#they're definitely best friends who'd earned each others trust and built a unique but unbreakable bond over time

[hwatermelons]

**link click spoilers for s1!**

lu guang never telling xiaoshi about seeing emma’s death on the news, because it wouldn’t do any good for xiaoshi, only make him feel terrible about himself and his ability.

lu guang choosing to bear the knowledge of xiaoshi’s consequences himself, because he only meant the best for emma, he didn’t know any better and most importantly lu guang could never bring himself to see xiaoshi shattered by the reality of what he’s done. so he hides it from him, all so that xiaoshi can live in ignorant bliss.

lu guang helping xiaoshi through his childhood trauma, firmly pushing him to work through the hard truth that he can’t change anything about his parents’ fate, but never being so harsh about it to the point of being unkind. he could never be unkind to xiaoshi.

this one line: “cheng xiaoshi, exit the picture if it’s too hard for you.”

lu guang silently kneeling to xiaoshi’s level and offering him a hug after that job, even after being punched in the face, because what xiaoshi needs the most right now is someone solid there to let him process everything that just happened.

lu guang telling qiao ling they need a break and making sure to say that he specifically wants one too, to shift the focus away from xiaoshi and protect him from even the possibility of feeling like a burden for needing some time off

lu guang asking qiao ling to stay at home with xiaoshi instead of coming to the police station while he was panicking about shanshan, “look at the state he’s in.” “now’s not the time to let your thoughts run wild,” lu guang doing his best to prevent xiaoshi from letting his own guilt consume himself.

lu guang refusing to accept the job that involved emma’s death because of the impact it would have on xiaoshi if he realized it was his actions that doomed her. him shoving the picture back into the envelope before xiaoshi could catch a glimpse.

lu guang panicking himself when he sees xiaoshi entering the image of emma alone, with no way of contacting him, that idiot, and him running straight home in an effort to do something, anything to bring him back despite knowing there isn’t actually anything he can do but wait for him to return.

lu guang stopping xiaoshi from impulsively accepting the job to go into shanshan’s photo, “are you sure you’d be able to handle it?” making sure xiaoshi really thinks through the fact that he’s gonna have to face the consequences of his actions, and he might not be mentally prepared to accept them.

and xiaoshi listens to him, he actually takes a step back and looks at it from a distance before making a decision, because that’s how much he’s grown to trust lu guang over years of him protecting xiaoshi ever so subtly like this.

xiaoshi is a person ruled by emotions, and lu guang knows this, which is why his highest priority has always been xiaoshi’s emotional state, and why xiaoshi physically needs him to regulate himself and survive.

i just. have a lot of feelings about these two

WHICH IS WHY I NEED AN EXPLANATION FOR WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END OF S1?? i will FOREVER be grateful that i found this series after s2 was done releasing, i don’t think i would’ve survived otherwise HHHH

bonus: qiao ling not even questioning when lu guang asks for a break for both of them, and not hesitating to turn down an offer with a smile without missing a beat when a client comes in. i love her so much??

#i keep feeling like i need to clarify that i see them as platonic #and this is coming from someone who had a huge bl phase #their relationship is everything; but to me personally i don't see it as a *ship* #they're definitely best friends who'd earned each others trust and built a unique but unbreakable bond over time #(although they'd never admit to that either) #honestly it's the lack of romantic tension between any of the main 3 that's the cherry on top of this show for me #i feel like having romance between any of them would take away from the depth of the story #and it would just become a regular slice of life with a bit of fantasy and mystery elements; maybe some suspense #which are usually great; but the thought of link click being a “regular” anything hurts my soul #link click #link click spoilers #shiguang daili ren #cheng xiaoshi #lu guang #qiao ling #shiguang