Chà Chà Novel

 “I… I don’t know how to dance.”

Gu Xichao said something he knew was not true.

Back then, he had been the one who taught Yu Yan how to waltz.

“It’s very simple. I’ll teach you.”

Yu Yan gave him a practiced, professional smile. The curve of his lips was perfect, an expression he had rehearsed countless times before the camera.

Friendly and gentle, without the slightest hint of danger.

Without waiting for the man before him to answer, Yu Yan placed one hand on his shoulder and wrapped the other around his waist.

Even through the shirt and the thin fabric of the suit, the warmth of Yu Yan’s palm seemed ready to burn straight through.

Gu Xichao had always been extremely sensitive to physical contact. More importantly, he was terribly ticklish.

When Yu Yan’s fingertips accidentally brushed the side of his waist, he could not stop himself from trembling slightly. Even his breathing fell out of rhythm for a moment.

Gu Xichao told himself it was only a normal reaction.

Anyone would tremble if a stranger touched such a sensitive spot.

Yu Yan’s eyes were like hooks, firmly catching hold of the man before him.

“Are you… ticklish?”

“No. I just don’t know how to dance…”

“Oh?”

A sharp glint flashed through Yu Yan’s eyes.

Then he released him and patiently waited.

“Give me your other hand.”

The two stood in the middle of the dance floor.

Everyone around them had already paired off and was slowly turning to the music.

If Gu Xichao continued refusing now, it would only make him seem even more suspicious.

After thinking for a few seconds, he decided to finish this dance with Yu Yan.

After all, he was still wearing a mask.

Yu Yan could not possibly recognize him.

So Gu Xichao placed his hand in Yu Yan’s palm and deliberately took a few clumsy steps.

“Don’t be nervous. Just follow my movements one step at a time.”

“When I step forward, you step back. When I step back, you move forward. It’s very simple.”

Yu Yan slowly explained the basic steps of the waltz.

They were the very same things Gu Xichao had once personally taught him.

“Ah… all right…”

Gu Xichao turned his face away, unwilling to look at Yu Yan.

Yu Yan’s gaze never left the mask covering the face of the man before him.

The mask concealed far too much, leaving him unable to identify or recognize this person.

The white feathers reflected a soft glow beneath the lights, completely hiding the upper half of the man’s face.

Even his nose was fully concealed, while the sharp line of his jaw became indistinct beneath the feathers’ shadows.

Only his lips remained visible. They were pressed tightly together, revealing no unnecessary emotion.

Through the narrow gap at the edge of the mask, Yu Yan could see only the shadow of lowered lashes and the faint curve at the outer corner of one eye.

But no matter which angle he looked from, those small details were not enough to piece together a complete face.

“That’s right. I still haven’t asked your name.”

Yu Yan suddenly spoke.

“Nolan Koo. You can just call me Nolan.”

“Are you a foreigner?”

“I’m a Malaysian Chinese. I was born and raised there.”

Gu Xichao answered smoothly using his new identity.

“Oh, I see.”

As the melody shifted into a magnificent turning sequence, Yu Yan released Gu Xichao’s hand and waist at the same time.

In the next second, he caught him steadily again. His hands returned to their original positions, and his arm once more wrapped around that slender waist.

“Don’t you dance rather well?”

Yu Yan could not shake the feeling that the man before him was deliberately hiding something.

“That turn just now would have been impossible without at least three years of practice.”

A thin layer of sweat had formed across Gu Xichao’s palm.

“You’re joking, Mr. Yu.”

“Ah…”

Yu Yan chuckled softly. Then, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, he asked:

“By the way, Nolan. I remember that in the restroom earlier, you said I had mistaken you for someone else.”

“Who did you think I had mistaken you for?”

The question made Gu Xichao’s heart pound.

That was right.

He had been far too careless.

He had been so nervous at the time that the words had slipped out before he could stop them…

But Gu Xichao absolutely could not allow his true identity to be exposed.

No matter what happened, he had already made up his mind never to become entangled with Yu Yan again.

He explained calmly:

“Everyone is wearing a mask tonight. You suddenly pinned me against the wall, and you reeked of alcohol.”

“In that situation, anyone’s first thought would be that you had mistaken them for someone else, wouldn’t it?”

“Oh?”

Yu Yan found the explanation reasonable.

“I was too forward. I apologize.”

“It’s fine. No harm was done.”

The music came to an end, and the two finally separated.

They bowed politely to each other, following the basic etiquette observed at the end of a dance.

Yu Yan’s eyes gleamed brightly.

He suddenly leaned close to Gu Xichao’s ear, breathed in softly, and asked in a low voice:

“You still haven’t told me what cologne you’re wearing.”

Gu Xichao pressed his lips tightly together. It was a long moment before he answered:

“Avant Après l’Ombre. The Road to the Underworld.”

“Nolan, I finally found you. Come on, President Li is waiting for us.”

Shen Jizhou walked over and took Gu Xichao by the wrist, intending to lead him away.

But at that exact moment, another hand suddenly closed tightly around Gu Xichao’s other arm, trapping him between the two men and leaving him unable to move even a single step.

Gu Xichao looked down at the hand gripping his arm so tightly that the veins stood out, then raised his gaze to Yu Yan’s face.

“What are you doing?”

“Who is he?”

The person Yu Yan was asking about was, of course, Shen Jizhou.

Left with no choice, Gu Xichao quickly introduced them.

“This is Shen Jizhou, President Shen.”

“So you’re President Shen. I’ve heard a great deal about you.”

Yu Yan once again displayed his practiced, professional smile. It held no genuine emotion or warmth. It was merely the instinctive habit of a celebrity.

“If I remember correctly, I’m currently the spokesperson for one of your company’s brands. When we have the chance, we should meet and have a proper conversation.”

Of course, Gu Xichao knew exactly what Yu Yan was doing.

Shen Jizhou had also recognized the famous man before him.

“So you’re the superstar Yu Yan! I’ll invite you to meet another day.”

“Nolan and I still have something important to take care of, so please excuse us.”

Shen Jizhou and Gu Xichao both looked toward Yu Yan.

If he still refused to let go, the situation would only become even stranger.

Yu Yan had no choice but to slowly loosen his fingers, finally releasing Nolan’s arm.

Watching the two men walk away side by side, Yu Yan felt as though a thorn had lodged itself in his heart.

His dark eyes remained completely still. No one could tell what he was thinking.

Yu Yan picked up a bottle of champagne from the table and drained it. Then he leaned against the railing and stood in the night breeze for a while.

He turned over the hand that had just held the man’s wrist and stared at it.

A trace of warmth seemed to remain on his fingertips.

No matter what happened, Yu Yan was determined to remove that man’s mask tonight.

Afterward, he returned to the banquet hall.

Pretending that nothing had happened, Yu Yan took a glass of wine and exchanged a few polite words with the people around him. Yet his eyes continued searching through the crowd.

The white mask never appeared again.

However, Yu Yan noticed a figure in a white suit hurrying into the corridor leading toward the stairs, as though he were trying to avoid something.

That corridor led to the changing rooms.

Yu Yan set down his glass and followed the figure at an unhurried pace.

The corridor was covered with a dark red carpet, making his footsteps nearly silent.

After turning two corners, Yu Yan saw a door left slightly ajar. A white silk sash lay quietly on the floor outside.

He recognized it at a glance.

It was the sash Nolan had worn around his waist tonight.

Yu Yan picked it up.

Seeing no one around, he silently stepped inside and locked the door behind him.

A curtain in the changing room separated the two men.

From behind it came the sounds of a zipper being pulled and buttons being undone. Yu Yan guessed that the man inside was preparing to remove his mask.

So he adjusted his voice and called out:

“Mr. Nolan, you dropped your sash.”

There was a moment of silence behind the curtain.

Then a muffled voice came through:

“Thank you. Just leave it outside.”

Once he confirmed that the person inside was the man he had been looking for, Yu Yan could no longer wait.

Without saying another word, he pulled the curtain aside.

The entire small space was instantly exposed beneath the light.

Gu Xichao still had one hand resting against the edge of his mask. It was only halfway removed, revealing one eye.

Under the warm yellow light, that eye suddenly widened.

Both men froze.

Yu Yan stepped forward.

The space behind the curtain was already cramped. That single step instantly closed the distance between them.

He reached back and pulled the curtain shut. The metal ring made a faint sound, trapping them together in a space of less than one square meter.

Gu Xichao’s back pressed against the wall. There was nowhere left for him to retreat.

Yu Yan seized the wrist of the hand still resting against the mask and pinned it against the wall.

“Take it off.”

Yu Yan’s voice came from extremely close by. It was cold and completely devoid of emotion.

“Why are you here?”

An angry shout escaped Gu Xichao’s throat.

“What’s wrong? Is Mr. Nolan so petty that he won’t even allow someone to see his face?”

“You are being incredibly rude!”

Gu Xichao used his free hand to push Yu Yan away, intending to squeeze through the narrow gap and leave.

The cramped space made him feel so suffocated that staying for even one more second threatened to drive him mad.

Yu Yan had no intention of wasting any more words on him.

He raised a hand, hooked one finger beneath the ribbon securing the mask, and gave it a light tug.

The white mask slipped from Gu Xichao’s face and fell to the floor with a soft sound.

At last, the entire face of the man before him was revealed.

A few strands of his hair had been tousled by the ribbon. His damp eyes stared at Yu Yan, their rims flushed red. It was impossible to tell whether it was from humiliation or heartbreak.

Yu Yan looked as though he had been struck by lightning.

His entire body went completely still.

He had seen this face far too many times.

In the dreams that haunted him again and again, and throughout countless days and nights over the past two years.

He had believed that this man had been reduced to ashes two years ago.

So when that complete, living face truly appeared before him, Yu Yan’s first reaction was disbelief.

It took his mind nearly five seconds to connect the two facts: Gu Xichao was still alive, and the man standing before him was Gu Xichao.

Then the first emotion that surged through him was not joy.

It was fury.

“You’re not dead.”

Yu Yan narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice until it was barely above a whisper. Every word seemed to be forced through clenched teeth.

His grip around Gu Xichao’s wrist suddenly tightened with such force that the man’s brows drew together.

“You faked your death?”

Yu Yan stepped closer, pressing Gu Xichao’s entire body against the wall and leaving him unable to move.

“Mr. Yu, please conduct yourself appropriately. I don’t know you.”

“You’re still pretending?”

Yu Yan’s attitude was unyielding, giving Gu Xichao no chance to resist.

He dragged him out of the changing room, unlocked the door, and pulled him straight into the corridor.

“Fine! I’m taking you for a DNA test right now.”

“I want to see for myself whether I’ve mistaken you for someone else, or whether you’ve been lying to me all along!”

“Let go of me!”

“No! Even if I have to go to jail, I will never let go!”

Without another word, Gu Xichao took out his phone and called the police emergency line.

“Hello. I’d like to report someone for harassment.”

Yu Yan suddenly whipped his head around, so furious that he ground his teeth together.

“Are you serious?!”