#because Liang doesn’t know much about things that are considered romantic/sexual that usually require social context (he has none)

[villain-in-love]

😅💘 and 🫂 for Liang? (@canarycurse)

Ah, it's been a while since I talked about Liang and Zero, which is a shame, because they are entertaining. Especially their pining stage, since it is quite literally the case of "first love" for both parties, but both are just... completely clueless and have no idea what to do with it (Equivalent of poking their romantic feeling with a stick and going "what is this?")

Okay, so straight to answering the questions:

😅 did anyone ever mistake you two for a couple? how did you both react?

This is a peculiar case, because Zero didn’t even try to hide her feelings. Everyone knew from the start that she’s more than a little interested in Liang. The question is whether or when he will reciprocate. But honestly, given how Liang himself was fixated on Zero, just on her combat abilities instead of romantically, everyone came to a conclusion that it is most likely that sooner or later this fixation will turn into an actual crush.

Qi and the boys from the cell 13 almost immediately caught up on the fun of teasing Liang by calling Zero his girlfriend, even if they get hit and told off in strong language in return. Seeing Liang all annoyed and flustered is too fun. And later even other people in Nanba, guards and inmates alike, started to treat them as a couple – not even as a joke, but genuinely (they seemed to underestimate how slow this relationship progresses). Some people even started to ship them, truly convinced that "They already act like a couple, it's only a matter of time before it becomes official". Much to Liang’s frustration.

Liang genuinely didn’t understand why others think that they are dating. Zero might have a weird obsession with him, but it doesn't mean that there’s anything actually going on between them. What on earth even gave others the impression that he might be interested in her in that way?? It's honestly getting tiring. Also Liang really doesn't appreciate people assuming things about him, including his feelings towards Zero. (Interestingly enough, after he actually fell for her, Liang became somewhat fine with them being called a couple – he certainly started to deny it more calmly and less persistently...)

Zero herself generally doesn’t care, because, well, that's Zero for you. But she does usually correct people, calmly stating that she and Liang are not a couple, simply because it's more practical to avoid misinformation and misunderstandings. She wouldn't even add a joking "yet", because she doesn't even view dating as her goal.

🫂 what's one significant moment of physical contact you had during the pining stage?

Most if not all of the physical contact during the pining stage was in the context of a combat (what else would you expect from these two?)… But I think one of the most intense moments happened relatively early in their weird friendship, during one of their sparrings.

It happened further in the timeline, after Liang had his fight with Chimney, so he’s already more open to using a more ruthless fighting style from his past as opposed to a sport style of martial arts. That’s a good thing. But apparently, not good enough. The problem is: he was fighting Zero as he would fight another human, and a human he didn’t plan to seriously damage at that. Appropriate for what it is – a friendly sparring as a training, but not when you’re dealing with a literal monster.

In the end, Zero got frustrated by Liang not understanding the situation.

So she finally went from the usual defence to the offence, pouncing on Liang and tackling him to the ground, straddling his hips with her hand at his throat.

“If I put a bit more force into my hold, I will crush your trachea. If we were enemies you would have already been dead.

Fight me like you’re trying to kill me. You won’t get anywhere othervice.”

Both guards and other inmates witnessing all thought one and the same thing: “lucky bastard”. But at that time Liang was too busy being pissed off at the fact that he got so easily overpowered. Also his back fucking hurts, as he just got dragged at least two metres on the ground with the force of an impact when Zero jumped at him.

None of the two particularly minded such position, actually. But Zero did note that it's kinda nice to feel the body of the person she likes this close, underneath her. That way she can feel the heartbeat, the rush of blood in his veins, the smell… It’s interesting. Meanwhile for Liang it was the first time when he begrudgingly admitted to himself that he might find Zero attractive in this moment, namely the strength and her competence as a fighter she demonstrated to pull such a move.

💘 (if applicable) what moment made them realize they were in love with you?

I really don’t think that there was one specific moment of realization. Figuring out what exactly is going on was probably a long process, since Liang really has no frame of reference – he has never been in love before, and he never had any interest in romantic stuff whatsoever, considering it unnecessary and brushing it off for most of his life. So I bet he spent enough sleepless nights trying to analyse what on earth is he feeling towards Zero. Of course he never asked anyone for advice/opinion because, simply from the rational point of view, there's not a single person he would trust in this prison when it comes to that kind of stuff, especially not in the Building 5.

(Honestly, I think that there was even some time when Liang subconsciously avoided sorting out his feelings because he already suspected what the answer might be, and he surely did not want that.)

Hmmm, but perhaps what might have seriously kickstarted this thinking process was one of their conversations. Zero was asking many questions, as usual, and this time she wanted to know what Liang is planning to do when he gets out of prison (a difficult question, actually...) But that, in turn, made Liang curious as to what exactly is going to happen to Zero in the future?

The way Zero casually reminded him of her black number plate and that she was supposed to stay in prison forever… It was like something dropped inside of him. For some reason, what she said made him feel uneasy. Which is unreasonable, because such way of things is clearly for the best – of course a creature like her cannot be left to run free, and it’s not like it would even be psychologically taxing for her, but still. For some reason this bothered him. That to led Liang realizing that, perhaps, he doesn’t like the idea of never seeing Zero again after he leaves Nanba. But then here come the implications of that, and now he's starting to wonder how much exactly does he like her...

P.S. Wow, I waited forever for you to actually ask about Liang in one of these games. Thanks for the ask, An!