spoilers:
holy shit i thought i was the resident expert on this manhwa. alas i've been dethroned.
i had previously interpreted xin setting lau up with friends as a way of getting lau to pursue his dreams from behind the scenes but honestly ur perspective makes a lot of sense. i also think xin setting lau up with friends was to pretend like he was hanging out wiith lau himself (cuz of him watching the livestream)- like he's living vicariously through them if that makes sense?
xin definitely has emotions that he can't express very well, which we will see a lot more in his backstory, but that moment stood out a lot where he just looked at lau like "girl thats what i've been saying the whole time". sometimes it feels like xin has emotions that we the audience expect him to have in his situation, but he just doesnt- because of his upbringing. at this point though i think xin retreating into the annex wasn't just out of his own will, as he mentioned he has a personal reason for staying there, one he couldn't even tell to lau. my current theory is that it has something to do with the head family.
wdym by it was the prime day for them to run away though? i think im just being slow but where does lian hint at it? so glad theres someone else out here theorizing about this manhwa tho, it gets lonely out here.
Dang bro that is crazy glad u typed this out because this just added to the plot. It makes it filled with more impact. Thankyou for typing this out. I READ THESE TWO NEW UPDATES TO FAST AND NOW OOF IT MAKES SSENSE. Lau and Xin relationship is so complex. And you can tell xin is not normal because of his upbringing and the head family stuff bruh cannot be expressive and then Lau being so connected to him as a guardian or carved in with that bond it clicks that not only is Lau feeling his own emotions but I think he is feeling Xin emotions but he's dense to pick up on this. Lau has alot of layers like and onion and so does Xin and they can't communicate like normal because well because of everything. You want to know what i think I think if you would strip them both away from the head family and guardian stuff just remove them from everything and if they were to normal kids going to school they would have not been toxic to eachother they would have been able to talk it out and express to eachother
Tahnkyou for your comment
omg ur right lau is so shrek coded
i just realized in ch 61, (spoilers)
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Xin's last day outside, we found out Lau made these bandmate friends BECAUSE Xin got into contact with their producer friend. Bro was setting up a social group for Lau. He obviously wants to spent time with Lau- asking him to hang out or do something together, Lau always refuses, and Xin is constantly setting up a plan to ensure that Lau won't be lonely even if Xin won't be there. In sense, he's been setting up a plan to disappear from Lau's life even 5 years back.
On the flip side, Lau realizes he can't replace Xin with other people, yet when he realizes Xin did all this, his reaction is feeling humiliated and manipulated (which is fair, he thought he made those friends by himself) to shattered as he shouts "Do you know how much pain I go through because of you? Do you realize how agonizing this is? I want you to feel everything I do!"
and that's when he stops. everything finally clicks, this is EXACTLY what Xin is thinking- it's why he's weirdly calm even after Lau nearly chokes him. Xin probably has had intense emotions and Lau is the one who expresses it for him. it's why Lau suddenly bursts out crying after asking "what is your problem", then seemingly tries to sift through the candy and get Xin the "white konpeito" he lost earlier that day, maybe as an apology but he's already too late.
Lian seems to even hint that this day was the prime day for Xin and Lau to run away- maybe even the reason why she and Wei decide to conveniently be busy than spend the day with Xin. But Xin also chooses not to vocalize these things and let Lau just get the wind knocked out of him with every realization.
Your honor, they're toxic for each other