Chapter Text
It was a warm evening as Wei Wuxian turned to Jiang Cheng and challenged him to a swimming competition. They should be getting ready for supper, but the day was hot and his robes had clung to him uncomfortably. They ran down the pier, barely stopping to remove their outer robes and shoes as they jumped into the cool river.
It was a fun end of a summer day, the cicadas beginning to sing as the sun set. Jiang Yanli had called them from the pier as she headed back inside to help with dinner.
Wei Wuxian came out of the river first, shaking the excess water from his hair, he had gone for his robes and Jiang Cheng's to pass to the other boy. When Jiang Cheng extended his hand to take his outer robes Wei Wuxian stopped short of handing them to him.
"Stop playing, A Jie told us to hurry." Jiang Cheng said, trying to yank the clothes from Wei Wuxian's grasp.
Wei Wuxian had presented as alpha that summer and it had made him insufferable, he had been showing off in front of Jiang Cheng at any chance he got. He scented the air, Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. Wei Wuxian didn't pay any mind and pressed Jiang Cheng's clothes to his nose.
"Wei Wuxian!" Jiang Cheng shouted; it wasn't polite to scent other people.
"Shidi, did you change soaps?"
"What?"
Wei Wuxian stepped closer, leaning over Jiang Cheng and took a whiff almost touching his neck. Jiang Cheng's eyes widened when he saw Wei Wuxian's eyes turn a rich dark golden. "W-Wei Wuxian!"
"You smell really good shidi." His voice had changed, turned deeper somehow, for some reason it made something inside Jiang Cheng recoil, he took a step back. It was a mistake.
Wei Wuxian's alpha instincts took over as he stalked towards Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng froze for a second in place as he saw Wei Wuxian start to open his mouth, showing sharp teeth, his instincts kicked in when he realized he could smell Wei Wuxian, a mix of his soap and the river but something beneath. Without thinking Jiang Cheng turned around and started to run.
He ran through the piers to the pavilion where A Jie was moments ago, his feet carrying him on instinct, but Wei Wuxian had always been faster so he caught up to him tackling him, the impact pulling all the air from Jiang Cheng’s lungs; for a moment the boys stared at each other, Jiang Cheng stock still as Wei Wuxian scented him.
Wei Wuxian didn’t know something could smell so wonderfully, it was the smell of fresh mornings in the summer, the sweetness of candied fruit; Jiang Cheng’s hair still wet from their time underwater clung to his neck and shoulders, the dark strands in contrast with the beautiful pale skin making Wei Wuxian’s mouth water. He opened his mouth to scent him more thoroughly, taking big gulps of air as Jiang Cheng laid below him, his pupils blown wide, after a few blinks he noticed his shidi’s eyes were glowing as well, his a beautiful pale gold it made something inside of Wei Wuxian snap; he didn’t realize he was biting Jiang Cheng until he heard Jiang Cheng scream.
That managed to stop Wei Wuxian dead in his tracks. Looking down Wei Wuxian noticed Jiang Cheng was bleeding and with tears in his eyes, Wei Wuxian could smell the distress coming off him, making him sick to his stomach.
There was a commotion up ahead when Shi Jie arrived, Wei Wuxian quickly jumped away from Jiang Cheng, still dazed by the scent. Jiang Cheng remained still on the floor crying, Wei Wuxian wanted to go to him and comfort him, the sight of Jiang Cheng like that pulling at something at Wei Wuxian that screamed to protect and help him. But in that moment Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu arrived. For once everyone’s attention was on Jiang Cheng as he had opened his eyes still glowing that pale gold, Madam Yu gasped, Jiang Fengmian had taken a step back; it has been Jiang Yanli with the help of one of her maids that had swiftly taken Jiang Cheng away to the healers.
Officially, that night it was confirmed that Jiang Cheng had presented beta.
That night, Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu for once agreed that it was for the best to seal the secondary gender of their son.
In the years to come Wei Wuxian would try as much as he could to keep himself close to Jiang Cheng, trying to subtly scent him, searching for that sweet aroma he only got to experience that afternoon. By the time the Wens attack Lotus Pier he will have forgotten what the smell was like, he will only remember that it felt like happiness.
***
It has been a secret ever since; Jiang Cheng’s golden core was sealed when he presented, to avoid suspicion, his yin energy being higher than that of an alpha, marking him as an omega. Safer to seal it off than to have to explain how the heir of Yunmeng Jiang wasn't an alpha.
Jiang Fengmian left the infirmary as the healers explained the procedure to Jiang Cheng and Madam Yu. The healers would suppress his golden core and with that his omega status. Jiang Cheng felt his chest and his limbs go numb. He felt sick, his eyes burning with unshed tears. He was an omega; he knew what this meant.
While he wouldn't lose his status as a Jiang, if his nature was ever discovered he wouldn’t be able to remain an heir. Jiang Yanli was a beta and betrothed to the Jin heir, she couldn't become the heir either. Him being an omega left a gap in leadership for his sect.
The thing no one talked about was how omegas were never chosen to become sect leaders.
There are tales of an omega long ago whose sect was among the greater cultivation sects, who used yin energy to cultivate, even creating an amulet so powerful the other great sects had to join efforts in bringing him down.
From then on it became an unspoken rule that their higher levels of Yin energy marked omegas unfit to lead in righteous cultivation methods. Their natures were always fickle and prone to sinister tricks.
No one speaks of Lan Yi, who led their sect to prosperity in her time. Or Baoshan Sanren, another prominent omega who cultivated to innedia; her disciples are all betas and omegas who are very skilled in cultivation despite their secondary status.
Jiang Cheng wondered how he could go in one day from a promising young heir, to being a shame for his entire sect.
His mother had pulled him aside that day as his tears had dried, clutching him tight by the arms as she had whispered, "forget what your father said, you are a Jiang, and you will not bring shame to the sect. You hear me?"
Jiang Cheng could only nod still reeling at the news, he was too tall, too broad no one could have guessed he would present as an omega.
"Good. Now you will start training with me after your practice. You will not fall behind on your forms or your prowess, alright?"
He would officially be a beta, no one expected the golden core of betas to be exceptionally strong, so it could work, but he wasn’t just any other beta. He knew his mother would never conform with anything less than the best for him. He nodded, his face settling in a scowl, he would work hard and prove to his parents he could still become the heir they always wanted.
***
Wei Wuxian always realizes things far too late; like that evening at the pier when Jiang Cheng had presented omega, he had done the unthinkable by losing his control. It had been too late when he came to himself and he realized he had bonded with his shidi.
Then the healers had severed the bond when they suppressed Jiang Cheng’s golden core. Everyone agreed it would be better for Jiang Cheng this way, Wei Wuxian included. He didn’t realize what it would mean for him until they had given Jiang Cheng a new room on the farthest away from their old room, which now was only Wei Wuxian’s room. As Wei Wuxian shivered in his bed, laying in a room far too big for only him he realized he would probably never share a room with his shidi ever again, he realized this would be the first night being apart from Jiang Cheng since the first night he came to Lotus Pier.
He also didn’t realize that a mating bond is just one of the things that kept him tethered to Jiang Cheng, the other he is too scared to voice. Looking at Jiang Cheng now, always a proper distance away when either Madam Yu or Jiang Fengmian are around, it feels like seeing his arrow hit the target dead center for the first time, like tasting Jiang Yanli’s soup when he feels sad, it reminds him of the first time he defeated a yao in a night hunt. He likes to tell himself it is only because Jiang Cheng is family. You’re supposed to care for family, he reminds himself.
Except, it doesn’t explain when the feeling turns darker when he sees Jiang Cheng take off his outer robes in the summer when they’re training on their own, the thin fabric of his inner robes plastered to his body making the defined muscles more visible.
It doesn’t explain why Wei Wuxian’s canines itch and his face grows hot when he sees the droplets of water falling down Jiang Cheng’s neck and back when they go for a swim and Jiang Cheng emerges from the water when they’re done; or why his heart flutters when the sun coming through the window colors Jiang Cheng’s eyes a beautiful amber at certain time of the evening. He doesn’t feel this for Shi Jie, he doesn’t feel like this for anyone else.
Sometimes Jiang Cheng will catch him staring, something in his eyes must give Wei Wuxian away because suddenly he is asking what is wrong. Wei Wuxian covers with laughter and casual touches that luckily Jiang Cheng never refuses.
The last thing he doesn’t realize until it is too late, is how much the hope to ever be able to be the most important person to Jiang Cheng had mattered to him, and how he ruined all his chances of ever happening the day he gave his golden core away.
He knew it would be impossible to mate Jiang Cheng, not with the secret that made dinners even more tense in the Jiang household, not with how much it mattered to his shidi one day become sect leader; but at least Wei Wuxian mused, he could be his second in command, he could remain by his side, maybe steal a night or two in his company once they’re the ones running Yunmeng Jiang. It was a far fetched dream, but one that Wei Wuxian liked to indulge through his ruts and lonely nights.
This is what he is thinking as Wen Qing works in disconnecting his golden core; he expected his body growing cold, the brilliant sharp light inside him finally going dark. What comes as a surprise is that inside of him there’s a pang in his chest that has nothing to do with the loss of his golden core, the pain doesn’t ever go away.
The agony of losing his golden core had distracted him enough that he didn’t think much about what it could mean, at least now Jiang Cheng could go to live a fulfilling life now and find an alpha that wasn’t Wei Wuxian.
In his dreams Wei Wuxian screams as Wen Qing rips off the golden core, he feels his throat get tighter and his screams go from a high pitch to nothing, only his mouth open left of his shouts of pain. His canines fall off, his eyes start bleeding as they also fail him, it is excruciating.
Wei Wuxian comes to his senses between his nightmares, and the pain of being without his core. There is something wrong with him, he can’t smell as clearly, his reflexes aren’t as fast.
It takes more time but he can tell even his scent has changed. He wishes he could have asked Wen Qing about it, or taken the medical texts with him to research.
He feels it as he waits for Jiang Cheng to come to their rendezvous point when people come close to him, Wei Wuxian sees their subtle change in demeanor, in the way they look at him. A wrongness they can't place about him setting them off. His eyes also don't glow anymore. He isn't exactly a beta either, his canines are still sharp, he still has his alpha voice. But he doesn't smell like an alpha anymore.
The fact that he feels a hollow space where his golden core used to be and his connection once upon a time to Jiang Cheng is more painfully obvious in its absence, especially at night when the nightmares continue.
He dreams of his shidi unconscious in his arms as they flee Lotus Pier in the company of Wen Ning. In his dreams Jiang Cheng never wakes up, or he wakes up but doesn’t recognize Wei Wuxian; sometimes Jiang Cheng has a gaping wound where his golden core used to be and no matter what Wei Wuxian does, he can’t stop the blood from spilling over.
The worst are where he imagines finding Jiang Cheng with a fresh mating mark on his neck. He can’t get back to sleep after those ones.
Every new day he wakes up and the pain makes him want to scream, makes him want to kill Wen Chao or even regret acting so rashly and now being like this. But he doesn’t do either of those, waiting for Jiang Cheng to come to him.
I promised them I would take care of Shi Jie and A Cheng. he reminds himself. Even if he hadn’t, there is nothing he wouldn’t do for the Jiangs.
Then Wen Chao finds him. As they torture him, the only thing keeping him going is the relief of being found alone. Of leaving Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng as safe as he could hope for.
But then Wen Chao makes a grave mistake, as he taunts Wei Wuxian, and he refused to raise himself to the bait, Wen Chao leans closer and whispers about how sweet and pliant Jiang omega bitches were, and how good it has been for his men’s morale to get to play with one of such high quality.
Despite the pain and lacking a golden core Wei Wuxian manages to subdue the two guards holding him down and attack two more who try to stop him from reaching Wen Chao. It isn’t until the Melting Core Hand intervenes that they finally take control of Wei Wuxian again.
Wen Chao’s second mistake is not to kill Wei Wuxian himself.
As Wei Wuxian plunges into the Burial Mounds his thoughts focus on one thing and one thing only: revenge.
***
The burial mounds are hell. The resentful energy suffocating him, he concentrates on remaining conscious, on not giving up in the clamoring of the spirit’s voices. Maybe the fall had really killed him, maybe he really is in Hell. Death couldn’t be as bad as whatever it is Wei Wuxian is currently experiencing.
It takes time but Wei Wuxian realizes he can channel the energy with the aid of the yin metal and his will to live.
That’s how he manages to remain alive, how the resentful energy instead of trying to destroy him, begins to work for him.
Three months later he descends the burial mounds intent on vengeance. Things go according to plan until he catches up to Wen Chao and sees Jiang Cheng standing in front of him too, beautiful, wonderful Jiang Cheng, he looks even better than Wei Wuxian remembers. Wei Wuxian’s mind is still reeling from seeing his shidi when Jiang Cheng crosses the distance between them and embraces him.
Wei Wuxian goes completely still, he can feel the pressure of the resentful energy around him, the arms of the Wen’s soldiers restraining him, Wen Ning holding him down begging him not to move—the pain will end sooner if Wei Gongzi stop moving so much—
Then the scent hits him, freshly cut lotus, candied tanghulu; it’s waking up from a nightmare with his shidi’s limbs tangled together with his, is waking up and racing each other to the town where the food carts will be lining up for the upcoming festival— he feels Jiang Cheng releasing him as Wei Wuxian is beginning to raise his hands to hug him back. Wei Wuxian blinks a few times to bring himself back; Wen Chao makes a pitiful sound from the corner, successfully reminding Wei Wuxian of his mission.
Jiang Cheng doesn’t ask too many questions and Wei Wuxian is glad, unfortunately Lan Wangji is there and doesn’t have the courtesy of being fooled by him. Wei Wuxian knows how to play nice; tonight is not the time nor the place, and more importantly he has more pressing things to take care off.
Jiang Cheng takes his side, as Lan Wangji leaves with his insipid ideas of righteousness, Jiang Cheng stays, after all, he also has a score to settle; Jiang Cheng is more than happy to stay and help in Wei Wuxian’s plans.
***
Jiang Cheng was always told he would be an alpha. After all, it is almost impossible for omegas to come from non omegas parents. Which is why his status came as a terrible surprise.
Even though he loves Lotus Pier and he yearns for the day he gets to be called Sect Leader Jiang, he also wonders what his life would be like if he could have remained an omega.
He hadn’t even had time to explore or to see if the world really looked and felt sharper with his heightened senses, or if his reflexes would be as good as Wei Wuxian’s. All he can remember is being afraid at how distressed Yu Ziyuan was, how Jiang Fengmian wouldn’t look at him even then.
The healers said Jiang Cheng wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from how he was before he presented once the suppression started working. Maybe it was a lie, because Jiang Cheng still can smell the disgusting smell of angry alpha or sickly-sweet upset omega, he can still sense the curious eyes that follow him after presenting whenever he is near an alpha, like they can tell Jiang Cheng is different somehow. Thankfully, he doesn’t have time to dwell on that.
With his suppressed core he has to train twice what the rest of the disciples do, has to meditate constantly, even then he can barely keep up with Wei Wuxian and the rest of the disciples his age.
So maybe being an omega is not exactly that great if that’s all there is. He still wishes he knew.
Wei Wuxian being shameless as usual, still likes to be too close to Jiang Cheng, which is normal between two alphas or an alpha and a beta. But Wei Wuxian knows better; Jiang Cheng knows better.
Wei Wuxian knows better, yet he clings to Jiang Cheng’s shoulders, to his arms, he hugs him tightly.
And Jiang Cheng knows too, but he lets Wei Wuxian continue.
It is the only way he catches the distant whiffs of Wei Wuxian's scent, something citric and spicy. Maybe Jiang Cheng is just imagining it, maybe it is because Wei Wuxian eats so much spicy food. He shouldn’t be able to smell anything, not with the suppression in place, not with how long it’s been since he presented.
Maybe that’s why it doesn’t hurt as much when Wen Zhuliu destroys his golden core (it did, blinding pain running through his body infinitely worse than anything he had ever experienced, and the void that was left— don't think, don't think, don't —) He is used to living without it.
When Jiang Cheng sees Wei Wuxian through the roof of the supervision office, (alive, gods he is alive,) Jiang Cheng feels himself being able to breathe again.
When they finally get inside Jiang Cheng can’t help wanting Wei Wuxian in his arms; Wei Wuxian is alive.
Except there is something wrong, he tries to stop the whimper that leaves his throat when all he can smell from Wei Wuxian is smoke and death. Wei Wuxian’s spice and citrus, his wonderful scent nowhere to be found.