Chapter Text
Lin Ling doesn't remember the first time he met his little brother. For as long as he's been here, he feels like he's been with him all his life.
His parents say he cried like a baby the first time he saw his brother, scared the baby was sick with how pale he was. This was before he knew what the word albino meant. After that, they claim that they were attached to the hip. One wouldn't be seen without the other a step behind.
Maybe that's why they leave him with his brother when he is ten and the other five.
“Don't worry, we'll come next month, it'll be like we never left,” his mother says while fixing her shirt in the mirror.
Lin Ling bites his lips, tearing up, “but-”
“Stop asking questions!” His dad chastises him. He doesn't look up from where he is packing the last bit of his clothes into his suitcase, “my sister is coming over every week to drop by and check on you guys. She'll bring you groceries, any essentials you may need, and make sure you guys don't die while we're gone.” He slams the suitcase closed.
“You're a big boy now Lin Ling, so stop this whining.”
The next month turned into two months, then three, four, and so on. He stopped calling them by the time he turned fourteen, and they didn't bother ever calling him to check in. It's also around this time his aunt tells him to get a job, stating that the money his parents send doesn't cover much anymore. He ignores her new clothes and jewelry as she says this.
His brother, in a fucked up blessing, doesn't miss their parents like he does.
“It's not like I know them,” his brother tells him, as they're in the middle of dinner. He pushes some of his food around.
Lin Ling frowns, “Still, you don't have to shout at our Aunt about that.” Even if she deserves it, it goes unsaid.
When he's sixteen he gets the news that his parents died during a villain attack.
Wrong place, wrong time, people claiming to be his parents' friends tell him during the after-service of the funeral. Luckily he didn't have to pay for the funeral, Treeman Corporation paid for everything due to their hero's mistake being the reason his parents died, they claim. His aunt was ecstatic to hear that, but he was not so much.
His brother looks uncomfortable throughout the ceremony. Luckily guests ignore him, well, except one.
Lin Ling gives the crying guest an awkward pat on the shoulder. He didn't even know the person, but they claimed to be a close friend of his late parents before they started bawling.
He looks around trying to see if there is any way he could get out of this awkward situation when he notices someone talking to his brother.
The man wears a gray suit, standing out from the sea of blacks, and looks to be in deep thoughts with his eleven-year-old brother. Surprisingly. His brother also looks just as invested, wearing his serious face.
“OH, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE!” The guest wails, scaring him from his thoughts.
“There, there,” he clumsily reassures.
After that, it's like his brother becomes a different person.
His brother was already a well-liked community member in the area, but it's like he fixed on being more popular. Elders would stop him on the street and gush about how helpful he was in carrying their groceries for them. Teachers complimented his punctuality and leadership skills. Dance blogs were posting videos of his brother's recitals with nothing but praise. Kids were mobbing him to ask when his brother would come out and play a game of ball with them again.
Maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise when his brother told him he wanted to be a superhero.
“I'm applying for the Treeman scholarship,” his brother, seventeen, tells him as he hands him a permission slip. It reads: Treeman Hero Scholarship Program.
Lin Ling grabs the paper in shock. He looks up at his brother and back at the paper. “You want to be a hero?” He asks in redundancy.
Like usual, his brother rolls his eyes. “Can you hurry up and sign already?” His brother's white hair reflects the sunset through the window of the balcony - it looks like a halo.
Lin Ling is sitting on the couch, the shadow of his brother engulfing him.
“Sure. Could you bring me a pen?”
He graduates college with a degree in marketing at twenty-three. He holds a small celebration, and his brother and his brother's close friend from school, Wreck, come over to his place to celebrate.
All three get very drunk, and to this day he doesn't remember anything that happened. Just that the next day Wreck looks like a tomato anytime his brother looks his way, and his brother is surprisingly a heavy drinker.
“See you later, didi!” He shouts to his brother from the balcony. His brother looks up from where he stands at the bottom,
Instead of flipping him off like usual, his brother smiles and gives him a finger gun salute.
A week later he gets a knock on his door.
“What is this?” Lin Ling looked blankly at the stack of paper shoved in front of him.
The man who had been knocking at his door for the past 10 minutes looked at him with a mock smile.
“Papers relinquishing your familial rights to your brother.” From his pocket, he grabs a pen and holds it out for him.
“And why the hell would I do that?” Lin Ling gives the guy a dirty look. It's eight in the morning on a Saturday, and he could be sleeping in. Instead, he's dealing with whatever this is. He goes to push the door close, but a foot stops him.
“Sir, this is not a joke,” the sound of ruffling could be heard before a card was held up to him through the small crack of the door.
The card holds no name, but only a mere symbol – the Treeman Hero Associations symbol, to be exact.
The guy continues, “Treeman sent me here to get your signature, if you don't sign your rights away today, then we'll be forced to go the legal route and sever your ties in the court of law.” He wiggles the card, “And I'm guessing you don't have the means to fight us that way.”
Lin Ling opens the door once more, scowling at the dude.
“Why should I believe you? Anyway, why would Treeman want me to sign anything – my brother would never agree to this?”
The sleazy guy frowns, “he hasn't told you?” And pulls out his phone.
“Told me what?” He raises an eyebrow. The last time he saw his brother was, well, last week. Texting is usually one-sided with him occasionally sending a meme or two, and his brother replying with emojis. Although he hasn't replied to the last one he sent a couple days ago. Odd, but not concerning.
The man tuts in disappointment and shoves the device at his face, “Go on press play. We'll see how you'll feel about signing these papers afterward.”
He presses play and watches as the video displays his brother sitting in a bleak grey room. His brother looks bored and taps his fingers on the table without rhythm.
[“Are you sure you want to do this?” A female voice speaks behind the camera.
His brother stops his tapping and looks at the camera. “Yes.”
Her voice is clipped as she reiterates, “No one is forcing you to do this, Nice . There is no going back once you do this.” Rustling is heard in the background, “once you sign these papers, you sign your likeness and formally remove any familial ties you have. Are you sure? This is extreme – not even our top heroes do this.” She slides what he assumes is a contract toward his brother.
His brother shrugs and coolly responds, “Then they aren't desperate enough.” ]
The video ends.
Lin Ling stares into the eyes of his brother through the screen. His brother's blank stare holds no remorse.
The guy hands the stack back at him without another word, although looking more smug than he was previously.
Lin Ling grabs the pen and signs.
He doesn't see his brother for a while after that.
There has to be some irony in the fact that Lin Ling ended up working at the same marketing firm that makes the majority of Treeman advertisement. Luckily he is fantastic when it comes to keeping his personal feelings and work job separate. It also helps that he primarily works on the ad concept, rather than the meetings up with clientele.
At twenty-five, he would argue that his life is pretty good.
Up until he got fired for his Nice ad of all things. Like what are the chances that is his boss's final straw?
At the roof overlooking the city, Lin Ling wonders where everything went wrong.
As if the universe is laughing at him, a blimp appears ahead of him, showcasing one of his ads,
“Discover the secret of our perfect love!” Moon and Nice proclaim in the Ad. And to add salt to his wound, behind him, the billboard once again shows Nice asking, “Hey, have you got a house.”
It's like something breaks inside of him as he starts shouting at the sky,
“You damn brat! This is how you treat your older brother who took care of you all these years! At least buy me a house!” He turns around to flip off the board. “When you're old and ugly don't come crawling back to me you hear!”
It's at that moment his brother who he hasn't seen in two years floats down from the sky.
“Huh?” He pales, realizing that his brother might've heard him.
“Gege,” his brother walks towards him. As he reaches him, he gives him his iconic Nice finger gun salute.
And walks off the roof.
