Dance with you

Chapter 57

Meng Yao tried his best not to fidget as he followed the young maid towards Shen Zhihao's office.

Why was he being called there?

Did he do something wrong?

Did he overstay his welcome? He didn't know what he would do if that was the case.

Where would he go? He couldn't just leave Liu Xin and the children, especially not after he had made that promise to Gao Fen.

"Meng Yao?"

He was too lost in the storm of thoughts whirling around his head that he didn't react at all when his name was called. So when a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder he jumped, barely suppressing a yelp that threatened to escape.

"Whoa there! I didn't mean to spook you."

Turning around, Meng Yao found himself face to face with Shen Guānghé whose hands were held up in a placating gesture. He didn't know how he was so sure of which twin was in front of him but deep inside something told him that his assumption was correct.

Shaking himself out of his musings, Meng Yao bowed. "Hello Shen-gongzi. Did you need something from me?"

Guānghé huffed a breath, letting his hand fall and his mouth curved into a teasing smirk. "Always so formal, Meng-gonzi," he said, purposefully emphasizing the formal phrasing.

Even though the Shen Heir wasn't that much taller than him, Meng Yao couldn't help but feel small in the presence of someone whose confidence seemed to be so tightly woven into their personality and bearing that it was clear that they had never had to shed it before.
Humility and subservience were virtues that had been drilled into Meng Yao's very being ever since he could remember. He shouldn't want, he wasn't supposed to think and reach beyond his station, his life depending on his ability to bow his head and do as he was told. Some of those disciplines had lost their meaning when he left the Nie Sect to fend for himself but when faced with people who were so obviously above him, his survival instincts always kicked in.

Confused by the silence following his jab, Guānghé's smirk fell in favor of genuine concern. "Hey, are you okay?"

He wanted to reach out, to pull the other from his thoughts but remembering how his last attempt had gone his hand came to a halt in midair between them. His eyes drifted to the maid, who had stopped a few paces away to give them at least some semblance of privacy in this open hallway.

To his raised eyebrow she answered, "Shen-zongzhu called for Meng-gongzi, Shen-gongzi."

"Why?"

"I do not know, Shen-gongzi."

Was this the reason Meng Yao was so out of it?

No matter how he thought about it, Guānghé couldn't find a reason why his father would want to talk to Meng Yao. It had to be important for him to get summoned to the Sect Leader's office.

In the end, he dismissed the maid with a wave before turning to the other man again. "Come on. I'll accompany you."

No reaction.

"Meng Yao?"

Nothing.

"A-Yao!"

Meng Yao flinched, his whole attention immediately on Guānghé, face blank but his eyes shimmering with uncertainty and even...fear? It looked so wrong. This wasn't how he was supposed to look.
Where was the serenity that had allowed that beautiful smile to adorn his expression before?

Very slowly, as to give him a chance to back off, Guānghé reached out to lay his hands gently on Meng Yao's shoulders. He tried to give him a reassuring smile.
He had never been good at comforting people before, but this was the first time he felt embarrassed about it.