hey im back at it again with the paragraphs :D in short its complicated.
i dont know what chapter ur on but this relationship does get explored in different ways over the course of the story. the "point" ig of season 1 is to get the audience to understand the complicated relationship btwn them. by the season 1 finale (ch 32) u should have a pretty good idea of how their relationship works. so read up to that if my explanation doesnt make much sense.
yes they have feelings for one another but they kinda dont know the other does (maybe? this part is left a little vague, lau at least doesnt know xin truly loves him).
the main thing u have to understand is that its a forbidden love sorta thing due to their positions as guardian and heir. guardians & heirs arent supposed to have romantic relationships with each other. also it becomes increasingly clear over the course of the story that theyre lowk being monitored & controlled all of the time by the head family so its not like they could have a secret relationship if they wanted to.
again keep in mind this is something forced upon them, hell originally they werent even supposed to be the guardian and heir of their families. at one point in time they were just regular friends, but now all of the sudden theyve been thrust with these positions upon them and that changes their whole relationship.
i dont think lau actually hates xin, but he feels that due to their positions they can never be together. hes upset that it feels like xin is the only one to make decisions for the two of them and has more power in their relationship. he thinks xin can pull away from lau whenever he wants to but lau has no option but to listen to xin. think of it this way, why did lau only visit xin at the beginning of the story after not seeing him for 5 years? because xin ordered him to come after not doing so for 5 years
the bottom line is that lau doesnt want to be in this sort of master slave relationship, and he interprets whatever xin does as xin ordering him around. he absolutely hates the idea of being xin's dog which is why he gets very insulted whenever someone calls him that. also think back to the opening of the story with the wolf trying to escape its chains, thats also meant to be symbolism for how lau is trying to escape this position forced upon him.
they have their own sorta toxic cycle of arguments. normally it goes like this: xin tries to get closer to lau (sometimes in a way that lau interprets as xin ordering him even if he isnt), lau doesnt want to, xin tries to get closer to lau in a more subtle (and sometimes creepy) way, and lau lashes out hurting xin (physically or just straight up leaves xin). then lau feels guilty and just worse about himself.
i also think hes also lowk afraid of this side of xin he doesnt know about. this gets explored in both s1 & s2 in very important flashbacks but again i dont want to spoil. lau hates how xin always hides his true self from others. thats why lau gets upset whenever xin smiles; because he knows deep down xin is suffering and he's just wearing a mask to make lau not worry. hopefully this recontextualizes that scene early on TwT. lau's also insecure about how useful he is to xin (but thats a whole new can of worms and this is already long enough as it is).
ik i just spent a long time explaining the negative aspects of their relationship but they still do genuinely love each other, they just dont know how to show it. in short its a currently tense relationship caused by their differences in position, and their own opinions on those positions. theres more nuance to it than that but yeah thats basically it.
again this gets explained pretty clearly over the course of the story so if my explanation doesnt make sense just hang in there and keep reading (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
it's sort of like a love-hate relationship. If you get to the latest updated chapter, the story is exploring the reason why Lau sometimes explodes and berates Xin for tying him down with the pact, but so far, I think they both have feelings for each other.
I dont really get the relationship between Lau and Xin..i mean i do understand that Lau is Xin's guardian..but do they have feelings for each other?? Or is it a lot more complicated than that? Because Lau really hates Xin from what I've read. ╥﹏╥