ENEMIES FIRST {Wangxian, Xicheng}

Chapter 15- The red herring

Chapter 15

Jiang Cheng abruptly woke up in the middle of the night.

It wasn't due to a nightmare, he was just a light sleeper. Correspondingly, after sleeping with Wei Wuxian in his room for a few weeks, he may feel a teensy bit uncomfortable back in his own bed- which he had never slept in until now. The omega scooted to the cooler side of the bed and shifted around, trying to feel snug under his blankets.

His relaxed eyebrows slowly creased into a giant frown as he realized he wasn't falling asleep. He sat up and opened his eyes; yep, he was wide awake like an owl in the night.

Jiang Cheng was almost tempted to roll up his blankets and pillows and head to Wei Wuxian's room but after being the one grumbling about how Wei Wuxian was a needy clingy baby who couldn't sleep without him his skin was not that thick enough to shamefully go back there. So Jiang Cheng walked past Wei Wuxian's room to Lan Xichen's.

He snapped out of it when he found himself in front of the older jade's bedroom. What is he doing, he has dignity! Dumbfounded, Jiang Cheng shook his head and was about to head back when he noticed the door was slightly ajar. Glupping and unable to help himself, he slowly pushed open the door a little bit and peeked inside. There was no harm in doing this; the alpha was surely asleep.

Except Lan Xichen was not asleep and he was not even in his room. The room was empty. Jiang Cheng pursed his lips and was about to trudge back to his room when he heard a clatter coming from downstairs. Thinking it was definitely Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng almost flew downstairs, and there Lan Xichen was, with his little partner in crime, Jingyi, frosting cupcakes in the kitchen.

"..." Jiang Cheng had to rub his eyes with his fists to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"What- what are you two even doing?!" he hissed, making the unsuspecting duo jump almost a foot in the air.

"Gah! You scare me!" Lan Jingyi cried in a whisper, whipping his head around.

"Wanyin! You are awake!" Lan Xichen exclaimed quietly, "I thought you were asleep!"

"I thought you were asleep!" It was like a round of silent shouting, none wanted to wake up neither the melodramatic omega upstairs nor Lan Wangji. "And you, kid, what are you even doing here, you don't live here! Lan Xichen, what is he doing in our house???"

"I'm so glad you think it's our house," Lan Xichen said, smiling nervously.

"..." Jiang Cheng was about to go and hit him but Lan Jingyi shoved a cupcake in front of his face. "Shifu... Don't be mad, Uncle Xichen is just helping me bake cupcakes for my school's end-of-year bake sale," Lan Jingyi explained, trying to act cute with his wide eyes. "..." Now Jiang Cheng wants to hit him, and then Lan Xichen.

"At 2 am in the morning?!" he hissed, pinching the kid by his ear. "Ow, laoshi-!! I'm sorry! Please calm down and have a cupcake!" Lan Jingyi whispered-cried.

Jiang Cheng released the kid and the boy rubbed his ear as he chose a particularly good-looking cupcake with the perfect yellow swirl of frosting on top and presented it to Jiang Cheng, "Shizun... Uncle Xichen helped me a lot with this, these are lemon-flavored cupcakes..."

"He helped you?" Jiang Cheng asked sarcastically. "And stop calling me random titles from movies!" he berated the boy. 

"Well, Wanyin, if you really want to know, I am actually quite good at making cupcakes," Lan Xichen defended himself. It wasn't entirely a lie. Well, this was the first time Lan Xichen baked cupcakes. But he got the recipe from a trusted source and he followed each step of the recipe to a tee. Besides, how can something look so appetizing and not be good? Lan Xichen looked at the omega, lost in thought. Jiang Cheng slowly lifted up an eyebrow.