Chapter Text
His marketing director is a fucking piece of shit.
“—Okay, so here's the pitch. We hire one of those food commercial studio teams and give them Ahu. Then, they can recreate that car commercial with the chicken—”
“Lin Ling,” Nice says. He tries to keep the placid, sugar-sweet tone in his voice given they have company in this meeting room, but boy is Lin Ling testing his patience. “Can you give us a serious idea?”
“That is a serious idea.” Lin Ling gives him an affronted look. “Did you not see how that chicken took over the internet? It's an artistic masterpiece—”
“Something that doesn't degrade us into a meme, please.”
The expression on Lin Ling's face tells Nice he's about to become a headache soon.
“What is it with you rejecting internet culture?” Lin Ling complains. “You do know our roots come from X being a total meme before his brand took off, right?”
There's a cough from the conference TV. Nice tilts his head back a little, giving X a dark glare before turning his attention back to Lin Ling.
“It's fine to have a little fun once in a while,” Nice continues diplomatically, “but I'd appreciate it if the majority of our material was sophisticated.”
“You mean outlandishly fancy and expensive.”
Nice closes his eyes.
“Lin Ling.”
“Yeah, sorry, shutting up now.” Lin Ling rolls his eyes, leaning over to shift presentations on his laptop. “If you want fancy bullshit, here you go.”
On the projector screen, Lin Ling puts up a monochrome lookbook video. It's a compilation of all their industry products, from high-rise luxury apartments, quality-engineered cars, the global fashion line, and even their multitude of vacation offerings. The slow-motion clips fade into each other, the glaring red X logo in each short being the only color present. Eventually, the screen fades to black and words pop up onscreen.
“Discover something new where X…marks the spot.”
“That's much better,” Nice compliments, sufficiently pleased. Lin Ling throws his hands up in the air.
“That's fucking boring!”
“We're appealing to a wide demographic, not just teenagers hooked on their phones with short attention spans.”
“I feel insulted. Is that an insult? That was definitely an insult. I'll have you know that I'm only four years younger than you.”
“That looks great!” Cyan jumps in. She laughs, slightly nervous as she eyes the two men glaring daggers at one another. “Uh, my only suggestion would be to add something from my team?”
“I'm looking into that, sorry.” Lin Ling sighs, dropping the staring match to scratch his head. “It's a little difficult when our musical and acting talent all have their own branding not directly related to X. Unless you're fine with the X Records building?”
“That sounds good!”
“Yo, add a clip of one of our racers on the track,” Liang Long adds from the virtual call. He's seated sideways on his chair, attention already taken away by the game console in his hand. “And don't forget the dog.”
“Okay, if we're keeping Ahu, you have to let me do something stupid with him—”
“Lin Ling,” Nice sighs, closing his eyes as he drops his head into his hand. “No.”
“Lin Ling, yes.”
“I did like the chicken idea,” X confesses from the virtual call. He smiles as Lin Ling silently fist pumps and gives Nice a rude finger gesture right to his face. “Hiring a studio for a five second clip at the end isn't efficient, though. We can do it in-house.”
“I'll ask Xinya to start immediately,” Lin Ling says seriously as he salutes their CEO.
“Lin Ling, what exactly are you going to make Ahu do?” Nice asks, exasperated. Lin Ling beams at him, brandishing his arms.
“Picture this — sniffer dog Ahu finding a marked X on the ground.”
“He's not a sniffer dog.”
“The people don't know that—”
“No to the sniffer dog!”
“Ugh, fine! Then how about a dramatic close-up of his eyes and teeth? Cinematic style.”
“Lin Ling—”
“We'll leave that to you guys to figure out!” Johnny hastily jumps out of his chair, with Cyan following behind him. They quickly high-tail it out of the conference room. “Gotta get to our next appointment, bye!”
“You guys—”
When Nice and Lin Ling turn, even the virtual participants have hung up. The only meeting attendee remaining was Liu Yuwei, who stares at the two of them with steely eyes.
“...I'm making sure the two of you don't kill each other when I walk out of this room,” Liu Yuwei says. Nice and Lin Ling look at each other.
“...I promise not to strangle my boss,” Lin Ling solemnly swears, holding one hand in the air with the other over his heart. Nice sighs at him. When he looks back to Liu Yuwei, he balks as he realizes their deputy CEO was expecting the same reassurance from him.
“...I won't commit an HR violation,” Nice mutters, crossing his arms. Liu Yuwei snorts at him.
“Hm. I doubt that.”
“Wha—?”
“As long as you two keep it in your pants and out of sight, I won't say anything.” Liu Yuwei gets up, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she strides toward the exit. “And I'm sure the others will be the same.”
“The hell—”
The door closes behind her. Nice seethes at the conference table, exhaling loudly in frustration as he tries to massage away the headache that was starting to form.
“Aren't comments like that the definition of a violation…?” Nice mutters to himself.
Lin Ling snickers, unplugging his laptop and packing away his materials.
“Welcome to the company, boss man.”
Nice is a newly minted Chief Marketing Officer for the highly sought after, yet elusive, X Enterprises. It's a multinational conglomerate, existing quietly in the background of cities all over the world. They have business in food & beverage, entertainment, transportation, real estate and fashion. It's a comfy and secure dark horse in the business sector, and Nice is very grateful to have the opportunity to solidify the brand’s image.
If only he wasn't so short-staffed.
“Look, that’s a ‘you’ problem,” Lin Ling snaps, pointing accusingly at Nice with his pen. They're in Nice’s office, a grand open space that wasn't quite as big as the CEO’s a few floors above, but well furnished with warm, welcoming and bright tones. Definitely an upgrade from his old office at Treeman Group. “You came in here and fired every damn marketing head except me. And Xinya, but Xinya's an intern.”
“And your output improved, did it not?” Nice says boredly as he flips through a branding template. He makes a note in the margin of a page, making a face at the suggested font. “You called them, and I quote, ‘absolute fucking deadweights’. So I did what any other manager would've done.”
“Fire the whole team and leave one person with the workload of ten people,” Lin Ling says sarcastically. Nice smiles innocently at him.
“I'll have your resignation anytime.”
“Go fuck yourself. I have a living to maintain.”
“Were you never written up for your crude language, by the way?”
“Miss J swears more creatively than I do when she catches someone doing something that could bring down a lawsuit.” Lin Ling shrugs. “If anything, I'm pretty sure she's going to become the subject of one at some point.”
“She came from Treeman as well, didn't she…?”
“Yeah.” Lin Ling glances up at him. “Why? You got horror stories? Get in line, buddy, a ton of us are refugees from the big players in the country.”
“That includes you?”
“I was in Treeman also.” At Nice's stare, Lin Ling scoffs. “Yeah, figures you don't remember me. I was a director for one of the subsidiaries before X poached me. Though I did get fired first.”
“What for?”
“Calling you a piece of shit.”
Nice rolls his eyes.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“I'm touched.” Lin Ling makes himself even more comfortable in the chair across his desk, sitting sideways and letting his feet hang over the armrest. Nice narrows his eyes but doesn't bother to correct his posture. “You're getting to know me already.”
“What were we talking about before?”
“Next year's budget. I'm requesting higher recruitment funding.”
“Halve whatever you requested. I want to tighten the team.”
“The hell? Tighter than it already is? You literally have two people reporting to you. And one of them is still in college!”
“The less people to manage, the better.” Nice flips a page, still scanning the template on his desk. “We can expand the team once we have a solid core.”
“We won't ever have a core if all the recruits get scared off by the workload.” Lin Ling pauses. “Or your crazy expectations.”
“If you can meet them, so can the others.”
“I'm just great at making the impossible possible. You, however, are testing the bounds of that power.”
“Happy to be instrumental in your personal development. Anything else?”
“Cat tree for the office cat?”
“What office cat?”
“Xinya's eyeing the stray cat colony in the neighboring district, and I'm pretty sure her dorm won't allow pets.”
“That's— We’re not taking in strays.”
“Ahu was a stray.”
“Ahu is an exception because X took a liking to him.”
“And if he ends up liking a cat—”
“No. You and Xinya are banned from bringing any stray animals into the building.”
“Oh, come on—”
Lin Ling is Nice’s one and only marketing director. A few marketing heads for their subsidiaries were spared from the Purge, as Lin Ling liked to call it. Only the mildly competent ones, though. After a few weeks of struggling to provide feedback to lackluster proposals, Nice eventually tasked Lin Ling with the first review of all proposals meant to come his way in an effort to control the daily headaches that came with them.
It worked, thankfully, at the cost of Lin Ling's increasing nagging.
Nice is aware he can be quite…controlling sometimes. Rigid. Inflexible. Unimaginative. It's what got him into hot water with the Treeman Group when failure after failure followed his brand enhancement projects. The numbers kept dropping. His performance reviews kept diving. Soon, he was given a final notice to tighten his bootstraps if he wanted to stay in the company.
Like a bloodhound looking for scraps, the mystery CEO X found him at a small bar one night and slid a business card toward him.
“If you're interested, call me. I can get you a job that's more fun than the squeaky clean crap.”
Joining X Enterprises has been…fun, so far. Despite the heavy workload, the culture is light-hearted and encouraging. Chaotically fun. Nice has met so many different personalities that have all created their own niche and been accepted for who they are. It's so absurd that sometimes, Nice wonders if he stepped into another universe.
He's not sure if he'll fit in well. He comes from a rigid, picture-perfect background, where all his work was measured to the tiniest millimeter. He was expected to walk the knife’s edge like it was nothing to him. Everything in control, in its place, at its peak, every day. The epitome of perfection.
It got tiring. Even for a guy who prides himself on maintaining the highest of standards.
“Hey. It's seven. What are you doing?”
Nice jerks up in surprise. Blinking a bit to clear the fuzziness from his eyes, Nice leans around his computer monitors to find Lin Ling standing in his doorway. He's dressed casually as usual, though with his messenger bag slung across his shoulders, clearly about to head home.
Judging from the dark night sky, Nice lost track of time.
“Reviewing some past comments by the Board,” Nice answers. He sighs lightly, taking off his computer glasses to try and rub the glare of the computer screens from his eyesight. “X mentioned the Board isn't fond of him and that they've been scrutinizing our brand awareness. He thinks they'll probably increase the pressure now that I'm on board.”
“Okay, but that doesn't answer the implied question,” Lin Ling replies, raising an eyebrow. “When are you going home?”
“As soon as I'm done reviewing.”
“And that'll take how much time…?”
“I'm halfway through.”
“You’ve been locked in your office since lunch,” Lin Ling retorts, cringing. He glances at the neatly wrapped container off to the side on Nice's desk. “And I'm pretty sure you were reviewing while you were eating.”
“So?”
“Is it that important that it can't wait until tomorrow?” At Nice's silence, Lin Ling sighs. “Look, the Board meeting isn't ‘til the end of the month. You have time. No need to get it all done in one go.”
“There are meetings,” Nice replies. He pushes his chair away from his desk. It's evident that Lin Ling won't leave him alone unless he chases him out. “I'm fully booked for the month.”
“And that's why I said you should hire an assistant—”
“So would you please leave me alone—”
To his surprise, Lin Ling dodges the calculated shove out the door and skips into his office. Nice balks, indignant as Lin Ling goes right to his desk and powers off his laptop.
“You—!”
“X also mentioned to me that you might be a workaholic and to drag you out of your office when it looks like you're about to max out his overtime budget,” Lin Ling says in a sly tone. He unplugs Nice's laptop from its docking station, shutting it before holding it out for Nice to take. “And I'm pretty sure you're past that.”
“...We don't even get overtime,” Nice mutters but nonetheless takes the laptop from Lin Ling. Lin Ling grins at him.
“Exactly! Which is why we don't do overtime!” Lin Ling chirps. “You know X is notorious for never doing overtime even when he really needs to? Liu Yuwei gets on his ass about it, but honestly, I say props to the man for sticking to his guns. Even if it might tank the company someday.”
Nice huffs in amusement. He leans over in the space between Lin Ling and his desk to grab his bag. When he stands back up, he notices Lin Ling staring pointedly at the plants mounted on the wall shelves.
“What?”
“Huh?”
“I don't imagine plants to be all that interesting,” Nice explains drily. He sets his bag on the desk, opening it to put his laptop inside. “Spit it out. What's on your mind?”
“I— Well— I never took you for a plant person,” Lin Ling stammers. His face is red and he evidently doesn't want to discuss anything other than the plants right now. “Snake plant, chrysanthemums, orchids— Orchids? Aren't those a bitch to take care of?”
“Housewarming gifts from Cyan and Johnny,” Nice replies. He shuts his bag once he secures his laptop, slinging it over his shoulder. “I'm hoping I can let the orchid live until the next quarter.”
Lin Ling laughs.
Lin Ling is a blessing in disguise. Despite their admittedly disastrous introduction — “Wow, we got Mr. Perfect for our next Chief? Color me impressed. I hope you're not going to expect me to start dressing like you do, though, I hate performative shit.” — Lin Ling is a hard worker who helped Nice acclimate to the culture and community of their office. It helps that he's well-known on all the floors, being a rather chatty fellow, and Nice gets plenty of conversation starters simply because Lin Ling reports to him.
“Hey, can you get Lin Ling to quit the fucking dude bro proposals on my fucking cars?” Luo Li says for their first meeting together. The Head of Engineering is a brash and relentless woman, or so Nice has heard, and she's clearly living up to the reputation. “I'm sick and tired of the manly man advertising on my babies. Get me hot women like Liu Yuwei.”
“And I'm assuming you don't want the typical ‘sexy woman posing next to the car as she hands off the keys’ commercials?” Nice replies blandly. He watches Luo Li stomp to one of the couches in the middle of his office, a recent addition courtesy of Liu Yuwei. The head of engineering flops disgracefully onto the cushions, crossing her arms with a huff. Nice sighs, picks up his notepad and heads over to the other couch.
“It's not just guys driving my fucking cars,” Luo Li complains as Nice takes a seat. “It's hot women too. Ladies with money on their hands. And you know how many ladies are out there that haven't seen my cars yet? Tons. I need them driving my cars. I need them to bless my wheels with their heels and my wallet with their money.”
“And what exactly about your cars appeals to women?” Nice asks drily. “All your commercials so far have been about the advanced sports modes and engine power.”
“Girls like that.”
“Not all of them.”
“That's sexist.”
“Look, I'm trying to help you expand your audience,” Nice retorts. “Like it or not, some people won't care about the power of engineering. That includes women. So what else is a feature of your cars that would appeal to that kind of audience?”
Luo Li is silent for a while.
“My cars can kill men in a split second,” Luo Li answers seriously.
“...”
Nice stares at Luo Li for a moment before sighing and dropping his head into his hands.
“You know what, sure,” Nice mutters, running a hand through his hair. “We'll go with that.”
Luo Li beams at him.
“Really?!” she says excitedly. The engineer head swings her legs off the couch and slams her hands onto the coffee table. “Deadass?!”
“Yes,” Nice replies, making a face at her complete 180° personality. “That sounds like the perfect fodder for one of Lin Ling's stupid plots.”
“Oh, you mean his crazier commercials? I love those!” Luo Li quickly snatches a lollipop from the snack jar in the middle of the coffee table, pointing it accusingly at Nice. “You should've let him do the chicken thing, by the way. It would've been a hoot.”
“If it was a new idea, maybe,” Nice says drily. “Now, what are all the new features of the new model? We can't forget to highlight those.”
Despite all his preparation — and nerves — for his first Board meeting, X tells him to sit this one out.
“Are you worried I can't take their questions?” Nice asks X. They're carpooling in one of X’s vehicles — purchased directly off of their own manufacturing lines — driven by X’s personal driver. X is seated across from him, laid-back and nursing a can of X Soda. “I've been studying up on the company.”
“I know you have,” X replies. He swirls the soda for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “...But you probably haven't seen the Board play their underhanded cards.”
“Huh?”
“They get rough.” X taps the side of the can. “Especially with closed meetings like today. We'll be discussing a pending lawsuit that the previous Chief Marketing Officer oh so dearly left us to handle, and you won't have all the details for that. Coupled with what they've likely dug up from your time at Treeman, it's not going to be a fun time.”
Nice stays silent, quietly processing the information.
“...So who's going to be presenting on my behalf?”
“Lin Ling.”
“Lin Ling?” Nice turns to look at his subordinate. Lin Ling ignores him, watching the view swim by outside the windows while he listens to music through his earphones. “Is he equipped for it?”
“More than you know.” X sighs. “He'll only cover this meeting. After today, you're in the hot seat. Lin Ling's been up there far too many times for what he can take.”
“You make it sound like an interrogation.”
“It is.”
X pauses.
“Just don't freak out.”
“Huh?”
It's rough.
“Due to the egregious behaviors of the previous Chief Marketing Officer, I'd like to propose a quarterly audit of the conglomerate's marketing funds,” a director proposes. She eyes Lin Ling at the stand cryptically, poison in her eyes. “I'd rather not have another sex house scandal hit our brand.”
Nice chokes on his own breath. Liu Yuwei pats his back comfortingly, sighing.
We'll explain later, Liu Yuwei mouths to him.
“With all due respect, our marketing team is in the process of reorganizing,” Lin Ling says pleasantly into the mic. Nice has never heard Lin Ling speak so politely to someone, not even their own CEO. The brunette is the very embodiment of formality, hair combed back and tailored suit highlighting his figure perfectly. “At the moment, there are only six staff onboard, with three overseeing sparse teams in their respective subsidiaries. Our new Chief Marketing Officer is still getting acclimated to the business as well. Routine audits at this time would significantly impact the marketing team's resources at a time when we need to put our best foot forward.”
Well said, Nice can't help but think to himself. The directors eye each other for a moment, communicating silently as if in a hive mind, before turning their attention to Lin Ling again.
“Your reported staff numbers are lower than last month,” one says. “How many were fired?”
“Twenty.”
“At the new chief’s orders?”
“Yes.”
“For what reason?”
“The culture of the previous chief remained stubbornly in some of our colleagues,” Lin Ling replies monotonously. “He simply eradicated those who would not move on.”
Strong choice of words there. Not to mention it was all bullshit. How Lin Ling could lie straight to the Board’s face, Nice has no idea.
“Does that include the whistleblower?”
“That information is confidential,” X cuts in. He's seated at the center of the directors panel, dressed starkly different in his white suit. “I'm sure the Board understands that while the investigation is pending via an independent party, the identities of those directly and indirectly involved will need to remain a secret. Especially as there are outstanding contributors that have yet to be brought to justice.”
“It doesn't make sense to deprive the Board of important information,” a newly anointed director chimes in, annoyed. “As the highest power in this company, we should be privy to all the details we request.”
“Director Li, I understand that on most occasions, that is to be the case,” X responds politely. “But in this case, the investigation has transcended even the Board’s purview. The few involved are under a strict gag order by the Commission while the investigation is ongoing on the suspicion that the trail may lead further up the hierarchy.”
“What? Are you saying the Board is being investigated by the Commission too?”
“To put it more bluntly, yes. I apologize, I should have briefed you on this matter before the meeting. The director you replaced happened to be subject to arrest a few weeks ago, hence the…sudden resignation.”
Nice feels Liu Yuwei gently touch his slack jaw.
“Yes, lots to take in,” she murmurs, not looking at him. “But don't show that much surprise. You look stupid with your mouth open.”
“How the hell has news this big not hit the headlines yet?” Nice asks once they're back in the car. He's thoroughly scandalized. Liu Yuwei has joined them this time, sitting primly next to X with the drink holder dividing their space. “A sex house? What else have you not told me?”
“Told you he'd freak out,” Lin Ling says shortly. Nice glares at him, but stalls as he watches Lin Ling's heavy sigh. The normally abrasive marketing director was out of energy, running his hands through his well-groomed hair to fluff out the strands. “Should've told him beforehand.”
“And have him stay up all night biting his nails for the news to break? No thanks,” X scoffs. The CEO tips his can of soda to Nice in a mock toast. “Welcome again. Also, you're not leaving us. Treeman, Mighty Glory, and DOS all have their own fuck-ups, and those are very public when they're outed. Remember Shang De? His son is suing him for inhumane overseas labor conditions and illegal animal testing. Bet you didn't catch that on the news while you were there. Mighty Glory's Yan Mo? Sex trafficking of underage children. With a religious cult, mind you. The previous marketing chief was involved in that. Hence, the sex house.”
Nice gapes at him.
“...Anyway,” Liu Yuwei sighs, massaging the bridge of her nose. “As you can see, aside from our brand presence falling behind our rivals, we’re juggling the issue of keeping this scandal under wraps. Which has been going great so far, but the press is bound to take notice at some point.”
“So we need a public relations representative and a media plan immediately,” Nice translates. Beside him, Lin Ling groans.
“I love and hate that you fired the rest of our team,” he laments.
Late nights working with Lin Ling turn into a common occurrence. Nice will have to admit that it's primarily his fault for firing a majority of their staff, but he does enjoy the quiet nights with his subordinate. He tries to make it up to Lin Ling by buying an espresso machine for his office, of which Lin Ling has full rights to use when the two of them stay behind to catch up on the huge workload left behind.
Nice would reprimand him for drinking caffeine at night. But the last time he tried to deny Lin Ling caffeine, he almost got into a full-blown fist fight with the other man. Thinking back, maybe Nice should've picked a better olive branch for the two of them.
If only he wasn't also starved for coffee when doing overtime.
“Don't you have family waiting back home?” Lin Ling asks one night. He's watching the espresso pour into the tiny cup tiredly, drowsy eyes staring distantly at the pressed liquid of the gods. “Kids, the wife — all of that?”
“I live alone,” Nice replies, not looking up from his documents. “No pets.”
“Uh, kids aren't pets.”
“I don't have kids, a wife, or pets,” Nice spells out, rolling his eyes. He scratches a note in the margins again, mind wandering. “What about you? Family back home?”
“None.”
“Ah.”
“I am slightly insulted by how easily you accepted that.”
“You're what, 24? You still have time. I'm a bit surprised that someone as young as you is a director already.”
“Says our hot, new bachelor, Mr. Nice,” Lin Ling retorts, rolling his eyes. He doesn't notice the way Nice blinks in surprise, raising an eyebrow at the mindless description that spilled out of Lin Ling's mouth thoughtlessly. “New executive at 28. Don't let the ladies in the office know you're single. Wear a ring for decoration or something.”
“You think I'm hot?”
Lin Ling sputters.
“I— What? No! Huh?” Lin Ling stammers. His face is red, much like it was the time he weirdly commented about Nice’s plants. Nice narrows his eyes at him, taking in Lin Ling's fumbling as he blushes and attempts to sidestep the revelation. “You're crazy. Thinking that was a pick-up line. Did the sex house scandal not freak you out enough?”
“Never said it was a pick-up line,” Nice says smoothly, feeling a smirk tug at the corners of his lips. Lin Ling huffs, waving away Nice's gaze as he messily adds creamer to his coffee.
“Whatever,” Lin Ling mutters. “Don't take it the wrong way. I meant that objectively. Like, if you asked Luo Li, our resident lesbian, she'd probably say the same thing. Probably.”
“I think she'd get hives trying to compliment me,” Nice refutes.
“Eh, well, catch her on a good day and maybe she'd say the same thing.” Lin Ling heads toward the door, streaming cup of coffee in hand. “I'll be back in a bit.”
“Where are you going? Your laptop is here.”
“Going to take a walk. Staring at all these color palettes is throwing me off my game.”
Lin Ling leaves. Nice watches him go, letting the little smirk sit on his face as he props his chin on his hand.
As great as it is to have Lin Ling on his team, more often than not Nice finds himself wanting to stuff a sock into the other's mouth. Whether it's his messy workspace, Lin Ling's stupid jokes, or simply his craziest ideas that only a baboon on the moon would even think of entertaining, Lin Ling drives Nice up a wall almost every day.
“Oh fucking hell, just open your imagination for once!”
“I don't need an imagination to understand that a goddamn collab video with all of our musical talent singing as fish is a bad idea, Lin Ling!”
Cyan watches the argument in front of her with increasing concern, giggling nervously. They're in an open lobby area in the X Records building, brainstorming concepts for a group video by the record labels signed artists to celebrate the anniversary of the record label. Passing staff glance at them in concern and curiosity, whispering quietly to one another as they hurriedly head to their destination out of sight.
“Well, what better idea do you got, Sir Know-it-all?”
“Acapella medley with wind chimes by the ocean. Or pop art style music video with lyrics.”
“Lame.” Lin Ling sticks out his tongue, ignoring Nice’s bristling. “Get creative. What is this, Treeman?”
“Make that comment one more time, and I'm going to strangle you—”
“Let’s take a breather!” Cyan interrupts brightly, clapping her hands with a grin. She stands up and tugs on their arms, pulling them somewhere. Nice and Lin Ling grudgingly let her pull them off the couches and follow her as she skips through the halls, sullen and pointedly not looking at each other. “We have a really great rooftop that's popular for taking lunch. It should be empty at this time, so you two can clear your heads!”
Cyan leads them up the flight of stairs to a doorway that leads out to the roof. Nice and Lin Ling step outside, momentarily blinded by the sun. It's a nice day, and X Records is located in a less dense area of the city, so the duo are treated to the sight of rolling hills and a distant view of the skyscraper cluster they normally work in. There's also a winding river a mile away from the building, visible from the low hill they're perched on.
Overall, it's a peaceful, healing sight.
“You two wait here. I'll get some snacks to bring your guys' moods up!”
Before either of them can protest, Cyan disappears through the double doors. Lin Ling sighs, stubbornly walking off and taking a seat close to the edge of the rooftop, dropping onto well-kept turf meant to liven up the space. Nice hesitates, wanting nothing more than to walk away and take a seat by himself at the other end of the rooftop. Instead, Nice sighs and picks up a chair to sit near Lin Ling.
They stare at the distant cityscape and river in silence for a while.
“...I'm surprised you haven't fired me,” Lin Ling finally says. There's a funny smile on his face, almost amused. “We really have clashing minds when it comes to ideas.”
“You do good work,” Nice replies. “You're just a pain in the ass to bring down to earth.”
“It's fun being in the clouds though.”
“Heh, that's why you're good at what you do.”
“What do you mean?”
“Bringing fun into the work,” Nice explains. He props his chin on a hand, enjoying the warm breeze that flies by with closed eyes. “I never thought work could be this fun when we're pulling back-to-back overtime.”
Lin Ling doesn't respond. Nice opens his eyes to peek at him. He finds Lin Ling staring at the river, a soft blush on his face.
“...Guess it's fun working with you, too,” Lin Ling mutters quietly. “Learning how to push all your buttons, I mean.”
Nice snorts.
“Don't get too comfortable,” Nice jokes, smirking. “Or else I might actually fire you.”
“Har-har.”
The one person Nice hasn't gotten a grip on in the company yet is Wang Yi. As far as Nice knows, Wang Yi is the head of the independent audit department that reports directly to the Board, bypassing X entirely. However, the mute man was off-putting, staring silently at Nice the few times he drops by the breakroom to grab a snack that Nice automatically feels like he's done something wrong.
“That's just how he is,” Lin Ling explains one afternoon. He's munching on a croissant sandwich, courtesy of Nice as an apology for keeping him for a lunch meeting. Lin Ling doesn't seem concerned about the man looming outside Nice’s office doors, head plastered against the privacy glass like it'll give him a better view of what's going on inside. Lin Ling might not be concerned, but Nice is. Especially when their audit director is acting like a stalker. “He snoops because it's his job. Don't mind him.”
“I'm…a little concerned by how invasive the snooping is,” Nice says cautiously, eyeing the shadow outside the glass windows. “Do I need to contact the facilities team to mount blinds in the office?”
“If you want the help, sure. If you want to DIY it, just don't fuck up.”
“And I'm assuming what he does isn't considered an HR violation.”
“I mean, if you worked at any other company, sure. Here, no one gives a fuck. If Wang Yi can put down another sex house before it happens, he can watch me shit if he needs to.”
“But why is he fixated on me?” Nice asks, shuddering. Lin Ling looks up at him, taking in the disturbed expression on his boss’ face. “I've only been here for a few months.”
“Probably taking note of your day-to-day behavior,” Lin Ling answers. He pauses. “Or he thinks you're up to no good. You're not hiding some embezzlement scheme, are you? Loop me in on that shit.”
“The hell?” Nice looks at Lin Ling, flabbergasted. “Of course I'm not planning anything like that! If anything, you handle our department budget more than I do.”
“I dunno, Wang Yi’s sixth sense is usually spot on,” Lin Ling muses, eyeing Nice suspiciously. Nice glares at him.
“Shut up and eat your sandwich.”
As much as Nice would like to avoid running into former colleagues from Treeman, they run in the same industries. As a result, it's inevitable that Nice is invited to attend a late-night dinner hosted by Treeman in order to play “nice” with the rival group in the city.
All because X doesn't do overtime.
“Hey, stop dragging your feet,” Lin Ling chastises. He gives Nice a weird look, watching his boss fix up his hair for the millionth time in the bathroom mirror. “Dude. Chill. It's a fucking dinner.”
“With Treeman,” Nice replies, sighing. “My former boss will be there.”
“What, Shang De? He can't touch you; you're with us now.”
“Are you not concerned that the other groups have caught wind of the sex house scandal?”
“So what? Their controversies are worse than ours.” Lin Ling pauses. “Well. I'll take that back.”
“What.”
“Look, anything tied to Yan Mo is messy, okay?” Lin Ling sighs, scratching his head. “Come on, already. You're giving me a ride, right?”
“Wait.” Nice stops him, staring at Lin Ling's appearance. He tilts his head, recalling Lin Ling's brushed back look at the first Board meeting. “Fix up your hair.”
“Uh, absolutely not.” Lin Ling scoffs, smirking derisively at him. “I'm not looking pretty for some stupid hosh-posh dinner. This suit’s the most you're getting out of me.”
“Ugh, stop being difficult and come here.”
“I said no— Ack?! Woah, hey, watch where your hands are going—!”
Nice forces him to stand in front of him at the sink. Lin Ling grimaces as Nice pumps out a hefty amount of mousse onto his hand, leaning away from him.
“Uh, what are you doing?”
“Let me try something.”
“Er, no? Hey!”
Lin Ling grumbles, closing his eyes as Nice works his fingers into his hair. Nice bites his lip, concentrating on the task at hand, while Lin Ling sullenly lets his boss do whatever he wants with his hair. There's a light blush on Lin Ling's cheeks, a familiar sight by now, but Nice only leans closer, making sure to shape up Lin Ling's bangs before quietly asking him to turn around.
“Hey, y’know, maybe Wang Yi is right to stalk your ass,” Lin Ling mutters. He watches Nice work the back of his head in the mirror, raising an eyebrow at the tousled look the other is styling. “What kind of boss fixes up their subordinate’s hair?”
“One that cares about appearances,” Nice shoots back, unbothered. He finishes styling Lin Ling's hair, grabbing a paper towel from the dispenser to wipe his hands off as he smiles appreciatively in the mirror. “There. See? Five minutes, and you look effortlessly cute.”
“Uh—what?”
“Alright, let's go.” Nice heads out of the bathroom, leaving Lin Ling to follow behind him, stunned. “Also, stay close to me tonight? I'd rather not be caught alone.”
The dinner is hosted in a Treeman hotel’s banquet hall. A live musical quartet, likely signed to Treeman's record label, is performing on a side stage as guests pick up name tags and mingle among the crowd. Dinner is yet to be served, preceded by a long hour of “networking” time for the guests.
For Nice, it's a long hour of anxiety hiding in the edges of the crowd.
“Well, well. Look who it is. How's X Enterprises treating you, Nice?”
Nice hides the wince as he turns and smiles politely.
“Hello, Mr. Shang,” Nice says pleasantly. The silky smooth tone comes easily to Nice, years of practice recalled easily in the presence of his former boss. “It's been quite a while since we last chatted. I've been adjusting well to X Enterprises. How's the team at Treeman doing?”
“Quite alright, aside from the recent tomfoolery my son started with the press.” Shang De sighs tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “That friend of his is bad news. I wish he followed my advice to get rid of him.”
Nice doesn't respond. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Lin Ling coming back from the crafts table. One cheek stuffed with a block of cheesecake and his hands holding two plates of other desserts. Nice sighs inwardly when he sees Lin Ling stop suddenly, eyes wide and panicked as he sees Nice's current company.
So much for not leaving me alone, Lin Ling, Nice thinks drily.
“Where's the elusive Mr. X?” Shang De asks, glancing around. Likely searching for X’s signature white suit. “It seems as if it's only you here representing X Enterprises.”
“X rarely attends social events,” Nice replies politely. “That honor usually falls to me or Liu Yuwei, our deputy CEO.”
“Ah, yes. Micky's runaway star.”
Nice’s expression doesn't shift, but he does file the question for later. He hadn't known Liu Yuwei was connected to DOS.
“I suppose you're alone then? Come have a seat with me. We can catch up.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I did come here with a colleague of mine—”
“Oh? Is that so? He can come with us too, then.”
Nice scrambles for an excuse to politely deny the request within reason. But before he can come up with one, Lin Ling suddenly comes up behind him and shoves a plate of cake into his hands.
“There you are,” Lin Ling greets softly, as if they hadn't caught each other's eyes a minute ago. Lin Ling flicks his eyes towards Shang De, who frowns at him. “Ah. Hello, Mr. Shang.”
“...Lin Ling.” The tone in Shang De's voice is flat. Unreadable. But certainly not welcoming. “So you ended up with X Enterprises.”
“Guilty as charged.”
“I should've known. Those commercials were quite…outlandish.”
“Hey, our new Chief of Marketing approved them all!” Lin Ling grins as he jokingly nudges Nice’s side, uncaring of the sudden stiffness in the other. “What do you know? Nice always had a reputation for the picture-perfect stuff, but turns out he's into stupid fun also.”
“I see.” Shang De considers Nice for a moment. Nice hides his shaky grip on the cake plate, struggling to contain his apprehension. “I suppose…that's quite the improvement from before.”
“Right?”
“Don't let Lin Ling go too wild,” Shang De advises, smirking. He glances at Lin Ling, who only sticks out his tongue in response. “His ideas can be a bit too alien at times.”
“The world's just not ready for me,” Lin Ling jokes.
“I suppose.” Shang De hums, perking up as he hears an announcement from the speakers. “I believe that's the call to head into the dining area. I'll see you boys around.”
“Hopefully never,” Lin Ling mutters under his breath as Shang De departs with the crowd. He glances at Nice, who's abnormally quiet. “Hey. You good? The devil's gone now.”
“I told you not to leave me alone,” Nice says, sighing. Lin Ling winces.
“Yeah, I know, I'm sorry.” Lin Ling holds up his small plate of dessert as a peace offering. “I got us cake though?”
Nice smiles and picks up a cube of chocolate cake with his fingers.
“Thanks. This'll help the night go by faster.”
One thing about corporate life that never seems to change are the “team building” functions. Menial get-togethers disguised as a way to strengthen the team bonds, when in reality it's a time to test the social skills of colleagues. With Treeman, these gatherings had an underlying layer to them — an easy way for Shang De to maneuver through the team, praising those who did him well while humiliating those who fell short. An exercise in “encouragement”, as he liked to call it. Praising the worthy and whipping the letdowns.
Understandably, Nice has quite the set of nerves for the first bi-annual get-together of the X Enterprises executive team.
“Oh, ew. Look at you,” Lin Ling mutters from the doorway. He leans against the door frame, crossing his arms as he winces at Nice's appearance. Nice doesn't think he looks any different, but clearly Lin Ling thinks otherwise. “It's like you're a transfer student at a new school. Don't get all shy on me now — you didn't pull any punches insulting me on your first day here.”
“What are you doing here?” Nice asks, glancing at the time on his monitors. “I thought I told you no overtime today.”
“Honorary executive here. For holding shit together while hell broke loose last year.” Lin Ling raps his knuckles on the door frame. “Come on. Give me a ride.”
“For what?”
“Don't play dumb. We're drinking at Wreck's tonight. And apparently, you're the one who recommended it.”
Nice winces.
“I'd…rather not.”
“Uh, too bad. New guy has to be there.” When Nice doesn’t budge, Lin Ling throws in extra ammo. “It's also one of the only after-hours work events that X is willing to bless his presence with.”
Nice is quiet. Lin Ling studies him for a moment.
“...It won't be like Treeman, I can promise you that,” Lin Ling says softly. “It'll be fun. I promise. I'll stick next to you if you want.”
“...Alright.”
Lin Ling is right. It is fun.
Fun and absurdly chaotic.
“One more go, DB!” Luo Li snaps, slamming her elbow down on the table again. She glares at the other director, hostility in her eyes and inebriation in her speech. “Let's do a tie-breaker!”
“You're not using one of your fucking prosthetics to cheat, are you?” Liang Long grumbles, taking the seat opposite of her. Luo Li bristles.
“Like hell.”
“Fine.” Liang Long grasps her hand, bracing his elbow on the table. “Get ready to lose, pipsqueak.”
“Eat shit, Dragon Boy.”
“Alright!” Johnny cheers. The director of parks & resorts skips over to their table, drink sloshing wildly in his half-empty cup as he puts his hand on their clasped fists. “Round twenty— What is it? Twenty-three?”
“Twenty-four,” Liu Yuwei helpfully provides from where she's sipping a cocktail by the bar.
“Twenty-four! Ready? Set, go!”
Once Johnny releases their hands, Luo Li and Liang Long instantly lock their grip. The muffled grunts and curses from their table show just how hard the two are working to slam the other into the table. Nice watches them from the bar, seated between X and Queen, with one seat vacant beside him.
“Are they…usually like this?” Nice asks after a while. He's mildly entertained by the shenanigans, watching Johnny egg the two of them on with trash talk while Cyan attempts to provide a background rap track to the tune of the jazz music floating through the space. “How much have they had to drink?”
“Enough to not realize round twenty-four isn't a tie-breaker,” Liu Yuwei scoffs.
“What round are they actually on?”
“Nine.”
“Ah.”
“They're wasted. I'll drive Cyan, Johnny, and Luo Li back home once we're done.”
“What about Liang Long?”
“He'd rather be publicly intoxicated and thrown in jail,” X replies. He's playing with the droplets of his beer mug, spacing out. “I'll follow him around to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. Once he knocks out, I'll drop him off in his front yard.”
“That sounds like a hassle,” Nice comments, raising an eyebrow. He watches X take a swig of his beer. “Why not bring him straight home?”
X smirks and says nothing.
“...He finds drunk Liang Long funny,” Liu Yuwei explains, sighing. “What was it that happened last time?”
X snickers. He leans forward, beckoning Nice to come closer.
“He got in on a circle of swingers who escaped from their retirement home,” X devilishly whispers into Nice's ear.
“What—”
“What'd I miss?” Lin Ling suddenly pops up behind X. There's a flushed grin on his face, with small hiccups as he stumbles into the seat next to Nice and lays his head down on the bar counter. “Oh, wow. That feels nice.”
“And you're drunk also,” Nice observes critically. Lin Ling beams at him.
“Guilty as charged.”
“Are you a lightweight? Why'd you drink so much?”
“Tonight's the one night we can get drunk as fuck and create scandals without X snapping us out of existence.”
“I don't do that,” X retorts. Lin Ling snaps his fingers.
“Boom. Like that.” Lin Ling's hazy gaze shifts to Nice as he smiles wickedly. “You know how fast the previous marketing chief fell from grace? Within the span of an hour.”
“You're scaring him,” Liu Yuwei comments.
“He has a right to be scared! X can be scary!”
“It's hard to get me mad, don't worry,” X says. Nice turns to look at him, curious. “Yan Mo unfortunately has a knack for it. But if you ever fuck Lin Ling in the office, I won't get mad. I'll just cash out my part of the bet.”
Nice stares at X. X continues to sip his beer leisurely.
“...What is it with you and Liu Yuwei automatically assuming I'll sleep with Lin Ling one day?” Nice asks, scandalized. X smirks against the rim of the glass.
“You really wanna know?”
“Yes, do tell.”
“You act uptight and proper, but I'm pretty sure you can get wild under there. I'm just grateful you two keep the eyefucking low-key.”
“We do not—”
“I eyefuck him, I dunno if he eyefucks me, though,” Lin Ling grumbles drunkenly. Nice pauses, turning to look away from X’s shit-eating grin and stares hard at his director.
“You're not supposed to agree with him,” Nice says harshly. Lin Ling pouts, giving Nice a side-eye from the bar counter.
“Dude, half of the office is eyefucking you,” Lin Ling retorts. “Even the married ones. Open your eyes. You're eyefucking material.”
“...You've had too much to drink,” Nice says eventually, sighing. “I'm cutting you off.”
“Ehhhhh?”
“If you cut him off, then you're driving him home,” X announces in a sing-song voice. Nice raises an eyebrow at him.
“He's coherent. He can get home by himself.”
“Give him half an hour. He'll knock out right on that barstool.”
“That's not my problem.”
“Would you really leave your poor, innocent marketing director passed out in a bar? Vulnerable because no one's looking after him?” X teases. The smirk on his face only grows with Nice’s discontent. “That's not very manager-like of you.”
“...I don't even know where he lives.”
“He has his ID in his pocket.”
“No feeling him up when you reach for it,” Liu Yuwei says in a clipped tone. She's sipping at the remainder of her cocktail, eyes closed as she enjoys the mix of flavors. “He's drunk.”
Nice sighs heavily at her.
Nice supposes X’s intimate knowledge of his colleagues’ drunken habits reflects how much attention he actually pays to each of them. From Luo Li’s tendency to start fights, Johnny's sensitive and emotional nature, and Cyan’s trademark giddiness transcending moral boundaries — Nice seriously can't compute how such a petite and innocent woman could laugh so hard at the announcement of a critical hospitalization playing on the bar’s sports TVs — X’s casual predictions for the rest of the night plays out exactly as he describes.
Including the brunette sleeping soundly on his shoulder.
“Alright, I think we’ve had enough fun.” X puts down his beer mug, eyeing the markedly less energetic group sitting around him. The group had relocated to a booth after Luo Li and Liang Long threw aside the arm wrestling after the fifteenth round and started slapping each other. It took exceptional wheedling — more like goading, Nice thinks privately — from X to get everyone to sit calmly in a booth and settle their differences with a deck of cards.
Obviously, the group was too drunk to understand the rules of the game or the value of their cards.
Or understand what game they were playing at all.
As the group eagerly turns in their cards for X to collect and organize, Nice turns his head to gauge Lin Ling's state. True to X’s word, Lin Ling had fallen fast asleep at the bar counter, almost drooling on the countertop. He did wake up momentarily when X rudely yanked him off his seat and pushed him into the booth they relocated to. But after staring at the cards in his hand and not comprehending the rules, he gave up and fell back asleep on Nice's shoulder.
“You got his address, right?” Liu Yuwei asks as she gets up from the booth. She jingles her keys at the three colleagues she had committed to chaperoning. Like clockwork, they climb out of the booth. “If you were reaching for anything but his wallet back there…”
“I have it,” Nice cuts in, rolling his eyes. Liu Yuwei smiles at him before calling her carpool guests and heading out the door. Liang Long is already jogging to the doors, shouting nonsense about visiting “the cute puppies” as X quickly follows him out.
“See you next week.”
“See you.”
Nice watches the rest of the team leave then turns his attention to Lin Ling. Despite the bustling movements in the booth, Lin Ling hadn't stirred. The slack, heavy warm weight against Nice's side tells him that Lin Ling was in deep slumber, face relaxed and breaths coming out softly from his partially open mouth.
Nice stares at Lin Ling's flushed face before a voice interrupts his thoughts.
“Need help getting him to your car?”
Nice looks up.
Wreck is standing in front of the booth. There's an awkward smile on his face. He's dressed in his usual bartending uniform, coupled with the custom apron that marks him as the owner of the establishment. Nice stares up at his old friend for a moment, at a loss, before he eventually responds.
“...It's fine,” Nice says. He's not sure what tone to use with him, so the words come out equally awkward. “I got him.”
“Alright.”
Wreck pauses. Evidently, he wants speak more with Nice. Wreck looks at Lin Ling on Nice's shoulder for a moment, then turns his eyes back to Nice.
Nice keeps his face blank and unassuming.
“...Both of you get home safe.”
“Will do.”
Thankfully, Lin Ling is somewhat easy to maneuver when drunk. Sure, Nice had to jab at his sides rather harshly to wake Lin Ling up long enough for the walk to his car. But for the most part, the brunette easily follows Nice’s instructions without protest. Get up, follow him outside, walk to his car, get in, buckle the seatbelt.
Nice wishes Lin Ling could be just as obedient at work.
The drive is quiet. Lin Ling lives a few miles away from the office, only 15 minutes away by train. In fact, it's one of the residential buildings built by X Enterprises. Nice himself is about to move into one such building, eager to take advantage of the employee discount and move out of his current Treeman condo.
Nice lets himself into the community parking garage with Lin Ling's key fob and parks at a designated guest spot by the elevators. Then, he tries to nudge Lin Ling awake.
“Hey. Lin Ling.”
“...Mn?”
“We're at your place already.”
“...?”
Lin Ling blinks slowly. He looks around the garage, frowning a bit.
“...Ah. Shit.” Lin Ling's eyes widen, gaining more coherency. He chuckles sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he looks back bashfully at Nice. “Is that what we were doing? Sorry. Maybe I should've cut back earlier.”
“It's fine,” Nice says automatically, then pauses. “Wait. What did you think we were doing?”
“I dunno?” Lin Ling hums. He reaches for the work bag Nice had placed at his feet. “I thought X suddenly decided we'd do a bar hopping night and forced you to drag me along.”
“What? Of course not.” Nice gives Lin Ling an exasperated look. “You mean you got into my car not knowing where we were headed?”
“Yeah?”
“That's dangerous, Lin Ling.”
“What, like you'd try anything?” Lin Ling scoffs, smirking a little as he checks for all his necessary belongings. He doesn't catch Nice’s eyes darkening, or how they subtly scan Lin Ling's body before returning to normal. “You're the picture-perfect gentleman. And a reliable boss, too.”
“Uh-huh,” Nice drawls. “Don't trip on the way up to your place.”
“You have zero faith in me, huh?”
“Correct.”
“Ha. I'll curse you when I inevitably eat shit coming out of the elevator then. See you next week.”
“See you.”
Nice watches Lin Ling climb out of his car and slam the door shut before heading to the elevator. He waits until Lin Ling presses the button to restart his car, pulling out of the parking space and driving back towards the exit. Nice returns the half-hearted wave Lin Ling gives him as the brunette steps into the elevator, driving smoothly up to street level and pausing at the curb to glance both ways down the empty street.
“...”
Nice sighs heavily, closing his eyes for a moment. He bumps his forehead against the steering wheel, counting silently in his head as he focuses on his controlled breathing.
“...”
After a while, Nice opens his eyes.
“...You're a manager,” Nice whispers to himself. He sucks in a breath, letting it out sharply.
“Act like it.”
Nice straightens up and turns back onto the street to drive home.