Needs Part 2

Shi Jin furrowed his brows and stood up, saying, "There's nothing to be angry about. I already know what kind of person you are... Rest up, I'll come see you tomorrow."

"Xiao Jin." Fei Yujing grabbed his arm and said, "I've told you once before, and I'll say it again now. In this lifetime, I rarely regret what I've done in the past, but I regret how I treated you. I'm sorry."

Shi Jin pulled his hand away and forced a smile, saying, "I understand your apology, but please don't apologize in the future just to make yourself feel better without expecting a response from the other person. It doesn't make me happy to hear it. Anyway, no matter what my attitude is, you will still do what you want, right?" With that, he turned around and left quickly.

This time, Fei Yujing didn't stop him. As he was about to leave, he said, "Xiao Jin, what you want from me is not an emotional response, but an emotional need. I will give it to you. You have changed my view on family and made me see many things that I had previously overlooked. So, as long as it's something you want, I will give it to you."

Shi Jin paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and then opened the door to the hospital room before walking out without looking back.

Fei Yujing watched as the door closed, his calm expression slowly fading away. He lowered his head and rubbed his forehead, revealing a look of frustration and exhaustion. He muttered to himself, "Was I too hasty?"

Outside the room, Rong Zhouzhong had just returned with some food in hand. Seeing the unhappy expression on Shi Jin's face as he rushed out of the room, Rong Zhouzhong furrowed his brows and asked, "What's wrong? Did Second Brother bully you?" He rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight Fei Yujing.

Shi Jin suppressed his emotions and shook his head, grabbing Rong Zhouzhong's arm and saying, "Third Brother, I'm tired. Where do you live? Take me there."

......

When Shi Jin checked into the hotel that Rong Zhouzhong was staying in, he purposely chose the room next to Rong Zhouzhong's. After taking a quick shower, he threw himself onto the bed.

"Emotional needs..." he muttered, his eyes glazed over. "Does that mean I want Fei Yujing to show that he cares about me more...impossible." He rolled over, pulled the covers over himself, and after a while, frustratedly hit his pillow. "What a ridiculous conversation. Forget it, time to sleep!"

He woke up to the sight of the city lights. Shi Jin was so hungry that his legs and arms felt weak. He got up, changed his clothes, and went next door to find Rong Zhouzhong, dragging him along to find food.

"I actually slept well for once," Rong Zhouzhong yawned, covering his mouth. "What do you want to eat?"

Shi Jin turned and asked, "Rice... Third Brother, do you need me?"

Rong Zhouzhong was puzzled by his question and asked, "What do you mean?"

Shi Jin realized he had unintentionally thought of his conversation with Fei Yujing and furrowed his brow as he replied, "Nothing, I was just asking randomly. I don't even know what I meant."

However, Rong Zhouzhong became interested in this topic and thought for a moment before asking, "Then do you need me?"

Shi Jin turned his head to carefully examine him and replied seriously, "Compared to you, I need Lian Jun more."

Rong Zhouzhong was taken aback and his hopes were dashed. He forcefully bit his lip to suppress the urge to speak ill of Lian Jun and retorted in a sulky tone, "Well, compared to you, I need air and water more."

Shi Jin was amused by his response and burst out laughing. "What are you laughing at? Did I say something funny?"

Rong Zhouzhong grumbled, giving him a few glances. But even his own lips couldn't help but curl up as he reached out and vigorously rubbed his head. He scolded, "Why are you so weighed down with thoughts all day? Did Second Brother say something hurtful to you? Don't mind him, that's just how he is. He always tries to rationalize everything in terms of benefits, even when he's trying to express goodwill.

"Do you think he's mature, rational, and restrained? Wrong! He's just a coward who's afraid to get too deeply involved in any emotion, afraid to demand a response, and afraid to let his emotions run wild. He's trapped himself in a box, afraid that he'll be hurt if he steps outside. So don't mind him, he's got a screw loose in his head. Let him cling to his dogmatic loneliness and die alone!"

As he listened to the smooth talk, Shi Jin couldn't help but stare at him in amazement.

Rong Zhouzhong lifted his chin, striking his most handsome pose, and elegantly pushed up his sunglasses with his hand. "The most important thing for an actor is to fully understand the character and perfectly portray their inner world. Understanding human nature is as easy as drinking water for me. I've met too many people like Second Brother with that kind of personality. Analyzing his inner world is a piece of cake for me. You don't have to worship me too much--"

"It's late at night and we're indoors with bright lights. Don't you think you look silly wearing sunglasses?" Shi Jin asked expressionlessly.

As Rong Zhouzhong was still boasting, he was interrupted by Shi Jin. His movements froze, and he turned to look at Shi Jin, his eyebrows twitching. He tried to salvage his pride by saying, "I know you're deliberately trying to provoke me now, wanting to argue with me and vent your emotions, but I won't let you succeed."

This line sounded all too familiar. Fei Yujing had said the same thing before, except he had said it when he wanted to act cute. Shi Jin's heartstrings trembled as if someone had poked through his little thoughts. He suddenly reached out and took the sunglasses from Rong Zhouzhong's nose, putting them on his own face to cover up his expression.

Rong Zhouzhong was stunned and quickly looked around to make sure no one was paying attention before reaching out to grab the sunglasses back. "Didn't you say it was stupid to wear sunglasses indoors? Give them back to me!"

Shi Jin dodged and said, "I like these sunglasses, they belong to me now. Why are you so cautious? We're in a foreign country, no one knows you here."

"You know nothing about my status in the fashion industry, give it back to me now," Rong Zhouzhong reached out to grab them.

Shi Jin dodged and refused to return them.

The two brothers continued to argue until they arrived at the restaurant. Rong Zhouzhong finally managed to retrieve his sunglasses, but he no longer needed them because Shi Jin had messed up his hair, making it look like a bird's nest. No one would believe that the man with the messy hair was the perfect image of Rong Zhouzhong.

The two of them entered a private room and waited for the dishes to arrive. After they were served, Rong Zhouzhong combed through his hair and put on his sunglasses, saying with a black face, "Here, take it, you childish guy."

Shi Jin took it without any pressure and pointed to the watch on Rong Zhouzhong's wrist, saying, "I like that too."

"...I don't believe you really like this," muttered Rong Zhouzhong, but still took off the watch and added, "The strap needs to be adjusted at a special place. I'll give you the address of the B city adjustment shop, you can go there yourself."

Shi Jin took the watch and searched his pockets, only finding a small clip he had bought from the college supermarket to hold his drafts. He handed it to Rong Zhouzhong and said, "I don't want to take advantage of you, so let's trade with this."

As Rong Zhouzhong looked at the simple army green hair clip in his hand, he couldn't help but laugh at his stinginess. He reached out and messed up Shi Jin's hair in retaliation.

Shi Jin leaned back to avoid it, then counterattacked.

After another round of playfulness, Rong Zhouzhong ruffled his own hair and glanced at Shi Jin, who was finally willing to eat. "Feeling better now?"

Shi Jin tore off both chicken legs from the roasted chicken and gave them all to Rong Zhouzhong, silently thanking him for his company.

"Now you learn to be generous, hmph," Rong Zhouzhong deliberately snorted, satisfied with the chicken legs in his bowl. He took out his phone, took two pictures, then picked up his chopsticks and gave one chicken leg back to Shi Jin.

Shi Jin looked at the chicken leg and took a big bite, chewing hard.

"Do you want to drink?" Rong Zhouzhong asked.

Shi Jin shook his head and slowly swallowed the chicken, then suddenly asked, "Third Brother, is Second Brother really a coward?"

"Really." Rong Zhouzhong also picked up a chicken leg and took a bite. Squinting his beautiful peach blossom eyes, he said vaguely, "When I have free time, I occasionally think about why we, the brothers, have become what we are today. Later, I figured it out. In fact, we are all like our respective mothers. Xu Jie is thoughtful and emotional, so the eldest brother is also thoughtful and emotional. My mother is powerful and glamorous, so I became harsh and annoying.

"Fourth Brother's mother is calm, introverted, and tough, thank goodness, the fourth brother is very much like her. Fifth Brother's mother puts love above all else and her mental age is forever stuck in her teenage years, so our Fifth Brother also never grows up. As for Second Brother...you really should meet his mother, a woman who hates herself so clearly, there are not many like her in this world."

Shi Jin poked at the white rice in his bowl and remained silent. "Second Brother is like his mother, living with clarity. But they are also different. Second brother's mother actively chose clarity after experiencing everything. But Second Brother did not. He simply does not know what it's like to not be clear-headed."

Rong Zhouzhong poured a glass of juice for Shi Jin and for the first time showed his mature and steady side as an older brother. "Xiao Jin, Second Brother may never be able to truly understand the pain you've experienced in the past or feel any heavy emotions because of it. But that doesn't mean he's not remorseful or self-blaming. He just doesn't know how. He has drawn a clear boundary between himself and everyone else, hurting others and trapping himself. Now he is trying to cross that boundary to understand your thoughts. He loves you, Xiao Jin."