Behind The Red Curtain | YiZhan ✓

18-"When Spring Comes"

Expressing oneself. It was an art, a way of art, as many philosophers and artists would define it. It was described as the path to achieving freedom and self assurance about the person you are. Many saw it as a way to realize their mistakes and created personalities to be better human beings in their future selves. And that defined the soul of a person, making it vulnerable to judgement and its demands.

Many expressed themselves with drawing, songs, dancing or by simply, putting a big amount of effort into their work, as talent had never been something they had. And that was okay. After all, life is much more than that.

But for Zhan, expressing himself had always been through his career since he had no choice in it. Being a celebrity was a high stake job, so even if he wanted to express his whole heart truly, he had never been allowed to. But maybe that was for the best, since after all, if the rest of humanity knew of his true self, then he'd be criticized for all he knew. And that would be enough to break his heart.

So he kept it to himself, until he told Yibo. And he had been generous with his judgement, accepting him for who he was. And he was happy for that. As happy as a tingling could be felt in his heart, covering his body in trembling joy.

Yet today, he was not sure on how to face him. He had changed positions on the couch over a dozens of times, unable to set his mind on how to sit. The studio seemed even bigger as well, making him feel a little stressed out.

And the producer had seen him act so, cocking his head to ask if he was okay. "Are you stressed?" Zhan nodded. "Yeah..." But not for the reasons he would think. "Duyi has always been sudden with his requests hasn't he? But you should be fine. After all, you did write many songs with Yibo."

He did. But that didn't mean he'd be good at it every time. All he wanted at the moment, was to clear the dark clouds between them and learn if he had done something last night. That was his only concern. "Maybe you should shut your mouth and don't pry into his private life. He has other things to worry about you dimwit."

Zhan sighed at Shun's words, almost having forgotten he were here, if it weren't for him speaking harshly again. "I'm sorry on his behalf, please don't mind him."

The producer rolled his eyes and was about to yell, if it weren't for Yibo walking in at that very moment. "You people seem lively enough to start already."

Zhan's gaze shot up to observe his face, later only to fall back down from embarrassment and guilt. There was no way he could look at him like that. The curiosity was eating him up. "Is this him?" His distraction was then put to a halt by Shun's soft whisper against his ear. "Y-yeah.."

Shun looked at him up and down, later showing him his hand for greeting. "Detective Meng Shun." Yibo looked at him with dry eyes, only to avert his gaze with disinterest. "You make friends with detectives now?"

Zhan swallowed, not sure what to say. "He's... an old friend. Where were you?" Yibo placed his bag aside and sighed. "I was with Zixin. Sorry for being late."

The latter looked down, biting his lip. It was Luo Zixin once more. He wasn't sure why he got an unsettling feeling in his heart every time after hearing his name, making him wonder if the stinging was caused by that as well.

"All right then. Since the two of you are already here, i'll cut it short. Duyi has called on you two to make a collab since you somehow managed to bail on your last performance- which has disappointed your fans as well. I think it's only fair and square to compensate it with a song. You can decide on the theme yourselves. I want the job to be finished by the end of the week aaand... it would be nice if your detective friend left now."