Behind The Red Curtain | YiZhan ✓

76-Quiet Yet Loud, Warm Yet Cold

It had never been this tiring to be in front of the cameras before. The lights flashing, the press throwing questions from everywhere. It was that day when Yibo realised, that he did not like to keep up a facade for the sake of his career. "This is all fake..." And he ended up letting it slip out just like that. 

One of the reporters from the crowd raised the microphone towards Yibo's lips and frowned. "Excuse me, what was that?" Yet the latter was one step away from snapping, as he suddenly slapped the mic out of her hands and stepped over it. "I said don't fucking push the damn thing onto my lips." The press then became loud, loud asking questions once more, and causing Yibo to be further more infuriated than he already was. 

Meanwhile Duyi who watched him from behind held Zhan back with a slight squeeze on his wrist. "Let me stop him before things get worse-!" Yet the latter begged to disagree as he flashed a smile to the cameras whilst speaking with the side of his mouth. "No just let him- if you interfere now, the press will suspect further-" Zhan frowned as he looked at Yibo's back with longing eyes. "But-!!" 

He couldn't help but feel bad to see the pressure pushed onto Yibo like this. He knew exactly how he felt. But he had to let the meeting continue smoothly, or else he'd be making things even worse. 

Around two hours later, the press meeting had finally finished, and all three were now inside Duyi's office, with their heads down. "I'm... sorry for acting out of bounds. Should've held my fists back......" 

"..." Duyi simply looked at him with raised brows, knowing very well that he was not capable of such a thing. Just then, Huizhong entered the room as well, quite shocked at the sight. "Hey- is this the time to be gloomy? The feedback from the fans is great- so i don't think you have anything to worry about." Zhan quickly grabbed his phone to check with expectant eyes. "Is it really? Ah..." 

Meanwhile Yibo just scoffed. "Wether it is or not doesn't matter. We now have the gossips stuck on our backs for the rest of our lives either ways. Goodbye freedom..." All five sighed at once, causing the room to be depressed. 

Duyi groaned, "I need a smoke-" while Huizhong left the room just like that. But Yibo and Zhan just stared at each other, later standing up as if they had come to an agreement. "Yeah- let's go for a drink." Yibo then gave Duyi a look and shrugged. "Well, we did our part. The rest is up to you boss." 

Duyi raised his brows again, maybe also a little fed up with the situation as he let them leave. "...yeah a smoke and a drink too." 

After their arrival at Hu Li's bar, they took a seat by the stands. Hu Li was more than pleased to see them as he leaned forward on the counter with a welcoming smile. "I just saw your press meeting on live. You gotta really fix up that anger of yours." Yibo simply didn't respond as he took a seat, while Zhan did beside him. "He was just protecting us. You try getting shoved in the mouth with a mic. It's really not that pleasant.." Hu Li hummed at Zhan understandingly as he pulled himself back and tied his apron around his waist. "I suppose it's the pressure then. And well, thankfully i have the perfect drink for that." With that, he began concocting his cocktails, not taking any more than five minutes each. 

Soon after they were served, Zhan swallowed his first mouthful in delight. "This job really is made for you." Yibo nodded with amazed eyes also, finding his drink rather delightful. "Well, i didn't drop out of school for nothing. Following your dreams really is what makes you outshine.......unlike my sister." 

Yibo almost coughed out a spit as he placed his glass back down. "You have a sister?" Hu Li sighed. "You never got that impression from me did you. Well, she had always wanted to be an artist, but our parents never really understood that. Which was one of the reasons why i ran away. But she just stayed back and did as she was told."