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INT. XIE LIAN’S HOUSE— MORNING
Sunlight enters through the large window of XIE LIAN’s living room where the curtain is open. The beautiful plants and flowers on the window sill move to face towards it and a butterfly comes through the tiny open crack of the window to land on the delicate white petals. And then SHI QINGXUAN’s face comes into the frame, a mischievous grin on her face, glee dancing in her eyes.
SHI QINGXUAN
[screeching happily]
A-Lian’s groping Hua Cheng’s ass to mark Hua Cheng’s non-existence ass with rainbow fingerprints because they’re gay!
XIE LIAN
[offscreen]
[high-pitched voice] Qing Xuan, what are you saying?!
[The frame shakes wildly and then we see Xie Lian kneeling on the ground in front of a floral couch, facing Hua Cheng’s behind which are barely covered by the shorts he’s wearing, covered with a thick layer of paint, rainbow coloured, small handprint shaped on each cheek. XIE LIAN’s face looks like a tomato, and he tries to cover his face when he notices that the camera has been turned to him, accidentally covering his own face with a thick layer of acrylic paint but he doesn’t seem to notice, stuck in his little turmoil.]
MU QING
[offscreen]
[disgusted] A-Lian, you just touched Hua Cheng’s butt and now you’re touching your face.
FENG XIN
[offscreen]
[concerned] Lian Lian should wash his face and have Shi Qingxuan do the actual face-paint.
XIE LIAN
[sputtering, his cheeks turning more pink.]
[The camera is jostled again and SHI QINGXUAN’s face comes back into the frame as well as HE XUAN’s who promptly hides his face into the crook of SHI QINGXUAN’s neck where he’s hanging off of her.]
SHI QINGXUAN
A-Lian! Come on, let me do your makeup now and then we shall conquer the rainbow streets!
[HE XUAN slips away when SHI QINGXUAN’s wiggling gets unbearable for him.]
XIE LIAN
[offscreen]
I’ll uhh wash my face first!
[cut to black]
END SCENE
CUT TO:
INT. XIE LIAN’S KITCHEN— MORNING
We see SHI QINGXUAN sitting with XIE LIAN in front of him. Mascara is being put on XIE LIAN’s eyelashes by careful hands. Around XIE LIAN’s eyes are already covered by glitter and colours, a rainbow heart painted onto his cheeks which are no longer stained by his own fingerprints. We see the table that is scattered with makeup tools, a chapstick rolls off of the table and then PEI MING comes to sit down beside XIE LIAN, putting an arm around his shoulders. XIE LIAN scoots away from the shirtless man and PEI MING frowns. He opens his mouth to talk but SHI QINGXUAN beats him to it.
SHI QINGXUAN
[Pausing her ministrations on XIE LIAN’s eyes to look at the camera.]
It’s A-Lian’s first pride parade with him being gay!
XIE LIAN
[Opening his eyes and letting out a sigh.]
I’ve been gay my whole life, A-Xuan.
PEI MING
[Turning to the camera as well and smiling wickedly.]
Meaning you’ve been in denial your whole life until now.
XIE LIAN
[Closing his eyes, tired.]
Hmmm.
SHI WUDU
[offscreen]
[annoyed] Pei, come put on sunscreen.
PEI MING
[yelling] Coming!
[PEI MING gets up and gets out of frame. We can see his bare back, wholly covered by rainbow glitter and the tiny red shorts he’s wearing.]
SHI QINGXUAN
[Watching PEI MING go.]
[whispering] Simp .
XIE LIAN
[laughs]
SHI QINGXUAN
[Looking back at the camera, deadpan.]
He’s an ‘ally’.
XIE LIAN
[laughs harder]
SHI QINGXUAN (CONT’D)
[holds XIE LIAN’s face to stop him from moving.]
[teasing] Xie Lian too. Used to.
XIE LIAN
[Stops laughing and pouts .]
Shut up.
[SHI QINGXUAN begins to cackle, the mascara brush she was holding falling from her hands when XIE LIAN swats at her, annoyed. She only laughs harder, an endeared look on her face.]
MU QING
[offscreen]
[yelling in an annoyed and scolding voice] Shi Qingxuan, we don’t want to be late! Dress him up!
XIE LIAN
[Stands up from his chair.]
I’m not a baby, I can dress myself, thank you very much.
SHI QINGXUAN
[Panicked but still laughing.]
A-Lian, come back!
[cut to black]
END SCENE
CUT TO:
INT. XIE LIAN’S BEDROOM— MORNING
We see XIE LIAN’s face too close to the frame, his face shiny and glowing with makeup on. The camera is being moved around and then the frame stills and XIE LIAN moves away from the frame. We can see him wearing a rainbow tutu, glittery and frilly with a plain white shirt, his shoulder length hair in space buns atop of his head, tied by white ribbons. HUA CHENG stands beside XIE LIAN then bends his knees so he can fit his face into the frame, also glowing and sparkly, sharp red eyeliner frames his left eye, the other covered by a black eyepatch which is decorated by colourful sequins. A rainbow gay flag painted onto his right cheek and a transgender flag on his left, both drawn crookedly. He’s wearing those shorts in SCENE I and a loose red tank top, we can see his top surgery scars which are darker than his skin, a red-ish pink and tattoos on his neck and collarbones. His short neck-length hair wild on his head, white butterfly clips attached to some strands.
XIE LIAN
[whispering] We stole the camera and we’re hiding from A-Xuan.
XIE LIAN (CONT’D)
[In a normal voice]
Look at my outfit for this year. [twirls in a circle, the skirt swaying with him.]
[XIE LIAN does a motion with his hand at HUA CHENG and HUA CHENG spins around in a circle, showing off his outfit. We see a blush climb up XIE LIAN’s cheeks as he tries not to ogle HUA CHENG, unknown to him that HUA CHENG is trying to do the exact same thing, scowling when he catches himself eyeing XIE LIAN’s skirt.]
XIE LIAN
[blushing profusely] San Lang looks very handsome.
HUA CHENG
[murmuring softly] Gege too.
[We see them gaze at each other, oblivious to the love and adoration in each other’s eyes— in HUA CHENG’s case, eye. And then suddenly XIE LIAN jumps, throwing an arm around HUA CHENG’s shoulders and pulling him towards the camera. The camera is moved and then the view is full of HUA CHENG’s face.]
XIE LIAN
[proudly] I painted these. [trying to adjust the camera so it would focus more on the flags instead of zooming in onto the tiny freckles across HUA CHENG’s face.]
HUA CHENG
[smiling widely]
Gege paints my face every year.
[The camera jostles slightly and then stills. XIE LIAN’s hand that was holding the camera comes to cup HUA CHENG’s face, turning it side to side to inspect it, looking braver than how he actually feels and ignoring the semi-permanent red hue on his face while HUA CHENG himself stares back at XIE LIAN, eye wide, unmoving and stunned.]
HUA CHENG
[faintly] Gege…
[XIE LIAN moves away so swiftly that the camera barely catches the movement. We hear muffled shouting and both HUA CHENG and XIE LIAN are looking somewhere beyond the screen. Then all we can see are a blur of colours, XIE LIAN’s colourful skirt and then HUA CHENG’s red tank top before it devolves into darkness. The camera stills again and XIE LIAN’s face takes up most of the frame, sweat between his brows but contained laughter is in his eyes. The camera is pulled away and we can see HUA CHENG’s bare and muscled arms pressed tightly with XIE LIAN’s. They’re both panting quite loudly in this dark place and in the background, we hear a door being opened and a familiar voice.]
SHI QINGXUAN
[offscreen]
[laughing and muffled] Xie Lian! You’ve been in the closet for most of your life, you can come out now!
XIE LIAN
[shouting]
I didn’t know I was gay!
SHI QINGXUAN
[laughing harder]
You can come out now!
HUA CHENG
[offscreen]
Good luck, gege .
XIE LIAN
[Looking pleadingly at the camera.]
Lord help me .
[We hear a door opening again but louder and then light filters into the tiny closet and we can see XIE LIAN’s bright face again before the camera is flipped and we see SHI QINGXUAN standing in what seems to be a handmade dress made out of the transgender flag, so long it stretches across the floor. Her hands are on her hips, looking like a scolding mother.]
SHI QINGXUAN
[surprised] So you took my camera!
[cut to black]
END SCENE
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET— AFTERNOON
We open on SHI QINGXUAN’s bright face, her makeup a little smudged and her curly brown locks which had been exquisitely piled up on her head now tumbling over her shoulders. The camera is moving up and down, left to right, following SHI QINGXUAN’s turbulent movements. She stretches out her arm and HE XUAN comes into the frame as well, his eyebrows are pinched tightly together, sweat beading at the crown of his head, his eyebrow piercing glinting in the afternoon light. The colours of black, gray, white and purple are smeared across his cheek, used to be the asexual flag painted on his face now looking like an artful blob. The camera still moves uncontrollably. SHI QINGXUAN is being carried on HE XUAN’s back, her arm around his neck. She moves the camera to show their lower half and we can see that HE XUAN is holding her up by her thighs, his hands looking like it’s a seconds away from dropping SHI QINGXUAN because of how sweaty and straining his hands are and how slippery it is making the fabric of SHI QINGXUAN’s dress. He’s running in his boots and the muscles of his thighs move and tenses under his tight black jeans. The background is only a blur of SHI QINGXUAN’s hair flying wildly and above the sound of HE XUAN’s heavy breathing are people cheering and singing, lively music.
SHI QINGXUAN
[yelling]
We’re racing the other couples!
HE XUAN
[grunts unhappily]
SHI QINGXUAN (CONT’D)
[amazed] Look how fast Hua Cheng is, and he’s running in heels! [playfully] Giddy-up, boy!
HE XUAN
[deadpan]
I will drop you.
[ The camera is flipped and now we can see what’s going around in the streets. The streets are endlessly colourful, a variety of stalls lining the side of the streets, selling food and pride themed items. There are people talking and laughing with each other, pride flags hung from windows and walls and the frame zooms into what seems to be HUA CHENG’s colourful behind, zooms out again to see HUA CHENG running in black heeled boots with XIE LIAN clinging to his back, his legs around HUA CHENG’s middle and his arms around HUA CHENG’s neck. HUA CHENG holds XIE LIAN similar to the way HE XUAN is holding SHI QINGXUAN. XIE LIAN holds a demisexual flag in one of his hands, waving it around HUA CHENG’s face but he doesn’t seem to mind, a determined look on his face, trying to catch up with YUSHI HUANG who is carrying PEI MING on her back and following closely behind them is FENG XIN, bridal carrying MU QING. Further at the front is where people are marching happily, waving all kinds of pride flags proudly.]
SHI QINGXUAN
[offscreen]
[shouting over the music] Will you win this race for me if I take you to that new stir fry restaurant?
[The camera starts shaking wilder than it already is. Cut to black.]
END SCENE
CUT TO:
EXT. SIDE OF THE STREETS— MID-AFTERNOON
We open on the camera being zoomed to XIE LIAN and HUA CHENG standing close in front of a bright and sparkly stall which is selling clothes. XIE LIAN’s index finger is in the belt loops of HUA CHENG’s shorts while HUA CHENG’s arm is slung lazily around XIE LIAN’s shoulders and even from afar, the camera catches the dark red colouring the tips of their ears. Then the camera is zoomed out, it moves to the right side, showing off the bustling crowd and then it zooms again to FENG XIN and MU QING who are chatting with a few drag queens. The camera jumps slightly and we can hear a giggle from somewhere behind the camera. FENG XIN joyously shows the bisexual themed suspenders he’s wearing which are attached to a very small pair of athletic shorts, his top is cropped, displaying his toned abdomen and his hair tied in a high ponytail. Beside him is MU QING. We can only see the right side of his body while he talks, his eyes lighting up curiously and brightly when one of the drag queens starts talking while motioning towards his hair and MU QING ducks his head down, trying to hide his face, clearly flustered by what the drag queen says. FENG XIN looks to MU QING as well, an endeared smile on his face and gestures towards the sleeveless sheer mesh MU QING has on which are adorably embroidered with small cherries and then to the white pencil skirt he’s wearing which is purposely streaked in brilliant rainbow paint.
PEI MING
[offscreen]
[snorting] He never takes compliments well.
[The camera is turned away from where MU QING is —now hitting FENG XIN, his mouth forming the words, ‘shut up’ but the blush he was trying to hide is high on his cheeks— to PEI MING who is still shirtless and covered in glitter, he flexes his arms, making weird kissy faces at the camera.]
HE XUAN
[offscreen]
Why the fuck are you still here?
SHI QINGXUAN
[offscreen]
[The camera shakes a little] Where’s gege?
PEI MING
[Doing another pose to flaunt his back.]
[muttering] He’s with Ling Wen, making out somewhere behind a shop. [rolls his eyes]
SHI QINGXUAN
[suspicious] And you’re not with them?
PEI MING
[Turning to the camera, hands behind his back to make his pecs stand out.]
[cheerfully] Not tonight. I found someone cute handing out stickers and water bottles earlier and they are coming home with me. They like my tits! [holds his chest]
HE XUAN
I should’ve stayed with Yushi Huang .
PEI MING
[Laughs exaggeratingly until he bends over in half.]
Says the person who came in last! Hah, trying to catch up with a goddess! Have you seen her legs? [proceeds to slap his knees]
SHI QINGXUAN
Hua Cheng was running in heels though! She was in sandals!
PEI MING
She was carrying me though! Xie Lian weighs nothing compared to me! Have you seen these muscles? [flexes arms again]
[The camera jerks and SHI QINGXUAN’s face crowds the frame, a delighted look on her face.]
SHI QINGXUAN
Pei Ming still has a crush on Huang-jie?
PEI MING
[sputtering] I do not!
FENG XIN
[ offscreen ]
Hua Cheng’s a beast!
HE XUAN
We’re not talking about him anymore.
SHI QINGXUAN
Huang-jie and A-Lian and Hua Cheng all have godly legs .
[The camera jostles, FENG XIN tries to fit his face into the frame as well, ends up squishing his cheek to SHI QINGXUAN’s, he moves away out off frame when SHI QINGXUAN turns her body towards him. He comes back into the frame and adjusts it so they both can fit without squeezing close to each other. FENG XIN glares at SHI QINGXUAN’s breasts.]
PEI MING
[now offscreen]
How are you bi?
FENG XIN
[turning around] That’s biphobic!
FENG XIN (CONT’D)
[turning back to the camera] What about my godly legs?
SHI QINGXUAN
[side-eyeing him then looks somewhere behind the camera] I’m sure Mu Qing loves your legs!
[SHI QINGXUAN pushes FENG XIN away and the only thing we can see is darkness and we can hear indignant cries coming from FENG XIN. Then we see a tall woman standing with her back to the camera, the figure turns around. YUSHI HUANG smiles pleasantly.]
SHI QINGXUAN
[offscreen]
Huang-jie, give us a twirl!
[YUSHI HUANG does as told, carefully and slowly moving and rotating to face the camera. She’s wearing a dress matching to the one SHI QINGXUAN is wearing but the colours of the asexual flag instead of thetransgender, the skirt elegantly flowing freely around her.]
SHI QINGXUAN
[offscreen]
Xuan Xuan, hold this for me!
[The camera shakes and then SHI QINGXUAN skips to stand beside YUSHI HUANG. She lets go of the skirt she was bunching up and lets it fall away, trying to smooth out the slightly wrinkled fabric before she opens her fan and pretends to be a blushing maiden, hiding her face behind the said fan.]
SHI QINGXUAN
[Closing her fan.]
[proudly] Mu Qing and I designed these dresses! Xuan Xuan was supposed to wear it with me but he’s boring!
HE XUAN
[offscreen]
I wore lingerie last night.
[MU QING and FENG XIN gasps offscreen while PEI MING makes a surprised sound.]
HE XUAN (CONT’D)
And you painted my nails.
[HE XUAN’s hand comes into frame, displaying his brightly coloured nails in pinks and blues.]
SHI QINGXUAN
Huang-jie looks gorgeous! [excitedly] How about you model for us?
MU QING
[offscreen]
Everybody’s modelling for us .
[The camera jerks slightly.]
HE XUAN
Yushi Huang, you brought food, right?
[YUSHI HUANG turns to her left, then to her right, her face a little confused but still calm, searching for something between the frills of her skirt. She kind of looks like a dog chasing her tail around and around until SHI QINGXUAN too, tries to help. It looks like they’re opening a book page by page and HE XUAN has gotten a little nervous behind the camera, taking a few steps to also help find what they’re looking for.]
YUSHI HUANG
[triumphed] It’s here .
HE XUAN
[Sighing in relief behind the camera.]
[YUSHI HUANG brings up a crochet tote bag, covered in all kinds of pins, the biggest one being the aromantic flag and the smallest which is sparkling under the light of sun is a silver butterfly and then more colourful pins, memes and cartoons as well as bottle caps.]
SHI QINGXUAN
[Nods approvingly]
Let’s find somewhere to eat and then I want to walk at the front with He-Xiong!
[SHI QINGXUAN walks forward and the camera moves again.]
SHI QINGXUAN
[voice muffled] Xuan Xuan, you’ll be the cameraman, okay?
HE XUAN
[annoyed] Where the fuck is Yin Yu when we need him?
[cut to black]
END SCENE
CUT TO:
EXT. SIDE OF THE STREETS— EVENING
We open on XIE LIAN sitting closely beside HUA CHENG. XIE LIAN is handfeeding him some kind of sandwich, using his thumb to wipe the crumbs near to his lips and then giggling and blushing when HUA CHENG nibbles playfully on his fingers. LING WEN and SHI WUDU watches with disgust and annoyance, each of them holding a glass of wine dangerously loose in their hands while PEI MING watches with a strain smile, looking like he’s ready to accidentally walk pass by XIE LIAN and bump him using his rear to make him fall on HUA CHENG.
HE XUAN
[offscreen]
[whispering] They’re not friends.
SHI QINGXUAN
[offscreen]
[whispering back] I know. [talking normally again] Look who decided to join us again!
[XIE LIAN and HUA CHENG turns to the camera and XIE LIAN’s red face from SCENE I is in full view again and HUA CHENG’s annoyed face, too that looks like a fussy baby, angry for having his feeding time interrupted. He glares at the camera.]
SHI QINGXUAN
Where did you guys go anyway?
[XIE LIAN and HUA CHENG exchange a look only they can decipher. The camera is flipped and now we see SHI QINGXUAN’s annoyed face, a little pouty but it soon changes into a grin, she raises the camera higher until we see the grassy field behind her.]
SHI QINGXUAN
Oh my, the lighting is lovely! [she says to the person she’s sitting on] We found a picnic table! [she says to the camera]
[She adjusts the camera so we see HE XUAN with his cheeks puffy, food shoved in his mouth, SHI QINGXUAN’s hair in his eyes.]
HE XUAN
[swallows the food] Cameramen don't get filmed.
[The frame gets covered by a palm and it jostles for a bit before SHI QINGXUAN’s and HE XUAN’s face fills the frame again.]
SHI QINGXUAN
You’re beautiful though! [she turns her head and kisses HE XUAN’s cheek]
[HE XUAN side-eyes her sceptically and then he promptly stuffs a spoon full of soup into her mouth. SHI QINGXUAN laughs and all we can see are a blur of colours.]
MU QING
[offscreen]
[angry yelling] Pei Ming brought the alcohol!
[cut to black]
END SCENE
CUT TO:
EXT. CARNIVAL— EVENING
We hear roaring laughter and screams of joy, familiar music that never stops, only rewinds again and again and then the heavy pants, a yelp and surprised giggles. The camera spins, a flurry of flashing colours until XIE LIAN’s boyish face appears.
XIE LIAN
San Lang, you hold the camera and show it where we are now.
[The camera jolts a little before it stills and we see HUA CHENG’s face and outstretched arm and XIE LIAN walking together, their hands swinging up and down between them. HUA CHENG is wearing a rainbow tie-dye jacket that covers his red tank top from SCENE III as well as a comfortable looking, matching sweatpants and white crocs. The high heels he was running in SCENE IV are now being worn by XIE LIAN but everything else is the same. Neon carnival lights flash and blur together in the background.]
HUA CHENG
We’re at a carnival.
XIE LIAN
Close to were the parade is happening .
HUA CHENG
If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of Shi Qingxuan chanting songs and looking for her camera .
XIE LIAN
[laughing] We stole her camera again. We’re here to celebrate San Lang’s birthday!
[HUA CHENG looks down to look at XIE LIAN who is grinning mischievously at him. HUA CHENG looks back to the camera. There’s a long pause, HUA CHENG’s face unreadable.]
HUA CHENG
Gege knows it’s my birthday?
XIE LIAN
How could I forget, San Lang? [hits playfully at HUA CHENG]
XIE LIAN (CONT’D)
We bought some clothes too because San Lang got cold.
HUA CHENG
I thought we were changing so they won’t find us.
XIE LIAN
Yes, that too because they would never expect me to be walking in these shoes.
HUA CHENG
[unsure] Does gege want to switch back?
XIE LIAN
[panicked] Eh, no, San Lang, it’s fine. I didn’t expect it to be so uncomfortable because you walked just fine in it earlier and you were running and you look good too and I offered to wear it because you looked like you were tired of walking and I don’t think you’d accept my offer to carry you.
HUA CHENG
Gege is so romantic for wanting to trade shoes because it hurts my feet and gege can carry me if he so wishes but I’d rather walk next to him and hold gege’s hand.
XIE LIAN
[flustered] I really don’t know how you guys can walk in these.
HUA CHENG
Gege can tell me if he wants to switch back or buy other shoes.
XIE LIAN
I don’t think the carnival sells shoes.
[They continue walking, children passing by them with parents and more people that seems to be coming from the parade.]
HUA CHENG
Where would gege like to go first?
XIE LIAN
[face lighting up] The carousel!
[They stop walking, HUA CHENG turning his head to look at XIE LIAN. XIE LIAN keeps his face turned to the camera, carefully looking at what HUA CHENG is doing in the small frame. HUA CHENG lets go of his hand and brings it up to tuck XIE LIAN’s stray strand of hair behind his ear. The frame shakes and we see a jumble of HUA CHENG’s tie-dye pants and hear shuffling noises. Cut to black.]
END SCENE
CUT TO:
EXT. CARNIVAL— EVENING
HUA CHENG holds the camera again, we can see his outstretched hand and next to him is XIE LIAN, holding a cone of cotton candy, sticky sugar stuck to the corner of his mouth, a golden string is tied around his wrist, holding onto a floating balloon. On HUA CHENG’s head sits a funky little hat that lights up.
XIE LIAN
We rode the carousel together! Well, not exactly, I rode a white horse and San Lang rode a green one!
HUA CHENG
[smug] I was in front of you.
XIE LIAN
[scowling] It wasn’t a race. We can't race on those things!
HUA CHENG
[feigning shock] I never said we were racing!
XIE LIAN
But you’re acting as if you won something!
HUA CHENG
Gege is so competitive.
XIE LIAN
[crossing his arms and turning away] We were not racing! [looks back to the camera] We also went on the teacup ride and San Lang almost flew off. [giggling]
HUA CHENG
Gege already knows this one isn’t good with rides.
XIE LIAN
[shyly] Will you come with me on the rollercoaster if I hold your hand ?
HUA CHENG
[Whispering, the camera barely able to catch it.]
We’ve been holding hands since we got here.
XIE LIAN
Let’s hold hands forever?
[cut to black]
END SCENE
CUT TO:
EXT. CARNIVAL— EVENING
We open to XIE LIAN mid-chest up, a concerned look on his face and his hand holding back HUA CHENG’s wild hair. HUA CHENG’s face is out of frame, only his hair in XIE LIAN’s grip. Boisterous laughter can be heard and terrified but joyful screams offscreen and the sound of rushing wind. The camera tilts to the floor and we see two pair of feet walking in sync, white crocs and heeled boots in SCENE VII. The camera swings back up and we see HUA CHENG’s pale face looking stormily at the camera while XIE LIAN’s face faces HUA CHENG’s. XIE LIAN pets HUA CHENG’s hair.
XIE LIAN
[sad] I thought you were joking, San Lang. I’m sorry.
[HUA CHENG takes XIE LIAN’s hand in his own and it falls away out of frame.]
HUA CHENG
Gege shouldn’t apologise. I wanted to try with gege after all.
XIE LIAN
Going on that thing even with the power of handholding wasn’t enough. It was a bad idea.
HUA CHENG
[grinning] Wearing those heels was a bad idea. We should really get gege something else to wear.
XIE LIAN
I almost fell twice! Two times! Only two times! I’m fine!
HUA CHENG
It doesn’t fit you! [holding back laughter]
XIE LIAN
We’ll go buy one frame of the snapshot first! And then we’ll find a seat!
[HUA CHENG covers his face with both his hands, letting out an exaggerated whimper.]
HUA CHENG
Gege, it’s gonna be embarrassing.
XIE LIAN
I’m sure it won’t be bad. Here, you hold this and I’ll go get it, okay?
[The frame shakes slightly and the view we see is only HUA CHENG’s upper face and the faint sound of footsteps walking away below the sound of HUA CHENG’s loud breathing.]
HUA CHENG
[whispering] Gege’s so beautiful. I love gege so much. Xie Lian, I love you. I love you very much, A-Lian. Lian Lian, I’m in love with you. Oh god, I’m in love with gege. I’m in love with him. Fuck.
XIE LIAN
[offscreen]
San Lang! Look who was sitting behind us on the rollercoaster! We didn’t see them earlier!
[The camera turns from HUA CHENG’s face, flipped and we see XIE LIAN holding up a tacky framed picture. The picture shows three carts, attached together and forming a train. The front is vacant from any passengers, the middle one sits XIE LIAN and HUA CHENG. XIE LIAN has his arms raised high over his head, a brilliant smile stretches his lips while HUA CHENG looks a little green, his mouth pursed, his knuckles white, clenching tightly onto his safety belt and behind them is a person which face cannot be seen because of the newspaper, purposely hiding his face, sitting beside the man is a man with thick and curly hair, facing the man with a blurry but curious look on his face.]
HUA CHENG
[offscreen]
Yin Yu? Uhh, Quan Yizhen?
XIE LIAN
They’re on a date here? Why is Yin Yu hiding? [looking around]
[The camera is flipped again and we have a view of SCENE VII again but XIE LIAN is looking down at the picture in his hands while HUA CHENG as always, stare wondrously at XIE LIAN, he doesn’t seem to care about how weird he looks. They continue walking.]
XIE LIAN
Let’s go grab a bite? [looking up to Hua Cheng]
[cut to black]
END SCENE
CUT TO:
EXT. CARNIVAL— NIGHT
We open on XIE LIAN and HUA CHENG sitting next to each other, mid-chest up. HUA CHENG has his elbow on the table, holding his chin in his hand as he watches XIE LIAN clap his hands together, singing the birthday song. XIE LIAN elbows HUA CHENG from where he’s loosing himself to XIE LIAN’s beauty so he can blow out the candle on his cupcake and make a wish. XIE LIAN takes the candle off and unwraps the cupcake from its wrapper, handing it to HUA CHENG and then splitting it into two when HUA CHENG declines, giving the other half to him.
XIE LIAN
[biting into the cupcake]
[muffled with his mouth full] We’ll be baking a cake tonight! We were supposed to do it last night but we were all busy planning this.
HUA CHENG
And everybody was bothering gege.
XIE LIAN
They don’t know it’s your birthday.
HUA CHENG
Let’s keep it that way, hmm? That way we can sneak off and I get to have gege all to myself.
XIE LIAN
[sheepishly] About that…
[A commotion starts in the background. XIE LIAN looks surprised as well as HUA CHENG. XIE LIAN lets out a sigh and gets up, pulling HUA CHENG up with him and instantly falls out of frame. HUA CHENG suddenly looks terrified, also going out of frame. XIE LIAN gets back in the frame again, a wild smile plastered on his face and then the frame is covered by a palm. The frame jostles wildly. All of a sudden we hear familiar voices offscreen, slightly muffled. XIE LIAN and HUA CHENG has taken to hiding under the table where they were sitting, HUA CHENG now holding the camera while XIE LIAN tries to do something with the heels. HUA CHENG looks distressed and confused but XIE LIAN looks like his ready to burst out laughing.]
FENG XIN
[shouting] His butt might not be covered by marks anymore but I still recognise the… the flatness!
[HUA CHENG looks bewildered.]
SHI WUDU
What the fuck was that?
PEI MING
So you’ve been following his ass?
MU QING
[deadpan] He was following a person who lacks ass.
[XIE LIAN looks like he’s about to pass out from holding in his breath. HUA CHENG looks bemused.]
SHI QINGXUAN
Why didn’t you tell us you already saw them? I thought we were just walking around!
FENG XIN
A-Lian’s wearing heels. You know he can’t for the life of him walk in those. How do you walk in those?
SHI QINGXUAN
[cheerfully shouting] A-Lian, you’re still shorter than Hua Cheng even with heels on!
MU QING
Take that off! You’ll get hurt!
[XIE LIAN rolls his eyes but HUA CHENG smiles lovingly at XIE LIAN. He used to be the shorter one. When they were young. He’s the tallest now.]
PEI MING
[laughing]
Only Xie Lian will tie a balloon around his own wrist like a child .
[XIE LIAN looks down to his wrist with a sad expression, ready to untie it and let it go.]
SHI QINGXUAN
Obviously so Hua Cheng can find him easily.
LING WEN
What colour was it?
PEI MING
Yellow .
SHI WUDU
Wasn’t it blue ?
FENG XIN
They don’t sell blue balloons!
[XIE LIAN whispers an apology to the Earth and finally releases the string of the balloon. HUA CHENG gently plays with his hair.]
SHI QINGXUAN
[ excited ] A pink balloon just flew off!
MU QING
Would A-Lian do that?
PEI MING
Why wouldn’t he?
LING WEN
It’s bad for the environment. It’s practically littering.
SHI QINGXUAN
Yes, yes. Now, from where did it fly from?
SHI WUDU
Weren’t you the one who saw it?
SHI QINGXUAN
Oh yeah, you guys saw it too. A-Lian, you do realise that you guys are really just hiding under us.
[XIE LIAN knew that already. HUA CHENG though, was too busy listening to the stupid conversation to think much about how close their voices were.]
HUA CHENG and XIE LIAN
Shit .
[And now the only thing we see is a blur of flashing colours between the fingers that holds the camera and the sound of upset people shouting. Heavy and running footsteps could be heard as well and the gust of wind. Cut to black.]
END SCENE
CUT TO:
INT./EXT. CARNIVAL/FERRIS WHEEL— NIGHT
We open on HUA CHENG and XIE LIAN mid-chest up. The camera is held up high by HUA CHENG so we can see what’s going on around them. XIE LIAN and HUA CHENG are not looking towards the camera and instead is looking at each other, adoration in their eyes then laughter explodes and echoes in the ferris wheel cart they’re on. The frame shakes only a little even with HUA CHENG bent in half and XIE LIAN draping himself on HUA CHENG, trying to cover his face into the crook of HUA CHENG’s neck. XIE LIAN’ hair is out of his ties and now flows freely, grazing his shoulders and the butterfly accessories on HUA CHENG’s hair are missing but they both don’t seem to care. The laughter dies down after a while.
XIE LIAN
That was wild!
HUA CHENG
Crazy!
XIE LIAN
Amazing!
[A long pause as they look back at each other and then innocent childish laughter.]
XIE LIAN
It was as if we were in a movie! [giggling]
HUA CHENG
You almost sprained your ankle! You fell four times now!
XIE LIAN
Like in the movies! [hiccuping]
XIE LIAN (CONT’D)
[turning and speaking to the camera] I fell and San Lang scooped me up! I felt like a princess, an ice cream.
HUA CHENG
Because I scooped you up? [amused]
XIE LIAN
[ giggling ] Yes .
HUA CHENG
And it felt like we were wanted criminals?
XIE LIAN
[dreamily] Oh, the way you jumped and twirled and cut the line and everybody was mad and you had to pay the guy extra… [starts laughing again until he’s holding his stomach]
HUA CHENG
I paid the guy extra so he would let us go up first.
XIE LIAN
Pei Ming was being so loud, oh my god, San Lang, that was so fun!
HUA CHENG
Oh, oh and when Pei Ming’s ex-wife suddenly appeared and got mad at him… [covering his face to muffle his loud howling of laughter]
XIE LIAN
Because he promised to never show his face around her. [starts laughing again]
HUA CHENG
What’s her name, the other woman?
XIE LIAN
Jian Lan?
HUA CHENG
Yeah, oh wow, the way she had to hold back Xuan Ji .
XIE LIAN
Pei Ming would be running right now.
[Loud and free laughter erupts again making the cart shake but they don’t notice. The cart dangerously moves again as XIE LIAN climbs up the seats to take a curious glance out. He then shuts his eyes, letting out a shocked sound, covering his face with his hands and falls, luckily into HUA CHENG. The frame jostles.]
HUA CHENG
[questioningly] Gege?
XIE LIAN
They’re in the cart under us, behind us? Just don’t look .
HUA CHENG
Are we still running from them? [chuckles]
XIE LIAN
Xuan Ji and Jian Lan are uhh doing things in there. [blushing]
HUA CHENG
Oh, okay.
[There’s a long pause as XIE LIAN comes out from where he’s hiding and looks up to HUA CHENG. The camera moves downwards and the only thing we see is a black frame and everything is silent. A few seconds later, there is whispering and then suddenly the sound of fireworks. The camera jostles and we see HUA CHENG who is the focus of the frame facing the windows of the cart, looking out and now he’s out of focus, instead we see what he’s looking at outside the window; bright colours, purple, pink, yellow and red and sparkles. The camera moves again and now we can fully see the fireworks. It’s loud but mesmerising to watch. A blaring explosion happens and then there are words in the sky, barely able to read but we can still see the faint red letters spelling out, ‘Happy Birthday Hua Cheng!’. The camera jerks and it turns dark again until another booming sound can be heard. The camera wildly moves and we can see out the window again, looking at the different spelling in the sky, ‘I Love You!’, It fades after a while and we could see the setting sun.]
XIE LIAN
[softly] Give me the camera, San Lang?
[XIE LIAN fits both of their faces into the frame, XIE LIAN’s face is notably red even with how dark it’s starting to become, the lights hardly enough to see their faces but the blush is there on his pale skin. HUA CHENG is shell shocked beside him, eye wide and mouth gaping. HUA CHENG turns to look at XIE LIAN and XIE LIAN does the same.]
XIE LIAN
San Lang? [awkward]
HUA CHENG
[whispering] Can I kiss you?
[We catch a glimpse of their lips connecting in a kiss before the camera swings down to face the floor of the ferris wheel cart. A long silent pause, the sound of the carnival in the background unclear.]
HUA CHENG
[offscreen]
[breathless] I’m in love with you too .
XIE LIAN
You are?
HUA CHENG
Oh well, yeah, fuck, I do love you and I’m in love with you .
XIE LIAN
I love you too, San Lang .
[It’s quiet again.]
HUA CHENG
[chuckling] Everything was just your scheming, gege?
XIE LIAN
Yeah .
HUA CHENG
[teasing] Will gege hold my hand so I won’t be scared?
XIE LIAN
We’ve been holding hands ever since we got here.
HUA CHENG
Hold my hand forever?
FADE TO BLACK.