The Perfect Relationship

Chapter 97: Insomnia Strikes Again

Thinking about everything that had happened, Lu Lingjuan glanced at Yin Chang with suspicion regarding his plans to take a vacation to accompany his younger brother. She thought to herself, "Doesn't Shao Junling seem fine on his own? It looks like Yin Chang is the one who needs his brother..."

Seeing Yin Chang with a furrowed brow, Lu Lingjuan knew that he had realized just how important Shao Junling was to him, so she decided not to say any more.

Yin Chang was lost in thought, but he wasn't worrying about how he would manage when his younger brother went abroad. Instead, he was trying to recall what had happened two years ago... He had forgotten everything that had happened when Shao Junling had brought him back home that night, but he vaguely remembered that it had been Shao Junling who took care of him.

That next morning, when he had woken up, Shao Junling had already gone to take a shower. Their blankets were all tangled up, and Yin Chang was the only one covered by them.

It had been the end of August, and Yin Chang didn't like the cold. He would always set the air conditioning on low, and even in the summer, he would wrap himself up in thick down blankets.

When Shao Junling had come out of the bathroom, Yin Chang had asked if he had hogged the blankets the night before.

What had Shao Junling's reaction been again?

"Is that all you remember?" Steam had been rising off his body after his shower, and Shao Junling had blushed slightly, his tone revealing a hint of awkward anger.

But Yin Chang hadn't worried about Shao Junling's little tantrum. He knew that his younger brother would never really be angry with him. He just chuckled before closing his eyes and going back to sleep.

Looking back on it now, was Shao Junling referring to the fact that Yin Chang had forgotten that he had brought him back home that night?

Yin Chang couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, but it had been two years since the incident, and no one really cared about it anymore. He didn't want to bring it up again.

After finishing his last day of work before his vacation, Yin Chang returned home in a good mood. During dinner, he asked Shao Junling, "Is there anywhere you want to go or anything you want to do together? I have two months of vacation starting now!" He looked up at his brother with starry eyes, hoping to get a positive response.

But Shao Junling's face remained impassive as he put down his chopsticks and stared at Yin Chang.

Yin Chang said what he thought would be encouraging, "Give me some ideas!" 

However, Shao Junling repsponded rationally, "Doesn't your production start in September? Don't you have to study your script?" 

Yin Chang was surprised that Shao Junling knew about his work schedule, but still said, "But I have two months to do what I want... what about you? Don't you want to do something?" 

Shao Junling replied firmly, "I don't want to go anywhere. Plus, I still have things to do before I leave. I'm pretty busy." He lowered his head and continued eating. "You should focus on studying your script."

Yin Chang was at a loss for words.

Shao Junling paused before saying, "Leave your birthday open. I'll be with you then."

Yin Chang was annoyed by Shao Junling's attitude, "Shao Junling!"

Shao Junling hesitantly asked, "Do you want me to help you memorize your script?"

Yin Chang didn't answer.

Line readers helped actors memorize their lines by reading the other parts. When Yin Chang first started acting, he would typically ask Lu Lingjuan to line read. However, Lu Lingjuan couldn't accompany him all the time. After work, Yin Chang was often busy until nighttime so Shao Junling gradually became Yin Chang's line reader.

The script for "The Three Kingdoms of Power Struggle" was orders of magnitude larger than any drama Yin Chang had ever seen before. In order to memorize all the lines in the shortest amount of time possible, it was correct to cram and study as much as he could, and it was inevitable that he would have to study with Shao Junling.

However, after hearing Shao Junling's stoic response to his desire for a special vacation, Yin Chang was disappointed. He thought back to six years ago when he had excitedly traveled Switzerland with Shao Junling, and compared that to now...

Ah, why did his brother become less and less cute the bigger he got!

Late at night, Yin Chang grabbed his phone and opened WeChat, sending a baggy-eyed emoticon to Mi Xiu.

Mi Xiu replied, "...insomnia again?"

Yin Chang replied, "Yeah."

Mi Xiu replied, "Every time you have insomnia, you come bother me."

Yin Chang retorted, "Only someone as much of a workaholic as you would still be up at this time."

Mi Xiu then asked, "What's been up with you lately? You've been having insomnia often?"

Yin Chang replied, "I don't know."

Mi Xiu said, "Don't say 'I don't know.' There's no such thing. There's only 'I don't want to say.'"

Mi Xiu continued, "Do all your recent sleepless nights have to do with your brother?"

"Probably." Yin Chang couldn't think of any other reason.

Mi Xiu replied, "He hasn't even left yet and you're already having trouble sleeping. What are you going to do when he leaves?"

Yin Chang replied, "I don't know."

Mi Xiu said, "You're screwed."

Yin Chang exclaimed, "Don't say it like that! It's probably just that I'm not used to it."

Mi Xiu said, "Do you remember when I told you, 'I finally know why you were able to act well in "One Thought Difference"'?"

Yin Chang nodded.

Mi Xiu continued, "I thought that your attachment to family would restrict your career development. That's why I recommended 'The Three Kingdoms of Power Struggle' to you. Shao Junling will grow up eventually, and you'll have to take this step sooner or later."

However, the recent changes in Yin Chang's life puzzled Mi Xiu. "So you've been having insomnia lately because of your brother?"

"Uh-huh."

Mi Xiu was speechless. He had always felt the relationship between the two brothers was a little too intimate, and Yin Chang depended too much on Shao Junling.

Mi Xiu finally responded, "You're screwed."

Yin Chang furrowed his brow, recallijg that Mi Xiu had said something similar to him over WeChat after the wrap party of the drama. He had asked for the reason at the time, but Mi Xiu hadn't answered him then

Yin Chang: "What do you mean?"

Mi Xiu: "Basically, you are Gu Ling Shi, and Shao Jun Ling is your bear."

Yin Chang: "......"

When filming, Yin Chang did indeed imagine the bear as Shao Jun Ling, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with that. Substituting similar personal feelings to better capture emotions was a basic strategy for acting.

Mi Xiu: "But the difference between you and Gu Ling Shi is that he knows it's his mental illness, while you think it's normal."

Yin Chang: "= ="

Yin Chang was about to argue, when he heard Shao Jun Ling's voice in his ear: "Brother, you're not asleep yet?"

He quickly shut off the phone and whispered, "Someone messaged me."

Shao Jun Ling reached out from under the covers and intertwined their fingers. He whispered, "Don't look at your phone, just sleep."

With just this simple sentence and gesture, Yin Chang's restless mood instantly calmed down.

He held Shao Jun Ling's hand and closed his eyes, pondering briefly before falling into a deep sleep.

Because he had no work, Fiona let him sleep until midday the next day. When he awoke, he didn't see Shao Jun Ling. He asked Fiona, who said he had gone to school.

Fiona prepared food while saying, "You can ask him if he's coming back for lunch."

Just as Yin Chang was about to message him, the elevator door opened. It was July, the weather was getting hot, and Shao Jun Ling's forehead was beaded with sweat. He washed his face with cold water before sitting down at the table with Yin Chang.

Yin Chang asked him, "Don't you have three months of vacation before going abroad? The school isn't in session for the summer, what are you going there for?"

Shao Jun Ling replied, "The school studio."

Yin Chang nodded. Seeing how devoted he was to his major even during the holidays, Yin Chang was relieved that Shao Junling had made the right choice in picking the best college for the major.

In the afternoon, Shao Jun Ling didn't go out and stayed at home on his laptop. Yin Chang got tired of reading his script, got up to walk around and happened to see Fiona make juice for them. Yin Chang took a cup and walked over to give it to Shao Jun Ling. He glanced at Shao Jun Ling's computer screen and saw lines of code.

"What's this for?" Yin Chang asked casually.

"I'm writing a small program," Shao Jun Ling replied. Suddenly, a chat window popped up on the screen. "X said it would take at least half a month, and the fastest would be a month."

There were two more messages that followed, and Shao Jun Ling's face showed a hint of panic as he quickly closed his laptop.

Yin Chang was confused, having only seen the first message, which seemed mysterious.

Shao Jun Ling picked up the juice and took a sip, and then asked Yin Chang, "Brother, how's the script memorization going?"

Yin Chang had the script under his arm and stuttered for a moment before lightly smacking Shao Jun Ling's head with it. "Don't worry about it."

For several days, Shao Jun Ling would wake up early in the morning to go to school or the gym and then return home after lunch. In the evening, they would discuss the script and watch TV, or play games together.

Yin Chang gradually became accustomed to their routine and found it quite comfortable. Going out together would inevitably attract the attention of reporters or fans, which was quite troublesome.

Because of the routine, Yin Chang's efficiency in memorizing the script improved. In less than two weeks, he memorized it. But memorizing the script was just the first step - he still needed to consider the psychology of each character and how to perform it, which made Yin Chang feel quite stressed.

In mid-July, on the eve of Yin Chang's birthday, Shao Jun Ling asked him in the study, "Brother, it's your birthday tomorrow, do you have any other plans?"

Yin Chang replied, "No, why?"

Shao Jun Ling put his hands in his pockets and leaned back in his chair, saying with a grin, "Tomorrow at noon, I'll take you somewhere to eat." He looked like he had something good in mind.

Yin Chang laughed and said, "Don't tell me you're planning another 'surprise,' I've had enough of you guys bothering me."

"'Guys'? Who else?" Shao Jun Ling was puzzled.

Just one week ago, Yin Chang received a message from Mi Xiu, saying that Lu Ling Juan was preparing a surprise birthday party for him with a few friends from the entertainment circle. Yin Chang immediately called Lu Ling Juan and urged her to cancel it. Year after year, he felt that such fuss was too tiring.

When Shao Jun Ling said they would eat together, Yin Chang assumed it would just be the two of them having a meal at home, so hearing that it was going to be "outside" aroused some suspicion.

But Shao Jun Ling looked at him and said, "No one else, just you and me."

Shao Jun Ling: "You're not asleep?"

Yin Chang: "Someone messaged me."

Mi Xiu: "Who's messaging who???"

Unseen chat log from Yin Chang:

He Hongjun: "X said it would take at least a month, and the fastest would be two months."

He Hongjun: "We've looked for all the suppliers we can find, but they all said they wouldn't take the job."

He Hongjun: "Honestly, X's workmanship is quite good, and their conditions are acceptable. Why do we need to finish it before July 17th? Don't we leave on August 19th?"