Zhu Ji’s birthday happened to fall on a Saturday this year. The two brothers had originally planned to rest until the afternoon, then tidy up and head out for the gathering. Unfortunately, Professor Ning’s call rudely woke Shen Huaiyun, who was still deep in sleep.
He reached a hand out from under the covers, fumbled for his phone, and after answering, lowered the volume, hoping Professor Ning’s booming voice wouldn’t wake Shen Tangmo.
“Hello? Professor, what’s up?” His voice still carried the morning’s hoarseness.
Ning Yanfeng, on the other hand, sounded quite energetic: “Your bonus is here! The notice says you need to bring your ID card and household register to collect it. Hurry up and get ready I’ll be waiting here.”
“Why do I need the household register?”
“Uh, I’m not sure either, but that’s what the notice says. Just bring it along.”
After hanging up, Shen Huaiyun sighed, carefully lifted a corner of the blanket, and prepared to get up and change.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he sat up, his clothes were tossed onto his lap. The mental tentacle that delivered them quickly retracted, disappearing without a trace.
But it wasn’t hard to guess who did it.
Shen Tangmo propped himself up, grabbed his phone, and glanced at the time. “It’s only eight.”
“I’m going to collect the bonus. I’ll go early and come back early should still have time for a nap. You go back to sleep.” Shen Huaiyun dressed neatly and stood up.
The young man had stayed up late the night before preparing materials for the following week, so he obediently lay back down, letting out a muffled “Mhm” through his nose.
After washing up and leaving the bedroom, Shen Huaiyun gently closed the door and headed toward the master bedroom.
He remembered that one of the drawers in the master bedroom’s nightstand was specifically for storing various documents. Sure enough, it didn’t take long to find their household register.
He casually flipped through it, but his phone vibrated again in his pocket another call from Professor Ning.
“Hey, Huaiyun, just bring your ID card. No need for the household register.”
“Okay.”
Shen Huaiyun put away his phone and was about to return the household register when he suddenly noticed something off. Frowning, he opened it again.
Shen Tangmo wasn’t in the household register.
He flipped through the pages repeatedly, finally confirming it wasn’t a trick of his eyes Shen Tangmo really wasn’t there.
Had his household registration been transferred out? When did that happen?
After a moment of blank confusion, panic quickly seeped into Shen Huaiyun’s heart.
Without the legal kinship tie, it meant that if Shen Tangmo ever chose to leave, as long as he wanted to, they could cut all ties cleanly.
If it ever came to that, he would no longer have the right to call him “brother.”
No, calm down, Shen Huaiyun. He hasn’t decided to leave yet, has he? They’re still family, aren’t they?
Shen Huaiyun dug up the memory of what Shen Tangmo had said that night, trying to reassure himself. He put the household register back in the drawer, then shut himself inside the master bedroom’s bathroom.
Fragmented, dim images began flashing before his eyes. He was familiar with these they were the precursors to the stress-induced episodes from his childhood.
“It’s different He’s not the same.” Unlike before, he didn’t immediately descend into confusion. Instead, Shen Huaiyun kept emphasizing Shen Tangmo’s presence in his memory, telling himself that he was different from the person in his dreams.
He could already tell them apart. He had grown up. He wasn’t that boy anymore the one beaten black and blue, huddled in the corner of a rented room, coldly watching his parents fight.
Shen Huaiyun’s parents had always been deeply in love. The occasional friction between them was quickly resolved, and they had never laid a hand on each other.
Shen Huaiyun had an older brother who was gentle and strong, always by his side since childhood.
Shen Huaiyun did not rent an apartment, nor did he keep a cat.
It felt like a long time had passed in his consciousness, but when Shen Huaiyun opened his eyes, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and checked his phone, he realized only six minutes had gone by.
Weakly, he leaned against the wall to stand up, taking a moment to catch his breath and wait for the strength to return to his limbs.
When he was younger, because he couldn’t describe the situation clearly, the psychologist struggled to pinpoint the cause of his stress. Given his young age, medication wasn’t recommended, and it was advised that family members stay by his side to comfort him.
Now, he could handle it on his own. He lifted the corner of his mouth in a faint smile.
Once he had fully recovered, Shen Huaiyun washed his face, left the master bedroom, grabbed his ID card, and headed to the academy to collect this month’s bonus.
As expected, the process was quick. Professor Ning praised him profusely in front of the staff until he could no longer bear the atmosphere of mutual flattery. Pretending that his brother was urging him to return home, he made his escape.
By the time he returned home, it was only nine o’clock. Shen Tangmo was still asleep, and Shen Huaiyun breathed a sigh of relief before slipping back under the covers for a nap.
Once the breathing beside him gradually steadied, the young man slowly opened his eyes, turned over, and gazed at the back of his fluffy head. He reached out, wanting to hold him as he used to, but in the end, he only adjusted the clothes that had ridden up when Shen Huaiyun slipped under the covers. Instead, he let his mental tendrils wrap around his waist in his place.
How could he not have noticed such an intense fluctuation in mental energy?
Shen Tangmo had practically kicked off the covers and rushed out of bed the moment he sensed the disturbance, hurrying to the bathroom door of the master bedroom. But Shen Huaiyun had locked it from the inside, and he was lying right behind the door. Forcing it open would have hurt him.
He understood. Shen Huaiyun wanted to handle it on his own, no longer relying on his help, to become an independent and reliable person.
The young man sat down in front of the door, forcefully restraining the mental energy that instinctively wanted to surge out. Only when Shen Huaiyun’s mental fluctuations gradually subsided did he stand up, tiptoe back to the bedroom, straighten the slippers he had kicked off in his haste, and lie back down, pretending to still be asleep.
It wasn’t until he heard the dull sound of the front door opening and closing, confirming that Shen Huaiyun had left and wouldn’t return to the room, that he sat up and reached for his phone.
When he unlocked it, the photo set as his wallpaper appeared a picture of the two of them together. Shen Tangmo stared blankly for a moment, unsure of what to do.
Huaiyun’s mental landscape had been fully repaired and was now growing normally. The nightmares had been sorted out, and he would no longer be startled awake by them. Even the occasional emergencies could now be handled by him alone.
Shen Tangmo lowered his gaze, staring at the young child in the photo. He opened the album and changed the wallpaper to a silhouette he had taken one day while waiting at the training room a shot of Huaiyun battling an anomaly.
“He’s grown up. He’s becoming stronger, striving not to be a burden to you… This is a good thing, Shen Tangmo. You can’t wish for him to forever be a dependent vine clinging to you. He’s an independent person, and you must respect his wishes.”
Shen Tangmo clenched his mental tendrils and spoke to himself.
After a long silence, the young man opened WeChat and tapped into Zhu Ji’s chat window.
[Puzzle Pill Eater: Zhu Ji, I feel like my brother might not be as close to me in the future. How do I fix this?]
Zhu Ji, who was currently shopping for snacks at the supermarket for tomorrow’s gathering: “”
He stared at the message from the friend whose note read “Old Shen, you’re hopeless,” blinked, then checked the friend’s profile again to confirm it was indeed Shen Tangmo’s account before tapping open the reply box.
[It’s Me: ? Bro, did you two have a fight?]
[It’s Me: Shen Huaiyun, that brother-obsessed guy, distancing himself from you? What kind of dream talk is that?]
[Puzzle Dan Poisoning: He’s grown up.]
[Zhu Ji: ]
[Zhu Ji: [Animated emoji]]
[Zhu Ji: Sigh! (Yellow-faced emoji with glasses raising a hand)]
[Zhu Ji: I have an idea. Just wait during the gathering tonight I guarantee you two will make up.]
[Puzzle Dan Poisoning: ?]
[Puzzle Dan Poisoning: Alright.]
Standing in the KTV private room Zhu Ji had booked at six p.m., his hearing overwhelmed by the noise, Shen Tangmo deeply regretted his earlier reply.
This guy must have picked some song for the two of them to sing! And he’d actually believed him for a moment!
Zhu Ji dragged two other friends into a group performance, and the three of them somehow managed to turn a pop song into something both divine and eerie divine in its absurdity, eerie in its strangeness.
The others below cheered or jeered, while Shen Huaiyun slipped back with two bags of tomato-flavored chips and joined Shen Tangmo in a corner far from the karaoke machine. “Bro, let’s share.”
“Sure.” The young man took one bag, tore it open, and the two sat together like they were watching a movie with popcorn, enjoying the spectacle.
“My bonus today was pretty decent, bro. Is there anything you want as a gift?” Shen Huaiyun mumbled through a mouthful of chips.
Shen Tangmo raised an eyebrow and nudged him lightly with his elbow. “I don’t need anything. Save it for yourself.”
The younger boy nudged him back in imitation. “Then I’ll pick something myself. No returns if you don’t like it.”
“I usually like whatever you give me.”
They playfully nudged each other back and forth, indulging in a childish game they hadn’t enjoyed in a long time, so absorbed that they didn’t notice when the singing stopped. Zhu Ji suddenly darted over from behind the karaoke machine and pulled them both up. “Come on, come on! Let’s sing one together!”
“Hey, wait.” They set down their unfinished chips and were half-dragged, half-pushed to the karaoke machine, each handed a microphone.
Zhu Ji, having drunk some of his own concoction of soda and fruit wine, was in a hyper mood. He swiped through the screen and announced loudly, “Let’s sing a couple of songs about brotherhood!”
As the familiar melody started, both Shen Huaiyun and Shen Tangmo froze. Zhu Ji, however, sang along excitedly: “The hectic rhythm! The world is changing! Come on, sing don’t just stand there!”
The other friends burst into laughter, waiting for the familiar line before joining in with a chaotic chorus: “Though we haven’t been in touch for so long! You’re always on my mind!”
It was incredibly noisy, but as they held their microphones, their laughter blended with the passionate singing, carrying not a trace of irritation.
The song soon ended, and Zhu Ji, dissatisfied that the brothers had only laughed through it, declared, “You have to sing the next one! If you don’t, you’re not true brothers!”
“I already know which one it is.”
Sure enough, after the intro, the speakers blared: “Brother, you’ve lost weight.”
Zhu Ji stopped singing himself and stared at them. Shen Huaiyun had no choice but to turn and face the lyrics on the screen, tugging lightly at Shen Tangmo’s sleeve.
Seeing them all singing along with the lyrics, Zhu Ji picked up the microphone with satisfaction, waving his arm, and as soon as he started singing, he drowned out the voices of the two people beside him.
“Old Zhu, let us hear them sing!”
“Old Zhu’s having too much fun to hear us, haha!”
Zhu Ji: “Brother, give me a hug! Tell me what’s on your mind! Pour out all these years of your grievances and the changes life has brought!”
Amid the chaotic lights, music, and noise, Shen Tangmo put down the microphone, looked at Shen Huaiyun with open arms, and raised the corners of his mouth in a teasing smile: “Want a hug?”
Shen Huaiyun, who had been singing along, his gaze darkening as he looked at the lyrics, was taken aback by this gesture and actually stepped forward to embrace him.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” The already rowdy crowd cheered and clapped, while Zhu Ji switched to another song, his voice so off-key it seemed to reach the heavens.
In an atmosphere clearly too noisy and chaotic for any private emotions to surface, Shen Huaiyun caught the familiar scent of Shen Tangmo unchanged over the years and suddenly understood what lay behind his own contradictions and desires.
No matter the identity family, brother, or even lover he longed to remain the other half of Shen Tangmo, forever occupying the closest position by his side.
He would never let go of this person, nor would he ever allow himself to become a burden.