Winter Hearts

While Siana Rides

Leo awoke like the rising dead: he sat straight up in bed, his legs straight out and his head bowed as he slowly deep-breathed into consciousness, his hands resting on his thighs to steady himself.

He had slept fitfully, dreaming of himself auditioning in a tiny room where everyone stood too close around him and watched in stony silence. After he finished singing, the judges looked at each other without a word. Someone he couldn't see said out loud, that he should sing better for an idol. Someone else asked him to make them laugh. Yet another told him to dance with his shirt off.

Leo opened his eyes and shook off the anxiety that had plagued him throughout the night. He hadn't had a dream like that in years.

He heard the lift whirring into action and then a long struggle as someone was loading what seemed to be a wagon full of goods into it, before he heard the heavy door close, and the compartment descend to the ground floor.

Despite the cold outside, he was warm from the heat given off by the wall-mounted radiators in the room. He got up and went to the bathroom, opening up the biggest towel he could find, which wasn't that big, to heat it up on the radiator in the bathroom. After washing up, he decided the shower could wait, and wrapped the now hot towel around his shoulders. It barely covered his shoulders and kept sliding off, so he wrapped it around his neck like a muffler, feeling the dry heat seep into his shoulders, sending a molten relaxation down through his muscles.

He tried to unlock the bedroom door quietly but it made quite a noise. He had locked the door the night before to prevent any of the members walking in casually while he lounged on his bed before he slept. Although he didn't mind it, he wanted peace and quiet after the long hours of travelling. Most of all, he didn't want them coming in and out to share the bathroom, even though it meant the four of them left outside were then forced to share the one remaining bathroom.

He needn't have worried, because after their quick and delicious meal, nobody even knocked. He heard the tv going for some time, until late in the morning when someone turned it off.

He walked outside to find that Hyuk and Hongbin had taken the room directly opposite his, which was larger and had two double doors leading to the front balcony. They had left their door slightly ajar, and seemed to have fallen asleep in mid-conversation, as they were lying on top of their duvets and bed-coverings, with the bedside lamp on.

Leo found a spare blanket on an armchair and covered Hongbin with it, but there wasn't another one for Hyuk. He rolled Hyuk's massive body to one side of the bed, tucked the sheets into the centre of the bed under Hyuk's body, then aggressively pulled him back to the exposed side of the bed, so that now the sheets could be pulled over the maknae's form.

He bent down to cover Hyuk and tuck in the sheets around his body, taking extra care to "finish the pie" properly by making sure the covers didn't let any air in or out. He tucked the covers under Hyuk's feet, legs, butt, arms and torso as if he were covering a pie with a large piece of pastry, then took special care to poke it around Hyuk's neck nice and tight.

He got the fright of his life when Hyukkie whispered seductively, "Thank you Oppa," in his ear as he leaned close.

He almost punched Hyuk as he jumped back.

"Aaaagh!" he said, weirdly restrained as he tried to keep quiet for the sake of the others. Almost without thinking, he made a gentle neck-slicing motion across Hyuk's neck. Hyuk was grinning widely.

"I love it when you treat me to your love-smacks, Oppa. Do it again."

Leo grabbed the pillow Hyuk was lying on and covered his face with it. It wobbled and fell to one side, so Leo adjusted it, pressing lightly down and then sighing when it fluffed back up again. He saw Hyuk's smile peeking out from under it.