How One Phone Call Made Chiling Lin Realize Husband Akira is “Mr. Right”

Meeting eight years ago, Chiling Lin (林志玲) and Akira remained friends for years before they started dating and eventually geting married. In a recent interview with Vogue, the newlyweds share which specific moments were the milestones in their relationship, making them realize their feelings for each other.

Akira Admired Chiling for Many Years

Akira revealed that he first knew of Chiling when her 2008 film Red Cliff <赤壁> was being promoted in Japan. At that time, Akira was in disbelief as to how such a beautiful and elegant woman like Chiling existed and thought how great it would be if he had a chance to meet someone like her. Little did he know, he had the chance in 2010 when she attended his band EXILE’s concert. Going backstage after the performance, Chiling only briefly greeted Akira and the two didn’t maintain any further contact.

The first time the two did have further in-depth contact was during a conference for 2011’s stage play, Red Cliff, Love <赤壁．愛>. Recalling when she had to perform the stage play, Chiling said, “The dialogue for the stage play was all in classical Japanese. For someone who couldn’t even speak Japanese that well, it was a very difficult task and I was worried that I would have a hard time remembering the lines. After hearing me say that, he said it’s even hard for Japanese people as well, telling me now to worry and we’ll both try our best.”

Akira realized his feelings for Chiling when they were rehearsing for the stage play and he observed how gentle and kind she is. After the production ended, Chiling gifted Akira with a set of cufflinks. He researched the meaning behind gifting someone with cufflinks, which he discovered meant “you’re the one I want to spend my life with.” Although he was nervous and excited by the possibility of Chiling having feelings for him, Akira said that they didn’t have regular contact due to their busy schedules.

A Phone Call Changed The Fate of Their Relationship

Being friends for over eight years, their relationship took a step forward when Chiling’s grandmother passed away last year. The 45-year-old supermodel explained, “My grandmother passed away last year. Despite her fighting hard that night, she died in front of me. My grandmother is one of the most important people in my life so when I went home that night, I was so sad that I couldn’t breathe. The first person I thought of was Akira. As soon as I called and told him about my grandmother, I started sobbing and wasn’t able to stop until I fell asleep. I don’t know how long I slept for but after I woke up, I realized my phone was still connected. When I said hello, he responded and said ‘I’m here.’”

Akira’s gesture warmed Chiling’s heart. She was extremely touched that he stayed on the phone with her all night despite her falling asleep. It was that specific moment when she realized that he was the one that she wanted to spend the rest of her life.

Having known each other for almost a decade, Akira said he and Chiling have experienced both the best and worst of times together. “I soon realized that she was the one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Sitting down to talk about our futures after her grandmother passed away, we found out that we both had each other in our future plans. That’s when we decided to get married and be together.”

Source: Ettoday