My hands in his hands—this is the moment I have waited for since years. Yes, it's not new to me, because every night in my dreams I dance with him, but I never thought that this wish of mine would ever be able to be fulfilled. I still can't believe everything; it's just like a dream for me, and I am scared—literally scared—that someday someone will come and wake me up from this beautiful dream. But God, if this is really a dream, then I never want to wake up from it. Just let me lose myself in this fascinating dream. At least in my dreams, I had you.
I think all these thoughts in my mind, then suddenly he taps my cheeks with his hands and asks me, "Where are you lost, silly girl?"
I hesitate, my voice coming out small. "Nothing, just leave it," I said.
He tilts his head and tries to look inside my eyes.
"What are you doing, Yuan?" I asked him.
"Nothing, just trying to figure out what my silly girl is hiding from me," he said.
"I have told you it's nothing," I said, way too confidently.
"Ooo really? You know what, when you say things like this with this much confidence, then it confirms that there is surely something which is bothering you from inside. So next time, don't be so confident while saying lies, as it makes it worse," he said while moving his legs in the proper beats of the dance.
"I… I was just thinking that what if this is all a dream. I mean, what if someone wakes me up from this dream one day and says that whatever I had with you was just a dream," tears start forming in my eyes.
"Birthday girl is not allowed to cry," he said while moving his legs. Then a turn comes in the dance, and my back hits him. My head falls just below his chin. He holds both my hands and says, "A girl once told me that we don't have to think about the future while living in the present, nor do we need to think about our past mistakes while living in the present. The only thing that should matter is the present—the present we are living right now, right here. And in this present of ours, you are mine, so mine, and I am yours, so yours."
I blush a little after hearing all this from him. My cheeks become a bit red, and unfortunately he notices it as he looks down and makes another turn while dancing. Now my face is just facing him. He tilts his head a little to meet my eye level, then gently pulls up my chin with his two fingers, but I am too shy to look at him.
"If you think this is a dream, then tell your dream to stay a little longer here. And then the duty of making you live in this dream for your whole life is my responsibility," he said.
I smile a little while looking down at the floor.
He chuckles and says, "Too shy to even look at me."
I just nod my head.
"What should I do with this girl? I didn't even say anything like that and she has already become a red cherry tomato. Now what if I really say something," he whispered in my ears.
"Yuan!" I hit his arm lightly. "You are way too much."
He smiles like he is satisfied now.
"You are a pretty good dancer, silly girl," he said.
"Oooo, it's not like that. I just like to dance; I haven't learned it," I said.
"Ooo, then if you learn it, then what happens? Then you'll become China's great grand dancer someday," he said.
"Stop exaggerating," I said while following the steps.
"Why didn't you learn it?" he asked me.
"Not a particular reason. Just like I haven't thought about it. I dance only to make myself happy and forget about the pain, not for anything else," I said.
"What pain does this silly girl have now? The thing I know is that your deepest pain is me—and see, I am standing right in front of you," he said.
I chuckled and said, "What if this dream gets broken?" I asked him.
"Then I'll make sure that my silly girl will never be able to wake up from it," he said.
I smiled and said, "Ooo, that's great."
Then another turn—he slightly pulls me a little closer to him, just enough to make my Mr. Heart flutter. But no, no, Zhao Shiza, you won't let him know. What will he think about me, that even after becoming his girlfriend I still behave like a fangirl of him?
Then his hands pull me slightly closer to him, and he whispers again into my ears, "The little fangirl of me in you is still there, isn't it?"
I immediately turn my face away from him, but I'm still dancing and following the steps. Then I say in my small voice, the one that comes out only when he says such things to me, "When did you know this much about me?"
He smiles, then makes a turn in the dance, and now I am facing him. Then he says, "I didn't know about you—I know you. So I know how my girl will react to anything and everything. But you know what's the most important thing I like about my girl?"
"What?" I asked.
"It's the impact of me on my girl. I mean, sometimes I feel so proud of myself—how much I affect you, how much impact I have on you. I am so effective on you that I have the ability to make your Mr. Heart flutter, your face red like cherry tomatoes, and your breathing unstable—just like now."
And he notices it. My breathing has become quite unstable. It's difficult for me to behave normal in front of him, so to change the topic I say while turning around during the dance, "Yuan, did you notice that for the past 40 minutes we have been dancing without any song? We were just talking and dancing."
He smiles, then goes away for a minute and comes back holding two headphones in his hands. While placing them on my ears, he says, "Now we are going to listen and dance to the birthday girl's favourite song."
I am quite shocked, as I never told him what my favourite song is, so how did he—questions start rising in my little head. Then he puts the headphones on himself as well and connects them to his phone. The moment the music starts playing, I say, "Yuan," and him replying with his usual "hmmmm" is my favourite thing in the world.
"So, did the birthday girl like it?" he asked me.
I smiled and said, "The birthday girl loved it."
He chuckled.
The song in the headphones is the song in his voice that he sings at many award shows.
"Didn't you say that my voice is your favourite song? So I just played your favourite song," he said.
I wasn't able to hear what he was saying properly because of the music, but I could read his lip movements. I smiled, and then we danced until our heels and legs started paining due to continuous dancing.
Then he gently removes the headphones from both our ears. Suddenly, he starts looking at me from top to toe.
"Why this staring, Yuan?" I asked him.
He smiled and said, "Just looking at my birthday girl. Before her birthday gets over, I want to see her properly, as she is looking so pretty today."
"Today?" I repeated. "That means I don't look pretty every day? I only look pretty today?" I asked dramatically.
He exhales and says, "Look into my eyes," and I do. "In these eyes, you are always the prettiest girl Xu Yuan has ever met, no matter what you are wearing or in which state you are."
He cups my face with both his hands and says, "Zhao Shiza's beauty lies in the eyes of Xu Yuan. If ever you have a question about whether you are pretty enough or not, then just look into my eyes—here, just right here. You are the ocean of my heart. You are the water—so clear, pure like water. Your heart is transparent, but still there are some hidden secrets of you that you haven't told anyone. And this ocean carries the most hidden love for me, isn't it?" he asked while raising one eyebrow.
"Today we didn't have Margherita pizza on the table, so you have taken its role," I said while trying to hide my blushing.
"Don't hide it. I like it when you blush for me this hard," he said.
"Yuan, now it's getting very late," I said. "See," I pointed toward the sky, "it has become so dark, and if we stay here longer, the chilling cold breezes of Shanghai night will make us freeze. And I am also running out of time—the dorm will close."
"Ok, ok, fine. Everything is over. I am really happy that I was able to make your day memorable," he said.
"No, you didn't make my day memorable. Having you in my day made my day memorable," I said.
He pats my head.
"I'll go and get changed," I said.
He gently stops me, holding my wrist firmly, and says, "Can I ask for a return gift from the birthday girl?"
I smiled and said, "Look, my birthday hasn't ended yet and you're already asking for a return gift," then I laughed. "Ok, go for it."
"Don't change this dress. I want you to wear it the whole day. I want to see you in this dress—the dress I bought for you," he said.
"Just this much?" I asked.
"Hmm, this much," he replied.
"I thought Mr. Yuan was going to ask for something very big and expensive. You really disappointed me," I said.
"Ok, ok, fine. I'll wear it till I drift off into sleep on my bed," I said.
He smiled and said, "Ok, then I'll bring the car. Wait for me here," and he kissed my forehead before leaving.
Then I took out my phone from my bag because I hadn't checked it for hours. I checked if there were any important notifications on my WeChat. The moment I opened my phone, I saw the screen flashing—29 missed calls from Yang Lulu.
Why is she calling me? Maybe she got to know about my birthday and wants to wish me. But for that she could have dropped a message on my WeChat.
Never mind. I'll call her. Maybe there is something important.
While waiting for Yuan to arrive with the car, I used this time and called Yang Lulu back. The bell rang for 23 seconds, then she picked up.
"Hello," I said.
"Zhao Shiza," she said, and then...