So guys

#1 sangyang fan here to explain some stuff. so:

1. Why did Xin do this to Lau?

have u read the storybook chapter yet? that chapter is supposed to draw a parallel between the two children and xin and lau. in the storybook, the trapped child tries to escape with the other child sacrifice from the demon king but just when they're about to, the trapped child becomes the same fog as the demon king. meaning, that child is the child of the demon king and is unable to escape. then the kid sends away the other (passed out) kid away on a boat because the trapped child wants to save the other kid from the demon king.

sry if that was confusing, but basically the trapped child in the story is meant to represent Xin. Xin understands that the head family is likely responsible for all of this and doesn't want Lau to get caught up in whatever's going to happen. so he burns their contract and sends lau away to sever their connection, essentially sending lau away on a boat, like in the storybook. in his mind, its more worth it to save lau than anything else, even if lau ends up hating him for it.

2. Why does lau hate xin so much? Cuz his freedom was stolen away?

i think thats a part of it. this is sorta related to the last question u asked. xin seems to make decisions that affect lau, without consulting him first (ie, straight up abandoning him) just because he thinks its for the greater good. but to lau, this seems like xin thinks lau is stupid or something along those lines, which only further adds to his insecurities of not being good enough. (we'll see a bit more of that in a few chapters, which i think starts their whole fall out).

also, their power dynamic is constantly hanging over lau's head. we can see in the flashback where xin left lau during high school, that because of this lau truly internalized that they are nothing more than master and servant. a lot of times throughout the story u can constantly see lau reminding himself that their relationship is only contractual, and that xin can leave him at any time, while lau has none of that authority. whenever that happens, the panel of xin saying "goodbye then lau" in high school is shown.

another reason: xin constantly hides stuff from lau. this sorta relates to my first point, but xin is hardly honest to lau about what goes on in the head family, maybe because he fears for lau's safety or another reason, idk yet. lau's realization towards the end of season 1 is that xin is not someone who's honest and that u can't really get a read on him (ie, chapter 16). also xin straight up tells lau that he's known lian was doing that the tattoo from the very beginning. how tf can lau trust him after that?? and now lau's also probably trying to figure out why xin even sent him on that chase in the first place. seeing all of the stuff that xin has done to lau coupled with the fact that he can never tell what xin's thinking, its not hard to understand why lau resents him a little.

i still don't think lau hates him though, its obvious those two still have a lot of affection for each other. its just that their statuses & history get in the way of them truly communicating. maybe xin burning their contract will allow them to finally be honest to one another, but idk if lau can ever trust xin after this ngl

i rly encourage u to reread this when u have time. its a lot easier to understand what the author was setting up on the reread. lemme know if u have another questions, im happy to answer anything when it comes to sangyang. good luck on ur exams pookie (づ￣ ³￣)づ