Shen Wei is a chef who nearly lost everything. Grieving for his twin brother he finds a lifeline in Zhao Yulan, an up and coming cello and violin playing superstar.
Credit for image goes to fuck-yeah-weilan from Tumblr. https://fuck-yeah-weilan.tumblr.com/post/177691468026/my-soul-left-my-body-when-i-made-this-set-of-gif
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Watching Zhao Yunlan play was transcendent. Breathless minutes were time stopped and a feeling of utter peace, of knowing that you were witnessing true beauty and masterful skill, right in front you. Shen Wei had lost count of the number of times he had suddenly stopped what he was doing to watch or when he was only listening, taking the emotions Zhao was expressing into his cooking, into his heart.
Today was different.
Zhao Yunlan had invited him to a remote recording session, where all of the musicians gathered to record parts of the music, chosen by the composer for a period drama and three video games. Zhao Yunlan was one of the composers and today was mostly about his part, recording it to send to the producer for final overview, as he was somewhere else in the country and Zhao was booked for the next two weeks in live performances.
Having been a long-term fan, he knew that Zhao Yunlan often recorded in this building, with a variety of artists, for remote recordings to send to other studios or as part of live rehearsals. So, he easily recognized the brown leather sofa, the spiral staircase and small stage area in the long room.
He recognized Wang Zheng, the lead singer in Rising Tide, the now famous rock band and her other half, Sang Zan who was a base guitarist and part time flutist for Zhao. Zhao Yunlan called them the 'love doves' and smiled warmly at Wang, always introducing her as his favorite sister. Then there was Zhu Hong the drummer and second vocalist standing beside Guo Changcheng, who had he seen only once in a video...singing? No. Wasn't he also a flutist? Or saxophonist? He couldn't remember, but moved forward to ask where Zhao Yunlan was.
Da Qing seeing him enter, hurried over to greet him with a happy smile. "Chef Shen!"
Stopping only to officially introduce him as Zhao's friend, Da Qing all but ignored the others and led Shen down a corridor to a smaller room, labelled Labs. Behind the industrial doors, were haphazard seats, arranged facing a small central area with a piano, while at the back, there was a table displaying the open cases for two violins and two cellos.
He wondered why, but any other thought vanished when he saw Zhao Yunlan, standing in the center with his violin and the unsteady music stand, that was a feature in many of his videos. He was already playing, wearing headphones and dressed in a deep blue sleeveless t-shirt and black jeans, with those foxfire eyes sharp behind his black glasses. Shen had helplessly noticed the toned arms on display, distracted only when Da Qing stopped their progression, proudly proclaiming that this was their main recording area. "Sit down, Chef Shen. I'll get you something drink."
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Absently, he thanked him hoping he wasn't being rude, but his eyes were drawn back to Zhao Yunlan, who looked up in that moment, fingers effortlessly moving on the fingerboard, the bow gracefully sliding over the strings as he smiled. A gorgeous, cheerful smile that weakened knees and stole thought.
