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Lin Xiao has always been perfect. At least that’s what everyone thought. With his outstanding grades, graceful manners, and charms, he was the so-called Prince of his school, admired and envied by all. Teachers praised him. Classmates depended on and idolized him. And girls fell at his feet.
He was the epitome of perfection that he gained the nickname “Nice”
But beneath that flawless facade lay a secret—one he guarded fiercely.
At home, on the other hand, he was quite the opposite.
Sprawled out on the floor wearing his middle school jumpsuit, Lin Xiao snacked lazily on chips, fully immersed in his unpolished self. His laugh echoed through the house as he pointed at the TV screen.
“HAHAHA! STUPID, STUPID!” Lin Xiao barked at the show he was watching, barely holding back tears from laughing so hard.
Behind him, his younger brother Lin Ling sighed in quiet disdain. “Shameful,” he muttered under his breath.
“Ohhh,” his mother clapped with joy. She was always so supportive and agreeable that Lin Xiao often felt concerned for her sanity.
“Oh, shush, Lingling,” Lin Xiao retorted, waving him off. “Don’t forget who’s older here.”
“Mom~ Xiaoxiao is being mean~” Lin Ling pouted, deploying his ultimate attack: puppy eyes.
“Now, now, Xiao, that’s no way to treat your brother,” his mother scolded gently.
“Fine, I’ll hold nothing against my brother,” Lin Xiao huffed, “BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN I FEEL THE SAME ABOUT HER!” He pointed at the young girl sitting next to Lin Ling.
Xiao Yueqing smirked at him, feigning innocence. “Whatever do you mean, Brother Xiao?”
“HEY! Don’t point at Yueqing so rudely!” Lin Ling shot back, frowning.
“SHE DOESN’T EVEN LIVE HERE!” Lin Xiao shouted.
“Now, now, son. That’s no attitude to take with Yueqing. Look at her, she’s practically family,” his mother said, pulling Yueqing into a warm hug.
“Yes, Brother Xiao~,” Xiao Yueqing replied, her tone as annoying as ever.
“AUGH!” Lin Xiao squirmed in frustration. He plopped back onto the couch, grumbling under his breath, “I should’ve been an only child. How did I end up with two annoying siblings?”
“Haha, everyone’s so lively today!” Lin Xiao’s head perked up at the sound of his father’s voice. His father was a beast of a man, yet his outgoing personality was so bizarre and alien to Lin Xiao that he often wondered how his dad maintained such bubbly energy.
“Dad! Your home” Lin Ling waved his arms excitedly.
“Hello, Uncle” Xiao Yueqing nodded in greeting.
“Oh, darling, you’re home!” Lin Mom clasped her hands with joy.
“Haha, indeed I am! How was everyone’s day?” Lin Dad placed his briefcase on the table and hung his hat on the stand.
“Everything was just fine, Dad!” Lin Ling chirped.
“Mhm,” Xiao Yueqing nodded in agreement.
“Well, that’s a joy!” Lin Dad turned his gaze to his son. “How about you, Xiao?”
“Me?” Lin Xiao straightened up and switched to his nice persona. “Nothing really, just the usual admiration and envy directed my way.”
“Ahaha, is that so?” Lin Dad laughed and patted Lin Xao’s back, each pat heavier than the last.
The family knew the truth—Lin Xiao worked tirelessly to maintain his image. Not because he cared about being good, but because he craved recognition.
“Disgusting,” Xiao Yueqing remarked monotonously.
“HEY, YOU!” Lin Xiao snapped.
“I’m so glad you’re a high school student now. Every time I see Xiao strutting the hallways with his nice persona, I get chills,” Lin Ling teased.
“Mhmm, mhmm,” Xiao Yueqing nodded in rapid succession.
“Haha, of course! Who do you think I am?” Lin Xiao boasted.
The effort he put into maintaining his public image was exhausting. He studied tirelessly, practiced his expressions in the mirror, and calculated every move to ensure his classmates only saw his idealized version.
“But wait,” Lin Ling said, tapping his chin in thought. “Isn’t there someone else who became the freshman representative?”
“Mhm,” Xiao Yueqing nodded.
Lin Xiao’s efforts seemed worth it, or so he thought—until he appeared.
“Oh, wait! I remember!” Lin Ling exclaimed, his fist clenched like he’d uncovered something world-shattering. “His name was—
Wreck .”
Wreck was the embodiment of perfection. Handsome, intelligent, athletic, and effortlessly charming, he was Nice’s equal in every way—and worse, he was genuine. While Nice pretended to be flawless, Wreck actually was.
The moment Wreck transferred to the school, he stole the spotlight Nice had worked so hard to claim. Teachers showered him with praise, and classmates flocked to him, captivated by his natural charisma.
“Tsk, Wreck,” Nice muttered, seething with annoyance.
At first, Nice convinced himself he didn’t care. But as days passed, he grew increasingly irked by Wreck’s presence. The way his classmates kept harping on Wreck’s name was maddening.
“Wreck, can you help me with this math problem?” a classmate asked, and Nice swore Wreck’s smile was irritatingly perfect as he helped.
But there was another thing that irked Nice: Wreck was taller. Nice, standing at a respectable 181 cm, had never thought of himself as short, but Wreck was 186 cm of effortless perfection. The height difference gnawed at Nice's Pride.
“Why is he taller too?” Nice muttered one day as he stood next to Wreck during assembly.
Wreck, oblivious, just smiled down at him as if he didn’t notice Nice’s sour expression.
Then there was basketball practice. Nice was in his element, showing the girls how to shoot. “And that’s how you throw it. Just focus and—”
“WOAH, WRECK’S PLAYING!” The gym doors burst open.
“WAIT, NO WAY!” “OMG, I need to see this!”
In seconds, Nice was left on the court, utterly alone. He stomped his way to the field, where Wreck was dazzling the crowd with his soccer skills.
“AND THE WORST PART? I ENDED UP GAWKING AND CHEERING FOR HIM!” Lin Xiao slammed his fist onto the dinner table.
“There, there,” Lin Ling comforted him.
“Yeah, can’t be helped that he’s be–” Lin Ling quickly blocked Xiao Yueqing's mouth.
“What she’s saying is that anyone would do so in that situation” Lin Ling said while he was dropping sweat.
Lin Xiao clenched his fists. It wasn’t just Wreck’s success; it was his authenticity that enraged him. Unlike Nice, Wreck didn’t have to try. And that infuriated him.
Determined to reclaim his throne, Nice pushed himself harder. He stayed up late, aiming to outshine Wreck at every turn.
“Nice with 100 points,” the teacher announced.
Nice smirked inwardly, keeping his outward demeanor humble.
“And Wreck with 102 points.”
Nice’s world tilted.
“HOW?” he screamed internally.
“Haha, Wreck used a unique solution, so I gave him extra points,” the teacher explained.
Nice’s table nearly cracked under his grip as his classmates erupted in admiration for Wreck.
No matter how hard Nice worked, Wreck always matched or surpassed him. The pressure was wearing him down.
But He can’t give up! He is Nice. That Wreck would get wrecked
One night, as Nice drifted off to sleep mid-study, he awoke with a start, his pen dangerously close to stabbing his eye. “Shit! Did anyone see that?”
And there was Wreck, staring at him.
“Nice, you should be more careful,” Wreck said, his tone genuinely concerned.
Nice blushed furiously, nodding silently. Why did Wreck have to witness his most embarrassing moments?
~~
The breaking point came during exam results. Nice finally saw his name above Wreck’s on the board. The cheers and admiration of his classmates brought him back to life.
“YES! THE ONE AND ONLY NICE IS BACK!” he thought, basking in the glory.
But when Wreck approached him, smiling gently, and said, “Nice, you’re amazing,”
Nice’s world froze. His heart skipped a beat. All his animosity felt foolish in the face of Wreck’s genuine kindness.
For a moment, he felt guilty about his animosity. But that guilt quickly turned to anger when he realized the truth: Wreck didn’t care. It felt so stupid, the fact that only he was thinking such shallow thoughts.
All this time Nice had been trying hard when, in the end, the truth was that Wreck couldn't care less. The things that he could do so easily without a thought weren’t anything special to him.
It was a given—unlike Nice, who had to fake it and work hard for this persona.
“Annoying.” Nice was sitting alone in the classroom with these thoughts running in his head. He walked outside the classroom where he saw Wreck walking down the same hallway. Nice couldn’t muster looking at him; looking at him made him feel self-deprecating.
They passed each other when—
“Uhm, Nice,” Wreck called for him. Nice stopped in his tracks and turned around.
“Yes?”
“I... admire you, Nice—” Nice widened his eyes hearing it, and he….
“AND THEN WHAT” Xiao Yueqing practically screamed.
“Uhh, yeah what happens next?” Lin Ling questioned.
“WELL, IT MEANS I WON,” Lin Xiao said.
“I don’t understand,” Xiao Yueqing said.
“Tsk tsk, my dear cousin, don’t you know that love is war and the first one to confess was the loser? And HE—WRECK—confessed, meaning he lost and I won.”
“Mhm,” Xiao Yueqing grunted questionably.
“After all, I mean I can’t fault him. I’m so amazing, so it’s no wonder he fell in love with me. HAHA,” Nice laughed.
“So what did you tell him?”
“What is that, a question? Of course I was all like, ‘I’m so sorry, I only wanted to think about my studies,’ and rejected him,” Lin Xiao said with an attitude of "what can you do."
“Love is war, and Wreck confessed first, so he loses!”
Lin Ling looked doubtful. “Sooner or later, Xiao-nii, you’ll let your guard down.”
Lin Xiao scoffed. Yep. No way. In this lifetime
It was a Sunday, and Lin Xiao was finally happy because he could rest. His brother and Yueqing were trying to convince him to join them for a movie, but he refused.
“No way. I’ve been pulling all-nighters just to win against Wreck. I deserve this rest,” he said, flopping onto his bed with a satisfied sigh.
And rest he did.
Lin Xiao heard the doorbell and assumed it was just his cousin forgetting an umbrella. Happily skipping to the door, he opened it and greeted his brother with his good old smack.
Just that.
Well.
Right in front of his door, with a pained expression, was not his brother but Wreck. To Nice’s horror, Wreck stumbled upon his true self—messy, unkempt, and anything but perfect.
"NO NO NO NO," his brain screamed. "THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING."
His carefully constructed persona was crumbling faster than a sandcastle in a hurricane. The messy room, the unkempt hair, the chips scattered everywhere - this was NOT the image of the "Prince of the School" that he had meticulously crafted. He thought, even as Wreck stood there, seemingly unbothered.
Nice panicked, desperately trying to salvage what was left of his dignity. But Wreck surprised him yet again. Instead of mocking him, he smiled.
“Haha, well, uh, if that’s all, I’m gonna go now,” Wreck said, bowing slightly before turning away.
Fuck.
Lin Xiao slammed the door shut, his face burning with humiliation.
When Monday came around, Nice remained on guard, fully expecting Wreck to reveal his embarrassing secret to the entire school. But nothing happened. Days passed, and Wreck didn’t say a word.
One evening, as Nice was heading home from school, he found himself walking through the empty hallways, his thoughts preoccupied with Wreck.
The unsettling realization that Wreck had seen him in his unguarded, imperfect state loomed over him like a dark cloud.
Just as he was about to step out of the school gates, Wreck appeared seemingly out of nowhere. “Hey, Nice,” he said casually, holding out a small stack of papers.
Nice blinked, confused. “What’s this?”
“Work,” Wreck replied, his tone light but his expression unreadable. “Thanks.”
Before Nice could utter another word, Wreck turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Nice standing there, clutching the papers and utterly perplexed.
The next day, Nice stormed up to Wreck during lunch break, his composure barely holding. “WHY?” he hissed, slamming the papers onto the table between them.
“Why me? What’s the meaning of this?”
Wreck looked up from his food, his ever-present smile faintly tugging at his lips. “Well, just some work. Thought you might help.” he said, his voice low so only Nice could hear, “I have your weakness. Better to use it.”
Nice’s stomach dropped. His mind raced. Did Wreck mean that ? The scene at the front door played vividly in his mind—the smack, the horrified look on Wreck’s face, the disheveled version of himself that Wreck had witnessed.
Nice’s mind went into overdrive. "USE WHAT? MY MOMENTARY IMPERFECTION? THE HORROR!"
His grip on the table tightened. His perfectly manicured nails nearly dug into the surface.
The other students, oblivious to the psychological warfare happening right in front of them, continued eating their lunch.
Was this blackmail? No, Wreck hadn’t threatened him outright.
But the implication was clear.
“Blackmail?” Nice spat, his hands trembling as he gripped the edge of the table. He kept his voice low, his cheeks burning with both anger and humiliation. “Really?”
Wreck just continued smiling that infuriatingly perfect smile and simply raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say that.” He took a casual sip from his drink, then added, “But if you don’t want me talking about what I saw...”
Nice’s jaw clenched. He hated this. Hated Wreck for putting him in this position. But most of all, he hated himself for caring so much.
“Fine,” he muttered through gritted teeth. He snatched the papers off the table and stormed away.
"THIS IS WAR," Nice thought, his smile never wavering.
Later that night, Nice sat at his desk, staring at the work Wreck had dumped on him. It wasn’t particularly difficult—it was just tedious.
But that wasn’t the point. It was the principle of the thing. Wreck had used his vulnerability against him, and now he was stuck doing someone else’s grunt work.
“UGHHHH!” Nice groaned, burying his face in his arms. The perfect prince of the school, reduced to this. All because of one stupid moment of carelessness.
He thought about confronting Wreck again, demanding an explanation or even threatening to retaliate.
But deep down, he knew he couldn’t. Wreck had the upper hand, and until Nice found a way to level the playing field, he had no choice but to endure.
Who would have thought Wreck was someone like that? The golden boy, so perfect and kind on the surface, had this sly, calculating side.
It was infuriating. And yet, a small, begrudging part of Nice couldn’t help but respect Wreck’s boldness. It was almost... admirable.
But admiration wasn’t going to get these papers done.
“Damn it,” Nice muttered, picking up his pen. “This isn’t over.”