Dance

Apart from learning a few more moves from Wenshi, the morning passed by uneventful. Before she knew it, lunch had arrived, and a feast was sitting in front of her.

The mystery person hadn't made any more moves yet and ceased contact with her via SMS.

After lunch, she followed the design team and a few others upstairs to explore and see how things were going.

Slippers scuffed on the hardwood floor as everyone went to do their things.

Six of the ten rooms on the top floor were occupied.

The two biggest rooms were for the instrumentalists and the artists, digital or material.

The next two were for the design team and Chuan Si's welding lab, his room was the only one with a coal furnace.

The last two rooms were for the dance students or those looking into yoga and other similar activities.

She found Wenshi in one of them with Long Ao on the side, watching her with complete amazement. Wenshi was best at contemporary and lyrical dancing, while she grew up doing ballet.

It was common for privileged kids to learn ballet and instruments, either piano, string, or woodwind. Even her brothers had to do some sort of dance and play an instrument.

Shen Hui opted for the guitar and other string instruments while Long Ao did as much as he could. Both did dance, but over time, her eldest brother lost his touch while her second kept at it, he said that it was crucial if he was going to work in the underworld.

Believe it or not, but he learned ballet as a child as well.

As he grew, he explored different fields, but ballet was his first.

She watched Wenshi dance through the crack of the door, her brother too focused on his lover to notice her. She watched her quick steps and extended arms.

She saw the technicality of her movements, the precision and the hard work that was put into her dance. Her hair swayed to the beat of the music, her eyes focused and calm.

She saw stances incorporated into the dance from different fighting forms.

Her eyes wandered to her brother.

He took slow steps towards Wenshi, his eyes just as focused as hers. His arm extended out, and at a moment's notice, the dance became a duet.

Everything from the way they moved to the way they never lost eye contact. Every move, every turn, and every step they took together screamed perfect. They were, and are, in perfect synchronization.

She saw the passion in their eyes, the love that overflowed from the both of them.

Eventually, the dance got too sensual for her own good, and she left. She didn't want to lose her innocent mind yet.

She took a peek into the design room and heard the whirring sound of the sewing machines. She saw Chuan Si hunched over his desk in the back next, followed by a flute player composing music.

The artists were hard at work, she presumed, the sign on the door read: Great Minds At Work, Do Not Disturb.

Still, in her gym clothes, she took to the dance studio, wanting to get in some much needed catching up.

She did some simple ballet warm-ups and stretched muscles. Without her pointe shoes, she was somewhat lost, it had been a while since she had done any ballet routine without them.

Her habit of going on her tippy toes proved to have a negative impact without them, but she adapted, she adjusted herself so that she was only as high as standing on the balls of her feet allowed.

Slowly at first, she concentrated on the way her feet were positioned and how her body was to bend and straighten. She focused more on the details of the dance.

Eventually, as time passed on, she found her self playing some of the most fast-paced music in her playlists.

The beat led her on and pushing her to do more, to go bigger.

And so she did, she focused less on the details, but on the dance as a whole.

By the time she was done, she was exhausted beyond measure. She laid done on the floor, taking in heavy breaths and relaxing her muscles.

She hadn't danced in a while, a long while.

All of a sudden, she heard clapping. Her head turned, and she saw the person she least expected to be there.

"What are you doing here?" She breathed out, "Last I saw you, you were hunched over your work table,"

"Well, I have a present to deliver," Chuan Si invited himself into the dance room and took a seat next to her exhausted self. "I never knew you could dance,"

"A lot of people don't, it's not something I perform often,"

"You were great,"

"Thanks,"

"Any other talents I didn't know about?"

"We'll see. How about you? What other hobbies do you have?"

"I can make music, dance too, anything that has to do with hands, I can do. Stuff like mental math will kill me, but if you give me a pen and pencil, I can do even the hardest equations."

"I wish I was that good,"

"I wish I had your ability,"

"My ability? What ability?"

"Your photographic memory, your enhanced senses, your language skill, and your communication skills."

"I guess we all want something we don't have, huh?"

"I guess so,"

"So, what was the present you had to deliver?"

His hands moved to his back pocket, and he pulled out a small box the size of a ring box.

"I couldn't find any other box, so this was my best option, but..." He opened the lid, and she sat up.

"Is that?"

"It is," He confirmed, a smile grew on his face from seeing her expression.

"This...this is beyond my imagination! It's perfect!"

Looking down into the box, she saw the necklace she had asked for. The blue mineral in the middle glowed and pulsed as always. In the dimmed room, its glow became more prominent.

The dragon coiled around it possessed the same mineral for eyes.

It had more detail than the original did and captivated her just as much as the glowing mineral did.

Her fingers reached out to graze it, and almost immediately, the feeling of a pulse pumped against her skin.

"I had to tweak it here and there to that the dragon would match the beauty of the dragon, which reminds me," He pulled out the rock she had given him, "Here is your rock back,"

"You can keep it,"

"Really?"

"Mm, you can use it for your other projects,"

"Thank you,"

Chuan Si pulled the necklace out of its confinements, and she twisted around on her bottom. His arms reached over her and came around her neck. She saw the pendant of the dragon wrapping the mineral dangling in front of her.

And with one click, the necklace was secured behind her neck.

_______________________

Chuan Si's POV

She stood up and walked over to the mirrored wall. Her hand grasped the necklace as she observed herself in the mirror.

He followed up behind her, making sure not to stand too close, yet not too far.

There was something about her, it could be the flowery smell of her sweat luring him in, or the way she reacted around him, about him. She was genuine. Something most rich kids wasn't.

He remembered when he was five, and he was just entering kindergarten. Everything was fine until a few mean-looking guys came in, claiming that he was gifted and needed to be transferred. He remembered the proud looks on his parents' faces that cried as he was sent off to the school for the gifted.

Everything was so simple back then. Everyone was friends, no matter their status. Then they grew, and people started changing, they were no longer naive and started caring for their image.

Some became weaker, and others became prouder, and suddenly, nobody was friends anymore.

The rich ones were always hiding behind a thick mask of fake kindness, he thinks that's what drew him into Li Yaorui.

The way she didn't hide behind a white lotus mask.

She wasn't too expressive, but it was better than those fake monsters. Everyone knew of her walls, ones so high that not even she, herself could tear down.

But the first wall was coming down, and that was all that mattered.

One way or another, she was warming up to them, to the team.

And for that, he was proud.

Proud, and drawn in.

Looking at her now, standing in front of the mirror, wearing his own creation and smiling down on it. He was happy that he trusted her enough to make her something.

Sweat dripped down her forehead and neck. Her chest still slightly heaving. Her hair hung loosely in a ponytail, having previously freed itself from a bun.

He turned around and headed for the door, he picked up and towel and a water bottle.

"Here," He held them out to her.

She jumped slightly, then smiled, "How many times-"

"...do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me?" He finished the sentence for her, a sentence he had already heard before.

Her smile broadened, and she took the towel and bottle, "Thanks,"

"Hey Xiao Rui, time for dinner," Hu Angli paused at the door.