Rosecorediagram

Based on this post

[TO BE HERO X] x [LIN LING] [Part 1 can be found here!]

Context warning: Cursing

Author's note: Finally! I'm finished! This took a hot second, but I hope you guys enjoy this as much as the 1st one!

Once again, thank you @kiraisrika for the idea! [ Also, @izarosf1833, you now owe me your firstborn. I'll be expecting it by mail on Wednesday >: ) ]

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Lin Ling was having one hell of a weird day.

Not a bad day, not a good day. 

Just a weird day. 

Following Miss Juan and her crew into the lobby of Hero’s Tower. (His heart was beating frantically in his chest. He can feel his inner child fist-bumping the air because he’s finally here! After all these years, he’s here-!) He can’t help but try to get out of Nice’s grasp, his white hair tickling his jaw. “Man, can you like” —stop clinging to me like a koala— “not?” No matter how hard he tugged, Nice’s grasp was as hard as steel. 

“Nope!”

And that was that. 

The elevator ride was an equally awkward affair—the only sounds being the dull music, tapping of nails on tablet, and the light breaths of everyone in the elevator. The only one who wasn’t awkward was Nice, but Lin Ling, drunk off of hysteria and exhaustion, suspected that he had taken something and was high off his rocker, if only to make sense of this nonsensical situation. 

Like he knew he had ‘relaxation powers,’ but his number wasn’t nearly high enough for this! Hell, it wasn’t even affecting Miss Juan and the other men who were standing at arm’s length of him! Really, the only thing his powers should be doing is offering the same calming effects as lavender, not acting like…like-like catnip to drug-addicted cats! 

‘Holy shit, I compared Nice to a drug-addicted cat. What is my life?’ 

“We’re here,” Miss Juan announced, breaking him out of his thoughts before they could spiral even further. Stepping out into the apartment, he looks around, and he has to admit.

It sucks. 

Now, when he imagined a superhero’s apartment, and one belonging to the 15th hero at that, he imagined something grand, with white walls lined with gold and classical elements strung around to give it a real luxurious, Victorian feel. But even without those expectations, this is just a sad apartment. What with its barren walls devoid of life, not a single small plant to liven the space, and the less said about the gaudy, grandiose statue in the middle, the better. 

“Do you like it?” Nice ask, turning to look at him. Lin Ling doesn’t know what face he is making, but it must have shown his true feeling as Nice barks out a laugh. “Yeah, me neither.” He perks up. “But! Since you’ll be living here from now on, you can redecorate all you want! No budget! Here, let me give you a tour.” Detaching himself only to immediately grab onto his hand, Nice floats into the sky and begins to tug him when-

“Not so fast.” A hand shot out and grabbed onto Nice’s cape, yanking him back down to the ground. “We don’t have time for house tours. You two are coming with me and are going to sign enough papers to make your hands bleed, do you understand?” All Lin Ling can do is nod. Nice rolls his eyes, but they both dutifully follow Miss Juan as she leads them to the office. 

The office was just as sparsely decorated as the rest of the house, with only two white couches facing each other, a long glass table in between, and bookshelves sandwiching everything together. The only good part was the window wall, letting in enough light that they didn’t need to turn on the lights if they wanted to. 

Sitting stiffly on one couch with Nice and Miss Juan on the other, what ensued was a full hour and a half of back and forth between Nice and Miss Juan that was one blow away from a full-blown fistfight. He also had to sign enough papers to—like she said—make his hands bleed. 

His vision started blurring around the fifth paper, and by the 20th, his eyes were gorilla-glued together. It took all his strength not to faceplant into the stack of papers and sleep away the next year and then some.

“- He will not be joining you in your stunts with Wreck. How many times do I have to tell you before you get it through your thick skull?! “And how many times do I have to tell you that if he’s not joining me, I’m out! Permanently! What? Do you want me to spell it in blood? I’ll do it!” “Oh, for the love of God, you are acting like a child!” “And you’re acting like a bitch!” “You-!”

Okay, that’s it. “Can I go to the bathroom?” He asked quietly and flinched slightly as both snapped their heads at him. “Fine. Be quick.” “I’ll go with you!” They both said simultaneously. Miss Juan intensified her glare at Nice, but he was already getting up from the couch to follow him. 

“Huh? What? No! I- Thank you, but I really don’t want you following me to the bathroom.” Realizing a beat too late that it sounded a tad too rude, he awkwardly tacked on “Besides, you two still need to finish up...whatever you guys were talking about! Don’t worry! I’ll be back in a flash!” 

Nice narrows his eyes, looking like he wants to argue further. After a second and a half of silence, Nice sighs.

“Promise?” Lin Ling nodded in rapid succession, “Promise!”

He jogged out of the office. The door clicks softly behind him. Not looking back, he runs.

He didn’t know where he was headed, and frankly didn’t care. This wasn’t how his day was supposed to turn out. He was supposed to be at work, hunched over his computer as he edited frame by frame, or he was supposed to be in his boss's office, getting yelled at over his promo videos. Or, he was suppose to be at the ledge, looking death in the face before chickening out and going back to his shitty one bedroom apartment to enjoy another cup noodle dinner.

He wasn’t supposed to be here—why was he even still here in the first place? He should just take the elevator down and go back home. Leave this all behind him and—

“Hey! Cheer up!”

The elevator was in sight; just a few more steps to get there. But, even if deaf and blind, he would recognize that voice anywhere. Turning his head, he saw a blimp outside, displaying. 

“....Moon?”

“Being alive means experiencing many challenges, but please, don’t lose faith!”

Moon voices wash over him, and he can’t help but remember the long nights spent at his desk—the only light coming from the bright LED monitor in front of him, burning his eyes with its glow, and how the only thing that kept him going was her encouragement.

Does he want to leave Nice?

Sure, the last few hours were the most overwhelmed he has ever felt and sure, Nice was- well pushy was to put it mildly. But, does he really want to leave? Leave Nice and go back home to no one?  Continue his life like this never happened?

You don’t have a responsibility to Nice.

No, he doesn’t; he knows that. But… Nice’s mental state is clearly in tatters, and if his presence—if his ability—can bring him some peace, then he’ll stay. He may not be a hero, but if he can help one person, then that’ll be enough. 

If Lin Ling can be a hero to one person, that’ll be enough.

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Stepping back into the room (he did genuinely need that bathroom break), he was surprised to find the place as neat as when he first walked in. Honestly, he was expecting a war zone. 

Miss Juan looked like someone had pulled multiple teeth out of her—scowling and rapidly typing something away on her table. Meanwhile, Nice looked like he just caught the canary. His smile was wide, smug, and real. (Looking at it, he can’t help but compare it to all the others he's seen before- plastered on billboards and ads. He never noticed how fake they were before.) “You came back.” Nice tilts his head to look at him, his smile softening. 

Lin Ling tilted his head back at him. Of course he did. “Of course I did,” he answers simply, taking a seat back on the couch. Nice wastes no time in scooting over until their bodies touch. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Nice’s tense body relaxing, his shoulder slumping, and his perfect posture faltering just a bit. 

“Ehm,” Miss Juan cleared her throat, breaking Lin Ling out of his train of thought. He turns back to her, “We finally managed to draft up a final contract for your—” Wait, what? “Hold on, what were the ten million other papers I signed before for then?” She raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “NDAs, of course. Since you will be living here, you are bound to see other superheroes and their teams. So, you have to sign an NDA for every single one of them.”

“Now this—” She waves a single white paper up in the air before placing it on the table. Nice reaches out to straighten it out while she continues, “—is an offer of employment to join Treeman Corp as Nice’s emotional support civilian. Inside, I have outlined all of the benefits you will receive when you join us.”

Yeah, that makes sense- Hold on. Snatching the paper off the table, his eyes skimmed to- Holy shit, there it is. Written in bold black ink. 

“EMOTIONAL SUPPORT HUMAN!? Why is that the name!?” He stares up incredulously at Miss Juan, only for Nice to reply.

“It fits, no?” He cocks his head as he skims the contract. “Originally she wanted your title and job to be one of a personal assistant, but!” His smile widened, bordering on blinding. “You will not have to lift a single finger as long as you stay by my side! So, we changed it to this!”

“…”

“Do you like it?”

“…Just hand me the pen.”

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Lin Ling was starting to get nervous. 

After signing the contract (He tried getting the name changed to anything- anything else, but, coupled with Nice’s puppy eyes and Miss Juan pointedly looking at the clock, he gave up and just accepted his fate, his embarrassing, embarrassing fate), Miss Juan immediately chaperoned them to True Love Recipe’s studio where they were shoved into the makeup room with what he assumed to be the script and were told to wait for the makeup artist. 

They were told that 30 or so minutes ago at 7:00 pm.

It was now 7:43 pm

The show starts at 8.

Lin Ling was getting anxious, and from the sound of Nice reshuffling every item on the desk and him glancing at his phone every minute, so was he. 

“Shouldn’t the makeup artist be here by now?” Nice looked up, offering a reassuring smile to Lin Ling. “Don’t worry, he’s often late, so this isn’t out of the norm for him.” He gnaws on his lip, glancing at his phone. “Still,” He presses, “It might be a good idea to do your own makeup, Nice. Just in case he’s a no-show.”

Nice hums, “I should." He pauses, "There is a problem, however.” Holding up a finger, he turns to Lin Ling with an almost embarrassed smile, “I don’t know how to do makeup.”

“For real?” “Yes.” He turns back to the assorted makeup, picking up two of the nearest bottles. “It shouldn’t be too hard, though, it’s just blush and cream, right?” Lin Ling couldn’t help but snort, the sound making Nice blush a faint pink. “Here,” Getting up from the couch, he walks over and plucks the two bottles out of his hands. “Sit, I’ll do it for you.” Nice stared at him in shock before immediately slamming himself down into the chair. 

Leaning in close, he can’t help but marvel at how smooth his face is, not an acne scar in sight. This will make his job real easy then. Looking at the makeup supplies on the desk, he picks up a highlight and contour palette along with a big bristle brush. Opening the thing up, he begins to paint.

He should keep the makeup light, he muses to himself as the soft, repetitive motion of blending and smoothing things out lulls him into a trance, just enough so the stage lights won’t wash him out. Stepping back half a step and deeming the contour complete, he picks up a blush to continue the process.

Nice observes him with half-lidded eyes, “You’ve done this before.”

“Mmph,” he nods, carefully applying the blush. “A coworker of mine got really sick and begged me to fill in for them as the makeup artist for some small commercial. Feeling bad, I agreed.” A grimace tugged on his face as he further recalled the memory. “My boss got on my ass about it, though. Assigned me so much work after because ‘-If you have the time to play around with dress-up, you have the time to finish these by Monday!’ God, I had to pull so many all-nighters to finish those.” During his semi-rant, he didn’t notice how Nice’s eyes narrowed into slits, his hands clenching into fists.

“Why didn’t you quit?” 

Lin Ling freezes for half a step, his hand reaching for the gloss. He laughs, “Well, because I liked the job.” He starts, turning around with the gloss in his hands. Bending in closer, he uncaps the lid. “Sure, it wasn’t my dream to work there, and my boss was an absolute grade A asshole, but,” Tilting Nice’s chin up, he began to apply the lip gloss, the stick sliding across Nice’s lips, leaving them shiny and plump. “I always wanted to help, and what’s better than to help out heroes from behind the scenes?”

(He doesn’t mention the fact that his actual want was to be a hero, to punch bad guys and save innocents. He doesn’t mention the fact that when he was a child, he would look up at heroes like Nice and want.) Dammit, a bit of the gloss got onto his skin. Swiping it off with his thumb, he steps back to admire his work and—

Nice’s face was red. Pure tomato red.

Shit “Did I hurt you?" Fuck, fuck, fuck "I am so sorry! What do I do!? Are you allergic to something!? Hold on, let me go find a doctor!” Turning around, he was about to sprint before a hand shot out to stop him.

“...No, I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me.” Turning back around, Nice’s once tomato-red face has calmed to a dusty pink. “Still, shouldn’t you get checked out? I'm sure I can find a doctor before the show starts.” Lin Ling argued. Nice’s mouth opened to retort when-

Miss Juan bursts into the room, tablet in hand. 

“What’s taking so long!?” She demands, “We’re airing in 5! Get your asses on set!” 

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Oh, Lin Ling,

Does he know how much he is affecting him?

How must know. He must know how much he drives Nice mad. 

His heart is still beating uncontrollably in his chest, the touches left by Lin Ling burn on his skin, and the way his face was just a breath away, his cute eyes focusing on him and only him. Oh, how it took all his patience not to pounce on the boy and take him right then and there.

The anger—the absolute fury he felt when Lin Ling began talking about the despicable man who was once his boss took him by surprise. A day ago, he could barely muster the energy to get out of bed, but now? His vision was filled with red and how he wanted to hurt. Hurt all who dared to lay a finger on Lin Ling. Lin Ling’s boss is a dead man on borrowed time because the minute he gets his hands on him—

Perhaps he’ll present his head as a gift to Lin Ling, showing him how deep his devotion goes. Show him that whatever he wants, Nice will provide.

Oh, Lin Ling, you truly are my heart.

Now, if only filming could end right so he can take Lin Ling back home. But alas, he must suffer sitting next to Moon as this new host, what’s-his-name, goes wildly off script, rambling about one thing or another. Really, the only thing stopping him from killing the guy was Lin Ling.

Lin Ling, who is standing behind the host. Far away from him so the camera can’t see, but close enough that Nice can see all the intricate details on his pretty little face. Nice smiles.  

[TO BE HERO X] x [LIN LING]

[Part two can be found here!]

Content warning: Mention of suicide and suicide methods

Author's note: This is another one-shot, but if I do make this into something bigger, it will turn into the entire cast x Lin Ling, so be warned!

Also! Thank you @kiraisrika for the idea! I can legit smooch you, ur brain is so powerful, give me-

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Lin Ling always had a calming presence. 

Or at least that’s what everyone said.

From teachers to random old ladies on the street, he was constantly told throughout his life that he brought a sort of calm with him in a way none of them could explain when he pressed. It was just a ‘vibe,’ apparently. He thought nothing of it—hell, he was somewhat flattered. Or he was until his reputation preceded him, and the next thing he knew, he had numbers on his wrist, and people knew him as the ‘Get calm quick’ guy. 

(He wasn’t bitter that all his accomplishments weren’t what made people remember him, but instead some nebulous ‘vibe.’ No, he’s not bitter at all! What are you talking about-?) 

Now, it wasn’t necessarily uncommon for an everyman like him to gain Trust. A good boss could get the Trust of their employees, or an actor’s fans will believe in them enough to gift them Trust, or a backer can get a high enough reputation for Trust. So when he saw the numbers on his wrist, he simply shrugged and went back to editing the stupid commercials for the 50th time. (Ignoring the small spark of hope that ignited in his chest—he didn’t have time for his childish dreams, not with rent due in a week.)

It wasn’t a high number, just high enough that he was able to gain the power of relaxation. (Give him a break; he named it during a writer’s block and hasn’t had the energy to change it since.) where if someone stands close to him—if he had to guess, within arm's length—they would enter a state of relaxation and bliss. 

He hasn’t been able to extensively test it out, not with summer approaching, it being one of the busiest times for advertising companies such as the one he works at, but he was able to notice that his coworkers stuck around him a bit more and his asshole of a boss notched down the assholeness by 1%—a godsend! 

Of course, there was still the 99% left over, and the next thing he knew, he was clutching his box consisting of his measly possessions and standing on the roof of his workplace. 

He didn’t want to jump—he swears! But he can’t deny that there is a temptation within him. To leave behind his mess of a life and just fly away from it all. To somewhere nice where he can live out his dreams of being a hero and be loved.

For the millionth time, he cursed the fact that he couldn’t use his powers on himself. 

But as he stands there, weighing the pros and cons of stepping off the precipice, he hears the sound of a cape rustling in the wind. Turning around, he is dumbfounded by doves flying, revealing, through a curtain of white feathers, Nice, Moon’s boyfriend, and the 15th hero. 

With the perfect sauvé befitting the perfect hero, Nice walks past him. His cape and white hair flowing in the wind. Lin Ling watches frozen as he flashes him his famous look— consisting of a gentle smile and kind eyes, and while shooting him his iconic finger guns, he walks.

And falls. 

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“So, tell me what happened, from the top.”

Lin Ling would have been more intimidated by her in normal circumstances—what with her sharp, glacial eyes and no-nonsense demeanor—but the fact that he has his arms filled with a tall, white-haired superhero who’s been clinging onto and burying his head into his collarbone for the last 30 or so minutes makes it hard to pay much attention to her. 

“Well,” He starts awkwardly, his hands stroking Nice on the back (is he purring or is he going insane?). “I was just on the roof—doing roof stuff—when Nice flew down, finger gunned me, and then tried to jump off the ledge.” Lin Ling knew he was being awkward. His sentences were too clipped, and his tone jumped from professional to hysterical, but he still couldn’t believe a word he’s saying, convinced that he would wake up at his desk at any moment to his boss screaming at him. 

The men in the back of the limo were clearly listening in, hiding behind their tablets to give them privacy, but he could feel their burning gazes piercing through his side. No doubt, looking at the hero in his arms. 

The woman, Miss Juan, if he remembered correctly, sighed. She looks like she lost 10 years off her life. 

Fixing her glasses, she stares back at him. “I see,” She opens her tablet and begins rapidly typing on it. “In that case, I apologize for my talent’s behavior, and our company will personally see to it that you get a hefty compensation for any emotional distress you may have experienced. Of course, you will have to sign an NDA, but that can be arranged tomorrow. The chauffeur will drive you home now.” Yes, please. After such an emotionally draining day, all Lin Ling wants to do is crash onto his bed and sleep for a week and a half. “Thank you, my address is—”

“No.”

 Lin Ling shivers as he can feel Nice gripping onto him stronger, almost to the point of pain. Shifting his head, Nice glares up at Miss Juan as if to challenge her to deny him this. To her credit, she stared back head-on, clearly not willing to back down. “What do you mean no?” She snipped back sharply, “He has a home to go back to, and you have an interview you need to prepare for. And just because I haven’t commented on your behavior doesn’t mean I’m okay with it. We are going to have words about this back at base.” ‘Wow, this leather is really nice,’ He thinks to himself, trying to dissociate to a happier place so he doesn’t have to hear this argument and think about the fact that Nice is using him as some kind of—some kind of comfort toy. ‘I wonder if it’s real.’

“I said no.” Nice shot back, glaring even harder at her. The two of them enter into a heated staring contest, and Lin Ling had half hysterically imagined a tumbleweed rolling past them like in those old western movies. The staring contest lasted for a few tense seconds before a vicious grin overtook Nice’s nice face. 

“If you let him go, I will kill myself.”

Wait, what?

“Woah there!” Lin Ling blurted out, “You can’t kill yourself!”

He looks back at him with a serene smile, “I will if you’re not here.”

“The- What is that supposed to mean!? You just met me! Besides, what do you have to kill yourself over, huh!? You have the perfect looks, perfect job, and the perfect girlfriend! Do you know how many guys would kill to be in your position?” 

“My looks came from plastic surgery before they permanently merged with my face. I despise my job, Moon hates me, and I hate her. Also, she’s gay.”

If the silence was loud before, now, it was deafening. He still has that serene smile, like he didn’t just shatter Lin Ling’s worldview like it was nothing.

“Moon is—is—is gay…?” He faintly murmurs to himself. All his fantasies are crumbling in front of him, and all he can do is watch.

“Mmph!” Nice nods, tickling him slightly with his white hair. “So you’re coming, right? You can sleep in my bed; it’s fine. I’ll kick Moon out. She can sleep on the couch.” Before Lin Ling can get a word in, Nice continues to press on like he’s some door-to-door salesman trying to scam him. “I live on the 15th floor, so the view is amazing, and I have private chefs come in regularly around the clock to cook up meals, so you won’t have to worry about that. Also—!”

“ENOUGH!”

Miss Juan all but screams, and Nice’s smile breaks instantly into a scowl as he glares at her. 

“You are not going to kill yourself just—just because of him!” She yells, waving her hand at him.

Nice sits up straighter and all but pushes Lin Ling's face into his chest as if to protect him from some heinous monster. “Yes, I will.” He states, standing firm.

“No, you won’t.”

“Want to bet on that?” She falls silent on this, and Nice takes the opportunity to press on.

“You can’t monitor me 24/7. I can easily take sleeping pills or slit my wrists and wait in the bathtub.” Lin Ling stares up at Nice, horrified at how at ease he is talking about this—how casual he is about threatening to take his own life. For him. “So, if you want to protect your precious Nice and the company’s brand image, I suggest you stop standing in my way.”

Miss Juan is quiet.

Nice is quiet.

The men in the back are quiet.

Lin Ling internally is not quiet.

‘WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!? HOW DID THINGS ESCALATE THIS FAR!? IS NICE OKAY? OKAY, DUMB QUESTION, BUT OMG, HE NEEDS HELP. ALSO, DO I NOT GET A SAY IN THIS—DO I HAVE A SAY IN THIS AT ALL!? I KNOW I WISHED TO BE A HERO, BUT I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THIS!’

After a few tense moments, Miss Juan finally nods.

“Have it your way.” 

She turns to the driver up in front, who has been circling the neighborhood for the entire duration of this conversation. “Head back to Hero Tower pronto. We’ll need to make up a cover story and draft up a contract.” “Wait!” He speaks up for what felt like centuries, “Do I not get a say in this!?”

“No.”

“No!”

Lin Ling feels a sweat drop down on the side of his face at the sight of them staring him down, one smiling and the other scowling.

‘What have I gotten myself into?’

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He was drowning in the cold sea of the abyss. No one cares. His OCD has gotten to the point where even the smallest imperfection sets him off—his parents no longer recognize the son they raised. Wreck has been messaging him nonstop for weeks now, and the longer he leaves him on read, the worse he feels, but if he opens his mouth, he knows he’ll scream-

But he is Nice. And Nice doesn’t let a single grain of dust ruin his day or let his relationship with his parents deteriorate to the point of no return, and Nice certainly doesn’t scream. 

Perfection requires a heavy toll, and no matter how much he sands down his inner- cuts away all the imperfections that made him him and not Nice—he can’t seem to do it right. Why can’t he do it right? Why can’t he be Nice? Why can’t he be happy?

He’s tired, so tired.

But then he met Lin Ling.

Lin Ling, who grabbed his cape; Lin Ling, who saved him; Lin Ling, who made him feel something he hadn’t felt in eons.

Happy.

He doesn’t care if he’s being unreasonable, he doesn’t care if he’s strong-arming this man whom he just met into living with him 24/7, and he doesn’t care if he’s not being Nice.

He found his calm- his happiness, and he’s not letting that go.