Swapped! - LXC x JC fanfic

Words

"Sect leader, today's report!"

"Good. Just place it there." Jiang Cheng said as he continued signing the document. "Is there anything else?" he asked when he saw the other still didn't leave.

"There's nothing. Just... does sect leader feel better now?" the subordinate asked.

Jiang Cheng's hand signing the document paused. "Why did you ask?" he asked.

"It's just – " the subordinate scratched his cheek. " – the sect leader looked like he is low in spirit lately..." he said.

Jiang Cheng fell silent. "Did you notice anything else?" he asked.

The subordinate was startled. He thought Jiang Cheng would immediately dismiss him. "Yes." He answered.

"What did you notice?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"Well... sect leader, the other day, you – " his subordinate said. " – cried." He finally answered. He immediately looked like Jiang Cheng's reaction, only to sign in relief when the other didn't get angry.

Jiang Cheng's heart skipped a beat. "Did you hear anything else?" he asked.

"Nothing more." The subordinate shook his head.

Jiang Cheng sighed, but he didn't know if he felt relieved or disappointed. "You may leave." He told his subordinate.

"Yes!"

Jiang Cheng put down his brush and leaned on the wall, feeling tired. Today is the first day he returned to his body, so the one his subordinate said that cried isn't him, but Lan Xichen.

"I love you, Wanyin."

Jiang Cheng immediately closed his eyes when he recalled Lan Xichen's voice. It wasn't the curse that was playing with his mind that time, but it was Lan Xichen's voice. But, why? Why did Lan Xichen fell for him? Because they exchange bodies? A suspension bridge effect? But, Lan Xichen doesn't look like that type of person.

Then, why? Sympathy? Jiang Cheng frowned as he shook his head to shake off these distracting thoughts when he remembered how he and Lan Xichen first became close. He picked up his brush and resumed signing the documents. Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door. "Come in." he spoke without raising his head.

The door is open. Slow footsteps were heard amidst the sound of the brush against the paper.

When Jiang Cheng didn't hear someone spoke, he frowned. He raised his head and opened his mouth to speak, only to feel his voice was stuck in his throat when he saw the person that came. "Why is it you?" he asked.

Gusu, Cloud Recesses.

Wei Wuxian smiled as he breathed in the fresh air of the mountains when it blew past them. "Ah. Today is a bright day!" he said and laughed.

Lan Wangji silently glanced at his beloved, who is, though he hated to admit, looked stupid right now as he forced to laugh. "..."

Wei Wuxian who also knew it is stupid. "..." so embarrassing. "We all heard it." He said, his voice quiet.

Lan Wangji fell silent. Of course, he heard it. Lan Qiren heard it, too. Lan Xichen's confession to Jiang Cheng. "Will you be against them?" he asked.

Wei Wuxian fell silent. "Why would I be?" he said and smiled. Just when Lan Wangji is about to speak, he spoke. "Is there a 'them'? They don't have a romantic relationship, right?" he asked and turned to look at Lan Wangji.

The words Lan Wangji was about to speak was stuck in his throat when he saw the look in his husband's eyes. He secretly sighed as he pulled his husband in his embrace. "Yes." He answered. "They don't have any relationship, aside from being brothers-in-law." He told him.

Wei Wuxian didn't speak and just rested his head on Lan Wangji's shoulder before he looked at the figure standing on the bridge, staring at the water underneath it.

Yunmeng, Lotus Pier.

"Uncle..." Jin Ling called in a small voice as he slowly walked towards Jiang Cheng. A look of hesitation on his face. From his uncle's words earlier, he knew Jiang Cheng didn't want to see him. His face was covered in black lines.

"Speak!" Jiang Cheng urged his nephew.

Jin Ling grimaced before he sat across his uncle and served him tea in a flattering manner. "Uncle... I came here to apologize for last time. I didn't ask for your permission and I go to a night hunt..." he explained.

"So, you know your wrongs!" Jiang Cheng sneered but he still took the tea served by his only nephew.

Jin Ling's eyes lit up when he saw his uncle drink the tea. Uncle forgives me! He thought and giggled, a wide smile on his face. Jiang Cheng was secretly watching his nephew and when he saw his nephew's smile resembling of his mother's, Jiang Cheng's face softened.

An imperceptible smile was on his face.

Gusu, Cloud Recesses.

Lan Xichen stared at the water under the bridge. However, it only showed his reflection. Completely unlike that midnight when he and Jiang Cheng have returned to their bodies. What he saw was neither the moon nor their reflection, but instead all those times he was secretly watching Jiang Cheng from afar.

From when they first met and exchanged words, to subduing the Waterborne Abyss in the Caiyi Lake. To the Discussion Conference in the Qishan. To his reunion with him after he returned to the Cloud Recesses and discussed how to defeat the Wen Clan. To seeing him rise like the phoenix after his family's fall. And until that game, when he secretly let Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian win, resulting to him being punished with him.

He remembered how his uncle have told him before about the devious board game, as well as the consequence of losing the game. The losers didn't go mad, but instead possessed the other people's body, causing them to panic and finally go mad when they didn't find the solution of returning to their body and the seven-day chance they were given without them knowing.

Lan Xichen knew. He knows it all. That's why he had him be punished together with him, since he knows it all. It wasn't because of Wei Wuxian's paper talismans that made their punishment lighter. The punishment will be the same. He knows it all, that's why he used the chance to get closer to Jiang Cheng. It was because he loves the man, so he dared to risk everything.

Yet, in the end, he didn't hear the other's response, and so he acted he fainted to hide the pain he felt from being rejected.

"Ah, Wanyin, ah, Wanyin. Uncle said that the moon in the water will show me my heart's greatest wish, and it's you." He said as he tried to reach the water, but like Jiang Cheng, he can't. He can't reach the other, even if the other is very close to him. "I wonder, what was it for you?" he asked as he stared at the water that reflected himself, as well as the sun above. 

(A/N: as I write, I am wondering if you like mystery fanfics like this one and the Melody. ^_^)