This will have a secuel. Thanks for reading!

Spring Semester

2

Jiang Cheng came home tired and barely had any energy to cook. The thought of eating Wuxian's food was what kept him up, standing in front of the stove. Once he had eaten, he showered and slept like a baby, too well for being a student. He slept relatively early, so he woke up before the alarm went off. He stretched, looking towards the window. It was still dark, but he wasn't tired at all. Not anymore.

He was glad Huaisang had texted him the day before, he had needed an urgent break from all the essays and presentations he had due.

He got up to make breakfast, knowing Wuxian had early lessons that day too. As he pushed a coffee capsule into the coffee machine, Wuxian popped up in the kitchen, yawning and sprawling across the table. He looked like he was going back to sleep right there and Jiang Cheng snorted.

"Don't be that dramatic, everyone has early lectures."

He kept on grumbling as he made coffee for himself.

"If I didn't know you, I would think you're just not a morning person, when in reality you're not a whole day person," Wuxian mocked him but thanked him for the coffee.

Jian Cheng glared daggers at him as he spread butter on his toast. Wuxian smiled at him and ate without any more dumb comments, which Jiang Cheng thanked. After breakfast, each of the brothers got ready for class and left the apartment together, separating when they reached campus. Jiang Cheng walked towards the building his class was in. He shared that class with Huaisang, although he usually wondered if his friend would show up considering how early it was.

Surprisingly he was already there.

He was sitting already in the last row. Jiang Cheng wasn't a fan of sitting all the way in the back, but since Wuxian wasn't in business class anymore and Jin Zixuan wasn't taking that class, he walked all the way up to sit next to Nie Huaisang.

"Morning," he greeted and Huaisang looked up.

"Ah… morning."

Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow. He first sat down, though, and got his Macbook out, starting it up. His WhatsApp webpage popped up when he opened the browser, but he closed it again and his gaze went up to the front, seeing it still empty, no sign of the prof.

"So… what is it?" he asked.

"Wow, took you literally no time," Huaisang murmured, genuinely surprised.

"What is it?" he repeated.

Huaisang bit his lower lip and Jiang Cheng frowned.

"My brother..."

"Your brother what?"

"...knows."

Jiang Cheng blinked.

"What? How? Did it slip out of you?"

"No, he... he... was home yesterday."

It took his friend a second or two to get what he meant, and as realization hit him, all color fled from his face. He didn't say it, but it was written all over his features.

We were really loud.

Huaisang, completely red on the other hand, gulped, still chewing on his lip. Jiang Cheng threw a quick glance over his computer edge and leaned in.

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth, what else should I've told him?" Huaisang snorted. "That we're not in a relationship, just having fun. And that we use protection." The last part was meant ironically, yet Jiang Cheng could hear the nervousness behind it.

"Did he believe it?"

"I think... but he still likes to annoy me calling you my boyfriend."

"Fuck." Jiang Cheng cursed and as Huaisang stared at him he hastily added. "Not that it offends me, it's just your brother..."

"I know, I know, is like your senior and you respect him a lot and wish to make a good impression."

Wanyin had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

"Look, I don't think this is really a big problem, it's just... people will start to know about us, I feel like…"

"We kind of lost control of it," Jiang Cheng mumbled and looked again around them with discretion. Huaisang just looked at him.

"So...?"

"So what?"

"What do you want to do?"

"Can we really do something?"

Huaisang shrugged.

"We can stop it if you want."

Jiang Cheng frowned.

"Why if I want?"

He shrugged again.

"Dunno..." he murmured and suddenly smiled and looked past him.

The next second, some of their classmates were around them, dragging chairs and sitting down with them. Jiang Cheng had a hard time switching so abruptly, watching with some disbelief how easily Huaisang acted as if they weren't about to have a fight.

He didn't get to talk with Huaisang later that day. Wuxian texted wanting to know if he would eat lunch at home and he agreed on going back to eat.

"You look especially gloomy, did something happen? You fought with A-Sang?"

Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow.

"Why him?"

"You two are a thing. And I'll take that as a yes."

"We are not a thing." Jiang Cheng snorted. "We didn't fight."

"Then, what happened?" Wuxian sighed.

"Are you really the right person to talk about human relationships?"

"Mind you, I do have a pretty good relationship. And it's not like you are mister relationship expert, ok?" Wuxian snorted, offended.

The fell silent for a few minutes before Wuxian started talking again about some random thing that happened that day. Jiang Cheng listened and occasionally commented on something, forgetting for a moment his own bad mood. However, when they finished eating and started cleaning up, Wuxian made sure he was miserable again.

"Why don't you talk about it with shijie if you don't want to tell me about it?"

Jiang Cheng hesitated for a moment, thinking of his sister and her on-off relationship with Jin Zixuan. She did indeed have experience dealing with idiots. Has been doing it all her life after all.

"Whatever," he mumbled before fleeing the kitchen, leaving the dirty dishes to his brother. He heard him call him in protest, but ignored him as he stepped out to the balcony. He grabbed Wuxian's cigarettes from the chair they left outside and sat down. After he noticed he had no lighter with him, he quickly went to get one from the living room and finally sat down and lit a cigarette.

He exhaled into the still cold spring air, staring into the darkness. Their apartment was high enough to be able to look over the building on the other side of the street and they had quite a nice view. Even at night one could enjoy the city lights. He wasn't that interested in them that day though. He unlocked his phone and started scrolling through social media. He looked at his most recent chats, his finger hovering over his sister's profile picture. He checked if she was online at the moment, which she wasn't. He decided to finish his cigarette and then called. It took a few seconds, but she quickly answered.

"Hello? A-Cheng?"

"Hi, sis," he barely greeted her.

"Hi!" He could almost feel her smile through the phone. "How are you? Is everything ok with you and A-Xian?"

"Yes, yes, everything is fine. We're fine," he said, yet he knew she would catch on the slight implication.

"I see…" she mused. "And… everything else is fine, too?"

He paused, not sure what to reply.

"Yeah… I guess."

"You guess?" The soft voice of his sister calmed him down and made him nervous at the same time. She was a familiar warmth on which he could always rely, yet she read him so well it was nerve wrecking. "Isn't there anything you want to tell me?"

He gulped.

"Why would you say that? Can't I just chat with my sister?"

"You usually call during lunch time when you just want to chat."

"What? Seriously?" He blinked. "I never noticed…"

Yanli laughed.

"You do. So, what's the issue, brother?"

Jiang Cheng sighed, pressing his fingertips against his temple. He imagined his sister sitting on her couch, probably already in her pajamas, with an episode from some series she had to pause for him.

"Does it have anything to do with A-Xian's traumatic experience from the other day?"

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes.

"Did he actually call it a traumatic experience?"

She chuckled.

"Well, not exactly, but the tone… You know."

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean." He snorted, but had to laugh. "Well… sort of. The thing is, Huaisang…"

"Oh, it's Nie Huaisang?" she interrupted him. Jiang Cheng paused, first in confusion and then in even more confusion.

"I thought Wuxian told you?"

"He only mentioned he walked in on you with someone else. I was wondering who…"

Jiang Cheng cursed mentally. Who would have thought Wuxian had actually the decency to not go gossip with their sister?

"Well, yes. It's him."

"How are you still alive? You know his brother is kind of famously controlling, right?"

"Actually, the brother is kind of involved in this."

"Are you safe?"

He had to laugh.

"Yes, sis. I'm safe."

"Then, what is it?"

Jiang Cheng bit his lip.

"I… I think I should clear up that we're not dating. Or anything." He paused, waiting for her to say something about it. He knew his sister was even more on the conservative side when it came to sex and relationships, although she wouldn't judge him. Just maybe be a bit taken aback.

"Oh," was all she said after a moment. "Ok… I see. So… did it become complicated?"

"Sort of… I don't really know," he murmured. "I mean… It was all fine before people started finding out. Which is why he kept if to ourselves in the first place. And even now it's not that many people who know…"

He was rambling, he noted. But it was hard to stop now that his sister was listening. Yanli didn't talk, letting him just mutter and spit out words without any concrete order, just thinking aloud.

"I mean… we could just keep on doing like we have up to now, right?"

"It's obviously not that easy," she finally talked again. "It sounds to me like he just doesn't want any trouble for neither of you."

"Yeah, he's the type to avoid any conflict or complication…"

"I think he's also thinking of you," she retorted.

Jiang Cheng shut his mouth. Yanli sighed.

"Even if it's true that you two don't have any romantic relationship, you are still very close friends, right?"

"I can't really deny that…"

"See? Maybe he was just anticipating what he thought you would want. You can seem like too driven sometimes."

"Are you scolding me or something? I thought being ambitious was one of my few good qualities."

Yanli huffed.

"You… could relax a bit more sometimes."

"I am relaxed," he murmured, offended. She laughed again. "I get dragged into trouble because of Wuxian every weekend instead of focusing on myself, but aside from that I'm pretty much relaxed."

"Wow, so relaxed. I truly hope you won't drop out now!"

He growled, but her laugh calmed him down in no time again.

"You should just talk about it," she finally said. "There's really no other solution. It might not even be that big of a problem but it can become one if you act as if there's nothing."

"Hm. I guess you're right."

"You guess?"

"I will give it a try."

"I'm glad to hear that."

He smiled, murmuring that he had to go work a bit on his homework before going to sleep.

"Goodnight then," she sighed. "Tell A-Xian a goodnight too."

"Yes, he probably will call you too now that he knows you have time." He laughed. When he finally hung up, he felt lighter. Not that he figured anything out, but he felt like he had just gone home for a whole weekend.

He looked again at his chats, seeing Huaisang's name among the ones higher up. He decided that he could clear things up the next day. He did have homework after all.

He didn't have any shared lectures that day with Huaisang, which led to him actually forgetting about him for that and the next day. It wasn't his fault that he was drowning in work to do. It was actually Huaisang who showed signs of life on Thursday.

Hey sexy
wyd this weekend

Jiang Cheng blinked at the unexpected good mood, but then laughed.

Hopefully you.

What? He liked the banter.

Sure u will want to after meeting my parents?

Wait what.

Before he could ask, Huaisang wrote:

Ok, seriously now. they overheard my brother mentioning u and now they won't believe ur not my bf. So... ur invited to dinner. Yay, family time~

This must be a joke. It has to be. At no point when they started this thing was the idea of meeting parents involved. And Huaisang liked to taunt him, so it had to be a joke.

Wanyin?

You serious now?

His phone started ringing and with a murmured curse he hurried out of the library and answered.

"Look, I'm really sorry," Huaisang immediately started babbling. "I swear I told them my brother was just joking."

"And did he, too?"

"No!" Huaisang shouted. "He's being a jerk right now and won't admit I'm telling the truth!" Huaisang huffed and Jiang Cheng was genuinely impressed. He had never actually heard his friend, ever, utter a single bad word on his brother. Ever. His respect for Mingjue might be very hard to separate from fear, but he did adore his brother deeply.

"So… They want to meet me?"

"Yeah."

"Why would I show up if I wasn't your boyfriend?"

"Hm, you got a point. But they won't stop annoying me!"

Jiang Cheng looked up to the sky in exasperation.

"How is that of my concern?"

"My ass if of your concern so you could do me this favor and come tell them you're not my bae."

"Please don't ever say that word again."

"Only if you come."

I'll rather come in your face, his dirty mind whispered and he felt his face heat up. Holy shit, that wasn't supposed to be his thought train at that moment. So he just cursed.

"Ok, but I hate you and I will fucking kill you if it doesn't convince them. Or if you invite me to any other family reunion."

"Yay, you're my savior!" Huaisang cheered, ignoring his threat. Jiang Cheng sighed.

"And I'm not wearing anything fancy," he scoffed.

Huaisang laughed, a crystal clear, soothing sound now.

"Don't worry, we will just be going to some Italian place. Nothing fancy, I promise."

Jiang Cheng huffed.

"Good. Food better be good."

"It will."

He could see his smile in front of him and decided to cut it there. He said goodbye and hung up before his mind could come up with some excuse to drag the conversation. Huaisang wished him good luck with whatever project he was still working on.

The place they went to really was just every other Italian restaurant ever. Reds, greens and whites everywhere, Italian sounding name paired with the picture of a stereotypical Italian cook. At least he was getting good pizza, he hoped.

Huaisang's father was… basically Nie Mingjue but older, with more wrinkles and shorter hair, but otherwise just as bug, buff and deadly looking. With them went Huaisang's mother, Mingjue's stepmother he supposed. He never tried to picture her yet she somehow seemed exactly what he had expected. Short, slim, delicate features and a friendly smile. The couple was a walking cliché of opposites.

They were nice though.

He had no issues with Nie Senior, he wasn't a softie like Huaisang and he already had interacted a few timed with Mingjue to be already used to their harsh personalities. Besides, his own mother was a beast, so really nothing new for him.

"Jiang Wanyin," he introduced himself as he stretched their hands before entering the restaurant and waiting to get placed. Both parents greeted him with politeness, the mother with a more welcoming smile. Not that he expected it from the father, but at least Huaisang's mother didn't look like he wanted to eat his head.

"So, the boyfriend." The father mustered him as they sat down and Jiang Cheng cringed inside, knowing from the sour look Huaisang was sporting that he felt the same.

"Actually… we're only friends."

Come on, let's get over this fast, he thought.

"Like I told you already like a thousand times," Huaisang adds grimly.

His father frowned.

"Then why is he here?" he asked with a harsh tone and Wanyin stared at Huaisang. His friend sighed.

"You wouldn't believe me unless he told you himself," he murmured and his mother let out a soft chuckle.

"So you invited him to present him to your parents?"

Huaisang went red and Jiang Cheng had trouble keeping a straight face when he was being this amused. He wasn't enjoying his own situation, but seeing Huaisang struggle to keep his dignity was sure entertaining. The youngest of the Nie puffed his cheeks, hiding behind the menu.

"Well, I guess we will have to believe it for now," Senior Nie finally shrugged and started looking at the menu too. His wife did the same, but kept glancing from one student to the other. Mingjue just inspected the food options without caring too much for the teenage drama.

It was the mother who started the talking once they placed their orders. She asked where they know each other from, how long, where he is from and other normal, boring stuff. He eventually mentioned their own business; how he himself hoped to someday take on his family's logistics company.

"Lotus Logistics? Really?" The father suddenly spoke up. "Ha, what a small world."

Jiang Cheng blinked and Mingjue huffed.

"Starting next year, we will be changing logistics services. Lotus is our new option."

He already spoke as if he owned the company, bold considering the actual boss was right next to him, but neither seemed to care. He guessed Mingjue was mature enough to have the right to speak about the company like his own, even if he officially wasn't working there yet.

"Indeed, what a small world," he murmured.

"Ha, if you were actually together that would be so funny." Huaisang's mother laughed and Jiang Cheng out of pure politeness chocked out a desperate laugh too.

The rest of the evening was less tense, luckily. He did eat one of the best pizzas that he had ever ingested. And once the first bottle of wine had made its course around the table, Huaisang's father and brother finally loosened up a bit, making conversation more fluid and relaxed. At the end, they even dropped him off at his apartment. They sat in the back of the car, with Huaisang's mother driving while she questioned Mingjue about his current workplace, and Mingjue clearly not enjoying being squeezed with the two teens in the back seats. Jiang Cheng felt Huaisang's fingers next to his hand and he discretely touched his palm, tickling him. Huaisang did his best to not squirm, but a small smile pended on his lips.

He thanked them when they let him out in front of his building. Huaisang's mother winked at him before they drove off.

He sighed, satisfied and tired after a weird night out with his not parents in law. Wuxian wasn't at home so it was silent in the apartment when he stepped in. He decided to have a quick smoke and a shower before going to bed. When he lied down, however, he remembered what he was supposed to do the now past week. Groaning, he fished for his phone and opened WhatsApp, messaging Huaisang.

Hey
I actually wanted to talk with you.

About what?

Just clear up the situation.

I guess that's due…

Tomorrow? Or are you busy with family.

Yup, this weekend will be difficult :P Monday after class?

At my place?

Will you be able to keep your hands to yourself?

Who do you take me for?

Huaisang grinned at his phone until his brother kicked him under the table.

"Not my boyfriend my ass," he grumbled as he stood up and started washing the dishes. Huaisang pouted and fled to his room. At least his parents weren't staying at their apartment but in a hotel nearby. They wouldn't notice his absence on Monday. And he wouldn't be happy to know his mother could be snooping around his room while he was in class.

Monday came around. They met up in front of the campus entrance and strolled to the bus stop. Huaisang started talking about his family weekend, about his mother achieving to somehow make her way into their apartment and start complaining about how dirty everything was.

"It seemed pretty clean to me last time I was there," Jiang Cheng murmured, raising a brow in confusion.

"Not for my mother." Huaisang sighed. "She may look like the laid back one but she's as much of a psycho as my father." He laughed and then added. "Psycho as in… not really. You know"

Jiang Cheng laughed.

"You know I'm not a psychology student, I only use psycho in the non accurate way."

"Well, you never know," Huaisang defended himself.

The bus ride was short and as they were approaching his apartment, he decided to get some food delivered. After some bickering a no consensus about what they should eat, Huaisang rolled his eyes and told him to just get kebab or Chinese food. As they entered the apartment, he got rid of his jacket and shoes and hopped on the couch.

"Already stripping?" Jiang Cheng joked and did the same. Huaisang bit his lip.

"For you, always." He smiled, a curious mix between a sly smirk and a coy simper.

"You're making this difficult." Jiang Cheng laughed, almost not sure if it was a joke or not. Huaisang squinted at him.

"Ok, then I better stop with the play flirt because that will only make us fuck again."

Jiang Cheng snorted.

"You started, but alright."

"So…"

They fell silent, awkward for the first time in literal months. Jiang Cheng gulped.

"Are we going to keep on with this? Being friends with benefits?"

"Do you want to?"

"Why is it what I want? Do you want to?"

Huaisang tensed and started rolling a hair strand around his finger. Before he could answer, it got the better of Jiang Cheng.

"If you want to stop, I can accept it. I'm not forcing you to…"

"You're not forcing me to anything, don't say that. I just thought…"

"That I was worried about my reputation or whatever?"

Huaisang blinked.

"Since when do you actually read people?"

Jiang Cheng snorted.

"My sister had to talk some sense into me," he begrudgingly admitted. Huaisang laughed softly.

"I see. Well, then… you don't?"

"Honestly, I don't know why it would matter, even if people knew. Most people here have a fuck buddy."

"Right." Huaisang nodded. "So we just keep things like they are."

"What about your parents?"

"I think they settled for being just annoying but aren't taking it seriously anymore."

"Family." Both sighed but with smug looks on their faces. Huaisang seemed like he was to add something more when the door-bell rang, startling them both.

"Wait a sec." Jiang Cheng went to get the food at the door. Huaisang waited for him, smiling when he brought a bag with a well know logo.

"Sushi!" He cheered, grabbing for it. "You got…"

"Yup, your favorite." Jiang Cheng passed him the bag with a slightly cocky grin. Huaisang immediately opened the plastic containers to inspect which ones he bought, starting to eat once they had soy sauce in a small dish.

They decided to watch a movie while eating and settled on Now you see me, though both had already seen it before and weren't really paying attention. Huaisang was more fixated on the food and occasionally his phone, and Jiang Cheng observed him, brooding. He dipped another roll in the sauce and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Hey..." he called while still munching on the rice.

"Hm?"

"Why exactly aren't you studying psychology again?"

"I do, it's my minor."

"You know what I mean."

Huaisang sighed.

"Hey, I'm really glad I can take something like that besides my business classes."

"Something like that? Psychology isn't just any [career], it's a pretty tough one. Even though you don't seem to have problem with it."

"Well, it's only my minor..."

"Stop that, I struggle with my minor as much as with my major. You enjoy your minor more than you suffer because of it."

Huaisang fell silent. He averted his eyes, pushing them away from him and hid them in the plastic container. Jiang Cheng sighed.

"I'm serious..."

"Why?"

"You hate economics. You just do it for your family, but I'm starting to think that it's not as bad as you think."

"You don't know them."

"They seemed more open than what you painted them."

Again, Huaisang didn't answer.

"And you really like psychology, as in sometimes you don't even notice you're talking about it. And you enjoy it."

Huaisang let out a short laugh.

"My, my, since when do you know me that well?"

Jiang Cheng huffed.

"I know quite a lot about you, you little…"

He didn't finish his sentence. Instead he grabbed another roll and waited for Huaisang to pass him the soy dish. He stayed until the movie finished. They might or might not have gotten a bit distracted, or maybe it was just that their hands were getting bored of doing nothing. They did break apart though, when they heard the door open and Wei Wuxian entered with a literal bang. Jiang Cheng immediately started bitching about him always slamming the door, as if it were some sort of natural response.

"At least now I warned you of my presence," Wei Ying retorted as he noticed Nie Huaisang's on the couch, his usually neat hair disheveled. That they were slightly breathless didn't escape him either. Jiang Cheng flipped him off and Wuxian stuck out his tongue before going to his room. Huaisang decided it was time to go and looked for his shoes and his jacket.

"Oh, you're not staying for dinner?" Wuxian asked as they crossed paths in the corridor.

"We already ate," Wanyin chimed in as he caught up with them on his way to the kitchen.

"Yup, and my parents are visiting so I gotta go before my brother lets it slip that I'm not home."

Jiang Wanyin followed him to the door and Huaisang said goodbye before finally leaving. Wanyin locked the door as no one else was leaving for the day and turned around to see Wuxian still standing in the corridor. He was looking at him with an amused smirk.

"What?" Jiang Cheng barked at him. Wuxian's evil grin just grew wider.

"Congrats on reaching the 'we' stage, it only goes downward from here on."

His hysterical laughter really did touch a nerve this time, and Jiang Cheng didn't even pretend he tried to not slap him on the head. "Ough, that hurt!"

"Then stop spurting nonsense!" Jiang Cheng hissed as he strode to the kitchen.

…

As Huaisang stepped out into the night, it was cold. He zipped his jacket after pulling it stronger around him and fell into hasty steps, wanting to get to the bus as fast as he could. During his descent on the elevator, he had noticed he had way too many messages from his mother asking why he wasn't home for dinner. He had excused himself with a short message explaining he had been working in the library and then put the phone away so she wouldn't see him online. Better be safe, he thought as he hurried now.

When he arrived at his apartment, his parents were still there. Apparently, they had opened a bottle of wine, again. Not that he would say no to a glass or more.

His mother started again with the questions until his father took interest in the conversation, too, and began bugging him about his grades and if he was studying enough. Huaisang resisted the urge to roll his eyes and storm off to his room, staying only because there was a second bottle of wine. Joys of finally reaching adulthood: drinking with your parents while they still treat you like a child. He kept sipping from his wine glass until he felt sleepy and heavy, using the excuse to flee to his bed. When he finally lied down, the world was turning slowly around him.

"God…," he whispered and sighed. He closed his eyes, but his dizziness didn't fade. It seemed like he would have to endure it until his body could process the alcohol intake. Come on, Huaisang, he told himself. You've had worse. He could still hear his family talking in the other room; a low murmur of well-known voices he couldn't quite decipher. He was sure he heard his name a few times, though. However, it didn't last long and apparently, they finally left. He heard Mingjue's steps, short, heavy thumps passing in front of his door.

He wondered what they had been talking about. His brother always seemed closer to their parents than him, especially to their father. It was a fact that their father was extremely proud of Mingjue, had always been. They were really similar in character and aspirations, so their father, being so proud of himself, was obviously also proud of his brother.

Huaisang had always struggled to connect with his father and brother. Not that he didn't love his family, that was unthinkable for him. He actually knew he would do anything for them. Wasn't that the reason why he was enduring this boring major? Wasn't that the reason why he chose science electives during high school instead of developing his artistic skills? The conversation from earlier seemed to make its way back to his thoughts and he cursed at Jiang Cheng. Since when was he the one to actually sit down and talk some sense into him. Jiang Cheng out of all people.

He knew it was stupid to force himself through five or more years (and the whole future ahead of him) of economics if he never actually had any interest in it. And to hear it from his friend, who was highly passionate about what he was studying…

He did feel dumb. Not that it was a new feeling, but it felt different when being called out like that. Maybe a part of him wanted to slap Wanyin for messing him up like that, being too nosy and giving his two cents where they weren't requested. However, before being his fuckbuddy, Wanyin had already been his close friend. And he still was.

He honestly did not know what to do now. Regretful as it was, the idea had already been planted into his head and it did not leave the following days. Having his parents around when he was pondering about it wasn't helping his nerves. He feared that they could perfectly see what was going on in his mind and then call him out for it. He had always struggled with the anxiety of being an open book toward his family.

It eventually happened the afternoon his father visited Mingjue's working place, leaving him in charge of entertaining his mother. Or maybe she had deliberately stayed behind to corner him in his own living room.

"So, what's keeping your mind so occupied? Is it that boy?"

She looked at him expectantly and Huaisang sighed.

"No, mom. Again he's nothing like that to me."

"Then why the intense brooding? Did something happen?" She kept on inquiring. Her son turned his gaze away, feeling more nervous now. She knew perfectly well that if she put on just enough pressure on him, he would let it all out.

"Was it that obvious?" Huaisang pouted and his mother laughed.

"Honey, you're my son."

"Fair enough."

"So?"

He paused, doubting again. She seemed relaxed now, but what if his thoughts upset her? What if she opposed totally to this idea? He glanced at her again. She was still waiting eagerly to get a glimpse of his mind. He took a deep breath.

"What… What if I said I didn't want to keep studying economics?" he murmured.

His mother blinked.

"I thought we were talking about your boy."

Huaisang sighed, exasperation bubbling in his stomach.

"He's not… Ok, forget it."

"No, wait." She put a hand on his arm. He looked at her, swallowing the lump in his throat, but fought it down, not wanting to start crying just over nothing. His mother's hand had a soothing effect on him, something warm yet firm, but he still feared her judgment. "How long have you been thinking about this?"

"Not that long… Just a few days because of a conversation I had with Jiang Wanyin."

Surprisingly, she didn't comment on the latter part. Instead, she said: "Well… I always knew you disliked your classes, even when I tried to ignore it. I guess I wanted to think you chose your major on your own free will. But if you're feeling this way, I guess that wasn't completely the case. Are you sure you haven't been thinking this over for more time?"

Huaisang looked a bit abashed. It hadn't been his intention to make his mother feel bad just because he had felt pressured to choose a career he couldn't care less about.

"No… It had always been clear to me what I had to do," he whispered, his emotions making it difficult to speak clearly.

"There never was something that you had to do, though. Did we ever make you feel this way?"

"Well…"

"I know your father is a bit conservative and has a very narrow concept of what a decent career is, but you are his son. He would have accepted it," she continued.

"But Mingjue always knew he would work in the family business… I didn't want to be less of a…" He actually didn't know how to complete the sentence and just let it drop. His mother took his hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

"Your brother expects way more from himself than anyone else."

"That… sounds right."

"Because I am right." She laughed softly. "And you for some reason have always tried to fill in your brother's footsteps instead of going your own way, even though at the same time you assumed you weren't at all like him."

Huaisang bit his lip.

"Well… he is my big brother. We are related, we have the same father and have been brought up by the same mother."

His mother smiled.

"But you're also your own person, aren't you?"

"Yeah…"

He didn't know what else to say.

"Besides," his mother continued, "It's not like you have wasted time. These two years surely must have taught you something you someday might use."

"Probably," he agreed, although the idea of wasting two years made him shudder.

"Do you want me to tell your father?" She offered, as if she could read his mind.

He shook his head.

"I still want to think about it. I want to figure it out."

She nodded and smiled.

"Good. I know you will," she declared and kissed his cheek.

He smiled, relieved.

The weather started to get hotter, the days longer. The end of the semester was leering at the end of the month, closer and closer to its poor victims. Yet out of all people, Huaisang seemed to be fairly relaxed. Weirdly relaxed. Wei Wuxian was, obviously, too. The world would crumble before he would show any sign of stress. But the people who knew Huaisang, especially his classmates, had been witnesses of how finals could wreck his poor soul and sanity.

They were lying sprawled out on the grass area of some nearby swimming pool, Huaisang and Jiang Wanyin looking through the textbooks and articles they had brought with them. Wuxian, instead, took a watermelon out of his backpack and started cutting it as evenly as he could before handing out slices to his friends. While they tried to keep the juice from dripping onto the pages of their books, the music student leaned over one of Huaisang's printed out papers.

"I keep forgetting that you have a minor," he commented when he noticed the subject he was studying for.

"How? We keep going out with my friends from psychology," Huaisang wondered.

"Right… I don't know, I just never realize that you study two things…"

"Don't we all?" Huaisang blinked and Jiang Cheng snorted.

"Don't listen to him, he can't be considered a regular student at all."

Wuxian laughed.

"Shouldn't you be helping him, brother?"

Wanyin barely looked up to him.

"We are studying for two different lectures."

"Yeah, but you have other lectures that you share. And Huaisang always complains how he will never make it."

Huaisang actually blushed and let out an offended sound.

"Besides," he muttered, "I gave up on Financial Accounting. It's just too much and I will fail anyways, so I'm studying for my other exams now." He added a shrug and an apologetic smile. Wuxian figured that he finally understood that stressing over grades just wasn't worth it.

(Not like he, a born genius, could ever understand the simple mind of the average human.)

Jiang Cheng leaned over, too, looking at the title of one of the papers he was reading.

"Sounds interesting," he mumbled. "Is it hard?"

"Not really, I actually had something similar in another class, so the concepts aren't new to me," Huaisang answered, explaining in a few words what it was about. Jiang Cheng looked at him, a slight shift in his eyes as he forgot for a second his brother was there too.

"Are you still not considering changing…?"

Huaisang sighed, interrupting him.

"Why do you keep doing this to me?"

"I'm your friend, that's my job."

Jiang Cheng gave him a tiny smile and Huaisang squinted at him.

"You are evil, how are you being a good friend like this?" He laughed, disguising his answer as a joke. Not that he expected Wanyin to actually believe any of it, but it gave him a clear sign of "please drop the issue".

Wuxian acted as if he wasn't even hearing them, too occupied with the watermelon. Huaisang thanked him mentally for that.

…

Exams went with Huaisang having only a little breakdown before one specific exam, but after he finished it, he left the classroom with a little smile. He strolled towards the rest of his clique, being the last one of them to leave the classroom. As they started to makes their way back to Jiang Cheng's place for a pre-drinking before going out, they picked up Wuxian at the entrance of the campus.

To Wei Wuxian's dismay, Jin Jixuan was invited too.

"I don't know why you think I won't invite him." Jiang Cheng laughed at his brother. "He's my friend, you know?"

"You're a traitor," his brother hissed, but didn't start any more drama, appeased by the presence of his boyfriend. Lang Wangji, using the excuse of driving tonight, politely declined the drinks Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian's friends offered him. Jiang Cheng wondered how he still came to party with them even though it probably was the most boring thing for him. He couldn't imagine how Wuxian could be entertainment enough for that guy, but hey, he kept his brother in check and that was always good. The responsibility for once didn't fall on him.

Huaisang arrived with another bunch of friends, bringing in more alcohol. They sat around the living room, most of them on the floor because of the lack of space on the sofa. Wuxian had claimed the spot on Wangji's lap and the rest settled as well as they could.

"We should get going if we still want to go dance!" One exclaimed as the night had progressed and they all agreed almost in unison.

"Let's do another round of shots. Let's drink to our exams!"

"We already did that," Jiang Cheng remembered.

"Then let's toast for the coming semester! Another one in business!" They started pouring shots, commenting on which classes they might be taking the next semester. Huaisang took his glass, and suddenly felt the need to announce something.

"Actually…" He halted, but regretted it immediately. They were all now looking at him, expecting him to finish his sentence. Even Jin Zixuan seemed interested, which was a first. He sighed inwardly and added a mental slap before continuing: "I'm changing majors. So technically I won't be an economics student…"

He saw a few surprised faces, but did not expect that the first reaction would come from Jin Zixuan.

"Ha, and you said you don't have a bad influence on people." Jin Zixuan let out a sneer towards Wei Wuxian and his nemesis just flipped him off. Jiang Cheng gave his brother a harsh shove.

"Changing to what?" Lan Wangji was the only one making the relevant questions.

It took all his willpower to not look over to Jiang Wanyin, but he managed it.

"Psychology. Actually, I'm just switching my major and minor."

"So not really changing," Wuxian judged and his brother slapped him on the head this time, causing a string of shrieks. Jin Zixuan rolled his eyes and told him to shut up.

"Look, bro, now he is talking like you. How am I the bad influence here?" Wuxian laughed at Jiang Cheng, who frowned.

The rest just laughed, serving another round of Tequila as they forgot already what Huaisang had said.

"So… Are we going out or what?" Jin Zixuan wanted to know after downing his shot. Wei Wuxian was the first to jump to his feet and his boyfriend followed in no time. They all got their coats and started making their way out. Jin Zixuan was the first to leave the apartment, followed by the group of almost fifteen economics majors. Wuxian ran after him, bickering about where they were finally going, leaving his brother to get the keys and lock the door while Wangji stayed close to his drama queen. Huaisang laughed at the scene, shaking his head. He was about to follow, when a grip on his wrist pulled him back.

Pushed against a broad, familiar chest, he didn't even question the kiss that attacked his mouth. He actually kissed very eagerly back, slinging his arms around Jiang Cheng's neck. He could hear Wei Wuxian's cheerful voice in the hallway, but this wasn't stopping him anymore from kissing Jiang Wanyin, even though public affection wasn't necessarily for people who weren't in an actual relationship. He thought briefly of his mother, of her nagging about how he was just making excuses for himself. His brother's grumbling about Huaisang being too obvious might make him wonder if they were seeing something he wasn't. Yet he wasted no time in pushing those voices into the back of his mind, forgetting them as he playfully bit down on Jiang Cheng's lower lip.

Jiang Cheng pulled away just enough to look into his eyes and Huaisang raised an eyebrow.

"Are you finally getting weaker to my charms?" Huaisang asked.

"I just thought you might want another kiss before having to deal with way less interesting people than me." He grinned when Huaisang rolled his eyes, but there was another glint in his eyes, something that, to Huaisang, almost seemed like pride.

"Just admit you can't keep your hands off of me, I promise it won't hurt."

Jiang Cheng seemed to actually consider it, but Wei Wuxian's head poked back into the apartment.

"You two coming?" he asked, acting as if he didn't notice them stepping apart.

"Yes, yes, sorry." Huaisang coughed and Jiang Cheng threw on his jacket. Wuxian just laughed and winked at Huaisang, running after his boyfriend. Huaisang and Jiang Cheng threw each other side-glances before just laughing and following the couple.