asks after noticing Lan Xichen's gaze on his face.
“Just wondering…”
“Why do I upload videos to the internet? You're not the only one, nor will you be the last to ask me that,” Jiang Cheng finishes his drink and reaches for a second one. He doesn't sound angry, but Lan Xichen doesn't press him to speak. “It's actually quite a long story. Do you really want to hear it?”
Jin Ling's parents died in a car accident when he was one month old. As Jiang Yanli's only brother, the only relative who would connect Jin Ling to his mother’s family, Jiang Cheng had fought tooth and nail against the boy's paternal grandparents for his custody and won in the end. However, that had only been the beginning of a long journey together.
Jiang Cheng didn't know anything about babysitting when he brought Jin Ling to live with him. He was only twenty years old, so he hadn't even finished college yet. He made a lot of mistakes in the beginning. But he learned, day after day, to recognize in his nephew's cries, if he needed a diaper change, if he was hungry or in pain, and he became as adept at business as he was at children by the time he finished college.
Once Jin Ling left the bottle behind, it was time to feed him porridge and solid food, a task that would have been easier for Jiang Cheng if he had resorted to canned food.
However, by then Jiang Cheng was committed to giving his sister's son the best and he wasn't content to give Jin Ling processed food. Thus, he began to experiment in the kitchen, guided mostly by the memory of seeing his sister doing this or that when she wanted to spoil her family. And everything had gone well.
"It's as if she guided me," Jiang Cheng says, staring into the distance, into the memories of his childhood and adolescence. “I know it sounds silly.” Lan Xichen shakes his head, but Jiang Cheng doesn't seem to notice it. “But I knew what to do. What to mix, what spices to use, how to choose the ingredients as well as she did... And then I started preparing different recipes because my nephew got tired of lotus soup with pork ribs.”
Jiang Cheng smiles, and Lan Xichen finds himself automatically imitating him. The gesture is full of affection—affection which is reflected in the dishes Jiang Cheng makes.
“One day I decided to upload a video for those in the same situation as me. I didn't know there were already hundreds of channels doing the same thing,” Jiang Cheng finishes his second drink and is about to pour himself a third when he reconsiders it and sets the glass aside. “And somehow, people liked it. They started asking me for more recipes and I made them. And since Jin Ling watched me cook, he always came to taste the food. That’s how the Jiujiu and A-Ling channel was born.”
“And I thank you for it. Jingyi would still be eating McDonald's if it weren't for you,” The aroma of cognac wafts through the air and Lan Xichen deludes himself into thinking that this is what leads him to put his hand on Jiang Cheng's.
“You would have found some other channel,” Jiang Cheng says, but he doesn't withdraw his hand. Lan Xichen's heart skips a beat.
“I found them, but only yours convinced me.”
“Flatterer.”
“It's true.”
Lan Xichen leans forward so that no shadow hides his features.
“Well, I already told you my story. What about yours?” Jiang Cheng asks, breaking the tension.
"It's similar to yours," Lan Xichen says, but launches into telling him everything that has happened in recent months, and by doing so, he feels that a huge weight is lifted off his shoulders. Knowing that someone else has experienced the same losses and had the same doubts makes him feel less alone. “Maybe that's why your channel resonated so much with me.”
Jiang Cheng nods and squeezes Lan Xichen's hand gently.
"Then I'm glad."
“Cousin!”
Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng get so startled that they almost knock the bottle and glass to the ground when Lan Jingyi appears before them.
“Did something happen?” Jiang Cheng frowns and makes a move to stand up. “Where is A-Ling? Is he ok?” His tone is one of anger, but Lan Xichen can tell Jiang Cheng is angry at himself for forgetting his nephew. Of course, Lan Jingyi doesn’t know it.
“He fell asleep on the couch,” Lan Jingyi says, cowering. “I just wanted to let you know.”
"I'm sorry." Jiang Cheng pats Lan Jingyi's head, ruffling his hair in the process. “We should get going. It's late.”
The clock on the wall reads nine o'clock, so Lan Xichen is not surprised when Lan Jingyi lets out a long yawn.
“Stay,” Lan Xichen says without thinking. And then, after blushing when he realizes the implications of his words, he corrects himself, “Stay. It's late and you should not wake Jin Ling up or he'll have a hard time getting him to go back to sleep. Also, you are in no condition to drive.”
"I'm not drunk." Jiang Cheng crosses his arms.
“Even so… I would be calmer if you left early tomorrow instead. There is an extra room where you can sleep peacefully. We promise not to disturb you.”
Jiang Cheng's hard expression softens a bit.
“It's your house, Lan Xichen. We are bothering you.”
“That’s not true.”
“You invited us for dinner and now…”
"You’re going to stay, right?" Lan Jingyi asks, ending the conversation once and for all. Jiang Cheng isn't immune to the boy’s sad puppy face, and seeing how excited Lan Jingyi is at the prospect of a pajama party, he ends up agreeing.
“I'll make you breakfast as thanks,” Jiang Cheng says before heading toward the living room. When he returns, he’s holding Jin Ling in his arms. “Could you show me to the spare room?”
Lan Xichen guides Jiang Cheng into the room next to his as if in a trance, more focused on the phantom sensation of Jiang Cheng's hand around his than in the way.
A part of him wishes Lan Jingyi hadn't shown up the moment he did, breaking the magic between them, but another part feels guilty for forgetting about the children for such a long time.
Also, although Jiang Cheng refuses to resume their conversation, at least he’s staying overnight.
"See you tomorrow," Jiang Cheng says before closing the door. And for Lan Xichen, it sounds like a promise.
.
Lan Xichen wakes up to someone tugging on his pajama sleeve to find Lan Jingyi standing by his bed.
“You couldn't sleep?” It's a silly question, but it's the first that occurs to his half-asleep mind. It's not the first time that Lan Jingyi shows up in his room in the middle of the night and it won't be the last, but luckily, the frequency of his nightmares have diminished over time.
“I'm scared.”
“Of?” Lan Xichen pats his cousin's head only to realize that he is trembling. “Don't worry. Everything's fine. Come, let's go to the kitchen for a glass of water.”
Lan Xichen is grateful for the hours spent in the gym when Lan Jingyi leans against his chest, since hismuscles are the only thing keeping his legs from bending under the kid’s weight. Luckily, the kitchen is not far away and he manages to reach it without turning on the hall light, thus avoiding disturbing his guests.
Or so Lan Xichen believes until he finds Jiang Cheng drinking something in the dark.
“Hey.”
"I'm sorry, did we wake you up?" Lan Xichen asks as he puts Lan Jingyi on a counter.
"I should be the one asking since I got here first." The kitchen is dark, so Lan Xichen can't see Jiang Cheng's face, but he seems to detect some amusement in his voice. Is he smiling?
“Don't worry, we just came for some water.”
Lan Xichen gropes along the wall for the switch, and as light floods into the kitchen, Lan Jingyi covers his eyes with his hands.
“Nightmares?”
“How do you know?” Lan Xichen asks, stopping halfway to pour the water.
“Jin Ling has them from time to time. Jingyi,” Jiang Cheng turns to focus on the boy. “I have a remedy for nightmares, do you want to try it?”
“Is it medicine?” the boy asks with a drowsy voice.
“No, actually, it’s very sweet.”
As soon as Lan Jingyi agrees, Jiang Cheng moves through the kitchen with lightning speed, making Lan Xichen hold his breath. However, Jiang Cheng doesn't make a fancy dish, instead, he pours some milk into a glass and adds a spoonful of honey before microwaving it for a few seconds. Once he checks that it's not too hot, he hands it over to Lan Jingyi.
“Do you feel better?” Jiang Cheng asks after seeing Lan Jingyi lick the last residue of honey from his lips.
“Yeah. I no longer feel that emptiness in my stomach.”
"I'm glad." Jiang Cheng ruffles Lan Jingyi’s hair a little more. “Ready to go back to bed?”
“Uh-huh.”
Lan Xichen spreads his arms without Jiang Cheng having to tell him anything and Lan Jingyi snuggles into them with a happy sound that infects Lan Xichen with that same happiness. There’s nothing that anguishes him more than not being able to protect Lan Jingyi from his nightmares and fears, so seeing him so relaxed as to fall asleep on the way to his room calms the emptiness that he himself felt in the pit of his stomach.
“Thank you,” Lan Xichen says to Jiang Cheng when they meet in the hallway.
“It’s nothing.”
“You have changed my life,” Lan Xichen insists after shaking his head. “I can never thank you enough.”
Lan Xichen knows that there’s nothing more to say. He should wish Jiang Cheng goodnight and return to his bed, but he doesn't want to leave. Not yet. Not when he feels that strange magic that floated between them hours before in the dining room has come back again.
"Then, what do you think if…?" Jiang Cheng looks away as if he were considering something and when he finally makes up his mind, Lan Xichen notices a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Yeah?”
Before Lan Xichen can process what's happening, Jiang Cheng pulls him towards him by wrapping his arm around his neck. Jiang Cheng’s lips are soft even though they are always pressed into a hard line and have a sweet taste that Lan Xichen can't quite pin down at the moment. His brain is busy enjoying the kiss while trying to keep his heart from bursting with excitement and he doesn't have time for anything else.
“Is that enough payback?” Jiang Cheng asks when they pull away so they can look into Lan Xichen’s eyes.
Lan Xichen reaches out a trembling hand to touch Jiang Cheng's cheek.
“Will there be more?” His question makes Jiang Cheng laugh and it's such a wonderful sound that Lan Xichen ends up answering his own question by leaning in to kiss him again.
“Satisfied? Can I go to bed now?”
“You can not.”
Lan Xichen steals one, two more kisses from Jiang Cheng, yet the latter doesn’t stop him but only smiles shyly. Lan Xichen is like a child in front of a delicious cake, never getting tired of the taste of Jiang Cheng's lips and the warmth his body exudes.
“Lan Xichen, it's time to sleep. We'll talk in the morning.”
“Really?”
Lan Xichen is actually asking if he can expect anything beyond stolen kisses at three in the morning. Kisses that could be explained and even excused with the closeness that their moment with Lan Jingyi caused.
“I promise.”
“Good. Okay,” But just in case, Lan Xichen dares to steal one last kiss from Jiang Cheng. And being the last one, they drag it out as long as possible, clinging to each other as if they were the only two people in the world, until…
“Jiujiu!” Jin Ling gasps so loud that Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen's foreheads collide in their attempt to pull away. If it weren't for the fact that Jin Ling could destroy any possibility of a relationship between him and Jiang Cheng, Lan Xichen would have laughed after seeing him with his arms crossed just two feet from where they stood.
Jin Ling looks like a father who just found the apple of his eye seeing the neighborhood thug. He's frowning, arms crossed and jaw clenched—he's the spitting image of Jiang Cheng when he's angry, and he's adorable.
When his uncle makes no move to come to his side, Jin Ling rushes to take his arm and pull him to the safety of their room. All while still glaring at Lan Xichen.
Jiang Cheng lets Jin Ling be to appease him and mouths Lan Xichen a good night before the door closes behind him.
Lan Xichen doesn't mind, in fact, he even lets out a suppressed laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.
A smile softens his features all the way to his bed.
Good night.
It already is, he thinks, touching his lips.
.
Lan Jingyi is the first to appear in the kitchen, drawn like a bee to honey by the aroma of breakfast. However, the person in front of the stove is not his cousin but another man as tall as him who he does not recognize at first.
“Good morning,” the man says when Lan Jingyi makes the mistake of hitting the doorjamb in his attempt to escape. “Hey, is something wrong?”
Lan Jingyi shakes his head. He had forgotten that Jin Ling and his uncle stayed over, so for a moment he thought a burglar had broken in. Now that he knows better (and even though Jin Ling's uncle doesn't have the friendliest face in the world), he steps into the kitchen to see what's on the pan
“I'm making pancakes. Do you like them?” Jin Ling's uncle is wearing his cousin's apron. But unlike when Lan Xichen wears it, it doesn't have a single food stain on it. “Take a seat. Do you want juice or milk?”
“Where’s Jin Ling?” the boy questions after asking the man for a glass of orange juice. He also finds it strange that his cousin hasn't shown up considering he's the first to get up even on weekends, but Lan Jingyi doesn't want to bother him if he's still asleep.
“He still hasn't woken up,” Jiang Cheng replies, leaning into the fridge as he can't locate the juice. Lan Xichen finds him in that position a few seconds later, having also been attracted by the sweet aroma of the pancake mix. “Hey. Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Lan Xichen smiles and his eyes shine when he sees Jiang Cheng moving around the kitchen, in such an idyllic scene that his heart melts. Jiang Cheng only has to kiss him good morning and tell him that breakfast is ready for Lan Xichen to think that they’re a happy family. Unfortunately, he’s not brave enough to take the initiative to kiss Jiang Cheng.
"Sorry for the intrusion into your kitchen."
“Not at all. I'm sure you're putting it to better use than I am.” Lan Xichen walks over to where Jiang Cheng is and gently pulls him by the apron out of Lan Jingyi's field of vision. “Do you need help with something?”
“No, thanks. I have everything under control.” Jiang Cheng brushes Lan Xichen's fingers as if by mistake, making a bunch of butterflies flutter around his stomach. “Please take a seat. I promised to make breakfast, remember?”
Seconds after Lan Xichen settles down and as Jiang Cheng puts three pancakes on a plate, Jin Ling's scream nearly makes him drop them to the ground.
“Jiujiu! Where are you, jiujiu?”
"A-Ling!" Lan Xichen is not surprised by how quickly Jiang Cheng responds. His face, so far serene, turns into a mask of concern and he doesn't hesitate to leave everything behind to go in search of his nephew.
“I’ll go. Don't worry,” Lan Xichen says and has to repeat it, as Jiang Cheng doesn't seem to be listening. At that moment he’s like a lion who sees his cub in danger and is willing to do whatever it takes to defend it. “Jiang Cheng, calm down.”
“Jiujiu!”
Since Jiang Cheng doesn't come out of his trance, Lan Xichen runs towards the guest room. Jin Ling screams at the top of his lungs as he stands in the middle of the hall, tears running down his cheeks. Just looking at him makes Lan Xichen's heart ache.
“Jin Ling, don't worry, your jiujiu is fine. He’s in the kitchen.”
At first, Jin Ling doesn't pay attention to him, so Lan Xichen dares to wrap him in his arms. Only then does he notice that the boy is shaking.
“I woke up and jiujiu wasn't there, and I was very scared because I wasn't in my room,” Jin Ling says and to Lan Xichen's surprise, he wraps his arms around his neck, wetting his shoulders with his tears. “Silly jiujiu.”
“Come. Everything's fine. I'll take you to him.”
Jiang Cheng runs to their side when they come in. Lan Xichen carries Jin Ling, which is surprising considering that Jin Ling doesn't like being treated like a baby, but Jiang Cheng doesn't comment on it.
"I'm sorry, A-Ling. I didn’t want to wake you up.”
“Silly jiujiu,” Jin Ling says, wiping away his tears with his fists.
"Forgive me, A-Ling.”
“Don't do it again, okay?” Jin Ling's scolding tone is ruined by his hiccups. However, no one dares to laugh (not even Lan Jingyi, who follows the scene with great interest) and Jiang Cheng closes the matter by nodding solemnly.
Lan Xichen puts Jin Ling in the seat next to Lan Jingyi's after the kid struggles in his arms, and for a while, no one says anything. The silence is only broken when Jiang Cheng puts a plate with three pancakes in front of each of them.
“Coffee?” He asks Lan Xichen while he serves milk to Jin Ling.
“Please.”
Coffee mugs are the icing on the cake of the perfect breakfast table. In the center are honey, jam, and hazelnut cream to accompany the pancakes, along with some chopped fruit that complements the children's diet.
Jin Ling drinks milk, which leaves a white mustache on his lips, and Lan Jingyi's glass of juice is already empty, while the adults enjoy their coffee (Jiang Cheng's black, with no cream or sugar)
Lan Xichen wishes that every morning was as perfect as this. And when he feels Jiang Cheng's hand on his under the table, he knows it's possible. It will be hard to win over Jin Ling, who now narrows his eyes at them as if he is suspecting something, but Lan Xichen is willing to try.
They will be a family. Lan Xichen silently promises Jiang Cheng by intertwining their pinkies under the table.
THE END