Winter Hearts

Leo Turns A Corner

He looked away roughly. He covered his sudden action with a cough, then looked back at her.

She kept chatting, relaxed.

"Sorry, I guess it doesn't make any sense. But everything's nicer in moderation. Because when the good stuff happens, it is all the more exciting and beautiful to me," she said guilelessly. Although she apologised, it seemed to Leo that she didn't really feel sorry for her belief. Her natural confidence was real.

"I've never understood the need for drugs. I want to hang on to life, not escape from it. Plenty of time for escaping in my dreams."

She leaned back in her chair, letting her head face up to the sky.

"You guys must be exposed to that life a lot, huh?"

"That life?"

"Fast living, drugs, girls," she turned to him, her face curious. "What do your parents think of it all?"

Leo was taken aback, and she noticed that.

"You don't have to answer," she stated matter-of-factly before turning her face back up to the sky. She went back to her thoughts for a moment. He guessed she must have thought it was a sensitive issue. She continued.

"Or maybe you're more like monks. Train, train, train, music, music, music, work, work, work. Like shaolin monks. Or like army cadets. But work is good. Feels good to be useful."

She seemed to understand things about him and his world that he didn't expect from someone her age. A fan, who had yet to display any fan-like qualities. She seemed so relatable, so knowing, yet so nonjudgmental. It felt refreshing.

Then he realised in fact, it was he who wasn't acting like a pop idol, having been grumpy, secretive and unforthcoming for the better part of the day. 

She seemed to be leading him in the maturity ranks.

Leo liked what he was hearing, but he liked what he was seeing even more.

He checked himself, knowing that there was a line that he was about to cross - that if he didn't stop himself, he would want to see things through in a way that he didn't see was possible.

He was Leo from Vixx, here on a working holiday, and there was no possibility that what he very much wished he could do, could happen.

He felt pressured by the lack of time, the impossible circumstances, and that he was the celebrity he was. He knew that he had to pull back, before he fell into that dark pit of lovesickness that he wanted so much to dive into.

He decided that being friends was all they could be, and that being friendly was a great way to stop thinking of her the way he wanted to.

Friends don't cross that line, after all.

He sipped his now-cold coffee, looking at the sky. The sun had set without him noticing, but the sky was still light. In the twilight, stars had appeared, and they twinkled brightly in the grey blue sky.

"We're here to work, actually," he volunteered. "We have set some goals that we need to achieve before our return."

"And then you will be rehearsing for the concerts. Yeah, one will be in my city, but I'll miss it because I'll be here helping my dad."

Leo could hear a trace of disappointment in her voice, but she was still smiling.

"That's too bad, we could have given you a backstage pass to come visit after the show."

Siana's smile disappeared. She sat up, serious.

"Don't say that, it makes me feel worse. If I was able to go back for the concert, would you really say that?"