Xie Lian's artistic side| Colors of the Heart ~ Hualian AU

Chapter X

Weeks went by and rehearsals started for real.

That day, Xie Lian got to the theater and went straight to the auditorium. Puqi said she would watch the rehearsal today, but she was not there yet. He looked to the stage and saw Lang Qianqiu gesticulating as he was reviewing his lines.

He agitatedly greeted Xie Lian. "Oh, Hi! I wanted to ask, have you graduated already?"

"Almost, just a couple of weeks left. You?" Xie Lian answered removing his shoes. He enjoyed rehearsing barefoot.

"Another year to go. But I think I'm not just one year younger than you, am I?"

"I guess not. I didn't enter college right after school. I took some time off." Xie Lian explained, remembering days of dull part-time jobs, roles on very amateur plays while hiding from his parents, who were pressing him and getting angry all the time. It took him time and courage to admit to them he wanted to become a professional actor. Even though he was always performing in school plays, they took a while to accept it. They must have known and pressed against it anyway. Not his mom actually, she was silent while his father was the one to do the scolding.

They eventually agreed to his major choice, but they would not watch him perform as a form of protest, and it made it even harder and more embarrassing for Xie Lian to ask for money when he needed some help. He could not wait to have enough to pay his own bills and move out.

"Are you looking forward to graduation party? I'm sure you are. Oh, good morning, Director Hua." Lang Qianqiu slightly bowed to Hua Cheng, who also greeted Xie Lian. Hua Cheng then stood nearby while talking to a staff member.

Xie Lian was not embarrassed to say he could not afford the graduation ball and probably would not go to the party, since it would happen in a couple of weeks' time already.

Hua Cheng gathered all and briefly instructed about today's scene. It would start with Xie Lian and Lang Qianqiu, the director wanted to see what they envisioned on their own. Both positioned themselves on marks when they heard, "Show me what you got in one go, alright? Gege, you good?"

Xie Lian nodded and the action started. The director watched them performing, his face still. They had to talk while playing pool. It was really hard for Xie Lian not to laugh as Lang Qianqiu was bad at maneuvering the stick and he was supposed to be a somewhat good player, both were. They were brothers in the plot and this was their get-along activity. They needed to go through the whole scene in one go, so Xie Lian focused and gave his best.

The dialog was fine, their dynamic was good, but perhaps Lang Qianqiu was a bit stiff yet? The scene ended when Xie Lian went out the stage and Hua Cheng yelled "done". He stood up after that and walked over to the figurative table. He was now between them without saying a word, leaving everyone on edge since his face wasn't giving anything away. He then moved away from Xie Lian a bit, his back to Lang Qianqiu, pushing him back and creating space for him beside Xie Lian.

Then, he picked up the stick and nodded for Xie Lian to come to him. He said nothing at all but he was enacting what the authors just did!

Xie Lian approached and as he passed his arm around Hua Cheng and came closer, the director lunched for him. His arms strongly surrounded Xie Lian and his hands gripped at the fabric in his back. He stuffed his head in Xie Lian's neck and to complete the scene, the stick went flying and landed on the floor. The last part was clearly not premeditated.

Xie Lian gasped for air loudly as all of this happened. He was not expecting such intensity, although he knew the scene was supposed to be emotional. Most of all, he was not expecting to be hugged as deeply as that by San Lang when he arrived today. Consequently, who knew if his gasp was part of the acting or because of San Lang?