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

Chapter LX : TW

Trigger warning: unpleasant thoughts, mental health issues, slightly gore description

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Wednesday. Late morning at the theater but already feeling like a stretched, very long day. Yin Yu did not go home last night, even though he was very tired. The entire night had been spent with retracing plans, forecasts, and updating spreadsheets. After Director Hua was suddenly arrested, the assistant was left with no clear plan of action.

Initially, that did not cause him to feel so worried. Yin Yu must admit he was even a bit excited, to be honest. Unexpectedly, he found himself being reached by many people that were looking for Hua Cheng, and saw himself in a position of making decisions for the time being. He knew all the ongoing projects and thought he could manage keeping them on hold for one week. That a good opportunity to prove his worth. Hence, on Monday, Yin Yu was somewhat satisfied, giving orders here and there, and answering calls without really disclosing any information about the director's situation. Well, even Yin Yu did not know what was going on, so he was really just buying time.

It had been a long day at the theater, but he managed. Until night came, and journalist calls would not stop ringing, or people from the director's network and staff continued to ask for instructions and information. Tuesday went on following the same rhythm. Soon, Yin Yu grew exhausted. Making decisions and negotiating was actually very stressful, more if the media was constantly harassing and trying to get exclusive interviews. Turned out, Yin Yu started regretting his initial feelings.

At the end of the second day, Yin Yu was already beginning to panic. Where was the director? Even Yin Yu needed explanations! Feeling lost in such a state of mind, he almost bumped into Quan Yizhen in the theater corridor at some point. For the last two days, he had been telling Quan Yizhen what to do, but he did not want to have to tell him how to do it, or where to find this and that. Still, the lad was always asking things, even the tiniest details. Yin Yu knew that would happen again and, like a pressure cooker holding in just too much, he felt something clicked and the pressure escaped at once.

Right now, after spending the night at the director's office, Yin Yu felt his eyes involuntary closing. What did he say to Quan Yizhen after all? He did not remember. He decided to allow himself to nap a bit, at least until the next phone call. That was when someone opened the door to the office abruptly.

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The last two days have been very tiring for Quan Yizhen too. He had some post-production work to do at the theater and, since Monday, he had been following Yin Yu's instructions, but not getting much done. Actually, he was not tired from working with his body. Instead, his chest was feeling very heavy, very tight, and that was because he was very worried. Ever since he heard about Director Hua's arrest, he felt so nervous his heart felt like shrinking, also when he went to bed at night, and thus he was not being able to rest properly. It felt as if an ice blanket was placed on top of his chest, and the ice would not melt, not even if he sat on the sun for half an hour. He tried that already!

He admired the director a lot, that was true, and he doubted whatever bad things the news was saying about him were true. At dinner time, after serving her freshly prepared silky egg pudding, Quan Yizhen's mom had asked him, "Isn't that the man your work for at the theater? Yizhen, you shouldn't work for him! He's no good!"

They had a bad argument because of this, and Quan Yizhen walked away without eating the pudding. He knew something must be wrong, Director Hua was not a bad person.

This was also not the only reason why he was feeling so uneasy. Xie Lian gege was also so important to Quan Yizhen, always buying the eggs his mom sold to help out his family, then finding him a job. Quan Yizhen knew Lian gege and the director were dear friends! Not the type of friends you see drinking beer at the bar and talking loudly. Their friendship was deeper and more... "touchy". Quan Yizhen knew they liked each other's company so much they even kissed.