Shen Lian realized that Chu Yilan was showing signs of a traumatic stress response.
He did not want to ask another word.
The answer before him was enough.
"Okay." Shen Lian gently hugged Chu Yilan. "I'm so sleepy. Let's go upstairs and rest."
Chu Yilan let out a huge sigh of relief.
If Shen Lian kept asking, he would still answer, but it already felt as though a large hand had closed around his throat. Chu Yilan did not want to remember. This was, in fact, the first time he had ever spoken to anyone about anything connected to that past, and he truly had not been sufficiently prepared.
Chu Yilan closed his eyes and silently said, Thank you.
Shen Lian was always the one making allowances for him.
"None of that tonight," Shen Lian mumbled when he came out of the shower.
Chu Yilan was leaning against the headboard, replying to work messages. He chuckled at that. "And here I thought you were so tough."
"Be reasonable, President Chu," Shen Lian protested. "You're lucky it's me."
Could someone else with skinny arms and legs have taken it?
Chu Yilan tossed his phone aside and opened his arms. Shen Lian pounced on him and pulled the covers over them. Sleepiness soon set in, and he had barely exchanged a few words with Chu Yilan before his breathing grew even.
He had filming tomorrow. He really had no energy left for anything else.
He could have asked Feng Yueshan and the others about Chu Yilan's past, but Shen Lian immediately killed that thought. It would have been disrespectful.
He could always wait until Chu Yilan was ready to talk. And if he never did, so be it. Either way, Shen Lian was taking charge of the rest of this man's life.