Winter Hearts

Siana Meets Vixx

Siana blinked, hardly believing that the person holding her was, in fact, Cha Hakyeon. And next to him, looking amused, was Hyuk, who seemed to be peering over N's shoulder at her with glee.

She stepped back, pulling out of his grasp. Amused, N let his hands drop as he gave a small polite bow. He spoke in Hangguk-uh, asking her if she was okay. She nodded, seeing that behind him was her father, coming down the small set of stairs with the Mr Joon. Above ground, she heard other male voices, but she felt that if she were to see who they were, she would faint.

She focused on Mr Joon. So that's why he seemed familiar. She had seen his face so many times. He must have been in every single airport photo she had seen of Vixx, always leading the way or bringing up the rear with documents in hand.

Siana met eyes with her father, who looked at her with concern. She realised her mouth was hanging open. She shut it immediately, biting her lip.

Of course. Yeah, it was perfectly reasonable.

Mr Joon was here in little, unknown, seaside Itea with Cha Hakyeon and Han Sanghyuk who happened to be standing right outside the door of the room where moments ago she was erotically dancing with an imaginary partner whilst Crush sang "Hug Me" in a voice full of desire and longing. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth involuntarily.

N's eyes glinted and he pressed his lips together as if to stop himself from smiling. Hyuk whispered in N's ear.

"I thought Joon-hyung said she didn't speak the language?" They both looked at her curiously, Hyuk's eyes twinkling and N's mouth curving into a tiny smirk. He lifted his eyebrows in questioning.

As if she wasn't standing in front of two out of the six only people she had ever dreamed of meeting in her lifetime, she answered in English, "I can understand, but I don't speak very well."

Hyuk nodded as her father stepped around them and looked at her in questioning.

She stepped back, stammering, "Uh, what's going on?"

Her father fixed her with a concerned stare.

"These are our guests who arrived last night. You know that. Something going on here? You okay?" he stepped closer to ask her quietly.

Siana nodded, then said, "I just... I recognise them."

Mikhalis raised his eyebrows at that and nodded.

"Well, don't forget you are still here to work. And remember they are concerned about their privacy, so..."

Siana nodded, giving herself a little mental shake. She had to remember that she was here to do a job. She smiled at N and Hyuk, then moved back to let them and Mr Joon come in. He looked around the room in surprise, then turned to Mikhalis.

"You have a dance studio too?"

Mikhalis gestured toward Siana. "My daughter teaches dance classes here during the holidays." N straightened up and looked excited. "Dance?" he said in his accented English to her. She nodded, still in a daze. Behind him and Hyuk she saw two more people descending the stairs, and realised that they were Ravi and the luggage handler, whom she now guessed must be another manager or assistant, that she had passed in the lobby the day before.

She watched, stunned, as Ravi walked through without seeing her, pushing past N and Hyuk, to join Mr Joon and her dad in the room. He exclaimed with delight, looking around at the mirrors and noticing the tiny speakers she had mounted on the ceiling.

She wanted to turn to a friend, to anyone, and squeal with delight, but she had no one there with her, no one standing there except godamn Cha Hakyeon and Han Sanghyuk. She wanted to tell someone that Ravi was looking at the speakers she had installed. So silly, but so important and she needed to share that information. She suddenly wished she had shared her love for Vixx with someone, anyone from back home, so that she could call them and scream down the phone about how they were in her dance space, in her building, and she would be in charge of their stay while they were there.

She stopped for a moment. Were all the members here? She looked past N and Hyuk to see if anyone else was outside, then caught N looking at her.

"Yes, we're all here," he said with a smirk. She felt herself going red with embarrassment.

She heard Mikhalis answering Ravi's questions through Mr Joon, then they all heard a commotion coming from the other door - the one that lead through to the lobby.

She recognised Ken and Hongbin's voices as they echoed through the stairwell, then they burst through the door and into the room. Ken looked thrilled and he whacked Hongbin on the shoulder.

"See? I told you we could come this way!"

"No, Leo said we could come this way," said Hongbin in his calm voice. They both acknowledged Mikhalis and looked around the room, their eyes finally stopping when they saw Siana across the room. They looked from Siana to N and Hyuk, then at each other.

Ken smiled so hard his eyes curved into little half-moons that made her almost want to gasp with how attractive that was.

He gave N a naughty look from across the room. "Hyuuuuung? Have you been making friends without us?"

N put a hand on Siana's shoulder, making her turn to face him. He looked into her eyes seriously for a moment, then waggled a finger in front of her eyes.

"No Ken. NO. Ken bad." Hyuk nodded aggressively at her from behind N.

She heard Ken shout across the room for them to stop. She smiled, then looked at Ken, only to see that behind them, very quietly, Leo had stepped into the room as well.

Her heart skipped a beat. His eyes met hers for the tiniest moment, before he looked down and away, as if he barely noticed she was there. He walked, hands in pockets and head down, towards Ravi, who began excitedly talking to him about the room.

She felt a weird mixture of intense relief and intense disappointment, but her smile never wavered.

She focused on Ken, who was coming forward. He walked right up to her, so close that she felt a wave of air following him, and she noted that he smelled of handsoap and toothpaste. She liked it, and kept eye contact with him till he stopped next to them all.

He was so tall, she had to look up a couple of inches. His smile was so open, relaxed and inviting, she smiled back warmly. It felt as if an old friend was returning home. She almost wanted to open her arms and hug him.

Hyuk stepped in front of him and pushed him back a little, but Ken played at trying to chest-bump his way through back to her. She giggled.

"Who is this? Is she the food-bringer? My name is Ken," he finally said in English.

She nodded her head politely and said, "Siana."

N, Ken and Hyuk all murmured in approval, circling around her in interest, as if her name was the most wonderful thing they had ever heard of.

She was used to being around big hulking men even when they were crowding her, because of her cousins, but here, she felt so intensely aware of who they were, of how they moved and their whole stage persona which she had long regarded as incredibly sexy and attractive, that she felt they were standing way too close for her to remain calm. She also felt suspicious of their pack behaviour, as if they were moving in for the kill.

From watching her cousins, she realised that sometimes boys did things in groups, both out of camaraderie, and also out of a sense of belonging, of looking out for each other. Whilst she was enjoying the sudden attention, in the back of her mind she knew they were testing the waters to see where they stood. And whilst Ken seemed to be the one leading the way with the flirting, it was N and Hyuk who were observing and learning from his approach.

This behaviour was both exciting and frightening for her, because she knew the outcome was unpredictable. She had seen her cousins unknowingly scare girls with raucous behaviour, where she had had to step in and calm the boys down from being too aggressive. She knew that it all depended on how the girls stood their ground, and that if they were smart, they could control the situation carefully.

They were standing so close, she was worried she might reach out and touch them without knowing what she was doing, and a sudden panic ran through her. 

She looked up into the eyes of Ken, who was watching her with a glint in his eye. 

She felt he knew exactly what kind of effect he was having on her, using his bodily proximity and his natural confidence to make her feel excited.