Chapter 1: the restrained
Chapter Text
His boss slams his hands on the table, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“You better listen up Lin Ling! We’ve got a big client today,” he starts. He shoves a screen to Lin Ling’s face, forcing him to lean back to read its contents. “It’s one of the…” he pauses, to find the words, “…trendy, heroes as of late, so I’m assigning this one to you!”
Lin Ling needs a few moments to first process what he’s saying, then another to read the words on the pad. No luck, since there’s still a scowling face right in front of him.
“Uh…thanks?” he mumbles. Lin Ling tries to take the device from his boss, but the man quickly pulls it back.
“Thanks? Get your head out of the clouds, you idiot!” he sweeps his other hand toward the door, gesturing for him to get out. “I’ve already forwarded the request to you, so go read it over already!”
Scrambling, Lin Ling quickly moves his way out of the room, hopefully leaving his screaming boss behind. “Being that fired up all the time should not be good for his health…” he mutters.
Now that he’s actually out of the office though, Lin Ling actually takes a minute to look at what his boss sent him. When he finally finishes reading the specifics, his jaw almost drops.
”Nice?!” he yelps, almost dropping the screen in his hands. His surprise should be obvious. Technically, Nice is not the first client they’ve had who’s a hero. But, it’s the first higher-ranked one. Most’ve the guys his company has had were in the hundreds, with a particular case in the top 100. Nice is the first hero-client who’s in the top 50.
Maybe it shouldn’t be that surprising, given that they just do advertisements. A decent amount of the top heroes also rely on promotional work to get their trust value up. Still though, it’s pretty shocking to be able to work with Nice on…
Lin Ling reads(skims) the thing again.
…A promotional video for the yearly number one hero competition? Strange, considering the last one just ended. Maybe they’re trying to get ahead of the game?
‘Well, more time to finish for me!’ he thinks.
With renewed vigor, he heads back into the office. His boss is still there, sitting at his desk.
“So, you’ve read it all, right?” his boss asks. When Lin Ling nods his head, he hands him a stack of blue folders, all seemingly filled to the brim with papers. “Good, I knew you’d appreciate this opportunity,” he pauses for a moment and continues with, “Now that you’ve seen your end goal, let me give you what you actually need to start on.”
“Wait what,” Lin Ling starts--
--And gets cut off with a wave of his boss’s hand, “Surely you didn’t think that’d be the only thing you’d have, right? Oh Lin Ling, I thought you knew better than that already.” With that horrifying revelation, he takes the folder on the top and opens it for Lin Ling to stare at. A few pictures of Nice are plastered there, as well as another few photos of other things, like a few buildings, and Nice’s girlfriend, Moon. “Now this, this is what you’ll be working on. I got a request just a few days ago about this up-and-coming hero needing a new advertisement campaign. They even proposed a contract with us for multiple types of projects!”
“...Please don’t tell me you’re making me the head of these new ‘projects,’ Lin Ling says.
He waves Ling Ling off again, “Ah, and I said yes of course, because I knew you’d jump at the opportunity. So now, you get to work with this Nice guy all year!” He puts his hands up with a big smile, like Lin Ling should somehow be thankful that he’s going to die from overworking.
“I know how much you love working with heroes after all,” he says. Lin Ling wants to slam his head into the table.
‘Deep breaths, deep breaths,’ he thinks. ‘Okay, maybe I should just punch him.’
What comes out of his mouth is: “Sure, I’ll take it! Where do I start?” Sounds an awfully lot like what he said when first joining the company, come to think of it.
Obviously, like the sunny guy his boss never is, he says, “What did I say earlier?! Go read it you idiot!” With that, Lin Ling finds the doors closed in his face. It’s almost a power in itself, how his boss manages to shove him out the door every time.
To the empty wall, he sighs.
‘It’s going to be a long year, I guess…’
--
“Oh! Uh…hello! It’s nice-I mean, it’s…really great to meet you!” Lin Ling stumbles through an introduction, like usual. The hero in front of him doesn’t even twitch -- though, Lin Ling thinks he smiles just a bit more. “I’m Lin Ling, and ah…you’re well, Nice of course.”
In a blink, the hero flashes him an even brighter smile and winks at him. In a move that could make crowds swoon (though it could be argued that anything he does would do that), he says, “Yes, it’s also nice to meet you. You’re the manager for the project my boss has me in, correct?” When Lin Ling gives a hurried nod, he chuckles. “I’ll be in your good hands, then.”
Somehow, Lin Ling doesn’t faint on the spot from embarrassment. “Yeah of course!” he replies.
To some extent, that’s the worst of it. The whole stuttering and making-bad-jokes-in-front-of-Nice that is. The embarrassing moments still don’t stop, even when they’re not directly speaking somehow.
The ad needed to be filmed this time isn’t too bad; there are only a few lines Nice needs to say in total. However, since adjustments are needed frequently, it means that Lin Ling is the one directing everything around (considering he made most of it, ahem), which also means that Lin Ling needs to direct Nice around. This mainly consists of him coming close and showing an admittedly bad example of what Nice needs to copy. Thankfully, Nice does live up to his fame as perfection in human form, and copies him in all the ways that matter. Still though, the issue remains that his and Nice are way too close sometimes. Exhibit A:
“Hm…how about placing your hand like this?” Lin Ling tries to play an example, but he feels like he’s only making himself look like an idiot in the process.
“This?” Nice asks, shifting to a similar position.
“Er-gimme a sec--” without thinking, Lin Ling reaches a hand towards Nice’s own, and maneuvers it to how he was imagining it. He does need to brush back a strand of white hair that had gotten in the way, but stepping back and examining Nice, he’s satisfied with the result. “That should do it.”
It’s in that moment when he notices Nice staring blankly at where he had just moved back from. Lin Ling likens it to a computer bluescreening.
“Oh crap, I-I’m so sorry! I wasn’t really thinking, I swear!” Quickly, he raises his palms, like he’s going to have to soothe an animal that’ll probably punch him into the next three buildings over. “Uh, Mr. Nice..?”
A second later, the hero seems to snap out of whatever trance he was in. With a bright smile popping up again, he laughs, “Ah…I’m alright. Sorry, I was just thinking that--” he pauses, takes a breath in, and lowers his voice a bit. Like a secret he’s confessing. Even his eyes flick downwards as he says, “--you have nice hands.”
In Lin Ling’s state of confusion and slight fear, he manages to spit out a small “Thank you..?”
Inwardly he groans, ‘Oh, even I know that’s horrible.’
Mentally facepalming himself, he tries to speed right past the second embarrassing moment of the day. “Uhm…well, let’s take it from the top!”
‘Maybe by pretending that nothing happened, nothing will continue to happen,’ he hopes.
To an extent, it sort of works. Nothing substantial happens after that. They’re able to go through filming without any other…incidents, and Lin Ling manages to survive with his dignity intact (though damaged).
Before he leaves, Nice approaches him.
“Thank you for today, Lin Ling. I apologize for earlier especially,” he starts. “I had no intention of making you uncomfortable.”
“No, no! I’m okay,” Lin Ling replies. He can’t help but look down and fidget for a moment though, when he decides to ask a following question. “Why do you uh…like my erm, hands?”
“Oh,” Nice has that frozen look again, like Lin Ling had just accidentally triggered the emergency shutdown button in his head.
“They're, ah…they’re quite nice,” he says after a few seconds. It looks like the recovery from the bluescreen was faster this time. Slowly he blinks, and a smile graces his lips once more.
“They’re very nice,” he repeats.
To that, Lin Ling can only feel his face flood with another wave of embarrassment, and do another set of (shaky) nods. It looks like his horrible social skills have somehow infected a top hero -- which is becoming an increasingly worse power by the second.
‘Should I thank him again? But I’ve already said thank you like a billion times today…wait, did he use the word ‘nice’ there on purpose? Oh craaap…’
“Uh, thank you! Really, I uh…I’ve never been complimented on my hands before…” Nice is still looking at him with that pretty smile, and Lin Ling chooses to flee in the face of his growing fight or flight instinct. “...so, um-thanks-and-bye!”
Lin Ling can’t run faster out the door. Thankfully he doesn’t run into it.
He spends the whole night in his bed, screaming into a pillow. He hopes his neighbors don’t call the cops on him. It’d only be a bit more embarrassing than the day’s earlier events though.
It almost makes him want to take back everything he agreed to, no matter how painful it may be to trudge back to the office in the morning and probably get fired by his boss. Because this? This is on a whole new level of embarrassment, even for him.
‘But Nice smiled at me…’
Reluctantly, he rolls over to his laptop to draft up the next set of advertisements. Apparently the next one is a hair commercial?
--
Realistically speaking, it’s not uncommon for the average person to come across heroes. And although that chance may be a bit lower for Lin Ling due to his chronically indoor lifestyle, the overall chances aren’t so bad for him to meet a hero occasionally.
It still comes as a surprise when Lin Ling steps out of the convenience store to see Nice, in all of his perfect glory, duking it out with some random villain across the street. He blinks, almost drops his bag of groceries, and blinks again. With a simple punch, Nice sends the villain crashing towards Lin Ling’s left, skidding across the road. Thankfully, the guy stops before he hits the store itself.
Lin Ling takes a second to stare at the beat-up villain next to him. Tentatively he asks, “...You good?”
The guy gives him a thumbs up.
“Uh, alright,” he says because what else should he say, and then ‘oh crap Nice is here again what should I do--’
“Lin Ling! It’s great to see you again. What a coincidence, right?” the hero chirps. He seems especially cheerful, probably because the authorities had just finished detaining the villain. It was kind of funny, seeing them slog the guy onto a stretcher. They’re still cleaning the scene up, keeping civilians far away. It provides an ample opportunity for him and Nice to chat without interruption.
Lin Ling manages to stumble out, “Um yeah! It’s…also great to see you.” Maybe a little too soon, though. “I uh, didn’t expect I’d see you so quickly.”
With an ever-growing grin, the hero lets out a few haha’s. “Well, I suppose that just means fortune is on our side today,” he says. Nice takes a moment to scan nearby for any other people, and when he finds none he turns back to Lin Ling. “Speaking of which, I wanted to ask, you’re going to be there at the next shooting, right?”
What he’s referring to is another promotional video coming up, which Lin Ling had much less involvement in. Apparently, Nice’s manager is a bit more picky about how videos directly related to Nice’s hero work goes. Still though, Lin Ling feels bad about disappointing him.
“Ah, uh… that one I’m not really needed there, I’m afraid,” he mumbles. The corners of Nice’s eyes seem to drop down a bit, and his smile becomes slightly less pronounced. “Not that I don’t want to! I’d totally be there if I could! It’s just that…my boss doesn’t really like me taking the more hero-ish side of things. Er, besides the heroes themselves,” he adds.
There’s a question in Nice’s eyes, even if the man doesn’t say anything. Lin Ling lets out a totally-not-sigh, and looks to a nearby wall instead. “...He thinks my ideas are too naive at times,” he coughs. Trying to play it off he adds, “Stupid, right?”
When there’s no response from Nice, he looks back up. It almost scares him, to see the hero without a blinding smile on his face. He looks…thoughtful, if Lin Ling had to guess. After a moment, he smiles at Lin Ling. Less bright, but more…human.
“Yes, it’s stupid. You’re…far from naive,” he says. Clearing his throat, the hero continues, “If I may ask, what were the ideas?”
“Oh it’s um,” Lin Ling chokes. “Um.”
‘He’s so gonna think I’m an idiot after this,’ he panics. ‘Actually, he probably already does.’
With a deep breath he goes, “Well…I believe that anyone can become a hero. That someone as ordinary as me can become like, well, you.”
The hero stares at Lin Ling. One, two seconds, then three. Ten.
He smiles, “I was right after all.” Pausing, he reaches a hand up to brush a stray piece of dirt off of Lin Ling’s shoulder. They lock eyes. “...I think it would be better if more people shared the same ideas as you,” he finishes.
“T-Thank you,” Lin Ling stutters out. Really, if all of Lin Ling’s interactions with Nice are like this, then he’s going to blow up into tiny little pieces really soon.
They stand there, with only a tad bit of awkward silence. Lin Ling honestly sees it as a reprieve for his flushed face.
‘He better not see me as a bigger dork now,’ he laments.
In the distance, the cheers of people suddenly grow louder. It seems like a crowd of nearby onlookers has finally formed.
Turning to them, Nice nods at him. Lin Ling tries to flash a smile, but ends up with a sort of grimace instead. Moment ruined, it seems.
“I believe this is my cue to leave,” Nice says. Like a switch flipping, he straightens up, and the familiar bright smile stretches across his face. It feels remarkably shallow compared to the expressions Lin Ling had seen earlier.
He floats up, cape flapping gracefully around him. Before zooming into the sky, he pauses and says, “Goodbye Lin Ling! I’ll see you soon!”
Lin Ling waves back. He continues to stare up at the sky, long after the hero has faded into a distant dot.
‘See you soon,’ he thinks.
Chapter 2: the unchained
Summary:
Those hands that make you — are they really more important than him?
(Of course not, of course not.)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“You know,” he starts. “You uh, you didn’t really have to do this for me.”
As always, the hero just smiles brilliantly at him. Before…all of this, Lin Ling had thought that he had already seen the pinnacle of perfect smiles -- pretty much every billboard of Nice has his signature hand-guns-and-smile combo plastered all over the city. Seeing it directed right at him though, Lin Ling can definitely admit the real thing is even more blinding.
“But I wanted to,” Nice says. Lin Ling lets out a breath. Opens his mouth, then decides against saying anything.
“I guess you got a point there,” he relents. Is it an abuse of power for Nice to bring him on the set? Maybe not, considering he is kinda supposed to be involved with most of the promos. “Still though, you didn’t have to--”
“--Lin Ling! Stop distracting Nice over there.” Unfortunately, his boss is also there too. Something something, Nice’s manager is gonna be there, and Lin Ling I’m not having you screw up and trash the company’s name. “Get back here and stop delaying everyone!”
“I got it, I got it!” he says, taking a few steps back. Before he can completely ditch Nice to stand behind the scene though, he gives a thumbs up to the hero.
‘Good luck,’ he mouths.
He gets a grin in return. ‘You too,’ (he thinks) Nice mouths back.
The shrubbery brushes past his legs as he treads over to the side. The film crew takes it as a signal to move close, and finally start with the filming. Lin Ling tries to not feel pretty lonely, as he reminds himself of why he was able to be there.
“What did you tell my boss?” Lin Ling asks. “Seriously, I have no idea how you convinced him to let me on this one.”
“Oh, I just suggested that it’d be better to have you around! I told him it’d be a good chance for you to…see how professionals do it,” he replies.
Lin Ling nods sagely, “The good old sucking up tactic, huh.”
With a burst of laughter he responds, “Yes, sucking up indeed.”
So now, Lin Ling stands surrounded by foliage, all while Nice does some cool moves in front of cameras. At least it’s a nice day outside. Because obviously, a nature park was the best option to shoot this one in. Apparently, it’s supposed to represent how grounded and…nature-loving Nice is? Something referencing how his tagline is, ‘A perfect hero, for the people!’ Personally, the more Lin Ling thinks about it, the cringier it is.
‘Who am I to judge anyway…I’m also a sucker for him.’
It’s all Nice’s fault for being, well, too damn nice. And so under the cover of some trees he stares, very subtly, at Nice. Really, it’s just for gaining new material. Maybe inspiration will strike him for the next property commercial he gets.
--
Apparently, heroes also have lunch breaks. Lin Ling never really considered this until Nice had plopped down on the bench next to him -- sandwich in hand -- right after the film crew had motioned for a break.
“This seat’s free, right?” he asks.
“Mmph,” Lin Ling replies. He’s a bit preoccupied with his own sandwich stuffed in his mouth.
The hero smiles, “Alrighty then.” With no hesitation, Nice takes the liberty of sitting right next to him. And unlike what any social norms may dictate, the hero lets their sides touch.
At this point, Lin Ling is kind of scared how much the guy is making an effort to be near him. It’s flattering, but also the strangest (nicest?) thing that’s ever happened to him. Unfortunately, now Lin Ling fears that he’ll even show up at his house soon, asking about another billboard his manager needs. (Though he wouldn’t mind it if Nice asked him about something else--)
‘Ugh stop it me, he’s literally right next to us…’
While Lin Ling tries to not imagine…certain scenarios centered around Nice, the actual hero next to him starts eating his sandwich. Together, they sit comfortably in silence. Or increasingly out-of-control fantasies, at least on Lin Ling’s side.
He tries to pretend that the hero isn’t there, at first. Then, he resorts to trying to think about the deadlines he has tomorrow. When even that doesn’t save him from his thoughts being plagued by Nice, he imagines himself curling up into a ball.
To save himself from increasing madness, he asks Nice a question.
“Um, out of the blue question, I know, but…why did you,” his voice cracks. He winces, and takes a breath in. Then a breath out. In his peripheral vision, Nice turns to look at him. He forces himself to look straight ahead, lest he turn back into a puddle of mush. “Why did you um, invite me here?”
“Because I wanted to!” is the reply he gets.
“...Not that again.” Lin Ling isn’t really looking forward to running in circles again. Maybe it’s just that the guy has a few screws loose. If that’s what lies under the perfect label, he thinks that it wouldn’t be so bad.
“Well,” Nice hums, thoughtful for a bit. With a smirk, he remarks, “I think you remind me of myself, sometimes.” Lin Ling’s jaw almost drops open from the sheer absurdity of the idea.
‘No way. You? Me?’ he thinks. He almost shouts it aloud. Instead, he says:
“Really?”
The hero laughs (probably at him), “Yes, really.”
“I mean,” he has to take a pause to not shout, ‘are you crazy???’ “I mean uh, I-you…do you, I guess.” He sighs, and slumps in defeat. It seems at this rate, Nice is going to forever remain a (probably crazy) mystery to him.
Looking at his defeated posture, Nice laughs again. Although it’s definitely directed at him this time, Lin Ling doesn’t feel bad at all. “Don’t worry,” he chuckles, patting Lin Ling on the head. “I still think you’re cute.”
‘What.’
‘Did he just..?’
‘Cute. Wait what. Did he just call me cute? Cute. Cute. OmygodijustgotcalledcutebyNice??????’
With his face up in flames, Lin Ling realizes that he’s never going to by Nice unscathed. Clearly this man is out to get him, by making him jump into a fountain out of embarrassment. It’ll work soon, judging by his rapidly beating heart.
“Y-you, don’t you dare!” he points an accusing finger at Nice, “You’re proving to be really bad for my dignity, y’know!”
“Oh?” the hero smirks. Raising a hand, he grasps the hand shoved near him -- and like some kind of prince in a fairytale -- he kisses the knuckles of Lin Ling’s hand. He can only gape at the crazy guy, and yelp.
“I’m so sorry dear citizen, I had no idea you were hurting because of me!” he says. The hero only starts to laugh as Lin Ling tries to pull his hand away, “Dear Lin Ling, I promise I will do my utmost best to relieve your hurts. Tell me,” he leans close, “What can I do to make you feel better?”
Lin Ling can only let out a strangled noise in response.
“Don’t worry my dear citizen,” Nice says. “This hero will take very good care of you.”
“Gah,” is his reply. His other hand not stolen, goes up to shield his eyes from that evil, still-smiling Nice.
--
After a few months, Lin Ling can conclude two things about Nice. One, is that the guy is exactly like everything seen about him -- perfect in (almost) every way. The ‘almost’ is the second thing; he just acts really weird around Lin Ling.
The first few weeks after Nice’s…comment, he thought that maybe the hero was trying to bully him or something. It wouldn’t be so strange to find out that the “perfect” guy has a sadistic streak. Comparatively, there have been way worse stuff others have been exposed for. Maybe he’s secretly unhappy with all the commercials he has to do with Lin Ling, and he’s trying to take it all out indirectly?
‘Besides,’ he muses. ‘Doesn’t he already have Moon as his girlfriend?’
Well, the comment was probably meant to be teasing anyway. No way was he actually…flirting, with Lin Ling. If he really was then--
‘Ohmygod don’t think about dontthinkaboutit don’t think about it!!!!!’
Lin Ling rolls over and screams into his pillow. He suspects that his neighbors are still going to have to put up with more, in the coming months.
--
“Here,” the hero says. “I got you a drink!”
Across from him, Lin Ling almost drops a chip on his keyboard. Like some ever-smiling specter, it seems like Nice has now moved onto trying to haunt him at his workplace. Suddenly, he feels very aware of every little crumb and speck of dirt on him. And the desk. (He does not want to think about the desk.)
“...Don’t tell my boss I’m snacking on the job,” Lin Ling mumbles. To make a point, he shoves another chip in his mouth. He does take the drink after that, though.
With a familiar grin, the hero replies, “Of course.” Instead of leaving though, Nice pulls over another chair and plops himself down across Lin Ling. Between the gap in the monitors, he continues to stare the other down.
“Are you even allowed to be here?” Lin Ling asks.
“Yes,” the idiot replies. Lin Ling wants to whack the smile off of his face. It looks like Nice’s sparkly effect is starting to fade, now that he’s showing his true colors.
He sighs. Takes a breath in, and another out. “How did you get here in the first place?”
“My manager is having a meeting with your boss,” he replies. “I decided to tag along!” He gestures to Lin Ling’s hand. “To give you a drink, of course.”
Speaking of the drink, that reminds him to actually try it. A couple of sips and he hums with approval. Then, he realizes something.
“How’d you know that I like pineapple juice?” he asks.
It’s just a throwaway comment, but it’s enough to make the hero’s expression freeze. Then, as quickly as it had arrived, his face melts back into a bright smile. “Ahaha, well, the perfect hero is able to cater to every need, right?”
That makes Lin Ling think of the last time he had tried to make Lin Ling feel “better,” and flushes.
“Uh-yeah sure,” he says. Who is he to judge how powers work anyway?
To take his mind off of things, he tries to go back to work. There’s still other things besides Nice he has to do after all, and he’s not about to get fired now. Unfortunately, the obvious distraction seems content to watch him type away at a keyboard. At least the office is empty. Lin Ling had thought that maybe Nice would leave after a minute, but time stretches on until it’s been about…
Ten minutes. He’s never going to get any work done. He resolves to finish the bag of chips he was eating before Nice came and (brightened) ruined his day.
With his mind now focused back on Nice and well, his surroundings, Lin Ling is getting increasingly self-conscious about the messiness of his desk. Folders from other projects are stacked high in one corner, a notebook to sketch various ideas to the side alongside empty cups, all while various pens and pencils are scattered under the monitors. And of course, the mess he made while snacking. (Crumbs are inevitable, okay?)
Anyway, the point is that Lin Ling now has the urge to do some spring cleaning. Like right now.
So he stands up, throws the empty bag of chips in the trash, and gets to organizing everything. Nice just continues to watch him -- placing his elbows on the table and folding his hands under his chin -- like he’s somehow Lin Ling’s boss in a meeting. The staring-into-your-soul thing sort of fits.
Nice watches as he sweeps papers into the trash, throws empty cups in the recycle bin, and wipes down the table once and once again.
After getting a cup to put all of his stationary in, Lin Ling asks the hero, “Aren’t you put off by the messiness?” After all, he muses, a perfect hero probably can’t stand imperfections around him.
With a chuckle, Nice replies, “Nope.” He pauses and adds, “Messiness suits you.”
“And what,” he mumbles. “That makes me…look cute or something?”
“Yep!” Nice says.
‘...’
“I-you-uh-WHAT?!” Right in front of him, Nice only watches as falls back into a stuttering mess. Once again, Lin Ling is reduced into embarrassed mush in front of him. The score would be what, 3-0 now?
With a smirk, the hero goes further. “I can repeat it to you again, you know.” Lin Ling has to cover his ears to avoid the approaching calamity. It’s not going to work.
With slow, enunciated words, the evil hero says, “You’re. Very. Cute.” To top it all off, he even winks at Lin Ling.
It’s then that he realizes that there’s no point in keeping score with Nice; every interaction of theirs is going to end with his win, anyway. Lin Ling tries to retort, but only manages to gape like an idiot. So instead of turning into a volcano, he sinks in defeat, covering his face with his hands.
“Mercy…mercy!” he yelps.
Even that isn’t enough to spare him from Nice’s wrath, sadly. With a tap on his chin, his tormentor hums.
“I’ll think about it, if you continue to beg.”
‘He’s actually a sadist?????????’
Soon after the words fall out of his mouth though, the hero bursts out into a fit of laughter.
Praying, Lin Ling hopes someone will strike him down right now. Even a villain attack wouldn’t be so bad.
Above him, Nice only continues to laugh.
In the end, Lin Ling amends his two things he concluded about Nice -- there’s only one important thing about him, and that is the fact that he, without a doubt, is a sadist.
--
Later that night, Nice finds himself practicing in front of the windows. It’s one of the perks of being the hero tower -- it’s so high up, there’s no possible way for anyone down below to gaze inside. He focuses on the dancing lights below, letting the view of the city calm his mind. This routine isn’t new to him; this is something he’s done many, many times before.
It’s just that this time, his thoughts linger on a certain someone.
Really, Nice probably shouldn’t be so…friendly with a specific civilian. If Ms. J had any idea of what Nice has been doing lately, there’s no way he would get out of a lecture or two being thrown at him.
‘...But, I’m tired of being Nice,’ he thinks.
As much as Lin Ling has brightened his days, he’s inevitably casted a shadow upon where he’s absent in Nice’s life. ‘It’s like,’ he muses, ‘It’s like how a person cannot bear the cold, once they’ve known what warmth feels like.’
Indeed, he was once like that, wasn’t he? Once upon a time, he had stared at the dark-haired young man across from him and thought, ‘How typical.’ He had seemed like any other fan of his -- stumbling over his words, and blinded by hero worship.
After Lin Ling had just…touched him like that though, he shifted his impression. Perhaps the civilian was a bit bold, and a touch more naive than dumb. Staring into those eyes made him feel uncomfortable. Like he was truly being seen. All at once he wanted to try and keep those eyes on him, or to make them look away, far away. From Nice. From himself. Too long has he been used to stares from fans or his manager, shaping him to be the perfect hero. Maybe it’s not a surprise then, that Lin Ling’s gaze made him want to run and hide.
‘…I’d rather face those eyes,’ he decides. And then, it’s history.
A quickly spiraling rabbit hole of a man who reminds Nice of his younger days; striving to be a hero alongside others, while hopelessly idealistic. A part of him hoped his teasing would make Lin Ling realize what an idiot he was for believing in him, but clearly, it only backfired instead.
Now, he wonders. What kind of expression would Lin Ling make if he pushed a bit more. More than a pat on the head, or just a little bit of teasing.
He wonders what Lin Ling would do if he showed the civilian some ballet. It’s well-known that Nice's moves are inspired by the art -- graceful, elegant, perfect -- he knows how he’s described. But now he’s curious on how Lin Ling would react. Would he be in awe, compliments falling out of his lips? Would he be surprised? Technically, it’s not like the public has seen Nice doing ballet before. Or maybe--
He catches himself. Clearly, his normal tactics of keeping his mind calm aren’t working. But now, it’s hard to let anything other than thoughts of Lin Ling race through his mind.
‘What do you think suits me, Lin Ling? Perfection? Messiness? Or…’
Moving close to the window, he lets his palm hover over the glass.
‘Well, no matter what, I’d like to hear your answer.’
Notes:
another chapter done! this really cemented the fluff for me, so I guess we’re gonna have a happy end this time around. Lin Ling is truly the emotional support animal for Nice.
(by the by, the reason why Nice lets his hands hover over the glass is because he doesn’t want to smudge it with his hands.)
Chapter 3: the free
Summary:
In that moment when their lips met, he heard the birds distant chirping.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Meeting Moon had been quite a surprise for Lin Ling. She had just randomly shown up at the set, a couple of days into another filming project the company had for Nice. Coincidentally, they had met while he was currently talking with Nice, which leads them to the current situation.
‘Oh my god Moon is right there!!! Should I go ask for her autograph later? Or would that be too weird??? Maybe I should get Nice to do it? But that’d be like, double awkward!!!!!’
Too busy with his increasing crisis, Lin Ling fails to notice the…less than nice looks the hero pair shoot each other. Wearing matching blindingly-bright smiles, their eyes tell a completely different story.
‘You scared him off,’ Nice says. Moon wants to scoff at the bastard’s glare. She allows herself to imagine the possibility of shoving him into a portal that ends up over(in) the ocean.
‘Are you really trying to blame his escape on me? Really?’ She rolls her eyes. For the rest of their staged conversation, she tries not to laugh at the scowl that almost shows up on his face.
A few days later though, she manages to ambush Lin Ling when his guard is down.
“Oh, you’re Lin Ling, right?” Extending a hand, she smiles (at him??????) radiantly, like the goddess she is. “We didn’t get a chance to properly talk, but I’ve heard a few things about you from Nice!”
Lin Ling squeaks, waving his hands around quickly. Her visage almost blinds him, forcing him to stumble over his words a little. “Ack, um ah-yes, of course! S-Sorry, for um…”
He breaks out in a nervous sweat, becoming increasingly aware of his token embarrassingly-red-face showing up again. Nice stands beside him, probably grimacing at Lin Ling’s strange behavior. In actuality, the hero’s face has turned flat, his lips pressing into a frown.
“...taking him! Here you go!” With his heart thumping, he shoves Nice over to Moon. Like fleeing from a crime scene, he speeds off to the side of the production set. He doesn’t try to look back at Nice, trying to avoid hearing any discussion about him between the heroes.
‘Maybe I’m just destined to screw up in front of every hero I meet…’ he sighs.
--
After the shoot, Nice invites him to hang out with him. Only slightly concerned he’d be led into a back alleyway, Lin Ling agrees. They end up at his company building’s rooftop, overlooking the distant sunset. The evening rays only sting his eyes though, so he turns to look at Nice instead.
“You know,” the hero says, “I didn’t know you liked Moon.”
With such a thoughtful expression on Nice’s face, Lin Ling feels like he should be more aware of what Nice is saying. However, he’s really more focused (or distracted by) on the sight before him. It’s not like Lin Ling hasn’t seen the hero’s beautiful face stamped all over the place -- you know, seeing him everyday -- but right now, he looks like he’s been imported straight from a movie.
The mention of Moon does make Lin Ling snap out of it, temporarily.
“Like Moon? No, I love her! She’s the best hero ever! Did you-I mean, you probably already know, but she was a streamer way before she became a hero!” Now with a familiar excitement, not unlike when his coworkers had asked him about his favorite heroes, he exclaims, “I watched her streams all the time. Her travel vlogs were the best!”
“Ahem,” he pauses, “anyway, she’s my favorite hero.” No offense to Nice, of course. Just to be safe though, he takes a glance at the other man’s face.
“Oh,” is simply all he says.
Trying to backtrack, Lin Ling corrects himself, “Uh-I meant I love her, as a fan of course!”
Nice narrows his eyes. Without a warning, the hero moves closer. He leans and leans further into Lin Ling’s space until their noses almost bump. With a pout, the hero says, “…Does that mean you like her more than me?”
‘I thought that the pressing issue would be about Moon being your girlfriend, but apparently, it’s who I like more????’
“Uhhh, I mean. Um. Well,” Lin Ling tries really hard to choose his words carefully. “W-Well, I like you more obviously! But I…also really like Moon!”
Nice frowns. He doesn’t even move an inch away from Lin Ling’s face.
“A-As a fan!” he adds. “I mean, I wouldn’t…you know, since she’s your girlfriend and all.”
The frown deepens. “So, you would like her as more than a fan if she weren’t dating me?”
“That’s not what I said!”
After a couple more seconds of intense staring, Nice lets up. He leans back a little, allowing for Lin Ling to take a huge gulp of air. He didn’t even realize he was holding his breath in.
‘Geez, I wasn’t expecting an interrogation out of nowhere.’
While Lin Ling takes a few moments to calm himself down from the grilling, Nice stares quietly at the horizon beyond. The silence lasts on the rooftop for a minute or two, making Lin Ling hesitate to speak further.
Finally, the hero says, “We’re not actually dating, Moon and I.” With a sigh, his eyes flick over to Lin Ling. Presumably judging his reaction. “...I’m sure you can guess the reason why we appear to, though.”
Instantly, the words send Lin Ling into a spiral. Way to drop a bomb out of nowhere.
‘What????? What do you mean you’re not dating each other? It’s fake? For advertising? Is this Nice’s way of telling me I can go for Moon???? Wait--’
He blinks.
‘--Does that mean Nice is single? Does that mean that there’s a possibility that he was flirting with me the whole time?????’
‘No!’ Lin Ling slaps his face. ‘Keep it together, me!’ He tries to take a few deep breaths in, and say, well, anything.
“Um. Uh. Okay,” is what falls out of his mouth. He wants to curl into a ball and die on the spot. With a groan, he lets his shoulders slump, staring frustratedly at the ground.
When he looks back up, Nice is only watching him with a familiar blank expression. Looking past him, the hero adds, “Perhaps it wouldn’t be so fake if you were the hero instead, Lin Ling.”
“Huh, I mean…maybe? Maybe not?” Really, Nice is acting kind of weird today. Lin Ling can’t try to decipher those strange words though, as he suddenly smiles again.
“Ahem,” Nice claps his hands together. “That was enough brooding for today, right? Let’s go get sandwiches!” Quickly, he grabs Lin Ling to presumably get some food. Overwhelmed with the whiplash of the conversation, Lin Ling fails to catch the shadows in Nice’s eyes. Although, he definitely takes note of the hero’s very…eccentric behavior.
‘Should I get him a therapist or something..? Maybe hero work is really driving him cuckoo.’
--
After what he has dubbed, “the rooftop incident,” Nice only gets weirder and weirder.
There’s an increasing frequency of moments where that blank look appears on his face, only to soon be replaced by a blinding smile. Lin Ling still hesitates to bring anything up, hoping that the strange looks will go away on its own. And of course now that Nice is acting weird, Lin Ling is finding himself talking with Moon more and more. Coincidentally, there’s this show called “True Love Recipe,” with its newest episode featuring the (fake) couple -- and as per the contract, Lin Ling is called to make the promos.
“So,” she says. “Lin Ling. Nice has told me a little bit about you." But okay, what I’m really asking you is…”
She grabs him by the ear and whispers, “...You know there’s no actual me and him, right?”
Like the random stage crew around them are deliberately listening in, she leans close. Lin Ling would almost be flustered by the sheer fact that it’s Moon leaning in (you know, the person he had worshiped for the past like 4 years of his life), but he’s currently a little more preoccupied on who might assassinate him if this gets out of control anymore than it already has. Probably Ms. J. On second thought, definitely Ms. J.
“Um. Uhhhhh. Uh. Y-Yes..?” he stutters.
“Good,” she says. “Great. Now, if you’ll—“
“Excuse me,” Nice butts in, cutting her off. He wedges himself in between Lin Ling and Moon, effectively stopping their conversation. “Sorry for interrupting your talk, but the others are waiting for us to start.” Gesturing to the side, Lin Ling spots a backdrop of cutesy hearts and roses awaiting them. A few people are glancing discreetly towards them.
“I apologize, Lin Ling. I’m sure she didn’t mean to distract you.“ With a quick tug (more like yank), Nice steps back with Moon in tow, who appears to be holding back a grimace. “We’ll be going now!” And with a wave, the hero speeds off.
Lin Ling is left standing there, bewildered. He wonders if he’ll be in any trouble for…all of this.
--
“You’re not really what I expected, to be honest,” she starts.
Sipping out of a brightly colored drink, Moon sits cross-legged on the floor, across from him, inside of a random side room. She had ambushed him after the shooting was done, and while Nice was distracted, took him by the arm and rushed the two of them into a door down a dark hall. At least the room that she chose had an easy-to-find light switch. Lin Ling would really like to not be a part of a horror movie. He wonders how long it would take for Nice to find them if he started screaming.
“Um, what did you expect me to be like?” he asks.
She shrugs. “Well, I don’t know.” She pauses, and tries to make some sort of weird hand wave at him. “It’s just that you’re hm, how do I say it…ordinary? Normal? Not crazy?”
Lin Ling tries not to feel insulted.
“Oh don’t look at me like that,” she sighs. “Look, I guess it’s just that I never expected Nice to be into…anyone, much less a guy like you.”
“Thanks..?” he pauses, and then the next part of the sentence hits him. “Wait wait wait, what?”
Looking at the confused (and blushing) Lin Ling, she realizes her mistake.
“Oh,” she says. “You’re not even together with him? (Wow what a loser.)”
“What did you say at the end there?” he asks.
She waves him off. “You don’t need to know! Anyway,” she comes in close again and whispers, “Don’t tell him I told you, alright?”
With an exhale, he nods. “Alright.”
“Okay, great! Talk’s over though,” bolting up, she flashes him a signature smile, and uses her gun to open up a portal behind her. For a second, Lin Ling thinks that she’ll offer him a hand. Instead, she winks at him.
“You should take the other way,” she says. “I don’t want to even imagine how jealous a certain someone would be if we came out of the portal together.”
Lin Ling sighs. He really hopes that super hearing isn’t one of Nice’s powers.
--
The thing is, Lin Ling has never asked someone out before. There was this maybe(?) relationship with a girl back in highschool, which predictably, fizzled out into nothing. From then on, he’s had zero experience with relationships. Romance in general, really.
And obviously, with little-to-no experience in romance, Lin Ling spends the next few weeks in a panic. He wonders if Moon was aiming to torment him for having a crush on Nice (And apparently, Nice having a crush back).
‘Should I just…come out with it? Would that be too sudden? But that happens in real life all the time!’
Over a work break, he ponders his options.
‘Maybe I should buy him a gift first? But I don’t even know what he likes…besides me, I guess.’
Groaning, he slams his head onto the keyboard. He really is a failure at everything, isn’t he?
But before he can continue lamenting his life, he hears footsteps approaching.
“Lin Ling,” his boss says, casting a shadow on his desk. “Get back to work.”
“...Yes sir,” he replies.
That night, sitting on his bed, Lin Ling finds himself scrolling through posted pictures of Nice. He feels like he’s been doing that a lot lately, come to think about it. Not that he’s a stalker! It’s just that, when the person you like has a ton of photos available to (stalk) look through, you just have to take advantage.
‘I’m just using…available resources,’ he says to himself.
He spends the rest of the night staring at Nice’s face, trying to muster up any courage inside him. He’s not sure if it’s working, or just making him fall further for that blinding smile.
--
A month later, his boss fires him. He should’ve expected it, honestly. After all of the arguments they’ve had, maybe it was to be expected.
Something something, “Lin Ling, I thought being around real heroes would make you realize the truth! How many times do I need to drill into your brain that you aren’t special? Stop being such a delusional moron and do. Your. Work.”
Then: “What is this garbage about how ‘anyone can become a hero?’ You're making something to advertise one of the top heroes, not encourage a bottom-feeder's delusion!”
He’s not going to lie, it was pretty satisfying to see his boss’s face literally turn red with anger, when he realized that Lin Ling had already sent the proposal.
Still, some words haunt him.
“You’re fired, you idiot.”
They spin endlessly in his mind, echoing over and over again.
“You’re fired, you idiot.”
His boss looked really dumb, with his face all steaming and red like that. Lin Ling should’ve taken a picture.
“You’re fired, you idiot.”
The box of his stuff lays on the ground beside him, where another few bags of chips lay on top.
“You’re fired, you idiot.”
He wonders what Nice will do on the promos without him.
“You’re fired, you--”
He sighs, and lets himself lean on the roof’s edge. A low railing of concrete is the only thing keeping him from death. For a moment, he debates taking the box of his stuff beside him and diving off the edge. He doesn’t though, obviously, because…because.
‘I still haven’t even asked him out yet.’
Suddenly, there’s someone behind him. With a tap on Lin Ling’s shoulder, they nearly make Lin Ling accidentally fall to his death.
“What are you doing? Can I join?” Nice inquires.
In a desperate attempt to appear unbothered, he waves it off. “Uh. Uhhhhhhhhh. Nothing. Nothing much!”
Nice gives him a look. “It doesn’t look like nothing--”
“--Well, it is,” he interrupts. The hero doesn’t say anything, which only makes his guilt grow for interrupting him.
Subverting his expectations, Nice’s smile only brightens. Instead of trying to talk to him further, he takes to looking around Lin Ling, eventually noticing the box of things he packed up earlier. Almost in slow motion, he watches Nice’s lips start from a smile morphing into a flat line. It’s pretty easy to see the dots connecting in his head.
“You-oh. I see,” is what he says after a long pause. “...I’m sorry, Lin Ling.”
“It’s okay. I think,” Lin Ling mumbles.
Trying to make the other man feel better, Nice continues talking. “Well, what about a career in the hero business? I can think of an especially good spot you should take.”
“I don’t think that would work out well for me,” Lin Ling replies, only half listening.
“Are you sure? You don’t know until you try,” Nice presses further.
Dejected, he can only shrug. “I mean, I guess…”
For a moment, Lin Ling allows himself to imagine being a hero, by Nice’s side. Side by side, they could do so many things together, couldn’t they? They’d make an interesting duo though, Mr. Perfect and Mr. Ordinary guy. He still allows himself to imagine though, being together with Nice.
‘Speaking of being together…’
“Hey Nice,” he asks. Maybe it was his firing that made him braver, but Lin Ling just finds that he doesn’t really have any embarrassment or shame left in him.
“Wanna go out with me?” he asks.
Anticipating a reaction, Lin Ling squeezes his eyes shut, and mentally counts to 10. When the silence isn’t broken, he opens his eyes and looks back at Nice. He expected to see the blank expression, but instead…
“You-I…really?” His eyes wide with shock, Nice stares at him in disbelief.
“Yeah,” Lin Ling replies. It’s actually sort of shocking that he seems like the calm one this time. That illusion is quickly broken though, when he realizes how bad it looks. “U-Uh, it’s not that I’m trying to cheer myself up or anything, it’s just,” he quickly adds. “It’s just that well…might as well ask you now, right?”
‘Please say something..!’
With a quick flash of movement, Nice pulls him close. Not expecting the sudden grab, Lin Ling almost flails out of his grip. He has to take a moment to adjust to the close-up of Nice’s face, which is already doing a number on how much of a straight face he’s able to keep.
“Is that a yes?” he asks.
Saying nothing, the hero leans closer. And closer. And closer. Lin Ling shuts his eyes. With a small hum, Nice presses a light kiss to his lips. It’s only a brief moment of contact, but it sends waves of dizziness into Lin Ling’s head.
“Yes,” the hero replies.
Lin Ling’s face only stays red for the rest of the day. And any time he spots Nice, in the next few weeks. And when they finally go on a date, planned conveniently where they’d encounter no people. And really, any time Nice’s face even gets close to his own. It’s still really hard to get used to such a pretty face, alright?
--
“You know,” Nice says, lounging on the couch. “I was serious about getting that career change.”
“Me, a hero?” Lin Ling huffs. Despite the reality of him secretly dating a top hero, he isn’t quite that hopeful yet. “I mean, it'd still take me a long time to accumulate trust value.”
Sitting right next to Nice, he takes another sip of his pineapple juice. It’s been a nice day, lazing around his apartment, with barely anything pressing to do (besides getting a new job).
“Hm, have you ever thought about…posing as me?” the top hero asks.
Lin Ling has to take a double take. “I-What, what did you just say?!”
Cheerfully, the man chirps, “Ms. J says the two of us are dead ringers for each other. And you know, with the power of belief, anything is possible!”
Instead of a sadist, Lin Ling realizes that Nice is just crazy.
“I…maybe,” he relents. “Only if you get hit by a truck, or something.”
“Got it!” Nice replies. Lin Ling just has to hope that the hero isn’t planning anything drastic.
Notes:
that’s the end! 🎉 wohoo!!!
just think of the rest of their lives as mostly following canon, with the big detail that Nice is alive!!!!! the universe can go on with both Nice and Lin Ling topping the hero polls. together, heheheh.
ill eventually write a oneshot of what I originally planned for the story although it may take a while (hint: this one is a bit closer to canon), but until then, adios!!!