"LINLING!" WHAT did I tell you?!"
Mr. Chen's face was red enough to rival a firetruck, his hands waving like he was trying to conduct an exorcism. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO FILE INVENTORY THIS MORNING! NOT AFTER LUNCH! NOT LATER! "NOW!"
Lingling looks down to the floor. "I-I'm trying, Mr Chen! I swear I'm trying!"
"Trying? TRYING?!" Mr. Chen stomped toward him, his shoes squeaking against the floor. "Every single day, Lingling! Every day you fail! The boxes aren't going to sort themselves, and the customers aren't going to wait forever!"
Lingling wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I thought… maybe they could wait…"
"WAIT?!" Mr. Chen's hands flailed so wildly he knocked over a stack of folders. They crashed to the floor like a small paper avalanche. "This is why NOTHING gets done! DO YOU HEAR ME! NOTHING!"
Lingling shrank lower, glancing at the doorway. Somewhere above, the giant billboard of Nice, The Perfect Hero glared down at him with that perfect, smug smile. 'Yeah, thanks for reminding me how perfect literally everything else is', Hhe thought.
Mr. Chen's jaw tightened. He folded his arms and leaned in, voice low. "Lingling… I've warned you enough. You are incapable of doing your job properly. I can't run this store with you around."
Lingling's stomach sank. "You're firing me?"
"Fired. Effective immediately." Mr. Chen tossed a crumpled slip of paper onto the counter. "Pack your things and get out. I cannot deal with your incompetence any longer!"
Lingling stared at the paper for a long moment, numb. He slowly picked it up, and clutched it in his hand. Tears pricked at his eyes as he turned toward the door.
He walked out into the rain, each step heavy. The neon glow of Nice's billboard above only made his failure sting more. Lingling's shoulders slumped, his face wet with both rain and tears, and the world felt impossibly big and crushing around him.
He walked out into the rain, each step heavy. The neon glow of Nice's billboard above only made his failure sting more. Lingling's shoulders slumped, his face wet with both rain and tears, and the world felt impossibly big and crushing around him.
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By the time he reached his apartment, a small, shitty box of peeling paint and flickering lights, he was soaked through. He shoved the door open and collapsed onto his dirty couch, letting the rain soak into it.
"Of course… of course it's me.," Hhe muttered, voice trembling. "Iit's always me…. Nothing ever goes right."
He stared blankly at the ceiling, then at the glowing billboard outside his window: Nice The Perfect Hero.
Lingling jumped up from the couch, grabbing his jacket and keys. The apartment felt suffocating. He couldn't stay here, couldn't think, couldn't breathe.
He stormed out into the rain again. His steps carried him up the stairwell, out onto the rooftop of a nearby building.
He took a deep breath and looked at the city below. "Yeah… this is pathetic," he muttered to himself. "Shouting at a billboard in the rain like some… fucking loser, I'm a joke."
But the anger still burned in his chest. He raised his voice anyway, screaming toward the glowing billboard above:
"YOU KNOW WHAT, NICE?!"
"NO MATTER HOW PERFECT YOU ARE… THEY'LL FORGET YOU THE SECOND YOU BECOME OLD AND UGLY! YOU'LL JUST BE REPLACED WITH SOMEONE ELSE!"
He pounded the edge of the rooftop with both fists. "YEAH, KEEP FLYING, KEEP SMILING, KEEP BEING PERFECT! BUT ONE DAY… NOBODY'S EVEN GOING TO REMEMBER YOU!"
His chest heaved, fists hurting from him pounding the edge.
Then a soft rush of air swept past him.
He spun around.
Nice floated down behind him, white and gold costume shining in the rain. His boots splashed lightly as he landed softly a few feet behind Lingling.
He smiled at Lingling, Perfect, unreadable, untouchable, everything he wasn't.
He pointed finger guns.
Before Lingling could even react, before he could even open his mouth, Nice turned and walked off the edge.
Lingling's knees buckled. His mouth opened and closed, words failing him.
Finally, he managed to utter a sentence:
"What the… fuck."
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Honestly i don't what to say in this ngl, im new so like don't be too harsh. but also beat my ass i guess.
Also thanks to my glorius, handsome, marvelous, super cool king melegant writer of fate/inhuman for beta reading.