Hear me out, Original Nice x Hero Lin Ling.
Takes place during episode 1, Miss J was able to catch up to Nice and stop him from committing suicide, and let him some time to recuperate because Nice is still suicidal. (Lin Ling doesn't take over as Nice.)
Miss J forces Nice to be on True Love's Recipe (Enlighter still takes over as host), and was about to tell the truth about not being Moon's boyfriend when something crashed into the studio, interrupting the show.
It's the rank 14 hero, The Commoner (Lin Ling), and his nemesis, The King (an OC I just made up). They were fighting outside the studio when The Commoner punched The King into it.
Miss J, Moon, and Nice are somewhat relieved that they were interrupted. The King tried to take Moon hostage, but Nice interfered and was captured instead. (Think of the wedding scene from episode 2 where Moon wanted Wreck to kill her, but now it's Nice with the King.)
The commoner, unaffiliated with the Treeman Corporation, still knows that Miss J will chew his ear off and possibly lower his trust value if Nice dies.
Awesome fight scene occurs, The King gets frustrated and commands Nice to kill The Commoner. (The King's main power.*) Nice, under The King's command, tries to kill The Commoner, but with the right words, inspires Nice to break free from The King's command.
But Nice was floating high in the air when he broke free from The King's command. Since breaking free from The King's command takes a lot of energy, Nice falls from the sky.
The Commoner jumps up and catches Nice. Nice, tired and hazy from being under the King's powers, he sees The Commoner with a white light behind him. (A studio light broke and was shining on him.)
"Is he my guardian angel?" Nice thought, as he gets flustered. "His dark brown hair, with a white streak, shines so beautifully in the light. He still has the light in his stunning brown eyes, so innocent."
"Are you okay?" The Commoner asked Nice. Nice, flustered, nodded, not even daring to speak. Luckily or unluckily, depending on who you ask, the camera crew was still rolling, capturing the scene of The Commoner princess carrying the flustered Nice.
The Commoner placed Nice on the couch while he beat up The King. The Commoner does his fighting, defeating The King, but because of his status, he knew that he would be free soon.
After the fight, he bids Nice and Moon goodbye and takes The King into custody. Nice, his face still red, lovingly waves goodbye to The Commoner.
After the fight, clips of The Commoner saving Nice and Nice lovingly waving bye to The Commoner goes viral. It raises their trust values, making Nice, rank 12, and The Commoner, rank 11.
Because the clips went viral, people began shipping The Commoner with Nice. Shipping wars broke out: NiceMoon vs. NiceWreck vs. NiceCommoner. People noticed similarities between Nice and The Commoner, stating that they were soulmates because of them.
Treeman Corporation tried to wait it out, but as time passed, Nice x The Commoner became even more popular. Eventually, they contacted The Commoner's agency to see what could be done.
(In this AU, Lin Ling got signed by the guy who created FOMO in episode 4.) Instead of forcing The Commoner to do what the company wants, they let him have some autonomy over himself and his brand.
Treeman Corp. pays Lin Ling to have The Commoner to spend time with Nice in public. "A bromance." Miss J says. Lin Ling agrees, and a friendship between The Commoner and Nice blooms.
They fight together sometimes; they train together sometimes. The announcements of Nice and The Commoner planning to enter the top 10 (separately) came out one after the other.
Of course, it's all for publicity. Lin Ling likes Nice, but to him, it's platonic; it's work. But for Nice? Oh, he's fallen hard for Lin Ling.
Edits, fanfics, fan art, and everything else—Nice has seen them all. Nice knows the public wants Nice to date The Commoner, and for once, he agrees. Treeman is hesitant; some fans still want Nice and Moon together.
But Lin Ling refuses. He absolutely refuses to date Nice. Nice only knows The Commoner, the hero, not Lin Ling, the real him. Even though his hero persona and real self are similar, Lin Ling hides things from the public, hence the differences between his hero and real personality. (Like Moon in episode 2. She has her hero side and her real self separate. But Lin Ling only hides small things unknown to the public.) Only after knowing the real Nice, does Lin Ling also develop feelings for Nice.
This could go either way. Yandere Nice, doing everything he could to get Lin Ling to agree to date; Nice pining after The Commoner, getting to know Lin Ling, doing acts of service for him to make Lin Ling agree to date.
OR Nice is pining after The Commoner, but X is pining after Lin Ling. (The Commoner and Lin Ling literally look the same, but their personalities differ.)
Just some food for thoughts. :)
*The King is basically an OC villain I created on the spot. He is a wealthy and powerful socialite. His main power is commanding one person at a time, who must then obey his orders. I think he could be a real villain/nemesis for The Commoner, or his hero agency could stage fights with The Commoner without his knowledge.*
