The Pampered Young Master Is Adored at Art School - Chapter 3

A “no problem” popped up in Dylan’s mobile chat box, and he let out a sigh of relief.

It would take less than half an hour for the professional tango dancers to arrive, which was plenty of time to bail Su Zhan out. Perhaps this would overwrite the poor impression he’d made by wearing a simple university T-shirt, and it would make Su Zhan see him as a reliable “friend.”

He had heard that for East Asians, transitioning from friendship into romance was often more acceptable than trying to become lovers right away.

In the corner, Su Zhan let out a soft laugh. He said a few more words before hanging up, transforming from a cowering little quail back into a cheerful nightingale.

He seemed to have immense faith that the person on the other end of the line could help him, he was even starting to prepare his costume, or rather, his dress.

Dylan’s brow furrowed slightly. That dress wasn’t long to begin with. Su Zhan was a man and certainly wasn’t short, so it was easy to imagine that the dress would look exceptionally brief on him.

Dylan spoke up to stop him. “Are you really going to dance? I’ve already arranged for professional dancers to come over.”

Under the backstage lights, Dylan’s gaze seemed dark and unreadable.

Su Zhan blinked. He got the sense that Dylan was unhappy, which was understandable, a ticket-holding audience member would naturally expect a guaranteed performance rather than this makeshift, amateur mess.

The audience was so worried they were contacting actors on their behalf.

Su Zhan took Dylan’s words with a grain of salt. Several experiences of being let down by group project partners had led him to categorize all foreigners as “unreliable.”

“Thank you, but since I’m the one in charge, I need to have a few backup plans.”

Dylan pursed his lips, his frown deepening, but he didn’t respond.

Su Zhan didn’t have time to worry about him anymore. He gave a professional smile and turned to his phone to review the tango footwork over and over, while also busy drawing a positioning map for Xu Chenjian.

Backstage was currently a hive of irritation. The lighting and prop teams were practically at each other’s throats over the last-minute changes, and Su Zhan was beginning to catch the restless energy.

Even though Su Zhan had too many things to worry about, he found himself constantly distracted by Dylan’s presence. The man wasn’t causing trouble, he had simply found a corner to sit in, checking his phone from time to time.

Su Zhan chalked this up to his own failure to properly host a future client, it must be quite disillusioning for an audience member to see the messy reality of backstage.

But Su Zhan was truly out of time. He grabbed the dress and headed for the dressing room.

The last message from the dancers on Dylan’s phone was from five minutes ago, they said they were in the car and would arrive shortly.

However, an East Asian man pushed through the door before the professionals could arrive.

This man carried a boarding pass and seemed to have arrived in a great hurry. Atop his suitcase sat a paper bag from The Row, looking like a gift intended for someone. His calf-length, pure black trench coat made him look solemn and grave, as if he had just come from a funeral rather than a theater stage.

With just one glance, Dylan knew this was the person Su Zhan had been talking to on the phone. Su Zhan was the only Asian person backstage, so this man could only be there for him.

The newcomer’s gaze swept over the crowd. He gave a slight nod as a greeting, but it was a mere formality, his eyes clearly stated that no one present was worth his concern.

“Su Zhan?” the man asked in Chinese. No one replied.

“Lucian?” He tried his second option, looking toward the group.

The room remained silent.

One of the actresses seemed to remember something. She turned and headed into a more secluded corner of the backstage area to find him.

When Su Zhan was pushed out, he was holding his forehead with a stiff, awkward posture.

Dylan’s breath hitched for a second.

He had been right, Su Zhan’s dress was too short, and it revealed too much on top.

The black and red dance dress completely exposed his pale, delicate shoulders and neck. The skirt was like a bouquet of burning roses, barely reaching the tops of his thighs. Su Zhan had broad shoulders and a slim waist, possessing a beauty that blurred the lines between genders.

Under the backstage spotlights, Su Zhan stood there, looking completely lost.

It seemed he had never been stared at so directly before. He tugged at the skirt, trying in vain to pull it down further.

While it didn’t really matter if a man showed his thighs, and there was no risk of “indecent exposure,” it was still embarrassing for a man to wear a dress, especially in front of so many acquaintances.

And especially in front of the watch buyer he wanted to impress.

But it was an emergency. Su Zhan couldn’t worry about what others thought. He looked at Xu Chenjian, his expression tense, wanting his friend to know that he wasn’t going to let him enjoy the spectacle so easily.

“Don’t laugh!” Su Zhan said to Xu Chenjian. He then stiffly clicked on the music. “Let’s just try it once, as long as it looks passable. You did listen to it on the way here, right?”

“I won’t laugh at you.”

Su Zhan saw Xu Chenjian hang his coat to the side. He kept adjusting his sleeves, even though the cuffs were already perfectly smooth. He didn’t know what his friend was doing.

The music started.

Stepping to the first heavy beat, Xu Chenjian moved toward him.

Aside from the dress, this dance was no different from what they had practiced as children, or at least that’s how Su Zhan felt.

Xu Chenjian and he had grown up together. Though they were childhood friends, it felt more like Xu Chenjian had been assigned the role of a professional playmate at a young age. Many wealthy young masters had such companions, and Su Zhan never thought much of it. He never felt Xu Chenjian was beneath him, he simply called him “Brother Jian.”

Su Zhan knew how to tango, and he knew Xu Chenjian could partner with him, because they had learned these “soft skills” together since they were young.

Su Zhan didn’t see anything strange about any of this.

In the corner of the backstage, where the light was dim, no one noticed Dylan’s knuckles turning white.

He stared at the two men dancing in the clearing. There were moments when the man in the black coat buried his head very low, as if he were smelling Su Zhan’s hair.

Dylan suppressed the urge to interrupt. He kept checking his phone, the dancers he’d hired were already on campus, but they were still trying to find the way.

With every passing second, his agitation grew.

As the music suddenly accelerated, the man in black suddenly grabbed Su Zhan’s wrist and spoke into his ear, as if explaining his movements.

Su Zhan was easy to fool, his eyes widened slightly in surprise for a moment, but he seemed to believe whatever the man told him.

Dylan clenched his jaw, his impulse reaching a breaking point.

Finally, when “Suspicion” rang out in the background music, he stepped forward and intercepted Su Zhan’s reaching hand.

“The professional dancers are here,” Dylan said.

Su Zhan’s hand was so small and so soft. Dylan realized he could wrap his entire hand around Su Zhan’s.

He counted the seconds, letting go just before it could arouse suspicion. He put on a flawless smile. “They’re right at the door.”

Dylan hid his hand behind his back, his fingers straightening and then clenching, but unfortunately, the sensation of skin-on-skin was fleeting.

The moment he held Su Zhan’s hand, he smelled ambroxan, clean and captivating.

It turned out Su Zhan had excellent taste in perfume as well.

The dancing stopped, but the music didn’t. The lyrics of jealousy, anger, and betrayal continued to swirl through the room.

The fully-costumed professional dancers pushed through the door. They heard the music and laughed, promising the backstage crew, “Don’t worry, we know this piece very well.”

Su Zhan felt a massive weight lift. He gave Dylan a quick thanks before bolting toward the dressing room, it was practically an escape.

The rest of the backstage staff, seeing the professionals had arrived, felt relieved and went back to their work.

Only Xu Chenjian and Dylan, neither of whom belonged backstage, remained in the center of the room.

Dylan intentionally blocked Su Zhan’s path back, pretending he didn’t know he was being annoying.

This man in black was looking at Su Zhan far too much.

The other man was also sizing him up. He asked in English, “And you are?”

“Dylan Foster,” Su Zhan’s voice drifted out from the dressing room, explaining on Dylan’s behalf.

Dylan suddenly felt as if his relationship with Su Zhan had grown closer, and his smile became a bit more genuine.

Still, Dylan really wanted to get this guy out of the backstage area.

The man across from Dylan was clearly becoming displeased, his brow knitting slightly, though he was trying to remain polite. The man in black extended his hand. “Elias, Lucian’s friend.”

Dylan remained perfectly composed. He reached out as if to return the handshake, but instead pressed a ticket into the man’s palm. “Since the problem is solved, please stay and enjoy the performance. Lucian is the backbone of this show, as you just saw, he solved a major crisis.”

Hearing this, the man glanced around the room and then nodded, appearing to accept the terms.

Dylan smiled to himself, having no intention of clarifying the misunderstanding that he was a member of the staff.

After escorting Elias out of the backstage area, Dylan poked his head back through the door and helpfully pointed out, “The line starts to the right.”

**

The stage lights flared to life. Satine, using a silk ribbon as a swing, slowly descended from the center of the stage surrounded by “Diamond Dogs.” She looked like a falling moon, landing amidst gold dust and smoke, caught between two completely different kinds of “love.”

The protagonist, Christian, and the Duke pulled back and forth in their rivalry, one with nothing but a burning, sincere heart, the other promising Satine her dream of becoming a lead actress with countless diamonds and gold.

Even though they had rehearsed the plot enough, Su Zhan was afraid the actors might slip up because of the earlier incident. He watched intently the whole time, and when “El Tango de Roxanne” began, he held his breath.

Fortunately, the skill of the professional dancers was beyond question. Combined with the lighting and props, the tension was unprecedented. The stage effect reached a height far beyond what a student production should be, it was something that belonged on a professional stage.

Even Su Zhan, who had seen this play countless times, found himself moved, his heart racing with the rhythm.

The third act exceeded all of Su Zhan’s expectations.

Everything on stage influences everything else. The three leads seemed inspired by the tango, their performance had never been better, and the scene of the love triangle’s conflict was heart-wrenching.

From backstage, Su Zhan could see people in the audience wiping away tears.

Su Zhan felt like crying too. His life was a mess, but at least he hadn’t ruined this show.

Perhaps this performance would be kept forever by the professor as teaching material. The actor who had hired the photographer would have a piece of work that proved his skill, perhaps enough to get him into the Northern Light Troupe he had always dreamed of.

As the dance ended, Su Zhan breathed a sigh of relief. He remained immersed in the afterglow of the drama, unable to snap out of it for a long time.

That was until a warm paper bag pressed against the back of Su Zhan’s hand, the scent of butter wafting into his nose.

Su Zhan instinctively took the item.

Someone who hadn’t eaten all day found it hard to refuse such warm food in the winter. However, he was even more surprised that Dylan was still there. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the audience watching the show?”

Dylan gave a sincere smile, looking like a passionate and naive fan. “I gave my ticket to your friend. He didn’t look like a student from our school, so he should see the show you directed.”

“And what about you?” Su Zhan felt embarrassed. The show had started in such a frantic rush that he hadn’t even had a chance to thank Dylan properly.

Dylan had helped him so much, even giving a ticket to Xu Chenjian. He didn’t know how to express his gratitude, he was even considering giving him a “friendship price” for the watch.

“Me? I’ll have plenty of chances, though I don’t know if you’ll be the stage manager next time,” Dylan said casually.

Su Zhan realized Dylan had been staring at his face for a long time, so long that his cheeks were starting to feel hot.

“It doesn’t matter who the stage manager is, it doesn’t affect the play,” Su Zhan explained in a small voice.

As he unwrapped the croissant, he brainstormed ways to make it up to him. “I’ll get you a ticket. Moulin Rouge will be running for a while longer, are you still interested?” He took a bite, and the buttery aroma exploded in his mouth, the flaky layers tasting as if they were fresh out of the oven.

Are the croissants at school really this good? Su Zhan wondered.

“But I’ve already seen it from backstage, a perfect angle that the audience doesn’t get. It was a perk you gave me.” Dylan’s sea-blue eyes were like a siren’s, his blink felt like a deliberate display of charm.

And Su Zhan had to admit, the charm was working.

Su Zhan forgot to chew and swallowed the food directly.

He felt Dylan had a point, there was no need to see a play a second time if you’d already seen it. Now Su Zhan was back to square one on how to compensate him.

“Would you like A Midsummer Night’s Dream?” Su Zhan held up his phone to show Dylan photos of another production.

“Your friend sent you a message,” Dylan’s voice came from above, deep and heavy.

Dylan’s gaze was locked onto a string of Chinese characters he couldn’t understand.

A wave of irritation spread from his chest.

Yes, everything was perfect. He had helped Su Zhan and ensured the performance went smoothly.

He was useful, but only useful. He was still quite far from truly becoming a “friend.”

Support The Pampered Young Master Is Adored at Art School