He seemed to be very stiff even in the posture of invitation, with his hand outstretched and then stopped in mid-air, without any other movement, just waiting for his response. The crowd’s eyes didn’t dare to linger too long, even though some had already begun to enviously speculate about who the invited person was.
The lights were still dim, but He YunTing’s eyes were bright. He YunTing, who was from the military and well-trained, held this position until Lin Han responded, without moving, as strictly as if it was such an important invitation.
Lin Han still looked at him.
But the problem was…
Lin Han rarely participated in such occasions, dancing and so on, and even more so, he didn’t participate.
He couldn’t.
He YunTing seemed to be very patient, and while waiting, as if afraid of Lin Han’s worries, he whispered, “You can put your gloves on.”
So three seconds later, a pair of white gloved hands, still warm, rested on He YunTing’s palm.
“Okay.” Lin Han said. Lin Han thought a lot in a very short time.
For example, what was he thinking right now? If he didn’t wear gloves, would he hear a different response? Or, if he refused, would the General have the same sulky light in his eyes as the last time he tried to shake hands with him in the repair room?
But in the end, he thought, today was the General’s birthday.
Lin Han’s life was lackluster, but he could remember every birthday with his mother by his side. He didn’t know what He YunTing had gone through along the way, but on his birthday, he should be happy.
So he accepted the invitation.
—
He YunTing’s hands suddenly gained a little more weight.
The Omega’s gloved five fingers looked almost delicate, even for a mecha engineer who spent his days at the Institute, installing and dismantling all sorts of mecha designs. But they looked a little small, and He YunTing was able to wrap it securely in one hand, and the wrist was lean, as if to tell the person holding it that its owner should be cared for in this way.
He YunTing became careful for no reason, because if he used too much force, the other might get hurt. Lin Han felt the man in front of him breathe heavier, and was about to raise his eyes when a pair of hands fell on his waist.
The General was able to catch up on his skills in a short period of time because Lieutenant Colonel Lu wisely mentioned this, even though Lu AnHe said in despair after seeing his learning results, ‘I think if Mr. Lin rewrote a program for M2742, it can jump better than you.’
He YunTing lifted his legs like kicking a square step, and his hand movements were like army drills… In short, stiff and rusty. Finally He YunTing barely learned, Lu AnHe even covered his face and said, ‘Or you shouldn’t consider this, and inviting Mr. Lin to join the table is also enough.’
He YunTing agreed at that time. But when he waited for a long time until Lin Han appeared, all the preparations he had made before fell flat again. Perhaps the lighting and music were so ambiguous that he felt he might regret it if he didn’t do it.
He YunTing never regretted anything. Now he hated the worry of the unknown, the powerlessness and unavailability.
Lin Han didn’t release his hand, which made He YunTing feel relieved again. As a result, the Omega came close to him and said honestly, “But General, I don’t know how.”
He YunTing’s hand on Lin Han’s waist tightened.
If the material had been thinner, Lin Han might have felt a different kind of heat coming from General’s palm. Fortunately, the clothing was chosen by He YunTing himself and was of good quality, so the thin sweat on his hand wasn’t noticed by Lin Han.
He YunTing stiffened for a moment, then used the hand that was holding Lin Han to lead him to the dance floor and said without changing his face, “It’s okay, I can.”
“I’ll teach you.”
—
Ever since He YunTing invited Lin Han in public, people have been quietly trying to look over every now and then. But the lighting was too dim and no one dared to look too openly, so they just felt that the two danced like they were different from the others.
The beat was kept up, but the movements were a little off. The two jumped up and seemed too introverted. Of course they didn’t hear the whispers between the two.
Lin Han put his hand on He YunTing’s shoulder and listened to the other’s instructions.
“Wait until the next beat and remember to follow along with my steps.”
“…Oh.”
Lin Han stepped on He YunTing’s military boots.
A minute later Lin Han learned the beat, “So General, should I now…”
He YunTing stepped on Lin Han’s foot before he could say the words “backwards”.
“Forward.”
Stepping on the foot.
“Side.”
Stepping on each other’s feet.
He YunTing’s expression was still cold, but because he had made too many mistakes, he decided not to instruct anymore, and his own foot movements became very restrained. His movements became smaller and naturally affected his partner, and Lin Han finally couldn’t help but curl his lips, “General.”
“…” He YunTing looked at the hand held in his palm and wrinkled his brow, “It’s still okay… Try again.”
He felt the Omega smile lightly.
“Okay.”
Ten minutes later, the two finally gave up and He YunTing dropped the hand he was holding on the other’s waist and walked with Lin Han to the side to sit down.
There were no words for a while.
The silver hair in front of his forehead seemed to be messed up again, He YunTing looked at the others on the dance floor with a puzzled cold expression.
Lin Han looked up and saw this look. He could only see the side of He YunTing’s face. The other party’s features could almost be described as sharp and aggressive, the position of the brow bones made the eyes deep, while the line of the nose and lips remained cold and hard. The most recognizable, of course, were his eyes.
But now these eyes were filled with doubt, with a bit of resentful disbelief, as if he didn’t understand why everyone else could dance so harmoniously, but they were unbearable to look at.
Lin Han once again remembered the analogy he once made about him.
Maybe he really was a bit like a child.
For a moment, he actually wanted to hear what was on the other side’s mind right now. But soon he extinguished this thought, looked into those eyes and said, “General.”
He YunTing, who hadn’t been looking at him, turned his face.
Lin Han smiled towards him, “Happy birthday.”
The expression on He YunTing’s face changed subtly.
Lin Han didn’t know how to describe it. The other party’s expression wasn’t joyful, but showed an unexpected surprise. It was as if no one had said those words to him for a long time.
But soon, he saw the corners of He YunTing’s originally flat lips move a little, as if to respond to him — with a smile.
He probably hadn’t had this expression for a long time, so He YunTing almost rawly tried to curl the corners of his mouth, but was a little hesitant for fear that this expression would be too raw and Lin Han would find it ugly.
“General!” came someone else’s voice from the side.
The two of them looked together and Wen Tianyao was smiling as he was walking towards them, “Happy birthday, the supreme glory of the M Empire.”
The corners of He YunTing’s mouth that hadn’t been able to hook up became flat again, and he lightly responded, “Hmm.”
“Then I’ll drink a toast to the General,” Wen Tianyao said unconcernedly, beckoning the waiter with the wine to come over, “and to wish Mr. Lin a good time tonight.”
The young waiter who was waiting at the side came over. But strangely enough, there was no wine on the tray.
Wen Tianyao’s face showed a little displeasure, “If you don’t have any wine, go and bring it over, do you want me to teach you that?”
The waiter seemed to be in a daze, nodded his head, but didn’t do anything else.
The displeasure on Wen Tianyao’s face became more and more obvious, and he was about to wave his hand to call another one, but he found that the waiter looked strange, and his feet moved towards He YunTing.
He YunTing’s brow furrowed.
Wen Tianyao also found something wrong at this moment.
This waiter, he had never seen him before.
Wen Tianyao immediately made a sound—
The change happened in a flash.
“General!” He only had time to exclaim before he saw the expressionless waiter pull out a sharp knife from the bottom of the tray, which he had covered with his hand for a long time.
He YunTing was swift, in the light of day he sensed the other party’s intention, when the man was about to approach his wrist, he didn’t have time to use the knife still in his hand. He YunTing ruthlessly twisted it, and the man let out a miserable cry of pain — but in the next second, he didn’t kill the other party, but the other party’s wrist was still in He YunTing’s hands holding the knife.
The waiter who understood that the stabbing failed still didn’t let go of the hand holding the dagger, and a strange “ho-ho” sound came from his throat, while he even endured the pain of being restrained by He YunTing, leaned forward, and suicidally put his heart to the tip of the knife!
Lin Han only saw a flash of cold, sharp blade in front of his eyes, as the killer was about to kill himself in front of everyone—
He YunTing grabbed Lin Han with his left hand at this moment and turned him over with his back to him, not allowing Lin Han to face the image he was about to see.
After a muffled sound of a sharp blade entering the flesh, Lin Han subconsciously closed his eyes.
The moment He YunTing touched his hand, his ears rang with the other party’s cool voice.